Guido
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Post by Guido on Jun 3, 2020 8:17:47 GMT
I have found a way to get Gil and Pérez.
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Post by Nick on Jun 3, 2020 9:19:02 GMT
Gil would have got my vote definitely.
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Guido
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Posts: 100
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Post by Guido on Jun 3, 2020 9:58:52 GMT
The summer window, future transfers and final squadBased on Nick's handover report, I went to town trying to reinforce the squad for the rigours of another season in La Liga, chipping away at the Barça dominance. With Cherki leaving (as in, there was no way in hell we could afford the asking price and they were not keen on letting us loan him again), I needed additional cover on the left flank. Similarly, Nick identified weaknesses on the right flank and possibly in our defence. Beauchamp was not all that and our central defence could use bolstering. All in all, I reckon I did alright in strengthening our squad and getting rid of the dross. Smith was already sent away on loan and he wasn't getting into the squad anytime soon. West Brom offered us a nice transfer fee and we were able to get a relatively expensive player off the books and make a tidy little profit on the side. Beauchamp was wanted by a number of German clubs but none of them were willing to pay us any money. Because I needed to balance the books, I needed to free up funds in the wage budget and I could get a decent replacement in, so he left on a free transfer. The same applies to Ager Aketxe, who really wasn't that good and we needed to off-load him. On the bright side, I was able to make a nice profit on Fernández, who had a decent season in the second division. Larrazabal also left us for a nice sum, while reserve players Najeh and Monteire were deemed unsuited to the standard we strive for and were fucked off. Dabila is an interesting case. Marseille had loaned Eric Dier from Spurs and when his loan deal expired, they needed a defender. Nice also came in with a bid and I was able to play them against each other, raising the price. I reckon I got a nice deal for a player who wasn't an undisputed starter. Nick identified Lukeba as our weakest defender and while that is true, he can also become a club-HG player, and we need those in our European adventures, so I decided to retain him. I did not squander our precious resources. I like to think I did well in the market. My first signing was German defender Felix Uduokhai. He was valued at 28 million but his release fee was at 14 million. That's a steal, a proper one. He is probably about on par with Dabila, so we replaced a decent centre-back with another decent centre-back and we made a bit of money on the side. That's a good hustle and it also helped fund the rest of our transfer window, which was something we really needed to do. With Beauchamp out the door, we needed another left-back and I was able to secure the services of Pablo Sánchez from Betis. As you may or may not recall, we sold Sánchez to Betis a few years back, so he is a graduate of the Depor academy. A club-HG player. Despite being labelled as a wonderkid, he played his matches for the Betis B-side and they transfer listed him because he was unhappy. Well, I was happy to bring him back to Riazor. The additional Dabila funds were used to complete the deals for Bryan Gil and Carles Pérez. That gives us an additional winger for each flank to use, giving us more depth in our squad. Bryan Gil is on loan for now but we have a mandatory future fee, set at 18 million. If he performs as well as I think he will, we should be good to go with that one. Pérez can duke it out with Diatta on the right, Gil can fight Reyna for the spot on the left flank. The other signings are all players who have gone into the youth squad, either on loan or because I activated their release clauses. I quite like the look of Salva Suárez, so I kept him with the core squad. I also promoted youth player Unai Alonso to the first team. This is our current squad in terms of depth. In terms of future transfers, I secured the services of the Brazilian wonderkid Ruan per January. You can never have too many of those and we may lose one of our three upfront.
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Post by Nick on Jun 3, 2020 11:20:17 GMT
That's a really good transfer window, Guido. You've done really well to get as much as you did for the likes of Fernandez and Larrazabal, even Dabila. As you say, that move funded the rest of the window and we definitely look stronger as a result. I assume from the depth screenshot that you'll be using the same formation?
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Guido
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Post by Guido on Jun 3, 2020 11:33:48 GMT
That's a really good transfer window, Guido. You've done really well to get as much as you did for the likes of Fernandez and Larrazabal, even Dabila. As you say, that move funded the rest of the window and we definitely look stronger as a result. I assume from the depth screenshot that you'll be using the same formation? Aye, no changes made besides updates to the set pieces. It seems silly to go for a radical new system now.
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Guido
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Post by Guido on Jun 3, 2020 14:12:11 GMT
The first monthsBoys, you'll be happy when you finish reading this. Expensive but a good sign of things to come... Booya! The squad rebuilding has paid off as well. All spaces are in use. If we allow Lukeba the chance to see out the season, he will be a HG-player as well. Same goes for Bellingham, Sánchez and Fábio Silva, while Condemi turns HG in November. The future looks bright in terms of our HG-slots. We started our league campaign a bit rusty. Despite a great pre-season, we had some difficulties overcoming Gijón. Their defensive setup restricted Pellegri quite severely. He got on the score-sheet courtesy of a penalty but was otherwise pretty much invisible. A late winner by Silva means we start with a three-pointer at Fortress Riazor. Leganés were unable to cope with the offensive firepower at our disposal. A steady 2-0 win away at Alavés sends us to the top of the table. I hope we can stay there. Girona go down 1-0, courtesy of a long-range effort by Gil. Again, the threat of our deep forward was entirely negated. We may need to change that role to something more suitable to our style. Champions League time, baby! Benfica were unable to contain us, so that's a brilliant start to our European campaign. And that's Málaga taken care of. Who can stop this Depor-team, this Super-Depor reborn? I'll tell you who can't stop us... Espanyol! Mallorca didn't really excel at stopping us either. Poor Celtic stood no chance. We obliterated the Scottish champions. A proper test. Barça away. 1-1 is not a bad result. We probably should have won this one but sadly, we didn't. Three games played, three games won. Qualification for the next round is all but certain now. Valencia were ranked second in La Liga. We got lucky somewhat but we did deserve to win. Statistics and such.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 3, 2020 15:58:57 GMT
Great work. Nice to see Sanchez returning, he looks good.
Any screenshots of Salva Suarez and Ruan?
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Guido
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Post by Guido on Jun 3, 2020 16:25:53 GMT
Great work. Nice to see Sanchez returning, he looks good. Any screenshots of Salva Suarez and Ruan? I believe he has the makings of a good DC. Can't jump but that's trainable. And this is Ruan. Esposito, Silva and Pellegri have not really found their shooting boots so far so it will be interesting to see what Ruan can add to our line-up.
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Post by Nick on Jun 4, 2020 17:11:03 GMT
Stunning start to the season Guido, great stuff. Ruan looks class too and that personality should means he becomes an absolute star. I wasn't overly impressed with Fabio Silva during my stint, and he hasn't developed as I thought he would, so he'd be the one to make way if it was up to me. Looking forward to seeing what we can do this season.
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Guido
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Post by Guido on Jun 6, 2020 18:50:04 GMT
The final monthsI grinded on. The results were good, the football wasn't. We have a problem with our forward. He doesn't score. No matter if it's Pellegri, Esposito or Silva, they won't score consistently, not like Kaio did. I have experimented with Esposito as a False Nine and that seemed an improvement but again, not consistently. I have kept the tactic in place because mid-season changes are not wise. Our squad is setup for this formation but we may need to re-think our approach. Bilbao came to town and the Basques were a tough, fierce opponent. Pérez scored with a long-range effort and Kamara converted a set piece. Not a fancy win but a win nonetheless, against a rugged opponent. We dominated Granada from start to finish but we failed to express our domination in the scoreline. Ultimately, a free-kick by Gil was enough to secure the win. Chelsea had the ball, we got the goals. Pellegri finally got on the scoresheet again. A silly own goal by Dahoud nearly gifted Chelsea a point but Condemi gave us the win with a rebound. Celta de Vigo was no match for us in a local affair. Our set pieces gave us the edge. Pellegri missed a penalty as well. Not happy. Back from an injury and skipper Diego immediately sealed the deal away to Betis, as he pounced on a cross and volleyed it home. The early red card was pretty decisive, Benfica never got into the match. Mollejo helped us out with a stupid red card but it took us a long time to capitalise on our numerical advantage. Our best performances this season are in Europe. Celtic got mauled. The Esposito as a False Nine experiment, part I. Part II of the experiment. Esposito scored but we played shit. And part III. Not really that much better than Pellegri as an AF. Fuck. DOWNLOAD
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Post by chaodck on Jun 6, 2020 21:34:05 GMT
Great work Guido!! Eager to take this mate, here's hoping I don't fuck this up. I'm around September on my La U save and I want to finish the season before taking this. I plan on burst through tonight while watching "El Pre$idente" (the new Amazon Prime Video series about Sergio Jadue's rise and fall within the CONMEBOL ranks, and how he ended up becoming the FBI's informant on the FIFAgate case). So, I think I'll take it up around Monday, hoping to finish my stint somewhere in next week.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 6, 2020 23:29:35 GMT
Well done Guido. I think an AF is needed for the striker.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 8, 2020 19:11:44 GMT
Just noticed that since playing this save I have all you guys on my hall of fame. I can see Guido Merry sitting 4th overall, plus some other manager names that must be you guys - Jesper Nossent and Bjorn Bogerd
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Post by Nick on Jun 8, 2020 21:47:29 GMT
Fuck sake, me too. I'll never top it now! 12k points!
EDIT
Guido won two World Cups with Scotland ffs.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 8, 2020 22:41:21 GMT
Fuck sake, me too. I'll never top it now! 12k points! EDIT Guido won two World Cups with Scotland ffs. Time to try strikerless I think.
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Post by chaodck on Jun 9, 2020 21:17:36 GMT
Just a small update lads, I've had a tough start to the week personally (nothing serious, some family issues plus a bit of stress) so I haven't be able to take this yet. I'm planning on doing it tomorrow, and still try and finish up by the weekend (or during the weekend tops).
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Post by Nick on Jun 9, 2020 21:35:28 GMT
No problem mate, take all the time you need.
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fmkova
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My Twitter is @FM_Kova!
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Post by fmkova on Jun 11, 2020 16:37:10 GMT
Hope you're ok mate, if you need someone to talk to, feel free to send me a message.
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Post by chaodck on Jun 11, 2020 22:12:21 GMT
Thanks for worrying lads, things have improved and I'm gonna take up the game tonight after work hours. Yesterday in a creativity outburst I made a couple of new kits for the save, y'know we're a different team now, with world class players and fighting to win La Liga and getting into the later rounds of the Champions League, we needed an threads upgrade.
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Post by Nick on Jun 11, 2020 22:18:55 GMT
Bro, I'd actually buy both of those. That away kit is sexy as fuck.
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Post by chaodck on Jun 11, 2020 22:24:49 GMT
Bro, I'd actually buy both of those. That away kit is sexy as fuck. Cheers Nick! Yeah I love it. As soon as the colour combination happened in my head I knew they'd kick ass haha. There's a couple of NBA teams that are using either bright pink or purple on their newer kits made by Nike, and I gotta say that inspired the design of the away kit.
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Post by Dirk Nowitzki on Jun 12, 2020 7:52:39 GMT
Those are some lovely kits! Like Nick said, that away kit is amazing! The Miami Heat court is unmatched btw:
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Post by Marshdweller on Jun 12, 2020 13:31:43 GMT
Loving this thread - very impressive how you each seem to build on your predecessor's work and squeeze a little bit more from what they've left you! On the subject of pink/purple kits, this was a favourite of mine from a couple of years ago. I'm trying to kick my shirt-buying habit, but if one of these became available in the right size...
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Post by chaodck on Jun 14, 2020 8:51:58 GMT
Deportivo La Coruña 2023-24 Season January 2024 Report OverviewSo, at last I'm able to report on the save. Let me start by apologizing for the time this has taken and I'm now sure I'll be able to finish it by Monday-Tuesday at most. Secondly kudos to all lads before me as we've woven a pretty decent side, filled with talent and tons of potential still. I'm pretty happy with almost all positions and only believe we need a bit of depth, except maybe at goal (more on that below). This will be a fairly short update, with a few matches, some transfer news, my on-pitch plans and the youth intake preview.NewsFirst, regarding players and transfers I decided to renew wonderkid's Vitor Soares' contract as he was being snooped around by bigger sides and his release clause was of around £35M. He signed a 4-year deal at £22.5k per week with a £120M release clause. Also, Ruan arrived as Guido secured his transfer during his stint. He's a hell of a player and instantly managed to solve our lack of accuracy up front (again, more on that below).
Regarding my own transfers, I reviewed the great shortlists made by all you guys and snapped Colombian young striker Johnatan Castaño for £2M. He's got tons of potential and will arrive just having turned 18, which means he'll be homegrown and Spanish by the time he's ready to be promoted to the Senior Squad. As I said at a first glance I was pretty happy with the team, only having issues at goal, Iñaki Peña is a decent player fully capable of being our starter GK for now, but we do need a better player to build upon. I scouted a lot of great players but almost all great alternatives were too expensive for us (I added a few of them to the GK shortlist, in case anyone wants to splash the cash) and ended up settling for Roy Arve Winsnes, a 20 year old from Norway, with international experience who set us back £7M. He wasn't cheap, but he's got a lot of potential and can hold his own against Peña as of right now. I'll try to give the kid a few easier league games, and will start him on the Copa del Rey.
With Ruan's arrival, one of the strikers was unneeded. I tried to offload either Fabio Silva and Pellegri but no teams where willing to offer something decent. I ended up loaning Fabio Silva to see if he
Finally as I said above, also the Youth Intake Preview was sent to us with some exciting news, let's see what ends up happening. MatchesWith little time to prepare and only one friendly to see the squad (I cancelled the other one to give more rest to the players), we put ourselves into the competitive groove right away because who wants to celebrate the holidays with their families, right?Our first game was against Sevilla at Sanchez Pizjuan and we managed to get out of it with 3 points thanks to a goal from Sebastiano Esposito. We didn't play good though.After the Supercopa break, we went to the Baleares Islands to face Mallorca and in a great game managed to get a 3-0 win with a goal from Ruan and a brace from Esposito. Things started to look good, specially between this two kids.We then came back to Riazor and host Barcelona. It was a tight game between the two title contenders of the league and we held our own with the giants with a 1-1 draw at the last minute. Ruan showed he's destined for greatness with a terrific late goal.Finally our last game of the league came against Valencia, again at home. Remember I said I wanted Wensnes to play easier league games? Well a day after he arrived Peña injured himself and that meant he had to start right away. I expected a tight game, but we totally dominated them only conceding a goal on a penalty. Another brace from Esposito, plus a goal from Diattá sealed the 3-1 and an unbeaten La Liga month.We're comfortably atop La Liga, with a 10 point advantage over Barcelona.Now, onto the Cups. First the Supercopa, where we drew Real Madrid on the Semifinals. We scored early via Esposito and managed the game perfectly for 87 minutes. They equalised at '88 and put one ahead at '90, but we were lucky a mistake from Courtois allowed Gil to send the game to overtime with a goal at '90+1. Again they went ahead at the start of the overtime but Ruan equalised (remember I said this kid was destined for greatness? This was his first goal for us). Unfortunately we lost in penalties, but I was grateful to have a week of rest before the next match instead of having to play Barcelona three days later.In the Copa del Rey we drew Las Palmas in the 3rd Round and beat them comfortably with a goal from Ruan and a brace from Bryan Gil.In the 4th Round we played Almería and in a terrific game from Esposito and Ruan we demolished them 5-1. Ruan scored his first hattrick and assisted Esposito on both his goals.Final Words- It was an amazing month and start to the stint. We lacked consistency up top and we found it with Esposito (8 goals, 2 assists) and Ruan (7 goals, 3 assists) finding themselves a terrific partnership. - I'm still playing a 4-2-3-1, but Esposito found himself on the starting RW position due to an injury to Carles Perez and he never let go of the spot. - I tweaked the tactic a bit, adding a few instructions for the team and players, plus adjusting the roles to better fit my fotballing view.
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Post by Nick on Jun 14, 2020 10:24:26 GMT
Great stuff Chaodck. Some good form and two sensible signings. I think sending Fabio Silva out on loan was the best choice. As I said before, he's not developed as we all know he can, but there is still a player in there somewhere. Out of interest, how is he doing at Hoffenheim? I felt we were fairly well stocked upfront, but can't deny that we've missed some consistency in terms of goals from that position since Kaio Jorge left and Ruan seems to be providing that now. His value will sky rocket between now and the end of the season.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 14, 2020 14:12:23 GMT
A great month. Personally I am not to keen on seeing the current and potential ability for the players
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Post by chaodck on Jun 14, 2020 17:21:59 GMT
A great month. Personally I am not to keen on seeing the current and potential ability for the players Hi mate, it's not the real CA/PA of players. It's only a numerical representation of the star system from the Assistant's assessment of the players, I've seen it fluctuate depending on the quality of the team, and definetely I've seen it fail to evaluate a player correctly haha.
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Post by ttgb on Jun 14, 2020 21:37:48 GMT
A great month. Personally I am not to keen on seeing the current and potential ability for the players Hi mate, it's not the real CA/PA of players. It's only a numerical representation of the star system from the Assistant's assessment of the players, I've seen it fluctuate depending on the quality of the team, and definetely I've seen it fail to evaluate a player correctly haha. Ah cool that makes sense.
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Post by chaodck on Jun 14, 2020 23:13:27 GMT
Deportivo La Coruña 2023-24 Season February 2024 Report OverviewWee bit of a month, 4 league games, 2 Copa del Rey games and the first leg of our UCL 2nd Round against Monaco. Not much news, but the matches itself so it's gonna be a short update.NewsOnly a bit of news regarding Fabio Silva's loan activity to answer Nick's question. Silva has started 5 games at Hoffenheim, scoring 3 goals with a 7.16 rating, pretty decent and I hope he can keep it up and improve a bit as well on his abilities.MatchesOk, so La Liga first, then the Copa del Rey and finally la crème de la crème the UEFA Champions League.First game, we played Real Madrid and despite us dominating the game and playing 11v10 we made Courtois the best player on the pitch and never managed to get a lot of clear chances. In the end a decent 0-0. We then hosted Sevilla at Riazor and this time we did find our scoring shoes and won easily 4-1 with a brace from Ruan, one from Víctor Soares and one from Reyna. Another brace from Ruan was enough to see out Real Sporting at Gijón in a really uneventful game. This kid is business though, what a lad truly. Finally we played Leganés, one of the worst teams of La Liga and comfortably won 5-1, with goals from Diatta, Espósito, Ruan, Edjogo-Ewono and Bryan Gil. Truly it was an uneventful month in the league, we are a step above all teams maybe except Barca, and at this point I'm pretty sure we'll win the trophy without much hassle.Now onto Copa del Rey. We first eliminated Sevilla, playing at Sánchez Pizjuán, with a 2-1 win fueled by Pellegri and Ruan to qualify for the Semifinals. Then came the semifinals, where we'll play Real Madrid on a two-legged tie. We won the first leg at home 2-1 with a brace from Ruan, but the away goal might end up hurting us. Finally, the UCL's Second Round. We went to Monte Carlo to face Mónaco and boy we showed the Monegasque Royalty how it's done. With a terrific hattrick by Ruan, plus a goal from Esposito we went back home with a fantastic 4-2 win that almost secures our passage to the Quarter-Finals.Final Words- Another unbeaten amazing month, where Ruan reallly shined. The kid is not afraid of the big stage and has already scored in all the big games he's played. He was awarded the Player of the Month award and scored 11 goals in 7 games played. In total, he has 18 goals in 14 games, with a 8.10 rating and is already our top goalscorer of the season. - Regarding the tactic, Esposito cooled off and might lose the spot to Carles Pérez, while our both fullback wonderkids have solidified as starters. Bellingham had an injury and missed around 3 weeks, where Santiago Edjogo-Ewono took the starting job and lived up to it, playing some great football. Iñaki Peña recovered from his hernia and was our starting GK against Mónaco, I plan on using him for the bigger games, and keep Roy Arve Winsnes in the easier La Liga games as he's played decently.
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Guido
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Posts: 100
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Post by Guido on Jun 15, 2020 18:13:14 GMT
Elated with the results, top stuff! I am also happy we managed to get the forward line firing again. Yay for Ruan, the new Kaio Jorge!
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