If Frank Sinatra played soccer: central midfielder, rated 83

Frank Sinatra as a soccer player: scouting report

Frank Sinatra would play central midfield, because his whole career was about phrasing: knowing exactly when to hold a note and when to let it go. As a young singer with Tommy Dorsey's band he studied how the bandleader played long trombone lines without seeming to breathe, and he built that control into his own singing. On the pitch that becomes a midfielder who holds the ball under pressure, waits for the run and releases the pass on the beat. His passing is the strongest part of his card.

His shooting is right behind it, which makes him more than a metronome. When a defense drops deep, he steps into space at the edge of the box and strikes. He was a born closer on stage, the one who finished the show, and his card plays the same way in the final third. His defending grades out well enough to hold his spot in a midfield three. He also won an Academy Award for his acting in From Here to Eternity, so the range is real. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, he grew up in a busy port town and carried that confidence everywhere.

Pace is the soft spot. He is not going to win footraces, and he should not be asked to track a quick midfielder all afternoon, so pair him with a tireless runner beside him. Goalkeeper and winger are his next best spots, though he is plainly built for the middle. For a drafter, he is a creative midfielder with a real goal threat. Take him in the middle rounds, give him the set pieces, and let him do it his way.

Plays like A smooth playmaker with a sweet strike from outside the box

Put Frank Sinatra in your lineup

11 rolls, a starting eleven, 38 matches. Can you go 38-0? Free, no account.