Your weekly source of information and entertainment, Sports Journal #18 brought to you by our journalists, is here! 📖⚽

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1/ FOOTBALL QUIZ

2/ NEW CALENDAR??

3/ FALLS OF LEGENDARY CLUBS OF THE LEGACY SERVER

4/ PROPOSAL - NEW SPECIAL POSITION - SHUTTLE PLAYER

5/ TOP FT DEFENDERS

6/ ABOUT EVERYTHING AND NOTHING: "WHERE DID YOU GO?"

7/ NEWS DIGEST OF CAT-BLOGGER

FOOTBALL QUIZ

👑 The winners of the latest edition are: (Global)

100 🔑 Premium Keys - Efekt Motyla

10.000 ⚡ Energy -  BooM & Scott Summers

Hello! I'm coming with the next part of the football quiz series. Of course, there are prizes! 100 🔑 Premium Keys for the person who correctly answers the questions the fastest and 10 000 ⚡ Energy for two randomly chosen players with correct answers. Let’s get it started!

1.Name and surname of the football player.

Born on September 9, 1985 in Zadar, he is one of the most talented and respected footballers in history. His career is a true success story, full of challenges, triumphs and extraordinary achievements.

He began his football career at NK Zadar, where he played from 1996 to 2001. He then moved to Dinamo Zagreb, where he developed his talent and gained his first serious experience from 2002 to 2008 (also on loan during those years). In Dinamo Zagreb he showed off his extraordinary technique, creativity and great ability to handle the ball.

In 2008, he moved to Tottenham Hotspur for €22.5 million, where he quickly became a key player and a fans’ favourite. He showed his talent in the Premier League, impressing with his precise passing, dynamic play and ability to create goal-scoring opportunities.

In 2012, he moved to the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu for €35 million, one of the biggest clubs in the world. At Real Madrid, he became a true star, winning six Champions League titles, four Spanish league titles, five Spanish Super Cups and four Club World Cups.

The player is also the captain of the Croatian national team, with whom he reached the World Cup final in 2018. In the same year, he was named the best player in the world by FIFA. 

He is a true football legend. His career is an example of hard work, determination and extraordinary talent. He is an inspiration to young footballers around the world, and his success story will be remembered for a long time.

2. Name and surname of the Manager.

A character who has gained great popularity in the world of football in recent years. His career as a football player and coach is an inspiring example for many young athletes. Let's take a closer look at his life and accomplishments.

He was born on January 27, 1985 in Lisbon, Portugal. From an early age he showed talent for football, which led to his early entry into a football academy. Primarily he played as a midfielder, and his skills quickly caught the attention of bigger clubs in the country.

He had the opportunity to play in few famous clubs, such as:

🔹Benfica – a short episode in one of Sporting's biggest rivals.

🔹Braga – his last club as a player, where he ended his career in 2017.

After retiring from football, he quickly moved into coaching. He took his first steps in this role at Casa Pia, where he gained valuable experience. He then took over the Sporting Braga reserve team, which opened the door to greater challenges. He gained recognition as a coach, leading Sporting CP to numerous successes. His management style and ability to motivate players contributed to winning the Portuguese championship in the 2020/2021 season.

This achievement was especially important because Sporting had not won the title in 19 years. In November 2024, he took up a new challenge, taking up the position as coach of Manchester United. His arrival in England aroused a lot of emotions, and fans are eagerly waiting to see the effects of his work. The coach's task is to bring the club back to the top of English football.

Author: Wylewinho

NEW CALENDAR??

Hello dear Readers!

Andrzejek on the other side of the screen. Last week I brought up the subject of calendar rewards for you, which are currently available every season with slight changes. The topic that I took up as an editor appeared on Discord several times, so it's high time to bring it up in the newsletter.

The proposals that I have prepared for you and the administration are not official. It is only a collection of my and Discord users' proposals.

I invite you to the article!

FootballTeam players most often choose XP Drinks, Triumph Ball or Card Packs. Why don't they choose other options, in which you can choose from, among others, Energy, Golden Balls, Euro or Crystals?

Collecting feedback among players, the vast majority is of the same opinion - the rewards are simply too weak. The challenges that our virtual players have to face for 30 days are often demanding (especially for F2P players), while the rewards are not adequate to the time spent on completing them.

As for 60,000 Energy, it is not enough for even half a day of training, and I remind you that in order to receive such a reward, we have to do the calendar for 30 days. This choice would make much more sense if the amount of Energy was significantly increased.

The same applies to the choice of Golden Balls, because the value of 40,000 is not even able to cover, for example, the manufacture of a green ball on a green chance - without counting other resources, 55,500 Golden Balls are needed, which do not provide a 100% guarantee of creating an item.

Another option that we can choose as a reward is Euro. This resource is very important for every player and of course in the game we have the option of earning euros in the Work tab. However, it is worth noting that 4,500,000,000 Euro is definitely too small an amount that, for example, a player from the Legacy server in the top 10 can consider as a reward option, because he has to pay much more for training in one day.

Has the 30x Rocket Fuel Drink V reward ever been chosen by anyone? I can only understand choosing this reward if it was at least 150 drinks.

As for XP drinks, this is the reward I personally chose most often - it would be nice if their number was increased 🙂

Gathering feedback, I haven't met a single person who chose the historical drink as a reward for 30 days of the calendar. Are they unnecessary, or is it a problem with the number of such drinks?

Apart from the classic server, the other FootballTeam servers have players well over 10k OVR, and one of the options in the calendar is green and red crystals. Something like this should have been changed a long time ago, and the opinion of players is that after the changes regarding augmentation they are completely useless, as evidenced by the drop in the prices of Success Crystals.

Proposal for new rewards:

In addition to the current rewards I discussed, new options for rewards have appeared among FootballTeam players that would satisfy players.

🔹 dedicated 24h training set (XP Drink, reduction of Energy and training costs)

🔹 return of 5x 60% PS

🔹 Material/Success/Triumph Fragments (in the right amount to facilitate the creation of higher tier items in the manufactory)

🔹 Crafter Packs

🔹 Credits

🔹 increased number of Card Packs

🔹 Gold Card Packs (due to the fact that they were added quite recently)

🔹 restoration of 5x random gold cards instead of 3x

🔹 Fame Points (in a reasonable amount equivalent to creating 3 gold cards)

🔹 more than 1 Triumph Ball

🔹 Premium Keys

So, another article is coming to an end. I believe that this is a topic that cannot be ignored and I believe that at the next meeting the FootballTeam administration will discuss the topic of new calendar rewards!

Traditionally, I invite you to the comments section, because maybe your idea will be added as a new reward option.

With football greetings,

Andrzejek

Author: Andrzejek

FALLS OF LEGENDARY CLUBS OF THE LEGACY SERVER

Although All Saints' Day, the time of reminiscing, is long behind us, it is worth discussing in today's edition the subject of the next falls of the biggest teams in the world of FootballTeam.

In recent months, we have witnessed many changes and reshuffles in the club ranking, a lot has changed especially in the top, where once again the harvest of SL made itself felt, which resulted in the complete closure of clubs or their significant fall. Which teams were they? I invite you to read a short summary below.

One of these legendary clubs over the years was certainly the CopaCabana team. In their case, there have been many falls and comebacks, but the last breakup was rather the final one. Similar stories concern teams such as Nankatsu and Radioactive Squad. Although who knows, maybe we will be surprised again and one of these teams, the most famous to everyone, will return and try to mix things up in the rankings.

Another team that at one point was a real hegemon on the Polish server was Team Activity. This team had no equals in their heyday, but when their biggest rivals mobilized, they slowly began to fall apart, losing their leaders and most important figures from season to season.

After merging with the Public Enemies team, their slow decline began, which was completed before the start of the current season. During the previous season, an unexpected situation also occurred, because the long-time leader of Team Activity - Lukas Kezer - deleted his account in the game.

It was quite surprising, although on the other hand it cannot be surprising, after all, there was no one left from the original team, and the team became just a stopover for players whose only goal was bonuses for playing in Super League.

This year we also witnessed the closing of a kind of Dream State history. Although for years this team was one of the most extensive clubs in terms of the network of players who played under their banner, over time they began to decrease.

Finally, the first team changed its name to CopaCabana, and after a few seasons of success, it simply fell apart. And although the team under the Dream State banner is still active on the server, it is not the same anymore, especially since the club was left by its founder and legend - Xyz.

Of the newest clubs, another similar story seems to be the Wizard team, a team that at one point in the game seemed to be the most aspiring, which could realistically threaten the top in the coming years. This team very quickly hit the next overall values, climbing up and enriching its club showcase.

However, as it turns out, they were defeated by the drive for success or simply ran out of ideas for continuing this project. Although the club is still operating, it is difficult to find its former leaders, who have dispersed to other teams. Not much is left of the beautiful project, and the club seems to have taken over the role of a team associating players who are only looking for access to Super League bonuses.

You could say that there have always been and will be such cases in the game, but it's sad that Polish teams are the ones that fall. Looking at the events that took place after the server merge, it's the top teams from the PL server that more often close their chapter and join Russian clubs.

Is chasing success right now, just to be able to fight for the podium or even a miserable 3rd place in Super League worth it? I don't know, but it's none of my business. I'm glad that there are still individual clubs on the server that, despite the passage of time, are still operating continuously. Let's hope it stays that way for as long as possible!

Author: Carlos Moura

PROPOSAL - NEW SPECIAL POSITION - SHUTTLE PLAYER

Special Positions

There are currently two special positions available in the game, the central defensive midfielder and the offensive midfielder. They are characterised by the fact that they affect two bars; CMD - defense and midfield, CAM - midfield and attack.

Thanks to them, we have a wider range of tactical actions and a greater possibility of operating players during the match. After the last rebalance, players are starting to choose the CAM role again, because for a long time it was unplayable at the highest level.

New Position

I am passionate about football tactics, and I am particularly fascinated by rotations during matches and club discussions on tactical solutions before key matches during the season.

I've been thinking recently about what could make the analysis of matches and strategy development even more realistic. I've come to the conclusion that the biggest missing element that would enhance this, in my opinion, is the addition of a special shuttle role.

Role details

The main problem was figuring out how to make this role work without making huge changes to the match engine that would completely change everything. Such big changes are not necessary in my opinion, as I lead and watch the matches very closely.

After rebalancing special positions and changes to the engine (it used to be very difficult to score the seventh goal, the eighth was impossible and set pieces were required to get a score higher than 6-0, now it's not necessary) the game is quite well balanced.

We can see a greater variety of tactics, and the highest level tactics from CAM have returned -  3x4x2x1, 3x5x1x1. Also the new role should not significantly affect the current game engine.

I came to the conclusion that the shuttle should work on the following principles:

• while the team is defending, the shuttle's influence on the bars should be focused on the defense bar

• when playing the ball, the power of the shuttle's bar should be counted towards the midfield bar

• during a goal-scoring action, the shuttle should be counted towards the attack bar
  

Now you may say that this doesn't make sense because having two shuttles means that we have two extra players in each line every minute of the match. This is true, but…

To reduce the huge impact of this position on the course of the match, in each of the above-mentioned phases, only the skill required in each line should be counted. Thanks to this, if our hypothetical shuttler trains mainly playmaking, then when counted towards the defense line, he will have only a marginal impact on the course of the action.

Therefore, you will still have to choose what to train and what to specialise in. Just like in the real world, there are shuttle players who are great at attacking but weak at defending, such as Hakimi, who, playing very aggressively up front, is often late in his comebacks to defense.

Cancelo, who was great as an inverted shuttle at City, can play the ball at a world-class level, but also has problems in defense, mainly in terms of physical duels and maintaining concentration.

The opposite example would be Tierney, who plays well in defense but has deficiencies in offense, which is why he lost the competition at Arsenal and is now loaned out. Another example would be Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

Conclusion

I think the idea has potential, it would be great if the topic was discussed by the Administration. The balance issue can definitely be solved because we don't want everyone to play the same tactic again, but these are rather tasks for testers.

What do you think about this idea? Maybe you also have your own thoughts on solving the issue of this hypothetical role, or do you have ideas for other roles that you would like to see in FT? I invite you to discuss in the comments.

Author: Wącham Klej

TOP FT DEFENDERS

Making a list of the TOP FootballTeam defenders is quite subjective, as there have been many dominators in these two short seasons of the CLASSIC server of the game and there will always be debate about who was or is the best defender in the game. 

We rank the best FootballTeam defenders of the moment. The defender position is one of the most desirable, and its defensive ability is key to determining the best in the game.

Guardians of the goal, symbols and leaders, participants of greatness. Let's start by highlighting the 3 best defenders in the game. The main characteristic of this position is that it has a determining role in cutting off the rival game. 

The figure of the defender is decisive when it comes to creating the last line before reaching the goalkeeper. They are often considered the most aggressive players on the field because they have to launch themselves at the forward without hesitating for a single moment. 

They have to be forceful and know how to anticipate, which is why they lead the entire defense and even the entire team on certain occasions. Sometimes his impetus leads him to receive warnings, although the truth is that he is not a violent player, but a marker who breaks the attacking game with the purpose of recovering the ball and going on the counterattack, trying to gain an advantage in speed. Here is a review of the 5 best defenders in the game

MATEOR (BLACK STARS) 

Versatile and very complete, he was one of the first to define the position of CENTRAL, idol of THE BLACK STARS. He debuted in this team on 08/10/2024. Holder of 1 league and listed as the best defender in season 1. His 45 PJ, 11 goals, 5 assists and 46 interventions speak of his pure quality and technique. Position 10 in the general ranking and 4150 in OVR.

RAYMOND REDDINGTON (Black Stars)

RAYMOND REDDINGTON debuted on 10/07/2024 in Future Knights and arrived at BLACK STARS on 10/11/2024. A defensive beast, winner of 1 league. His 44 PJ, 3 goals, 1 assist and 25 interventions are data that probably make him the greatest central defender in FootballTeam. He can do whatever he wants with the ball. Ranked number 21 in the general ranking and 2853 in OVR.

VERIE (Inet Squad).

VERIE is a neat central defender, with excellent technique and good marking. A leader with extraordinary technique and impressive physical ability. A winner, he is the symbol of this team's defense. He debuted in Legia Warszawa and moved to Inet Squad, he holds a second place in the league, he has 42 PJ, 8 goals, 29 interventions in his entire career, which puts him in 21st place in the general ranking with 2853 OVR.

As we always like to ask. Do you agree with this list? Yes, we know that there are some names missing, but we have to limit ourselves to 3 players, and these are the ones I think should appear. Or do you think that some of the names should be added and removed? Could you make your list? Remember, this football thing is a matter of taste.

Author:Bufalo Funes (ID 1183)

ABOUT EVERYTHING AND NOTHING: "WHERE DID YOU GO?"

Oh, it’s been a while since I last appeared in the pages of the sports journal—not because of the new "publishing rules" for articles, but simply due to a banal lack of time to observe game events, track player and team movements, or even write an article. But here I am again—this is Nika, and I welcome all of you, dear readers, and even those who have "survived" the server merge.

There seems to be a trend that everything is heading... well, downhill. Many teams are going into "hibernation" or simply living out their era, players are dispersing, logging in less often, or abandoning their accounts altogether. This is food for thought for the administration! Something needs to be done... Constant events aren’t enough to keep players engaged (sure, it’s great that resources are now easier to obtain, but that’s for everyone, unlike before when you’d save for a few seasons just to put up a fight). The introduction of new gear isn’t motivating either—it’s nearly impossible for "ordinary mortals" to get them because the top teams are ready to "fight to the death" to grab a shirt or a pair of shorts.

Alright, let’s wrap up the lyrical digression. I wanted to have a little chat with PhilHit. I must say, I was quite surprised by one event. A player who was loyal to Kremen through and through, saying things like "If we go, we go as a team into the sunset," suddenly ended up in BAVOVNA. In our Telegram community, someone joked, "Looks like the chief stepped out for a smoke break for the season," but it seems like that season stretched into two. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Alright, let’s welcome PhilHit and have a chat.

Journalist: Hi, it’s been a while since we last talked! And yes, I know you’ve missed my slightly "sharp" articles, but you know how my ink flows. 😁 Honestly, you surprised me. Tell me, what made you take this step? I remember from long ago that you were unwavering in your loyalty to Kremen and had no intention of leaving your "child." What happened?

PhilHit: Hi, let’s just call it a creative vacation—to take a break from developing my character and focus on transfers. Plus, I have excellent deputies, Oleg and Yan.

Journalist: I heard you were taking a "season-long vacation," but I see it’s been extended. Are you stepping back from active gameplay and shifting to a more advisory role for the team?

PhilHit: No, I plan to return as soon as the 30-day block ends. In the meantime, I stay in touch with Kremen, and all recent transfers went through me.

Journalist: Yes, I saw your transfers—your team has certainly gained strength. Back when server mergers were first mentioned, our Russian-speaking community aimed to stand united against the foreign teams and support each other. But first, Berkut welcomed "new" players, and now I see you’ve decided to merge with a Polish team. Why didn’t you manage on your own? Or are you still nurturing that lingering plan to "take over the world"? 😁

(Apologies, but I couldn’t resist including this image.)

PhilHit: We’re still playing on our own terms. We welcomed reasonable players with the same goals as ours, and that’s fantastic. Every player works towards the team’s development.

Journalist: After two rounds, Kremen is finally at the top of the leaderboard, and it seems you might achieve something monumental by winning SL gold.

PhilHit: It’s too early to talk about the top spot, but we’ll strive for it. Thank you, and I hope we’ll please you with the team’s progress and results.

As for the Kremen and WIZARD merger, Marat—also known as Daddy Don—has either shared or will share that story.

Thank you all for your attention. Good luck on the Football Team fields. And may only the best rewards drop from your packs. 😉

Author: NIKNEST

NEWS DIGEST OF CAT-BLOGGER

The Blog of Cat-Journalist: Gossiping, discussing fluffy updates, and purring over the week's results.

"Answering a question with a question-answer."

It’s been a while since I last visited you. Apologies—there’s been a lot on my plate. Meanwhile, the December "Q&A" has been released. Let’s save a detailed discussion about it for next time—everything directly tied to New Year’s updates will be covered closer to the New Year. I already analyzed many of these things back in the summer. For now, let’s not drag the cat by its tail (of course, the tail!) and move on to discussing the most exciting announcement.

The New SL Format.

Briefly, here’s what’s happening: the SL (Super League) itself will be disbanded. All current SL clubs will "drop" into the first league. The first leagues will expand from 4 to 8. These eight best clubs from the first leagues will form an SL tournament, playing two matches every two days—home and away. The remaining first-league clubs will participate in the national cup.

Seems simple enough, right? But this article wouldn’t exist if there weren’t a series of questions to address. Let’s start from the beginning. After the server merge, we were met with fierce competition among clubs. In the first season, everyone sized each other up. Hypothetically, three clubs could compete for the top SL spot if the third one merged with any of the other SL clubs. The rest of the SL clubs were more or less equal in strength. In the Spanish league, four clubs could vie for the top spot. Just look at this:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

What do we see? Clubs are suddenly gaining strength. Why? Simple. Every month, we lose one SL club, which means the first league also loses strength. The Polish league lost its dominant club. In Spain, instead of four top clubs, there are now three. And so on. Clubs follow the path of least resistance. Merge with your rival and take on the third together. At the start, we had four SL clubs with 10k OVR. Now we have three. TeamTsubasa is too strong for some and too weak for others.

In short, what’s being proposed now is to repeat the SL path, but across eight leagues. What kind of intriguing league could FC Berkut or Public Enemies form? Would anyone really be interested in watching a match between FC Berkut and Mazovia Mady U21? From the perspective of top clubs, nothing changes. Whether the opponent has 10,000 OVR or 1,500 OVR, the result is the same—no chance for the latter. But did anyone ask the other clubs? Do they want these overpowered giants in their leagues? Essentially, nothing changes. We’re just giving individual league titles to all SL clubs. On average, only two out of eight leagues will have any intrigue. Maybe three at the start of the update. This is a very questionable decision. We’re rewarding four additional clubs (compared to now) with titles, but we risk killing intrigue in the leagues entirely.

Speaking of top clubs—how interesting is it to play against them? Those who, like me, closely follow the SL and its dynamics know that over the past three seasons, 12 different clubs have played in the SL. First-league teams have a great option: "Take a break in the SL." Clubs like LIONHEART, FC ParaBellum, WIZARD, Novigrad, and Hakuna Matata have taken this route, along with others that are no longer with us. Each of these clubs could choose its own path. But now, that option might be taken away. I always say this game needs maximum diversity.

Fine, let’s create eight leagues. But let’s redistribute them every (!) season. Ten seasons in one place is unbearable. Clubs can’t handle two months before they start merging or seeking new challenges because the footballing aspect lacks intrigue. With seasonal redistribution, teams could say, "Let’s endure this month, and maybe we’ll have a good league next season, so we can continue enjoying the game together." But strong clubs are dwindling. Look at the screenshots. Three months ago, the difference between 1st and 8th place in the SL was 2.8 times. Now it’s 4.7. If I recall correctly, the 200th top club once had 1400 OVR. Now it doesn’t even have 1200 OVR. The regression is evident.

And there’s still the question of who should play in the SL: league winners or the top 8 by OVR? Hopefully, it’s the top 8. Even if all 8 come from the same league...

Author: Кот Баюн