FM21 Streamer Showdown Season 3 Draft Rankings

Here we are again, the last weekend of the month, which of course means it's Streamer Showdown time. The biggest Football Manager competition in the world is back for another edition, with the most difficult draft pool yet. On Wednesday night the competitors were tasked to pick a squad of 18 players with English as their first nationality within a £500 million budget.

The streamers were met with a surprise right before the draft as it was revealed they would each be randomly drawn an English footballing legend that not only will be in their squad for this weekend's event, but also in the competition for the first time in Showdown history. Those players included the likes of Sir Stanley Matthews, and Alan Shearer.

Today, I'm going to rank those very squads that the streamers composed on Wednesday night from ninth to first, and see which manager has the best team to their disposal this Saturday and Sunday.

9. Chesnoid Gaming

Ches has four elite players in this squad in Dean Henderson, Joe Gomez, Danny Ings, and quite possibly the best legend on show this weekend in Paul Scholes, but beyond them, the squad is lacking. Reece James and James Tavernier are the two next best players after those four, but both play in the same position, so a cornerstone player could lack game time.

Jesse Lingard isn't great in FM, he's certainly better in reality, but taking him where he did (Round 9) was a good selection as he was one of the best attacking midfielders available. James Milner and Mark Albrighton are also great picks as they can play in a variety of positions. Marcus Tavernier in the 18th round is an absolute steal from Ches too. All in all, a decent bunch of players, there are just better squads in the competition.

8. FoxInTheBox

Foxy's squad is an interesting one as I don't think anyone truly knows what on earth he's going to do with it. Looking at his squad from a glance I was leaning more towards yet another strikerless system with either Ross Barkley or Phil Foden in his 'SMS role' from a previous showdown. He is another manager with two right backs among his best six or seven players in Tariq Lamptey and Gary Neville, but unlike Ches, Neville was assigned to him as his legend before Wednesday's draft.

He could play a back 3 with Neville in at RCB, with Harry Maguire in the middle, and then either Ezri Konsa or Eric Dier to the left of the Manchester United captain. Lamptey and Matt Targett can get forward from the wing-back positions. Jordan Henderson is his key man, completing the best midfield in the competition. He's just lacking an elite striker.

7. Doop

From no elite striker to two on the same team in legend, Gary Lineker, and Harry Kane. If Doop can't get either of those two firing then something would have gone horribly wrong. He isn't the biggest fan of the 18 he picked on Wednesday, but that may be the secret to his success. Surely he has to play both of them together? I certainly would. He could have a deep-lying and advanced forward combination, with the Match of The Day host playing off of the England captain.

Mason Mount and Harvey Barnes are great with the ball at their feet, whilst Aaron Ramsdale was one of the best to choose from to keep the ball out of the back of the net. In front of him, the Brighton pairing of Ben White and Lewis Dunk extends on the theme that Doop has created by being among the top 5 ball-playing centre backs. White's ability to play in defensive midfield could be important too. Ashley Young at left back hampers this side a tad, but all in all a pretty decent draft from Doop. We've seen this before though, let's hope he can be successful when it matters.

6. Sweet Left Foot

Bobby Moore highlights the best defence in this month's FM Streamer Showdown for Sweet Left Foot. Mike's another one with an interesting double elite right back selection with both Trent Alexander- Arnold and James Justin being among his key players. Looking at his midfield options I think Trent's a natural candidate to take up a spot in the centre of midfield alongside Declan Rice. That is because Jude Bellingham, Dale Stephens, and Isaac Hayden are below par when compared to the rest of the competition. Left Back #1 Ben Chilwell is a Streamer Showdown cult hero.

The goalkeeper selection was left pretty late, so Sweet Left Foot took the short straw of a selection between Ben Foster and Karl Darlow, neither of which are that great. It'll be interesting to see how much that actually affects his result. Finally, in attack, I like the pick of Jarrod Bowen to create for Dominic Calvert-Lewin. He has some beautiful mental attributes, which are a key to this year's game.

5. Looney Hoon

First-timer Looney Hoon has drafted a very nice team around his legend, Sir Stanley Matthews. Sir Stanley is in my opinion the most intriguing legend of them all. He's not got a key attribute below 16, which is phenomenal. His attack looks juicy with Matthews being part of a technically gifted three (alongside Jack Grealish and Dwight McNeill,) in behind Callum Wilson. Theo Walcott, Rhian Brewster, and Adam Armstrong are great depth options too.

From a technically gifted attack to a physical defensive unit. Fikayo Tomori, Norwich player Max Aarons, Aaron Cresswell, Mason Holgate, and Kalvin Phillips are one of the better groups in the tournament. It's just a shame that beyond Grealish and Phillips in midfield there's little to be excited about.

4. Clayts

The reigning champion would have been slightly disappointed before the draft on Wednesday when he was allocated, Gordon Banks. While he's clearly the best keeper in the competition, he would have been hoping for something different. What that did allow him to do was build another great Lollujo style team without having to worry about who's between the sticks.

In a totally expected move, he passed on the likes of Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane, and Jordan Henderson to pick set-piece god, James Ward-Prowse in the first round. His next move was adding someone similar to his key player in the last showdown, Victor Osimhen, in Mason Greenwood, whilst Tyrone Mings, Adam Webster, Dan Burn, and Tosin Adarabioyo are all massive centre-backs to get on the end of those JWP set pieces. To end, there is certainly speed in attack alongside Greenwood, but Ryan Sessegnon isn't great technically and Ryan Kent's mental attributes aren't much to shout about either.

3. DoctorBenjy

Raheem Sterling should operate similarly to Eden Hazard for Doctor Benjy in a very pacey attack, especially when you add Jamie Vardy to the mix. Sir Bobby Charlton will be the team's main creative outlet with 17 passing, 17 technique, 17 vision, and 16 decisions. I believe that Ben was very lucky to have landed on the Manchester United legend, as he should link up perfectly with Sterling and Vardy.

Dele Alli and Adam Lallana, whose 17 dribbling makes a perfect mezzala, are great versatile options to add to the depth in attacking midfield, whilst John Lundstram and Mark Noble are better defensively. He was smart to pick two of the best goalkeepers back to back, but less smart when picking Daniel Sturridge over Danny Welbeck, who would have been perfect for his team. All in all a decent squad, but just lacking a few more defensive options.

2. Second Yellow Card

One of the most underrated competitors in showdown history, IMO, Second Yellow Card should be very happy about this draft. He surprised many by taking Jadon Sancho #1 overall, but I guess Harry Kane isn't in your mind when you're told that Alan Shearer is your legend. He should guarantee Matt some goals, so his focus turned to who could create those goals. He doubled down with his very next pick, selecting the man with some of the best technical attributes in this player pool, James Maddison.

Attention then turned to the defensive side of the ball where Luke Shaw and James Tarkowski began to create a theme of a technically and mentally strong team, which became even more prominent with the selection of Harry Winks, Todd Cantwell, Ebere Eze, and Kieran Trippier. I like it, potentially the best starting 11, but there's a better squad.

1. Work The Space

Work The Space's drafting has improved showdown upon showdown, this time creating the best squad in this month's competition. Starting with the legend, he was given Bryan Robson before the draft on Wednesday, and what a player he is. 19 leadership, 18 determination, 17 stamina, and 17 natural fitness create an incredible box to box midfielder and leader in the middle of the park.

Jack's got some absolute gems in here, such as Jack Cork, Jake Cooper, and Marcus Edwards, but that's not it. His attacking options are incredible. Danny Welbeck, Kemar Roofe, and Patrick Bamford were all on my eye as great mid/late-round picks and he got all three, mental. Pair them with Marcus Rashford, Tammy Abraham, and Bukayo Saka, and wow. Defensively, a centre-back pairing of Chris Smalling and Conor Coady isn't too bad either. Full back is the weakest area of this team, but that's practically it.