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Post by ttgb on May 11, 2020 15:58:38 GMT
Great work Guido. Would love to see the changes you made, it is certainly working.
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Guido
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Post by Guido on May 11, 2020 20:37:38 GMT
February and March Breezing through it now. Can't do much transfers anyway, as the money is gone. I haven't looked at the staff yet, because I reckon we need the money for the squad. We beat Levante 1-0 courtesy of a cheeky header by Keko from a long throw-in. Our iron-clad defence did the rest as we saw out the game and kept Levante at bay with relative ease. Golden boy Kaio Jorge scored an early goal as he got on the end of a lovely little through-ball and hammered the ball past the goalie. We should have scored a few more goals but alas, that was not to be. The guests were never a threat in fortress Riazor and we conclude our rise up the table. Europa League football is a very realistic possibility now. The first leg of the cup semi-finals ended in a 2-1 win to us. The other semi-final sees another Clasico match-up. Bugger that. On the bright side, if we reach the final and Real/Barça qualify for the Champions League, we are pretty much guaranteed European football next season. I'm kind of mad Muniain scored that critical goal, as I do want to reach the final. A goalless draw away against the #17 of the table. A disappointing result. We had our fair share of chances but we failed to take our chances. Two goals bij Çolak were enough to see off Alaves and continue our bid for European football. Sevilla couldn't cope with fortress Riazor, Çolak scored from the spot and Keko fired home a long-range effort to give us three points against a direct rival. Valladolid is the next team to succumb to our pressure. We finally found our scoring boots. Valladolid scored an early goal but we quickly overpowered the lacklustre away-side and ended up winning comfortably. We have reached the cup final versus Barcelona. Not our best performance but hey ho. A cheeky league win instead of a draw and we keep chasing that European ticket. It was scrappy and it was shit. We also lost Çolak for six weeks due to an injury. We did not lose and that's something. I would've liked to win this one. Relegation has been averted. I can probably finish this tomorrow. Who-ever comes next will have a hell of a job rebuilding this squad if we make it into Europe.
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Post by Nick on May 11, 2020 21:01:05 GMT
Guido is putting me to shame in stunning fashion. I'd like to see the tactical changes - always eager to learn.
A cup final is massive bonus for us this season, you're making it look easy mate. Out of interest, have you played the young lad, Condemi, at all or just kept him available for the youth team like I did?
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Post by ttgb on May 11, 2020 21:28:40 GMT
That's amazing. I can't wait to jump into the save once you up load it. Be interesting to see how you turned my tactic into something so solid at the back.
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Post by chaodck on May 11, 2020 21:36:54 GMT
Chapeau my friend Guido, chapeau. Amazing work mate.
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Guido
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Post by Guido on May 12, 2020 6:15:38 GMT
I have opted for a tactic that offers us more stability at the back while making the most of the players we have. With the exception of Keko, our wingers seem somewhat underwhelming and the team regularly got caught on the break by stronger sides. By dropping the wingers a line, having the wing-backs tuck inside and dropping the attacking midfielders into space, we've created a strong central presence that makes it very difficult for an opposing side to play through. They can go around the central area and whip the ball into the box but that is something our defenders can deal with quite comfortably. Offensively, Kaio Jorge keeps the opposing defensive line back, freeing up space for those attacking midfielders to get creative and shape our offensive play. The wingers will get involved as well, while the wing-backs and the deep-lying playmaker remain behind to shield the defence. Robust, not very intelligent but goddamn effective. I also gave the set pieces an upgrade. Cheap goals are still goals and we need all the goals we can get.
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Guido
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Post by Guido on May 12, 2020 11:20:40 GMT
The remaining months Fortress Riazor proved too much for Atlético. Kaio Jorge scored another great goal and Aketxe converted a penalty to give us the win. Bottom-of-the-table Rayo Vallecano took a beating as our forwards found their shooting boots and put the Madrid-based side to the sword. We came close but ultimately Barcelona had too much individual class for us to handle. A narrow win still counts and we're still in with a shout for a spot in the Champions League preliminaries. Fourth-placed Espanyol took a beating on the break, as Kaio Jorge was in sublime form. European football has been secured! And the wheels are starting to come off. Suspensions and fatigue and a lack of firepower today cost us dearly. Some suspensions at the back cost us, again. Ugh. We can forget about that top four finish and Champions League now. Yep, the wheels came off. Lack of squad depth for a top-half finish. And we finish the season with a defeat to the new champions. Started well enough but unable to contain Barça. The defeat against Villarreal was a turning-point in our finish to the season. Still, decent enough finish. Transfer-wise, I put in a cheeky bid for Matt Smith to play as a right-back. We'll see. Overall, the squad needs rebuilding if we are to do well next season. Our mercenaries are leaving, except Kaio Jorge. Signing him would be smart but we can't afford him right now. Re-newing the deals for Araujo and/or Montero would be smart. Mollejo is not good enough and Febas is decent but I prefer using our own players. Goalkeeper-wise, I'd recommend signing a new one. Uzoho is erratic. He has the raw potential but is not consistent. Yoel is consistent but old and not that good. Right-back. Simon is leaving and Boveda is getting old. We need a starter for this position. Left-back. Less of an issue. Strinic is getting old, so should be sold. Salva Ruiz is a decent understudy and Toni Lato is coming in as the new starter. Central defence. Araujo and Montero are set to leave. Crotone and Chievo are interested in Somma, I'd sell him. That leaves us with 19-year-old Rodriguez, Torro (who is a midfielder) and newcomer Dabila. You'll need rotation options or maybe a second starter besides Dabila. Right wing. Keko and Larrazabal mostly, Valle can play there as well. Bellingham can do a job on the right as well. I reckon we're good. Central midfield. Iturraspe is getting old, Vicente has an expiring contract, Torro isn't a playmaker, Febas is probably leaving so that just leaves Shibasaki. If you want to go back to the old system, you're definitely going to need extra midfielders. If you're sticking with mine, you're still going to need someone to deputise Shibasaki, unless you're going to stick Bellingham in this position. Left wing. Shibasaki, Keko, Aketxe, Çolak, Merino and Valle can play there, with new signing Mula as well. Even when some of these players will play in different positions, not a priority position to strengthen in my eyes. Attacking midfield. Plenty of options. Çolak, Shibasaki, Aketxe, Bellingham, Merino, Fernandez, unless some golden opportunity presents itself, we're probably good here. Forward. We're probably relying on Kaio Jorge too much. Fernandez, Valle and Merino can do a job there but we'll need someone else. we.tl/t-YeREMbSTTx
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Post by ttgb on May 12, 2020 13:22:06 GMT
A great season. I think the CL would have been a step too far and there is nothing wrong with the EL, we have a chance at progressing and it offers decent money.
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Post by chaodck on May 12, 2020 14:24:42 GMT
Little more to say that terrific work Guido, truly amazing. As I said before chaps, I'm planning on finishing my current C&C season before taking this, so I think I won't be able to start before tomorrow late or Thursday morning. I know it's a cheeky request, but if anyone wants to take a look and put up names for signing consideration, I'd appreciate it. Cheers!
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Guido
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Post by Guido on May 12, 2020 16:36:38 GMT
The wheels came off towards the end. Fatigue, suspensions and a few injuries cost us. I would've liked to win the cup as well but Barça is in a league of its own. No stopping guys like Fati and Messi
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Post by ttgb on May 12, 2020 20:31:13 GMT
Little more to say that terrific work Guido, truly amazing. As I said before chaps, I'm planning on finishing my current C&C season before taking this, so I think I won't be able to start before tomorrow late or Thursday morning. I know it's a cheeky request, but if anyone wants to take a look and put up names for signing consideration, I'd appreciate it. Cheers! I have downloaded the save and will look tomorrow
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Post by ttgb on May 13, 2020 9:14:36 GMT
Right I have been looking around for a few hours, a lot of manual scouting etc
Sales - Strinic can be sold for his value. Somma can also attract bids if needed. If we need a new keeper Yoel can go but hard to sell. Didn't try selling Hugo Madruga but I guess he could be surplus to requirements.
Loans - Araujo and Montero both agreed to resign so we have cover there, plus we Sadick returning who can cover RB and CB.
Players worth scouting - Ramiro Barbeito (there are loads of good players in Argentina), Vincent Tembeng, Jesper Anderson, Bjorn de Bruijn, Kevin (from Boca)
Signings - Mata will sign but don't think he is needed. I signed Kaio Jorge - to spread our money I paid £8.5m upfront, £10m over 3 years, a friendly and 10% of any profit. Jesus Vallejo is available for a free transfer in July, a bit slow but may be a good backup. Rajkovic is a decent keeper and agreed to sign for £7.5m, again split between up front payments and instalments. Fabio Silva from Porto is available on loan, only £4300 a week wages, decent backup, or Steven Jovetic is available for free, same with Jese.
Just some food for thought. I played up to the start of the transfer window and there were a load of decent loan signings to be had if needed.
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Post by chaodck on May 14, 2020 14:44:43 GMT
Tonight's the night lads, after work hours I'm picking up the save and starting my stint. Will have a takeover report late tonight. Don't know if I'll do monthly reports, as I usually cruise through saves, but will try. ttgb cheers for the names lad, I'll take a look at them.
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Post by ttgb on May 14, 2020 20:16:05 GMT
Tonight's the night lads, after work hours I'm picking up the save and starting my stint. Will have a takeover report late tonight. Don't know if I'll do monthly reports, as I usually cruise through saves, but will try. ttgb cheers for the names lad, I'll take a look at them. No problem. Plenty of options put there, just need to make the money work for you.
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Post by chaodck on May 15, 2020 4:03:30 GMT
Dudes, picked up the save and I'm having issues with the licensing of club names. I saw that in Nick's and Guido's updates the club names are correct. I tried re-applying the susie patch to no avail, so I'm a bit lost. The OCD inside me is eating me from inside, please help me.
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Post by ttgb on May 15, 2020 7:02:32 GMT
You need to manually edit one of the files. Go to the susie thread that you get the file from, I think it's post 2
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Post by chaodck on May 16, 2020 2:56:33 GMT
Lads, I'm plowing through the pre-season. Have had to restart a couple of times though as my computer doesn't have a battery (or it's weirdly turned off) and we've lost power on the house a couple of times (I'm at the countryside, not in Santiago, so power is kinda sketchy at times haha). I should have finished the pre-season by tonight and have an update for you to read early morning.
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Post by chaodck on May 16, 2020 8:28:19 GMT
Deportivo La Coruña 2021-22 Season Takeover and Pre-Season Report OverviewSo, at last I could manage to get through the pre-season and do a small update for you lads. Sorry to have taken so long and taken momentum from the save. I will try to get the rest done by the weekend.TransfersGuido left a lot of transfers made, securing several interesting players on free deals. This meant I had to squad plan on July 1st, after taking a look at the new arrivals. First thing I noticed was that as England left the EU I had a bit of a problem in my hands as our Non-EU slots were full. Kaio Jorge uses up one and incoming were Matt Smith and Jude Bellingham, meaning I had to sell Shibasaki, who ended up going to Girona for €10M. I also sold a few other players who were surplus to requirements with the new signings, most of them sold for little money, but that's just the way it went. Emre Colak to Zaragoza for €1.8M, Michele Somma to Osasuna for €2.5M and Borja Valle to Birmingham for €750k. Finally I decided to sell Koke as well, as he was bitching about a new contract and took my "No" the wrong way. He's near 30, earns a lot of money and we have a couple of good younger players in his position, I think I'll only miss his versatility. He was sold to Alavés for €6M. I also released some old chaps who were using up wage budget, René, Eneko Bóveda and Ander Iturraspe left via the back door.First, loans, I decided to renew Víctor Mollejo and Javier Montero's loans for the whole 2021-22 season, unfortunately I couldn't sneak any clause on those deals. Now, onto Guido's transfers. Yves Dabila is a good CB who'll start alongside Montero at least to begin the season. Alex Mula is a capable winger who'll provide cover for Mollejo. Toni Lato is a magnificent coup, he'll be immediate starter and has the looks of a perennial fullback for our side. Jude Bellingham and Matt Smith will man the middle of the pitch, both starting. At first, before realising the Non-EU thing, I planned for Shibazaki to start and Smith to be a backup, but plans went out the window. Diego is also a great deal for us and he'll be our starting #10, playing behind Kaio Jorge. Finally, Kaïs Najeh is somewhat of a fringe player in my view, but he'll be on the squad and will aid the U-19's as well.On top of that, I felt we needed little more. I brought in another central mid, finding Nilton Monteiro on a free, a decent option with some potential to grow. Grant Darby was bought from Derby for €125k, a far off prospect who'll be on the U-19 side for now, I find that getting natural False Nine's is rare on this game and I jumped on him quickly for little money. The last transfer was Castello Lukeba who came in from Lyon for €2.4M, he'll provide cover for the CB position, and can develop to be a great player as well.I'm quite happy with the balance of the squad, despite losing a lot of influence (specially in the starting XI) and also a bit of experience, I guess we might struggle at times due to this, but heck it's a risk I'm willing to take.Pre-SeasonWe made a Training Camp in France and played 6 friendlies, 3 on the TC and 3 afterwards at Riazor. We aced all six games, playing great football at times and rotating a lot to improve match fitness all around. We beat CFFP 12-1, Sedan 3-1, Paris Red Star 6-0, Uniao da Madeira 5-1, Milan 2-0 and Brugges 3-0.Specially in the last two games we were amazing, we crushed Milan (60% possession, 28-5 shots, 5 CCC's) and could've won by a bigger margin.Kaio Jorge was amazing in the pre-season scoring 7 goals in 6 games.Squad and Starting XIAs I said above I'm happy with the squad. We had a few injuries during the pre-season, Salvatore Condemi suffered a torn calf muscle at July 1st, so he's just now on light training and missed all pre-season, Gaizka Larrázabal sprained his knee ligs against Brugges and will miss 3-6 weeks, sub keeper Pablo Brea sprained his ankle ligaments and will miss 2-4 weeks and finally Ivan Strinic is seing a specialist due to a hip injury and will be out between 6-8 weeks. Nothing too big squad wise as Larra is the only sure starter and can be replaced by our own "canterano" Hugo Madruga. Strinic will probably not return to be a proper footballer and I'm a bit worried about the long term progression of Condemi due to him missing pre-season, but he's 17 and will surely make a full recovery.I plan on playing a classic 4-2-3-1 tactic, something that has worked wonders for me at my La U save. The idea is to play attacking football, keeping the ball and attacking through overlaps in the wings. I plan on devising a more defensive tactic to use against bigger sides. This is my projected starting XII tried to keep some things that made Guido so successful, adapting it more to my style. At least in the pre-season worked like a charm.Final Words- So, the elephant in the room first. With the dealings I made, moving some of our experienced players I freed up €27M in transfer budget and €505k p/m in wage budget. This means Kaio Jorge is fully available for us if we want him. As this will be a super important transfer, I'd like a bit of consensus. What would you prefer, pay the clause straight up? Or try to get something with installments, future fees, etc.? fmkova, Nick, ttgb, Guido. - Due to Nick and (mainly) Guido's terrific Cup run last season, we'll play in the Spanish Super Cup, a super strange super cup where we'll face Barcelona in a semifinals game on January (on typical FM fashion we'll play them twice in a row). - No news on the UEFA Europa League group still, I'll update as soon as I know. - I installed my training schedules on the team. They are pretty heavy, and I'll be monitoring if any more injuries arise (thus lowering them a bit), but at least in my La U save they have worked great and haven't had injury crisis. - I also added my set piece instructions to the tactic, another thing that has worked great in my own save.
That's it I think lads. Sorry to have not converted the units to your formats, but it's 4:30 AM here and I just realised about it. If anyone's confused about salaries or anything, I'll re-upload pictures with the correct formats tomorrow. Good night!
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Post by ttgb on May 16, 2020 12:22:20 GMT
If we have the money in the bank then pay up front.
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Post by Nick on May 16, 2020 13:16:20 GMT
I usually pay up front if I have the money, so if we have it, I say go for it.
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Guido
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Post by Guido on May 16, 2020 13:42:01 GMT
Seems wise to snap up Kaio if we can.
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Post by chaodck on May 16, 2020 22:06:45 GMT
Deportivo La Coruña 2021-22 Season August 2021 Report OverviewFirst real month in charge, 3 league games, the draw of the UEFA Europa League and a bit of transfer news.NewsA couple of good news came in August, with the official signing of Kaio Jorge for £14.75M, a high price for a team like us but the wonderkid is totally worth it. He signed a 5-year contract for £30,500 per week and a minimum fee release clause of £50M.Also, I chose to re-sign Italian prospect Salvatore Condemi to a 3-year contract for £7,000 per week, upping his minimum fee release clause to £43.5M. I did this because big teams were sniffing around, Real Madrid, Juventus and Man Utd.Another piece of news comes regarding the UEFA Europa League draw. We were 3rd seeds and landed in a tough group, alongside Red Bull Salzburg, Rangers and Atalanta. I think we can qualify, but it's not gonna be easy, as all 4 teams are of a similar level.Nine Deportivo players were selected for their national teams in the September International date. Four of them on senior level, including Kaio Jorge who's poised for his first Senior cap.MatchesWe played the first 3 La Liga games, hosting Granada, and visiting Athletic and Levante.
The debut was a brilliant game where we dominated Granada at Riazor. Making our home a impenetrable fortress is a must at this level and I'm quite happy with the game overall. Canterano Hugo Madruga scored his first Depor goal and paved the way for a comfortable 3-0 lead before a last minute honour goal for Granada.
We then went to Bilbao and got our asses handed to us losing 0-2 against Athletic. It was a poor performance, despite holding onto the ball and generating shots we weren't good. Ahtletico caught us napping in a couple of counter attacks and we failed to generate clear chances to get back into the game.
Our third game came against Levante as a visitor and it was an easy 3-1 win. We put ourselves up 2-0 at the end of the first half, and then had just a moment of doubt when they scored the 2-1, but fortunately Matt Smith scored soon to put the game to a close. It's nice to see both CM's scoring goals, something I really love in football are scoring central mids. Smith bossed the midfield and if he keeps this level of play will surely become a terrific player for us.
With this, and after 3 games, the table currently stands at:
That's it lads, a good first month, with the signing of Kaio Jorge, 2 wins, 1 loss and some contract renewals. Cheers!
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Post by chaodck on May 17, 2020 1:50:24 GMT
Deportivo La Coruña 2021-22 Season September 2021 Report OverviewSeptember comes by with a lot of matches, so fatigue management has turned vital. Less news regarding players but some interesting developments on the Club front.NewsI went all-out on the Board for facilities upgrade and managed to get the "Big Four" approved, here's the details.MatchesI'll cover the league first, as we played 4 important games there, away against Getafe, and home against Sporting de Gijón, Sevilla and the Derby against Celta.
The first game of the month was an away victory, beating Getafe. It was a game we dominated from start to finish, leaving little room for "Los Azulones" to develop their football, Jude Bellingham scored to start and two minutes later Kaio Jorge doubled our lead. Jesé put one up for them just before halftime and I feared we'd fold in the second half, but another goal from Kaio Jorge sealed the game early in the 2nd and we won comfortably.
The second game was at home against Real Sporting de Gijón, another game where we played well, yet without the flair we showed on the game before. Again, Bellingham and Kaio Jorge carried us scoring each once proving they are the best players in the team. The clean sheet was another high point for this game as we've struggled to keep those to start the season.
Third game of the month was maybe the biggest of the bunch, hosting Sevilla. We played great, again standing tall at Riazor, but Sevilla was ridiculously lucky and we ended up drawing 1-1. Hugo Madruga put us ahead at '15 and we held onto the lead good for a while, but in one of the few deep counters from Sevilla, Munir equalised at '64 and we just couldn't manage to get ahead again.
Finally, the fourth game was the Gallego Derby against Celta. I felt we were the better team on paper, but we just didin't play to our best and got another draw, this time 0-0. The game was tense, with a lot of friction in the middle of the pitch and little to no chances for each side. In the end it was a fair result.
A good, unbeaten league month sees us establish ourselves amongst the European positions, but everything's super packed as only 3 points separate the first and the 8th placed team.
Now, onto the UEFA Europa League, we played two games, went to Bergamo to face Atalanta and then hosted Rangers at Riazor.
Atalanta handed us our only loss this month, in a game where we were completely brushed aside. In the end I was lucky to lose just by one goal. As a side note, this has been the only game in all season where we've lost the possession battle.
Fortunately we managed to bounce back right away, obliterating Rangers at Riazor, 4-0 with a great performance from the team. Carlos Fernández scored quickly and we never looked back, with goals from Mollejo, Madruga and Najeh.
With two games played, things look pretty much as predicted, with all teams winning their own home game. A clusterfuck of a group.
So far, these are the players stats for August-September.
Regarding injuries, we've had a few of them and I've tweaked the training a bit to be more gentle. Kaio Jorge had a hamstring strain and missed 3 games (still has 2 more weeks left to rest at most), Mollejo had missed a couple of games in August and Larrazabal missed almost all pre-season. Our best players have been Jude Bellingham (despite his lack of assists), Kaio Jorge (ibidem), Hugo Madruga (who won over the starting role due to Larrazabal's injury and never lost it) and our centre back pairing of Montero and Dabila.
A good month overall, the facilities news is great and despite losing Kaio Jorge we had a great month, with the exception of the Atalanta game.
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Post by dalenichol on May 17, 2020 7:57:59 GMT
Fantastic progress here Chaodck. I think finalising the signing of Kaio Jorge is a fantastic piece of business. I don't think it'll be too long before somebody gets tempted to meet that £50m clause though, but we shall see. Can't say I'm impressed by the Rangers result either, they must've put a second string team out to do you a little favour
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Guido
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Post by Guido on May 17, 2020 9:00:23 GMT
Well done so far. Sorry about the two Brits, I forgot about their non-EU status. I am glad you made a profit on Shibasaki and that both of them are instant impact players. To think that I brought in Smith to deputise at RB, haha.
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Post by chaodck on May 17, 2020 16:57:55 GMT
Fantastic progress here Chaodck. I think finalising the signing of Kaio Jorge is a fantastic piece of business. I don't think it'll be too long before somebody gets tempted to meet that £50m clause though, but we shall see. Can't say I'm impressed by the Rangers result either, they must've put a second string team out to do you a little favour Hahaha maybe mate, maybe. Thanks for the nice words, here's hoping we can up Kaio Jorge's clause a bit, either to keep him at the club longer or to sell him for better value. Well done so far. Sorry about the two Brits, I forgot about their non-EU status. I am glad you made a profit on Shibasaki and that both of them are instant impact players. To think that I brought in Smith to deputise at RB, haha. Cheers mate, I think I was the one that finalised Smith's transfer though, you left it pendning contract and I finally approved it. But yeah, when I saw the team requirements I realised Shiba needed to go, still it wasn't a bad sell and allowed us to buy Kaio Jorge. Lads I'm advancing very fast. I have shrunken the last 3 months into 2 6-week updates, I'm writing the October-November one right now, and will surely finish the rest of my stint later today and post the update for fmkova to take over. Here's hoping I get it done before the European bed time. Cheers!
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Post by chaodck on May 17, 2020 17:43:10 GMT
Deportivo La Coruña 2021-22 Season October-November 2021 Report OverviewSo, as I said above I decided to split the remaining time left into two 6-week updates. This one covers 8 matches, from October 1st to November 7th, while the last one will cover 7 matches from November 22nd to December 12th. I'll only do matches in this update, as there isn't much relevant news at this time.MatchesSo, again the league comes in as first order of business. We played six games in this period of time, facing Levante at home, Betis in Sevilla, Villarreal at El Madrigal, Real Madrid at home, Málaga at La Rosaleda and Girona at home.
We start off by maintaining our great form at home, beating Levante 3-0. It was a fairly straightforward game, playing on the front foot from the start and only allowing Levante to get some chances after being 2-0 up. It wasn't our best whole match, but we stroke at the right moments and came up with 3 points.
Betis handed us our second league loss of the season, in a game much like the one we loss against Athletic, where we played better and just couldn't score. Kaio Jorge's absence really hurt us as we were specially wasteful in front of goal. Betis scored two in two minutes from two set pieces something we need to work on in training. Fernandez managed to score at '65 and I felt like we could've tied the game, but we missed a couple of good chances at the end of the game.
We went to "El Estadio de la Cerámica" with Kaio Jorge back into the starting XI (he had played from the bench against Red Bull Salzburg in the midweek fixture) and he made an impact immediately by scoring the penalty that gave us a big win in a ultra tight game. As the match description says, it was a horrible football game, with little to no chances for both teams, but we returned home with 3 vital points.
We were at our absolutely best to beat Real Madrid 3-1 at our Fortress Riazor. We played an amazing first half, and Kaio Jorge put us ahead early with another penalty goal. Atlético's wonderkid Mollejo scored against his childhood rivals at '50 to put us ahaead 2-0 and then we managed to keep the ball calmly and limit Madrid's shots as they really came onto us, making Uzoho our best player of the game. Then Dabila managed to score on a corner, making Valverde's late goal meaningless as the game was already won.
At La Rosaleda we faced Málaga who were 18th on the table. I predicted a walkover game for us and it backfired as it was tight and we barely managed to escape with a point. Málaga started off quickly and scored at '7, which made the game uphill for us, specially after Diego dumbly got himself sent off at '27. We pushed on and cornered Málaga into their own box, and the ref gave us a hand, sending off Juankar at '80, and giving us the free kick from where Larra's tying goal came in at '81. Not a bad result given the game, but on paper, not good.
Finally we came back to Riazor to face Shibasaki and Girona. Another dominant home performance allowed us to keep our unbeaten home record and thrust us up in the table. Kaio Jorge was at his best and nearly unplayable scoring two and assisting Salvatore Condemi in what was his first senior goal, becoming our youngest goalscorer in history (18 years, 5 days). The second half was totally unnecesary as we kept possession and Girona never really had a chance.
A good league month, with just 1 loss, despite it not coming against Real Madrid as one could've expected. It's still a tight league table, but we're strongly on UCL positions and I think we can make a good run for Champions League football.
Now, onto the UEFA Europa League, where we played two games, hosting RB Salzburg and then going to Austia to face them.
With Kaio Jorge limited to just 45 minutes and in his first game after missing a month of football we were yet again bad in front of goal. We played good in the middle keeping possession and outshooting the austrians, but it wasn't enough and we couldn't get a goal. Here's two points lost and if we can't get them back either in Austria or Scotland it could be the difference between qualifying or not.
The return game was played a few weeks later and RB Salzburg were super lucky to rescue another draw. They hit back quickly-ish after both our goals and despite us being far the better side we just couldn't get back home with the win.
The group currently stands as this. We will now play Atalanta at home and visit Rangers at Ibrox in the last game of the group. I think we can pull off qualification, but it's not gonna be easy.
So mates, that's the first of the two updates today. We're doing good on the league and on par on the Europa League. We just need a bit more of luck and to improve a wee bit to be the team I want us to be, not much is needed.
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Post by ttgb on May 17, 2020 19:52:57 GMT
That is some win over Madrid, amazing work.
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Post by chaodck on May 17, 2020 23:01:01 GMT
Deportivo La Coruña 2021-22 Season November-December 2021 Report OverviewFinally, I have finished my stint at the helm of this upcoming Depor side. We have a great foundation to keep improving and will surely return to the great glorious times of the middle of the 90's and beggining of the 00's (the best time in history to be a kid, as well). No news again, as I'll do a separate handover post with all my opinions and bits about this six months.MatchesIn the league, we played 5 games, went to Barcelona to face Espanyol, then at home against Valencia, followed by a road trip against Real Sociedad and Osasuna to finish at home against Atlético.
Against Espanyol was a weird game, normally we dominate possession and shots altogether this time we held the ball pretty well but were denied of getting anywhere close to Olazabal's goal. We did have a couple of clear chances, one of them a second post goal from Montero on a corner, thankfully just minutes after we conceded. The second half was more of the same and we just couldn't hurt the opposition.
Fortress Riazor is really becoming a thing. Valencia showed up to the game being in 2nd place on the table and we had to extert ourselves to get the result. Early on, Kaio Jorge scored for us and I felt we would dominate the game, but after it Valencia brought the game to us and despite again dominating possession we were outshot, albeit most of them coming from long range efforts. Another home win, and taking off 3 points from a direct UCL qualification rival is great.
Again, we become resurrection specialists. Real Sociedad were toying with relegation, and we went to San Sebastián thinking of getting another win, and we struggled mightily to play at our level. An early goal from Januzaj (in typical FM fashion, his first of the season) from a direct free kick put us behind and it hit us hard morale wise, never fully recovering from it. We had a few chances in the second half, but nothing clear and even could've lost by 2 but Uzoho stopped a penalty on stoppage. Three days later, Real Sociedad lost again and Deschamps was fired.
Against Osasuna we recovered back to our usual football, dominating the game from start to finish. Larrazábal put us ahead early, and then a brace from Diego in his best game in a Depor shirt, secured the game by halftime. The second half was unnecesary.
Finally, we had to host Atlético, to close out my stint. Again, we showed why Riazor is called Fortress Riazor this year and beat another great team, playing entertaining football. Larrazábal scored again and Kaio Jorge snuck into the fight for the Pichichi award, despite having lost a month of football. We conceded late on the second half and I was worried for a bit, but we held on and won!
We've solidified our position amongst the UCL spots, finishing the first semester in 3rd place, ahead of Valencia on goal difference.
Now, onto the Europa League. We were on a tight spot as the group was super close. We needed good games in the last two to secure qualification.
And yeah, that happened. I had faith about the home game against Atalanta, and we were completely outplayed, bringing down Fortress Riazor with them and handing us our only home loss of the semester. They really were better than us and put us on the complicated position of at least getting a draw at Ibrox, as Salzburg played in Bergamo on the last date.
And we pulled through! Jude Bellingham showing why Guido's choice to bring him in was a fantastic one as he's a big game player scoring a brace to secure qualification from the group phase of the UEFA Europa League. We played good and were the better side in the game, only struggling at times before the first goal.
Too tight a group for my taste, but that happens when there are four similar teams in the same group. In the end the draw wouln't have sufficed as RB Salzburg rescued a draw at Bergamo.
So, that's my turn lads. I'll write a small send off with a bit of news and impressions, while also providing a link to the save.
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Post by chaodck on May 17, 2020 23:38:09 GMT
Deportivo La Coruña 2021-22 Season Handover Report OverviewOk, this was a great expericence. I must say I approached it with a bit of hesitation at first as I'm really enamored with my current FM save, but I really had a great time. We have a great platform to build upon and keep improving, I'm really excited to take up this again.FixturesWe had a great semester on the pitch. Really we only struggled against Atalanta, who bested us on both games we played, the other losses either came in tight contested games or games where we were better and ended up conceding and not scoring. Riazor really became a fortress as I wanted, and we beat Real Madrid, Valencia and Atlético at home in three great games.
UEFA Europa League draw Not gonna lie folks, it wasn't good. We have to face Roma in the First Knockout Round. The only good thing is that we play the defining game at home in Fortress Riazor. I modified the training schedule to include penalties training in the week playing the return leg.Player PerformancesJude Bellingham was our top player, playing 22 games, scoring 5 goals and had 2 assists, with a 7.20 rating. Behind him, Yves Dabila also starred, with 24 games, 2 goals, 2 assists and a 7.16 while loanee and centre back partner Javier Montero played 23, scored 1 and assisted on 2 with a 7.15 rating. Rounding up the top 5, our canterano Hugo Madruga was great until he injured, and in 18 games scored 3 and assisted on 4, with a 7.06 rating, while Wonderkid and potential Golden Boy Kaio Jorge played 19, scoring 12 goals with no assists, with a 7.05 rating.I'm pretty happy with Madruga who took advantage of an early injury from projected starter Larrazábal and took the spot for him, until he went down with injury. Also, Salvatore Condemi was granted quite a lot of game time from the bench and had a few great games, he's truly great and still has a ton ofroom to grow, upping his clause at the start of the season was a great decision.Forecast- We will need to evaluate giving out new contracts to the following players, who have low release clauses: Diego, Hugo Madruga, Yves Dabila and Toni Lato. I would offer them all reasonable deals, while upping their clauses. They were all signed recently though so there might be a bit of reluctancy to re-sign so soon. - Javier Montero's contract ends up in June 2022, as well as his loan contract with us. He's been a great player in this two seasons and a half with us, being a starter all the time, besides he's nation home grown. I'd suggest we try and sign him. Víctor Mollejo our other loanee has a long contract left, and he's highly regarded by Atlético, having a high release fee as well. I doubt we can afford him, but maybe extend their loan for 2022-23 might be interesting if Atlético is willing. - We have 4 players with expiring contracts. Mujaid Sadick is the only starter, and I'd re-sign him, he's wanted by Girona and I promised to sell him if his clause is met (duh duh). The other two interesting players I'd renew are prospects Juan Rodríguez and Trilli, both with enough potential to be starters down the road, so easy re-sign for me at least. Finally the fourth player is Ivan Strinic, one of the team leaders, but on the decline after his injury at the start of the year. Also the LB position is quite covered, only re-sign if deemed neccesary for team cohesion and for a low price. - Besides Sadick, who's wanted by Girona, Fortuna Dusseldorf is sniffing around for Uzoho, who has a respectable £5M release clause. He's good and has still a bit of room to grow, but nothing we can't replace, I might even say that our young prospect Pablo Brea might step up if needed. I also promised Lucas Torró that I'd sell him, as he wants football and I preferred youngsters Condemi and Monteiro ahead of him, his clause is of £3.7M and I doubt we can get half of it. - Regarding incoming transfers I think we're good for what we want to achieve. I think we can challenge for a UCL spot with what we have and specially as fixture congestion won't be much of a problem in the second half of the season. We do need young players though and I'd enphasize we spend there. Currently the B team has 2 players and the U-19's 13 players including those on loans. Manual scouting can go a big way here, specially after the youth intake date. We have £8.5M left in the transfer budget and around £70k per week left on the wage budget. - I think with a bit more of luck I could've been challenging Barcelona for the title. We lost/drew a few games that could've gone our way with a bit of luck here and there, but we werent. Still, I think Europa League qualification is the minimum and we should get it, while I'm positive we can even hold on to the UCL spot we're in, despite it being hard as I assume Atlético and Real Madrid will recover from their horrible first half of the season.
DOWNLOAD LINK: we.tl/t-Z8JCnXSlrA
Cheers lads, it was a great road!
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