2025 Annual ReviewI got sucked in to the save a bit this season and just played through the entire year, so this update will talk about everything that's happened over the last 12 months.
TransfersI'd initially planned on a bit of a squad overhaul, but a bit of personal laziness combined with wanting to retain some kind of spending/salary cap, I decided that it could wait for another year and set about bringing in two young players, who would each go on gain the wonderkid label, for a combined total of £3m.
Alberto Bravo joined from Alianza Lima for £650k, which is clearly an absolute steal. He's improved so much in his first year and I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing how good he could become.
Juan Mieres joined from Independiente for £2.3m and looks equally as exciting. They both take the non-Brazilian count to four, so there's only room for one more in my squad now.
No major deals out. A few loans and a few young players left, bringing in a total of £1m.
Serie AAnyone ever lost a title race by one game on matches won, having had a better goal difference? I have.
We won't come much closer to winning the title as we did this season, finishing second to Internacional, who become the sixth different title winner in as many years, in what is a hugely competitive league. We started the season slowly, winning just two of our opening ten games, but only losing one. I was encouraged by draws away at Palmeiras, Corinthians and Fluminense in this period but, ultimately, it was draws against the likes of Fortaleza that cost us the title. That said, only four defeats this season, which is the joint fewest (along with Corinthians) since the save began.
Only 35 goals conceded, but only 14 clean sheets as we went through periods where we conceded one goal from fewer than five shots on our goal. I'm not sure if we didn't close the game out properly, have an issue with concentration, or just went through an odd period. It's something to look at though.
League TableCup CompetitionsNothing too exciting to report as we won the State Championship against Nautico for the third year in a row.
Santos knocked us out of both the Copa Libertadores and the Copa do Brasil, both at the quarter final stage.
I'm hoping we don't enter the Copa do Nordeste again next season, but I don't think I'm going to be that lucky three years in a row.
Off The PitchThe youth intake started to show potential with the arrival of
Pinga and
Hyago. Not a lot there in terms of CA, but both have 4* potential and give me more than a little to work with.
£95m in the bank account now and I think the time has come where we make a real statement and start spending some money. At the moment, my self-imposed wage cap is £15k per week, and that's been good enough to secure three top-two finishes in a row, but we need to break that to take us to the next level. We'll need a few players as well as the ageing player's time at the club will be coming to an end and a few want a new challenge as well.
The youth facilities are being upgraded again and will be completed in May. It's also time to upgrade the backroom staff again.