Your weekly source of information and entertainment, Sports Journal on server Legacy #3 brought to you by our journalists, is here! Remember to vote for your favorite article at the end! ☕

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1/ LET 'S TALK ABOUT TACTICS!

2/ COMMON INTERESTS!

3/ CARDS - PROBABILITY OF OCCURRENCE - FINAL PART

4/ PLATINUM CARD #2 TEREFERE

5/ IDENTITY ABOVE ALL

6/ THE QUEEN AND THE CUPS

LET 'S TALK ABOUT TACTICS!

This week on Let's Talk About Tactics we have the chance to talk about different tactical systems that have been used by legendary coaches throughout the decades!

Johan Cruyff: 3-4-3 (Barcelona)

One of the most influential figures in football history, he implemented a distinctive tactic during his time as Barcelona manager. His philosophy was based on total football, an attacking and attractive approach that sought to dominate every game. Here are some key aspects of his tactical approach. Let's look at the three most important points above and then go into more depth point by point.

1. 3-4-3 (Diamond) Formation: Cruyff implemented a diamond formation in midfield in his legendary Barca (yes, I'm a fan of that team and I take charge). This tactic allowed for dominating the centre of the field, creating passing angles and having depth in attack. Players positioned themselves in triangles to maintain possession and offer passing options to the ball carrier.

2. Mobility and Possession: Cruyff emphasised mobility and switching positions. He wanted his teams to keep possession, constantly moving it around to unbalance the opposition defence and open up spaces to penetrate.

3. The False Nine: Cruyff reintroduced the figure of the "false nine". Instead of a traditional centre forward, he used a more creative player in that position, as he did with Gary Lineker at Barcelona. This allowed for greater fluidity in attack and surprised opponents.

Let's look at the points in more detail: 

1.  3-4-3 (Diamond) Formation:

Defence: Three central defenders (back 3) provided solidity at the back.

Diamond Midfield:

🔸Defensive Midfielder: A central midfielder in a defensive position.

🔸Central Midfielders: Two central midfielders, one of them with “box-to-box” functions.

🔸Attacking Midfielder: A creative attacking midfielder, also known as a “false nine”.

Attack: Two wingers and a centre forward completed the formation.

Possession and Mobility: Cruyff emphasised mobility and switching positions. He wanted his teams to maintain possession of the ball, creating passing angles and unbalancing the opposition defence.

Triangles: Each player, regardless of their position on the field, had to form triangles with their teammates. This allowed the ball carrier to maintain possession and offer passing options.

Compact and attacking: His aim was to dominate every game through an attacking and attractive game.

2. Mobility and Possession:

Possession and Triangles: 

🔸 Cruyff believed that possession of the ball was essential to be in control of the game. His model was based on forming triangles on the field: each player had to position himself to create that geometric figure. This allowed him to maintain possession and offer the ball carrier two passing options.

🔸 It was not just about having the ball, but constantly moving it to unbalance the rival defence and open up spaces.

Mobility and Change of Positions: 

🔸Cruyff wanted his players to move constantly, exchanging positions. This made it difficult to mark the opponent and created attacking opportunities.

🔸His famous diamond formation in midfield allowed for this mobility and fluidity.

Compact and Offensive:

🔸His goal was to dominate each match through attacking and attractive play.

🔸His players' deep understanding of the game was essential to execute his philosophy.

3. FALSE NINE

What is the False Nine? 

🔸The false nine is a forward who positions himself closer to midfield rather than occupying the traditional position of a centre forward. He does not stick to a fixed location in the box, but moves across the entire attacking front.

🔸His main objective is not to score goals, but to create space, link up play and unbalance the opposing defence.

Cruyff and the False Nine 

🔸When Cruyff arrived at Barcelona in 1988, he inherited Gary Lineker as a traditional centre forward. However, he decided to innovate.

🔸Inspired by the philosophy of "total football", Cruyff placed a creative playmaker (the false nine) instead of a classic striker. This player moved between the lines, creating confusion in defence.

Advantages of the False Nine

🔸Mobility: The false nine moves all over the field, attracting defenders and opening up space for his teammates.

🔸Playmaking: Being closer to midfield, he can participate in the build-up play and link up with the midfielders and wingers.

🔸Running away: His unpredictable movements make marking difficult and allow other players to penetrate dangerous areas.

I hope you enjoyed this edition. - THE JOKER

COMMON INTERESTS!

This week I want to talk about the new server and how I see it flowing for the teams that come from the United States server

Those teams that have been dragging the closure of the Latin server that forced them to migrate massively to the United States server.

And after working hard to accommodate themselves to achieve the mergers and unions that were needed to fight in the new United States server and win things, they were forced again to migrate to the European server once they closed the United States server.

And that when they got used to the European server after the third move they also closed the European server and sent us to a new server, the Legacy.

After all that road traveled anyone would think that few would remain playing, do not believe it, the seed is still lit. And although part of a community that knew how to be giant like the Latin one at its time today there are practically a handful of players that are still willing to fight.

From what I am talking to all those who are still playing, the majority agree that the game is going through one of its best moments.

The only shame are the fallen soldiers, the people who for one reason or another stopped playing and are no longer with us.

Although it seems little, that is a lot and it really hurts and we miss all those people.

The server is very good, all the implementations that have been incorporated are really very fun visually, the cards are also very entertaining, beyond the games that most people who do not pay do not find entertaining because they cannot compete, but the changes in collections do help a lot and are also entertaining.

The game engine continues to be the point where there is the most agreement that needs to be improved.  The almost non-existent changes in the engine lead to the use of it becoming quite routine.

And although perhaps with time people's training changes it is almost always the same in general terms it is still the same.  The fact that if you win the midfield and you have a good forward your team is practically unbeatable, reduces the search and makes the way of training a routine.

At the same time, the fact of not being able to have more than 20 players in the team. Even though they have modified the chemistry issue, it is quite sad, since at this stage of the game and with three competitions, the teams that have fewer players who pay to win have a very difficult life and the competition becomes even more difficult.

Leaving aside the engine and without talking about the problems of routine and boredom that this brings, the rest of the game is a gem. I still remember what the game was like when I started playing. I still remember that there were a lot of people who used the auto click to train and the penalties that everyone was inflicted for doing so. I see it now that almost everything is in place so that the user’s experience is great. The truth is that I only have words of praise for the people who run the game. It is gratifying to play it and really when I say that we are going through one of the best times, I know that I can say it without shame and without fear of being wrong.

Surely the next tournaments will have surprises in store for us in terms of the quality of the improvements that the game administrators are implementing. I hope that the competition and we as players are up to the task. It would be great if they tried to implement some idea to be able to equalize the leagues so it would be more fun for everyone, especially now that there is so much distance between the good and the bad, between the big and the small, between anthological teams and newly assembled teams. It would be great if they came up with something in the long run to assemble even more teams. I have been playing for years and I have not been able to see it happen, unfortunately and much to my regret.

See you all next week.

THE JOKER

CARDS - PROBABILITY OF OCCURRENCE - FINAL PART

Hello, this is Matushevsky!

It's time for the third and last edition of my article on the probability of hitting particular types of cards. So far I have opened 595 card packs. In all these packages I got:

🔸gray - 769 + 697 = 1466

🔸blue - 553 + 498 = 1051

🔸green - 185 + 152 = 337

🔸red - 47 + 36 = 83

🔸gold - 21 + 17 = 38

A total of 2975 cards. The probability is as follows:

🔸gray - 49.27%

🔸blue - 35.33%

🔸green - 11.33%

🔸red - 2.79%

🔸gold - 1.28%

I currently have the following number of packages to open:

🔸L1 v1 - 170 packs

🔸L1 v2 - 198 packs

🔸Global - 122 packs

This gives us a total of 490 packs. Just the right amount to rationally compare the previous results with the current ones, because in the comments to the previous part of the article there was an accusation that 280 packages was too small as a sample. Today we start with almost twice that amount.

So let's start, initial state L1 v1 in brackets. We draw and draw… (finally add the open all option - please). Final condition:

🔸gray - (501) +430

🔸blue - (355) +290

🔸green - (75) +93

🔸red - (27) +31

🔸gold - (15) + 6

L1 v2 - initial state in brackets, and after the draw:

🔸gray - (853) + 483

🔸blue - (596) + 348

🔸green - (156) + 132

🔸red - (57) + 33

🔸gold - (21) + 10

And finally, Global - the initial state in brackets, and then the drawing results:

🔸gray - (444) +295

🔸blue - (349) +233

🔸green - (106) +66

🔸red - (41) +17

🔸gold - (26) +0

So let's summarize all the draws. We drew 2450 cards, and here are the number and probability:

🔸gray - 1208 - 48.61% (less by 0.58%)

🔸blue - 871 - 35.55% (more by 0.22%)

🔸green - 291 - 11.88% (more by 0.55%)

🔸red - 81 - 3.31% (more by 0.55%)

🔸gold - 16 - 0.65% (less by 0.63%)

Time for summaries and comparison with previous results. As we can see, the chance of drawing a gold card has almost doubled, and on the Global server, not a single one of the 122 packages was found! However, the chance of getting a red and green card increased, almost comparable to the drop in gold. The rest remains unchanged. Unlucky or intentional change? I guess another analysis will be necessary after some time.

Author: Matushevsky

PLATINUM CARD #2 TEREFERE

Welcome to the second of four segments about absolute legends of Footballteam. In response to some comments, I want to clarify for those who didn’t understand that this series is about highlighting four players in four different positions who have achieved something in FT that no one else has done before and likely never will again. The selection is influenced not only by their achievements and time in the game but also by their reputation among players. All four individuals are widely known, and their history clearly shows that a gold card is far too small of an accolade.

For some "jealous folks," I’ll spoil that these won’t be four people from the same club. To everyone else, I invite you to guess who might be featured in the last two positions.

1/ Goalkeeper:

2/ Defender: Matt Agustin

3/ Midfielder: Terefere

4/ Forward:

History

Terefere, also known as Sebson, is one of the main leaders of the most decorated club in the entire history of FT, Copacabana. A club that over nearly 70 seasons has dominated the server three times (including the current situation). Starting as a goalkeeper and moving through positions from defender to CDM and now to his current position in central midfield, Terefere has proven to be a leading figure in every line. A boss on the field and off of it. A person with a positive outlook on life and without conflicts. In the FT community, he became famous for starting almost from scratch in season 42 and, in record time, surpassing everyone by reaching TOP1, remaining out of reach for anyone else for a long period and dominating the server both individually and as part of a team. From season 42 to season 51, he won TOTW 24 times. There is only one person who can boast a similar number of TOTW wins. In his prime, he was unmatched and unbeaten, but like Matt before him, he slightly slowed down due to a lack of competition. Will he ever return to his previous form? Is his prime behind him? I don't know, but many are waiting for the dragon to reawaken; together with Matt, they could once again create the monster that CC once was.

Achievements

🔸21x CT Winner (15 consecutive times, seasons 49-63)

🔸1x EC Winner

🔸22x TOP1 SL

🔸7x TOP2 SL

🔸6x 1st League Winner

🔸10x DC Winner

🔸13x SL Medalist (Medals as goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, and forward!)

🔸31x TOTW

🔸7x Club TOTW

🔸4x Best Player Award in CT

🔸And a ton of other medals and trophies

Decision

Here, the decision on who among all the midfielders most deserved the “Platinum Card” was much more difficult. Ultimately, it was individual achievements and the number of TOTWs, which is hard to match, that were decisive. The number of TOTW wins is impressive, but perhaps the main aspect of the choice was reaching TOP1 on the server almost four years after it started, and doing so at lightning speed.

Other considered midfielders: Zyzio, Duma, Fussballgott, Speezi

Autor: Bestia

IDENTITY ABOVE ALL

In a selective and exclusionary sports world, where the vast majority are deprived of minimal opportunities, CONIFA - Confederation of Independent Football Associations, assumes the role of representing all football associations that operate independently of FIFA - International Federation of Association Football.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Luleå, Sweden, CONIFA represents nations, dependencies, unrecognised states, minorities, stateless people, regions and micronations. Its headquarters are in Luleå, Sweden.

English is the official language for internal documents, correspondence and announcements. The current president of the organisation is the Norwegian, Per-Anders Blind.

To be a member of this confederation, in addition to not being affiliated with FIFA, it is necessary to meet one or more of the following requirements:

🔸Football is a member of one of FIFA's six continental confederations, which are: AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA.

🔸The entity represented by football is a member of the International Olympic Committee.

🔸The entity represented by football is a member of one of the federations affiliated to the IOC Association of Recognized International Sports Federations (ARISF).

🔸The entity represented by football has an ISO 3166-1 country code.

🔸The entity represented by football is a de facto independent territory. A territory is considered de facto independent if it meets all of the following criteria: (a) a well-defined territory; (b) a permanent population; (c) a self-governing government, and (d) diplomatic recognition by at least one of the member states of the United Nations.

🔸The entity represented by football is included in the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories.

🔸The entity represented by football is included in the Traveler's Century Club directory of countries and territories.

🔸The entity represented by football is a member of the UNPO and/or the FUEN.

🔸The entity represented by football is a minority included in the World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, maintained and published by Minority Rights Group International.

🔸The entity represented by football is a linguistic minority, whose language is included in the ISO 639-2 Code List.

The current members are divided by continents:

🔸Europe (17) - Abkhazia, Western Armenia, Artsakh, Chameria, Northern Cyprus, Cornwall, Two Sicilies, Ellan Vannin, Elba Island, Lapland, South Ossetia, Padania, Siculo Country, Raetia, Sardinia, Ticino and Transcarpathia.

🔸Asia (7) - Kashmir, Kurdistan, Hmong, Punjab, Tamil Eelam, Tibet and Turkestan.

🔸Africa (4) - Biafra, Kabylia, Katanga and Yoruba

🔸North America (4) - ANBM, Cascadia, Cuzcatlán and Quisqueya

🔸South America (6) - Aymaras, Armenian Community of Argentina, Cunas, Maule Sur, Mapuches and São Paulo FAD

🔸Oceania (2) - Hawaii and West Papua

CONIFA organises regional, continental and world competitions:

Regional

⚽ Liga de Balompié Mexicano (ANBM)

Continental

⚽ CONIFA African Cup, which had an edition in 2022.

⚽ CONIFA European Cup, which had 3 editions in 2015, 2017 and 2019, with the 2021 and 2023 editions being cancelled.

⚽ CONIFA Copa América, with one edition taking place in 2022.

World Cups

⚽ World Cup CONIFA, which had editions in 2014, 2016, 2018, and in 2020, was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2024, there was to be an edition of the World Cup in Kurdistan, but on April 30, 2024, CONIFA announced that the tournament would be postponed until the summer of 2025, after security concerns prevented a large number of teams from travelling to the region.

CONIFA believes that it is essential: "to make visible isolated minorities, people without admissions, refugees, displaced or stateless communities who want to keep a collective identity alive."

And I end with the wise phrase of Rosa Luxemburg: "For a world where we are socially equal, humanly different and totally free."

Big hug and until the next article.

Author: Fábio Muri

THE QUEEN AND THE CUPS

Hello players! This week we'll talk about the quarterfinals of the National Cup.

Hearts in the Deck.

To begin our journey through the Cups, I'll mention here the traditional card game that features 4 suits of cards. As for their origin, it is believed that they were created by the Frenchman Jacquemin Gringonneur, commissioned by King Charles VI of France. The suits represent the social divisions of France: Hearts, would be the clergy; gold, the bourgeoisie; the sword, the military; and the clubs, the peasants."

Cups in Fantasy

How can we talk about Cups without bringing to mind the feared Iracebeth, the Queen of Hearts or Red Queen, an iconic character from the book “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland”, by the writer Lewis Carroll, published in 1865. The villainous queen's catchphrase: “- off with her head”, is part of the cultural memory of millions of children, teenagers and adults around the world.

National Team Cups

In addition to card games and literature, 2024 was a year of Continental Football Cups.

🔸The African Cup of Nations, held in Ivory Coast, with the local team being champion for the third time.

🔸The European Cup, held in Germany, where the champion was Spain, being the most successful winner of the tournament with 4 titles.

🔸The Copa América, held in the United States, where Argentina was the winner, is the leader in titles with 16 wins. 

🔸The Asian Cup, held in Qatar and won by the local team, which won its second title. 

🔸The OFC Nations Cup, with New Zealand winning the tournament, being the biggest champion with 6 titles. 

The 2024 CONIFA World Cup should have taken place this year in Kurdistan. CONIFA (Confederation of Independent Football Associations) organises football competitions for states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions not affiliated with FIFA. But the tournament ended up being postponed to the summer of 2025. The competition will have 16 participants: Transcarpathia, Kurdistan, Raetia, Siculus Country, Cornwall, Tamil Eelam, Tibet, ANBM, Kabylia, Abkhazia, Kashmir, Punjab, South Ossetia, Canton of Ticino, São Paulo FAD and Maule Sur.

And as the last item on the agenda, we will highlight the quarter-final matches in the National Football Team Cups, predicting who will qualify in each bracket in the clashes.

Polish League

Bracket 1 - Matches

🔸Go Complain x Black Team

🔸Fulham F.C.. x Łosie w Kosmosie

Prediction: Who will qualify is Łosie w Kosmosie

Bracket 2 - Matches

🔸Nexus x Los Angeles Clickers

🔸Boston Hawks x Engine Fault

Prediction: Who will qualify is Engine Fault

English League

Bracket 1 - Matches

🔸Dream Snake x HERO TEAM

🔸Al Wehda FC x Hakuna Matata

Prediction: Who will qualify is Dream Snake

Bracket 2 - Matches

🔸Plymouth Argyle x Bella Ciao

🔸TACHIBANA BANANA x La Familia

Prediction: Who will qualify is Bella Ciao

Italian League

Bracket 1 - Matches

🔸Club Tijuana x FC Mayaply

🔸Gang Kudłatego x FC HIENAS

Prediction: Who will qualify is FC HIENAS

Bracket 2 - Games

🔸Warriors FC x Eagles FC

🔸Leśnik Płazów x BAVOVNA

Prediction: Who will qualify is BAVOVNA

Spanish League

Bracket 1 - Games

🔸AK Elite Team x DeVilS United

🔸CA River Plate x Mazovia Mady
Prediction: Who will qualify is AK Elite Team

Bracket 2 - Games

🔸Polish DF x Perełka FC

🔸Manchester United. x Niebieskie ChachaRy

Prediction: Who will qualify is Polish DF

And you, player, what are your predictions for the matches?

As the Mad Hatter says: "Embrace your madness, before normality catches up with you."

Big hug and see you next time!

Author: Fábio Muri