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Xpert 11 Season 30: The End of History, The Era of One Champion


Haden

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Special and Mushroom Groups: Games 10-11

 

Rovers Return?

 

After looking like 4th place was sealed up its all change as Rovers have closed right in on the Familia who suffered two straight losses while Rovers won twice in a row. Rovers defeated Dedede 3-1 at home playing an ambitious 3-5-2 formation it was a close tie as Tomasencu put Rovers in the lead but Hill hit back right after half time. However the game really opened up as both sides got tired and a mistake in the box led to a penalty for Rovers which the captain Gamov smashed in, a late volley by Gubsky sealed the win. In a remarkable match Rovers then faced Hydra who were looking for their first league win and both sides played 3-5-2. Rovers dominated the first half but Hydra felt like they should have scored when Bradshaw had a goal disallowed for pushing. The Rovers captain Gamov again scored with a header this time but Hydra hit back as Bradshaw did find the net another time with a long range shot. The game really broke down as Rovers made chance after chance and Fedosov was unplayable down the win as he swung in a cross for Gubsky to head home. Hydra gained a penalty that Talebi hit home with just 4 minutes to go. As an immediate reaction Rovers manager chucked on youth striker Strom, Fedosov found Strom with a searching ball and Strom took it past the goalie and smashed it in to the screams of the away crowd. Rovers are now two points behind Familia with a game in hand their final two games are at home but against Eights United and Winston Garden Lions, can they dare to dream?

 

The showdown for 2nd

 

The other showdown that is set to take place in the final week in the Special League is for 2nd place. The Legends edged a victory against Lords of Hydra 3-2 with Castanheira and Ciobotaru scoring their first goals of the season and played really well against Eights United away from home but ultimately lost 1-0. Winston only had one game this week and Rosebotham was the difference maker as the Winston captain set up two goals to help Winston to a crucial and closley fought victory against the Familia. The Legends are 1 point ahead with two games left, Winston and the Legends will be facing Rovers and the Familia who have their battle for 4th to fight for so this will be a fight to the finish regardless of what happens on Tuesday. For the stats fans Legends vs Winston is 4 wins a piece and 1 draw, how many times have the Legends beaten or drawn with Winston at home? Zero...

 

How the cards have fallen.

 

While the title race between AC Elites and Inter is almost as exciting I will leave that to my fellow writer to chew over in retrospect next week (Don't miss AC Elites vs Inter it will be a title decider).

 

What I am going to look at however is the fate of three teams in their battle to occupy 3rd or 4th: Atletico Aqui1a, Kippen FC and Leeds M.O.T

 

Atletico Aqui1a

 

This week Aqui1a did everything they could do to stay in the playoff position. They demolished Recall 4-0 and Multi-Bubble 5-0 playing with 2 up front both times and increasing their goal difference. Upson looked in good form and his unpredictably will be key to helping Aqui1a get that last spot but their real strength lies in their rock solid defence and emergent midfield. They have played Leeds many times and Leeds are just ahead with one more win. The last time they played Leeds at home they lost by one goal this might be a result that puts them out this time and they may rue the 2-2 draw that they were held to in the home fixture. This side have it all to play for and can only focus on Friday and get ready.

 

Leeds M.O.T

 

For a lot of people this team were the wild cards in the league, it was their double win against Kippen that really created this entire 3 horse race scenario along with their attacking never say die attitude. They lost 4-2 to Elites earlier in the week but they went out and played 3-4-3 which takes some guts to do and it almost paid off as Heidari set up two goals but a late header by Freund put the game beyond Leeds. They bounced back and destroyed Recall away playing 3-5-2 and creating 9 chances and scoring 6 with 5 different players finding the net. They have a small team that is quite unevenly balanced but work for their manager and have been unafraid to get in the faces of other teams. They face Bubble away which they should win and then its the crunch match at home against Aqui1a which will see a clash of styles and philosophies to see who goes up.

 

Kippen FC

 

That is unless this team freezes, after shooting to the top of the league with 10 points from their first four games Kippen have faded badly losing 4 of their last 6. Their last two matches saw another defender badly injured as they had a hell and brimstone game against Inter that saw two players injured a disallowed goal and penalty with Inter edging the game in the last minute. It seemed like it would go down to Kippen vs the loser of Aqu1ia Leeds on goal difference but a miracle win against title hopefuls Elites changed that. Kippen did the double over their old rivals when Vogele shot in a late goal in a tightly contested game. This was a huge win for Kippen it means their fate is in their hands they just have to beat Recall and Bubble at home to go up. They should do this but the fans will be wanting to see early home goals in both those games!

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How are the Inter View answers coming along @MilaGi?

 

Have you been getting my messages @Haden??? :wtf:

 

Probably won't be sorted until Wednesday :red:! Questions 1 and 3 are sorted, but still in middle of question 2. Busy all day tomorrow, so probably won't get the chance until Wednesday since i'm off work then :)

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The showdown for 2nd

 

The other showdown that is set to take place in the final week in the Special League is for 2nd place. The Legends edged a victory against Lords of Hydra 3-2 with Castanheira and Ciobotaru scoring their first goals of the season and played really well against Eights United away from home but ultimately lost 1-0. Winston only had one game this week and Rosebotham was the difference maker as the Winston captain set up two goals to help Winston to a crucial and closley fought victory against the Familia. The Legends are 1 point ahead with two games left, Winston and the Legends will be facing Rovers and the Familia who have their battle for 4th to fight for so this will be a fight to the finish regardless of what happens on Tuesday. For the stats fans Legends vs Winston is 4 wins a piece and 1 draw, how many times have the Legends beaten or drawn with Winston at home? Zero...

 

What a stat!! The fortress that is Winston. Come at me!!

 

5 Talking points from Star and Flower leagues

 

1 - Top spot up for grabs as Federer demolishes Dragoooo

 

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Federer’s team were ruthlessly incisive in their finishing today, and by doubling up on Dragooo star Ernesto Iacopino Dragoo looked devoid of creativity and ideas. It has been an astounding and high scoring campaign for this relatively new team, following on from draws at Yellow Sub earlier in the season. This game was a warning for anyone who might encounter them in the knockouts.

 

David Foster Wallace once described my forehand as a 'great liquid whip'. I think this quote is relevant today, as the Crew well and truly - to use the English colloqualism - 'whipped' their opponents! Just like I whipped the competition at Indian Wells last week! But we must also bear in mind Wallace's other famous saying, which, today, is perhaps even more prescient - 'it is unimaginably hard to do this, to stay conscious and alive as a DRAGOOOOO fan, day in day out'. - Federer in his post-match press conference

 

At the other end of the dugout, Fierce Link seemed to seeth throughout, and was rumored to be furious in the dressing room, berating his team’s lack of character as the floodgates opened after the second goal. He will want a strong finish to a solid managerial career, but his team has largely struggled in the big matches this season. Iacopino is the beating heart of this team and when he his silenced his team is too - the manager needs a plan B.

 

2 - DuD’s begin to express themselves as top spot is assured

 

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With top spot virtually guaranteed given their two final fixtures, it is as if the team have been liberated to play the kind of football they are capable of. Flower league was a tough league to guarantee top spot in and earlier in the season DuD showed caution with 5 at the back. DuDs has shown his side’s capabilities going forward in recent games, scoring 12 in the past two games under a 4-5-1 and 3-5-2, Szymanek pulling the string in Friday's 8-0 over Bob. This is a manager who plays pragmatic football and gets results - perhaps DuD is the true Mourinho of this league - his tactics vary hugely week to week, and recent routs recall the 6 - 0 demolition of Arsenal by Chelsea this weekend. They will be feared in the knockouts.

 

3 - Another bizarre week at Madpool as manager pushes youth.

 

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The 2 - 0 victory on Monday against a competitive Russian side had fans of the club thinking the knockout stages were still on the cards - only for no tactics to be set to gift 64’ers their first win of the season. Given that this is now clearly a club focused on development from the very youngest of youth academy projects, this will not come as too much of a shock to the fans. The policy itself, however, is questionable. One would suspect that this week’s two 17 year old recruits have been promoted to the first team with the intention of being sold in the summer - with two games remaining this season it is highly unlikely the necessary dv levels could be attained by these young talents. Tyack will surely sell for millions given his free kicking and goal scoring tendencies,* but Maddog is historically not a player to spend money, so what would be the purpose? Maddog will be disappointed that these two players were not brought to his attention at the start of this season. Meanwhile some have suggested that the manager is looking for silverware from the ‘Europa League’ alternative cup rather than the upper knockouts.

 

* Since the time of writing, Tyack has sold for a mazzive 4.2 million econ

 

4 - Coloccini barely lift a finger with an easy route to the knockouts

The 6 - 0 victory for Coloccini against a disastrous Sheffield Blades was emblematic of Coloccini’s qualification into the top 4 this season. Quila and Stockley were wonderful to watch as they took apart an abject Sheffield defence with some lightful one-twos. Yet this is a team who have qualified by beating off the teams that by all rights they should have been beating, rarely making a dent in any of the high placed teams in their group - aside from an impressive 2 -1 win against Silverdale. Qualification has been secured through two solid wins against Fedex, but tougher opponents await them. Ivan Aaslicher and Dogaru will both have benefitted hugely from extended runs in the first time this season, and you feel Rockenrole, Costa, and Mallow are only a couple of seasons from being top tier players. For now, though, Coloccini will be one of the names rival managers will be hoping to draw in the knockouts.

 

5 - Back to the drawing board for Bob after a disappointing season.

 

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Always a favourite amongst the neutrals, this has been a poor couple of months for Bob’s boys. Some attacking talent remains, but given the 47 goals the team has shipped this season, fans will be keen for the manager to look at a revamp of him squad after this season comes to a close. There is the backbone of a quality team but even more so than Maddog there is too much youth here, none getting enough games for apt development - a much tighter focus is needed. A new, talented defender will be top of fans shopping list come the end of the season - Bob can and surely will rise again

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Lost to the better team today but if I can match those tactics with a team that turns up I may make an impact on the knockouts.

 

Yeeeaaahhh, outmuscled!! Made up for you knocking me out the pre-season cup a little there. Still got a toughie against Rossers in my final game to secure second.

 

Yeah I am up for this? I have sent an invite request through facebook, then what do i do?! Absolutely clueless at the minute :) Do you have to be on at a certain time and such, or prepare everything and just see what the result is?!

 

Yess Dazzy! Show Sherwood how it's done. We're in the middle of a cup at the moment so the league will start in two / three weeks. There are two weekly games that you need to set your tactics before - then you kind of watch it playout. Things to consider..

 

- It's all about the long game, development of the squad. You'll start with a ragtag bunch of players and you'll need to develop them but playing the youngsters until they're a team of Bales and Eriksons. Each season you get a report about how much each player has improved (or gotten worse)

 

- There are three tiers to the series (or four if we go 7-7-7-7 system, which incidentally I'd opt for, Peepsy) and you'll start in lower league - you'll need to work your way up the leagues

 

- Big time success if a real long haul project! You might top the lower and middle league fairly quickly but to challenge the likes of Eights (Tales' team) at the very top you'll need to work on the squad for months.

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Yeah I am up for this? I have sent an invite request through facebook, then what do i do?! Absolutely clueless at the minute :) Do you have to be on at a certain time and such, or prepare everything and just see what the result is?!

 

http://www.xperteleven.com/?lid=120161 that's the invite link for our league, it should take you to a screen where you can apply to create a new team

You're queued to join (usually there's a notification but I ended up seeing it through chance) but I can't accept the application yet for some reason. I can only assume it's because the season isn't over yet but it hasn't stopped us before. As soon as I am able, I will accept it :)

 

Once you have your team you should get an automatic match against the system which will show you how matches work. I'll post up a mini-guide once you've joined.

Edited by The Peeps
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N-Euro Championship Cup Season 30

 

The cup has been drawn and can be viewed HERE

 

The quarter final draw is:

 

AFC Dedede vs The Sixty-Fourthers

 

Special Team 3* vs Recall United

 

Lords of Hydra vs Mushroom Team 2**

 

bob vs Fedex United

 

* Special Team 3 will be either Rossers Rovers or The Familia FC

** Mushroom Team 2 will be one of Atlético Aqui1a, Leeds M.O.T or Kippen FC

 

These matches are to be played Tuesday 1st April. Please challenge/accept by 9pm Monday. Tied games will go to the team with more chances, if that is also tied the away team will go through.

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I've done my squad for tomorrow and I'm happy that even though I'm playing a fair amount of youth I should still win.

 

My development values are looking pretty good and if I win tomorrow I'll get at least one extra match in the knock out stages. Hopefully the draw will be kind to me after being in such a tough group and I'll get a good run!

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Probably won't be sorted until Wednesday :red:! Questions 1 and 3 are sorted, but still in middle of question 2. Busy all day tomorrow, so probably won't get the chance until Wednesday since i'm off work then :)

 

Cool, hopefully you'll be pretty much there by now then. :)

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I've done my squad for tomorrow and I'm happy that even though I'm playing a fair amount of youth I should still win.

 

My development values are looking pretty good and if I win tomorrow I'll get at least one extra match in the knock out stages. Hopefully the draw will be kind to me after being in such a tough group and I'll get a good run!

 

Still can't believe your result against @Ellmeister I would consider getting to the last 8 about right for my team so I hope I can make it past the last 16 before becoming cup fodder.

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Right i'm signing up now to be the n00b to this league (although i've got a notification about it being full)

 

went with the name of Gibbs Probies it was either that or the Very Special Agents, they seemed the best NCIS references that sounded like team names

 

of damn just that i could have used the naval yard Quntico in the name that could have worked

 

n00b mistakes n00b mistakes

Edited by Agent Gibbs
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