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Nogrod · 06-24-2013, 04:08 PM

GROUP E
Erebor
Eriador
Misty Mts
Wilderland

There seems to be a script ready for this group – and it reads that Eriador will qualify and Misty Mountains stay in the group-phase while Erebor and Wilderland will battle out the other qualifier’s position.

None of the teams from group E played tough opponents in the friendlies, but while other teams allowed zero to one goal in two matches Misty Mts. allowed four. That’s basically their problem – and not having a real Arda-quality offence is another in a group where all the others have tougher than average defences.

Wilderland has changed considerably from last year – including some major losses but also some pretty decent gains. Losing players like Oromë, Galadriel and Elwë would be a blow to any team, but especially getting Thranduil was a good move. Whether that is enough to qualify is then another matter.

Losing two key players Gwaihir from the defence and Thranduil from the offence is bad news indeed for Erebor. Then again they still have two eagles in their defence and Smaug, Bard and a Nazgûl in the offence plus Beorn, one of last year’s stars, on the goal. The positive news for the group phase are of course that Wilderland has also weakened from last season – so it will be all in their own hands.

Common wisdom has it that you shouldn’t change a winning team but Eriador has done some of that leaving many people wondering why. One can explain the changes though, some with moral integrity and others with nepotism – but will it work is then another question. It seems nothing will stop Eriador in the group phase or in the first qualifiers. But will there be a solid and working team to meet some real opposition in the quarters?

The AKM prediction and Phantasy-player hints

Will qualify: Eriador
Fight for the second spot: Erebor, Wilderland
Will not qualify: Misty Mountains

Scorers: Smaug and Glorfindel will score, Scatha and Thranduil know how to but aren’t as reliable. Azog scored nicely in the fiendlies but in the group-games the defences might be too tough for him.
Defenders & Keepers: Elrond and Beorn keep their sheets clean, Eriador’s defence is overall a smart place to pick players.

GROUP F
Minas Tirith
Nargothrond
The Sea
Tirion

Minas Tirith may be a team of decency and brotherhood, and strengthened with Eomer also a good team – to play against other mediocre teams. But put in to fight for qualification against some real talent and experience they have been given boots too big to fill.

Tirion has changed considerably from last year with some major traffic in and out from the team, but they have seemed to hit a good balance, at least if the friendlies offer a meter for anything: drawing with Angband and taking a clean 2-0 victory from Gondolin show that Tirion is serious this year after their decent fight last year in the “group of death”.

Even if their performance last year left a lot to hope for Nargothrond hasn’t made but one trade for their team for this year changing Mîm to Nienor, but they have shuffled the deck somewhat changing the positions of a few players. And it looks promising for they beat Anfaughlith in the friendlies (last year they draw with them) – and forcing Armenelos into a draw was a great result. They are an offensive powerhouse even The Sea needs to take into account.

Otherwise it looks like The Sea is the best bet for a team to qualify: Ulmo-led Maia-defence and Númenorian midfield and offence look both tight and effective. Beating Valimar and drawing with FC Valinor should tell everyone what is needed on their quality.

The AKM prediction and Phantasy-player hints

Will most probably qualify: The Sea
Will fight hard for the second (or first) ticket: Nargothrond, Tirion
Will not qualify: Minas Tirith

Scorers: Anyone from the Nargothrond offence is a good idea as are Aredhel and Finwë. Mardil has been devastating in the friendlies but with the level of the defences going up his scoring will come to a halt.
Defenders & Keepers: If The Sea’s defences can deny FC Valinor a goal they can do it to any other team as well (even if we do not suggest you trust all your phantasy-defence with them in the game against Nargothrond). Finarfin is a quality keeper and Caranthir might bring in occasional extra-points.

GROUP G
Angband
Anfauglith
Imladris
Tol-In-Gaurhoth

Group G is one more group where one team is levels below the others and whose only role is to tease the bigger teams and try its hardest for luck to shine on them and give a comfort-goal somewhere. Imladris has just that position in this group. But the others will really fight it out – and we mean really fight for these are no mr. niceguys who play in this group.

Anfaughlith quite never delivered the last year even if they didn’t play badly. From since they have changed their offense completely and with Ecthelion and Gothmog leading it they look much sharper and more dangerous this year. That said they lost both their friendlies, even if quite closely (1-2 both) to some pretty tough teams (AC Beleriand and Nargothrond). In this group they need to start winning and it will be tough against the two other top teams of the group.

Putting Morgoth and Ancalagon together spells trouble to anyone daring to challenge the two – and adding Carcaroth to the goal makes the opposite-side’s efforts at scoring in jeopardy. But they all have been vanquished every now and then – and there resides the hope of other teams again this powerhouse of evil. Interestingly they opened their season with two draws in the friendlies. Now they need two wins to qualify.

With some of the restraints cancelled and a few smart picks from the player-market – and an added 16 million in the budget – T-I-G is suddenly looking just as dangeorus it was years ago on their hayday. And they have been like a whirldwind in the friendlies fex. breaking Melian’s Girdle into pieces with a ravaging 3-0 score.

The AKM prediction and Phantasy-player hints

Will (most probably) qualify: Angband, Tol In Gaurhoth
Fights for the second spot: Anfaughlith
Will not qualify: Imladris

Scorers: Gothmog and Ancalagon are safe bets – and if you can affrod one star using it to Morgoth is a star well spent. T-I-G scores a lot in general but the scoring is often spread so it’s hard to give other advice but that it is always useful to have PhantomWolf in your team.
Defenders & Keepers: T-I-G has a tough defence and a classy keeper and same could be said of Angband. No reasonable player would pick players to his defence from Imladris on this group.

GROUP H
Anduin
Arnor
Mordor
Rohan

There seems always to be a group that is a collection of second-rate teams who’d be wiped out in any other group, but as they are brought together they have suddenly a chance to qualify and to compete for the bigger sums offered to qualifiers. And to be sure, they can form entertaining groups and ones that are very hard to predict – like group H in this year’s tournament.

Although one thing we can assure the readers already – and that is that Mordor will not qualify. They are a lousy team even in this group and they seem content to that state of affairs as they have nothing to lose: with 51 million in investment they will gain 9 million in profit even if they lose every game 0-6.

Rohan got as far as the quarterfinals last year but has changed a lot since. With almost 30 million vanished from the investments it is easy to see the level of players has just collapsed. From outside their realm they have only managed to recruit Faramir to play beside his wife – while losing home-grown stars like Eorl, Eomer and Shadowfax to other teams. They still beat Isengard in the friendlies though… as they should.

If you just look at the teams in paper you’d think Arnor has what it takes to just fly through this group but sadly for them paper seems to differ from reality. Having the always scoring Witch King in the offence should make any team uneasy, and having Elendil and Malbeth to shut the defence in front of Arvedui, who after all is a quality keeper, should make opposite offences insecure. Well, their defences have held nicely (against pretty poor offences) but they have themselves scored only one goal in two games. That’s their problem.

Anduin doesn’t boast of any superstars but might just be the most consistent team of this group – there seem not to be weak links or areas of the game they’d be especially bad. Also drawing with Shire-Bree and losing only 0-1 to Eriador in the friendlies are promising signs making them slight favourites to win this group.

The AKM prediction and Phantasy-player hints

Will (probably) qualify: Anduin, Arnor
Fights for the second spot: Rohan
Will not qualify: Mordor

Scorers: The Witch King should deliver, he normally does. But will he?
Defenders & Keepers: Arnor and Anduin have the best defences here and with no teams having a master-scoring offence, players from both could be decent picks during the group-stage.

06-24-2013, 04:08 PM	#49
Nogrod Flame of the Ainulindalë Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Wearing rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves in a field behaving as the wind behaves Posts: 9,308	The AKM Look at the Groups / Part II GROUP E Erebor Eriador Misty Mts Wilderland There seems to be a script ready for this group – and it reads that Eriador will qualify and Misty Mountains stay in the group-phase while Erebor and Wilderland will battle out the other qualifier’s position. None of the teams from group E played tough opponents in the friendlies, but while other teams allowed zero to one goal in two matches Misty Mts. allowed four. That’s basically their problem – and not having a real Arda-quality offence is another in a group where all the others have tougher than average defences. Wilderland has changed considerably from last year – including some major losses but also some pretty decent gains. Losing players like Oromë, Galadriel and Elwë would be a blow to any team, but especially getting Thranduil was a good move. Whether that is enough to qualify is then another matter. Losing two key players Gwaihir from the defence and Thranduil from the offence is bad news indeed for Erebor. Then again they still have two eagles in their defence and Smaug, Bard and a Nazgûl in the offence plus Beorn, one of last year’s stars, on the goal. The positive news for the group phase are of course that Wilderland has also weakened from last season – so it will be all in their own hands. Common wisdom has it that you shouldn’t change a winning team but Eriador has done some of that leaving many people wondering why. One can explain the changes though, some with moral integrity and others with nepotism – but will it work is then another question. It seems nothing will stop Eriador in the group phase or in the first qualifiers. But will there be a solid and working team to meet some real opposition in the quarters? The AKM prediction and Phantasy-player hints Will qualify: Eriador Fight for the second spot: Erebor, Wilderland Will not qualify: Misty Mountains Scorers: Smaug and Glorfindel will score, Scatha and Thranduil know how to but aren’t as reliable. Azog scored nicely in the fiendlies but in the group-games the defences might be too tough for him. Defenders & Keepers: Elrond and Beorn keep their sheets clean, Eriador’s defence is overall a smart place to pick players. GROUP F Minas Tirith Nargothrond The Sea Tirion Minas Tirith may be a team of decency and brotherhood, and strengthened with Eomer also a good team – to play against other mediocre teams. But put in to fight for qualification against some real talent and experience they have been given boots too big to fill. Tirion has changed considerably from last year with some major traffic in and out from the team, but they have seemed to hit a good balance, at least if the friendlies offer a meter for anything: drawing with Angband and taking a clean 2-0 victory from Gondolin show that Tirion is serious this year after their decent fight last year in the “group of death”. Even if their performance last year left a lot to hope for Nargothrond hasn’t made but one trade for their team for this year changing Mîm to Nienor, but they have shuffled the deck somewhat changing the positions of a few players. And it looks promising for they beat Anfaughlith in the friendlies (last year they draw with them) – and forcing Armenelos into a draw was a great result. They are an offensive powerhouse even The Sea needs to take into account. Otherwise it looks like The Sea is the best bet for a team to qualify: Ulmo-led Maia-defence and Númenorian midfield and offence look both tight and effective. Beating Valimar and drawing with FC Valinor should tell everyone what is needed on their quality. The AKM prediction and Phantasy-player hints Will most probably qualify: The Sea Will fight hard for the second (or first) ticket: Nargothrond, Tirion Will not qualify: Minas Tirith Scorers: Anyone from the Nargothrond offence is a good idea as are Aredhel and Finwë. Mardil has been devastating in the friendlies but with the level of the defences going up his scoring will come to a halt. Defenders & Keepers: If The Sea’s defences can deny FC Valinor a goal they can do it to any other team as well (even if we do not suggest you trust all your phantasy-defence with them in the game against Nargothrond). Finarfin is a quality keeper and Caranthir might bring in occasional extra-points. GROUP G Angband Anfauglith Imladris Tol-In-Gaurhoth Group G is one more group where one team is levels below the others and whose only role is to tease the bigger teams and try its hardest for luck to shine on them and give a comfort-goal somewhere. Imladris has just that position in this group. But the others will really fight it out – and we mean really fight for these are no mr. niceguys who play in this group. Anfaughlith quite never delivered the last year even if they didn’t play badly. From since they have changed their offense completely and with Ecthelion and Gothmog leading it they look much sharper and more dangerous this year. That said they lost both their friendlies, even if quite closely (1-2 both) to some pretty tough teams (AC Beleriand and Nargothrond). In this group they need to start winning and it will be tough against the two other top teams of the group. Putting Morgoth and Ancalagon together spells trouble to anyone daring to challenge the two – and adding Carcaroth to the goal makes the opposite-side’s efforts at scoring in jeopardy. But they all have been vanquished every now and then – and there resides the hope of other teams again this powerhouse of evil. Interestingly they opened their season with two draws in the friendlies. Now they need two wins to qualify. With some of the restraints cancelled and a few smart picks from the player-market – and an added 16 million in the budget – T-I-G is suddenly looking just as dangeorus it was years ago on their hayday. And they have been like a whirldwind in the friendlies fex. breaking Melian’s Girdle into pieces with a ravaging 3-0 score. The AKM prediction and Phantasy-player hints Will (most probably) qualify: Angband, Tol In Gaurhoth Fights for the second spot: Anfaughlith Will not qualify: Imladris Scorers: Gothmog and Ancalagon are safe bets – and if you can affrod one star using it to Morgoth is a star well spent. T-I-G scores a lot in general but the scoring is often spread so it’s hard to give other advice but that it is always useful to have PhantomWolf in your team. Defenders & Keepers: T-I-G has a tough defence and a classy keeper and same could be said of Angband. No reasonable player would pick players to his defence from Imladris on this group. GROUP H Anduin Arnor Mordor Rohan There seems always to be a group that is a collection of second-rate teams who’d be wiped out in any other group, but as they are brought together they have suddenly a chance to qualify and to compete for the bigger sums offered to qualifiers. And to be sure, they can form entertaining groups and ones that are very hard to predict – like group H in this year’s tournament. Although one thing we can assure the readers already – and that is that Mordor will not qualify. They are a lousy team even in this group and they seem content to that state of affairs as they have nothing to lose: with 51 million in investment they will gain 9 million in profit even if they lose every game 0-6. Rohan got as far as the quarterfinals last year but has changed a lot since. With almost 30 million vanished from the investments it is easy to see the level of players has just collapsed. From outside their realm they have only managed to recruit Faramir to play beside his wife – while losing home-grown stars like Eorl, Eomer and Shadowfax to other teams. They still beat Isengard in the friendlies though… as they should. If you just look at the teams in paper you’d think Arnor has what it takes to just fly through this group but sadly for them paper seems to differ from reality. Having the always scoring Witch King in the offence should make any team uneasy, and having Elendil and Malbeth to shut the defence in front of Arvedui, who after all is a quality keeper, should make opposite offences insecure. Well, their defences have held nicely (against pretty poor offences) but they have themselves scored only one goal in two games. That’s their problem. Anduin doesn’t boast of any superstars but might just be the most consistent team of this group – there seem not to be weak links or areas of the game they’d be especially bad. Also drawing with Shire-Bree and losing only 0-1 to Eriador in the friendlies are promising signs making them slight favourites to win this group. The AKM prediction and Phantasy-player hints Will (probably) qualify: Anduin, Arnor Fights for the second spot: Rohan Will not qualify: Mordor Scorers: The Witch King should deliver, he normally does. But will he? Defenders & Keepers: Arnor and Anduin have the best defences here and with no teams having a master-scoring offence, players from both could be decent picks during the group-stage. __________________ Upon the hearth the fire is red Beneath the roof there is a bed; But not yet weary are our feet...