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Post by Nick on May 25, 2019 10:37:56 GMT
Four of the top five in the Hall of Fame are still managing in the game, and it's a two way tussle between yours truly and Pep Guardiola for top spot. It's a battle he's currently winning. I don't think I've ever topped the Hall of Fame on any version of FM, so that's the next challenge. The gap could have been much less, but Pep's Liverpool side beat my Monaco one in last year's Champions League final for him to extend his lead. Interestingly, he took over at Monaco after my resignation, which was a slight surprise. It's also a move that will see him almost definitely add silverware to his CV from the off.
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Post by Nick on May 25, 2019 14:07:05 GMT
I wasn't without work for long - 14 days to be exact. After Pep Guardiola replaced me at Monaco, I was offered an interview with Liverpool, but the one I'd had my eye on for a while, in the hope it'd open up, was Porto.
The club has finished second behind Benfica for the last couple of seasons, having won the league the two years previous to that, and the board obviously decided enough was enough and Erik ten Hag was given his marching orders. Slightly surprisingly I was only offered a one-year deal, but that fits in nicely with what I want from the club. Anyone that has followed Ben's save with Beira Mar will know that there are four domestic competitions in Portugal - Liga NOS, the Taca de Liga, Taca de Portugal and the Supertaca.
As I mentioned, Benfica won the league last season with a 28-3-3 record and 87 points. The year before it was 75 points with a 23-6-5 record. ten Hag can count himself a little unlucky last year, finishing on 83 points and a 25-8-1 record. I'm confident of being able to take the team to the title this season, especially after our performance in the Supertaca vs Benfica. It was obviously early days, and pre-season was pretty decent, even if the standard of opposition wasn't great, but I went into the match not really knowing what to expect. They'd obviously won the league, but I didn't know how good they actually were. I needn't have worried as we gubbed them 3-0 in a match where they didn't even register a shot on target. Looking at the squad that played this match, they fielded 13 of the squad that played against us in the final game of last season, which gives me huge confidence going into the season.
I'll write a bit about the squad once the transfer window closes.
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Post by jawzy on May 25, 2019 17:33:55 GMT
Whats Portos finances like that far in save and generally mismanaged by AI?
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Post by Nick on May 25, 2019 19:18:52 GMT
Whats Portos finances like that far in save and generally mismanaged by AI? Yeah, they're not too bad to be fair. About 80 million in the bank when I took over, with a wage bill of 1.6m per week. Looking at the balance history, it gets down to about 10 million before prize money and sponsorship boosts it back up again.
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Post by Nick on May 25, 2019 20:29:53 GMT
Bit of a rough Champions League group, but when you're third seeds, it's always likely to happen. I'll get an early trip back to France in the shape of Marseille, but they are about the hardest fourth seeds we could have got. You'd imagine it'll be between Spurs and Juve for the top two spots and then up to us and Marseille to battle it our for the Europa League spot and the wooden spoon. The first transfer window is always tough. You have to pick up the pieces from the previous regime, knowing that there will be good players wanting to leave, that you want to keep. That was the case here. Our two best players, Maxwell Garba and Joseir Gidi both want out. The good news is that I've managed to keep them here for now, but neither are happy at all and it looks like it's just a matter of time. I bought in five players during the window. Two of them, in the shape of Maudo Lopes and Luis Dias, are for the future and will play B Team football this season. Umaro Cisse (6 million), Costinha (3.4 million) and Joao Lucas (3 million) come into the first team squad. None of them will be first choice, but give me options in places in the squad that were a bit bare. And of course you'll recognise the faces of Naby Keita and Jack Grealish.
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Post by Nick on May 27, 2019 12:02:26 GMT
Ignoring the fact that the fixture list has had a bit of a 'mare, we've had the perfect start over the first ten games and sit comfortably at the top of the table. If Benfica win their games in hand they'll only be three points behind us, after we inflicted their only defeat in a 3-1 victory at the Estadio do Dragao, so we can't look too far ahead, but it's a poor Portuguese league and no-one has given us any cause for concern so far. We're yet to play Sporting, and have already beaten Braga 4-0, but I doubt they'll offer much in terms of resistance, if their record after eight games is anything to go by. Our defence has been pretty mean so far, only conceding four goals, and that's largely down to the pairing of Loic Mbe Soh and Joseir Gidi - the latter still wanting to leave the club after I rejected offers in the summer. At the other end of the pitch, Rudi Bois leads the way in terms of goals, with eleven in eleven starts. Away from the pitch, the bank balance has dwindled down to €59m, and I have managed to get the data analysis facilities upgraded. I still have €24m left in the transfer budget, but I'm fairly confident this squad can meet expectations and win trophies this season, so I can't imagine anything will be spent in January. We're still in both the Taca da Liga and the Taca da Portugal. Our Taca da Liga group is easy enough - Maritimo, Penafiel and Coimbra - and we beat lower league side, Tourizense, 5-0 in the Taca da Portugal. I'm hoping I can continue to rotate the squad and get through these early rounds without too much difficulty. Our Champions League campaign has got off to a fantastic start. We opened with a fully deserved 0-0 draw at home to Tottenham. Both teams had chances to win it, but in the end I was happy with a clean sheet and pleased with a point. We should have beaten Juventus in Turin. We played magnificently, but they equalised late on and again we had to be happy with a point. I'd not lost to Marseille and we managed to extend that run with a 2-0 home win to put us in a strong position in the group. Of course, we still have to go to London to play Tottenham, and visit Marseille, so you'd imagine that third is still the most realistic expectation, but we've done more than I thought we would already, giving ourselves an outside chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.
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Post by Nick on May 27, 2019 16:02:16 GMT
We qualified without breaking sweat in the end. Eight wins out of eight, fifty goals scored, three conceded. Moldova and Armenia both took an absolute pounding in October and November as we won 10-0 and 12-0 respectively. Croatia aren't the force they once were and didn't trouble us at all. A 34-year old Harry Kane, and Dele Alli, top-scored for us with seven goals, while Marcus Rashford hit six. Kane's average minutes per goal of 46.57 was the best across the competition. Sadly, the Euro's in the summer will be his last involvement for the national team as I look to the future, if I remain in the job! Ben Chilwell was our top assister with four as we spread the creativity around. Our record of fifty goals were the best in the competition, one more than Italy, albeit we played two games fewer.
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Post by Nick on May 27, 2019 16:47:51 GMT
Pep showing that anything I can do, he can do too.
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Post by Nick on Jun 1, 2019 16:36:54 GMT
A record breaking season in Portugal, where I returned FC Porto back to the summit of Portuguese football. Maximum points from our first ten games set the tone for a record points total and a record number of goals scored (beating the previous record by 30) and, while Benfica pushed us for two thirds of the season, they only won three of their last ten games and that allowed us to pull away and assert our dominance. Maxwell Garba was the driving force in a midfield that allowed us to dominate games in terms of possession and chances created. He contributed 17 goals and 14 assists over the course of the season and he was a major reason for us doing as well as we did. Sitting slightly further back, in the deep lying playmaker role, Bruno Miguel Ramalho Costa had the season of his life, racking up 14 goals, 12 assists and an average rating of 7.74 in the Liga NOS. Benfica aside, it's a very poor Portuguese league at the moment. Teams like Vitoria Guimaraes are producing some really decent players, but they are hoovered up by the elite teams, which means they can't develop and put pressure on the teams above them. Even Sporting looked hugely average this season, with Rio Ave finishing comfortably ahead of them. FixturesWe out-performed expectations in the Champions League, managing to finish second in our group and losing 3-0 on aggregate to a much better Atletico Madrid team. In hindsight, I'd have liked to have finished third and seen how we could have done in the Europa League, but given that the final was contested between Man City and PSG, it's highly unlikely we'd have won it. Taca da LigaFixturesTaca da PortugalFixturesPlain sailing in both domestic cups as we completed a quadruple. Benfica do still have the ability to cause us issues, but as long as we avoid them, we could win these with our eyes closed. As it was, we avoided them in the Taca da Portugal and walked through that draw whilst managing to fully rotate the squad. With everything won in the first season, I was glad that I only signed a one-year deal. That allowed me to let that run down and look for something new. I've not found anything yet, but am prepared to wait for something attractive. I've still got the England job to contend with, so that'll keep me busy until something comes up. Guardiola watch. Monaco lost to PSG in both the Coupe de la Ligue and Coupe de France finals, which has limited his silverware intake, but he managed to go unbeaten in Ligue Un, finishing 20 points ahead of PSG. He also won the Trophee des Champions and has the opportunity to win it again in a few days time. That leaves him atop the Hall of Fame with 5,701 points. Sir Alex is still there in second on 4,890 with me in third on 4,854 points. It's going to take a mammoth effort to overhaul him, especially considering he's at Monaco, but it's something else to keep me going.
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Post by Nick on Jun 1, 2019 17:14:36 GMT
Euro 2028 in SwedenNo real surprises in the squad for this one. Morgan Gibbs-White in for the injured Lewis Cook was the only reason we weren't considered 'full strength'. The FA wanted us to reach the Semi Final as our minimum aim, something I was confident of, given our form since I took over, but was wary of our performances on the big stage. GoalkeepersTim TantramAngus Gunn Jordan Pickford DefendersTrent Alexander-Arnold Max Aarons Ben Chilwell Jay Da Silva Declan Rice Rob Holding John Stones Richard LathamMidfieldersRaheem Sterling Patrick Roberts Callum Hudson-Odoi Jadon Sancho Shaun ShintonDeli Alli Jamie Shackleton Morgan Gibbs-White Phil Foden StrikersHarry Kane Marcus Rashford Jon YoungEngland 2-0 Denmark (Group A) Kane (pen 26) Hudson-Odoi (60) A routine win against the Danes to get us off the mark in the tournament. We could have scored more, but defensively we were unreal, limiting Denmark to just two off-target attempts. --- Turkey 0-3 England (Group A) Foden (40) Hudson Odoi (76) Shinton (85) I was wary of the Turks, as is so often the case in the middle group game. Win, and you're probably through. Lose, and you're under pressure. Thankfully we got the goal to break the deadlock five minutes before half-time and never looked back. --- Portugal 0-3 England (Group A) Alli (50) Sterling (52) Alexander-Arnold (pen 85) We'd qualified with a game to spare, meaning this one against Portugal was just to decide who finished top of the group, and it was a test we passed with flying colours. A goalless first half came alive when Dele Alli and Raheem Sterling scored in quick succession just after half time. We didn't look back. --- Ireland 0-2 England (2nd Round) Hudson-Odoi (14) Young (90+4) On paper, a fairly routine 2nd Round draw and we did enough to win this one without too many issues. Jon Young scored his first international goal in stoppage time, pouncing on a short back pass and finishing one-on-one. --- England 2-0 Spain (Quarter Final) Shackleton (10) Rashford (54) The level of opponent is ramped up, but we beat Spain 3-1 in the Nations League semi final (and will play them again in the group stage), so I was confident. They had a late consolation chalked off for a foul, but we were fairly dominant and didn't look in danger of losing. --- England 3-1 Italy (Semi Final) Hudson-Odoi (15) Kane (89, 90+1) With our minimum expectation now met, we could play without pressure. Callum Hudson-Odoi drilled into the roof of the net from the angle after quarter of an hour and it looked like we'd see the game out. Italy had other ideas and sucker-punched us after 75 minutes to tie the game. Substitute Harry Kane, now 34 and playing in his last tournament, saved us from extra-time with a late brace - his 91st and 92nd international goals. His last at this level. --- England 0-0 France (Final) (France win 5-4 on penalties) We came so far and fell right at the final hurdle on the dreaded penalties. It was fitting that Europe's two best teams played in the final, but it won't go down as a classic. Two tired squads, France worse than us due to playing extra-time twice in previous rounds, went toe-to-toe but with little quality in the final third. Only one clear cut chance in 120 minutes of football before Dele Alli's missed penalty (our first one) saw France lift the trophy, having scored all five of theirs. ConclusionThe national team is at a bit of a crossroads now. It was an ageing squad that took us through the Euros and the next generation will need to be brought through for the World Cup in two years time. The average age of the squad was 28, something the media picked up on before the tournament. Off the 23-man squad, Pickford, Stones, Sterling and Kane won't play for England again. I'll definitely be staying on as manager and will try and get a team together for World glory in two years.
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Post by Nick on Jun 2, 2019 14:25:13 GMT
September to December 2028 - England Round-UpA slight changing of the guard in English football. The experience of Harry Kane, John Stones and Raheem Sterling has been cast aside for younger players to come in and take over. In the past few months since the Euros, five players have made their international debuts. They are: Kyle Vaughn, Luigi Bosco, Antoni Heatley, Scott Walden and Sergio Prieto. The latter of which has come from absolutely nowhere. 12 months ago, he was barely on my radar, now he's the best U21 player in the world. His 35 appearances for Arsenal last season has sent his ability through the roof! England 3-0 Croatia (Nations League A, Group 1) Hudson-Odoi (8) Rice (12) Cook (47) Croatia aren't the team they once were, despite being ranked 16th in the world. They had no answer to us here, and the game was effectively over inside 15 minutes. CH-O continues his good form and has forced Jadon Sancho back to second choice as the left inside forward. --- Holland 2-4 England (Friendly) Sancho (12, 41) Vaughn (59) Alli (82) A rare friendly game and Sancho made the most of his start with a brace. Kyle Vaughn scored his first international goal as we kept morale high going into the game that will probably decide our Nations League fate. --- Spain 0-4 England (Nations League A, Group 1) Prieto (25, 90) Rice (34) Cook (62) Sergio Prieto got two on his international debut, but this was a game that was hugely influenced by Spain going down to ten men after just 25 seconds!! We blew them away, as expected, but we can't tell how much of a marker we put down due to the red card. --- England 3-0 Ukraine (Friendly) Sancho (35) o.g (77) Cook (83) Another opportunity to rotate the squad and once again Sancho reminds me why he still has a place to play in my team. We weren't at our best, but added two late goals to add some gloss to the result. --- Croatia 0-4 England (Nations League A, Group 1) Nelson (19) Prieto (23, 90+2) Hudson-Odoi (34) A comfortable win to ensure we topped the group and consigned Croatia to relegation. Reiss Nelson came into the squad due to injury and got himself on the score sheet, which is encouraging. --- England 1-2 Spain (Nations League A, Group 1) Ball (90+1) A dead rubber, but still massively disappointed to lose our first competitive game inside 90 minutes, especially at home. I made 6 or 7 changes, but still expected us to show a bit more quality. We didn't do enough in the final third to win this one. --- Disappointing to lose to Spain at Wembley, but we're chugging along nicely and sitting top of the World Rankings. We'll play Italy in the Nations League Semi Final. With France and Czech Republic contesting the other one, it means it's fairly likely we'll get a chance to exact some revenge over France for their Euro win over us. The World Cup qualifying groups have been drawn and we've been placed in Group 9 along with: Bosnia, Finland, Malta and Wales. Not the easiest of the qualifying groups, but one we should come through relatively unscathed.
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Post by Nick on Jun 2, 2019 16:35:48 GMT
I didn't have to wait long for a suitable challenge. Feyenoord are the sleeping giant of Dutch football. Since the game started, they've been in the shadow of both Ajax and PSV Eindhoven. Indeed, even going back before that, they've rarely lived up to their rivals. The club has won the Eredivisie fifteen times in it's history, but three of those came in the 30's, four more came in the 60's and only once have they won back to back titles. That's the main challenge: back to back titles. Since the game started, Feyenoord have finished 8th, 3rd, 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 7th, 3rd, 4th, 3rd and 2nd. Last season was comfortably their best and they were supposed to consolidate that and push on. That never materialised. Giovanni van Bronkhorst spent 13 years at the club, but left for Sevilla in he summer. His replacement, Alex Pastoor, lasted 155 days. I took over with the club in 13th place, but they had been as low as 17th under Pastoor. The club has a media prediction of third, but after the club's poor start the board now only want a mid-table finish. In my first meeting with the players, I went slightly higher and told them I expected us to finish in the top half of the table. That's our first challenge: guide the club to a top-half finish. Finances are decent enough. €18m in the bank, but with little of that to spend. Angel Dominguez is the club's highest valued player, but he's been injured and not featured in the four games I've managed before the winter break. We're strong in attack, with Wim Schaap offering a solid second option. My initial plan was to see out the four games until the winter break and get an early feel for the squad. I'll be able to assess and positions that need filling in those four games and ideally we'll go into the second half of the season with at least two options in each position. We started with a KNVB Beker game at home to Willem II. We'd played them at home in the league a few days earlier and gained a 1-0 win, so I was cautiously optimistic. We battered them. 4-0 up at half-time, we won 6-1 to boost morale nicely. We needed to transfer that form into the league and have done so perfectly winning our next three games away at Zwolle (3-0) and Go Ahead Eagles (3-0) and at home to ADO den Haag (2-1). That's seen us shoot up the table and turn our goal difference from negative to positive. We now have a month off and I'm going to try and do a few bits in the transfer window. I'll report back when it closes.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 3, 2019 15:25:17 GMT
Not many defenders will catch Prieto
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Post by Nick on Jun 6, 2019 7:34:28 GMT
This has arguably been the most enjoyable period of the save so far. January promised a little and delivered absolutely nothing. Money was/is tight and we couldn't afford to bring in anyone that was going to improve the squad, even on loan for the rest of the season. Mysteriously, Lazio offered me €5 million for Dimitrie Misidjang and included a 50% of next sale clause, so I bit their hand off for that. He had a bit of potential, but wasn't in the first team squad and has more than a few holes to his game. It seemed like a good deal. On the pitch I'd rate our play at a 7/10. We love conceding an early goal in each half and equally enjoy conceding one or two consolation goals when in the lead but, by and large, I've seen positives that we an take into next season and beyond. Having taken over in December, a few games to January wasn't really long enough to evaluate the squad and make decisions, so maybe it was a good thing that money doesn't flow in Rotterdam. Getting to the end of the season has allowed me to fully decide who I want to keep and who will be leaving. Jurgen Ekkelenkamp plays as the attacking midfielder in my system and ends the season as one of only seven players to average over a 7.00. I don't remember what his stats were before my arrival, but I imagine the majority of his 12 goals and 11 assists came after I took over. He has a fairly average long shots rating, but seems to be able to bang goals in from 25 yards with relative ease. All that said, he's currently wanted by Newcastle and our reputation suggests that bids from English teams will need to be accepted unless I want to cause issues, so I expect a transfer story to develop in the coming weeks. Arnau Puigmal is a player I only really know from the FM Mobile save I play on my commute to work. I'll now remember him for a different reason. The driving force in our midfield, his average rating of 7.29 was comfortably the highest in the squad. He also plundered 12 goals. His solitary assist is something we need to work on however. So where did we end up? I mentioned in my previous post that the board wanted a mid-table position by the end of the season - a sign of how they were affected by the previous manager's failings. We went a little better than that an managed to finish fifth after a series of consistently positive results (generally speaking) against the lesser teams in the division. Defeats to Ajax and PSV, despite good performances, showed potential, but also the need to invest in quality at both ends of the field. The board were delighted with our performances in the Eredivisie, but we weren't finished there. My first game in charge was a 6-1 win over Willem II in the KNVB Beker and that set the tone for a run to the final, where we came from 2-1 down at half-time to beat Ajax 3-2! We'd played well in Amsterdam in the league, but came away without a point. This time we, eventually, turned our dominance into goals and therefore silverware. Early signs suggest we'll have just €8 million to spend this summer, so that will limit the fire sale that I had originally planned. We're going to need to buy cheap, so I'll be manually scouting around Africa, Scandinavia and the smaller South American countries.
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Post by Nick on Jun 6, 2019 9:52:36 GMT
Guardiola WatchI've finally overtaken Sir Alex in the Hall of Fame, but am still a way off Pep, who won the Trophee des Champions and the Ligue Un title with Monaco this season. Our KNVB Beker win has closed the gap again, but we can't get away from the fact that Guardiola has the advantage at the moment given the stature of both club's and likeliness of winning trophies. I do have the added bonus of managing England as well, and I can retain the Nations League this summer to close the gap further.
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Post by Nick on Jun 6, 2019 12:13:09 GMT
January - June 2029 - England UpdateThe World Cup qualifiers are now underway and back to back 4-0 wins have given us a great start. Wales visited Wembley and found themselves 3-0 down after 20 minutes. We're at that stage where if our performance is a 7/10 we'll beat the majority of sides we face. Away in Finland was a case in point. Lewis Cook had given us the lead after 14 minutes and after that it was damage limitation for them. We struggled to break them down, taking shots from range and looking devoid of ideas. Marcus Rashford came on undid all their hard work by scoring a hat trick and that was that. Qualification will finish by the end of the year. The Nations League semi final at the end of May was against a familiar foe - Italy. It feels like we've played them a lot, but the Euro semi final was the only time. Last summer we beat them 3-1, this summer it was 1-0 via a Phil Foden goal to set up a final with France and a repeat of last year's Euro final. This time we exacted a small piece of revenge for that as goals from Lewis Cook, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Sergio Prieto gave us a 3-1 win. Eight changes were then made for a rare friendly, with Peru. We were a class above and hit them for seven. Fixtures
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Post by Nick on Jun 6, 2019 15:41:49 GMT
2029 Confederations CupThe squad we took into the tournament is largely made up of players already posted in the thread, so I won't repeat myself. The FA would like us to reach the final and I've pencilled us down as joint favourites with France; Italy slightly behind us both. New Zealand 0-5 England (Group B) Foden (8) Prieto (25, 45+1, 60) Alli (67) The perfect start as we secured a routine win against New Zealand. With respect to them, they are never going to cause us issues and it's usually a case of 'how many' when we face teams like this. Sergio Prieto now averages more than a goal per game at this level with 10 in 8. --- England 6-1 Chile (Group B) Cook (6) Nelson (17, 28, 86) Vaughn (57, 63) A few changes, but the same type of performance. Looking to go forward at every opportunity. I'd not realised what a good player Lewis Cook was before this save. Reiss Nelson is showing he can cut it at this level as well after not catching the eye initially. --- Qatar 0-0 England (Group B) With top spot secured I made ten changes to the side. A disjointed performance followed, but that was expected. It's been a while since we have failed to score. The one change I didn't make was Dele Alli and he'll now miss the rest of the tournament, which is a massive blow. --- England 5-0 USA (Semi Final) Foden (29) Rashford (51, 66, 71) Nelson (78) Brad Friedel manages USA at the moment and he was talking in the press beforehand about England 'not being as good as they think' or some shit. Well, he's now eating his words. Much like real life at the moment, the one player they have is Pulisic, but the rest are average. Marcus Rashford came off the bench to score a hat trick for the second time this calendar year. The big shock from the group stage was that France didn't qualify for the knock outs, so we'll face Italy - again - in the final. --- England 2-4 Italy (Final) Foden (40) Cook (45) Wow. 2-0 up at halftime and Italy have barely had a sniff. We conceded three times in the last ten minutes to lose 4-2 and I was just left staring at the screen in disbelief. Not seen that type of moment from this team ever, but you can't win them all. I'm not sure if it was fatigue, but Italy were tired as well. We just fell apart. --- ConclusionDisappointed to have lost the final, especially in that manner, but Italy were due a result against us! Worse news was to come following the tournament as Trent Alexander-Arnold announced his retirement from international football. With the World Cup coming up next year, it's a really random time to make that decision, but more worryingly is that he was our only real top class option at right back. Max Aarons at Stoke is his understudy, but I don't have much confidence in him against the elite nations. Below him, options are limited, even at U21 and U19 level. There are a few centre backs that have retrained as right backs, but they don't fit my system at all. All things considered, I'm going to give the World Cup a good go next year and then probably call it quits as England manager.
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Post by fmamerican on Jun 6, 2019 15:52:05 GMT
2029 Confederations CupEngland 5-0 USA (Semi Final) Foden (29) Rashford (51, 66, 71) Nelson (78) Brad Friedel manages USA at the moment and he was talking in the press beforehand about England 'not being as good as they think' or some shit. Well, he's now eating his words. Much like real life at the moment, the one player they have is Pulisic, but the rest are average. Marcus Rashford came off the bench to score a hat trick for the second time this calendar year. The big shock from the group stage was that France didn't qualify for the knock outs, so we'll face Italy - again - in the final. At present, the USA U20s is load with talent to get mis-managed when they get promoted to the senior side. Exhibit A: Josh Sargent assigned to the potential player pool for the Gold Cup. As a result, he missed out on playing in the U20 World Cup. Doesn't make the final Gold Cup roster. So, he misses out on BOTH international tournaments. Good job. Good effort, USA Soccer.
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Post by Nick on Jun 8, 2019 9:36:48 GMT
A busy, but ultimately positive, summer here in Rotterdam. We've done some good business, built to the future and I'm content that the squad is in a much better place than it was at the end of last season. As expected, the board gave me around €8m to spend and the first deals were done by my Director of Football. He spent a combined €550k on Terry Winter and Ingmar Reiziger. I can't see either of them developing into the players that I need for this level, but they could offer some resale value. As promised, I spent some time manually scouting South America and Africa, before allowing my scouts to form a report on the players. Colombia and, more specifically, Atletico Nacional is often a good place to start for most FM players and it was no different for me. €775k was sent over for the services of Leonardo Suarez, a young centre midfielder, already capped by Colombia, ready made for Eredivisie football and capable of improving greatly in the future. He's fairly well-rounded at the moment, but his first touch, passing, decisions, vision and work rate stood out immediately. Continuing the South American theme, I raided another Nacional, this time the one in Uruguay. Andres Silva is a little more raw, a little older, but has plenty of potential. Unfortunately picked up an injury on debut, but should offer us plenty this season and beyond. He cost €1.5m. €1m was sent to Mamelodi Sundowns for Given Khoza. He was wanted by a whole host of top clubs, so I wasn't confident of getting him initially, expecting my bid to cause a bidding war. Nothing materialised and we got our man with ease. Coming back a bit closer to home, €600k was spent on Mickael Coulin of Nice. The world seems to be full of defensive fullbacks, so to find one that can cross a ball is rare. The big outgoing transfer this summer was that of Jurgen Ekkelenkamp to KAA Gent. He was one of our better players last season, worth around €8.5m, but also 29 years old and on €33k per week. When Gent agreed to my €25m valuation, I allowed him to leave. I didn't really want him to go, but I probably wasn't going to get another chance to make that kind of money on him. His replacement is Helder Melo, who cost €4m from Benfica. Younger, on less money and arguably better, I think we've done well out of this deal. Bjorn van Duinen was another youngster sitting in the reserve team, not really pulling up any trees. So when Napoli showed an interest I saw an opportunity. €5m + 50% of next sale later and he was heading to Italy. €8.25m spent this summer and €33.5m brought in, boosting the bank balance to €43.6m. I'd say that was a success. Pre-season was four games against Eerste Divisie teams that yielded four wins and 24 goals scored, all of which set us up nicely for the 'Johan Cruijff Schaal' against Ajax (our reward for winning the KNVB Beker last season). It was another good performance against Holland's premier club and, even after going down to ten men after 47 minutes, we managed to go 1-0 up after 80'. Unfortunately, Ajax equalised with three minutes remaining and then beat us on penalties, but we can take confidence from how we performed. Eight days later, we had a chance to get revenge as we hosted them on the opening day of the season. This time home advantage helped us to a 2-1 win in front of 51,000 fans in de Kuip. We've taken confidence from that result and gone on to beat Vitesse (3-1), ADO (4-1) and NAC (5-2) to remain unbeaten and sitting top of the Eredivisie table. Ajax sit down in 11th with a 1-1-2 record. Our Europa League group is tough as we'll face Gladbach and Tottenham. Russian side Akhmat complete the group. Realistically, I think third is the best we can hope for, but the board want us to reach the first knockout round. We're expected to reach the semi final of the KNVB Beker, where we'll play Spakenburg in the first round. The media have us pencilled in for third in the league and I'd take that, but ideally I'd like to push towards finishing second an Ajax side I expect to get over the poor start and come roaring back to form.
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Post by Robson on Jun 8, 2019 10:40:46 GMT
Tidy summer's work mate. Enjoying this club tour you're on?
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Post by Nick on Jun 8, 2019 13:24:52 GMT
Tidy summer's work mate. Enjoying this club tour you're on? Very much so. I like to graft as much as the next FM player, but I needed something different and I've enjoyed just kicking back and being a bit more relaxed after the Servette save. It was much needed.
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Post by Nick on Jun 14, 2019 19:00:08 GMT
An unfamiliar look to the final Eredivisie table as I managed to bring the league title back to Rotterdam for the first time since 2016/17. In that time PSV (3), and Ajax (9), have dominated Dutch football. This season Feyenoord came roaring back. We weren't the only shock though, as Willem II defied their media prediction of ninth and claimed Champions League football by finishing second. Miraculously, Ajax completed the top three, and I say this because at the halfway stage they were sitting down in fifteenth place, having just drawn 0-0 at Dortrecht. Ominous signs for next season. Our title win was never in any doubt, evidenced by the 21 point winning margin and record points total of 86. Our 83 goals scored was another record and this was largely down to having sixteen different goalscorers. Angel Dominguez topped the charts with 14, but an average rating of 7.05 suggests he was fairly hit and miss. That said, his 25 goals in all competitions is a new club record. Alexandru Mos was far more consistent, playing as a right winger. 18 goals is a great return and his 16 assists is another club record. The surprise of the season was on the other flank. Teenager, Dave ter Borgh, didn't catch my eye too much when I first took over, but he's played consistently, developed consistently, and played his way to first choice. 15 goals and 9 assists is a fantastic return for one so young, in his first full season. Special mention to two of last summer's new signings. Helder Melo (9G, 13A) and Mickael Coulin (1G, 12A) settled in straight away and came in and did the business. It was a bit too easy at times this season. We had a fantastic run to the Quarter Final of the Europa League, but I was gutted at how we went out to Wolves, having won the away leg, and we also went all the way to retain the KNVB Beker, so that meant we took our foot off the gas a little towards the end of the season, particularly as we had the title wrapped up with seven games to go. I signed a new deal last summer (two years left) and we're around two years ahead of schedule at the moment. I'm keen to see how/if Ajax come back next season because they were desperately poor for six months this time around. They're usually knocking out 80-85 points and I expect that again from them next season. As I mentioned previously, Feyenoord have only won back to back titles once, in the 60's, so I'll be looking to do that next season, as well as winning the elusive Johan Cruijff Schaal, then I'll probably be off.
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Post by Nick on Jun 15, 2019 7:56:25 GMT
2030 World Cup Like all the major nations, we could qualify for these tournaments with our eyes closed. This year's tournament is held in Italy, something the media are saying we can use to our advantage. In FM, I don't think it really matters where it's held, but any potential advantage is welcome. The FA want us to reach the Semi Final, I want to win it. We're at full strength and have momentum going into the tournament. We've been drawn in a group with Ecuador and Ghana, so navigating that should be fairly simple. I'm not a fan of this three team group thing they have going on. We're going to go ages between group games and then have a second and third round to contend with. Seems a bit pointless. The big news, pre-tournament, is that Trent Alexander-Arnold agreed to come out of retirement, which is a massive bonus to us. GoalkeepersTim TantrumAngus Gunn Luigi BoscoDefendersTrent Alexander-Arnold Max Aarons Ben Chilwell Josh Tymon Mark GibbonsRichard LathamDeclan Rice MidfieldersElijah DyerShaun ShintonLewis Cook Jamie Shackleton Phil Foden Dele Alli Scott WaldenPatrick Roberts Jadon Sancho Ben WagstaffStrikersSergio PrietoKyle VaughnJon Young--- Ecuador 0-2 England (Group N) Walden (53) Cook (57) This was comfortable enough, but it took longer to get the breakthrough than I would have liked. Up front, Sergio Prieto was absolutely useless, which is a worry. In the end, we had our midfield to thank for the three points and winning start. We'll need to improve. --- England 1-0 Ghana (Group N) Vaughn (54) Another lacklustre display where we didn't create too many CCC's and lacked a cutting edge. Ghana sat deep and we struggled to break them down. A Kyle Vaughn tap-in eventually gave us the win and top spot in the group. --- Romania 0-3 England (Second Round) Alli (48, 62) Walden (90+1) Another game goes by where we didn't score in the first half, but the performance here was much improved on the two group games. Alli pulled the strings from the #10 role and got the goals he deserved. --- England 5-2 Portugal (Third Round) Latham (7) Vaughn (10, 30) Wagstaff (43) Cook (80) What was that about first half goals? That ghost was laid to rest in stunning fashion here as we found ourselves 4-0 up and cruising at half-time. Portugal didn't know what hit them! They came back into it after the break, but a late Lewis Cook goal sealed the win. --- Spain 0-3 England (Quarter Final) Roberts (45+3) Vaughn (57, 87) Fitness is starting to become an issue, but rotating the squad did no damage to our performance against the Spanish. I have a fairly decent record against them, but didn't expect this type of game. We barely gave them a sniff. Kyle Vaughn is fast becoming man of the tournament, and he's needed to because Sergio Prieto has been an embarrassment. His first today finished a flowing counter attack that started in our own penalty area. --- Turkey 2-0 England (Semi Final) Devastated. We completely ran our of steam. Vaughn was unfit, so Prieto came in. His missed penalty after half an hour killed us and we conceded two second half goals, the latter after pushing forwards for an equaliser. Massive missed opportunity here. We had chances, but we couldn't take them. I had to make six or seven changes and that probably didn't help, but I could go into the game with players 75% fit. Proper gutted. --- Germany 2-2 England (Third/Fourth Place Playoff) Shinton (1) Sancho (21) (Germany win 8-7 on penalties) Germany win football's most pointless game. We raced into a 2-0 lead, but our legs have completely gone and Germany hauled us back by half-time. We ran out of steam. ConclusionA missed opportunity - the World Cup continues to prove elusive for me! The FA are happy enough, and a Semi Final spot should usually be seen as a success, but I wanted to go the whole way. No-one to blame really. We played well in the knockout stages, just ran out of steam. Prieto ended the tournament goalless, but Vaughn made up for that by bagging five of his own. Brazil beat Turkey 2-1 after extra time in the final, so that's that. I'll definitely be resigning and am 75% sure that I'll be giving international management a little break. Between England, Spain and France it's been a fixture for a while and is getting a little stale. I might concentrate on club football for a bit. At least until the next tournament is finished. I'd have carried on with England, but there just isn't the quality coming through. Only six of my 23 man squad were under 25 and 12 of them were over 30. Time for someone else to have a go before I think about leading the three lions again!
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Post by Robson on Jun 15, 2019 12:53:00 GMT
Turkey beat England and gave Brazil a match in the final. How did they manage that?
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Post by Nick on Jun 15, 2019 15:53:03 GMT
Turkey beat England and gave Brazil a match in the final. How did they manage that? It's a good question. The first thing to consider is that Turkey are ranked 14th in the world. Not elite, but capable. On this save, around the same level as Belgium, Mexico and Holland. They have some good players. Ahmet Kilic is their most valuable player and currently plays for Real Madrid. Husnu Ozbalta is arguably the best attacking fullback in the world at the moment. They definitely have quality, but also caught us on a bad day. The missed penalty, an assured performance by their goalkeeper. 9/10 we'd have beaten them. Just one of those things.
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Post by Nick on Jun 15, 2019 20:21:43 GMT
It was a very quiet summer transfer window here in Rotterdam, despite being armed with more than €20m. My DoF spent €1.5m on Samir Heuts, while I spent €165k on a backup goalkeeper in the shape of Guus Vaags. Heuts looks like he could be half decent. A little small and not particularly physically imposing, but Dutch football isn't known for it's physicality. My coaches reckon he could improve a lot, so we'll see what happens. Nothing much out-going. A third choice left back left for two million euros, but that's about it - a few loans. The media think we'll finish top this season, but the board only want a top half finish again which is a little baffling. Ajax look like they're back, which should see a much tighter title race this season. Our Champions League group is a right stinker: Woof! We'll play two of my former teams in Arsenal and Barcelona, whilst Schalke finished third in the Bundesliga last season. Realistically, I think we'll probably finish bottom, but I'd like us to give a good account of ourselves.
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Post by Nick on Jun 16, 2019 9:34:38 GMT
The second round of the Beker proved to be a record-breaker. Made seven or eight changes as well considering we were playing a non-league team.
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Post by Robson on Jun 16, 2019 12:38:10 GMT
Eight different players on the scoresheet. You don't see that every day.
How the hall of fame going Nick, Any closer to Pep?
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Post by Nick on Jun 16, 2019 14:00:07 GMT
Eight different players on the scoresheet. You don't see that every day. How the hall of fame going Nick, Any closer to Pep? Not great! I've fallen slightly further behind due to Monaco winning the league and Coupe de France last season. It could have been even worse as they lost to Liverpool in the Champions League final. They also won the Trohpy des Champions this season and have currently won 13 out of 13 of their opening Ligue Un games. He's basically just built upon what I started - they're relentless. My next job (in Italy or Germany) needs to be at a club where I can compete with him for Champions League titles otherwise I'll slip further and further behind.
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Post by Nick on Jun 16, 2019 15:41:45 GMT
Ashraf MostafaDone deal! One of my scouts found Mostafa tearing it up in his native Egypt. Averaging one in two for Al Ahly this season and has 7 in 11 for Egypt, all at the age of 18. He was wanted by a host of top European teams, so I had to act quickly. None of them wanted to match the €500k I offered and, despite them stalling on my offer, I eventually got my man. My scouts reckon he has 5* potential and 2.5* current ability, but needs to work on his consistency. He shows good movement, finishing and composure so should be ready to make an immediate impact for me. He only wanted €10k per week and didn't insist on a minimum fee release clause which is a bonus. Signed a five year deal, but if he develops like my scouts think, I'd be surprised if he stays here that long. Lad looks the real deal.
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