SQUAD SELECTOR 25/26: League Two
Ali Maxwell drafts a 24-man squad, picking only one player per club. We start in League Two for Part One of three.
It’s Squad Selector season!
My favourite time of year. As I did last season, and the one before that, I am going to select a 24-man squad from all three EFL divisions. Three goalkeepers are compulsory. The rest is up to me, except for one strict rule: in keeping with the squad selection philosophy of England C, I can only select one player per club.
I find this fun AND interesting, because it involves:
Evaluating standout players within each club
Considering their rank within their position cohort
Balancing the dispersion of talent across all areas of the pitch, and handling the fact that some clubs have significantly less individual talent than others
The goal is to select a squad that provides a realistic tactical blend – a team that could actually make sense on the pitch, rather than just looking good on Fantasy EFL.
League Two is the best fourth tier in the world, so we’re going to be strong favourites to win the Fourth Tier World Cup. This squad, and its tactical system, needs to reflect that. Here goes…
Got a better XI? Go on — back it up in the comments.
GOALKEEPERS
Matthew Hudson (Oldham), Ollie Wright (Accrington), Jacob Chapman (Crawley)
You need a really good keeper in tournament football. We can’t have good performances undermined by handling errors. We’re not overcomplicating this.
Matthew Hudson gets the nod as the starter. Quite simply, he’s been the best goalkeeper in League Two this season, keeping the most clean sheets and pulling off some astounding, match-winning saves. I couldn’t feel safer.
The good news is that our deputies are far from the “Thanks For Coming” type picks that I’ve gone for previously. Jacob Chapman has the second-highest save percentage in League Two, while Ollie Wright has the division’s best ‘goals prevented’ number, per Opta. Forcefield.
