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Post by ttgb on Jun 5, 2019 13:48:19 GMT
First off you must be wondering who Sunday Ali is.
He is a Nigerian striker from my last save with Fredriksted. He began life at Enyimba but was quickly snapped up to join my journey in Norway. By no means was the best player at the club but he came in at a time when I was looking to move away from my tight transfer restrictions and push on with my hopes of domestic and European glory. What I liked about Sunday was he went about his business professionally. He never once moaned when I refused him a move or he was out of team. He didn't even moan when I removed him as Vice Captain. He was a lethal striker who in his latter years found good form as an attacking AMR.
With all that in mind he became the obvious choice for my next manager as I look for a journeyman type save. To follow Sunday's journey after he hangs up his boots I have loaded the top 8 nations in Europe and have gone unemployed.
I ignored the initial interview offers - Bordeaux and a Bundaseliga side as I didn't want to start in the top division. By the time December came there were a number of jobs available and I began applying. I was instantly drawn to one club - RC Lens who were sitting 18th in Lique 2. They were just the sort of club I fancied. Plenty of room to improve whilst giving Sunday the opportunity to bring over even more African prospects. Another link to my Norway days was that Guillaume Gillet became my assistant in 2020 after retiring at RC Lens.
So you can see why the board have brought someone new in, they want me to reach the playoffs. Looking at the result there is some promise and I hope to use their current unbeaten run as a springboard to success.
We are also still in the French cup - you know the one with about 20 rounds.
As you would with French teams the team is full of players and I haven't quite worked out what I am going to do with them all. I have a lot of 3-5 starred players but I feel a lot won't make it. Looking at the first team the first thing I noticed was there is a clear lack of French players there so that will be something I want to address. Overall we have the talent to do well in the league but it will all be about setting into a new style etc. Two of our best players are new arrivals, perhaps brought in to settle a sinking ship.
Off the pitch things are much better with over £14m in the bank and some decent facilities.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 5, 2019 13:57:03 GMT
We got off to the perfect start. At present the squad lends itself to a 4231 formation which is pretty straight forward to implement. Getting the roles and style of play will take a bit more time. Towards the end of my last save I was experimenting with wide wingers and inverted wingbacks. All it was early days and we were the strongest side in the league it created teams a load of trouble. Defences seemed more capable of covering the overlap as opposed to the under lap. I have deployed that with RC Lens and will be interested in seeing how it plays out. I expect next summer to be a big, with a large aging squad and a number of players out on loan and ones one loan year. I haven't really set myself goals in terms of the overall save or transfer policies etc but it will be nice if I can develop the winger/IWB method.
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Post by Robson on Jun 5, 2019 17:47:15 GMT
Good luck TTGB. RC Lens has always offered an awful lot to the FM manager, enjoy your outing.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 5, 2019 19:20:12 GMT
Good luck TTGB. RC Lens has always offered an awful lot to the FM manager, enjoy your outing. Thanks. Not sure which version but I have previously managed here in the past. Had I mentioned I have no plan for the save, apart from I would like to try a few different clubs, if that takes years then so be it.
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Post by Nick on Jun 6, 2019 9:10:11 GMT
I was going to question whether it was you that previously had a save with Lens. Good luck mate. Are their facilities still tidy?
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Post by ttgb on Jun 7, 2019 13:58:18 GMT
I was going to question whether it was you that previously had a save with Lens. Good luck mate. Are their facilities still tidy? Thanks Nick
We have excellent training and youth facilities. The board are also improving the youth facilities.
We have above average youth recruitment and adequate junior coaching. So some brilliant and some not so good.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 7, 2019 22:28:21 GMT
Season 1 Review
A record beating season for Lens, setting club and league records. Thankfully it wasn't for a continuous poor run, I was able to continue the good form I showed in my opening game to take Lens to 3rd in the league.
The 14 unbeaten run was the record. I knew we were a lot better than what our standing in the league was when I took over but I didn't realise we were this good. The drop in form in the last two normal league games (Ajaccio and Orleans) cost us 2nd spot and automatic promotion. In the playoff we got lucky with a 90th minute winner.
Now I took all the screenshots etc and thought the season had ended and we were up. I did think it was a bit odd that the board hadn't announced a budget for next season. It was at this point I realised I still had a two legged tie against Caen. To be honest I don't know how we won, we had a couple of first team players missing through international call ups. I didn't check Caen, perhaps they were in the same position. Nevertheless we won and we are back where we belong.
We needed some big performance to turn our season around. Everyone stepped up when needed. We clearly have some gifted players but there were a number of players that are pretty average for this level but this didn't stop them performing. The player of the season for me as to be Jean-Kevin Duverne. He wasn't first choice when I came in but really stepped up when called upon and played his way into my team. Six goals shows you don't need to be a towering CB to shine. Honourable mention should also be given to Grejohn Kyei, without his goals I doubt we would have got promoted.
We also managed a decent cup run in the Coupe de France, reaching the semi finals.
The first youth intake was ok, not much depth but I think Arnaud Betoune and Mehdi Berthelin are worth spending some time working on.
The board have been good and given me over £9m to spend and about £90k extra a week in wages. Unfortunately I only have £9m in the accounts so it will be silly to spend it all. I think I will make Kyei's deal permanent for the agreed £2.2m, it would be nice to have that consistency in a key position.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 10, 2019 14:33:49 GMT
Season 2 Pre-Season Review
Quite a busy summer as one would expect. The plan was to drastically cut the amount of players on the books and with about 18 out of contract that was a good place to start. A majority of those were in the Under 19 squad and surplus to requirements. Unfortunately I had it set so the HoYD renewed their contracts so instead of cutting the wage bill I increased it.
I was able to raise £1.6m in a few sales and put most of that money to cover wages as I looked to make the most of the free market. Two well known faces joined via this route, Victor Ibarbo and Ricardo Kishna. Both would have featured for me over previous versions and mark a remarkable step up in quality of what was originally at the club. I will hope to benefit from their experience this season.
Whilst I wasn't able to make the most of the free market - with most players refusing to move to Lens, I was able to get a bit more success in the loan market. The good thing about the loan market is you tend to get young players who want to prove a point to their parent club. The only issue you do get is, one successful season and their parent club wants them back. For that reason I tried to include future fees but was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, if it is only for one season I think Pepe Cheikh Diop, Ben Woodward, Dodi Lukebakio and Matt Miazga will play big parts this season.
I ended up paying for three players, the first two are well known to me having spent last season on loan here. Grejohn Kyei had a future fee of £2.2m and I exercised that right to bring back last season's top scorer. Modibo Sagnan also returns for £1.7m. The final transfer for the summer was Ibou Sissoko who joins for £925k from Strasbourg. He is certainly one to develop a little further as I look to strengthen the defensive side of my middle, especially with Gillet retiring in November (odd time).
In the Summer we headed across the Channel to England and recorded nice wins over Wolves, Newcastle and Everton.
If I am honest reflecting back it wasn't a great summer. I like to have a certain approach to my transfer dealings, whether that is a plan to buy low, sell high, or to obtain players to fit a certain DNA. To be honest on starting the save I thought my approach would be to build teams around a certain DNA, OK I had little idea of what that looked like but all thoughts of it went out of the window and I approached the transfer market in a scatter gun approach. This is something I want to address in the future and will spend this season looking/thinking of where I want to take my teams.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 10, 2019 14:50:58 GMT
The season is going better than expected......
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Post by fmamerican on Jun 10, 2019 17:42:14 GMT
Great win!
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Post by ttgb on Jun 10, 2019 18:34:57 GMT
That game had it all. Couldn't believe I went 3-0 up, I was sure they would win it when it was 3-3. One of Gillet's last games before he retired and became my Under 19s assistant manager. One of his best games for me.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 10, 2019 18:36:29 GMT
You will also notice that PSG under-estimated me. They left out a few key players including mbappe and cavani
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Post by Robson on Jun 10, 2019 18:49:38 GMT
Good start. It'll be interesting to see what this DNA is that you're looking at. Just give us a wee insight on that direction.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 11, 2019 19:12:50 GMT
Good start. It'll be interesting to see what this DNA is that you're looking at. Just give us a wee insight on that direction. A very good question and one I can't answer with 100% accuracy. I have just finished season 2 and plan a bigger tactically write up as I have moved away from my original approach.
Ideally I want young, willing players. Of course I will need experience on top of that. I will be looking at the following stats as key to how we will play - work rate, teamwork, composure, stamina and technique. On top of that I will be looking at first touch and decisions. I don't expect each recruit to be high in all those states but I will be expecting some progress in those areas. I will save the rest for another post.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 13, 2019 9:07:36 GMT
Season 2 Mid-Season Review Just a quick post to give an update on the progress made at the half way stage.
You can see that we are by far exceeding any expectations this season and if I am honest I don't really know where the form as come from. To play, it has been a difficult few months. My last few main saves have had none or minimal recruitment so this has been different and I have found it hard at times. I brought in a number of players that are clearly better than what we had but I have been reluctant to introduce them into the first team, instead sticking with those who got us promoted. Injuries have also been a problem, nothing long term but continuous niggling things that take people out for a week at a time. An unsettled team means I haven't really nailed down a tactic that I am happy with. You can see from below that we are happily scoring and the defence is tight but build up play and team work hasn't been there. You will see from an earlier post that this update is a little delayed and I have finished the season and now working on something a bit better to take us forward.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 13, 2019 11:01:13 GMT
Season 2 End of Season Review
I will start with the cups as I have hardly mentioned them in this thread. There are two cup competitions in France the Coupe de la Ligue(league cup) and the Coupe de France (Fa Cup). Neither were a concern for me this season and I wasn't surprised when I crashed out of the Coupe de la Ligue early on. We fared better in the Coupe de France , going one better than last season and getting to the final where we hammered Lyon. We had a pretty easy route but this competition is well known for having lesser ranked teams doing well.
Our league form in the second half was faultless. I finally gave in and started playing my best XI and in the process I altered my tactical approach, but more on that later. Results
Despite not losing another game we failed to claim the title which if I am honest, I am relieved about. The draw against Montpellier cost us the title. We were fortunate enough that Monaco went on a terrible run of defeats and couldn't hang on.
Performances wise there were a couple of players that surprised me this season. The first up is my player of the season - Jean Bellegarde who benefited from the change in tactic and chipped in with 11 goals. Another favourite of mine is Massadio Haidara who has hell of a left foot. His 3 goals were all worldies and 8 assists all from crosses. I will go deeper into this a little later as it was key to the tactical approach. Lastly I want to mention Ricardo Kishna, well known in FM circles he started the season injured and was one of those that continually picked up knocks. But once settled he was unstoppable. 17 goals and 13 assists in 20 starts speaks volumes. I am looking forward to seeing what he can do now that he is fully fit.
The youth intake was not bad. Plenty to work on but as their are so young it is often hard to see which areas to work on first.
Patrick Duval and Alberto Lopez are the best of the bunch.
Off the pitch we continue to grow with training and youth facilities upgrades in the pipeline. Prize money was a welcome bonus but with CL money next season we should be ok from here on in. With £9m to spend and about £50k extra in wages, we have some room to have a play in the transfer market. Key for me in the summer is replacing those loanee's that will leave whilst also look to replace my aging keeper and attacking midfielder.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 13, 2019 14:51:27 GMT
Tactical Review
Before you read on you must know I am no tactically genius, in fact I know very little about tactics and I don't really play the game in depth enough to go and find out more.
I tend to look at the squad and pick a formation to suit. I then decide how I wish to play and look at he inbuilt options to see how I can do that. I then play a few months, evaluate and make changes as needed. I usually play with little recruitment so tactics generally evolve over the seasons as I don't go and buy ready made replacements. Training in certain positions usually helps. I don't bother with OI's or tactically briefings etc.
So in my first post I mentioned an approach I wanted to implement, one based on the tactic I finished with on my last save. That didn't work, OK results were there but my players weren't playing how I wanted and I put that down to them not being competent in the required positions.
So above is how we finished the season and with our strongest XI.
A couple of key changes were:
CWB instead of IWB - my wing backs just weren't getting into the right positions in attack and the wingers were left isolated. Now they bomb forward and as a result Haidara got 3 goals. Right winger changes to IF - Lukebakio came in and he is a natural IF and left footed. Not only was he getting goals by cutting in on his left but he when we attacked down the left he would come into the middle and play like a second striker. When Haidara put a cross in Lukebakio was often found unmarked at the back post. Also when he cut in it gave our right wing back more space. Flexibility in midfield - The emergence of Bellegarde meant I had to go with his strongest role Mezzala, not one that I use too often but he was amazing in it. Selecting the duty to support meant he also provided cover in defence and is good at retrieving the ball and driving into space. If I was playing a tough match I drop it to a box to box midfielder.
At this stage I haven't edited any of the roles.
My next stage is to look what works best for the striker position. If I am honest I don't have a quality out and out goal scorer up top so I may wait to develop this.
Has a team I want to press without the ball and then counter. I also want to play out of the back, getting the ball to the playmakers - hence the DLP
Sorry there is no footage to accompany this post, I am not that type of poster.
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Post by Robson on Jun 13, 2019 21:06:46 GMT
Tactical Review
I tend to look at the squad and pick a formation to suit. I then decide how I wish to play and look at he inbuilt options to see how I can do that. I then play a few months, evaluate and make changes as needed. I usually play with little recruitment so tactics generally evolve over the seasons as I don't go and buy ready made replacements. Training in certain positions usually helps. I don't bother with OI's or tactically briefings etc.
At this stage I haven't edited any of the roles.
My next stage is to look what works best for the striker position. If I am honest I don't have a quality out and out goal scorer up top so I may wait to develop this.
Has a team I want to press without the ball and then counter. I also want to play out of the back, getting the ball to the playmakers - hence the DLP
Sorry there is no footage to accompany this post, I am not that type of poster. That's a great couple of years and one obscenely good season. Maybe you hit lucky, maybe no luck involved, but you should try some tactical forums occasionally to see how other people come unstuck or go into tremendous depth to get tactics correct. I reckon the roles, formation, instructions and defensive block work well as they are on that mentality, clearly. More important results confirm what you've done works a treat, the proof as they say is in the pudding.
Hats off, great job, be proud. From here the sky is the limit.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 14, 2019 5:43:09 GMT
Thanks.
Rarely get time to play these days not alone sit down in front of forum. I think playing this game for so many y4ars plays a big part in the success. I had a lucky year in my last save where I won the league and then the following season failed so time will tell.
I will also need to make some slight adjustments as I lose my loanees
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Post by ttgb on Jun 22, 2019 22:31:29 GMT
Lens Season 3 Review The summer business was kept to a minimum with the only paid transfer being Alex Vargas who looks a promising player and should get some minutes this season. He only cost £775k which when you compare with the £1.2m Arsenal paid for Nkada-Chmiti, I think it is great business.
Two big name signings were again loanee’s from Lyon – Benedetti and Ndombele. I looked for a keeper but couldn’t find one within budget but I managed to unsettle Rajkovic and he joined mid-season for £2.4m from Marseille.
My first go at the Champions League didn’t end well, 4th place in fact. But when you see my group you wouldn’t have expected anymore. Draws against Juventus and Leipzig gave us our 2 points.
My youth intake wasn’t great in terms of depth but I think I have managed to bring in the best 15-year-old I have ever produced. Teo Mendes follows my HoYD’s personality and his stats look great already. Mehdi Berthelin from season 1 intake as managed a few games for us this season and I hope Mendes will follow suit.
The big new of the season is we managed to secure the title, just about.
We made hard work of it. We were never really in the driving seat. Lyon were early pace setters and got off to a flier. Meanwhile PSG found themselves around 9th as the season entered December. After spending £247m in the summer they added another £102m in January and started to claw their way back. We overtook Lyon who seemed to love a draw. We should have made it look more comfortable but we went into the last game of the season 3 points ahead of PSG - and lost 3-1 to Strasbourg.
A great season but tactically we were a bit all over the place towards the end, scoring for fun most of the time but also conceding too many. In our last 6 games we conceded 3 in a game on 3 occasions.
Our squad stats look like this for the season
One thing I have noticed in the two and a bit seasons I have been here is that we are good at turning those that look down and out on their career's back into footballers again. Last season it was Kishna and this year it was Weah, who is my player of the season. I didn't expect much when he signed on a Bosman, but it turned out to a great season for the youngster.
Not sure what to do next. I still have a year on my contract. At the end of last season I was offered interviews at Bayern and Porto but said no, preferring to lead Lens into the CL. Recently I had an interview with Juventus but didn't get it. My head has been turned but managing Mendes is appealing.
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Post by Robson on Jun 23, 2019 9:44:22 GMT
Tremendous effort. You've made that look easy. Stay with Lens a bit longer I reckon.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 23, 2019 14:13:40 GMT
Tremendous effort. You've made that look easy. Stay with Lens a bit longer I reckon. That was my initial thoughts and I have started pre season with Lens. But the Atletico job just come up and that is appealing. With Lens I don't think I am actually building anything. Most of my best players are on loan, we don't have the money to buy anyone half decent so relying on the free transfers.
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ianf
New Member
Posts: 92
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Post by ianf on Jun 24, 2019 19:11:29 GMT
Lens have a history of producing awesome regens. Glad to see you doing them proud!
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Post by ttgb on Jul 2, 2019 9:13:47 GMT
Sorry for the delay between posts. Been manic at home
Season 4 Preview Part 1
I was very much settled on staying at Lens another season, rejecting the opportunity to join a number of top clubs. But then something appeared that turned my head. As mentioned the Atletico post was made available and after looking around the club I knew this was the next challenge for me. In the past three seasons they have finished:
2019 - 1st 2020 - 2nd 2021 - 3rd
So clearly they are a team in decline. Over the seasons they have sold big players for big sums but recruitment as been poor. As you can see from below, to me they don't look like a team unit.
There is a clear lack of defenders at the club and those that are here have had their best years, the same can be said for central midfield. I would have expected a load of good youth players but they have seemed to have been sold too. There are a few teenagers making up the first team squad but they aren't Atletico quality and are just making up the numbers. Looking around the youth squad the best youth player we have is Mario Lopez, he is still a bit raw but I think he has potential. One positive is Griezmann is still at the club, even though he is on £800000k a week, the highest paid player in the game.
Another thing that needs addressing is the backroom staff. This is what I am left with:
Pretty poor, I believe you would all agree.
Luckily there are funds to put some quick fixes in place. Its 2nd July so the transfer window is open. I have £104m in the bank, I can spend £81m (plus 90% of sales), and there is about £280k left in the wage budget. A few players will be moved on, especially those rotting in the B side
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Post by ttgb on Jul 2, 2019 9:41:31 GMT
Season 4 Preview Part 2
Just a quick update to highlight some changes to personnel before I embark on my first season in Spain.
The plan was to strengthen the defence with youthful prospects which proved more difficult than anticipated. There is a clear lack of full backs in the game world that are capable of competing at the top, add to the mix that I really need EU nationals made it difficult.
Well known Danilo came in on loan from Barcelona to provide cover at both sides of defence. Whilst Sergio Romero came in from United to provide adequate cover in goal. He wasn't my first choice but again options were limited. At centre back I had one target and I was glad he agreed to join me over Monaco. I had been watching him at Lens and liked his no nonsense approach, although his aggression is low he likes to get stuck in. At only £11.25m I think Alejandro Grasso is a steal. My final piece of my defensive jigsaw saw us break the club record. He wasn't my idea of a left back but with little choice and the feeling of bringing a big name back to the club I sanctioned the deal. Lucas Hernandez came back for £70m although I received about £8m back from Man Utd due to a sell on clause.
With a number of those first team teenagers leaving on loan I made the decision to replace them with players of more quality. Jorge Villalba came in for £3.5m and although he needs a bit of work to fit into central midfield and he is fickle, I do see some quality there. He was quickly joined by wonderkid, Matias Mendez for £2.6m.
Also joining on loan was Pietro Pellegri from Monaco and Xaver Schlager from PSG.
The big transfer out this summer was Vitolo joining Juventus for £36m, not bad for a 31 year old on £175k a week.
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Post by ttgb on Jul 2, 2019 9:44:21 GMT
Not sure why only one name came out in bold, if I go to edit them they are in bold. Please click on their names if you wish to see their profile.
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Post by ttgb on Jul 6, 2019 22:09:50 GMT
Season 4 - End of Season Review
Lets start bad. The youth intake. Never in my years have I seen anything so bad at a top club. If I was a 3rd tier club I would have accepted this but not at Atletico. Not one player signed.
Now lets move onto the ugly.
We didn't play out best football in Europe, beating reining champions Liverpool aside. We relied on good home form in the group stages but were outdone by a much better PSG side in the knockout stages. Europe highlighted my poor defence, something that became apparent in the league also.
Which brings me finally onto the good.
The gap looks much bigger than it was for most of the season but playing both Real and Barca in the final games meant we were able to open a sizeable gap. Our only defeats coming against Rayo Vallecano (0-2) and Valencia (2-6). The Valencia game again highlighted our poor defence. I set up to play out of defence and we don't quite have the players to do it. Valencia and Liverpool before played a high attacking line and pushed us into making mistakes. Oblak making 3 mistakes in the Liverpool game, the type of mistakes you only see once in a lifetime. At least we could find the net though.
In fact 5 players got into double figures this season. The player who impressed me most was Koke, at 30 years old I was expecting his performances starting to drop but he was Mr consistent from the DLP support role. A excellent return with goals and assists. Another aging star, Griezmann continues to power on. I selected his games carefully as I want him to maintain his legs for as long as possible. Watching him dribble past players is a joy. Finally I would like to mention Gelson Martins, a player I haven't managed before but one I really like. A typical IF who can find the net and cause teams all sorts of problems. It is a going to be a struggle to keep him at the club with Chelsea circling.
Plans for the off season are to continue to get rid of the deadwood whilst looking to strengthen at the back.
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Post by ttgb on Jul 7, 2019 11:21:44 GMT
I am not sure what Sevilla are doing that others aren't
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Post by ttgb on Jul 7, 2019 12:39:29 GMT
This could be interesting but Zoran Tosic, really.
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Post by Robson on Jul 7, 2019 14:16:00 GMT
Bossing the leagues. That's a huge points return and goal difference. Great season for Griezemann. How did you use him?
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