[FM10] This is a Tribute - DodgeeD's World Tour

[rancer890]

Stefano (ST) – scored some great goals at crucial points in the season and could always be relied on when the other strikers were injured or out of form. Still, I was surprised he beat Avalos and De Luca to the Fans’ Player of the Year award but what do the Canadians know about football?.....

Man that's low. Real low.

But KUTGW anyways.

[DodgeeD]

Man that's low. Real low.

But KUTGW anyways.

Purely tongue in cheek of course! (There was supposed to be a after it but I'd already reached my image limit with the competition logos )

Toronto FC has been fun so far and I may stick around depending on how things go. Up next: some transfer news and the Champions League final!

[DodgeeD]

March/April 2021 Toronto Update

A couple of transfer items first:

As I couldn’t find a decent DP anywhere, I offered a going nowhere youth player and my DP slot for one season to New England in exchange for Ricardo Sanchez and they accepted, very much to my surprise and delight. Due to a minor injury/suspension crisis I had also signed a Brazilian youngster Ney on a short-term loan as cover in attack (I actually signed him last month but he features prominently this month, as you’ll see )

MLS Regular Season

March

We had a late start to the MLS season due to our Pan-Pacific and CONCACAF Champions League exploits but we carried our form from those contests over to our first game against rivals Columbus, won with ease through goals from Pablo Willian, De Luca and an own goal. We then played out a mini-classic with Chicago as our rivals came from behind 3 times to deny us the win.

Results:

v. Columbus Crew (a), 3-0 win

v. Chicago Fire (a), 3-3

April

Our centre-back pairing of Anderson and Sukhotskyi saw off San Jose with a fine header a piece before we stuffed crusty FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park with new boy Marco Gordon dominating. He was on fire in the next game as well scoring a brace as we sneaked a win over Colorado. The best performance came at the end of the month as, despite resting several first team regulars ahead of the CONCACAF Champions League final (see below), we ran out 5-1 winners. Youngster Pablo William was the man with 2 goals and 2 assists, fine young player that he is.

Results:

v. San Jose Earthquakes (h), 2-0 win

v. FC Dallas (a), 4-1 win

v. Colorado Rapids (h), 2-1 win

v. D.C. United (a), 5-1 win

Marco Gordon won the April Player of the Month award.

MLS Standings – top of the tree once more. A familiar sight for TFC fans these days!

CONCACAF Champions League

Final

Towards the end of the month, we headed to Mexico for one of my biggest games in this career to date. We knew Atlas would be tough as they really came at us in the first half taking a well-deserved 1-0 lead into the break. My half-time team talk obvioulsy did the trick as by the hour mark we were 2-1 up thanks to goals from De Luca and loanee Ney. Atlas came back stronger than ever though as scored twice in the last 15 minutes to get the win. However, we had exposed their defence twice and those away goals would prove to be valuable. For the second leg (my 500th game as a manager), a packed house at BMO Field spurred us on and went ballistic as Ricardo Sanchez picked an oppurtune moment to score his first goal for the club and give us the way goals lead. Atlas regained the advantage early in the second half but we were not to be dnied as Ney, in his last game for the club before returning to Sao Paulo, scored the goal that gave us the win and the trophy on the away gaols rule!!

Leg 1 v. Atlas (a), 3-2 loss

Leg 2 v. Atlas (h), 2-1 win (aggregate score, 4-4: Toronto FC win on away goals)

[Raware]

Looking good since my last visit DodgeeD . Congrats on the Champions League win, what a way to win it!

[DodgeeD]

Looking good since my last visit DodgeeD . Congrats on the Champions League win, what a way to win it!

Cheers Raware. For me, the Champions League campaign was all about that semi-final second leg win, especially as we had so many players away on international duty. The single most impressive performance I've seen from one of my teams on FM

[DodgeeD]

May 2021 Toronto Update

MLS Regular Season

A pair of 2-0 home wins started the month off nicely before 3 road games. The toughest of the lot came first as we visited Western Conference leaders Seattle. It was a tight game and Seattle seemed to have edged it with a 75th minute goal. However, we laid seige to their goal in search of the equaliser and it paid off as Gordon fired home with 3 minutes to go. An easy win at San Jose followed before we recorded another win at Kansas with a late goal from them making the match seem closer than it was. The month ended with a visit from rivals Chicago and, despite dominating, we won by just a single goal scored by Gordon.

Results:

v. Chivas USA (h), 2-0 win

v. LA Galaxy (h), 2-0 win

v. Seattle Sounders (a), 1-1

v. San Jose Earthquakes (a), 4-0 win

v. Kansas City Wizards (a), 2-1 win

v. Chicago Fire (h), 1-0 win

A Toronto FC player won the Player of the Month again with the honour falling this time to Jesus Avalos.

MLS Standings – only 4 points dropped so far and well clear at the top.

[DodgeeD]

Hmm, a job offer to sleep on I think:

Sunderland have approached me to be their manager. They finished 6th in the Premier League last season and have offered me an 18mil transfer fund with 900k p/w for wages.

I'm tempted but I'd also like to defend MLS title and have a crack at the Club World Championship with Toronto. Any suggestions?

[Murrayzoster]

Stick around the MLS, unfinished buisness with Toronto, once you can't take Toronto further then move on

[DodgeeD]

Thanks for the input Murrayzoster. I decided to take your advice and stick around at TFC for now as I've got the SuperLiga coming up (a competition I was mysteriously never entered into with Estudiantes Santander on FM 09 as anyone who followed that career may recall) and the Club World Championship after the current season ends. Let's see if I can ruffle a few feathers there.

[DodgeeD]

June/July 2021 Toronto Update

MLS Regular Season

June

With the US side down in Mexico at the Confederations Cup, there were just two matches played in June. We had an early scare against New England as we fell behind but we stromed back to take a comfortable win. Rivals Columbus Crew weren’t much of a match for us either as we took the lead after 45 seconds and added two more before half-time.

Results:

v. New England Revolution (h), 4-1 win

v. Columbus Crew (a), 3-0 win

For the third month in a row, a TFC player won the Player of the Month award. This time the honour fell to Carlos Mejia who was joined by two team mates in the top three.

July

Only two games in July as well as TFC were busy elsewhere (see below) and the US and Canadian teams were scheduled to appear at the Gold Cup. Right at the start of the month, we had a crazy game with New York as we went 5-0 up within 25 minutes, Marco Gordon netting four, before New York mounted a mini-comeback and nearly embarassed us but we held out for the 5-3 win. It would be 4 weeks before our next MLS game against high-flying Houston but we got stragiht back into the stride of things with a comfortable 3-1 win.

v. New York Red Bulls (a), 5-3 win

v. Houston Dynamo (h), 3-1 win

MLS Standings – 4 more wins mean the gap at the top is ever-increasing.

Canadian Championship

June and July also saw us take on Montreal Impact and Vacnouver Whitecaps in the home and away Canadian Championship series (I guess we have to take part even though we should already be qualified for the Champions League as holders). Just like last year, I gave my back-up players and youngsters run-outs and it paid off in the first two games as we won easily. At home to Vancouver, we suffered a set-back though as despite dominating, we just couldn’t score and so, we went into the final game with Montreal just a point ahead. Again, we dominated but couldn’t score and we were made to pay the price as Montreal scored with their only shot on target late in the game, securing themselves the title and leaving us stunned in second!

Results:

v. Vancouver Whitecaps (a), 2-0 win

v. Montreal Impact (h), 3-0 win

v. Vancouver Whitecaps (h), 0-0

v. Montreal Impact (a), 1-0 loss

Final Standings – Montreal take the CONCACAF Champions League spot then. Just as well we have already qualified as holders I suppose!

SuperLiga

A surprise came in July as it was announced that we had been drawn into Group A of the SuperLiga, an annual tournament between 4 MLS and 4 Mexican sides (I call it a ‘surprise’ as MLS teams competing in the CONCACAF Champions League are not supposed to be entered :confused:).

Group Stage

Our group opponents were Pachuca and Morelia from the Primera Division de México and LA Galaxy. Pachuca were brushed aside with ease, even though we went down to ten men midway through the second half when Ryan was sent off. Morelia had been thrashed 5-1 by LA galaxy in their opening game and we added to their misery with a 5-0 drubbing with De Luca netting a hat-trick. That meant the final game with LA Galaxy was just to decide who topped the group - just as well as I had 7 players called up for the Gold Cup by the time this match came around. In the end, the absentees didn’t matter though as an early red card for LA helped us continue our impressive goalscoring form with a 6-0 win, this time the hat-trick coming from Avalos.

Results:

v. Pachuca (h), 2-0 win

v. Morelia (h), 5-0 win

v. LA Galaxy (a), 6-0 win

Group A Final Table

Semi-final

We faced Mexican giants América in the semi and they gave us a tough game, dominating for long periods. However, they couldn’t convert their possession to goals and early goals in each half from Avalos and De Luca put us into the lead. América pulled one back with 12 minutes left but, as they came forward in search of the equaliser, we hit them on the break with Ryan scoring the third and putting the result beyond doubt.

Result:

v. América (n), 3-1 win

The Final*

*This game was actually played at the start of August but I thought I’d tag it on here.

Our final opponents were the same team we had thrashed in the group stage, LA Galaxy. As the match took place at our very own BMO Field, we were confident of adding another trophy to our collection. The away fans must have feared the worst when De Luca broke through to score after just 35 seconds. However, there was no collapse this time as we only added one more with De Luca in the right place at the right time again.

Result:

v. LA Galaxy (h), 2-0 win

With the SuperLiga now won, Toronto have won 5 different trophies since I took over!

[DodgeeD]

August 2021 Toronto Update

Back to league action in August with the disappointing Canadian Championship and successful SuperLiga completed. I had one free slot in my squad which was filled by the free transfer signing of experienced Serbian midfielder Ljubomir Fejsa, who will add some cover to midfield to replace the soon-to-be-35 Sam Cronin.

MLS Regular Season

We started the month in style, thrashing FC Dallas before earning a hard-fought win over Clorado and then thrashing Chivas in front of their own fans. We had three games at home to finish the month but they turned out tougher than expected as New york gave us a good game and got a deserved draw and then, Shock! Horror! My first home MLS defeat as TFC manager as Salt Lake turned up and took their one and only chance as we wasted a hatful at the other end. Still, we returned to form in our last game of the month with a solid win over rivals Columbus wth Gordon netting both goals.

Results:

v. FC Dallas (h), 5-0 win

v. Colorado Rapids (a), 2-1 win

v. Chivas USA (a), 5-0 win

v. New York Red Bulls (h), 1-1

v. Real Salt Lake (h), 1-0 loss

v. Columbus Crew (h), 2-0 win

MLS Standings – now qualified for the play-offs with plenty to spare.

[DodgeeD]

To my dismay (and embarassment :o), I've just realised that the holders of the CONCACAF Champions league do not automatically qualify for the next competition, meaning my loss to Montreal in the Canadian Championship has also denied me the chance to defend the title.

Oh well, we'll just have to concentrate on retaining the MLS title ahead of our trip to Australia for the Club World Championship.

EDIT: I'm not oberly-bothered about the forum upgrade but looking at my post, I have to say the 'eek' smilely used to be better and the 'embarassed' one is dreadful now!

[DodgeeD]

Sept/Oct 2021 Toronto Update

MLS Regular Season

September

We started the month with two away games, both of which we had come from behind to win. The game against Houston was particularly dramatic as we levelled the game twice before Avalos scored the winner deep into stoppage time. We then hosted D.C. United twice in the space of 4 days (the result of one the games constantly being postponed ever since our involvement in the CONCACAF Champions League semis right at the start of the season): We came away from those games with two wins before another win over Seattle made it 5 out of 5 for the month.

Results:

v. New England Revolution (a), 3-1 win

v. Houston Dynamo (a), 3-2 win

v. D.C. United (h), 2-1 win

v. D.C. United (h), 2-0 win

v. Seattle Sounders (h), 2-0 win

October

We somehow contived to throw away a three goal lead and draw with Salt Lake in the opening game of the month. We also let the lead slip in our next game as we went from 2-1 up to 4-2 down against LA Galaxy. However, we managed to bounce back for the last game of the regular season as we whipped Kansas City with Marco Gordon firing in a hat-trick.

Results:

v. Real Salt Lake (a), 3-3

v. LA Galaxy (a), 4-2 loss

v. Kansas City Wizards (h), 6-0 win

MLS Standings – Bring on the play-offs!

Oh, and I think rancer will like how the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying panned out. Looks like we'll be seeing a few TFC stars at Mexico '22

[DodgeeD]

Nov/Dec 2021 Toronto Update

MLS Play-Offs

Eastern Conference Semi-Final

For the second year in a row, we faced FC Dallas in the semi-final round. The away leg was a straightforward affair with De Luca, in the form of his life despite having just turned 30, scoring both goals. In the return game, De Luca and Gordon struck before half-time to give us a four goal aggregate lead but we got a bit too relaxed and FC Dallas came back into the game and levelled the score on the night to 2-2. We then went 3-2 up only to be immediately pegged back to 3-3. De Luca eventually wrapped things up with a late winner. It didn’t matter as we would have adavanced on aggregate anyway but the defence was starting to worry me a bit.

Results:

Leg 1 v. FC Dallas (a), 2-0 win

Leg 2 v. FC Dallas (h), 4-3 win (Toronto FC advance 6-3 on aggregate)

Eastern Conference Final

New York Red Bulls were our opponents in the conference final and I was right to be concerned about the defence. Early goals in each half from New York put us at a disadvantage. De Şuca did pull us level in the first half with a delightful lob but, as we searched for an equaliser to their second, we were sucker-punched on the counter-attack and went 3-1 down. We kept going forward looking for a way back and had our chances but it wasn’t our day and a 4th goal for New York consigned us to a hard-to-swallow defeat...

Results:

v. New York Red Bulls (h), 4-1 loss

Club World Championship

With the taste of defeat still sour in our mouths, we headed down under for the Club World Championship. As CONCACAF Champions, we were seeded into the second round where we would face African Champions Heartland. We were touted as clear favourites to beat the Nigerian side and we didn’t disappoint as De Luca opened the scoring early on and Marco Gordon then proceeded to score 6!

We got Copa Libertadores winners Fluminense of Brazil in the semi-final (Jeonbuk of South Korea were paired with European Champions Zaragoza in the other tie) and this time we were far from favourites. Our situation wasn’t helped as Claudiano saw red for a reckless challenge after just 2 minutes. Much to everyone’s surprise we then took the lead through De Luca. It didn’t last long, however, as the Brazilians soon equalised and it seemed the game would swing their way. Only it didn’t! De Luca broke through again midway through the half to restore our lead and then unbelievably completed his hat-trick early in the second half. Fluminense then laid seige to our goal but we were always threatening on the break. The made it 3-2 with 30 minutes to go but try as they might, they just couldn’t score again. Against all odds, having played 88 minutes with then men, we had beaten the South American giants and made the final!

And so, we found ourselves in the Club World Championship final against Real Zaragoza. Unfortuntely, we had major selection problems going into the game with Claudiano suspended, Ryan injured in the Fluminense game and Marco Gordon injured in training ahead of the match. It got worse as centre-back Anderson got injured at the end of the first half and his absence at the back was felt as Zargoza took the lead early in the 2nd half from a corner. However, my TFC boys were not disheartened by this and fought back with Avalos scoring a deserved equaliser. That was enough to take the game to extra time, and Zaragoza again took the lead just before the break. Once again, we had not given up though and De Luca reacted first to a goalmouth scramble to level the match once more. Just as it seemed the game was going to penalties, disaster as my right-back Razak hauled down a Zaragoza player on the edge of the area and got a red card. The free kick led to a corner which led to the winner for Zaragoza with the last kick of the game...

Results:

2nd Round v. Heartland (n), 7-0 win

Semi-final v. Fluminense(n), 3-2 win

Final v. Real Zaragoza (n), 3-2 loss (a.e.t.)

There could be only one winner of the Best Player award – Luca De Luca.

End of season round up to come tonight or tomorrow.

[DodgeeD]

2021 Season Review

Competitions: Domestic

MLS:

Eastern Conference Finalists

Canadian Championship:

2nd

Competitions: Continental

CONCACAF Champions League:

Winners

Pan-Pacific Cup:

Winners

SuperLiga:

Winners

Club World Championship:

Finalists

Three trophies this season with impressive wins in the CONCACAF Champions League and the SuperLiga as well as a great run to the final of the Club World Championship. However, there was disappointment domestically as we couldn’t win the Canadian Championship, thus losing the chance to defend our continental crown and, despite dominating the regular season, we lost out in the MLS Play-offs.

Key Players & Award Winners

Benjamin Abdul Razak(DR) – Despite that sending off in the CWC final, he had a good season, solid in defence and supplying many goals with crosses from deep. He also made his debut for Ghana. There is lots of interest from bigger clubs and he keeps saying he wants to leave so I may not be able to hold onto him for much longer.

Artem Sukhotskyi (DC) – Again, punched above his weight with some fine performances at the back. He should get Canadian nationality in the close season so that’s another reason to keep him.

Philip Anderson (DC) – Another fine season from the youngster. There is increased interest from various clubs but he has (so far) said he wants to stay.

Carlos Mejia (DL) – Performed vary consistently at left-back and fired in a few free kicks at the other end as well.

Ryan Ryan (MC) – Certainly adds some bite to midifield with his number of assists only beaten by the number of yellow cards he picked up!

Ricardo Sanchez (MC/AMC) – Had a good debut season for us, despite struggling with injuries and missing a lot of summer games as he was away with the US national side. Voted in at 2nd in the US Young Player of the Year award.

Jesus Avalos (AMC) – another fine season with goals and assists in plentiful supply!

Marco Gordon (AMC/FC) – a fine trade even if I do say so myself! Scored in every competition we played in and featured hevaily in the end of year awards, winning the Goal of the Year, runner-up in the Golden Boot and Individual Fair Play awards and 3rd in the MVP.

Luca De Luca (ST) – what a season for this guy! Won many games for us single-handed and once again provided so many for his strike partners. He was deservedly voted Fans’ Player of the Year by the TFC faithful, won the MLS Golden Boot, was named Best Player at the Club World Cup, made the MLS Best XI, and came 3rd in the Individual Fair Play Award. I’m only surprised he didn’t get anymore call-ups to the US team.

The Season Ahead...

The board want the MLS final but I have only received a ₤180k ‘allocation’ to strenghten the squad with. I really need a better goalie and good centre-backs and that amount of money won’t get me much.

In better news, the board have approved an expansion to BMO field which will raise the capacity to 27,000. Upgrades to the training and youth facilities are also underway.

It might be time to move on though. Fun as it has been, the time may be right to move to Europe. I’ve already had direct offers from West Ham, Everton and Burnley (knocked back a they are all relegation strugglers at present) and I was touted as favourite for the recent vacancies at Villareal and Sevilla. Watch this space...

[rancer890]

Good year DodgeeD, although you lost the Canadian Championship.

Us Reds Fans would understand your move. You've done a lot at the club. DodgeeD: TFC Legend.

And Canada going to the World Cup. :D

[DodgeeD]

Good year DodgeeD, although you lost the Canadian Championship.

Us Reds Fans would understand your move. You've done a lot at the club. DodgeeD: TFC Legend.

And Canada going to the World Cup.

Thanks rancer. I'll stick around for the time being - I don't think any decent jobs will come up until the end of the European season anyway.

According to the club info screen, I'm not a legend yet - not even on the favoured personnel list! :confused:

As for the World Cup, Canada have got a tough job in a group with Spain, England and Chile

[DodgeeD]

Btw rancer, another MLS question (I haven't asked one for a while ):

How are the allocation funds decided? The last two seasons I've only been given 180k. The first time I figured it was as we had no cash but this season we have a healthy bank balance with 5mil+ left over even after paying for the stadum expansion. I also raised about 4mil in player sales last season so I'm wondering why I don't get anyhting to spend. What's also annoying is that I see other MLS clubs paying anything up to 2.5mil for new players, both from within the MLS and from abroad.

[DodgeeD]

March/April 2022 Toronto Update

Pre-Season

Not a great deal to report on this time as the transfer market was quiet and we weren’t allocated much money to spend anyway. Nothing came out of the draft again. There were good players in the waiver draft, however, but we weren’t able to take any of them as we already had the maximum number of international players in our squad (no decent Canadians in either draft alas). I made a couple of exchanges to get rid of a couple of aging foreign players and bring in some young American talent but I don’t expect those players to feature much this season, if at all.

We did get our DP slot back though (after trading it for one season as part of a player exchange deal) and, with our rep boosted by last season’s SuperLiga and Club World Cup runs, I found more players willing to negotiate with us. With Anderson making noises about moving on, a centre back was a priority so I opted for Juan Forlin, an Argentinian international currently at Juventus. He’s 33 but vastly experienced and will be put to work tutoring my young defenders.

In other news, the upgrades to the training and youth facilities were completed just before the season began and the stadium expansion will be complete in July.

MLS Regular Season

March

New England had the cheek to take an early lead against us in the opening game but were soon put back in their place as we smashed 5 past them with the goals all coming from different scorers. D.C. United were a bit harder to break down and it took two goalmouth scrambles to score past them and get the win

Results:

v. New England Revolution (a), 5-1 win

v. D.C. United (a), 2-0 win

April

Our first home game was worth the wait for the home fans as we thrashed Colorado 7-0 with De Luca bagging 4 of the goals and setting up two more. De Luca would contiue his sensational form (he scored in both the games in March) by scoring in every single game we played, getting the winners against Chivas and FC Dallas and putting a hat-trick past Houston. He also scored against New York as we got revenge for last year’s play-off defeat. He now has 12 goals in 6 games, just 8 off last season’s league total!

Results:

v. Colorado Rapids (h), 7-0 win

v. Chivas USA (a), 2-1 win

v. Houston Dynamo (h), 4-0 win

v. New York Red Bulls (a), 3-1 win

v. FC Dallas (h), 3-2 win

MLS Current Standings – a perfect start. How long can we keep it up?

A good piece of news at the end of April as Sukhotskyi gained Canadian citizenship, freeing up an international slot in the squad for a summer signing.

[hamilton162]

A good season last year DodgeeD and the start to this one hasn't been too bad either! Has there been any real interest or bids for De Luca yet? Surely lots of clubs would want him with that kind of scoring record, even at that age!? Although i guess you're not complaining

[DodgeeD]

Cheers hamilton.

Not much interest in De Luca surprisingly... A couple of the other MLS teams have been linked with him in the news as has one Mexican team but that's it. The same is true of Gordon and Avalos. Most interest seems to be in my young centre-back Anderson (who will most likely leave in the summer) and my right back Abdul Razak.

[rancer890]

Btw rancer, another MLS question (I haven't asked one for a while ):

How are the allocation funds decided? The last two seasons I've only been given 180k. The first time I figured it was as we had no cash but this season we have a healthy bank balance with 5mil+ left over even after paying for the stadum expansion. I also raised about 4mil in player sales last season so I'm wondering why I don't get anyhting to spend. What's also annoying is that I see other MLS clubs paying anything up to 2.5mil for new players, both from within the MLS and from abroad.

Better teams have less allocation money. You get more money if you miss the playoffs. The bottom clubs have more money to spend to help with the parity in the league. Although if you sell players to foreign leagues you will get some allocation money (max $500k iirc) but you won't get any if you sell them to another MLS club.

[DodgeeD]

Thanks for clearing that up rancer. Hopefully, I'll get a bit of money by selling a couple of unhappy players to foreign clubs in the summer.

One thing I still don't get though (but this may be a game issue) - I can only offer my players out to other clubs in exchange for a DP slot (not even draft allocations or allocation funds) and yet Houston just offered me one of their players for 1.7mil. :confused:

[rancer890]

Thanks for clearing that up rancer. Hopefully, I'll get a bit of money by selling a couple of unhappy players to foreign clubs in the summer.

One thing I still don't get though (but this may be a game issue) - I can only offer my players out to other clubs in exchange for a DP slot (not even draft allocations or allocation funds) and yet Houston just offered me one of their players for 1.7mil. :confused:

Oh, that's a game thing. Other clubs can offer you, but you can only offer out for DP slots/draft picks/allocation money/players.

[DodgeeD]

Thanks again rancer. On a side note, this spell at TFC has got me into the MLS. In the same way as I started watching some Mexican games on my local Fox Sports channel last year and Argentinian games on another channel earlier this year, I've watched the last couple of Monday night MLS shows on Fox. It's certainly easier to follow when you know what the announcers are talking about! Interesting to see a couple of guys I know as coaches in my game being interviewed post-match as 25 year-old players!

[rancer890]

Thanks again rancer. On a side note, this spell at TFC has got me into the MLS. In the same way as I started watching some Mexican games on my local Fox Sports channel last year and Argentinian games on another channel earlier this year, I've watched the last couple of Monday night MLS shows on Fox. It's certainly easier to follow when you know what the announcers are talking about! Interesting to see a couple of guys I know as coaches in my game being interviewed post-match as 25 year-old players!

Haha, that's the same with me, watching Chinese Super League and K-League matches...try watching some TFC games too mate.

[DodgeeD]

This week the featured game was DC United - LA Galaxy. Next week it's Colorado I think. No chance to watch any Asian leagues on TV here (unless you count the A-League that is).

[DodgeeD]

Aaaaargh! Had a late FM session working through June - only a couple of matches but a lot of wheeling and dealing with transfers and contract renewals and I've just loaded my game up and either through sleepiness or complete thickness, I must have quit the game without loading prpoerly as I find myself back at the start of June.

[Raware]

Ouch! Shouldn't laugh really but at least you won't do it again!!!

[DodgeeD]

Managed to get most of the same players from the transfer market and re-negotiate the contracts of players whose deals were expiring again but lesson learned. I now save after every match/imporant news item!

[DodgeeD]

May/June 2022 Toronto Update

MLS Regular Season

May

Our 100% record and goalscoring run went in our first game of the month as Salt Lake came to BMO Field to park the bus and held us to a goalless draw. De Luca returned to his goalscoring ways in the next game but that was not enough to prevent us from crashing to our first defeat of the season at Seattle. We managed to bounce back with wins over Colorado and Chicago but we suffered a second defeat at the end of the month with New England out-running my tired team (the game was played just 48 hours after the Chicago fixture due to a clash with the Canadian Championship).

Results:

v. Real Salt Lake (h), 0-0

v. Seattle Sounders (a), 3-1 loss

v. Colorado Rapids (a), 3-0 win

v. Chicago Fire (a), 2-1 win

v. New England Revolution (h), 2-1 loss

June

Although the two games this month were played before the World Cup started, all of our Mexico bound players (10 of them!) were unavailable. That coupled with a few injuries meant I only had 9 squad members to choose from (6 of them defenders!) and I had to make the rest up with greys. Bearing that in mind, we scraped a draw with Coloumbus before getting stuffed by a full-strength D.C. United side.

Results:

v. Columbus Crew (h), 1-1

v. D.C. United (a), 5-1 loss

MLS Current Standings – despite only 1 point from the last 3 games, we are still clear at the top.

Canadian Championship

We had a point to prove here after losing out to Montreal last year. We set about making it the strongest possible way as we wiped the floor with Vancouver in the opening game, firing in 7 goals without reply. The away game with Montreal was always going to be the toughest though and again, we were hit by World Cup call-ups as well as suspensions hanging over from last season meaning we were lucky to come away with a draw. Despite the depleted squad, we were still too strong for Vancouver in our next game, this time scoring a slightly more modest 4.

Results:

v. Vancouver Whitecaps (h), 7-0 win

v. Montreal Impact (a), 2-2

v. Vancouver Whitecaps (a), 4-0 win

Current Standings – One game left for us which, if Montreal beat Vancouver in their next game as expected, will be the decider. Home field advantage should see us through though.

[DodgeeD]

Now the regens have more or less taken over the world football scene, I think I'll indulge in a review of the 2022 World Cup to give you a look at some of the current stars of the game.

[DodgeeD]

Mexico 2022: World Cup Group Stage

Group A

Defending champions France were placed into Group A with an experienced squad featuring the likes of Hugo Lloris and Karim Benzema as well as Man City legend Clement Lehman. Their main threat in the group was an up and coming Czech Republic side, one of the youngest in the tournament, who would no doubt be relying on solid performances from Lukas Slezak, a player whose abilities almost tempted me to join Sunderland last summer. Japan and New Zealand were not expected to provide any threat, although the Kiwis could call upon the prolific Tottenham striker Chris Wood up front (over 100 international goals!)

As expected France topped the group, only dropping points in a draw with the Czech Republic. There was nearly a shock as New Zealand nicked a point off the Czechs giving the Japanese a chance to qualify. However, the Czechs turned on the style in the final game to stuff Japan 4-1 and advance to the next round.

[font=Courier New]| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1st | Q | France | | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 7 |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2nd | Q | Czech Republic | | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 5 |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3rd | | Japan | | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 3 |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 4th | | New Zealand | | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | -6 | 1 |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|[/font]

Group B

Portugal, much like the French came with an expeirenced side including a 37 year-old Cristiano Ronaldo looking to end his career on a high. Serbia as ever were seen as dark horses and could count one of the best full backs in the world Aleksandar Jokic. However, they would have to watch out for a Paraguay side featuring one of my old charges from San Lorenzo, Arnaldo Cabral. The UAE were just there to make up the numbers and hope to avoid a series of drubbings.

Portugal advanced with a perfect record, winning every game without conceding. The UAE meanwhile lost all of their games but didn't embarass themselves and even managed a goal in the game against Paraguay. Second place was settled won the final day as Paraguay produced a stunning performance to beat Serbia 3-1.

[font=Courier New]| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1st | Q | Portugal | | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 9 |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2nd | Q | Paraguay | | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 6 |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3rd | | Serbia | | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 3 |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 4th | | UAE | | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | -6 | 0 |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|[/font]

Group C

On paper, this group looked tough. Brazil as ever came with a strong team with Genoa's Dario the star. The USA (featuring TFC goalie Art Roberts and midifielder Ricardo Sanchez) and Ukraine both came with young teams after impressing qualifying campaigns. Ivory Coast, however, were not the team they once were and even with Didier Drogba as manager looked set to struggle.

And Ivory Coast struggled badly as they were soundly beaten in every game, setting a World Cup record for most goals conceded in the process. Ukraine were unlucky as they lost out 1-0 to both Brazil and the USA. In the end, Brazil topped the group by virtue of having scored 6 against Ivory Coast, one more than the USA's 5!

[font=Courier New]| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1st | Q | Brazil | | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 7 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2nd | Q | United States | | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 7 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3rd | | Ukraine | | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 3 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 4th | | Ivory Coast | | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 15 | -12 | 0 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|[/font]

Group D

Argentina were favourites to qualify from this group and rightly so, calling as they could call on a 34 year-old Messi and some young stars such as Belforti (thorn in my side when I was managing in Argentina and he was at River) and my old San Lorenzo star Carlos Franco. TFC fans would also be keen to see Juan Forlin in action. Belgium also came with a young and exciting side but Jamaica and Senegal would just be hoping for a surprise result to send them through.

Argentina topped the group in the end although they were surprised by Belgium in the final game. Belgium had started slowly and only managed draws against Jamaica and Senegal bu they produced when it mattered to beat tyhe South Americans to secure their spot in the next round. It wouldn't have mattered anyway as Jamaica and Senegal could only draw a game both sides needed to win.

[font=Courier New]| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1st | Q | Argentina | | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 6 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2nd | Q | Belgium | | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3rd | | Jamaica | | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 2 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 4th | | Senegal | | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 2 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|[/font]

Group E

Hosts Mexico, with Tottenham's star playmaker Jesus Alvarado in the side, were favourites to advance from this group featuring an average Netherlands team, a Peru side with no stars to speak of and my old team Cameroon, who would feature my old Olimpo player Valery Onana. Not much was expected of the Africans though as the vetreans had retired since my time in charge and there were no decent replacements for them.

However, this group produced a shock as the host nation were stunned 4-1 by the Netherlands in their opening game. A 1-1 draw with Peru meant they then had to beat Cameroon and hope Peru lost to the Dutch with a sufficient swing in goal difference. The reults went Mexico's way but the goal difference did not and the host crashed out.

[font=Courier New]| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1st | Q | Netherlands | | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 7 |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2nd | Q | Peru | | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3rd | | Mexico | | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 4 |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 4th | | Cameroon | | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 1 |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|[/font]

Group F

Italy were one of the pre-tournament favourites with a young side (by their standards at least!) featuring probably the best player in the world at present, Andrea Pelizzoli. They had quite a tough group though as Russia were also a team full of emerging young stars including Real Madrid's Anton Lepeshkin, Saudi Arabia had a solid group of players and Mali could call upon Barcelona's Amadou Doumbia.

The Italians secured qualification straightaway with big wins over Mali and the Saudis with Pelizzoli on fire. Saudi Arabia still had a chance to qualify though after taking a point off Russia, who would face Italy in their last game. Although the Saudis got the win over Mali, Italy rested their stars and allowed Russia to take an easy point and secure their qualification in second place.

[font=Courier New]| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1st | Q | Italy | | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 7 |
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2nd | Q | Russia | | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 5 |
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3rd | | Saudi Arabia | | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 |
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 4th | | Mali | | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 11 | -8 | 0 |
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|[/font]

Group G

This was the big one for Canadian fans! It was a group of great interest for TFC as well with no fewer than seven players from the club in the squad. The star for Canada was not one of the Toronto boys though - Lyon's Jorge William was the player they would be looking to for inspiraiton. And they would need it as they faced another of the pre-tournmament favourites Spain, with Everton's Jario Ruiz leading the attack as well as England who had a good team despite lacking stars (Nick Timmins is the best English player around these days) and Chile, who had impressed in South America qualifying.

Predictably, Canada came home early with no points (although they did pull Spain back from 3 goals down to 3-2 before eventually losing 4-2). Spain topped the group onşy dropping points as they rested players in their final game against Chile. the South Americans were left to rue their woeful performance in the second game against England in which they were stuffed 4-0.

[font=Courier New]| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1st | Q | Spain | | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 7 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2nd | Q | England | | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 6 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3rd | | Chile | | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 4 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 4th | | Canada | | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | -6 | 0 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|[/font]

Group H

And finally, a group featuring a German side from whom not much was expected with their main star one of the few good regen keepers, Deniz Kunert. Croatia had a good team with their main star being Atletico Madrid striker Domagoj Vucic. Australia (featuring TFC's Ryan Ryan) and Ghana were not expected to make much of a splash despite Ghana being one of Africa's stronger teams.

Ghana and Australia were both left to rue their opening scoreless draw as Grmany and Croatia both dropped points at the top. Australia indeed provided one of the surprise results of the opening round as they best the Germans in their final game. However, they were relying on a Croatia losing to advance but the Croats were too strong for their African opponents.

[font=Courier New]| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1st | Q | Germany | | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2nd | Q | Croatia | | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3rd | | Australia | | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 4 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 4th | | Ghana | | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 1 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|[/font]

Knockout rounds coming up!

[DodgeeD]

Mexico 2022: World Cup Knockout Stages

Second Round

The shock of the round came in the very first came as defending champions France were eliminated by Paraguay on penalities despite the South American side playing the entire second half and all of extra time with ten men on the pitch. Elsewhere, there were no suprises althou Belgium gave Brazil a good game coming from behind twice before eventually losing 3-2 and the USA only lost out to an injury time winer from Belforti. Spain won through against Crpatia despite missing their first two penalites in the shoot-out and Portugal, ıtaly and Russia all looked impressive in their wins. For England fans, it was the same old story as they whimpered out after an underwhelming performance. That means boss Alan Shearer has now not taken his side beyond the second round of the World Cup in three attempts.

Results:

Paraguay 1, France 1 (5-4 pens)

Portugal 3, Czech Republic 0

Belgium 2, Brazil 3

Argentina 2, USA 1

Netherlands 0, Russia 1

Italy 4, Peru 2

Croatia 1, Spain 1 (6-7 pens)

England 0, Germany 1

Quarter Finals

This was the round of the penalty shoot-out as 3 of the 4 games were settled this way. Paraguay's luck ran out as, despite having man advantage for 60 minutes of play this time, they couldn't get the win and my super striker from San Lorenzo, Arnaldo Cabral, missed the crucial spot kick allowing Argentina to advance. Brazil also missed out on penalties but could have no complaints as they were outplayed for most of the game and Spain, having needed 10 rounds on penalties to get past Croatia previously, were more accurate this time converting all 8 of their spot kicks this time to send the Italians crashing out. Russia were the only side to win a game outright, outplaying the Germans and winning the game courtesy of Smirnov ( he's a regen; not an attempt to spike the Germans water bottles ).

Results:

Paraguay 1, Argentina 1 (5-6 pens)

Portugal 2, Brazil 2 (6-5 pens)

Russia 1, Germany 0

Italy 2, Spain 2 (7-8 pens)

Semi Finals

After all the penalty drama, both semis were settled within 90 minutes. Aregentina looked to be on their way to the final after scoring on 79 minutes but Spain hit back with Jairo Ruiz scoring on 84 and 87 minutes to send Spain through. Portugal also advanced by the same scoreline although they were deemed lucky as Russia had the much better of the play. The RUssians, deflated by the defeat, would go on to lose the 3rd place game to Argentina by a goal to nil.

Results:

Argentina 1, Spain 2

Portugal 2, Russia 1

The Final

The final then was an Iberian derby with Spain taking on Portugal. A drab first half finished with no score but the second half was a classic. Portugal scored 2 minutes in and added another two goals before the hour mark to seemingly put the game beyond Spain's reach. However, Evertonian Jairo Ruiz, scoring immediately from the restart and adding another ten minutes later. Alas, any hopes of completing the comeback ended on 79 minutes as Spain had a man sent off and Portugal held out for their first ever World Cup win with Cristiano Ronaldo raising the trophy!

Spain 2, Portugal 3

[DodgeeD]

Mexico 2022 Round-Up

Winners: Portugal

Runners-up: Spain

3rd Place: Argentina

4th Place: Russia

Awards

Best Player - Jairo Ruiz (ESP)

Golden Boot - Jairo Ruiz (ESP), 9 goals

Best Goalkeeper - Deniz Kunert (GER)

Dream Team

After the tournament, a series of jobs came up as the managers of Brazil, Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, Chile and Saudi Arabia either left or were sacked. Surprisingly, Alan Shearer kept his job and his dismal reign (failed to qualify in 2014, 2nd Round in 2018 and 2022, group stages of Euro 2016, failed to qualify for Euro 2020) will drag on until he retires it seems. I applied for a few jobs and was all set to take the Belgian job when Dale Mitchell retired and the Canada job became available! I dropped everything and applied for that (more of a challenge) but to my dismay, the Canadian FA decided not to go for the legendary TFC manager and chose the manager of CSL side Windsor instead. :confused:

Nevermind, still plenty of time to get a job before Australia 2030!

[DodgeeD]

July 2022 Toronto Update

Transfers

With the global transfer windows open, we were set for some wheeling and dealing. First up, contracts needed to be renewed and I was delighted to get the initially reluctant Luca De Luca and Marco Gordon to sign on again. Philip Anderson remained adamant that he wouldn’t sign though and even requested a move away so I would have to try to sell him before someone snapped him up for free on a pre-contract deal.

Juan Forlin officially became a TFC player on July 1st though his extended invlolvement at the World Cup meant we would have to wait a couple more weeks for him to show up. I also had a pre-arranged deal for a young Chinese goalie Li Chao, though he will spent some time on loan before he comes into the first team.

We also had departures: Abdul Razak was demanding a move so when Boca made a ₤2mil bid, I accepted. That meant we needed a new right back so I went with a South African my scouts had found in Spain, Keith Winstanley. He still has some developing to do to reach his potential but he was cheap!

Unfortunately, the re-negotiating of some contracts plus the arrival of Forlin had but me over the salary cap so I had to trade out a player. I decided to let Claudiano go as he was on ₤4.3k a week and not really a star so I traded him with LA Galaxy and got Paul Ward in return, a deal I’m very happy with as he has the potential to be a great midfielder.

MLS Regular Season

For the first game of the month, we had all our World Cup stars back and we were ready to get back to winning ways. Only we didn’t as the new look defence fell apart as Winstanley and Forlin had nightmare debts, each making errors which led directly to goals. Marco Gordon did his best to keep us level at the other end but a late goal for Kansas meant yet another loss. Things went from bad to worse in the next game as 5 first teamers including my goalie, De Luca, Avlaos and Gordon were called up for the All-Star game and we were completely outclassed by Dallas. There were defensive errors again but this time the whole team played badly. We bounced back in style for the next game at the newly expanded BMO Field though as a much changed line-up smashed 4 past Chivas with youngsters Pablo William and Sam Klinger on target and new boy Paul Ward pulling the strings in midfield. We also played well against LA even though we had to come from behind twice to secure the point but at the very least we finished the month better than we started.

Results:

v. Kansas City Wizards (a), 4-3 loss

v. FC Dallas (a), 4-1 loss

v. Chivas USA (h), 4-0 win

v. LA Galaxy (h), 2-2

MLS Current Standings – slipped down from top spot for the first time in ages. We need to build on those last coulpe of results and recover our form fast!

SuperLiga

July also saw the defence of our SuperLiga crown. We got off to a dream start as we thrashed Toluca by 8 goals to 1 with Gordon firing in a hat-trick. Unfortunately, that was the oly win we could muster as we were edged out by Pachuca in our next game and then, in a continuation of our poor league form, we blew a two goal lead to lose to New York and crash out in the group stage.

Results:

v. Toluca (h), 8-1 win

v. Pachuca (n), 1-0 loss

v. New York Red Bulls (a), 3-2 loss

Group A Table – confirmation of our early exit.

Canadian Championship

With our season falling apart, the final Canadian Championship game against Montreal was a must win. Luckily, my players rediscovered heir form at the right moment and we won comfortably to take our place in the preliminary rounds of the CONCACAF Champions League in August.

Results:

v. Montreal Impact (h), 4-0 win

Final Standings – No slip ups this year. Time to reclaim our CONCACAF Champions League crown!

[LCFC]

Still enjoying these updates as I have from the start! Routing for you to overcome this wobbly patch to reassert your authority on the domestic front.

A shame about being rejected for the Canadian job as I'm sure it would of added an extra element while being at Toronto. Also find it funny how Alan has managed to keep his job with that record

[DodgeeD]

Thanks LCFC I'm sure the current form is just a wobble - the World Cup call ups weakened us a lot and the confidence dropped after a couple of defeats bso it's just a matter of stringing a couple of wins togetehr to get back on track.

I really can't believe the Shearer situation though... Still, it means I get to be the hero and restore glory to the England team once he eventually gets the boot

[DodgeeD]

August 2022 Toronto Update

MLS Regular Season

Much, much better this month as we picked up 5 wins in 6 games, the only points dropped coming in an away draw with in-form Columbus. We righted some fo the wrongs of recent times as we got revenge over New York for our SuperLiga loss as well as soundly beating Kansas City and D.C. United who had beaten us so easily in the league recently. De Luca, Avalos and Gordon were all on goalscoring form and Winstanley and Forlin finally seem to be settling in at the back. The youngster in the squad are performing well too, especially Klinger in defence and Ward in midfield. Wth sell out crowds of 26,000 for every home game, the future for TFC looks bright after a couple of bleak months.

Results:

v. New York Red Bulls (h), 2-1 win

v. Columbus Crew (a), 2-2

v. Houston Dynamo (a), 2-0 win

v. San Jose Earthquakes (h), 3-2 win

v. Kansas City Wizards (h), 4-1 win

v. D.C. United (h), 3-1 win

MLS Current Standings – back on top, where we belong. Time to secure a play-off spot.

CONCACAF Champions League

We were drawn against Nicuraguan side Walter Ferreti in the Preliminary Round, a tie we expected to win easily. That proved to be the case with Avalos bagging a hat-trick in the firt leg and my youngsters turning on the style in the home leg. The group stages start in September.

Results:

Leg 1 v. Walter Ferreti (a), 4-1 win

Leg 2 v. Walter Ferreti (h), 4-0 win (Toronto FC win 8- on aggregate)

One piece of bad news this month though: Philip Anderson, days after taking up Canadian citizenship, agreed an end of season move to Austrain side Red Bull Salzburg. Bad enough that he’s leaving, much worse that he’s walking out for free.

[rancer890]

Aw poor Canada , even though making the WC was an accomplishment.

And tsk tsk to the CSA for passing over you, I guess the same idiots are still running the national soccer program 12 years later.

KUTGW.

[MShing]

Just came across this today and it has been a great read, it has passed a few hours at work reading this. Great career so far dodgeed it has been an inspiring thread. I have A long term English save going on ATM but this has made me want to start a journeyman save of my own. Just got to decide which leagues to load tho

Kutgw

[DodgeeD]

Thanks for the comment MShing. Glad you've enjoyed the ride so far! This has been my first journeyman career where I've started at the bottom and tried to work my way up and I think my main game on FM11 will definitely be along the same lines.

Looking forward to hearing about your new career as well

[DodgeeD]

September 2022 Toronto Update

MLS Regular Season

Not so good again this month as we lost to LA despite playing most of the game against ten men and we also lost at home to Seattle with Winstanley screwing up again as he gave away a penalty and goalie Roberts dropping the ball under no pressure to gift our opponents two goals. The only highlight of the month was our win over rivals New York but even then, it took a last minute goal from Ward to do it.

Results:

v. LA Galaxy (a), 1-0 loss

v. New York Red Bulls (h), 1-0 win

v. Seattle Sounders (h), 3-1 loss

MLS Current Standings – still top of the Eastern Conference with three games to go.

CONCACAF Champions League

We got a tough group as we were paired with two Mexican sides, Atlas (our opponents from the final last year) and Tigre. Our toughest game came first aswe went down 3-1 away to Atlas. However, we got the win we needed at home to Tigre with Forlin smashing in his first goal for the club from 40 yards. A trip to El Salvador wrapped the month up and we wrapped it up in style with a brace from young striker Lopez and a longrange piledriver from Sam Cronin, his 50th goal for TFC, securing the points.

v. Atlas (a), 3-1 loss

v. Tigre (h), 1-0 win

v. Vista Hermosa (a), 3-0 win

Group B Standings – 2nd at the halfway stage. Next match at home to Atlas.

[DodgeeD]

October 2022 Toronto Update

MLS Regular Season

We needed one win from our last 3 games to guarantee the play-offs but it wa shard to come by. We nearly got it against San Jose but they came from behind twice to cancel out goals from Gordon and De Luca. We dominated the next game at Salt Lake only to go behind on 78 minutes. Just as I was giving up hope, De Luca turned on the style ond scored twice in the last 3 minutes to give us the win! With the play-offs secure, the players relaxed a bit and even though I rested a bunch of first choice players ahaead of Champions League play, we thrashed Chicago in our last game with youngster Lopez running the show (2 goals and 2 assists).

Results:

v. San Jose Earthquakes (a), 2-2

v. Real Salt Lake (a), 2-1 win

v. Chicago Fire (h), 6-0 win

Luca De Luca was anmed Player of the Month with youngster Keith Lopez 2nd.

MLS Final Standings (Regular Season) – So we top the Eastern Conference but Seattle claim the best regular season record.

CONCACAF Champions League

It was also crunch time in our Champions League group with two crucial games against our Mexican opponents. First up, Atlas at home. We won surprisingly easily with Gordon and De Luca yet again producing the goods. If that was surprising, the next game was a real shock as we stunned Tigres on their own patch with De Luca this time the provider for goals from Gordon and Klinger. That win secured our place in the quarter-finals meaning I had the luxury of resting first teamers against Vista Hermosa. My second string did a more than capable job as we hammered 6 past the hapless Salvadorans.

v. Atlas (h), 2-0 win

v. Tigre (a), 2-0 win

v. Vista Hermosa (h), 6-0 win

Group B Final Standings – After that initial defeat, we bounced back to top the group. The quarter-finals take place next year.

[DodgeeD]

November 2022 Toronto Update

MLS Play-Offs

Eastern Conference Semi-final

First up, we faced a team we had beaten 6-0 just a few matches previouly. There was to be no repeat of that scoreline but we produced two confident performances to win with ease. Mejia and Avalos took care of business in the first leg and Gordon and De Luca made sure of a win in the seond.

Leg 1 v. Chicago Fire (a), 3-1 win

Leg 2 v. Chicago Fire (h), 2-1 win (TFC win 5-2 on aggregate)

Eastern Conference Final

Despite having home advantage, we were seriously outplayed in the first half of our Conference Final with New England, going in a goal down after another blooper from Forlin. A few choice words in the team talk fired the boys up though and we came out all guns blazing with Sanchez equalizing early on, Forlin making up for his earlier error with aheader to give us the lead and De Luca popping up at the end to make sure of the win.

v. New England (h), 3-1 win

MLS Final

So we had reached the Final for the second time in three years, where we would face FC Dallas. Gordon got us off to a dream start with a goal on 6 minutes but Dallas were soon level. Shortly after that, they took the lead with Forlin again at fault (some DP superstar he’s turning out to be ). Once more, I rallied the boys at half-time and once more Forlin made amends with a goal as we drew level. Both sides then had chances to win but alas, it was Dallas who made theirs count as they went 3-2 up with 13 minutes to go and we couldn’t muster a response.

v. FC Dallas (n), 3-2 loss

[DodgeeD]

2022 Season Review

Competitions: Domestic

MLS:

Finalists

Canadian Championship:

Winners!

Competitions: Continental

CONCACAF Champions League:

1st in Group B (continues in 2023)

SuperLiga:

Group Stage

We found it tougher in the league this season but we still managed to top the Eastern Conference and make it through the play-offs only to lose in the final. The SuperLiga was a big disappointment as we whimpered out in the first round. Still, we won the Canadian Championship and we have the remainder of the Champins League to look forward to. With a couple of signings in the right places, we should be pushing for honours again next season.

Key Players

Philip Anderson (DC) – Played well again but his season was disrutpted somewhat by injuries and transfer rumours. I tried everything to get him to stay but in the end, he opted to walk for free to join Red Bull Salzburg. A shame as he was a great young player and he had just taken Canadian citizenship.

Sam Klinger (DC) – Not to worry though as I picked up this kid in a pre-season trade. Had a great debut season as shown by his Rookie of the Year award and already seen as one of the best defenders at the club.

Carlos Mejia (DL) – Always dependable in defence. Loyal in the face of transfer rumours as well and set to take up Canadian citzenship early next season.

Ryan Ryan (DM) – Dropped slightly deeper to DM this season but still performed well. Took up Canadian citizenship during the season but, like Anderson, wants to leave...

Paul Ward (MC) – Another up and coming youngster whom I acquired in a mid-season trade. Played really well when given run-outs and soon secured a regualr starting slot. 3rd in the USA Young Player of the Year award too.

Ricardo Sanchez (MC/AMC) – always solid in midfield and a great link between defence and attack. Showed his loyalty by reaffiriming his comittment to the club whenever linked elsewhere.

Jesus Avalos (AMC) – again scored and supplied in abundance. Also endeared himself to the fans and me by denying all transfer rumours and due to take a Canadian passport in the close season to help us with the foreigner limits.

Marco Gordon (AMC/FC) – further established a first-class striking partnership with De Luca this season. Had to give him a big new contract to persuade him to stay though

Luca De Luca (ST) – gets better as he gets older! A great season in which he again was chosen as Fans’ Player of the Year and was runner-up in both the MVP and Golden Boot standings. He was linked with Chievo and Getafe but I expect him to see out his career with TFC now.

The Season Ahead...

More news on the facilities: the stadium is being expanded up to exactly 30,000 and undersoil heating is being installed. The training and youth facilities are also being upgraded once again and despite all the infrastructure work, we still have over ₤12mil in the bank! With key first team squad memebrs set to take Canadian citizenship too, the future looks bright here and so I have accepted the board’s offer of a new contract. I may leave if I get a direct job offer too good to refuse (a top European side or one of my favourite teams) but for now, the Reds go marching on!

Career Summary now updated.

[Raware]

Unlucky in the final DodgeeD but on a positive note, the Champions League is looking good . De Luca is still looking strong and...Ryan Ryan...what a great name!

Just had a quick look at your career summary and I didn't realise that you've won so much!!! That's an impressive trophy cabinet.

[DodgeeD]

Yes, the Ryan family obviously lacked imagination when it came to naming their son! They were only slightly less imaginative than the De Luca family though!

A couple of seasons ago, I came across and Egyptian playing in the MLS named Ali Ali and was tempted to sign him just for laughs (couldn't accomodate another foreigner in the squad though )

[rancer890]

Another great season DodgeeD. Nice to see you staying in Toronto for a while with that new contract too. Maybe you should get Canadian citizenship yourself too sometime.

[CoachFlu]

Just finished reading through this (though in several short sessions inbetween playing.)

Some great successes and interesting career twists so far.

Should have taken the Belgium job though.