FM14: Carrying the hope of a Nation. Quest for World Cup Glory

[soccer.joel]

I'd sell as it will be better for the national team and the funds can be reinvested in the youth facilities at club level. Definitely a tough decision, though. If you were only managing at club level I'd say hang on to him, since good domestic players are a rare commodity given the foreign player restrictions in the A-League, but since the focus is the national team I'd be letting him play in Italy.

Just out of interest, can I see a screenshot of his attributes page with the polygon graph? Not relevant to your decision but I feel the polygon gives me a better overview of a player's ability than the individual stats do.

Here it is

[deltablue]

Sell only if you're absolutely sure you can manage without him.

[duffy89]

I'd go for a sale here. Thats a very nice offer.

Couple of things though, make sure you get a % of his next transfer included in the deal.

Also, is it worth offering him out to clubs at, say $10m, to see if any other clubs bite or a bigger offer comes in?

[soccer.joel]

I'd go for a sale here. Thats a very nice offer.

Couple of things though, make sure you get a % of his next transfer included in the deal.

Also, is it worth offering him out to clubs at, say $10m, to see if any other clubs bite or a bigger offer comes in?

I might try that. Empoli have been interested for a while so I might see if I can get a bigger offer. I'm not going to do anything til tomorrow though

[Razer82]

$7m is a great offer & I can't really do much else other than echo what everyone else has said.

If you can do with out him then cash in whilst you have a decent offer but certainly try to negotiate a sell on % clause.

The potential of improved facilities will help more in the long term for producing more domestic players.

[soccer.joel]

2018 World Cup 3rd Place Play-off and Final

Mexico started well but after Balotelli's introduction Italy began to play them off the park and ran home 2-0 winners after extra time. You can look at some of the match info here

In the final Holland faced Argentina. It was quite a close game with neither creating many good chances. After Claudio Yacob took the lead with a fine strike, Argentina gifted Holland a goal before Messi scored the winner. You can look at the match info here

Here are the goals:

[video=youtube;Vq6C51h__vA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6C51h__vA

This means Argentina have claimed their 3rd World Cup

[soccer.joel]

2018 World Cup Stats and Awards

Golden Ball: Gareth Bale (Wales), 7.68 rating

Silver Ball: Leonardo Bonucci (Italy), 7.82 rating

Bronze Ball: Lucas Romero (Argentina), 7.63 rating

Best Young Player: Emiliano Torres, 7.70

Golden Shoe: Sergio Aguero (Argentina), 6 goals

Silver Shoe: Lionel Messi (Argenina), 5 goals

Bronze Shoe: Andi Weiman (Austria), 4 goals

Golden Glove: Cassio (Brazil), 6.80 rating

Goal of the Tournament:

1st

[video=youtube;Cp39OhYVn_k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp39OhYVn_k

2nd

[video=youtube;Bq1MvuXRgk4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq1MvuXRgk4

3rd

[video=youtube;c9nK3ors6ro]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9nK3ors6ro

Dream Team:

Most Goals Scored: Argentina, 19

Most Goals Conceded: Congo, 12

[soccer.joel]

2018 World Cup Performance Review

Firstly the board were pleased with a overperformance.

Unlike the last World Cup I was very happy at how we defended. I was also satisfied with how we attacked. I am pleased that we stepped up to the plate against superior opposition. I thought our fitness let us down though so will play less friendlies before the next World Cup.

We only used 2 tactics in the World Cup, our defensive 4-5-1 and our 4-2-3-1. We used the 4-2-3-1 against Mali and the defensive 4-5-1 the remainder of the games. We scored 5 goals in 3 games with the 4-5-1, conceding 4 (all against Argentina). Saying that against Argentina we played more attackingly due to altered instructions than in other games with this tactic.

We scored 3/7 of our goals in the first half of games and conceded 3/5. Times of conceding were evening spread. We scored most just after half time showing a possible strength in motivating for me and a determination and alertness from my players. We scored 4 placed shots and 3 headers and conceded 4 placed shots and a powerful shot. 3/5 goals conceded came from a pass, 1 from a corner and 1 a solo run. We scored 1 from a corner, 2 from crosses, 2 from passes and 1 from a opposition mistake. This shows we are versatile in the ways we create and score goals.

The average age of the squad is 25.32 which is quite good for an international side.

Our top goalscorer was Adam Taggart on 2 goals. The other scorers were Edwards, Chillico, Luongo, Oar and Wright

Our top assister was Matthew Leckie with 3. The others were McGowan and Lowry

Our highest average rating was Shane Lowry with 7.55

Here you can see a full stat pack of the players who played. The only players not to play were Adam Federeci and Mitchell Langerak who are both goalkeepers. I was particularly impressed with the high amount of ground covered by Daniel De Silva, Tom Rogic, Robbie Kruse, Mate Dugandzic and Tommy Oar. I felt their were also two many individual mistakes but that might be because of the high level opposition. From a creative side I though Matthew Leckie stand out with 3 assists and 4 key passes in 2 games. From a defensive point Bailey Wright stood out with 4 key tackles and 11 key headers as well as Shane Lowry with 12.5 tackles per game.

My short-term goals are to:

- Win the Asian Cup in January

- Continue to bring through next generation in coming months

[soccer.joel]

Personnel Changes

Mile Jedinak has retired as captain to focus on just playing, just as Tim Cahill did 4 years ago. He'll still be in the national team

My new captain is Ryan McGowan with the vice-captain still being Tom Rogic. McGowan (28) has played at the last 2 World Cups and is our best right back. He has 16 for both leadership and determination with a resolute personality. The squad seem pleased with the decision.

We've also moved from 51 to 19 in the World Rankings

[soccer.joel]

2018 East Asian Cup Matches

Straight after the World Cup we were forced to play in the East Asian Cup against South Korea, China and Japan.

The squad is the same except Adam Federeci was removed (as we were only allowed 22 players)

I didn't organise any friendlies despite the 12 day gap as I wanted to give the tired boys a rest

Vs. Japan

We changed back to our usual formation which we use for all even and inferior sides. We played almost our strongest lineup.

4 times before I have played Japan and 4 times before I have beaten them. This time was no different. We were on top form. We were all round brilliant with Taggart being the best

Adam Taggart also broke Tim Cahill's goal record by scoring his 36th international goals. See Post 2 and in a few post times as I keep track of the most appearances and goals

Vs. China

We kept a similar line-up with a few changes. Reddy replacing Taggart was the main one

We did well but didn't score til late on when De Silva inspired us to victory.

Vs. South Korea

A draw would seal the competition but I don't play for draws in this competition.

We started slowly but won comfortably thanks to braces from Daniel De Silva and Adam Taggart.

This means we are the champions

[soccer.joel]

2018 East Asian Cup Review and Awards

I was pleased with our performance, I wasn't expecting it to be this easy. Korea beat us last year and Japan have some good players but we dealt with them effectively and showed our strengths in attack.

Adam Taggart won the Golden Boot with 4 goals

He also won the MVP

Lowry won the Best Defender

and Matt Ryan won the Best Goalkeeper

[soccer.joel]

Green And Gold Elite

I have compiled a list of the most capped players and the players with the most goals from past and in-game. I will also have a hall of fame for players that get into the best eleven 5 times.

Most Capped Players

1. Mark Schwarzer - 100 caps - 1993 to 2014

2. Lucas Neill - 96 caps - 1996 to 2013

3. Brett Emerton - 95 caps - 1998 to 2012

4. Tim Cahill - 89 caps - 2004 to 2017

5. Alex Tobin - 87 caps - 1998 to 1998

6. Phil Wade - 84 caps - 1986 to 1996

7. Robbie Kruse - 80 caps - 2011 to present (in game)

8. Luke Wilkshere - 80 caps - 2004 to 2013

9. Tony Vidmar - 76 caps - 1991 to 2006

10. Rhys Williams - 73 caps - 2009 to present

Most Goals

1. Adam Taggart- 38 (in 61 games) - 2012 to present (in game)

2. Tim Cahill - 35 (in 89 games) - 2004 to 2017

3. Damian Mori - 29 (in 45 games) - 1992 to 2002

4. Archie Thompson - 28 goals (in 54 games) - 2001 to 2013

5. Tom Rogic - 28 (in 65 games)- 2012 to present

note players in italics never played for me

[soccer.joel]

Aussies On the Move 2018 (If no fee stated, they moved on free, tier in brackets)

Oliver Bozanic Atromitos to Western Sydney Wanderers (1)

Matthew Ryan Al Shabab to Southampton (2) $1.4M

Connor Pain Leicester to Guangzhou (1) $3M

Luke DeVere Suwon to Al-Sadd (1) $975K

Robbie Kruse Lokomotiv Moscow to Vitoria Guimaraes (1)

Zoran Sarris Caykur Rizespor to Sion (1) $325K

Roy Edwards Western Sydney Wanderers to Empoli (1) $12.5M

Matthew Spiranovic Bristol City to Swansea (2) $525K

Bailey Wright Bournemouth to Reading (1) $2M

James Holland Panathanaikos to Dusseldorf (2) $500K

Daniel De Silva LOSC to Elche (1) $4.5M

Jackson Irvine Huddersfield Town to Sheffield United (1) $2M

Hyuga Tanner Hibernian to Rangers (1) 1.5M

Massimo Luongo Palermo to Padova (1) 1.9M (co-own)

Tommy Oar Lazio to Roma (1) 3.9M (co-own)

[RenG]

Pleasant read so far.

Congrats on getting €12.5M out of Edwards!

[soccer.joel]

Pleasant read so far.

Congrats on getting €12.5M out of Edwards!

Thanks. It was actually $12.5 mil Australian dollars so its less in euros

[duffy89]

Absolutely walked the East Asia Cup there, great job

Getting $12.5m is a fantastic effort, hopefully the board lets you invest it back into the club!

[soccer.joel]

Absolutely walked the East Asia Cup there, great job

Getting $12.5m is a fantastic effort, hopefully the board lets you invest it back into the club!

Thanks. They did as you'll see in the next update. I also get an awesome 50% of the next fee

[soccer.joel]

Australia September 2018 Friendlies

I kept a similar squad to usual with a few minor changes. I decided to leave Roy Edwards out as I wanted him to adapt to life in Europe

We played a fairly strong squad against Brazil. Lowry wasn't fit to play so I brought in a slower Davidson.

Brazil were just a class above especially at home. Rogic did well for us after coming on creating our goal but got injured.

Next we had to play Ecuador. Fitzgerald replaced an injured Rogic. I gave him a start. I also gave Switzerland based midfielder Zoran Sarris his debut in a young side.

We were far too good for them. Early on Babalj got injured this allowed me to experiment with Kruse as a false 9. It worked he created lots of space and Fitzgerald assisted him twice for a brace. We could've had more than just 3.

Next month we play Mexico and Switzerland

[soccer.joel]

2018 Asian Champions League Quarter Finals

In the first leg I started with my strongest line-up. We were fully in control and ran home 2-0 winners. The first goal came from a great run from the deep by Nicholas Fitzgerald, he ran onto an Adam Taggart header and beat the keeper 1v1. Our second goal came on the counter with Mavromatis running onto a slick Vieira through ball. You can see the match details here

We had an unfortunate casualty Ricardo Centurion broke his foot after a bad tackle in a friendly a week later and is out for 4-5 months. He's been pivotal so we will be weaker without him. Nic Ansell and Trent Sainsbury both had short term injuries going into the second leg so we were a lot weaker.

I set up to counter and the first goal was testament. We won the ball back in front of our penalty area and quickly countered Cuca finishing in their penalty area. The second goal was a Mavromatis header off a Davidson goal and the 3rd Chillico sidefooted over the line from a corner. Even though they dominated we won 3-0. I was very happy. See the match details here

So we're into the Semi-Finals of the Champions League and have to play Iranian side Persepolis. We have to do so without Roy Edwards and Ricardo Centurion

[soccer.joel]

2018-19 Western Sydney Wanderers Season Preview

I'm am now up to my 3rd pre-season. I aim to make it 3 on the trot in the A-League and hopefully win the Champions League.

We will start by taking a look back at our trophies.

Facilities

We increased our junior coaching even further which will hopefully mean a better intake in the future again. After last seasons improvement failed due to lack of cash. Player sales have funded an improvement in our youth facilities and our training facilities.

We now only need to youth recruitment to complete my major objectives with the club.

Transfers

You all know the situation regarding wonderkid Roy Edwards. Well I turned down the offer and offered him out for 10M + 25% of next fee. Serie A clubs Empoli and Juve Stabia fought over him and I ended up getting $12.5M +50% of his next fee. I reckon he could be a $25M+ player in the future. We released a number of youth players who aren't going to make it at our level. We also let go of experienced Topor-Stanley and Armani who are decreasing due to age as well as back-up keeper Redmayne as I wanted to strengthen that position.

I will now go through each of our signings.

Zoran Scott (DC) - Young defender who played for Adelaide. Could be a Socceroo if he works hard and does well.

Oliver Bozanic(M/AM LC) - An Australian who was on loan at us last season. He is experienced with a good assist rate. He is basically a Roy Edwards replacement but adds depth

Federico Castaldo (GK) - I wanted a new No.1 goalkeeper but those on frees weren't big improvements on Bouzanis. Castaldo is young and is on loan. There is a possibility I might make it permanent if he does well.

Bradley Kleinhans (ST) - Prodigious striker that I have been tracking for about a year. He will play for Australia in the future.

Captain: Erik Paartalu

Vice-Captain: James Chillico

Marquee Player: None

Australian Marquee: None

Tactics

My main tactic will be a 4-3-3. It is the same as last 2 years. It has worked very well for me.

My other tactic is a 4-2-3-1. I've only ever used it once or twice.

Pre-Season Results:

We only played 8 pre-season games this season. We had ACL games as well and I didn't trial as many players. Our only loss was against the Jets when I brought on youth and threw away the game late on

Media Prediction: 1st

Board Expectations: Winners

My Expectations: Win it and get to the ACL semis again.

[soccer.joel]

Australia October 2018 Friendlies

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I have been playing another save when I have played FM at all.

In October my Australia side were scheduled to face Switzerland and Mexico. I picked a squad with a majority youth and a few experienced players to provide balance.

We played our usually formation against higher ranked Mexico. They played a 3-5-2 (5-3-2) with a sweeper which is surprising. We played a youthful side with Jedinak to add experience as a holder.

It was an even and interesting match. Mexico overloaded central areas allowing them to control possession but we did well with our quick passing especially down the flanks. In the end we were the more clinical winning 2-1.

Switzerland were much lower ranked but are still a very good side. We played a slightly weaker line-up but it was pretty similar

In a chilly away encounter they controlled our attack well and took advantage of mistakes to win 1-0.

After these friendlies we went up to 18th in the World Rankings. Next month we have the useless AFF Championship which I will field a mainly Asian based eleven so I don't hinder the chances of European based players from first team football.

[soccer.joel]

Wanderers October-November 2018/19 Review

Despite having to blood youth more than previous years and rest players for important Asian encounters. We had a few very good months. Mavromatis kept up his clinical form from last season and Fitzgerald continued to be our heartbeat in midfield. Yet we threw away leads against Newcastle, Brisbane and Adelaide which sees us second on the table on goal difference. Perhaps with the players leaving this season won't be such a walk in the park after all. We broke our consecutive wins record early on though

Asian Champions League

We played Iranian side Persepolis in the semi finals. The first leg was played at home and we put in a complete performance totally outplaying them with our quick passing game.

The second leg was very tough. We set up to counter and thankfully managed to propel their threat

We were then into the Asian Champions League Final against Iranian side Teraktor-Sazi. We were fairly even but we were slight favourites. We played our strongest line-up taking injuries and ineligibilities into account.

We dominated possession but they broke well and snatched an early goal off a set piece. We got a good goal with Vieira finishing from close range. The game continued quite evenly with them exposing our fullbacks lack of pace. The game to-ed and fro-ed until they scored a long range strike. I was shattered. All this hard work gone out the window. It ended that way

Although we can be pleased at the way we got this far its a disappointing ending. I'm hoping we can go one better next year by being less unlucky with injuries

Transfers

Castaldo was a liability early on and his loan was terminated. He was replaced by Greek keeper Maziotis also on loan.

Contracts

I was offered a job interview with Korean club Busan. I attended but wasn't interested in joining.

[Adelaidean]

Unlucky result there, looks like you had the better of the final too. Promising signs for the future at least, better luck next season

[Dexter_Morgan]

Unlucky in the final, hopefully you can come back stronger next year and win it Gradually climbing with the national side too, hopefully there will be some good intakes over the coming seasons so you can start to properly challenge for the WC

[soccer.joel]

Unlucky result there, looks like you had the better of the final too. Promising signs for the future at least, better luck next season

thank you

[soccer.joel]

Unlucky in the final, hopefully you can come back stronger next year and win it Gradually climbing with the national side too, hopefully there will be some good intakes over the coming seasons so you can start to properly challenge for the WC

Thanks. There is starting to be some quality coming through like Eddie Reddy and Mavromatis up front, Vieira on the left wing, Walmsey on right wing, Roy Edwards attacking mid, etc. Hopefully I get some good defenders and goalkeepers coming through to enable us to be a genuine force

[soccer.joel]

AFF Championship Squad

So time comes for the most useless tournament.

We selected mostly Asian and A-League based players. We also selected a couple of European based players who play in the second tiers. A number of players will have their first international chance and due to the nature of the competition everyone will get a fair go.

[soccer.joel]

AFF Championship Pre-Friendlies and Group Stage

To prepare we played too friendlies unfortunately we went down to Chile due to us putting out a weaker lineup but Tahiti was a walk in the park

As opposed to my usual every game analysis I will analyse knockout stage games

The opening game against Thailand was my 100th game in charge of Australia. With only 2 days between each game we rotated a lot and ended up winning 4-0 in every game except against Malaysia. Leckie and Dugandzic were thriving on the wings. This meant we were easy top of the group

We are now scheduled to play Laos in a 2-legged semi final

[soccer.joel]

AFF Championship Semi Final and Final

We played our 4-2-3-1 away to Laos like every other game of the tournament.

We hardly gave them a sniff, Dugandzic and Pain wreaked havoc for us to win 4-0 away.

We rested and rotated. Rogic was injured so my hand was forced into playing Leckie as a number 10. Here is our lineup

We did alright but scored all our goals off set pieces

So we had we to play Indonesia in the final. Before the first game my hand was forced into selecting a preliminary squad for next months Asian Cup so I cut a number of the players that got us this far.

I picked a lineup with a mix between youth and experience for the final first leg.

We could've been 5-0 up at half time but were incredibly wasteful so it was only 1-0. It continued to be a game with lots of chances in the second half with us scoring 2 more to lead 3-0 after the 1st leg.

We used a fairly similar lineup in the second leg. The most notable change was the return of Adam Taggart

Taggart starred in a 3-0 win although we were again quite wasteful

That means we retain the AFF Championship

[soccer.joel]

AFF Championship 2018 Review

Mate Dugandzic won the MVP

Mate Dugandzic also won the Golden Boot

Heres the Allstar XI:

Here are the key stats of the tournament:

[soccer.joel]

2018 World and Asian Awards

Messi won the Ballon D'or for the 9th time in 10 years

Gotoku Sakai won the Asian Player of the Year

Bandar El-Ghamdi won the Asian Young Player of the Year

Take a look at the FIFA World XI

Our 2018best XI

And our overall best XI

[soccer.joel]

Green And Gold Elite

I have updated the lists and will do so yearly

Most Capped Players

1. Mark Schwarzer - 100 caps - 1993 to 2014

2. Lucas Neill - 96 caps - 1996 to 2013

3. Brett Emerton - 95 caps - 1998 to 2012

4. Tim Cahill - 89 caps - 2004 to 2017

5. Alex Tobin - 87 caps - 1998 to 1998

6. Phil Wade - 84 caps - 1986 to 1996

7. Robbie Kruse - 84 caps - 2011 to present (in game)

8. Rhys Williams - 81 caps - 2009 to present

9. Luke Wilkshere - 80 caps - 2004 to 2013

10. Tony Vidmar - 76 caps - 1991 to 2006

Most Goals

1. Adam Taggart- 41 (in 65 games) - 2012 to present (in game)

2. Tim Cahill - 35 (in 89 games) - 2004 to 2017

3. Tom Rogic - 31 (in 75 games)- 2012 to present

4. Damian Mori - 29 (in 45 games) - 1992 to 2002

5. Archie Thompson - 28 goals (in 54 games) - 2001 to 2013

Hall of Fame

-Tom Rogic - 2012 to present - AMC - Inducted 2019

-Daniel De Silva - 2013 to present - AMC - Inducted 2019

I have inducted 2 fine servants of our game into our best XI. Rogic and De Silva have been brilliant for me and both have got into the best xi for the year for the 5th time.

[soccer.joel]

Goal Complete: Top of Asia

I just realised today that I completed the first of my goals. I did this after the World Cup. I am now the highest ranked nation in Asia

You Can see the Asian rankings here

[soccer.joel]

2019 Asian Cup Squad Announcement

I had to name a 22 man squad for the Asian Cup

Goalkeepers: 1. Matthew Ryan, 18. Mitchell Langerak

As I only had to take 2 minimum, I took my 2 best, others really aren't on their level. They are pretty even and will battle for a starting spot

Defenders: 2. Ryan McGowan ©, 3. Shane Lowry, 4. Bailey Wright, 5. Rhys Williams, 12. Johnny King, 13. Jason Davidson, 16. James Chillico, 21. Curtis Good

I choose to took a similar contingent to those in Brazil who defended very well, I added Jason Davidson to provide depth to Shane Lowry who is a bit jaded. It is likely to be the last tournament of Rhys Williams who will see less football this time.

Midfielders: 6. Mile Jedinak, 7. Robbie Kruse, 8. Massimo Luongo, 10. Tom Rogic, 11. Tommy Oar, 14. Ivan Walmsley, 17. Daniel De Silva, 19. Zoran Sarris, 20. Roy Edwards, 22. Matthew Leckie

I selected a similar midfield to the World Cup I brought in some more youth like Sarris and Walmsley instead of players like Dugandzic and Holland. I am beginning to phase out Jedinak and am De Silva is now my leading no.10 as he has been playing at a higher level to Rogic. Expect Walmsley to challenge Kruse and take his place by the next World Cup.

Forwards: 9. Adam Taggart, 15. Eddie Reddy

I could've taken 4 different strikers. Taggart is our number one of course but I made the decision to take the pacey Eddie Reddy instead of a strong, aerial Babalj and a quick, hard working Mavromatis. Kruse and Leckie can play there so I decided to leave them out for now but if they impress in the future they will get another chance. Its nice to have lots of options as we didn't have many 4 years ago.

I didn't have any friendlies as it was only 10 days after the AFF Championship Final

[duffy89]

Good luck in the Asian cup pal

[soccer.joel]

Good luck in the Asian cup pal

thank you

[soccer.joel]

2019 Asian Cup Group Stage

We were drawn in a group with Malaysia, Qatar and Syria

Match 1 vs Malaysia

We picked a fairly young team with a mix between the first and second string

We were absolutely brilliant. 21 year old Daniel De Silva ran the show with 2 goals and 2 assists. Adam Taggart picked up an injury.

In the other game Qatar beat Syria 6-2

Match 2 vs Qatar

We rotated the squad to give players a chance. Kruse was used as a false 9. We played an experienced midfield but don't quite have the mobility

Qatar put in a fighting performance where they looked to keep possession and put us off our day. This means we haven't conceded in 12 games which is a new record for us. Unfortunately Shane Lowry is out for 9 days.

In the other game Syria beat Malaysia 5-2

Match 3 vs Syria

With a similar line-up to game 1 we are clear favourites.

We conceded early due to some poor marking. We recovered doing well leading 2-1 just after half time. A miscommunication between James Chillico and Bailey Wright saw them equalise. Before after wasting a late chance they scored a soft penalty. This is my worst ever shock loss. We did well but somehow they got the points. Even worse is Tommy Oar is out for 8 months.

In the other game Qatar beat Malaysia 3-2

Early results mean we were still on top comfortably due to a far superior goal difference

Here are the other groups:

We have to play Saudi Arabia in the next round

[soccer.joel]

Asian Cup Quarter Finals

Vs. Saudi Arabia

We rotated. I dropped Matt Ryan and James Chillico after disappointing performances

They tried to stifle us with possession and for the 2nd time we failed to control teams with that central midfield duo. Ryan McGowan scored from a cross but Eddie Reddy had 2 good chances to kill them off.

Here are the other results. The first 2 were expected but Iran and China were shocked by Oman and Uzbekistan.

We play Uzbekistan in the semi finals

[soccer.joel]

Asian Cup Semi Finals

Vs Uzbekistan

Injuries and player fitness forced a makeshift left side with both Oar and Lowry injured. I returned to my preferred defensive partnership of Wright and Chillico

We put in a terrific performance with the focus not on keeping the ball but using it effectively. De Silva pulled the strings allowing both wingers and the striker to get on the scoresheet.

In the other game Japan won as expected meaning we have to face them in the final

[soccer.joel]

Asian Cup 3rd Place Play-off

Uzbekistan beat Oman to take out 3rd place

[soccer.joel]

Asian Cup Final

FINAL VS JAPAN

After losing the last 2 Asian Cup Finals (1 of which under me), I want to bounce back to break this bogey game. So far in my management I have played Japan 5 times and have beaten them 5 times, including in the last Asian Cup semi-final.

Oar will be a big miss although Taggart and Lowry return. I played what I thought was my strongest squad. Japan are full strength

It was destined to be a close contest and that was the way it started. Unfortunately we lost Chillico after just 12 minutes, Rhys Williams replaced him. 32 minutes they were given a soft penalty after a foul from Jedinak. Honda stepped up and sent Langerak the wrong way. At this point they were dominating the game slightly. After half time we bounced back and were dominant but despite our best attempts including Taggart hitting the crossbar twice and missing another sitter we couldn't equalise. Walmsley replaced Kruse after 60 mins. He was lively and beat his man a few times but couldn't create a break through. Rogic was brought on in the centre of midfield but failed to find creativity in a less familiar position. In the end despite deserving the win we lost and Japan were Asian champions

I'm very disappointed but I know our young players will be a lot more mature next time around and we should win it.

[soccer.joel]

2019 Asian Cup Awards

MVP: Daniel De Silva, Australia, 7.97 rating

Top Goalscorer: Zhang Chengdong, China, 5 goals

2nd Top Goalscorer: Keisuke Honda, Japan, 5 goals

3rd Top Goalscorer: Eddie Reddy, Australia, 4 goals

Team of the Tournament:

Most Goals Scored: Japan, 16

Most Goals Conceded: Uzbekistan, 14

[soccer.joel]

Performance Review

We were good in attack scoring 15 goals, our defence was good conceding 4, (3 of which in that horror game against Syria)

We used the 4-2-3-1 in all games.

We scored most at the start of second half. Our goals conceded are evenly spread. Most of our goals were placed shots and about half came from the left wing.

Our top goalscorer was Eddy Reddy with 4 goals, then Daniel De Silva with 3 goals. Bailey Wright, James Chillico, Ryan McGowan, Ivan Walmsley, Robbie Kruse, Jason Davidson and Roy Edwards all got 1 goal each.

Our top assisters were Brett Holman, Robbie Kruse and James Troisi with 3 assists each. The others were Mooy, Rogic, McGowan, Jedinak and Oar

Our highest average rating was Daniel De Silva with 7.97

My short to medium-term goals are to:

- Win the ACL with Wanderers

- Continue to bring in youth and say goodbye to those who won't be around for next World Cup

[soccer.joel]

Wanderers December-January 2018/19 Review

We had a few good months despite missing Taggart, Davidson and Chillico for all of January. We used our 4-1-2-2-1 for all games. Our goals were well spread around with 9 different scorers in 8 games. Our chance creation was evenly spread between both wings and outside the 18 yard box. The best performer was Nicholas Ansell who was rock solid in defence and scored 2 goals off set pieces as well. The first focus game is the away win against the Mariners. They dominated possession but our quick passing game saw us take 24 shots and create a lot of chances. We scored our first off a corner, our second was a penalty won as a result of good attacking play, our 3rd goal was a goal kick headed on by Taggart to Mavromatis to score. This goal in particular showed our strength on the counter attack. Our young side got complacent though and slow defensive transitions and failed clearances saw them score twice. The second focus game is a 1-0 loss to the Newcastle Jets. This was interesting as unlike the Mariners they were very happy to let us have the ball and soak up pressure. They overloaded central defensive areas by dropping back all central midfielders in their 4-1-2-2-1 to deny us space to create our usual amount of chances. With half the shots as usual we wasted our 2 good chances, Dyego missed one after a quick counter attack and Fitzgerald missed as the ball fell kindly after a free kick. There goal was a header off a corner. Overall their defensive structure minimized our chances for them to win. These months also saw us return to top after we beat the Victory.

Transfers

No one has come or left. Although Chelsea's Mourinho and Napoli's Allegri have both watched young winger Moahcine Vieira on multiple occasions. I gave a hands off warning but I expect a bid in the off-season. We agreed to sign goalkeeper Alex Cisak, right back Nathan Graham, centre back Matt Jurman and winger Donald Todorovski on frees for next season.

Contracts

I was offered a job interview with Championship club Bolton, I wanted a higher transfer and wage budget than they were willing to give me. Sydney FC has also made an offer for me and although I am yet to answer, I will say no and stay at the Wanderers til after the facility upgrades are complete and until we win the ACL.

[duffy89]

Gutted about the Asian Cup but like you said, you're buildign a young squad here and they'll only get better.

[soccer.joel]

Gutted about the Asian Cup but like you said, you're buildign a young squad here and they'll only get better.

it was disappointing. I'm sure my young squad will be a great team sometime. I reckon 2026 World Cup will be my best chance as Roy Edwards, Eddie Reddy, Zoran Sarris, Moahcine Vieira, Daniel De Silva and Ivan Walmsley will all be in there prime

[kontermann]

Unlucky in the asian cup final

But you will row stronger through that

keep it up!

[soccer.joel]

Unlucky in the asian cup final

But you will row stronger through that

keep it up!

than you

[soccer.joel]

March 2019 Australia

We faced Cameroon in a friendly

I selected a fairly youthful squad dropping a lot of the older players. I gave Vieira a chance for his first cap. Spiranovic and Ansell returned as I rewarded them for club form.

We started as usual tactically. Vieira was handed his first cap in a youthful midfield.

We were in full control. Vieira got an assist on debut and it was a very polished performance.

Our next friendlies are in June against Chile and England. They should be very good challenges

[soccer.joel]

Wanderers February-April 2018/19 Review

We finished our season really strongly. We used our 4-1-2-2-1 for all games bar two where we experimented with a 4-2-3-1, this saw similar results. I added roaming to our tactic to allow our attacking players to make use of their good off the ball. Our goals were well spread around with 12 different scorers in 11 games. The best performer was Mohcine Vieira who was fantastic scoring and creating plenty of goals. A special mention goes to Luke Wells who when all strikers where called up to international duty, stepped up from the youth team and got a hattrick against Perth. The first focus game is the top of the table clash against the Victory. This game we showed our clinicalness and showed that we are the clear best side in the country. We showed the benefits of a good start, Vieira getting down the wing well to whip a pinpoint cross to Mavromatis. They played with 2DM's and 1MC to shut down ou 2MC's and 1DM, this was not wholely effective as our midfield moved well to create space. Most of our goals came from quick, short passes working the ball forward quickly without losing it, this allowed us to create some good chances. Their goal came from some poor marking by Davidson allowing Cooper free at the back post. What allowed us to be so clinical was we didn't have one shot off target, we only shot when a chance was on, forcing their keeper to make 5 saves, on the other hand we pressed well, closing down and blocking 3 of their 7 shots. Overall it was a good performance. The second focus game is our only loss in this period away to Adelaide. In this game Adelaide exposed our lack of pace in our inexperienced defence and countered us well. They defended compactly and played quite vertically. This allowed them to take advantage of their pacey front 3 on the counter. Matziotis had a woeful game and I subbed him at half time. In the second half I sat deeper and we started to use switches to try and break past their defence, in the end though we couldn't create enough quality chances, the damage was already done. Overall it was some really good months to finish off the season. With 2 games left we sealed the title for the third consecutive season.

Asian Champions League

We had a terrific run in the ACL group stage. In the first game we played Shenua. Our midfield was fully dominated this created chances aplenty for Taggart and we ran out comprehensive 6-0 winners. It was undoubtedly our best performance ever, despite falling behind earlier to Urawa we recovered well, our wingers creating some great chances for Taggart who magnificently scored 7 in an 8-1 away win. Next up we travelled to Suwon who had a great attack starring Matthew Leckie. This was an absolute goal fest with both attacks on top form, Taggart scored 4 this time and we went on to win 7-4. A good start away to Shenua set us in good stead. Fitzgerald was brilliant and we went on to win 3-1. The next game we had an inexperienced side host Suwon, as Chillico, Centurion, Cuca, Bermudez, Scott and Cartesan were all injured. They made us pay going 3-1 up with half an hour to go, but I never gave up and youngsters Vieira and Kleinhans inspired a classic comeback to win 5-3. At home to Urawa again we were dominant, Fitzgerald pulled the strings and Taggart continued to finish for us to win 5-1. We couldn't have done any better, we topped the group and broke some records in the process.

We face Ulsan in the next round

Transfers

No one has come or left. Although managers from Lazio, Inter, Liverpool and Chelsea watched young winger Moahcine Vieira on multiple occasions.

Contracts

More clubs came in for me Ross County, Yeovil Town, ADO Den Haag and Go Ahead Eagles all gave me job interviews but due to demands for better facilities and higher budgets, agreements could not be reached