Saturday, 28 June 2008

My XFA Season Part 1

As you know I was planning a review of my XFA season what better way to then guide you through my xfa league campaign with all the highs and lows of a FML season.

As you may well be aware by now that all fixtures have resolution dates and fixtures can be played any order as long as the other manager is online to challenge. The xfa is extreme and consists of a 57 match season.

Tekone FC 0 Superstar Tradesmen 5

A glorious start to the season as Emerson hit an opening day hatrick and fernandao showed his early promise with a couple. The result was a comprehensive as it suggests dominating the chances and possiesion of the football getting a good early start is vital though as mianly the opposition is unknown quantity at this point. Emerson scoring a tap in from a corner for the first a smart jig and drive home from the edge of the boix for the second and the third a clean through ball and smashed home from near the penalty spot.

Marinhense Under 14 0 Superstar Tradesmen 2

An overfussy ref and bad tempered game overshadowed the football here a bit with seven bookings in total the ref was on his toes as they say. 5 bookings for the other side Sonko and Emerson the bad boys on my side. Fernandao opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 21st min and added a smart second eight minutes after Emerson springs the offside trap hangs a cross to the far post for Fernandao to nod home.

Superstar Tradesmen 3 AC Parma 2

This is where the Tradesmen seemingly had a get out of jail free card going 2-0 down in the 1st 35 minutes rescuing all three points seemed a bit of a lost cause with the Parma in much of the running for the 1st half. Banda slid a pass through for Emerson to chase onto and he duly slid it past an onrushing keeper and the comeback was on. Fernandao showed great vision to find Emerson in a bit of space in the box and he tucked it away intot he far right corner. 2-2 and thats how it looked as if it going to stay until in injury time Kucher makes a long clearance upfield Fernandao gives chase controls just outside the box to the left side he tricks past the defender and smashes it past a stunned goalkeeper a worthy winner of any game that goal.

AC parma 1 Superstar Tradesmen 1

A much different type of game this time with the tradesmen having much more of the possesion and chances maybe its a bit of poetic justice they couldnt finish them to win this time round. Tibi Balan opened the scoring for parma after a cross was never really cleared and comeback out to the penalty spot and was lashed home. The equaliser came as fernandao rose to head home from a corner. So after the 1st few games the Tradesmen were third and quite happy so far

Superstar Tradesmen 2 Tekone 2

Fancying their chances after the previous meeting a win wasnt to be. Another foul temerped affair was littered with 9 cards which resulted in Lazeveski being shown an early exit admittly in injury though not much of an early exit. All the goals came in a second half whern a More pen opened the scoring on 72 minutes. Carlos Suarez equalised on 78 after Emerson squared to him and he sltted the ball home from 8 yards. another penalty conceded and More again blasted it home. Suarez berat the offside trap and smashed home in injury time for the draw.

Superstar Tradesmen 2 AC Parma 0

The running battle and the final meeting of the seaon between the two teams. There was only ever going to be one winner this time as Parma fialed to register a single shot on target in a lack lustre showing from the early form promotion hopefuls. A stunning fernandao freekick opened the scoring after he blasted it in from the right side of the box and most expecting a cross. Late in the second half Jurado was set away on the break and he dribbled from the half way line into the area and smashed home the games winner get in!!

Tekone FC 1 Superstar tradesmen 0

Tekone depite the result went on to be early season pace setters leading the way in XFA Qual div D. Despite the tradesmen dominating this game for long periods they just could not finish off the chances and were made to pay. A brilliant piece of movement from Thiago meant his run from midfield wasnt tracked and he palced it home from the edge of the area. The man of the match said it all as Sorrentino the Tekone keeper picked up the honour.

Sporting Spalbeek 1 Superstar Tradesmen 3

Back to winning ways for the boys but again doing things the hard way after falling behind again. Faris Haroun managed to beat Sonko and then smashed it past the keeper at his near post a rare errror from the man mountain at the back. Oyola stabbed th abll home after a croso from free kick was flicked on. Fernandao played an inviting ball for emerson to run onto and slot past the keeper for the second. A minute or two after the Emerson goal and a quite unbelievable mistake allowed fernandao to tap in an empty net. Banda made a strong tackle on the fullback by the half way line knocked a hopeful ball towards the striker keeper out to the edge of his area should collect cleanly misses it completly allowing fernandao to chase and tap in. The keeper nust of really wanted the ground to open up then.

Arsevin 1 Superstar Tradesmen 2

Off to Toronto it was to the Neptune Stadium for a game where Tradesmen should really have killed off the otherside and nearly paid for it second half when they didn't. Fernandao with a pen opened the scoring, Oyola completed it by getting on the end of a Banda corss that looked over hit but was perfect for his late run into the box. Arsevin threatened the comeback witha goal back on the 77th minute but ultimately the tradesmen had done enough.

MicimackosTeam 2 Superstar Tradesmen 2

Another game where despite having more chances and possesion didnt make the opposition pay. conceding early in the 19th minute didn't help settle the side at all. But when Jussie got free on the left wing and found fernandao in sapce from his cross there was only place that ball was going. Gapke made it 2-1 in the 5oth minute after he managed to get on the end of the corner his movement seemingly to quick for his marker. But fernandao with a lovely weighted pass set sturridge through and he obliged with left under the challenge of a centreback.

Superstar Tradesmen 2 Tsapas FC 0

A mod vs mod matchup and this one was never in any doubt. Sturridge opened the scoring after some lovely one touch footy sturrdge to Jurrado into Fernandao who played it onto sturridge and he buried it. Emerson added the second heading home a freekick from the left of the box.

Superstar tradesmen 3 Boca Juniros 0

Destroyed this Boca side from start to finish. Sonko headed in from corner after 10 minutes, Jurado socred a placed shot from edge of the area real touch of class about that finish, Then late on fernandao wins a header on half way line Emerson picks it up beats one races towards area and nicks it past the keeper for 3-0. Boca could only muster one shot on target and really never looked like providing any real comeback.

Superstar Tradesmen 4 Marinhense under14 4

The craziest result of the season without a doubt. Sturrdige smashing one into top right corner from edge of the box after 6 minutes left everyone feeling confident of a win today. Jurado tapping home gonalez deflected freekick after 17 minutes reflected the way the game was going one way traffic. Sturridge again burst through this time keeper saved but jurado was following up and tapped in the 3rd. On the halftime whistle a long clearance suddenly fell to unmarked striker and he tricked his way past keeper for a tap in a possible lifeline back into the match 3-1. Balaban smashed home a penalty and now its 3-2. 61 mins and headed home from Separa's corner and game on 3-3. Gonazlez curled a freekick around the wall and in off the post 4-3 and at this stage you would have to say that would kill off any hopes Marinhense had but it didnt remarkably. They just dont geal with a simple ball fed into a striker allow him enough space beats the keeper at near post. At which point I felt knocking the crap out of my monitor i could not believe my team would give away a game like that.


Tsapas FC 2 superstar Tradesmen 0

Outplayed and beaten by a great player in Sergio Aguero as he grabbed both goals and the headlines in this game. The 1st came as the keeper saved from emerson one end a long boot upfield Aguero's pace making the keeper undecided on his decision to come out or stay Aguero rounds him and decision is made for him. Ramon under pressure from the winger plays an aimless ball back into his own box and Aguero reacts quickest. Just about summed the day up for me.

Superstar Tradesmen 2 Tsapas 1

Instant reply from my players just what i was looking for. Sonko nodded into an ealry lead from 4 minutes, Fernandao addding the second after Sturridge shot was saved a scramble for the rebound knocked it into fernandaos path and an empty net 2-0. 56 minutes Aguero was able to get beyond the back 4 and produced a smart finish but the game had a bitter edge when late on Luis Alberto was sent off for bringing down Fernandao as the last man. Closed down the gap on Tsapas who are 3rd with the tradesmen standing 4th.

Tuesday, 24 June 2008

Breaking FML

So its been a bit quiet on my blog front as of late. I have been busy playing and moderating still so don't worry. Coming up towards another end of season review soon what kind of season has it been for the tradesmen?

One thing I can talk about is tonight we have a stress test in the new gws 8 9 10 and 11. This is simply that SI want as many people online as possible between 7.30 and 9.30 pm. It is to as you can imagine place as uch strain on the servers and see what it copes with. An important step towards that much sort after release of FML. So if your from gw 11 I will see you there tonight and goodluck and hopeful someone gw 11 will win the generous FML prize ;).

Thursday, 19 June 2008

Finally am number 1



Awesome stuff from te tradesmen. I have even won a few friendly comps this week. Well i think the pictures can speak many words then i can right now.

Tuesday, 17 June 2008

Want to win a beta place?

As the title says I don't have a beta places up for grabs to join the tradesmen in Levein but my old pal and red t-shirt wearer has 5 places up for grabs on his blog. there are a few conditions on entry you can't have an existing beta place and and only 1 entry will count.

http://fmlmod.blogspot.com/

The Tradesmen

So who are the players that have inspired the tradesmen to second in the gameworld rankings? Thats the question I will answer for you now with pics for the important players in the team. Just hope not too many people read this from my gw and work out how to stop them :p

So new gameworld and new heroes for the tradesmen so my 1st major signing and has been the basis of my attack with plenty of goals, assists and man of the match awards is powerful targetman Fernandao.



Next into the tradesmen was the that defensive mountain Sonko as much as a threat from freekicks and corners upfront as he is important to the defence. very recognisable to FML fans as a reliable player to have at the back strong quick and great in the air.



Next in was a creative force in the midfield someone who could supply the strikers with passes crosses have a bit of flair and do something unexpected to beat defences. Luckily I found exactly what I was looking for in a young Spanish star.


Young upcoming striker Daniel Sturridge was the next to come in signed for a mere £300k feeling as though he may need a season or two to be ready as a starter it was clear that although he does miss some clear cut chances the boy has all the ability needed to be a starter for me.


So thats my main players I am not going to screenshot every single one but I do have the overview page to show the rest of my players some names you will recognise others some will never have heard of as I didn't when picking my squad.

Sunday, 15 June 2008

Team of the week


Finally after months of beta this prestigious award comes to the tradesmen. I receive the award and a £100k prize money for the team. Now this is awarded to the team that makes the most ranking points that week. Its often that this goes to the number 1 team in gameworld. Well in this instance the team in third were awesome all week.

More news on the Tradesmen front was winning my 1st competition finally I was beginning to think i had a team of big match bottlers after losing in two previous finals despite being heavy favourites. So the free North East Cup is proudly on display in the trophy cabinet after missing out on the mod league title by a single point.

I know that many of you will be wondering who are the new breed of tradesmen players well next time we will look through the starting eleven.

Thursday, 12 June 2008

How is life in gw 11?

Well I thought today we could discuss how its been going so far in the Levein gameworld. after the inital trickle of sign ins to the game over the weekend we got quite a number of new managers burst onto the scene. So a few stats.

-1000 users joined the gw.

-773 users have so far signed in during the last 7 days.

-15883 matches have been played so far.

-368 competitions have been created.

-£575k is the highest transfer fee paid for free agent Eduardo by Maximo utd

-£45k is the highest wage currently for David Beckham by FC Tensixty

-Top goalscorer is Leider Preciado of FC Gobbos 129 goals

-The number 1 ranked team is Bostellee Vikings.

- The number one ranked youth team is Bojangles.

- Most matches played in one day was 2933 on the 8th of June.

We seem to have some very active players in gw 11 which as you can imagine keeps us mods on our toes. Overall so far I would say they are a decent bunch. ( I have to say that some of them actually read this)

The 1st season actually kicked off yesterday with all the FA competitions now under way and qualifying leagues to decide on everyones place for next season. Me being in the lovely XFA qual league D. Hopefully history repeats and i can storm the division like I did in gw4.

Wednesday, 4 June 2008

The floodgates have opend but only a slow trickle turned up.

Well the new world is officially open now as SI pushed heavily to fill some of the gameworlds earlier. So we opened and a few people have made into the gameworld. So far we have 160 users joined. A bit below the target needed for me to pick a team so i guess no playing for me tonight just helping.




So this was the 1st ever game played in levein.


A little sneak at the gameworld records at a very early stage obviously they will change dramatically over the next few weeks or months depending on how long is left in beta.

Monday, 2 June 2008

new week new experiences.

Soooooo start of the new and was hoping to get into my new world and get things kicked off. Looks we going to have to wait a bit longer on that one still hopeful for a launch tomorrow though.

Other going on are SI are preparing themselves for the invasion of the fml geeks this week for the second ever mod day. Nik are has washed and made sure the red tshirt is in pristine condition for its trip to London. I didn't get a chance to go the last mod day as I wasn't actually a mod then but I am quite looking forward to the this one. Now I have been informed that there was pizza delivered by a ninja for the last mod day so I have no idea how they will try to match that this time.

Miles Talks FML