All the talking stops now, the AG Fantasy Football League Season 28 has started and did so with a bang last Friday. 40 teams all started the new season with hopes of surviving, promotion and trophies. The preseason previews were done on the site last week and indications were that that Jxcquesy is favoured to win the Prem from Burga boii, Colmaw will win the Championship with TheMalien going up automatically in 2nd place, with Berty44 favoured to win League 1 from Ryjones. Ultimately there is only going to be one winner so let’s see how the first set of matches of season finished when the season kicked off last weekend.
PREMIERSHIP
Yes it’s a cliché, but we have to start with the best surely… thus we start our very first game which is our first feature match on today’s MOTD ( one of the features of AG is that most of the community broadcast their games on Mixer facilitating fellow site members viewing the matches )
Jxcquesy started the season being predicted to finish in first with his Wolverhampton side and he swept away PSV who was predicted to finish towards the bottom end of the table. PSV battled hard, and did everything they could to stop Wolves, but it just wasn’t enough. Both games ended in victory for Jxcquesy who came away with a 3-1 victory at the Molineux, and a thumping 6-1 victory away to PSV. We caught up with a very depleted Dutch manager after the game.
New season, promoted from the Championship with by far the most goals last season... Point to prove this season in the Prem?
Last season we had the players who could finish which helped, Before the season started our aim was to survive as to be fair, they are all classy players in the Prem.
Your first opposition is a very strong and highly rated Wolves team, how did your preparations go in pre-season?
We never had much prep which showed, One KOTH match against Burga which we lost by 1, but had more than enough chances in game, so hopes were high heading to Wolves.
In the first game you battled hard and showed high glimpses of promise, missing a few clear cut chances, target practice for training next week?
As Burga mentioned in KOTH we had more than enough chances to win that game, and didn't, and that trend continued in game one. But the red card at 1-1 killed it for us, and Jxcquesy taking advantage of a terrible keeper throw out. Was a great game.
When you went 1-0 up in the 2nd game surely you must have felt quite comfortable at that point?
Even after game ones defeat when we took the lead we still knew they would come at us, but yeah we did feel comfortable as were making chances.
After the opening goal your defence just capitulated, and conceded 6!!! What on Earth happened?
We will sit and have a good look at the match footage, another red card and two penalties gave away also, We just can't be doing this at the top level of Premiership football.
In the 2nd game Sammi Ameobi tore your defense apart, how do you stop someone like him?
Sammy is a great player touch of pace and great movement, I think not diving in early and maybe jockeying is what we need to start doing. But hats off to the lad.
Are you writing this fixture as a blip, or are you expecting more of the same this season?
As we said in our pre season blog, we know its gonna be tough, quality across the board and we knew we would be in a scrap for game 1 and already it looks that way.
From one quality team to another, your next game against Sporting surely won't be an easy one how do you plan to combat it?
Yeah it doesn't get any easier, Buncey is a quality player so we will expect another tough game. There are couple of tricky players in his squad so we will need to be switched on, And of course we are with out Awoniyi after his sending off.
After your first 2 games, do you feel you need to strengthen your team and fast?
100% , A striker who can finish is a must as we can create enough chances in a game, and also a strong holding midfielder is on our list, and we are in talks with a team in London for a potential player.
Finally thanks to talking to us today any last words for the Dutch faithful?
No problem at all , enjoyed it. The PSV fans and owners know we need to build and will do so over the season, ive said give me time and I will get us challenging even it means going down then back up.. We will get there.
paullowes80 also threw in this additional statement:
A message after game one from Jxcquesy when apologising for taking advantage of a keeper throw out, was a nice touch but it happens. Days of being kind and no square balls / cut backs are over now. but his goal was my clanger.....We will also try to appeal the last red as was very harsh and speak to AG Refs about these daft penalty decisions, as can see many this season upsetting managers. Thanks
Inter trouble
This was a game for the ages a stunning end to end battle both home and away as Inter Milan took on Barcelona. IDanger IMouse and his side blew away Barcelona in the 1st 20minutes of the first game and it looked likely that Barca was going to concede at hat full. However a few swift actions by aaronc333 and a change of personnel saw the Italian giants crumble under pressure and lose 4-2 in the Spanish capital. For the home leg Barca looked to run rampant as they scored the first goal very early on, but this time it was Inter Milan who went into half time with a glorious 2-1 lead. Looking to make amends for the first game Inter looked determined to finish off aaronc333 men but just couldn’t find the back of the net, so Barca did what they do best and made them pay. The game ended 3-2 to the Catalunya side.
We caught up with the elated Barcelona manager after the game.
Start of a new season, many have u predicted to finish around the mid table spots, would you see this as an accurate prediction?
Personally, no. I can understand people picking me to be mid table, but I think I'm better than that, granted I did finish FIFA19 quite poorly. It was only 3 seasons back (I think) that I was winning the league and doing quite well, so I know I'm capable of finishing a lot higher than I have done in previous seasons, and what people have predicted for me.
Your first game was against a manager who bailed you out last season, was their a sense of taking it easy in preparation for this meeting?
Whilst I appreciate what was done for me last season, I definetly was not planning on taking it easy. Getting off to a good start is crucial, so I had to put everything into getting 6 points, from experience I know it's quite easy to caught up in a relegation scrap, so if I lost the first two it could quite easily snowball, leaving me too far behind.
Your games against IDanger IMouse was really end to end and captured some magical moments including an amazing overhead kick, how do you comeback from something like that?
They were 2 very good games, I remember looking at the stats of both and we were pretty much neck & neck on everything bar possession, which I just shaded. It took me a couple of seconds to get over the fact a 70 rated player had just done that, but you have to keep calm and keep playing the game, it only takes 1 goal for this game to swing, and thankfully I managed to pull it back to 2-2 at HT, I thought I had the better of the 2nd half overall and deserved the 4-2 win. 2nd game I started well this time, but you grew into the game as it went on and deserved to be 2-1 up. I honestly thought you'd go on to win the game as you were splitting my defence apart. I made a slight change and put Djenepo up front and brought Kownacki back to CAM, it obviously worked as my 2nd and 3rd goals were scored by them two.
Two stunning victories and both where from behind, did you always believe in your team? Or was the hairdryer out at half time?
The first game I believed I would comeback yes, you went 2-0 up very early in the game, and as we all know, 2-0 can be a tricky scoreline. I just carried on playing the way I have been on FIFA20, and thankfully it worked. 2nd game, as mentioned above, I really didn't expect to come back, I felt a draw would have been a good result for me.
Your next match is against an opponent you really battled against all of last season, what things will your team need to work before taking on Joe?
Ah Joe . I played him in a couple of friendlies a few nights back and in all honesty, he absolutely battered me, I think he scored about 15 goals in 3 games. My defence was all over the place. I've made a few changes since then. I think he suits these players well, because they're quite slow in the stuff they do and he is quite slow in his build up play at times, waiting for the right pass instead of gung-ho from the off. I've a fairly decent record over him in league games though, winning 3 of the last 4 (I think). They'll be good games as they usually are between us.
Your team spirit is probably on a high at this moment in time, do you need any more players coming in at this moment in time or are you happy with what you have?
I think any team can always be improved. I've brought a decent LB in from my old pal deareststorm which was needed, I do regret selling Rico Henry if I'm honest. I'm happy with my midfield as it is, E. Eze loves a good upgrade, so hopefully he'll keep getting better as the weeks go on. I am actively seeking a CAM though, so if any one has a deal in mind, my door is always open.
What do you think of our new cup... The Eliminator?
Yeah it sounds good. We did need a change from the CC, it was getting quite stale in all honesty. The handicap system is a good system and usually see's different people win stuff, which is good. I'm sure it will prove very popular this season and we'll have some great games. Do we need to use or lowest rated GK in it?
Finally thank you for joining us today any last words for your adoring fans back in Catalunya?
Calm down with the protests ffs. I understand bringing Storm in as head of PR was a bad move, but there's no need for what is going off on the streets these last few nights. Please, go home, have some paella, make love to your wife or partner and relax. Peace and love to you all x
There was only 1 other fixture in the Premiership over the weekend but more are scheduled over the next few days so watch out for extended highlights from the MOTD YOUTUBE Channel.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyU23SL37PJMFpF_8JRRM7g
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aaronc333 4-2 IDanger IMouse
IDanger IMouse 2-3 aaronc333
paullowes80 1-6 Jxcquesy
Jxcquesy 3-1 paullowes80
TheAshCohen09 5-0 x Plunkett
x Plunkett 5-1 TheAshCohen09
CHAMPIONSHIP
This weeks first feature game was almost like a clash of the Titans, Swindon Town vs Atletico Madrid, by namesake you wouldn’t think that they would be a feature game but when you put two managers who should be fighting for the title it comes with a whole new story.
Both Jobi Juan and Colmaw1287 will be more then happy with a point a piece in both matches, considering they are both very top contenders for the title. The next feature match hosts two more teams fighting for the title Sevilla and a very favourable Tottenham Hotspur. The 1st game was a tight affair which ended in a 1-1 draw, but then Tottenham turned on the style and hammered home a 6-0 victory in front of the London faithful.
In the match press conference TheMalien stated: Tight game fella, could have gone either way, for the first match and things seemed to click in the second for me, unlucky bud, good luck for the rest of the season Bonzy87.
Results from the Championship
Elsewhere from the Championship newly promoted Ajax got off to a flyer with 2 huge victories over Juventus and Boca shared the spoils against Aston Villa. There have been reports already that Juventus are not happy with their new manager after fielding an illegible player and even changed their name in protest to Piemonte Calcio I wonder if that’s because Big B 1970 likes his pies??? We caught up with the man himself in an exclusive interview:
Season 28 is set to rock the casbah this weekend, I've heard you've been rocking it yourself during pre-season, what have you and your team been up to?
Pre-season has seen some mixed results but its not the results that count. We're a new club with some big shoes to fill, and I've had to adapt my style to the new game. I've got what I think is going to be a successful formation but we're still looking to bring in a few new players that fit our style a bit better.
Good opening fixture vs newly promoted Hilly89, however the result really didn't go your way did it?
Well, the results very much went our way in the actual games, with a confident 3-1 win, followed by a hard fought 1-1 draw, but its the events that occurred afterwards that turned it into a pair of 1-0 defeats! We were meant to have a player called Alex Lopez but when this fella's agent brought him along to pre-season training, and his registration papers had one of those Spanish tripled barrelled names we took him at face value that he wanted to be called Aguilera. It was only when he scored a cracking goal that the league told us it was some other Spaniard! We've sent the catfish packing, taken the fine and we're looking to find out where our player has gone!
Is your season over already?
Of course not, in a league this even, everyone will be dropping points left right and centre, so we'll be back in the mix in no time.
Tough to lose straight off the bat, how do you plan to turn things around?
No need to turn things around, the defeats are only the result of an admin cock up, but we've been double checking all the players registrations to make sure they are who they claim to be!
Where there any positives from your 2 games?
Plenty of positives, firstly that we scored double the amount of goals that our opponents did over 2 games. Admittedly, that is not shown on the league table but we know we were the better team and we played some good attacking football. We need to be a bit more ruthless in front of goal and convert more chances in the next game though.
Next up is another newly promoted team, will your players be up to the test?
Its pretty much a local game, just a short trip to Bologna, and they don't hold any fear for my players. I expect them to just carry on where they left off against Ajax.
Lastly thanks for taking the time to talk to us today any last words for the Pies?
We might be 10 million scudo down thanks to the cock-up, so we'll not be spending big in the next BFA, but we'll be building this team slowly, brick by brick. Up the PieMen!
Jobi Juan 1 – 1 Colmaw1287
Colmaw1287 2 – 2 Jobi Juan
Bonzy87 1-1 TheMalien
TheMalien 6-0 Bonzy87
geordiecrawf 4-1 Riverman
Riverman 2-1 geordiecrawf
Big B 1970 0-1 Hilly89
Hilly89 1-0 Big B 1970
LEAGUE 1
Another exhilarating start to season 28 got under way in League 1 this weekend with our very own podcast nominated favourite SoggyCabbages getting his title charge under against another title contender niwintz. I don’t think the results went in favour of either manager as they took 2 draws against each other, the first game saw all the action as 4 goals where shared equally, and the 2nd game... Well had 0 goals, proving a defensive masterclass from the two sides.
Last but not least probably the most anticipated match of League 1 Sheffield United vs Newcastle United. Red Rhinoceros took home advantage to the full extent as he romped home with a 3-0 victory, he then travelled up to Newcastle with high spirits and in a very tight affair walked away with yet another victory. I know Red Rhinoceros won’t take the 6pts too seriously at this stage as he normally bottles it towards the end of the season, but it’s a very good start for the blades manager.
AG Fantasy League Feature Match Sheffield United vs Newcastle United
Here’s what Red Rhinoceros had to say at the match press conference: Match 1: I got off to a fast start and despite Tunners having many chances his finishing was off in this game as his shots on target count will have shown. I deserved the win but the scoreline flattered me. Match 2: This was a different affair , very close but again many chances at both ends , I scored the 2 scrappiest goals you'll ever see before Tunners pulled one back from a Donis penalty. The last 15 minutes were frantic with Tunners hitting the post and bar in the space of 5 game minutes , I was relieved to hear the final whistle.
Around the Ground
Here are the rest of the weekends results:
niwintz 0-0 SoggyCabbages
SoggyCabbages 2-2 niwintz
Red Rhinoceros 3-0 Tunners1
Tunners1 1-2 Red Rhinoceros
Ryjones88 3-3 Emotionalworm
Emotionalworm 2-1 Ryjones88
So that’s it for this week many thanks to all involved hopefully you will see the rest of the extended MOTD highlights located on our YouTube channel. See you next week for the remainder of our round 1 fixture results.