FM Season 5 Division 1 Season Review!

Feed Me Haxball Division 1 Review

Mighty Ducks

Last season Position: 4th  |  Mid-Season Postion: 1st

Holding on to their lead at the halfway stage, this seasons winners are Mighty Ducks! This puts Girgensons and Tjerna on an elite list of 3 players to have won the league title twice in a row (The other 3 being the Arribians Jonny, Deer and F1) and you can't deny the influence of Girgensons in not only his performances but his background signings have been the key to Ducks' success this season. Of course though - it was not a 1 man team, with many great players such as the solid anglo in his new DM role running quite a lot of games for Ducks and the brilliant attacker that is naho (jalapeno) who always has a trick up his sleeve (and 10 goals in the league this season) as well as fellow Scandinavians such as GK pata- and attackers RTZS and Tjerna where also immense this season. This Scandinavian flair was also complemented by players such as Joehan who in his last season has become the first and along with aguero10 the only players to win all 3 trophies in FM, as well as the Frenchman Ced who contributed 3 goals and 2 assists to their campaign. Not forgetting of course the effective manager (and best white rapper since eminem) that is Cam_Sampbell who had the team dumped on him after the disappearance of Donny (please come back :<) before the season began. I think we must not forget that before the season started, nobody expected Ducks (or as they were known before - Aquopolis) to even come close to the title and they do deserve a lot of praise for winning it in somewhat of a comfortable fashion in the end. However they might feel slightly disappointed with themselves not going unbeaten to clinch the title, as they did go a league record 10 games unbeaten which included a 5 game winning streak as well as having not only the biggest win (7-1 vs NWA) but the highest scoring match (a 7-3 win vs HKF). But they did lose 2 games in the campaign, a 6-3 opening day shock loss vs Pablo Haxobar and a tight 1-0 loss to ARRIBA! when the title was all but sealed 3 games before the end of the season. Overall though, a deserved title win for Mighty Ducks!

Main Man? - anglo, pulled the strings from DM and they would not have been nearly as good without him.

Next Season? - Ctrl-C, Ctr-V.

ARRIBA!

Last season Position: 2nd  |  Mid-Season Postion: 3rd

A unique double of failure for ARRIBA! this season, after coming 2nd in the table this season they also came 2nd best in the cup, losing 4-0 last thursday to Bayer Neverlosin. However their 2nd half to the season was good, despite the negativity that hung around the team at times, going on a 9 game unbeaten run in the league (which might overtake Mighty Ducks next season to be the current FM record since the new site came up) as well as getting to the cup final itself. They lost the title by a single point as well and lost the least amount of games in Division 1 this season, with only the 3-0 loss to Mighty Ducks (mb) blotting their record. Activity in the squad (as is the ARRIBA! tradition) was poor in most of the season, with a lot of the mistakes made by the team (mb, also looking at fap and Banks here) being put down to a lack of match practise as their rivals got the early advantage over them and in the end - despite a valiant effort the glory evaded them. The re-signing of Edgar Davids (:mani:) might not have stopped the press but the signing of Team UK star and most hench player in the world Ogre will boost the team as they look to improve next season. Despite almost finishing at the polar opposite of their current last placed spot in the German Your-eSports league,  the team did have a lot of fall outs as the season went on, which in the end brought on a retirement from fap (was it the 3rd time? I lose count) and general anger towards top scorer and stand-in captain Aidan. A 1-0 win over Mighty Ducks might have been a turning point however, as it showed the league what ARRIBA! can really do. However this is implying that the rest of the season was in doom(s) and gloom but this wasn't really the case, with the great individuals that the team posses such as jonnyynnoj and Perkins playing well despite maybe the team not having the cohesiveness needed to be a top side like they were all back when in the early days of FM.

Main Man? - jonnyynnoj, as always the main man.

Next Season? - To win the title after 3 seasons of coming 2nd and runners up.

TI Sparta!

Last season Position: 3rd  |  Mid-Season Postion: 2nd

Another Disappointing end for TI Sparta! this season, finishing 3rd and really just fizzling out as the season came to its end. It is now two 3rd place finishes in a row for TI Sparta! and with the talent that their squad posses it is hard to see why they have not done as well as they should have. A loss of anglo and a lack of a more active replacement goalkeeper might be to blame and seeing as Maddude did actually play some games in goal it is quite amazing that they did finish so highly in some respects. Still though, reading down their squad list it is hard to see why they weren't right at the top 'till the very end, with European superstars filling their squad to the brim; players such as the manliest man YaaDon (he plays on 150 ping and doesn't complain. Ever.), the Spaniard Redboy, the Dutch duo Nino and TehBeast and the Swede sax and top UK goalkeeper OvoXo, who even got an assist. We'll never stop hearing about it. completing this very stacked squad. By mid-season they were in a strong position, being 2nd to Mighty Ducks by a solitary point but after poor results in the second half of the season starting with a 2-1 loss to #DEJA in matchday 8, and ending the season with a 3 game loss streak to the hands of HKF, Mighty Ducks and ARRIBA! respectively they only ended up a point ahead of 4th placed #DEJA. In those last games they even lacked a proper Defensive Midfielder which added to their Goalkeeping problems (With the Italian Love London not being reliable in terms of activity as well as ping coz >Italian net) did not put them in a position to come back and mount a title challenge and put them 8 points of the champions in the end. It almost feels they have gone backwards somewhat from Season 4 where they ended up in the same position but where closer to the top 2 teams. But with anglo returning to the team as well as excellent players such as CR7 and adriano joining the team they will be much stronger next season and they will be hoping they can finally win the title, or even be in the top 2 for once.

Main Man? - Tough to pick, Redboy for being their top scorer I guess. (Anyone but Mad)

Next Season? - Not to finish 3rd.

#DEJA

Last season Position: 3rd (Division 2)  |  Mid-Season Postion: 5th

4th place, solid top table finish for #DEJA and they should be very proud of themselves. Once again, who would have thought this would happen at the start of the season? Not even the optomists of #DEJA would predict that their team would be just a point off the hallowed Champions League spots. Capitalising on the demise of The Crab House and no other teams really having the quality to displace them, they walked into 4th spot - with a massive 7 points between them and Pablo Haxobar in 5th. The key to this success is activity really, #DEJA has been one of the most active teams and it does show in some of the results they got against better players this season - not least the 2-1 win against TI Sparta! But the elephant in the corner here really is the man who got the goals. With a massive tally of 18, 8 higher than anyone else; without Rising Star where would #DEJA be now? In fact there has only been 6 goals that #DEJA have scored this season in which Rising did not score or assist. And aside from this being an amazing personal feat for him you must be worried slightly that they are a bit too dependent on one man to pull the team up the table because as we know - haxball is a team game and even though they did show good teamwork, with players such as the Belgie Fred, the Pole Zizou and HCAFC combining to create some great goals (as can be seen here: http://fm-haxball.co.uk/community/viewtopic.php?f=191&p=41840#p41840 ), they did always look to Rising to provide the attack spark to end up putting the ball in the net. At the back there was also an emergance of another 'rising star' in top new UK GK Arctic, keeping the experienced 'keepers Usopp and Aaron out of the side and playing well despite the team conceding quite a few goals throughout the season. However they had to say goodbye to an old face and the league joint top assister (once again with Rising - 9 apiece) in their captain Zizou, who has had a cronic overdose of steriods and only has a few weeks to live, so Rising will take the team into the next season. But without a DM at the moment and Arctic's future questionable a repeat performance seems unlikely - but this team has proven me wrong in the past.

I didn't feel like trolling, ok?

Main Man? - Rising Star, he IS #DEJA.

Next Season? - To have as good a season as they did this campaign, or Champions League qualification I guess.

Pablo Haxobar

Last season Position: 2nd (Division 2)  |  Mid-Season Postion:  6th

A good end to what was an average Season for Pablo Haxobar, coming 5th which is really neither here nor there in terms of being at the exiting ends of the table. They will of course be pleased that they missed the drop this season, with them being in perilous places just about the drop zone at some points in the season. However looking at the overall picture they will be disappointed that they hype that surrounded the team at the end of Season 4 never got them anywhere, and the team that was the only one to beat GIJ back in the day just never turned up. The team was looking to be on the slide when Jappo left the team but they picked themselves up, signing experienced YeS players such as Wiiii to stable the ship and finishing 3 points above the relegated sides below. The team did look promising in the cup but crashed out after some questionable tactics (''Hannes isn't even over the halfway line wtf'') but getting to the semi-finals was probably the highlight of an uneventful season for Pablo. The star man in the squad was oln with 10 goals and 4 assists, and with the team only scoring 20 in total they might have been in trouble if it wasn't for his performances. The rest of the squad was made up of Div 1 and 2 YeS players such as Hannes, Rooney1878 and the aforementioned Wiiii and some players who are 'unknown' to the FM community such as Zola and Cruyff#14. Next season they will hope to do a little better, and with some good individuals in the squad I would not be surprised if they got a top half finish at least next campaign.

Main Man? - oln, much the same as the end of last season, more goals then the rest combined.

Next Season? - To keep the momentum they had at the end of the season and to possibly break into the top half with some more signings.

HK Flamingo

Last season Position: 4th (Division 2)  |  Mid-Season Postion:  7th

After just escaping a nerve-racking play off on the last day, HKF will be relieved if nothing more that they stay in the Division for another season, with them finishing in 6th position. With the heart of the team in Amunike and Ogre being ripped out there was not really the heart that got them into Division 1, and they never looked comfortable in terms of their league position. The team led by Hesur did have some bits of luck however, with the team having some link to XOXO in the first Division of YeS they were able to get some quality which in the end allowed them to stay up. The star man up front was the hotshot Knuckles, with 12 combined goals and assists for HKF this season and it is good to see a player who has gone under the radar somewhat in recent months play so well for his side. With a lot of chopping and changing as the season progressed not many players stayed the whole season with Hesur's side, only really the 4 goal Dutch DM huub joining Knuckles as the 2 that were loyal to the side for the duration of the season. They will have to improve next season if they were to survive the drop though in my opinion, and with players such as the Israeli Smurf and the Finnish Goalkeeper Kepes they certainly can attempt that goal, but the team does need to start to play with each other more if they stand any chance of being where they really want to be, with more additions needed to make the team very serious contenders.

Main Man? - Gotta be Knuckles, the shining light for HKF this season.

Next Season? -  Depending on the signings they make who knows? But Survival will be first priority.

The Crab House

Last season Position: 5th  |  Mid-Season Postion:  4th

A sad farewell for The Crab House, who after finishing 7th in the table lost their playoff vs Ajhax 1-0 and will play in Division 2 next season. The team known as QuickSwans in YeS were 4th going into the middle of the season but after a run of poor games which ended in a shock loss to NWA (c'mon NWA) the captain at the time, Rautovic, resigned as captain and this made the team very unstable as lots of new players came in in a very short space of time and as we know now, it was their downfall as they will be playing in the second tier next time around. It would take a while to list all of the players that Crabs have had so I'll just mention a few of them. Most of the attacking prose came from Rautovic (until he left) and doupi (who had 12 combined goals and assists)  and after Rautovic's resignation as captain the previous captain Frank took the reigns, but only to see his team be thwarted in their attempts to stay up. However they did have a cup adventure, getting to the semi-finals only to be beaten by the eventual champions Bayer Neverlosin which is maybe a sign that the team does have some potential to come back and be as strong as they have been in the past. Next season their focus will be primarily on getting a stable team and then trying to get back to where they should be, and if their activity and dedication doesn't wane then I don't see why they can't.

Main Man? - Rautovic, was sorely missed when he was gone.

Next Season? -  They of course will be looking to return to the 1st Division with a regenerated squad.

NWA

Last season Position: 6th |  Mid-Season Postion:  4th

So here we are then, the end of an era. ARRIBA! now are the only team of the original 6 (or at least the only to have the same name) to still be in the first Division. But, what is an end? And end is only the start to a new beginning. Sometimes, sometimes it isn't about being the best, but being the best. Name a team which is nicer. Name a team which has more fairplay. Name a team which is more loved. Name a team that has its own anthem, sung by their captain. Name a team that has more character than this one. Hopefully one day, whether a day in the future or a year - one day we will truly appreciate NWA for what they are. Remember, please remember that this is a Community & League, Community comes first. I mean, when was the last time that a player had a testimonial? Or even was deserving of one? Lekumberri is on a list of many that are legends in their own right. 0 points with 7 games gone -  Did they die off? No, they believed. 2 wins and countless pride was gained in those final 7 games, some teams, some people might think ''so what?''. But, I would ask those teams or people: ''If you went out and came last in a league, was made to look stupid and was turned over week in week out, would you come out of it with a smile on your face?'' I think not. Regardless of the score, this team...This team always win.

#nwa #pray2basedmelonito #believe

Main Man? - MAIN MAN? THIS IS A TEAM DAMMIT.

Next Season? -  Division 2 Champions and Cup winners #believe

Thanks for reading, tell me what you thought of it in the comments :D, I'll be writing a preview to Season 6 before it starts and I think that Hesur (ft. rolex?) will be writing the Division 2 Review.

-mlf