deltablue Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Incredible achievement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 So you're saying there's a chance... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Superb Champions League campaign so far, still within a realistic shot at a final which would be sensational for Sparta, nevermind so soon after arriving at the club. Good luck for Munich. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 15, 2011 Author Share Posted November 15, 2011 UN****INGBELIEVABLE!!! COME ON SPARTA! I'm actually nearly in tears. Maybe I should take a break from FM, I'm getting really into this. What a match, what a lucky break on the red card...Garrcia went off after we had no subs left and we just had to hold out. I just don't have the words. On to Heysel for the final. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Beautiful showing so far ArsenalMetro! Those Czechs will be proud! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iseemonsters1 Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Wow! Amazing stuff! Good luck in the final! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 15, 2011 Author Share Posted November 15, 2011 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Well, no reason why you can't. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 I can feel the tension here... whatever happens, even if Arsenal hammer you, it's been an extraordinary achievement to go this far. In controversial news, UEFA holding the final at Heysel might be a little... in bad taste? That's over 3 decades from the disaster and I see no reason why belgians can't enjoy Europe's most important annual game in their country, but I could see that choice pissing off a few people! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 15, 2011 Author Share Posted November 15, 2011 !!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Awesome job! Thats a great accomplishment Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.W.G Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Brilliant Achievement with Sparta Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 That's astonishing really. Mourinho-at-Porto'esque, except with a considerably worse team! Might as well sell FM12, you're not going to achieve anything better than that in this game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Wow. You can't get much better than that! Time for those Czechs to break out the plum whiskey Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Well done, a most excellent Champions League campaign It appears that the Czech Republic is the place to be right now (well, Aaron Lennon obviously thinks so! ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 15, 2011 Author Share Posted November 15, 2011 Thanks everyone! I honestly cannot believe the run that we had. I expected us to get dumped out at every stage once we got to the groups, and somehow the team made it through. It's astonishing, and certainly gives me a lot to live up to next season. But with the new transfer budget, it could be pretty easy to bring in some good, new players. 2016-17 Second Half Report UEFA Champions League Final: Sparta Prague 2 - 0 Arsenal (aet) Match Report What else is there to say? It was a stunning performance from my team, simply put. To win the title this early in my career is just amazing, and I hope I can get back there very soon. If not with Sparta, then with some other club. I don't know if anything will be able to compare to this win though. Maybe if I take the United States to the World Cup Final? Anything other than that will certainly fall short. Gambrinus Liga Well this was certainly closer than I would have liked. Still, we won the league again, and that's something to be proud of. Especially when you consider how often we rested our starters for Champions League matches. To demonstrate, our third-string left back, Frederik Serwin, played in more than half of our league matches. If we didn't have a European campaign to deal with, we would have rivaled Arsenal's Invincibles in the league. Fair play to Mlada Boleslav though, they were terrific. I hope they can keep it up for one more year and grab the second Champions League spot that will be up for grabs. Czech FA Cup The lone disappointment of the season. We went out in the semifinal to Slovacko (who lost to Mlada Boleslav in the final). The 1-1 home draw was not disappointing, as that was a squad that was a mix of U-18s and Reserve players. The real disappointment was the 0-0 away draw, because that match featured our full first team. Despite dominating the match, we couldn't get that goal, and we went out. With how the season ended up though, I really can't complain too much. I'll take the Champions League over the FA Cup 1,000 times out of 1,000. Transfers None! No free transfers. Just...nothing! Well, I guess you can count the youth players that I signed, but just barely. The youth candidates this year were poor. We'll be making moves in the summer though. There are a few players who have pre-agreed to deals, and a goalkeeper or two will be on their way out. 2016-17 Season Review UEFA Champions League – Winners Gambrinus Liga – Winners Czech FA Cup – Semifinal Czech Super Cup – Winners Award Winners Player of the Year - Jaroslav Holecek (Sparta Prague) - 18 appearances, 6 goals, 11 assists, 7.56 average rating Top Goalscorer - Barrie Keith (Sparta Prague) - 22 appearances, 17 goals, 7 assists, 7.75 average rating Best Foreigner - Sebastian Vicente Moya (Sparta Prague) - 20 appearances, 13 goals, 1 assist, 7.99 average rating Young Player of the Year - Habib Onana (Sparta Prague) - 15 appearances, 4 goals, 6 assists, 7.03 average rating Manager of the Year - Michael LeClair (Sparta Prague) Team of the Year Sparta Prague Fans’ Player of the Year - Sebastian Vicente Moya Overall Sparta Prague Best XI Final 2016-17 Squad – Stats Krisztian Adorjan Mike Agu Juan Agudelo Cristian Botti Michael Brandner Maxim Danilin Henk Jan de Haas Sebastian Garcia Ozgur Gecman Andre Hainault Wayne Hennessey Jaroslav Holecek Tomas Hornak Adnan Januzaj Barrie Keith Andreas Laudrup Aaron Lennon Fabio Mazza Sandile Mdluli Mike Mitchell Sebastian Vicente Moya Paulo Nogueira Habib Onana Marc Pelosi Rami Rabia Milan Rodic Frederik Serwin Ugur Bayrak Notes The league match preceding the Champions League final marked my 100th match at Sparta Prague. It was a huge derby match against Slavia Prague that we completely tanked, but I hope the fans thought my decision was a good one a couple of days later. We were also very proud of our young center back, Cristian Botti, who picked up his first senior international cap for Argentina, appearing as a substitute in a 4-2 loss to England at Wembley. Sparta's performance in the Champions League was good enough to push the Czech Republic up to 15th in the UEFA Coefficient, giving the country 2 places in the Champions League. Additionally, our club reputation jumped to 3.5 stars, putting us in the neighborhood of AS Roma, Dortmund, and PSG. Over in England, Sunderland were shock leaders for a while, and looked set to claim a Champions League berth. This epic collapse, saw them plumet from the fourth Champions League spot after 31 matches, all the way down to 11th at the end of the season. Former Club Update New York Red Bulls It has been a disappointing start to the season for the once-proud New York Red Bulls. They currently sit third in the Eastern Conference and, for the first time in a long time, have no spring CONCACAF Champions League matches to play, so it’s been nothing but MLS play. Lawrence Aziz was sold in the winter, to a Turkish First Division club, and there were no major signings coming in. Stefan Frei is the club’s captain, with the experienced Clint Dempsey serving as his vice-captain. Notable Former Player Updates Gale Agbossoumonde - Profile History Teal Bunbury - Profile History Paul Manuel - Profile History Tim Ream - Profile History Reputations Czech Republic - 15th in UEFA Coefficients - Up 3 Gambrinus Liga - 20th in Europe (3 stars) - Up 8 Sparta Prague - 40th in UEFA Coefficients - Up 40 Sparta Prague - 3.5 stars - Up 0.5 stars Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 16, 2011 Author Share Posted November 16, 2011 Американец в России An American in Russia Здравствуйте! Well, it's been about a year since I took charge of the Russian national team and, to be quite honest, I really haven't put the effort into it that I should. My assistant manager, Chris Armas, formerly my assistant at New York, has been the genius behind the team thus far, even though he is pulling double-duty, holding the same assistant manager position in San Jose. Still, he has been in charge of squad selection and, in many cases, managing our friendly matches, so I really don't have a whole lot of insight to provide for the Russian team. First, screenshots of our pre-Confederations Cup friendly matches: November 12 - Czech Republic 4 - 1 Russia November 16 - Russia 0 - 3 Argentina February 8 - Russia 0 - 0 England June 7 - Russia 1 - 0 United States Poor results all around, except the home draw against England. While beating the United States was certainly a solid accomplishment, they were down a man for 87 minutes, and it took until stoppage time to grab the winner. Still, the morale boost from a late win like that can do nothing but help a team out. With that, we head to the... 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup Honestly, I wish I were kidding. I can't overstate how little I cared about this tournament. Winning it doesn't even add a single point to the Hall of Fame rankings anymore. Armas picked the tournament squad and the starting XI for every match. He's a little genius, apparently. Group Stage Russia 1 - 0 Cameroon A cagey affair, to be sure. We were doing nothing offensively until a silly foul gave us the penalty kick. Defensively, however, we were very solid, forcing their shots to come from a long way out, and my former international team could not hit the target with any regularity. Italy 2 - 1 Russia Italy were so clearly the better side on the night, it was outrageous. Vladimir Dyadyun's first goal for Russia made the scoreline way closer than the match ever was. That sent us into the final match against a Japanese side with two losses. Going in, we were even on points and goal difference with Cameroon, so progress was going to the side that could perform better in their final match: Us - Japan, or Cameroon - Italy. I'd say things were promising. Japan 0 - 2 Russia Well, we certainly tried to make it difficult on ourselves. Thankfully, despite the red card, we played very solidly, and Japan were absolutely horrendous. A Maxim Kanunnikov brace was enough to see us through, as Cameroon lost to Italy in their final match. Semifinal Russia 3 - 1 Spain Apparently these Russians just really have a thing for knockout football. First Euro 2016, now this? I thoroughly expected Spain to dictate tempo and dominate the match, but all of their plans were thrown out the window after we grabbed two goals in the first 11 minutes. Spain brought it back to 2-1 before halftime, but an own goal from Sergio Busquets gave us a 3-1 lead mid-way through the second half, and Spain never really threatened to close the gap. On to the final! Spain, for their part, would go to the third-place match and defeat Chile on penalties. Final Italy 2 - 3 Russia A rematch with the Italians, who knocked out Chile in the semis, 2-1. Things got off to much the same start for Italy, as they grabbed an early lead. There was a certain spirit in the St. Petersburg air today though, and Russia did not wilt. Kanunnikov grabbed the equalizer in the 29th minute, before Alberto Paloschi re-established the Italian lead six minutes later. Vladimir Dyadyun scored a crucial second equalizer just before halftime, sending the Russians into the dressing room in high spirits. Kanunnikov became the hero six minutes after halftime, a scorching run burning through the Italian defense, leaving Kanunnikov one-on-one with the Italian keeper, and he slotted it coolly to the far post. Italy conjured some threats the rest of the way, but the Russian defense, as it always seems to, held firm. With the win, hosts Russia claimed just their second-ever trophy since becoming independent of the Soviet Union (the other a European U-17 Championship), and their first senior trophy since the USSR won the European Nations' Cup in France 1960. Things are looking good for the country heading into the 2018 World Cup...maybe I should give them a little bit more attention this season. Award Winners Best Player - Juan Mata (Spain/Chelsea) - 4 appearances, 2 goals, 2 assists, 7.78 average rating Top Goalscorer - Alvaro Negredo (Spain/Sevilla) - 3 appearances, 5 goals, 0 assists, 8.03 average rating Best Goalkeeper - Igor Akinfeev (Russia/CSKA Moscow) - 5 appearances, 5 conceded, 2 clean sheets, 7.10 average rating Fair Play - Russia Hall of Fame Rankings (as of July 4, 2017) World: N/A Europe: N/A North America: 15th United States: 5th Czech Republic: 1st American: 2nd Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gritz10 Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Awesome stuff so far, are you going to stay on at Sparta? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rancer890 Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 You're making everything look so easy.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 16, 2011 Author Share Posted November 16, 2011 Awesome stuff so far, are you going to stay on at Sparta? For the time being, yes. I'm not sure what my next move will be when it comes though. My plan was to jump to a club that I thought had a good chance of winning a Champions League in 4-5 years, so...my plans are kind of out the window. You're making everything look so easy.. The Confederations Cup certainly was. The Champions League...not so much at all. At least, it wasn't easy on my heart. Stressful times. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hursty2 Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Great progression in this thread, all the way to Champions League glory! You walking up to the Arsenal manager. - Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 16, 2011 Author Share Posted November 16, 2011 Great progression in this thread, all the way to Champions League glory! You walking up to the Arsenal manager. - Thanks! And that is most certainly correct. It's no wonder Manuel Pellegrini hasn't been seen since that day... Also: Because what fun is this game if you can't make outrageous bids for players who will never sign for you? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 What a season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 21, 2011 Author Share Posted November 21, 2011 Summer 2017 Summer Transfers Preseason Friendlies Czech Super Cup Coming off of a shock Champions League win, this summer was different than those before. While Barrie Keith left us for Arsenal, our increased prestige in the world gave us the opportunity to bring in some new players. With a target on our backs, the increased player quality is necessary for us to compete on all fronts once again. Our preseason was more conventional this year: having won the Champions League, we qualified automatically for the group stages, and Mlada Boleslav picked up our domestic slot in the tournament. Transfers in July 1 – Ahmed Mahmoud (€250,000 – Masry) July 1 – Alexandre Mane (€12,000 – Academic (CPV)) July 4 – Soe Min Win (€850,000 – Charleroi) July 7 – Ricardo Kishna (€5 million – Manchester United) July 10 – Soren Ostergaard (Free – FC Midtjylland) July 11 – Maxim Kanunnikov (€6 million – Zenit) July 13 – Kevin Arnold (€2.5 million – Bayer Leverkusen) July 14 – Johan Hartock (Free – Wolves) July 19 – Pablo Salguero (€10 million – Lanus) Transfers out June 11 – Pierluigi Gollini (€1 million – SCR Altach) June 30 – Matias Jara (Free – River) June 30 – Pavel Jurcik (Free – Ceske Budejovice) June 30 – Ales Masa (Free) July 1 – Jakub Rada (Free – Caslav) July 1 – Barrie Keith (€14.5 million – Arsenal) July 1 – Daud Machude (Free) July 2 – Jiri Petrzela (Loan – Zlin) July 3 – Maxim Danilin (€150,000 – Trnava) July 6 – Rami Rabia (€725,000 – Atalanta) July 6 – Andreas Laudrup (€1.5 million – FC Midtjylland) July 6 – Olivier Etienne (€100,000 – Trnava) July 6 – Lukas Zima (€10,000 loan fee – SV Grodig) July 6 – Patrick McDonald (€975,000 – Huddersfield) July 7 – Andre Hainault (€1.3 million – Werder Bremen) July 7 – Juan Agudelo (€6.25 million – FC Kobenhavn) July 7 – Patsy Byrne (€50,000 loan fee – Neath) July 7 – Wayne Hennessey (€2.5 million – Xerez) July 12 – Roman Mikel (Loan – Zlin) July 13 – Jiri Nemec (Loan – Zlin) July 13 – Joona Vuorinen (Loan – Dresden) July 23 – Richard Nemec (€1.5 million – Slask) August 8 – Soren Ostergaard (Loan – Zlin) Wild times in the transfer window. Barrie Keith’s sale to Arsenal gave us roughly €35 million to play with initially, and the obvious priority was to replace his productivity. To that end, we brought in three top-quality strikers: Ricardo Kishna, Maxim Kanunnikov, and the gem of the bunch, Pablo Salguero. Kevin Arnold has the potential to be a world-class left back, and given the current struggles of Germany, could find himself as a fixture in the national team picture sooner rather than later. Soe Min Win comes to us on the Fourth of July, giving me yet another player from my days in New York. Alexandre Mane comes to us from the Cape Verde Islands, which are quickly becoming a footballing hotbed, as the national team is currently ranked 21st in the world. Leaving the club were some big-name players. Keith’s sale was negotiated last winter, but the sale of Juan Agudelo came as a bit of a surprise. With the signings of the three new strikers, coupled with the rapid growth of Habib Onana, Agudelo became surplus to requirements, and I sold him for the second time in my career. Wayne Hennessey was unhappy with his role at the club, and was happy to move to Spain. Likewise for Pierluigi Gollini and his move to Austria. The rest of the sales were just meant to clear out the deadwood at the club, lower our wage bill, and bring in some extra money, if possible. Expected lineup For European matches, the AMC will drop back to MC, with Michael Brandner usually slotting in at that position. Adorjan will play against weaker European opponents against whom we can play a more offensive game. Preseason Matches/Czech Super Cup It was a very productive preseason for us. We kicked things off with a big win in Australia, before claiming two wins on a mini-Belgian tour. The Czech Super Cup was a disappointment, but not a major setback, as evidenced by our friendly draw at the Nou Camp and our win against La Liga champions, Atletico Madrid. With our final match, we fulfilled our transfer obligation with Ozgur Gecman's former club, and picked up a big 7-1 win to take us into the heart of our competitive schedule. UEFA Champions League Our place as champions came with a nicely-wrapped top seed for the group draw, resulting in a much easier group than last season. Genoa, Fenerbahce, and PSV are all good clubs, to be sure, but on the back of our performance last year, I'm certainly hoping to get out of the group stages more easily than before. Board Expectations UEFA Champions League - First Knockout Round Gambrinus Liga - Winners Czech FA Cup - Not important Euro Super Cup - Not important (v. Liverpool, September 1) Czech Super Cup - Not important (Lost to Mlada Boleslav, 2-0) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
arinceo Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Woah, absolutely incredible season!! Definitely has to be the biggest shock in the history of the European Cup/Champions League, but now that you've won it I don't see why you can't go back-to-back Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rancer890 Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Good luck mate in the new signing. Winning another Champions League will be very tough but you can do it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Lets see who you can beat this time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 21, 2011 Author Share Posted November 21, 2011 Additional notes about my group: while it looks easier than last year, I hadn't yet looked at the tables from Serie A and the Eredivisie. Genoa and PSV both won their leagues. Maybe this is going to be a little bit tougher than I thought. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 What more can be said that hasnt been said already - what a result! Now the challenge is retaining the Champions Cup - or possibly breaking Real Madrid's CL record! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 21, 2011 Author Share Posted November 21, 2011 September 27, 2017 World Update All winners from 2017 calendar year unless otherwise noted World FIFA World Cup - Italy (2014) FIFA Confederations Cup - Russia FIFA U-20 World Cup - Italy Olympic Games - Argentina (2016) FIFA Club World Cup - Corinthians (2016) Europe European Championship - Spain (2016) European U-21 Championship - Italy UEFA Champions League - Sparta Prague UEFA Europa League - Liverpool UEFA Super Cup - Liverpool South America Copa America - Chile (2015) Copa Libertadores - Corinthians Copa Sudamericana - Universidad de Chile (2016) North America CONCACAF Gold Cup - Mexico Central American Nations Cup - Honduras Caribbean Championship - Haiti (2016) CONCACAF Champions League - Club America Asia Asian Cup - Japan (2015) AFC Champions League - Okayama FC (2016) Africa African Cup of Nations - Egypt CAF Champions League - Zamalek (2016) Oceania Oceania Nations Cup - New Zealand (2016) O-League - Waitakere United Argentina Primera Division Clausura - Boca Primera Division Apertura - River (2016) Brazil Serie A - Sao Paulo (2016) Czech Republic Gambrinus Liga - Sparta Prague Czech FA Cup - Mlada Boleslav Czech Super Cup - Mlada Boleslav England Premier League - Manchester United FA Cup - Liverpool League Cup - Arsenal France Ligue 1 - Marseilles Germany Bundesliga - Bayern Munich Holland Eredivisie - PSV Italy Serie A - Genoa Mexico Primera Division Clausura - Pumas Primera Division Apertura - Club America (2016) Portugal Primeira Liga - FC Porto Russia Premier League - CSKA Moscow Scotland Premier League - Rangers Spain La Liga - Atletico Madrid Turkey Super Lig - Besiktas Ukraine Premier League - Shakhtar Donetsk United States Major League Soccer - Columbus Crew (2016) Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup - Charleston Battery (2016) MLS All-Stars - West Ham Award Winners Ballon d'Or - Lionel Messi (Barcelona) World Player of the Year - Lionel Messi (Barcelona) World Team of the Year Czech Player of the Year - Jaroslav Holecek (Sparta Prague) USA Player of the Year - Juan Agudelo (Sparta Prague) USA Young Player of the Year - Paul Manuel (Toulouse FC) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Dream season all around, domestic and international! Now time to solidify your hold. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 Thanks for all the praise! The first half of the 2017-18 season has also been incredible, but I'll give you details on that in the next day or so. For now...the World Cup group stage has been drawn. The results: 2018 World Cup Draw November 2017 World Ranking in Parentheses Group A Russia (4th) Chile (10th) Austria (46th) Ivory Coast (50th) Group B Spain (3rd) Norway (17th) Canada (44th) Colombia (51st) Group C - Group of Death Cameroon (7th) Mexico (8th) Uruguay (11th) France (13th) Group D Netherlands (6th) Belgium (22nd) Nigeria (24th) South Korea (52nd) Group E Ukraine (12th) Algeria (29th) Denmark (32nd) Saudi Arabia (61st) Group F England (5th) Ghana (15th) Sweden (19th) Australia (49th) Group G Argentina (2nd) Portugal (14th) United States (40th) North Korea (67th) Group H Italy (1st) Switzerland (16th) Brazil (18th) Japan (42nd) South Africa, ranked 9th in the world, is the highest-ranked team to not qualify. Next is Egypt at 20, then Germany (!!!) at 21. The Cape Verde Islands, currently ranked 23rd in the world, just missed out on qualification, losing in the playoffs to Nigeria, I believe. I'll give you more details on the qualifying when it comes time for the World Cup update in the upcoming summer, but for now...get pumped. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share Posted November 25, 2011 2017-18 Midseason Report Winter Transfer Window Winter Friendlies UEFA Champions League First Knockout Round Draw For the second consecutive year, we have qualified for the Champions League knockout rounds. This year was significantly easier than last, despite being in a group with both the Dutch and Italian champions. We got off to a blistering start, winning our first four matches, sealing our progress (and the group win) with two matches to spare. The team switched off for the last two group matches (clearly), but that wasn't the worst thing that could happen. Our group win was rewarded with a first knockout round tie against Red Bull Salzburg, and I'll be doing my former employers no favors. In other Czech news, Mlada Boleslav qualified to the Group Stage, and came third in their group (behind Bayern Munich and Red Bull Salzburg, and ahead of Benfica), setting up a Europa League knockout tie with Cyprus' APOEL. Gambrinus Liga What an amazing start. At the halfway point, we're already 14 points clear, and our only dropped points came in a 1-1 home draw against Mlada Boleslav, two days after we beat PSV at home in the Champions League. We'll be gunning for an undefeated season, and the chances of that happening are becoming better by the day. Our reserves would finish second in the league behind our first XI, in my opinion. Czech FA Cup The FA Cup has been a breeze. Our first two matches were against entirely amateur sides, and the 8-0 win away to Kravare was a club-record victory. Habib Onana also made history that day, his five-goal performance earning him both the club and competition records. We'll resume the tournament against Brno in the quarterfinals in April. Club World Cup I have to be honest: this tournament wasn't all that important to the team, and it showed in the performances. Contrasted with my New York side, who wanted the title badly, the Sparta Prague players came out flat in both of our matches. It took a late comeback against ES Tunis in the semifinal to advance, and we thought we caught a lucky break when Club America beat Corinthians on penalties in the other semifinal. Come matchday, however, we were anything but lucky. Club America goalkeeper Guillermo Allison had an amazing day, with nine saves between regulation and extra time, and forced us to go to penalties. The shootout was an exercise in futility for both sides, and we ended up falling short in the end, losing 7-6 after 10 rounds. Pablo Salguero, our €10 million man, apparently can't take a penalty kick to save his life, and his final effort was hilariously poor. So, on the day, the Mexican side triumphed, making it two consecutive Club World Cups for teams in the Americas. European Super Cup Matched up against Liverpool, the reigning Europa League winners, we didn't really have high hopes. And sure enough, Lacina Traore scored for Liverpool eight minutes in, setting the stage for an incredibly dull affair at the Stade Felix Bollaert in Lens. We couldn't do anything offensively, registering just three shots on target, and Liverpool were content to sit back and snuff out attack after attack. It was a fun experience to be there, and while we would have liked to win, failing to wasn't devastating. Squad Stats - We've had a very balanced first half, statistically, with just a few standouts. Because we're far better than every other team in the Czech Republic, we have the opportunity to play our reserves in the league, and our starters in the Champions League, resulting in the balanced distribution of appearances. Pablo Salguero has lived up to the billing, with 15 goals in 21 appearances. Habib Onana has been equally impressive in front of goal, with 15 goals in just 13 appearances. Maxim Kanunnikov's goalscoring form has been disappointing, but his performances have been solid, if not reflected on the stat sheet. The biggest disappointment has to be Ricardo Kishna, who has managed to score just 1 goal in 17 appearances up top. Managerial Notes The first half of the season saw me celebrate my 300th match in management, a November match against Banik Ostrava in the league. We celebrated the occasion in style, jumping out to a 3-0 lead within 20 minutes, en route to a 5-1 victory in front of over 18,000 at Letna. We also saw our first player capped by a major European nation, when Sebastian Vicente Moya made his first appearance for Spain in a 2-1 friendly win over Belgium, coming on as a 78th-minute substitute. I was offered another international job after World Cup qualifying ended, when Croatia tried to lure me away from my post in Russia. Since they failed to qualify for the tournament, I obviously declined. Winter Break Another good winter break for us. We brought in about €1 million in appearance fees, and outscored our opponents 19-1 in our five matches. Solid times all around. Transfers in January 5 – Yu Jian (Free – Tianjin) January 25 – Marcus Balstrup (€2.3 million – Brondby) January 25 – Ahmed Shawky (€700,000 – Smouha) Transfers out January 2 – Ugur Bayrak (€5 million – Cordoba) January 8 – Ricardo Kishna (€9.5 million – Fiorentina) January 30 – Sandile Mdluli (Loan – Karlsruhe) February 5 – Ozgur Gecmen (€800,000 – Gaziantep Bld.) February 7 – Mauro Moreira (€1.6 million – Zaglebie Lubin) It was a very productive transfer window for us. Marcus Balstrup looks like our future right midfielder, and could be a regular in the starting XI sooner, rather than later, as an injury to Jaroslav Holecek has really sapped his ability. Yu Jian and Ahmed Shawky are both promising youngsters who we hope can begin making serious contributions sometime in the next twelve months. On the way out of Prague, in exchange for a total of €16.9 million, are a number of players who simply didn't fit at the club any longer. Ugur Bayrak was never going to make it as a starter for us, so we allowed him to move to La Liga side Cordoba. Ricardo Kishna's disappointing first half didn't hurt his transfer value at all, and we turned a tidy €4.5 million profit on him. The Ozgur Gecmen experiment came to an end, and we sent him back to Turkey (this time to the Second Division). Mauro Moreira, who we had acquired on a free from FC Porto, was deemed surplus to requirements in the wake of Yu Jian's signing, so he will be continuing his career in Poland. Best of luck to all of our former players. Former Club Update New York Red Bulls The Red Bulls rebounded well from a disappointing 2016 season, making a run to the MLS Cup final, where they succumbed to Portland, 2-0 in extra time. With the final appearance, however, New York has qualified for next year's CONCACAF Champions League, returning them to the major continental tournament. The US Open Cup was a short-lived adventure for New York, with a loss on penalties to FC Tampa Bay in the third round sending the Red Bulls crashing out of the tournament. For the second-consecutive year, a lower division team claimed the Open Cup title, with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers besting Seattle in the final, 3-2, after extra time. The biggest news out of Harrison, NJ, however, is the signing of Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta. Though his abilities are on the decline, Iniesta's signing has brought the Red Bulls fanbase back to life. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share Posted November 25, 2011 Could it be another dream run? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 They'll run you very close in the return. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share Posted November 25, 2011 Far easier than I ever expected. Messi is still the key to Barcelona's success, and we shut him down very well. We gave him a knock in the first leg that led to him starting the second leg with 72% fitness, and he never really got going. In every highlight that he had the ball, Sebastian Garcia slide-tackled it from Messi with authority. He was brilliant through the two legs. So now we head to the semifinal in a rematch of last year's final, against Arsenal. CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid face each other in the other semifinal. Also, this result actually isn't as surprising as I thought it was. Barcelona has slipped to third in La Liga, well behind Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. Could the Barcelona dynasty be coming to an end? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Who are your next victims? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share Posted November 25, 2011 Who are your next victims? Potentially me. At least we got two away goals, so there's still a little bit of hope. Also, Arsenal are in a tight title fight with Chelsea and Liverpool, and are in the FA Cup final against Liverpool, so there's a chance that they might be worn down for the second leg. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share Posted November 25, 2011 The dream lives on! Absolutely clinical finishing from us, and Tomas Hornak turned in a brilliant performance. After our second goal, Arsenal was really pressing us back, and it was incredibly nerve-wracking. Botti's goal came off a goalmouth scramble (my favorite kind of goal), with the ball sitting on the goal line for what seemed like an eternity before he slammed it in. Miraculously, we're on to our second straight Champions League final, against... Huh. Imagine the odds you could have gotten on this final ever occurring. CSKA Moscow knocked off Real Madrid in the semifinal 4-3 on aggregate, carried by a 3-1 win at the Bernabeu. They've just crushed the Russian Premier League this year, and have already clinched the league title. They also have 8 players who I called up to the 30-man Russia squad for the World Cup. They're a very good team who certainly won't overlook us like some of our other opponents have. It should be a good, hard-fought final, and I'm really looking forward to it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Up for a repeat I think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Back-to-back Champions Leagues with Sparta Prague would be insane. Keep it up. That's certainly an exotic final, I mean what was the last time two eastern european sides met in the final? I can think of Steaua and Red Star, but two at the same time? Don't think it ever happened? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 26, 2011 Author Share Posted November 26, 2011 Back-to-back Champions Leagues with Sparta Prague would be insane. Keep it up. That's certainly an exotic final, I mean what was the last time two eastern european sides met in the final? I can think of Steaua and Red Star, but two at the same time? Don't think it ever happened? Partizan made the final in 1966 (thanks Wiki), and Panathinaikos did in 1971 (do they count as Eastern European?), but there have never been two Eastern European teams in the same Champions League final. Ditto for the Europa League and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The only all-Eastern European final I can find anywhere is the 1960 European Championship final, featuring the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, in Paris. FM is unrealistic. Sort it out, SI. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Panathinaikos doesn't count as Eastern Europeans. Greece weren't commies. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 26, 2011 Author Share Posted November 26, 2011 Let's make it two. This one...we absolutely did not deserve, but I'll take it! Moscow dominated us from the off, and were it not for a stellar night for Tomas Hornak, this had the potential to be a 3 or 4-0 drubbing. But, he was immense. In extra time, Anton Zabolotny had a chance to seal it for CSKA after Adnan Januzaj committed a foul on the edge of the area. His penalty was struck fiercely, but it caromed back off of the crossbar, giving us another chance. We managed to hold out for the last 10 minutes and send the match to penalties, which was a frightening prospect in itself. While Hornak was having a tremendous match, Igor Akinfeev stood between the posts for the Russians, and he's certainly one of the world's best. After Habib Onana's penalty was saved by Akinfeev, I thought we were done. Luckily, Mike Agu and Krisztian Adorjan buried their spot kicks to keep us alive. Tayfun Gulcan stepped up as Moscow's fifth penalty taker, with a chance to win the Champions League. He hit a great penalty, but Hornak was equal to the task, diving up and to his left to keep the ball out of the net. Fabio Mazza smashed his penalty into the top corner to send us to extra penalty kicks. Moscow's sixth shooter tried to put his effort low and to the corner, but Hornak read it perfectly, giving Milan Rodic, who had picked up an injury earlier in the match, a chance to clinch the title for us. He put his shot to the goalkeeper's left, and it sailed gracefully into the back of the net, sparking wild celebrations from the Prague bench. I know I said after the last one that no title could match the first...but I was wrong. This was even sweeter than before. Such a gutsy performance, and to be up against the wall, with everything on the line...and to win? Unbelievable, once again. I love Prague. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rancer890 Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 You. Are. Legend! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Butterball Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 OMG What a thread Top class Arsenal top class Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 26, 2011 Author Share Posted November 26, 2011 Thanks guys! In other news, I just witnessed the most shocking result in World Cup history. Details to follow in the coming days. I've never been this stunned by FM. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArsenalMetro Posted November 26, 2011 Author Share Posted November 26, 2011 2017-18 Second Half Report UEFA Champions League Final: CSKA Moscow 0 (4) - 0 (5) Sparta Prague Knockout Round Bracket It was another shockingly good year for us in the Champions League, as we brought home our second consecutive UEFA Champions League title, claiming the title on penalties against CSKA Moscow in Stockholm. We won our group easily, and then made our way to the final with aggregate wins over Red Bull Salzburg, Barcelona, and Arsenal, a very good trio of teams. Our win gave the Czech Republic three teams in next season’s competition, with Viktoria Plzen and Mlada Boleslav claiming the berths. Hopefully they can put in good performances this year, or at least qualify for the Europa League, to get the country’s coefficient and league reputation up a bit. Gambrinus Liga We walked the league easily. Our one loss (to Mlada Boleslav, of course), came when I was serving a touchline ban after bashing the Czech FA and its officials. Oops. We used a lot of reserve lineups in the league, to keep players fresh for the Champions League, which I think gives us a big advantage over the clubs from bigger leagues who are engaged in fierce domestic competition every weekend. When we got to play the full squad, however, it was devastating to the other teams, as this record 9-0 win over Brno demonstrates. Regardless, we claimed our third consecutive league title, clinching the title with a resounding 3-0 win over rivals Slavia Prague, and will be looking to make it four next season. Czech FA Cup Final: Sparta Prague 1 - 0 Mlada Boleslav The loss in last season’s semifinal was a bitter pill to swallow, and we made sure that didn’t happen again. Because of the scheduling, we got to put much stronger sides out than we did previously, and that carried us to the final. In the final, it was a makeshift squad, to be sure, as the match came just three days before the Champions League final. We handed debuts to a couple of U-18 players who will probably never see the first team again, but it didn’t much matter. We lifted this trophy for a record ninth time, thanks to a 69th-minute goal from youth product David Frydrych, in front of our home fans to boot. Transfers We made just one transaction in the spring, bringing in Trinidad and Tobagoian goalkeeper Christopher Gordon on a free transfer from Caledonia AIA. He came to us on a recommendation from his agent, and he looks to have the ability to be a backup for us in the future, if he sticks around for long enough. 2017-18 Season Review UEFA Champions League – Winners Gambrinus Liga – Winners Czech FA Cup – Winners Club World Cup – Final, lost to Club America on penalties European Super Cup – Lost to Liverpool Czech Super Cup – Lost to Mlada Boleslav Award Winners Player of the Year – Habib Onana (Sparta Prague) – 15 appearances, 16 goals, 6 assists, 7.96 average rating Top Goalscorer – Habib Onana (Sparta Prague) Best Foreigner – Rafael Cabrera (Banik Ostrava/Argentina) – 19 appearances, 8 goals, 9 assists, 7.21 average rating Young Player of the Year – Javier Pereyra (Mlada Boleslav) – 21 appearances, 4 goals, 3 assists, 7.06 average rating Manager of the Year – Michael LeClair (Sparta Prague) Team of the Year Sparta Prague Fans’ Player of the Year – Pablo Salguero Overall Sparta Prague Best XI Final 2017-18 Squad – Stats Krisztian Adorjan Mike Agu Kevin Arnold Marcus Balstrup Cristian Botti Michael Brandner Henk Jan de Haas David Frydrych Sebastian Garcia Jaroslav Holecek Tomas Hornak Adnan Januzaj Maxim Kanunnikov Jiri Kopriva Michal Kubik Aaron Lennon Ahmed Mahmoud Alexandre Mane Fabio Mazza Mike Mitchell Sebastian Vicente Moya Stanislav Mracek Jiri Nitriansky Paulo Nogueira Habib Onana Marc Pelosi Milan Rodic Pablo Salguero Frederik Serwin Ahmed Shawky Leos Soukup Aleksi Virtanen Soe Min Win Yu Jian Notes It was another amazing year in Prague. We further solidified our status as a legitimate contender on the European stage, and we’re carrying the Czech Republic along for the ride. Hopefully we can start developing some young talent for the Czech national team, who are really in a funk, failing to qualify for the World Cup. We managed to set a new club attendance record, which prompted the board to expand the stadium by about 4,500 seats, which I’m very excited about. Letna’s a nice ground, but it’s a little small for a club with our ambitions. Our youth candidates for the year were pretty poor, and we’re hoping that our enhanced youth facilities and our very good recruitment system will bring in some future stars soon. We saw a lot of players earn their first international caps in the second half and in the run-up to the World Cup – Henk Jan de Haas (Holland), Frederik Serwin (Denmark), Pablo Salguero (Argentina), Ahmed Shawky (Egypt). In addition, eight Sparta Prague players were called up to represent their countries at the World Cup, including Maxim Kanunnikov (Russia), who isn’t listed on that screenshot. Also, I experienced a crash dump after the season ended and I had taken all of the screenshots. The only Sparta match that was replayed was the season finale, which I had originally drawn 1-1. I holidayed through the problem the second time around, and we won 3-0, so if the screenshot with the second half results looks a little off with the score for that match, that’s why. The stats might also be a little bit different in the screenshots than they are on my game now, but the differences are negligible. Former Club Update New York Red Bulls The Red Bulls have carried their form from last season’s MLS Cup run into the new campaign. While they are currently third overall in the league, they are just three points back of leaders Vancouver with two games in hand. Andres Iniesta has not featured as much as the club would like due to injury, but when on the field, he has done very well. Eddie Gaven left the club in June, moving to Cypriot club Achnas for €35,000. Darlington Nagbe also made a move abroad, joining Swiss club Lugano for €65,000. New York will enter the CONCACAF Champions League in the preliminary round, where they were handed an easy draw in Jamaica’s Tivoli Gardens, so the Red Bulls should book their place in the group stages fairly easily. Notable Former Player Updates Gale Agbossoumonde - Profile History Juan Agudelo - Profile History Teal Bunbury - Profile History Barrie Keith - Profile History Paul Manuel - Profile History Tim Ream - Profile History Reputations Czech Republic – 12th in UEFA Coefficients – Up 3 Gambrinus Liga – 17th in Europe (3 stars) – Up 3 Sparta Prague – 27th in UEFA Coefficients – Up 13 Sparta Prague – 4 stars – Up 0.5 stars Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Never seen such incredible back to back CL titles. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noikeee Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Rubbish season. I mean, losing in the league to Boleslav? Unforgivable. Astonishing feat to retain the Champions League. No team at all has done it since 1990, so to pull it off with a czech side is a little crazy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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