rodesire Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Signings look decent, that Turkish guy must have mean potential to pay that silly money though.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 Signings look decent, that Turkish guy must have mean potential to pay that silly money though.. I must admit there was a sense of 'he'll have to do' with the lack of quality available otherwise but he's still got a lot going for him. He was the only potential 4* player available and while that in itself doesn't mean much I did see a genuinely good target man, and with all the current forwards being interchangeable poacher/advanced forward types I felt we could really use something different, as well as another new forward or two for the long term. I might well have pulled the plug had it been over a few million more but I don't quite think it got to 'ridiculous' territory (Liverpool, I'm looking in your general direction) and with not much else to spend a large budget on I could afford to be a bit financially lenient. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted August 2, 2014 Share Posted August 2, 2014 I'm pretty sure I didn't dream winning the title in 2019 (post 110) It was still a pity we couldn't really repeat it though. I meant, apart from that one... I look forward to your Italian national team adventure! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 2, 2014 Author Share Posted August 2, 2014 I meant, apart from that one... I look forward to your Italian national team adventure! Thanks, I have a really strong squad but a majority are in their late 20's with relatively few longer-term stars (admittedly there appears to be a global talent drought in general). It's brilliant being to combine roles to potentially spot young talent in opposing teams, young Italians in my usual player search for Juve which I'd might try and sign up as well and I've already strategically rested Ferrari a couple of times to keep him fresher for club duty. I remember when I was dual managing Barcelona and Brazil in FM06 I used the depth of talent and the clash with club games to call up opponents players.There's less opportunity to do it here (with no fixture clash and my squad being spread out among a lot of clubs) but if I had a big game just after an international break I might just let decide to wear out a couple of opposition players as well as keeping mine fresh as standard policy Anyway sorry for the gap, I had a tough exam in Thursday which kept me both busy and worn out from revision, and had laptop issues yesterday so couldn't do as much as i was hoping. I've decided to list my team's scorers along with matches so hopefully that'll work out presentation-wise. Aug 2026 Juventus 3-1 Lokomotiva (EL) Laplace, Oulhaj, Robles The season started with an easy Europa League tie against Croatian side Lokomotiva. Oulhaj had an 18th minute goal disallowed (which would have been a great start to his Juve career) but Laplace immediately gave us the lead anyway (but soon went off injured for 4 weeks, great). Oulhaj then got his header for 2-0 and Robles gave us a 3rd before the break. They actually got a goal back in the 70th minute but we still looked comfortable. Lokomotiva 0-5 (1-8) Juventus (EL) Robles (3), Herrera, Fischer We easily finished the job off in Croatia, Robles starting things off with a 25th minute goal. Tol got sent off but we quickly went 3-0 up from Robles and Herrera. Fischer got the 4th in the 56th minute and Robles completed a hat-trick and a 5-0 win. Villarreal looked like tough competition in the group stage, though Vojvodina and Zeljeznicar rather less so. Milan 2-3 Juventus (A) Fusco, Robles (2) In contrast, the league started with one of the toughest games, Milan away. I was hoping Kilic would have a rather better season so a 14th minute own-goal wasn’t a great start and they quickly went 2-0 up. Fusco pulled a goal back after half an hour but Pickering’s injury at the start of the second half left us with a defensive hole. Robles still equalized in the 53rd minute and it got even better as the two forwards combined to give us a winner with a few minutes left, though inevitably there were a few scares at the end. Sept 2026 Liechtenstein 0-4 Italy (ECQ) Grasso, Buzzi, Chiaron, Rapisarda My Italy career started off with a Euro qualifier in Liechtenstein, which would have been a perfect opportunity to get Ferrari’s senior international career up and running if he wasn’t injured and with a strong set of forwards it would be hard to decide who would make way for him. I was at least able to call up Stefanini from my Juve side. The forwards were terrible in the first-half as it took half an hour for the Lazio winger Grasso to score, followed by a header from defender Buzzi. Sub forward Chiaron showed them how it was done, taking just 5 minutes to give us a 3rd and Barca winger Rapisarda got the 4th. We went down to 10 men but still would have got a 5th if Grasso’s late goal had been allowed to stand, our second goal disallowed of the match. It’s not often you can be disappointed with a 4-0 win but this is one of those times. Juventus 5-0 Sassuolo (A) Robles (3), Dione, Oulhaj Back at Juventus, Robles gave us the lead in the 17th minute against Sassuolo but a second goal proved had to come by, not least as Herrera had another one disallowed. Dione eventually got it in the 68th minute, leading to Robles getting 2 more (taking him to 9 goals already this season!) and Oulhaj rounding off the sort of commanding team performance that had been few and far between before now. Juventus 3-0 Zeljeznicar (EL) Robles (3) The first Europa League group game was against Zeljeznicar. Just like against Sassuolo, Robles gave us a 17th minute lead before Herrera had a potential second disallowed. The American bagged his 11th and 12th goals of the season (in just 5 games!), with a quick second-half double to wrap it up. Fiorentina 3-1 Juventus (A) Ozturk Fiorentina were always tough to go to (even for the legendary Magical Milan) and they took the lead, typically from the very same forward who was so poor for Italy. In the past we woud have crumbled or otherwise limped to a tame defeat but we held out enough for Ozturk to equalize before the break for his first Juventus goal. They were admittedly firmly on top in the second-half while the defence was weakened by Dione going off injured (and he’d be out for a month and a half) and I couldn’t begrudge them victory as they scored with 10 minutes left, getting a 3rd in stoppage time. Juventus 0-1 Udinese (A) A tired side returned to the bad old days against Udinese, going behind after 15 minutes and having woken up in the second-half, failing to turn chances into at least an equalizer. Bologna 1-2 Juventus (A) Pickering, Ozturk The games kept coming but we managed at Bologna, Pickering and Ozturk gave us a 2-0 lead after 17 minutes but Robles had declined sharply and even had to be taken off. They got a goal back in the 52nd minute and it was closer than I’d have liked but we still claimed the win. Oct 2026 Vojvodina 1-3 Juventus (EL) Herrera, Robles (2) We went to Vojvodina and took the lead after just a few minutes from Herrera but we slowed down after that. They equalized 20 minutes later and actually threatened to take the lead but Robles came on in the second-half for a very timely return to form, a brace seeing us through comfortably. Juventus 3-0 Palermo (A) Robles, Ferrari (2) Robles was very much back on form and gave us the lead against Palermo after 10 minutes, then setting up Ferrari, making his first start of the season. Ferrari had another disallowed immediately after but got his deserved second in the 69th minute, showing that despite breaking his leg and not quite being fully fit he hadn’t lost his touch. Italy 9-0 N. Ireland (ECQ) Buzzi, Grasso (3), D'Angelo (3), Ferrari Internationals resumed against Northern Ireland, and we impressed in a way we didn’t in the first game. Buzzi gave us the lead in the 13th minute, followed by Grasso and Man Utd forward D’Angelo as it was 3-0 after half an hour, a Grasso penalty putting us 4-0 ahead at the break. An own-goal made it 5 while D’Angelo and Grasso (from another penalty) both completed hat-tricks, and Ferrari got in there just in the nick of time to score on his full international debut as we won 9-0. Macedonia 1-4 Italy (ECQ) D'Angelo (2), Chiaron (2) We also went to Macedonia, and as much as I wanted to play Ferrari wherever possible, I felt that saving giving him a rest would be better, especially with a busy run of Juventus games coming up. A D’Angelo brace gave us a 2-0 lead and though we conceded for the first time just before the break, Chiarion restored the 2-goal margin on the hour mark and completed a decent 4-1 win in the 83rd minute. Juventus 2-0 Cagliari (A) Robles, Ferrari The decision to rest Ferrari (a perk of being national team manager as well, I also planned to leave my players out of squads for friendlies) paid off against table-topping Cagliari as he set up Robles in the 34th minute, then scored the second just 5 minutes later. They were surprisingly little trouble as we could even have more. Villarreal 1-3 Juventus (EL) 200th Juventus game!!! Robles (2), Herrera We were in a straight race with Villarreal to top the Europa League group and went to Spain first for my 200th Juventus match. The opening exchanges were very even and it was 1-1 after just 10 minutes, Robles equalizing after they took the lead. They soon had a player sent off and we dominated thereafter though it took until the hour mark for Herrera to give us the lead and a late Robles shot was deflected in for an eventual 3-1 win. Genoa 1-0 Juventus (A) We were amazingly subdued at Genoa and went behind in the 40th minute. We woke up in the second-half but wasted so many chances and couldn’t even get an equalizer. Nov 2026 Catania 1-4 Juventus (A) Ferrari (2), Omar, Robles We had 7 games this month starting at Catania, thankfully looking a lot better than against Genoa. Ferrari gave us the lead in the 10th minute and though they went down to 10 men after less than 20 minutes we didn’t really push on and a Wright own-goal even gave them a 39th minute equalizer! Omar spared his blushes by immediately restoring the lead and Ferrari made it safe (taking him to 5 goals in 4 league games since his return) in the 52nd minute. Robles had been overshadowed by his partner but still got the final goal in the 77th minute. Juventus 3-0 Villarreal (EL) 700th career game!!! Ferrari, Robinho Only a disaster against Villarreal would prevent us winning the group. The first game was my 200th Juventus match and this one was my 700th career match. We easily dominated the first half but the only time we put the ball in the net, it was disallowed. They threatened for a bit in the second-half but a corner was knocked in by a Villarreal defender to finally give us the lead in the 70th minute. Ferrari and Robinho wrapped up a deserved 3-0 win. Juventus 1-2 Lazio (A) Laplace We were dominated disappointingly easily against Lazio, and though they had an 8th minute goal disallowed they were still ahead at the break, only late on did we start to look alive and managed to equalize from Laplace in the 83rd minute but they still got an admittedly deserved win right at the end. Inter 0-1 Juventus (A) Dione The trip to Inter came at a point where we were drowning in matches and it ended up being a rather tight, unremarkable affair, Dione delivering us the win in the 75th minute. Juventus 4-2 Napoli (A) Robles (4) Napoli was match number 5 in a month that was only half-way through. It looked like more than I could handle right now as they easily took a 2-0 lead after 24 minutes. However Herrera, Robles and Ferrari had been dropped/rested for the past 2-3 games, were back in now and having kept my power dry it now paid off big time. Robles gave us a goal after half an hour, equalized a few minutes before the break, gave us the lead in the 56th minute and completed an incredible 4-2 comeback win 10 minutes later! Parma 1-0 Juventus (A) Things eased off for a couple of weeks but we were still in a middling gear at Parma. We should still have had enough to comfortably win but instead fell to an 81st minute Parma goal. Juventus 3-1 Reggina (A) Ferrari (2), Herrera I felt we could at least handle Reggina. Ferrari gave us the lead after 15 minute but they gave the defence the slip from a corner to equalize in the 40th minute but Ferrari finally fired us ahead in the 70th minute and Herrera made it comfortable. While we've been far from perfect, partly due to a heavy schedule, from the start I felt we've looked much better than the past couple of years, especially in the big games which mostly would have been lame defeats or lucky draws where we have quite a few wins, especially the Milan and Napoli comebacks. Villarreal were the sort of team that might have given us a lot of trouble in the past but were surprisingly easy in the end. Admitedly we have Robles' amazing goalscoring form to thank but he's simply been the best of a strong bunch (10 players have average over 7.1 so far this season, 5 over 7.3) as the likes of Herrera and Cate have really stepped up, along with the entire defence. It was a pity that Ferrari was out for so long but he's very much picked up where he left off and looking better than ever, with 8 goals and 5 assists in 11 games, and a 7.74 average that's obviously only 2nd to Robles (who has less assists but 22 goals in 18 games and a 7.81 average). Internationally we've taken full advantage of a very weak group. Slovenia and Montenegro have a few decent players between them but they shouldn't be that much of a challenge either. Unfortunately a majority of the squad won't be good for more than a few more years and we'll need to fine a few more young stars to avoid regressing considerably afterwards but for now I'm determined to make the most of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raware Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Going nicely both domestically and internationally . Out of interest, would you still consider Torino as your main rivals and where are they in the Italian League pyramid? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 3, 2014 Author Share Posted August 3, 2014 Going nicely both domestically and internationally . Out of interest, would you still consider Torino as your main rivals and where are they in the Italian League pyramid? Well, there'll always be the local rivalry there for when we get to play each other but those games have been few and far between and I haven't played them yet which sort of weakens the rival feeling considerably for the time being. They've spent most of the game so far in Serie B (having actually started there, the fact that some clubs have a very different starting position and therefore standing as now being a quirk of playing a version a few years old), only occasionally making any sort of a promotion challenge (always in the playoffs at best). They've had 4 seasons in Serie A over 3 stints, the last 8 years ago, and even had a year in C1 since. That said they're 3rd at the moment so might make it back up before too long. There isn't really a main rival at the moment. The next biggest rivals are Milan I suppose but the way things are in Italy we're part of a group of as many as 7 'reasonably good but unexceptional' sides at the top (ourselves, Milan, Inter, Napoli, Fiorentina and arguably Cagliari and Lazio as well) rather than there being one or two consistently competitive 'teams to beat' which means there isn't really much of a competitive rivalry with a specific team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 This is the league table during the Christmas break... Not exactly dull up there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 Dec 2026 Zeljeznicar 0-4 Juventus (EL) Enzema, Robles (3) I’m generally not a ‘player rester’ but with 5 games in 18 days before the winter break and top spot in the Europa League assured I changed forwards, midfield and full-backs to go to Zeljeznicar, though the absence of Robles and Ferrari up front was the only ‘weakening’. The midfielders had rather different games. Gentile got sent off after just 14 minutes while it was Enzema who gave us a long-awaited lead in the 43rd minute. Robles got the chance to play anyway when he came on for a disappointing Laplace and with Ozturk proving to be a strong supporting forward, managed to grab a hat-trick (with no shortage of chances for more), which is just showing off! Atalanta 0-1 Juventus (A) Tol Robles in the starting line-up was the only change to go to Atalanta , who were rather more of a challenge. We were generally best for most of the first-half, with Robles surprisingly being the disappointing one, then the game turned into more of a rearguard action. We still claimed the win with a Tol header in the 72nd minute but only because of a man of the match performance from Erkan Kilic, who after he was dropped in the spring had thankfully remembered how to be a top class goalkeeper again. Juventus 3-1 Benevento (A) Enzema, Diaz, Robinho Robles and Ferrari seemed to be taking it in turns to be mediocre and being subbed for each other (which at least means neither of them are getting too tired) so thankfully Enzema gave us a 2nd minute lead against Benevento, with Diaz (a shining example of a player who is finally coming good) adding another in the 49th minute. They pulled a goal back but Robinho finished it off with a few minutes left. Juventus 2-1 Vojvodina (EL) Robles, Ferrari I hoped for a comfortable victory against Vojvodina to round off the Europa League group stage and while Robles gave us the lead after 20 minutes. We were perhaps a little too complacent and they equalized in the 69th minute but after Stefanini had a goal disallowed, our 100% record was preserved by a stoppage time goal from Ferrari, who yet again had swapped for Robles but only after a knock for the latter. Brugge would be our next round opponents, but if we won we’d likely face Real Madrid! Who says the Europa League is only for nobodies? Juventus 3-0 Brescia (A) Ozturk, Tol, Robles Brescia was the last game of the year, and we took the lead in the 10th minute from Ozturk, who had broken the Robles/Ferrari duopoly up front since Zeljeznicar and finally repayed the faith with a goal. Tol got the second in the 29th minute and Robles wrapped it up early in the second-half. Jan 2027 Sampdoria 3-0 Juventus (A) We emerged into a new year at Sampdoria. We started well enough but soon fell away and went behind just before half-time. We were terrible all over after that and they got 2 more. Juventus 1-0 Roma (A) Oulhaj We hoped to make up for it against Roma and took the lead from Oulhaj in the 19th minute. We could easily have had more before Diaz got sent off at the start of the second-half but we still got the win. Juventus 1-2 (aet) Sampdoria (CI) Wright We faced Sampdoria again in the cup, and it seems a lot like the earlier game as we were ok for a bit but fell away and fell behind. This time we kept it to 1-0 and Wright managed to equalize. We held out for most of extra-time with a few chances ourselves but they got a late winner. Juventus 1-0 Milan (A) Robles We seemingly had half the defence injured, suspended or in Dione’s case, going to the ACN when we played a potentially critical game against Milan. Kilic was utterly unbeatable at the back as we kept pushing forward. I put on Robles to partner Ferrari again after a month and a half of it being one of them with Ozturk and he gave us the win in the 67th minute, just after having a goal disallowed. Sassuolo 1-4 Juventus (A) Robles (4) Robles gave us the lead after just 15 seconds at Sassuolo as it looked to be a comfortable win. We long looked like getting more only to be stung by an equalizer after 55 minutes! It turned out to be a blessing in disguise we were finally able to knuckle down and get more goals. Robles restoring the lead after just a few minutes and he went on to get 4! Juventus 4-1 Fiorentina (A) Tol (2), Catê, Robles Like Milan, Fiorentina was another important game. They were undefeated (but one draw too many was keeping them off top) and it showed as while we were able to stop them threatening, we failed to really get anywhere ourselves in the first-half. That changed considerably after the break as the bell ‘Tol’ed. Our veteran Dutch defender scored two headers in 5 minutes to put us 2-0 up after 57 minutes, followed a few minutes late by Catê. Robles got a 4th in the 77th minute though Sala, one of my Italy players, got a consolation a short time afterwards. It was their first league defeat in 25 games and it was great to do it in such style. The Sampdoria defeats were rather disappointing but otherwise we've had a great couple of months, being rather less reliant on Robles (well some of the time) and Ferrari for goals as well. I'm still thinking more about holding onto the top 4 (which still looks like a bit of a challenge) rather than going for the title but if we keep it up we're certainly credible contenders now I think. We're not quite there yet in terms of having 'arrived' as a major power but this is very promising stuff for the years to come. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 It's tight up there but you seem to be handling all the games reasonably well this year, as you say it's too early to be thinking about the title yet but if you are still up there around the 30 game mark then you'll certainly be in with a great chance Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodesire Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 What a crazy league with 6 teams still very much in title race pretty late in the season! Looking real good and EL sweep was grand! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 6, 2014 Author Share Posted August 6, 2014 It's tight up there but you seem to be handling all the games reasonably well this year, as you say it's too early to be thinking about the title yet but if you are still up there around the 30 game mark then you'll certainly be in with a great chance Unfortunately we suddenly hit a stumbling block followed by a run of tough matches so we quickly found ourselves out of it. What a crazy league with 6 teams still very much in title race pretty late in the season! Looking real good and EL sweep was grand! Well there's really not much between the top 6-7 clubs on paper at the moment. Usually one or two clubs do end up comfortably clear in any given season but it's not that much of a surprise that the closeness at the top is really showing this time. Feb 2027 Udinese 2-1 Juventus (A) Diaz We had a very busy spring ahead of us starting at Udinese, which didn’t go very well. They took a 10th minute lead, but soon went down to 10 men which allowed Diaz to convert the resulting free-kick to equalize. They were there for the taking but we failed to take advantage and a poor defensive display saw us lose to a 52nd minute goal. Palermo 1-0 Juventus (A) We failed to really rouse ourselves at a strong Palermo side (who for some reason were way down in 14th) except for a wasteful second-half period and we ended up falling to an 83rd minute goal. Juventus 1-1 Bologna (A) Robles Second-bottom Bologna seemed like a great chance to get back to winning ways, especially after Robles gave us a 16th minute lead. It unfortunately wasn’t to be and they got an equalizer in the 54th minute, after which we still should have won comfortably. Brugge 3-0 Juventus (EL) On our current form I was worried we’d mess up the Brugge tie. We were alright in the first half in Belgium, is rather wasteful to the point that both Robles and Ferrari were hauled off. Do Nascimento went off injured in the second-half to leave us with a hole at the back which they exploited to take the lead in the 70th minute. We crumbled afterwards giving them a 3-0 win that it would be hard to turn around. Juventus 3-0 Catania (A) Ferrari (2), Herrera Catania should have been seen as an easy win but nothing was certain right now. In the end it was easy. Ferrari hadn’t scored in 2 months but finally hit form again when giving us the lead in the 37th minute. A Herrera penalty extended the lead in the 55th minute and Ferrari wrapped up a welcome return to form both for himself and the team in the 67th minute. Juventus 5-0 (5-3 aet) Brugge (EL) Robles, Robinho (2), Ferrari (2) We had a massive task ahead against Brugge and obviously went for it hard, though took half an hour for Robles to put us ahead. We needed 2 more at the very least (3 to win outright) and thankfully only took 8 minutes for Robinho to give us the next one and Ferrari levelled the tie just before-half time, though if they scored we’d need 2 more. Unfortunately we couldn’t keep up this pace forever, slowing down in the middle of the second-half to take it to extra-time. Thankfully we picked up the pace and it took just a few minutes for Robinho to get that vital 4th, Ferrari wrapping it up in the 101st minute. Cagliari 1-2 Juventus (A) Ferrari, Robles I felt that a trip to Cagliari would be a bit much after Brugge, but we gave as good as we got and a strong finish to the first-half saw Ferrari give us the lead. It wasn’t the best game defensively and we shipped an equalizer on the hour mark but we got the win anyway when a long Pickering pass found Robles who sealed it with 10 minutes left. Mar 2027 Juventus 3-0 Genoa (A) Tol, Robinho, Herrera With a trip to Madrid coming up we didn’t need to exert ourselves too much against Genoa. Tol gave us the lead in the 11th minute we seemed a little too happy to sit back and let them come. Thankfully the defence was having a good day and we woke up late on to finish it off with goals from Robinho and Herrera. Real Madrid 2-1 Juventus (EL) Robinho Real Madrid would be a very tough Europa League tie, but despite having to play the less than dynamic Dione on the right in the away leg we looked bright in the opening minutes. We went behind in the 9th minute but a Robinho penalty in the 18th minute levelled the scores. We were admittedly on the back foot after that, mostly reliant on their wastefulness and I couldn’t complain when they finally scored in the 57th minute. We were at least still very much in the tie. Lazio 2-0 Juventus (A) A trip to second-placed Lazio wasn’t the best game to have in the middle of the tie, especially with a severe full-back shortage. We looked reasonable but they just picked us off. Kilic saved a penalty (for only the second time ever) in the 29th minute but couldn’t keep out the rebound and the finished it off in the 66th minute. Juventus 3-0 (4-2) Real Madrid (EL) Laplace, Ferrari, Tol We only needed a 1-0 win against Real Madrid but suspensions to Robles (the tournament’s clear top scorer with 15 goals) and Stefanini (as well as the existing defensive injuries) made the task rather more difficult. We couldn’t dominate anywhere near as much as we could against Brugge but still took the lead in the 20th minute. We still needed more as like in the last round a single goal conceded (which was rather more likely here) would give us a bigger hurdle to jump. Ferrari got the second a few minutes before the break but we weren’t clear yet. Tol’s 57th minute header was the goal I was looking for as they now needed 2 for an away goals victory. They had a player sent off which didn’t help their cause and they rarely threatened. We could have had a 4th and would have if Ferrari’s stoppage time effort hadn’t been chalked off. We were on the better side of the draw, avoiding Chelsea, Fiorentina and Inter, and facing Galatasaray in the Quarter-finals and the victor of an all Dutch PSV-Feyenoord tie in the Semi’s if we won. Admittedly they were still strong enough to punish us like Hoffenheim did at this stage last year. Juventus 0-1 Inter (A) The tough games kept coming as we next played Inter and missed the suspended Ferrari as we had a bunch of first-half chances but no goals. We had pretty much shot our bolt and they hit us with a goal in the 64th minute, with another disallowed. Italy 5-0 Slovenia (ECQ) Chiaron (2), D'Angelo, Molinari, Bizzarri Even with Ferrari seemingly permanently unavailable to Italy but in the short-term that didn’t weaken us in the slightest as we easily dispatched Slovenia, on paper the closest thing we had to competition in our qualification group. Chiaron scored after 20 seconds, and D’Angelo made it 2-0 after just 10 minutes. Chiaron scored again along with goals from Lyon defender Molinari and Man Utd’s Bizzarri as we wrapped up a 5-0 win before the break. Unfortunately Stefanini fractured his arm and would be out for 3 weeks. It was a bit of a mixed couple of months to put it mildly. We started off very badly as if we were affected by some sort of footballing kryptonite, and while we managed to recover from Catania onwards we hit a very tough run of matches. Genoa was very much the exception as we went to Lazio and Cagliari, played Inter with the Real Madrid games mixed in as well. It's not quite over yet as we next have the worst of the lot, Napoli away, followed by the away leg against Galatasaray. Thankfully, European games aside, things should be a lot easier afterwards and I hope we can make a late push to get a CL place. Given how good we've been for most of the season it would be very disappointing to miss out. The European ties provided a lot of excitement. I'm delighted at how we came back from first leg deficits for different reasons. Real Madrid were always going to be tough so keep ourselves in it in Madrid and take them down in the manner we did at at home was very pleasing to see. Apart from a pair of wingers, Brugge were a very limited side on paper so to lose at all, let alone 3-0 was a truly abysmal result. That said having been put in that position, turning things around was never going to be easy, no matter who you're playing and I can't fault the way we rose to the occasion. If I do a similar thing to FM13 when I do a list of the 10 most memorable matches of the career this is a strong candidate to feature. I want to make a serious challenge (and looking at Galatasaray and the Dutch teams we have a decent chance of making the final, though having lost badly to a similar strength Hoffenheim at this stage last year we can't afford a bad game) but alongside the league it'll be difficult managing both that and CL qualification with such a busy schedule. If I had to chose I'd probably pick winning the Europa League but of course it's not as simple as that, and I'm not the sort of manager to sacrifice one competition for another so it's full speed ahead on both fronts and hope for the best. I'm in a very difficult situation as regards to Italy. In November I decided not to select my Juventus players Stefanini and Ferrari for an international, but the latter and Gentile were called up and hastily withdrawn from the U21 squad. I started getting worried when I couldn't pick him in February but being another friendly it didn't matter and I thought the international instruction (which I had hardly ever used before) had carried over. Unfortunately when I couldn't select him for the Slovenia game (I can only add/remove him from the national pool) then I knew something was seriously wrong. I was planning to be at Italy for many years but at this rate it's going to be very difficult after the next World Cup since only 5 members of the squad are under 27 and with so few potential replacements of any real quality, it's going to be even tougher without one of the best young forwards in the world, and while I wasn't planning on selecting him for the time being, Gentile is affected as well. Thankfully, aging aside the squad is more than strong enough not to be weakened much by his loss (and our qualification group is so weak it doesn't matter anyway) at this point in time, and from a Juventus point of view having Ferrari sit out all internationals will give him a vital break at various busy times of the year (which is why I had an official policy of strategically resting him and Stefenini in the first place) so even if it doesn't fix itself it's not all bad news. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodesire Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Oh, that is a very mixed bag in the league but a couple masterclasses in Europe. At this rate you could definitely win EL no problem but I am not sure you would have any European adventure next year playing like that :/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 Apr 2027 Napoli 1-1 Juventus (A) Dione April would be even more hectic than the last couple of months starting with a trip to Napoli. We actually had the better of things early on but failed to make the most of it and went behind in the 32nd minute. Dione equalized in the 57th minute and I was happy with a point, especially after Catê got sent off. Galatasaray 2-0 Juventus (EL QF) Ferrari (2) We went to Turkey first against Galatasaray, which was far more comfortable than the other away legs. Ferrari deservedly gave us the lead in the 43rd minute and though they looked like coming back in the second-half, Ferrari hit them again in the 86th minute. Juventus 5-0 Parma (A) Robles (3), Ferrari The really tough league games were over and it took less than 30 seconds for Robles to break out of a bad run of form to give us the lead against Parma. He added another in the 38th minute and Ferrari made it 3-0 at the start of the second-half. They pulled a goal back in the 75th minute but Robles immediately completed a hat-trick and Ferrari assisted an own-goal for a 5-1 win, a welcome return to form for our Italian-American partnership. Juventus 1-1 (3-1) Galatasaray (EL QF) We didn’t have much to worry about in the second leg against Galatasaray, so felt free to let them come at us at times. Ferrari gave us the lead in the 44th minute and though they immediately equalized, we were happy with the draw and went on to face PSV. Juventus 6-0 Reggina (A) Robinho (3), Robles (2), Herrera We had another easy league game at Reggina with Robinho giving us the lead in the 3rd minute and adding another from an 11th minute penalty. Robles got a brace along with Herrera as we left 5-0 at the break, and though Ferrari (who was putting in a great supporting performance) had a potential 6th disallowed, we eventually got it as Robinho completed a hat-trick in the 66th minute. They missed a penalty but eventually got a single goal right at the death. Our two commanding league wins along with 2 draws for Milan meant we were only a point behind in the race for 4th with 5 games left. Juventus 0-0 Atalanta (A) Despite a rare midweek break we were surprisingly lacklustre against Atalanta, perhaps with the PSV game in mind (I’ve certainly seen it happen a lot in the past, a subdued league performance before a big European game) but a 0-0 draw wasn’t useful in the context of chasing 4th. PSV 0-0 Juventus (EL SF) PSV were a tough side and after having it relatively easy in the first-half, we found ourselves facing some very heavy pressure after the break. Kilic had very much redeemed himself this season and another great display kept them out. 0-0 away draws in Europe can be a bit of a double-edged sword though. May 2027 Benevento 0-7 Juventus (A) Ferrari (3), Robinho, Robles A change of midfielders for different reasons gave us new life at Benevento. Ferrari gave us an 18th minute lead with Robinho scoring 10 minutes later. They were kind enough to score two own-goals to make it 4-0 at the break. Robles got the 5th right at the start of the second-half with Ferrari going on to complete a hat-trick and a 7-0 win. Juventus 2-1 (2-1) PSV (EL SF) Robles (2) Robles was the Europa league top scorer on 15 goals but his last one was against Brugge. He rectified the situation by giving us the 10th minute lead at home to PSV, and given a score draw would knock us out, he increased the lead in the 34th minute. They still had the ability to come back, and it looked bad early in the second-half when Stefanini got sent off and Robles was injured. They got a goal back in the 62nd minute which considerably raised the stress levels of everyone associated with Juventus. They only really pushed us near the end but the relief was considerable when the final whistle blew. Unfortunately it was very much a Pyrrhic victory as along with Robles’ injury, Ferrari joined Stefanini in being suspended so we’d be without our key front pair. Brescia 0-5 Juventus (A) Laplace (2), Robinho, Dione, Omar Laplace was very much out of favour now but proved an able stand-in for Robles at Brescia. He gave us the lead in the 5th minute, with Robinho and Dione making it 3-0 at the break. A quick double from Omar and Laplace finished off a 5-0 win. Juventus 2-1 Sampdoria (A) Omar, Fusco We hoped to make it third time lucky against Sampdoria, though Ferrari was injured so it would be a test of how we’d cope without either of our top forwards. After 2 disappointing defeats in January it was nice to see them off with little fuss. Omar gave us the lead in the 29th minute, with the soon-to-be-released Fusco adding another in the 80th minute. They got a stoppage time consolation, too late to be a threat. Juventus 3-0 Chelsea (EL Final) Chelsea would be our opponents in our 2nd Europa League final (having lost 3-1 to Real Madrid in my first season at Juventus). There was little between us at full strength but Robles and Ferrari were massive losses up front, and we were weakened defensively by the suspension of Stefanini (who would also miss our first two European games next season) and Oulhaj broke his foot against Sampdoria and would be out until the autumn. I knew we still had enough about us to potentially beat them and Laplace gave us the lead in the 12th minute but we were on the back foot for the rest of the half and could count ourselves a little lucky to still be ahead at the break. The pressure continued in the second-half and we got away with a potential penalty call but Fusco struck on the break to extend the lead in the 65th minute, completely against the run of play! They tried to get back in the game but an Omar volley made it 3-0 5 minutes later to pretty much seal it. It really wasn’t their day as they finally got their penalty but Kilic, so long so bad at facing penalties, pulled off a save to crown what was a season of redemption for him. Roma 1-1 Juventus (A) The battle to qualify for the CL was right down to the wire. We sat in 4th going into the final day, level with Milan and just a point behind Fiorentina in 3rd. With Lazio 2 points ahead we were even mathematically in with a chance of 2nd. We had easily the toughest game though, at Roma. Milan and Fiorentina had comfortable home games (against Benevento and Reggina) while Lazio went to Catania. Unfortunately a great season defensively went out of the window and we went behind in the 8th minute, generally being almost completely dominated in the first-half, aside from a late disallowed Laplace equalizer. Surprisingly Milan had gone 2 goals down against Benevento (and Lazio were behind as well) but had pulled a goal back and looked like they’d get something in the end so it was a relief to equalize from Ferrari right at the start of the second half. We looked more solid in the second-half, though a disallowed Roma goal caused a fright, and in the end the lack of a Milan equalizer meant we would have squeaked 4th anyway. June 2027 Italy 3-1 Montenegro (ECQ) Comito, Molinari, Piras We were missing a couple of key players for the June qualifiers and weren’t quite as dominant as we were used to against Montenegro. Top scorer D’Angelo was one of the injured players but his stand-in Comito gave us the lead in the 4th minute. They equalized from a penalty after 10 minutes (only the 2nd goal conceded of the campaign) and though Molinari restored the lead in the 37th minute we struggled to turn dominance into more goals, only getting another from Fiorentina’s Piras, who was second to a certain American in the Serie A scoring charts for the season. Italy 6-0 Liechtenstein (ECQ) Piras, Grasso, Capriotti (3), Sala Liechtenstein would have been easy no matter who I played, but the goals were a little slow. Piras gave us the lead in the 27th minute, shortly followed by Grasso. Man City winger Capriotti had been left our of my previous squads but was back in favour due to Rapisarda’s injury and got a second-half hat-trick with midfielder Sala getting one in there as well. We only finished one point and one place better than last year but aside from that being enough to secure a return to the Champion’s League, I feel we improved a lot more than that. OK so we had a bad spring, starting off with a genuinely bad patch and followed by so many tough games together but we otherwise looked like we were growing up all across the pitch. The defence saw by far the biggest improvement. Last season was painful to watch as game after game saw a weak defence throw away points (with a few other results we somehow managed to get regardless), especially in the spring which actually saw goalkeeper Kilic banished to the bench for the rest of the season. While there were still a handful of bad games we were far more solid on a consistent basis and even proved vitally resilient in Europe. Up front we can boast a very strong attacking quartet of Omar/Herrera as the midfield playmaker, Robinho (and sometimes Herrera) on the wing and a front two of Robles and Ferrari. The 5 in total got 89 goals and 62 assists between them this season! The main story of the season was of course the Europa League. We started off picking off teams like flies, and then it got dramatic in the knockouts. First we had the massive second comebacks against Brugge and Real Madrid, Galatasaray was comfortable enough but then things got really tense as we had to hold out against PSV and Chelsea, the 3-0 winning margin in the final being very misleading. It was great managing to keep things up on both fronts late on to seal CL qualification as well, having doubted we could do both. We’re still not really there yet, still throwing away a few too many points we shouldn’t have and we need to do a little better against the bigger sides but you’re always going to get at least a bit of the former and we managed to win a few of the latter, showing we can definitely get the big results on our day. We may not be the finished article yet but we’re at least starting to resemble it. Star Player: Robles looked a shoe-in from the start of the season, admittedly with weak European opponents stacking things in his favour a little. However I felt both our main forwards deserved near-equal recognition. Ferrari missed the first couple of months and had a bad winter but otherwise showed himself to be the top class young forward I always knew he was, and while Robles is the better goalscorer statistically, Ferrari is much better at being a support act when he isn't getting the goals himself. Much like Eweka to Robles' Terzi in the early years of the Magical Milan in fact (they even play the same advanced/poacher roles). A bug may have robbed me of the ability to select him for Italy but I'm going to enjoy him for many years yet at Juve. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 Oh, that is a very mixed bag in the league but a couple masterclasses in Europe. At this rate you could definitely win EL no problem but I am not sure you would have any European adventure next year playing like that :/ Oh ye of little faith I knew we'd be fine for the Europa League at least. We were genuinely poor for the first half of February granted but after that it was mostly about facing a lot of tough opposition continuously, which I knew would soon clear giving us a potentially very strong finish to the season, and we always had a reasonably comfortable margin for European qualification. Whether we'd be able to do enough to get into the top 4 was another matter entirely but with a much easier schedule after Napoli I knew we had a good chance to make a late push. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodesire Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Good stuff delta, chuffed about you winning EL after such a long season. CL qualification is a very welcome bonus and I hope you make it to the group stage! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 Good stuff delta, chuffed about you winning EL after such a long season. CL qualification is a very welcome bonus and I hope you make it to the group stage! Thanks, I'm delighted to have achieved both in the end. We have a fairly comfortable draw against Panionios in the qualifier so should make it through to the group stage without too much trouble and as probable 2nd seeds (we're ranked 16th) we should get a good group as well (though it didn't quite work out that way last time). I can definitely feel things starting to really go our way Summer 2027 The summer started with a few departures of players who were getting old or surplus to requirements. Enzema, Fusco and Turner went. Tol was going to be released as well but his performances in the second-half of the season meant I decided to keep him. With Robles and Ferrari established as our front pairing, Ozturk potentially emerging as a talent and Serginho arriving next year Laplace was on borrowed time but we still needed him for depth for now. Fischer and Wright were other players who would likely be pushed out of the door before too long. I already had the second of my future transfers from a couple of years ago lined up to arrive, though only the day before our first CL qualifier against Panionios I had also made a deal in January that came through. In terms of other transfers, the potential quality was thankfully a little higher than last year, with a few players I might well have gone for earlier who seemed a little unnecessary now, leaving a couple more signings I was genuinely convinced by. As far as expectations went, I was hoping to be able to stay in the CL now, maybe having a decent run in this year’s competition, and if things were as mixed up in the league this year as it was last, maybe get close to the title. Signings Free from Marseille 1.8M from Freiburg 7M from Blackburn 6M from Santos I'd also like to show you this guy... Sadly not a signing, but having spotted him during a search for decent young Italians to put in the national pool, he really caught my eye. Unfortunately he's not going to come to Juventus, at least not right now, but I'll certainly be keeping a very close eye on him just in case. He could potentially be even better than Ferrari and whatever happens I'll certainly be using him soon for Italy (which might help swing things my way a little) but the idea of the two of them playing together (which sadly can't happen at international level due to the bug that leaves Ferrari permanently withdrawn from the squad) is just too exciting a prospect not to try and do anything I can to make happen. Plus there's a sense of 'whoever has Rocchi will rule Italy' about him as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodesire Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Rocchi looks mean! One of those godlike regens! Amazing signings on y0our behalf too, I can't really pick anyone I wouldn't like in your dealings. As you said, the qually draw was easy for you and as a second seed I would fancy you getting to at least last 16. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 8, 2014 Author Share Posted August 8, 2014 Rocchi looks mean! One of those godlike regens! Amazing signings on y0our behalf too, I can't really pick anyone I wouldn't like in your dealings. As you said, the qually draw was easy for you and as a second seed I would fancy you getting to at least last 16. Well it's probably not the biggest spoiler in the world to say that we went through, and here's the draw... It's very much a mixed bag. Lyon are a top class side but I hope we can get a result in at least one of the games. On the other end of the scale, Zenit don't seem like too much of a problem (aside from the trip to Russia coming at the end of November) while Gent are actually a decent side with a few good players and, good enough that while we should be favourites to beat them it won't necessarily be easy. I think we should go through in 2nd, maybe even have a shot at 1st if things to our way but can't take it for granted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 9, 2014 Author Share Posted August 9, 2014 Aug 2027 Panionios 0-3 Juventus (CL) Robinho, Robles Panionios were an easy draw in the CL playoffs, and we were clearly on top from the start in Greece. It took until the very end of the first-half to take the lead, and that from an own-goal, but Robinho and Robles struck in the second-half for a deserved 3-0 win. Napoli 0-0 Juventus (A) Our annoying habit of opening the league with one of the tougher teams continued at champions Napoli and we were on the back foot for most of the game. We had a few chances to snatch a winner but otherwise couldn’t complain about holding out for a 0-0 draw. Juventus 2-0 (5-0) Panionios (CL) Ferrari (2) As expected, we cruised through in a lower gear against Panionios. Ferrari had a goal disallowed in the first-half which clearly stung as he went on to get a second-half brace for a nice, clean 5-0 aggregate win. Juventus p2-2 Sevilla (ESC) Dione, Robles Sevilla were our European Super Cup opponents and easily dominated the first-half. We were just emerging from our shell when they took the lead from a penalty just before half-time. We rallied enough to equalize when Dione headed in an Ozturk corner in the 75th minute to take it to extra-time. It looked like they settled it 5 minutes in when Gustavo accidentally knocked a Sevilla corner past Kilic but again we came back and Robles took it to penalties with a 109th minute goal. The critical moment came in the 3rd round of penalties when their taker hit the post. We had already scored our first three from Robinho, Omar and Robles, and success for Ozturk and Catê sealed it. Juventus 2-0 Bari (A) Robles, Herrera Robles gave us the lead just half a minute in against Bari, and while we had plenty of chances for more (notably from Ozturk who was looking promising enough this year but had seriously bad luck when it came to the woodwork) it was left to Herrera’s penalty to make it comfortable just before half-time. Sept 2027 N. Ireland 0-2 Italy (ECQ) Piras, Comito We hoped to seal our place at the Euros (not that it was ever in any doubt) at Northern Ireland. Given we won the first game 9-0, we made it a lot tricker than it had any right to be against a side whose lone frontman played for Bradford. Piras eventually made the breakthrough in the 34th minute and Comito (again in for injured campaign top scorer D’Angelo) getting the only other goal (in the entire group in fact!) just before half-time. Italy 3-0 Macedonia (ECQ) Villa, Rapisarda, Grasso We weren’t demolishing opponents like we did last year, a whistle-happy ref not helping against 10-man Macedonia. Grasso was the first player to have a goal disallowed, but Villa made the breakthrough in the 38th minute and Rapisarda gave us another in the 50th minute. Molinari then had another goal disallowed and after a Grasso free-kick finished the victory, Piras completed the hat-trick of disallowed goals. The main news was the strategically awarded first cap to Milan wonderkid Rocchi which did the trick in making me a favoured person but that in itself isn’t enough yet. Brescia 0-1 Juventus (A) Herrera We were surprisingly on the back foot for a while at Brescia, and were unconvincing when we could get forward. The game was decided by 2 penalties. The first was saved by Kilic in the 67th minute, the other was rather more controversial and was converted by Herrera 11 minutes later as we very much got away with a flat performance. Juventus 5-3 Zenit (CL) Omar (2), Ozturk, Herrera (2) The CL campaign opened against Zenit and Omar gave us the lead in the 28th minute. This wasn’t a great day for the defence and they allowed Zenit to hit back 5 minutes later but Omar restored the lead before the break. Silk got a straight red just a couple of minutes into the second-half, allowing them to equalize in the 61st minute and take the lead shortly afterwards. This was supposed to be the easiest game and things didn’t look good but Ozturk equalized with 10 minutes left, followed by a Herrera brace as we turned it around to win 5-3! Juventus 3-0 Atalanta (A) Ozturk, Diaz, Omar Ozturk gave us the lead in the 35th minute against Atalanta but a red card for Ferrari threatened our chances of a comfortable victory. We pulled through in the end with Diaz getting a header after 80 minutes and Omar converting a stoppage time penalty. Fiorentina 0-1 Juventus (A) Ozturk Fiorentina seemed like a tough trip, but we managed better than expected and even snatched the win from Ozturk in the 49th minute. Juventus 2-0 Cagliari (A) Herrera, Robles Cagliari were the next of the bigger sides but we saw them off easily enough. Herrera’s penalty gave us a 25th minute lead and Robles gave us another at the start of the second-half. They thought they scored with 15 minutes left but it was disallowed keeping Kilic’s perfect clean sheet record in the league going. Gent 1-1 Juventus (CL) Laplace We went to Gent hoping for at least a draw to keep us in a good position to qualify. It didn’t look good when Catê became the latest player to get sent off and they took the lead from a penalty in the 43th minute. Laplace equalized after 50 minutes to give us the result we were looking for but in truth we didn’t deserve anything more. We've not quite had the same attacking spark as last year, but there's a very good reason for that. I don't like to have promising young talent stagnating on the sidelines for too long so I was keen to make sure Ozturk, Silk and Beltran got a fair chance to get a few games in early on (basically strictly applying my standard meritocracy policy that I've admittedly been more flexible about in the past few years) rather than keep the midfield/wing/forward lineup of last year, which I knew would be a short-term risk but would hopefully pay off in the long-run. Suspensions, tiredness and inconsistent form meant that I was regularly having to change things around anyway rather than be able to keep a settled side. Thankfully the defence has more than compensated, being practically unrecognizable from a couple of years ago where a back 5 of ghosts would have been more solid. Not only haven't we conceded in the league yet but we've done so having already gone to Napoli (champions in 3 of the past 4 years) and Fiorentina (runners up for the past 3 years), with Cagliari arguably tricky as well so it's not like we've had in easy fixture-wise. Unfortunately we seem to be rather shaky in Europe so far but things are still going according to plan ahead of a critical double header with Lyon. If we can get a bit of attacking flair back without the defence suddenly deciding not to put their feet up than we might be serious challengers for the title this year, though probably not in Europe just yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raware Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 A nice undefeated start and also as you say, your defence is looking very tight and unrecognizable from a couple of years ago . Is this your year? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 A nice undefeated start and also as you say, your defence is looking very tight and unrecognizable from a couple of years ago . Is this your year? Well it appears that I have a choice between defence and attack. Once our run of clean sheets ended and we keep conceding but we're also getting more goals, so you win some, you lose some. Oct 2027 Juventus 3-0 Genoa (A) Catê, Laplace, Robles Lazio had kept up their 100% record putting the pressure on us but we were never going to have much trouble against Genoa. Catê headed us into the lead in the 23rd minute, Laplace and Robles scoring early in the second-half to make it safe. Slovenia 1-3 Italy (ECQ) Piras (2), Grasso I hoped to complete a 100% Euro qualification record with Italy’s final couple of away games, starting in Slovenia. They were just about the only group opponent with half-decent players but they were still easy enough. Piras kicked things off with a brace and Grasso made it 3-0 just before the break. They got a goal back after an hour and we were unlucky not to win by a far greater margin. Italy 3-0 Montenegro (ECQ) Piras (2), Comito The final game was in Montenegro, with Piras and Comito giving us a 2-0 lead after half an hour. The former scored again just before half-time and we cruised through the second-half. Roma 0-0 Juventus (A) The league returned with another tough trip, to Roma. There was no shortage of chances at both ends but accuracy was hard to come by so it ended with a 0-0 draw that kept our defensive record intact but allowed Lazio to go top with a game in hand. Juventus 0-3 Lyon (CL) Unfortunately we were nowhere near as solid in Europe, and a few missing midfielders didn’t help in a very bad evening against Lyon. They were 2-0 up after 10 minutes, and we were thankful they only got one more in the 51st minute. Udinese 0-0 Juventus (A) After the Lyon hammering we were very quiet at Udinese, who just came at us but couldn’t find a way past. Even with a better second-half we didn’t deserve more than a point. Juventus 1-0 Milan (A) Robinho Lazio’s winning run continued while we had Milan as yet another early big game. For the first time this season, Herrera was withdrawn to the midfield allowing Robinho to come in as the winger and we clearly looked a better attacking side for it. He got the game’s only goal, a penalty after 10 minutes but we deserved one from open play as well and kept up our record of not conceding in the league this season. Nov 2027 Lyon 3-0 Juventus (CL) We went to Lyon hoping to avoid a repeat of the humiliation of the opening game, and were actually on the front foot in the first half but we had nothing left to give after the break and fell to another 3-0 defeat. If we lost as Zenit in the next game we’d be knocked out. Juventus 3-1 Pescara (A) Robles, Robinho, Pickering Lazio had finally dropped points for the first time with a defeat in the weekend we had off before Lyon, and now faced the Rome derby (which they also lost) as we took the lead against Pescara from Robles after half an hour. 10 minutes later, Pescara’s Portuguese midfielder Admilson da Silva became the first person to score against us in a league game, but we still comfortably won with goals from Robinho and Pickering. Unfortunately aside from losing our defensive record, Herrera would be injured until just before Christmas with Omar (the other regular midfield playmaker) out for more than double that. Catania 2-1 Juventus (A) I hoped to take advantage of Lazio and Milan playing each other when we went to Catania but the defensive flood-gates had well and truly opened and they took the lead in the 32nd minutes. Robles and Ferrari had been a shadow of their former selves this season so far and though Robinho gave us an equalizer with 15 minutes left, they cruelly struck a stoppage time winner. Juventus 4-1 Benevento (A) Laplace, Ferrari (3) Laplace gave us the lead after a few minutes against Benevento which seemed to kick some life into Ferrari. He hadn’t actually scored a league goal this season but finally opened his account in the 6th minute. He went on to get another in the 49th minute and immediately completed a hat-trick. Isn’t it typical, you wait ages for a Ferrari goal and 3 come along at once! We hadn’t had a clean sheet since our run was broken and they got a consolation. Zenit 1-4 Juventus (CL) Zenit were 2 points ahead of us in the CL but still had to go to Lyon on the last day so as long as we didn’t lose we’d be in with a chance. We started well as Laplace lobbed the keeper after 5 minutes, extending the lead a few minutes later. They started to really threaten and had a goal disallowed, and did indeed get a goal back after Silk got sent off in the 53rd minute (as if we weren’t short enough on midfielders at the moment). You’d never know how close it was by the way the match ended. Laplace completed a hat-trick in the 88th minute and Ferrari finished it in stoppage time, putting us in a great position to go through as long as we didn’t mess up Gent. Juventus 1-1 Palermo (A) Laplace had rarely looked like a 40M player but he was definitely giving us some much needed firepower right now and he gave us the lead in the 14th minute against Palermo. Unfortunately we were on a run of conceding and did so in the 39th minute. They dominated for most of the second-half but we had the late pressure so we both could feel like we could have won. Dec 2027 Chievo 0-3 Juventus (A) Robles, Ferrari (2) Chievo were the leagues whipping boys but what they lacked in talent they made up with physical play in Verona, causing Laplace and Stefanini to go off injured. Robles came on for the former (who would be out for 8-9 months!) and eventually got the breakthrough in the 40th minute. Ferrari was also remembering where the goal was and scored himself in the 68th minute, giving us a late 3rd (just after they unsurprisingly had a player sent off). Juventus 6-0 Gent (CL) Ferrari (3), Robinho, Dione, Robles We hoped to seal progress from the CL group against Gent, and everything swung our way. As expected, Zenit were easily beaten against Lyon and while that in itself ensured progress we easily took Gent apart anyway. Ferrari started things off in the 10th minute, getting another after a Robinho penalty made it 2-0. Kilic saved a penalty early in the second half, just before Ferrari completed a hat-trick in the 49th minute. Dione got the 5th in the 54th minute and Robles sealed a 6-0 win in the 69th minute, also having another disallowed in stoppage time. Juventus 5-3 Sampdoria (A) Robles (4) Sampdoria had given us a lot of trouble last year, but seemed pretty well behaved in the first-half. Robles gave us a 6th minute lead, and a second in the 27th minute that seemed a long time coming. They fought back in the second-half. They pulled a goal back in the 62nd minutes, again when an own-goal made it 3-1, and a 3rd time after Robles got our 4th. Thankfully Robles went on to score again in the 87th minute to make it safe. Parma 0-1 Juventus (A) Ozturk We had a couple of away games to see out the year, starting at Parma but we disappointed in the first half. We had more pressured after the break but only just snatched the win from an 83rd minute goal from Ozturk. Lazio 2-1 Juventus (A) Just before Christmas we went to fellow challengers Lazio. We started very well and Robinho gave us the lead in the 3rd minute. We should have had another before the break. We were tired in the second-half and couldn’t quite hold out. They equalized in the 72nd minute but the really cruel blow came with a stoppage time Lazio winner that actually caused me to let out a sort of cry of anguish. We ended up going 10 games without conceding a league goal, but have only 2 clean sheets in the league since that run ended. We were never that solid in Europe leading to a less than convincing showing until the final couple of games, and though we were fine in the end Arsenal as almost as tough as draw as we could have got. It's crushing that both league defeats have come in stoppage time, Lazio in particular and the lack of cutting edge coupled with the softening of the defence means that we've drawn 2-3 too many games that should have been wins and could well have been at least a few points clear. Then again I know from experience that taking that small, final step from being serious challengers to actually being able to come out on top is a tough one, so we've got one serious fight in the second-half of the season if we're going to do it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 Euro 2028 (England) draw (world ranking in brackets) Group A Greece (15th) England (21st) Iceland (54th) Serbia (20th) Group B Georgia (9th. Yes really) Croatia (16th) Ireland (29th) Slovenia (38th) Group C Norway (33rd) France (11th) Slovakia (43rd) Ukraine (17th) Group D Spain (3rd) Czech Rep (40th) Switzerland (35th) Turkey (14th) Group E Italy (2nd) Germany (18th) Russia (12th) Scotland (36th) Group F Holland (4th) Austria (51st) Poland (24th) Portugal (13th) We've drawn the short straw and no mistake, which is admittedly fair enough given the absurdly easy qualifying group. Germany are rather hard to measure without there really being any grey players to look at, but their ranking suggests they're beatable. Russia have a forward that's been one of the best in the world for years and even at 32 gives me nightmares. I first saw that player as a 17yr old at Spartak when I played them with my Chornomorets side and it was clear even then that he'd be horrifyingly good. They also have a world class keeper and some strong players among their supporting cast so will be an incredibly tough side to handle. Scotland aren't quite so bad but also have a quality keeper and a few others good enough that they while we can probably beat them, it won't necessarily be comfortable. We should hopefully still get through but that's not the point. We're theoretically one of the favourites (and with a squad soon passing their prime it's my best chance at an international trophy for some time) but unless we somehow come out on top in that group we've got a very tough ride ahead of us. Group D is the only one that gets anywhere near as tough and I'm casting an especially envious eye at group B (Despite the difference in ranking the Czechs are definitely stronger than the Georgians). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 13, 2014 Author Share Posted August 13, 2014 Jan 2028 Juventus 0-0 Inter (A) We emerged from the break to face Inter, and showed some promising signs in the first-half. They threatened quite a bit more after the break but we were still disappointed with a 0-0 draw. Juventus 5-0 Lecce (CI) Ozturk (3), Robinho, Ferrari We easily saw off Lecce in the cup, with Ozturk in particular starring. He gave us the lead in the 4th minute, with another as it was 2-0 after 19 minutes. Robinho got the 3rd before the break with Ferrari getting a 4 and a stoppage time penalty allowed Ozturk to complete a hat-trick. Bari 1-4 Juventus (A) Robles, Ferrari (2) Defensive solidity had unfortunately been thrown out of the window and we went behind in the 24th minute at Bari. I gave the team a kick up the backside at half-time and they responded. Robles equalized in the 50th minute with Ferrari giving us the lead in the 63rd. Robles had another disallowed but after a long period of Bari pressure, had a shot deflected in for 3-1, followed up a couple of minutes later as Ferrari sealed a 4-1 win against his old club. Juventus 1-0 Napoli (A) Dione Ferrari went off injured against Napoli but Dione headed us into the lead on the stroke of half-time. We had a lot of to deal with in the second-half but just about survived. Juventus 0-0 Brescia (A) Brescia was a masterclass in pounding an opponent and getting nowhere. We weren’t helped by Silk going off injured, or Gentile and Stefanini following him (though Silk was the only one who’d be out and only for 2 weeks, which was still a few games), leaving us with 9 men, and even when they deservedly went down to 10 we couldn’t get anything. Juventus 4-1 Roma (CI QF) Diaz, Robles (2), Ozturk Weakened and tired as we were, I was surprised to be able to beat Roma so comfortably in the cup. Diaz gave us the lead in the 14th minute with Robles making it 2-0. He had another disallowed but got his second goal late in the half anyway. They scored in the 50th minute but never looked likely to mount a serious comeback. Robles had a second goal disallowed but Ozturk got our 4th with a few minutes left. Atalanta 1-2 Juventus (A) Stefanini, Ferrari We were flat in the first-half at Atalanta and had a narrow escape when they had a goal disallowed. I brought on the fit-again Ferrari which seemed to do the trick as we raced out of the blocks in the second-half and took the lead from Stefanini of all people. They equalized in the 57th minute but Ferrari struck 5 minutes later to give us a very tight win. Feb 2028 Inter 1-0 Juventus (CI SF) We went to Inter for the first leg of the cup semi-final and amidst the ocean of matches we were drowning in it was no surprise to see a fairly quiet affair. It went a little wrong near the end as they got a winner and Pickering got his marching orders for a professional foul but we still had a chance in the return in April. Juventus 0-0 Fiorentina (A) Milan dropped points for the first time in a while giving us the chance to draw level but that was always going to be a tall order against Fiorentina especially at a time like this. We tore them apart last year but this time we had to settle for keeping honours even. Cagliari 1-2 Juventus (A) Vasconcellos, Robles We started poorly at Cagliari, going behind in the 2nd minute. Vasconcellos headed a 33rd minute equalizer which seemed to revive us somewhat, Robles giving us the lead 4 minutes later. We pushed hard for a 3rd, knowing that one mistake could blow it, but a disallowed Robles goal was the closest we got. Juventus 4-0 Arsenal (CL) Ferrari (2), Robles (2) I expected a very tough tie against Arsenal in the CL but we rose to the occasion splendidly. The ‘Robarri’ duo in particular were at their best with Beltran in support. Ferrari gave us the lead in the 8th minute, with Robles scoring just a few minutes later. Things could still go pear-shaped with even a single away goal but we picked them off, Robles scoring again in the 53rd minute and Ferrari completing a sensational 4-0 win at the end! Juventys 4-1 Udinese (A) Stefanini, Ozturk (2), Ferrari We weren’t at our best for most of the game against Udinese, not helped by a short-term injury that Robles sustained against Arsenal, but Ozturk stood in fine. Stefanini gave us the lead in the 32nd minute, with Ozturk adding another early in the second half. They eventually got a goal back but Ozturk made it safe and Ferrari scrambled in a last-minute 4th. Genoa 0-4 Juventus (A) Robinho, Ferrari (3) The trip to Genoa was our 13th game of the year already but the league’s second-bottom side weren’t much trouble at all. Robinho gave us the lead from a penalty in the 24th minute, then Ferrari extended the lead and got a diving header onto the end of an Ozturk cross for 3-0 just before the break, wrapping things up by completing a hat-trick in the 71st minute. Mar 2028 Juventus 1-0 Roma (A) Robles 4th placed Roma proved to be hard to break down, not helped by the second leg against Arsenal being on the horizon. We risked slipping to 4 points behind Milan if we failed to win and they did so it was a relief to see Robles give us the win with a few minutes left. Arsenal 3-1 (3-5) Juventus (CL) The pressure was mostly off when we went to Arsenal. Rather than simply sit back, Robles extended the aggregate lead in the 22nd minute, the fact that it was just after a disallowed Arsenal goal adding insult to injury got their fans. They now needed an improbable 6 goals which I felt was unlikely even if I let Kilic in goal go home. In fact I decided it would be fun to swap him with Ozturk up front. Arsenal got 3 goals back in the first 20 minutes of the second-half so I unfortunately had to end this little game prematurely and swap the two Turks back which led to the rest of the game being quite quiet. Milan 2-0 Juventus (A) Milan away was a critical match at the top of the table, but it was appallingly one-sided and while we held on in the first-half, they took the lead in the 52nd minute. We had a few chances but even a point would have been daylight robbery and they got another with 5 minutes left. That meant we were 5 points behind with 9 games left and I felt maybe the title would be a small step too far. Juventus 4-1 Parma (A) Ferrari (2), Robles, Robinho The league looked to be slipping away as we went behind after 12 minute against Parma. Ferrari got a brace to turn it around before half-time, Robles and Robinho getting late goals as we won 4-1 in the end. Pescara 1-2 Juventus (A) Robles, Ferrari We went behind yet again at Pescara, from a Stefanini own-goal. He went on to go off injured capping a very bad day for the left-back. Robles equalized in the 33rd minute but a winner proved hard to come by. Ferrari had very much put his terrible start to the season behind him and he gave us the goal we needed in the 70th minute. Given a very hectic first couple of months of the year I think we coped really well, even if there was a little bit of hanging on in there rather than being able to really go for it. Unfortunately Milan have been near-unstoppable (since November they've won all but 2 games in all competitions, which given they're competing in the Europa League and still in the cup means a lot of games to keep that form up over!) and Lazio have been able to keep pace with us but we've been very strong on our own terms, are looking very good for a top 3 finish and I hope we can make that 2nd. Chances are that competing in the Europa League and to a lesser extent the cup will cause Milan to stumble a little (I've seen it happen sometimes) but as we're also in Europe and the cup it probably won't be enough. When I saw we'd drawn Arsenal in the CL I was very scared. They've been comfortably top of the Premier League all season long and have a quality squad to match. I question my sanity in switching Kilic out of goal, though at least had the sense to swap him with a player already on the pitch so I was able to put him back in (which sort of defeated the original object of saying 'we're so superior that we're going through even without a keeper'), but with Milan on the horizon (which I didn't realize) it cost us a little more morale and 'momentum' than necessary. Beating such a strong side so comfortably was a great gesture of intent and the draw has been more favourable since. PSG are our quarter-final opponents (the first leg technically being played in March but I decided it was easier not to split the tie into different updates) with the winner playing Porto or Man Utd. Obviously teams that reach this stage are never going to be easy to beat but relatively speaking it's not too bad. I hadn't been thinking of being able to make a challenge yet but the semi's or even the final is a reasonably realistic goal so who knows? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodesire Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Looking good delta. The league CL qualification looks pretty much set in stone at this point. You are well positioned in a cup and can surely turn it around in April. CL draw looks rather kind, I'm surprised there are no powerhouses like Bayern, Dortmund, Real and Barca at this stage. I believe you could go all the way if you get past the semi-finals (tough luck drawing Porto/Man Utd combo). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Having a really good season so far, just a shame Milan seem that little bit stronger in the league but at least you aren't miles behind so there is still a chance Good luck in the CL too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 Looking good delta. The league CL qualification looks pretty much set in stone at this point. You are well positioned in a cup and can surely turn it around in April. CL draw looks rather kind, I'm surprised there are no powerhouses like Bayern, Dortmund, Real and Barca at this stage. I believe you could go all the way if you get past the semi-finals (tough luck drawing Porto/Man Utd combo). It's Marseille I was more surprised with being absent. They had 5 of the of the top 9 players on the World Player of the Year shortlist last year (or was it the year before) and have had some genuinely frightening players in recent years. . There was still quite enough competition among those sides as it was, especially having already had a taste of what Lyon could be like. Apr/May 2028 Juventus 0-0 PSG (CL QF) 800th career match! We had high hopes against PSG in the CL in what was the 800th match of the career but despite pounding away all night long we couldn’t find a way through and wasted the chance to take a comfortable lead to Paris. At least it meant we only needed a score draw. Juventus 2-1 Catania (A) Ferrari (2) We had a similar problem against Catania, who typically snatched the lead at the start of the second-half. That sort of woke us up. Ferrari equalized in the 64th minute and got a winner with 10 minutes left. PSG 1-1 (1-1a) Juventus (CL QF) Despite failing to beat PSG at the Delle Alpi the pressure was still on them to win at the Parc des Princes. Unfortunately they rose to the occasion and had the lead after 5 just 5 minutes. They eased off but while one goal would be enough for an away goals victory, it was one of our more mediocre games so I didn’t hold out much hope. However we gradually improved and Ferrari struck to send us through with 15 minutes left, and we could even had had another afterwards as we were on top for the only time all game. Benevento 1-1 Juventus (A) Ozturk At Benevento we were back to getting a hat-load of chances without getting anywhere, as well as going behind (something we seemed to do an awful lot against inferior opposition) to a 56th minute penalty. We usually turned it around to win but not this time as we only got an Ozturk equalizer. Juventus 2-1 (2-2a) Inter (CI SF) Things got worse against Inter in the cup when they extended their aggregate lead in the 26th minute. Robles gave us a chance with a quick brace around the hour mark but we needed one more and went out on away goals. Palermo 1-2 Juventus (A) Robles We were actually still in the title race, especially with Milan having to go to champions Napoli and losing), and we helped our case at Palermo. Robles gave us a 1st minute lead from a penalty, but they equalized after-half an hour. It looked like we’d lost our chance but Robles got another late on to take us top (though Milan had a game in hand and we had a very tough end to the season). Juventus 0-2 Man Utd (CL SF) We were without the suspended Ferrari against Man Utd and made a mess of it. They took the lead in the 18th minute, and while we had a lot of pressure to at least equalize, they actually struck again in the 69th minute and only a miracle could turn it around. Juventus 3-0 Chievo (A) Ozturk, Robinho, Robles We partly made up for things against Chievo, with Ozturk giving us the lead in the 35th minute and Robinho adding to it 5 minutes later. Robles had a goal disallowed in the second-half, followed by a Chievo goal that gave that game a considerably closer scoreline than it deserved but Robles still managed to get on the scoresheet in stoppage time. Man Utd 0-0 (2-0) Juventus (CL SF) I had pulled off a miracle comeback with my Magical Milan side at Old Trafford in a CL semi before but it was never going to happen this time. We had plenty of chances but yet again just couldn’t convert them. Ozturk did put the ball in the net in the 62nd minute but it was disallowed, and it was frustrating feeling that actual finishing ability could well have seen us in the final instead of them. Sampdoria 0-2 Juventus (A) Ferrari, Ozturk We had a tough run-in in the league starting at Sampdoria. Ferrari gave us the lead in the 20th minute but we struggled to get more, only getting another from Ozturk in stoppage time. Juventus 2-2 Lazio (A) 300th Juventus match! Robles (2) Lazio were also in with a chance (admittedly slim) of the title and we were still very much in a battle for 2nd. a tiring Milan had lost to Atalanta the day before putting it in our hands and it was also my 300th Juventus game, but the first half was one of our worst of the season. They took the lead after 5 minutes and were 2-0 up at the break. Things looked very bad but Robles came on and got 2 goals to give us a share of the points, ending their title chances but probably not enough for ours. Inter 0-0 Juventus (A) We were level with Milan at the top going into the last day but they had the edge and we had to go to Inter so our chances were very slim, though they themselves didn’t have it easy at Fiorentina. We certainly went for it but for the last and most fatal side this season, we just couldn’t score. It didn’t seem to matter as Milan were beating Fiorentina but a late equalizer in that game meant that our failure to score cost us after all! Talk about ‘close but no cigar’!!!! I was actually crest-fallen when Fiorentina equalized at the end against Milan, since had Milan won we’d have been able to say ‘well it didn’t matter’ but in the end it was in our hands and we didn’t quite do it. Oddly it was mostly the attack rather than defence that cost us both in the league and in Europe. We failed to spark early on in the season and only did so once the defence stopped being near-invincible, and late on we had a severe problem with not turning pressure into goals which nearly cost us against PSG and did against a beatable Man Utd side as well as in the league. Our annoying habit of conceding first in ‘bread and butter’ league games didn’t help either and while we mostly went on to win anyway, we couldn’t at Benevento and that made all the difference (admittedly along with any one of about 15 other things) in the end. It was a pity we ended up empty-handed this season, but there were still a lot of positive signs. We were up there as league challengers all season long, and it was a pity that Milan were so good from December onwards and another year we might have done enough to be champions. Milan not only have a strong side but a few incredible young players of their own (as well as Rocchi, they also have an 18yr old German winger who could give Usain Bolt a run for his money) so it looks like we’ve got a very strong long-term rivalry in prospect. As I said before, the line between challengers and winners is a thin one but very difficult to cross but I still feel like we established ourselves as credible challengers both at home and in Europe this time around. Star player: It seemed rather unlikely early in the season. None of our attacking stars really shone until late-autumn but Ferrari's well was especially dry. He picked it up though, showing the sort of form for the rest of the season that makes me curse the bug that stops me selecting him for Italy. He's one of the best Italian players now, certainly the best forward and his absence in the big tournaments (especially as this summer's Euro's are going to be tough from the start) could well be costly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 Euro 2028 We had a 100% record under my management and were one of the favourites but hadn’t faced anyone even half-decent in a competitive game (though had managed to still beat the likes of Argentina in friendlies) but I wasn’t that confident. We had a strong squad but some players were getting past it (and some of those that weren’t would be by the next World Cup), we had no Ferrari and a tough group that could well lead to a relatively early exit if we failed to perform to our potential. Thankfully, Ferrari bug aside, I was able to call upon a full-strength squad so we certainly had the capability to compete with anyone if we were able to rise to the occasion. Our weakest points were in goal and at right-back, though we still had decent players there. My Juventus left-back Stefanini, Villa, Buzzi and Molinari giving us some very strong defensive options. The midfield was excellent, even if it was geared a little too much towards creativity (though we did have one good defensive player as well as a few defenders who could play there), Bizzarri and Sala vying for the playmaker position (think Mazzola/Rivera in 1970) with Pillon in support. I was especially blessed on the wings, leading to a 4-2-4 formation rather than my usual one-winger ‘Mattersburg’ one. Rapisarda and Grasso being a world-class wing pairing with Caprioti and Noventa as quality backup. Up front we very much had strength in depth (with as many as 7 good options) but no one who was quite good enough to be considered top-class, at least not anymore, that was where the absence of Ferrari might hurt us. Italy 2-0 Germany (EC) Molinari, Capriotti The Germans were up first in the group, and we certainly had chances from the off, but it took until they went down to 10-men for us to break through, Molinari and Caprioti giving us a 2-0 lead late in the first-half. It should have been more but it was still a decent win to get things started with. Unfortunately Stefanini went off injured after just 24 minutes and would be out for 3 months! It wasn’t the best day for my Juve players as Catê was also injured playing for Brazil but it was only a minor problem. Italy 3-1 Russia (EC) D'Angelo (2), Scala Russia looked scary when the draw was made but had the same problem as us with their top class players getting old, without our depth so it was a lot easier than expected. The game was tight at first but D’Angelo gave us a 2-0 lead with a first-half brace. Dortmund forward Scala had been overlooked before now but repaid the faith with the 3rd goal a few minutes into the second-half, while they got a late consolation. We were easily through and potentially as group winners. Italy 3-0 Scotland (EC) D'Angelo (3) Scotland were considered the weakest side in the group, and D’Angelo defied his advancing years (he’s 32) and a few recent injuries to tear them apart. He gave us the lead after 10 minutes, and scored another a few minutes later. He completed a hat-trick before the break, his 5th goal of the competition. Maybe it’ll still be good for the world cup in a couple of years’ time. Italy 3-0 Austria (EC R2) Capriotti, Scala, Villa Austria were our opponents in the next round, and they were little better than the Scots. Like Scala, Capriotti wasn’t even in my squad for my first season as Italy manager but soon proved himself once I changed my mind and Rapisarda being unfit at the start of the tournament allowed him to be first choice. He scored his second goal of these Euros in the 14th minute, but it took until the very end of the half for Scala to extend the lead. Right-back Abuda got sent off but Villa headed in a late 3rd. Italy p1-1 England (EC QF) Noventa Things really started to heat up when we played hosts England in the quarter-finals. It looked good as Noventa gave us the lead after 20 minutes but they were able to snatch an equalizer just before the break which gave them control of the match. They had a goal disallowed early in the second-half and we managed to survive until extra-time. We were actually the brighter side in extra-time but couldn’t avoid penalties, which we had a surprisingly weak line-up for. Thankfully this was England we were facing. Piras took and scored first before their first taker blazed it over. Pillon and Noventa then scored for us but I was worried when Molinari missed his! Thankfully Simoncelli in goal pulled off a save from their 4th taker and Castello put us into the last 4! Italy 2-0 Turkey (EC SF) Noventa, Capriotti Turkey were our surprise semi-final opponents, and we were helped by the fact that the ‘permanent squad withdrawal’ bug that denied me Ferrari also affected a bunch of my other players so they didn’t have Erkan Kilic in goal (which is a pity, as I’d very much been looking forward to a Ferrari vs Kilic contest at international level). Man Utd player D’Angelo was playing at ‘home’ but could only have a goal disallowed. Noventa however did give us the lead in the 37th minute and Capriotti got another on the hour mark as we went through to the final without too much trouble. Italy 2-0 Portugal (EC Final) Bizzarri, Piras Portugal were our opponents in the final and there were times when they were able to put us under serious pressure but otherwise we were on top just as we had been all tournament long, the second-half against England aside. I knew it was only a matter of time before we took the lead and we got it from Bizzarri in the 38th minute. Piras scored a penalty in the 65th minute and from that point on I knew the trophy was ours, though they could well have had at least a goal back. Wow! I knew we could do it but I never imagined we would. When I saw the group draw I felt we’d just about get through in 2nd or even 3rd, get a tough opponent in the next round and be dumped out early, or the quarter-finals, which very nearly happened. That England game was the only one where we were ever in any serious trouble, and only for one half, plus their equalizer was the only blip in a near-flawless performance. It was also a group effort with only 3 outfield players not playing a single minute. It was just a pity my Juventus players couldn’t be a part of it. In fact the England game was the only one we haven't won outright in 25 or so games since I took charge, which is an impressive record. I had considered leaving. The trouble with international management is that when you’re doing well you can’t use increased rep and money to improve the squad and help you ether stay there or move up. There seems to be a bit of an aging crisis in world football, with relatively few future stars appearing on my radar at Juve and it was interesting to see how many nations had their good players either be in their 30’s or about to hit 30. Even with few stars coming through ourselves we should still be in a position to have a decent enough side, so I feel it’s worth continuing for the long haul and see if the current side have enough left in them for a World Cup challenge. The qualification group looks like this… Belgium have a few very strong but typically aging players, providing a challenge we didn’t gave in Euro qualification but the others seem simple enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 15, 2014 Author Share Posted August 15, 2014 Summer 2028 The summer started off with some good news, as we no longer had to worry about a debt we had been paying. I can’t remember how much it had been costing us a month but it was definitely a strong 6-figure sum so along with being a CL side it put us in a far stronger long-term financial position than a year or two ago, and we had over 100M in the bank as is! While the sale of Laplace didn't raise anywhere near as high a fee as I was hoping (8.25M) but did cut a fair bit off the wage bill that was now down to 880kpw, not exactly a shoestring budget granted but much lower than most top level sides I think. After a few dry years, quality was starting to come back among young players, but not necessarily in the right areas. There were a few very exciting defensive-mid players but the trouble was we already had the immense Catê (who Real Madrid bid almost 50M for! Dream on) plus Silk who had already impressed at 17 and whose future world class credentials were beyond doubt, Beltran also capable to of playing in that sort of role amidst a well-stocked midfield in general. I still ended up getting a creative midfielder but if Herrera was mainly seen as a winger it might just work, and the new guy (the only both deal made and completed this summer) was potentially a ‘specialist’ advanced playmaker in a way that the others weren’t so there was still some logic behind it. What we really needed was a right-back, not necessarily urgently but Gustavo (one of two players left that I inherited along with Robles) and Pickering, as excellent as they had been up ‘til now but were 31 and 32 respectively. Dione and Vasconcellos were capable of playing there if need be but while there’s a lot to be said for having a solid full-back in certain situations they just wouldn’t do as the first-choice options. There was a partial solution in a 15yr old Brazilian who would probably be very good but still left us with quite a wait. A follow up player search also revealed a Turkish player at Barcelona but they clearly weren’t having any of it. Hopefully I’d be able to get him for something vaguely reasonable in January or next year though. Unfortunately I had to abandon another potential transfer, for a left-back who’d be far better than do Nascimento as a quality alternative to Stefanini, for similar but far less extreme reasons. I could easily afford the asking price but it was still much too high for my liking. The board’s minimum expectation was to keep on making the CL, which for me went without saying. After our near-miss last season I definitely think we’ve reached the point where we should seriously be thinking about getting titles. The core of the squad are hitting their prime now. Omar, Ferrari, Herrera, Robinho, Stefanini and Diaz are 22/23, with Catê, Robles, Dione and Kilic a few years older. Oulhaj, Beltran and Ozturk have also hit their 20’s. If we can have both a strong defence and attack at the same time (which would be a nice change) than a Scudetto or 2 can’t be too far away. Both Milan and Inter have a few quality youngsters each (who I can’t pinch) but they’re going to take a while to grow so we have a good opportunity in the next few years to establish ourselves first, otherwise it’ll just get tougher. Signings 2M from Corinthians. 7M from Dortmund. Champions League Draw We're still 2nd seeds, and while we easily beat Arsenal in the spring, they'll probably be far more of a challenge this time, as they're just too strong a side on paper for us to expect to win comfortably on a regular basis. Hopefully we'll do rather better than against Lyon in the same stage last season. Otherwise it's much easier than last time. Tel-Aviv are whipping boys if ever I saw them and AZ shouldn't be that much trouble either. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 Bad news guys, this save might be finished. or at least I've lost the majority of it This morning I restarted my laptop and something was seriously wrong with the login, ending up giving me a blank start screen. I logged off but when I tried to log back in again I got messages about the sign-in process failing and how my profile couldn't be accessed. Unfortunately as I don't have much of importance to back-up I only do it every so often. Typically I was just about to do another one (especially as I needed to take the laptop in for servicing this week anyway as I was having issues with the dc socket, and I was going to have the fan cleaned while I was at it) and the last one was back in May. I do still have the earlier version of the save file but it would be hard to continue in the short-term with so much progess lost. I think I had just finished my first season in the top flight with Slavia, that's how far I'd have to go back and when that happens I find it very hard to face the idea of having to do so much all over again, so it remains to be seen how this works out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 That's rubbish. It was all starting to go so well too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 I know, things were really looking up There is some potentially good news. Spoke to my tech-expert friend this evening and while he'd never seen that problem before he reckons that it's due to some corrupted files preventing windows from loading but there's a decent chance that if I can access the hard-drive than there should be some stuff left intact (indeed I have my usual background pic before clicking to go to the login screen so something must be still there) which I can then rescue. Unfortunately he won't be able to help me with this until late September (he's very busy up til then), where we're going to hook the hard-drive up as a secondary drive on his PC (which I didn't even know you could do until he told me), and it remains to be seen what I can retrieve but it still gives me hope that I can pick things up after that. The laptop itself is probably beyond saving (especially given you can't take the drive out without potentially damaging what looks like a cable) but the only reason I upgraded a year and a half ago was that my older laptop was, at 2Ghz, underspec for FM13 and it was giving me lots of issues. While the newer one was 45% faster I do have an SSD in this one, and while I've seen various confusing arguements on GD about the cost/benefit ratio I know from experience that it gives me very little slowdown over long careers (even my 63-year record 'Delta's Darlings one, the last one that was played out in full on this setup) so it shouldn't really affect my long-term FM performance (and might even help as my newer laptop wasn't exactly what I'd call smooth). It's the recovery of various files that I'm mostly concerned with rather than the ability to use that particular machine again. One way or another it'll continue. If I can't rescue the file than I'll pick up from where I left off, probably leaving Slavia for something new (as I really find it hard getting motivated to cover the same ground again, and probably fail to be as successful with the title and 3 cup wins in a row) but since it'll be over a month until I know for sure I might feel ok with carrying on with them. Either way this will definitely be on hold until we see what happens. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raware Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 That sucks delta . Hard to take any kind of positives but I suppose at least you have a starting point still with Slavia. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 22, 2014 Author Share Posted August 22, 2014 That sucks delta . Hard to take any kind of positives but I suppose at least you have a starting point still with Slavia. Well, there are a couple, thinking about it. I might try and resume sooner rather than later from that point (not in the next few days but this evening saw the first-half of the download of FM11 from steam back on this machine), and the following season saw us win the double (including the first of 3 cup wins in a row), so it's worth trying to get a few trophies again. I can use my knowledge of the players I ended up signing to conduct my business quicker, especially Boulabiar who only appeared on my radar at the end of August originally but I'm certainly going to seek him out early on. Plus I know about the withdrawal bug so I won't make the mistake of ruling one of my top international players out permanantly (like with Ferrari, though I did soon use it to my advantage with my other internationals) and there are definitely things I should have done differently at Juve. Hopefully I can have a bit of success at Slavia again and even if I can't jump into a big club after that I can still stay on a solid upward curve. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter_Morgan Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Shame you lost so much time there Hopefully you can pick up and as you say use a few things you've discovered to your advantage at least. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 23, 2014 Author Share Posted August 23, 2014 Shame you lost so much time there Hopefully you can pick up and as you say use a few things you've discovered to your advantage at least. Well, as it happened after installing the game I checked my save files (especially having seen a couple of old ones on the hard drive, which turned out to be my 'original' FM11 saves but sadly not 'Delta's Darlings') and the season hadn't quite finished (there were 6 games to go and the cup semi-finals in what was a very busy final month), so I decided to go ahead and do that, even though I won't necessarily be rushing back in 'full-time' quite yet. We ended up getting 2 more points which was enough to lift us from 5th in the original season to 3rd. Annoyingly history repeated itself with a very unlucky cup semi exit to Sparta. As it happened a few of my transfers were already in place, and the very first thing I did was add Boulabiar to the list, though as his contract expires at the end of August I can't get him any sooner unfortunately. As mentioned before the following season was originally a surprise double win and while I'm not expecting the same again I still feel there's more than enough promise at Slavia to be worth sticking around a few years and I will be disappointed if I don't manage to get at least one title or a few cups. I had been thinking a lot of how much I wanted to go to Brazil or Argentina for my next move as the seasons were ticking by and I wnted to make sure I spent some time in Latin America as well as my traditional European stomping ground, though that would have been years off at Juventus. I certainly had the big South American clubs chasing me once I started being successful at Slavia (and in fact even back at Chornomorets I had quite a bit of interest from Uruguay) so chances are that when I feel the time is right I'll look to do that rather than be able to jump directly to a major European power this time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 28, 2014 Author Share Posted August 28, 2014 Summer 2018 There was an unsurprising sense of déjà-vu this summer, to the point that if I was being lazy I could just say ‘look at post 103’. As it happened it was always likely to be a repeat of that original summer. For one thing a few transfers were already confirmed, while there would be little difference in who would be available to sign. I used my available hindsight to leave a couple of players alone as well as making very early moves for the players I did, especially knowing how much to bid. I also got lucky with the youth intake, having only yielded Jurcik before I suddenly got a forward and left-back to join him, even though they wouldn’t be much good for a couple of years yet. In the end there were a couple of ‘original’ transfers in defence. We already had a load of central defenders of all shapes and sizes but the Ghanaian Arthur still very much stood out in terms of quality, while the right was a long-term issue (both here and at Juve interestingly enough) which I hoped to avoid this time around with the signing of a young Croatian. We actually looked a little stronger than the side that won the double the first time I played this season but while I certainly expected us to challenge it was ambitious imagining us repeating history, at least in the short-term. Transfers Youth Players Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Heath Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 sorry to hear you lost so much time on this one. good luck for the second attempt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 29, 2014 Author Share Posted August 29, 2014 sorry to hear you lost so much time on this one. good luck for the second attempt Thanks, I'm pretty much ready to continue now (in fact the summer was played a few days ago) as enough time has passed to be able to get back into it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 29, 2014 Author Share Posted August 29, 2014 Jul 2018 AEL 2-1 SlaviaPrague (EL) Juninho The season started at AEL in the Europa League, and it looked good when Juninho gave us a 2nd minute lead. However they looked strong in attack and equalized after 25 minutes. There was controversy late on when Juninho had another goal disallowed followed by an AEL penalty which gave them a winner. Slavia Prague 1-3 Bohemians Prague (D1) Juninho There was similar pain against Bohemians in the league where Valasek had a goal disallowed, and having had plenty of chances to go ahead anyway we went behind from a 36th minute penalty, which also saw Neuwirth sent off. It got worse as a messed up clearance allowed them to get another. Juninho got one back in the 64th minute but we rarely looked like equalizing and they even got a 3rd in stoppage time. Slavia Prague 4-1 (5-3) AEL (EL) Valasek (3), Ildemar We looked to turn the AEL tie around and took the lead from Valasek just a few minutes in. He gave us another about half an hour later but they levelled the tie just after the break. Ildemar quickly gave is a 3rd and Valasek sealed it, having a personal 4th disallowed later. Banik Ostrava 1-0 Slavia Prague (D1) We needed to improve in the league at Banik, but a tired side could only put on a lacklustre display and after going behind after just a few minutes, we never looked like getting anything. Aug 2018 Copenhagen 1-0 Slavia Prague (EL) Copenhagen would be a very tough European trip, but we gave them a better game than I was expecting, and though we lost to a 19th minute goal, better finishing would have seen us level it. Slavia Prague 1-1 Karvina (D1) Ildemar We had lost 4 of our 5 games do far this season and even struggled against Karvina, a lifeless first-half was followed by a bad start to the second as Vyskocil put the ball in his own net and Zemlik got sent off. Ildemar rescued a point but it wasn’t enough to avoid dropping to last place after 3 games! Slavia Prague 0-0 (0-1) Copenhagen (D1) We still had a chance against Copenhagen but failed to really impress despite a promising second-half and had a straight-red for Neuwirth thrown into the mix as well. Jablonec 3-1 Slavia Prague (D1) Jurcik I would complain about going to Jablonec just 2 days later (a scheduling problem I had occasionally) if they weren’t in the same boat. It didn’t help us as they went 2-0 up in a first-half where I wished I could take off pretty much everyone. They got a 3rd before young Jurcik headed a consolation with 10 minutes left, only our 3rd league goal of the season so far. Slavia Prague 1-2 Ceske Budejovice (D1) Patras With European games over we needed to build up some steam against Ceske Budejovice. Unfortunately they took the lead just 5 minutes in, and while Patras managed to equalize in the 25th minute, our efforts to get a winner allowed them in to take all the points instead. Hradec Kralove 1-0 Slavia Prague (D1) We went to Hradec Kralove who had an early goal disallowed but they soon took the lead anyway in the 25th minute. We looked just about worth a point and were a disallowed Valasek goal away from getting it. Sept 2018 Slavia Prague 2-0 Sigma Olomouc (D1) Bochorishvili, Juninho We finally got a win against Sigma Olomouc. Bochorishvili gave us the lead from an admittedly lucky penalty after 10 minutes and Juninho gave us another from a rare open play chance in the 59th minute. It was unimpressive to put it mildly but I didn’t mind too much. Admira Prague 0-4 Slavia Prague (CFC) Bochorishvili (3), Patras Admira Prague were our first ‘walkover’ cup opponents (the first couple of ties a season generally are) and Bochorishvili took full advantage, scoring a brace in the first 15 minutes and completing a hat-trick on the half-hour mark, Patras soon sealing a 4-0 win. Teplice 1-4 Slavia Prague (D1) Boulabiar, Patras, Bochorishvili, Valasek Teplice wasn’t an easy trip in our quest to move up the table, but we were positive from the start and took the lead from Boulabiar in the 32nd minute, a Patras header soon giving us another. They pulled a goal back in the 69th minute but we sealed it in the last 5 minutes. Bochorishvili pounced on the rebound from his own saved penalty for 3-1 and Valasek even got a last minute 4th. Slovan Liberec 1-3 Slavia Prague (D1) Valasek (2), Bochorishvili We overcame another hurdle at 3rd placed Slovan Liberec. Bochorishvili had a goal disallowed but Valasek managed a brace in before half-time. They scored after an hour but Bochorishvili got his late goal for 3-1. Bohemians 1905 1-3 Slavia Prague (CFC) Valasek (3) Bohemians 1905 weren’t as easy a draw as you usually get at this stage but we eventually broke through with a Valasek goal in the 50th minute. He soon got another end though they immediately pulled a goal back he finished them off with a 3rd. Slavia Prague 0-1 Sparta Prague (D1) The derby was our first home game for almost a month, but unfortunately as well as having Boulabiar absent, it was only a couple of days after the cup (though why we were playing this on a Friday is beyond me) and while they were in the same boat, Jablonec proved how much worse we come off in these situations. We were hardly bad but they took the lead after 5 minutes and just about remained the better side for the rest of the match. Sometimes a league table really doesn't cover it. We were a complete mess at the start of the season for so many reasons. Firstly we had made a lot of signings (and some young ones too), which we somehow overcame last time around. as well as certain players not managing to be as strong as they were originally. There was also the problem of the European games, something I was more than familiar with during the 'lost' Slavia seasons as making 3rd instead of 5th last year looked very much like a phyrric victory, giving us negative momentum (if that makes sense) even when we were knocked out. Conversely getting that first win over Sigma no doubt helped a lot in breaking us out of that fog of awfulness and kicking us into a decent gear. I also hoped that Boulabiar would be a season-changing ace in the hole once he arrived and he's certainly shone already. Pity I had to wait until September otherwise the season might have gone rather better. Maybe a less-successful season might help us keep him for a second year this time. Unfortunately we dropped a lot of points we should have got in that bad start to the season, but we're getting on our way now. Neither Teplice or Slovan Liberec were easy teams to go to so to beat them both comfortably is a very positive sign that we've suddenly come to life just like that. The Sparta defeat knocked us back down a couple of places but we remain close to rather a lot of teams on points so I feel we should easily resume our climb up the table for the rest of the autumn. Thankfully I'd kept season expectations at 'top half', with there being no budgetary advantage in increasing them which bought me more time, and having worried in late August that I was living on borrowed time, hopefully both my patience and the boards will pay off eventually knowing what we're capable of. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Dear oh dear I'm sure things will improve, but a concerning start nonetheless. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted August 31, 2014 Author Share Posted August 31, 2014 Dear oh dear I'm sure things will improve, but a concerning start nonetheless. Oh it was, but things were already improving in September and managed to keep it going, just as I thought we would. Oct 2018 Viktoria Plzen 2-5 Slavia Prague (D1) Srom, Bochorishvili (2), Hubnik (2) We got back up to speed at Plzen but had to fight for it for a while. Srom got us going with a 6th minute header, and while they equalized 5 minutes later. Bochorishvili restored the advantage before the break. They equalized again early in the second-half but a Hubnik header in the 70th minute made it 3-2 and after they had a player sent off, Bochorishvili and Hubnik scored late goals for a 5-2 win. Slavia Prague 2-0 Most (D1) Valasek, Bochorishvili We saw off Most with little fuss. Valasek gave us the lead in the 17th minute with Juninho (in for the suspended Bochorishvili) soon finishing it off. Vitkovice 1-3 Slavia Prague (D1) Juninho, Boulabiar (2) We went behind after just a few minutes at Vitkovice, but Juninho got us back in it with a 35th minute equalizer. Our spirits were very much up after half-time and though Valasek had an early goal disallowed, Boulabiar put us ahead in the 54th minute, the Tunisian sealing it with an 80th minute penalty. Slavia Prague 1-1 Most (CFC) Valasek Most were our next cup opponents, the home leg first. Valasek gave us the lead in the 23rd minute but we otherwise failed to dominate them as we should have done and were punished with an equalizer right at the death. Nov 2018 Slavia Prague 1-1 Jihlava (D1) Valasek Our winning run in the league came to an end against 2nd placed Jihlava. They took the lead in the 34th minute and we were heading to defeat but we had looked alright in the second-half and got to share the points from a reasonably deserved 79th equalizer from Valasek. Bohemians Prague 0-0 Slavia Prague (D1) We had a far better game at Bohemians than in the opening game but it was very frustrating being unable to get a winner. Most 2-3 (3-4) Slavia Prague (CFC) Juninho (2), Pokorny We had a bit of a left-back shortage for the second leg at Most and had a hole in the right when Neuwirth got a straight red card in the 5th minute. Juninho had already given us the lead and Most not only levelled the scores in the 17th minute but the numbers as well as they had a red card of their own a few minutes later. Young fringe defender Pokorny headed us back into the lead just before the break, which was also a potentially crucial 2nd away goal and we were comfortable afterwards with Juninho getting another, though they did get a consolation with a few minutes left. Slavia Prague 4-1 Banik Ostrava Bochorishvili (2), Zemlik, Boulabiar Banik Ostrava was the last game before the long break but we started very poorly, going behind in the 13th minute and being really lucky that it wasn’t worse. Bochorishvili came on an equalized early in the second-half and Zemlik gave us the lead in the 82nd minute but they still looked dangerous. Boulabiar and Bochorishvili scored in stoppage time to give us a very misleading winning margin and had Banik’s finishing been better the result would have been very different. I thought it would be interesting to show the results for the season so far. We've very much been on a roll since the start of September, though it did look like we were slowing down in the last few games. Had Sparta not been so dominant I'd even be wondering if we could still get ourselves into the title race but I think that ship likely sailed as early as August, which is a pity given we've clearly been showing title-challenging form for a while and it's definitely promising for future seasons. Interestingly we haven't lost a game that Boulabiar's played in (he had some fort of international duty that kept him out of the derby) so hopefully we can keep climbing in the Spring and see what we can do in the cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBeckham Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Nice little unbeaten run there, keep it going mate! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 Nice little unbeaten run there, keep it going mate! Guess how long that lasted after you wrote that? Mar 2019 Mlada Boleslav 1-2 Slavia Prague (D1) Bochorishvili (2) Spring started at Mlada Boleslav, which was a very hard-fought match. Bochorishvili made the difference for us, giving us the lead in the 56th minute and though they equalized, he scored a penalty 10 minutes later to give us the win. Karvina 1-0 Slavia Prague (D1) We went to Karvina who proved to be troublesome once again. They took the lead after 5 minutes and might even have snatched another but otherwise the action was all at the other end. Unfortunately Bochorishvili was horribly off-colour and even missed a penalty before going off, and our unbeaten run ended in the most disappointing way possible. Slavia Prague 4-1 Jablonec (D1) Valasek, Juninho (3) We bounced back against Jablonec, Valasek giving us the lead in the 18th minute. Unfortunately the defence was weak for the rest of the half, allowing them in to equalize after half an hour but Juninho came to the rescue. He scored a brace in the first 15 minutes after the break and completed a hat-trick near the end. Ceske Budejovice 0-3 Slavia Prague (D1) Vesely, Valasek We got a little lucky at Ceske Budejovice as they had an early goal disallowed and an own-goal gave us the head after half an hour. Vesely’s header extended the lead but they got back into the game just before half-time. We had a 3rd disallowed but otherwise didn’t have too much trouble and Valasek gave us one in stoppage time. Apr 2019 Slavia Prague 1-0 Hradec Kralove (D1) 100th Slavia Match! Valasek Hradec Kralove was my 100th Slavia match and we celebrated with a comfortable win. Valasek gave us the lead in the 23rd minute and we really should have got more as we easily dominated, with the exception of a brief late scare that Vyskocil in goal thankfully dealt with. We were bottom of the table after losing to them in our last encounter but now we moved up to 4th! Sigma Olomouc 0-3 Slavia Prague (D1) Valasek (2), Patras The rise continued at Sigma Olomouc with Valasek scoring in the 15th minute. He extended the lead early in the second-half with Patras finishing off a 3-0 win that put us at the head of a 3-way points tie for 2nd. Slavia Prague 1-1 Teplice (D1) Bochorishvili We were good early on against Teplice but somehow managed to fall behind in the 35rd minute. Bochorishvili equalized in the 49th minute but we failed to push on and get a winner. Slavia Prague 1-0 Vitkovice (CFC QF) Bochorishvili Vitkovice were our cup quarter-final opponents, and they put up more resistance than I was expecting in the home leg but Bochorishvili’s 42nd minute goal gave us the advantage in the tie. Slavia Prague 1-2 Slovan Liberec (D1) Srom We played Slovan Liberec in the battle for 2nd, which saw us start well but unfortunately going behind after half an hour. Srom equalized just before the break but they soon took the lead and never really looked like losing it again. Vitkovice 2-4 (2-5) Slavia Prague (CFC QF) Valasek (3), Bochorishvili We comfortably saw off Vitkovice in the away leg, Valasek giving us the lead in the 22nd minute. Unfortunately Boulabiar went off injured and they equalized but still needed 2 more thanks to our away goal and Valasek all but finished the tie off with another goal a couple of minutes before the break. Bochorishvili eventually got a 3rd and Valasek finished off a hat-trick with a penalty though they did get a late second. Sparta Prague 3-1 Slavia Prague (D1) Boulabiar We were a bit of a mess in the away derby, being 2-0 down after just 12 minutes. Boulabiar got a goal back in the 25th minute but they eventually got a 3rd and I felt that a we might have gotten something with a decent showing. May/June 2019 Slavia Prague 7-0 Viktoria Plzen (D1) Valasek (5), Arthur (2) After disappointing back-to-back league defeats we needed a very strong finish to the season to have a crack at 2nd. Viktoria Plzen didn’t know what hit them. Valasek got the ball rolling in the 7th minute, with Arthur extending it by the 15th minute. Valasek went on to get 3 more before half-time with another Arthur header mixed in there. Valasek completed his personal quintet (taking him to 25 goals in 33 games this season) as we won 7-0! SlaviaPrague 4-0 Bohemians Prague (CFC SF) Valasek, Patras (3) I felt we had a decent chance of getting into the cup final with Bohemians as our semi opponents and we pretty much finished off the tie in the first leg. Valasek continued his goalscoring form and gave us the lead in the 7th minute, then Patras took over. The Moldovan winger scored direct from a free-kick in the 12th minute, scored again in the 27th minute and completed a hat-trick in the 78th to give us a 4-0 win, though in truth they were unlucky not to get at least one goal. Most 2-1 Slavia Prague (D1) Valasek Unfortunately we ran aground at Most, tamely going down 2-0 in the first-half and only getting something late on from Valasek. Bohemians Prague 1-1 (1-5) Slavia Prague (CFC SF) Valasek We went behind in the 7th minute in the return against Bohemians, then had goals disallowed from both Bochorishvili and Valasek. The latter managed to level the scores on the night in the 55th minute but we had yet another disallowed to deny us the win. We were still comfortably through to a Prague derby final. Slavia Prague 3-1 Vitkovice (D1) Bochorishvili (2), Valasek Things didn’t go our way early on against Vitkovice as Patras went off injured (unfortunately ending his season) and Vesely was sent off. We pulled through eventually through a quick Bochorishvili brace. The Georgian was denied a 3rd after they pulled one back but Valasek sealed a 3-1 win anyway. Jihlava 1-1 Slavia Prague (D1) Hubnik The morons at the scheduling department struck again and set the penultimate league round for a Monday, just 2 days before the cup final so I decided to keep my attacking powder dry at Jihlava, resting Bochorishvili, Valasek, Boulabiar and the full backs. I ended up having to bring the forwards on anyway in a very messy game, typified by Hubnik giving us the lead just before the break by bundling the ball in after a free-kick. They had an equalizer disallowed but deservedly got one anyway with 8 minutes left, ending our chances of a top 3 finish. Slavia Prague 2-0 Sparta Prague (CFC Final) We had lost both Prague derbies in the league after a pair of mostly uninspiring performances and we needed to do a lot better to make it 3rd time lucky in the cup final. Resting players is something I rarely do because consistency has generally been the better approach for me but I decided to make an exception this time and it seemed to pay off as we were by far the brighter side and despite Arzhanov going off injured (leaving us wingless), Boulabiar set up Bochorishvili to give us the lead after half an hour. They stepped up the pace but so did we and it took just 7 minutes for the Georgian to score again. I was surprised that we were comfortably on top in the second-half as well aside from a late Sparta flurry as we claimed the cup. Slavia Prague 3-1 Mlada Boleslav (D1) Boulabiar, Valasek, Oldoni 4th was the best we could do in the league and we certainly did our bit against Mlada Boleslav. Boulabiar gave us the lead in the 24th minute and Valasek got another 13 minutes later but after he went off injured we suddenly found ourselves under lot of pressure. They pulled one back with 15 minutes left and looked capable of equalizing but the aging Oldoni marked his Eden swansong with a last-minute 3rd, sadly only enough to lift us one place to 5th in the end. I would say it was a case of what might have been in the league, but Sparta were far too dominant. Unfortunately our league form seemed to suffer quite a bit when faced with 2-legged ties either in the cup or in Europe. After doing so well to recover from our bad start I was targeting 2nd or at least 3rd but after touching those positions the resumption of the cup unfortunately saw us fade near the end. Maybe entering Europe a round later next season will help us get off to a better start, as well as having a more settled squad. I don’t want to leave Slavia without getting the title again (which might confuse new readers) but that might prove tricky. Sparta aren’t really much better than us on paper but they’re clearly capable of a consistency that’s far beyond us, at least for the time being. We’ve got an incredibly potent attack (which might admittedly suffer when Boulabiar goes) so if we can tighten up at the back and remain strong even when playing in other competitions than the potential is very much there and having still got the cup, hopefully there’ll be at least a couple more of those where that came from. It’s springtime in the garden of Eden. Star Players: It's hard to choose between any of my main attacking quartet to the point that I very nearly decided not to feature anyone, before deciding to go head with all four. Patras and Boulabiar got 13 goals a 38 assists between them as the supporting cast while Valasek and Bochorishvili got 49 goals (and 11 assists) up front. Unfortunately having hoped that Boulabiar's 'attractiveness' wasn't high enough for a big enough bid for a chairman to accept, it simply meant that I lost him for far less. 1.2M to St. Etienne, half of what he went to Real Madrid for last time and under double his value, WTF Mr Chairman! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 Summer 2019 This summer started off pretty quietly. Boulabiar was unfortunately off early, and for a disappointingly low fee but he’d have plenty of opportunity to play and develop in France. In the other direction was a Ukrainian who I might have signed last year and decided against, but I felt that as a free, a versatile young full-back/midfielder wasn’t the worst of moves, especially if he could work on his tackling. Cheap young defenders seemed to be the cream of this year’s potential signing crop, but up front things started getting complicated. I had spotted a Brazilian forward I liked, kind of like Bochorishvili but with slightly less speed and a bit more technique. With an eye on non-eu limits I decided to let Juninho go, especially as I could get a couple of million for him and his wages take up a surprisingly large chunk of the budget.,plus he had been unsettled for a while. However on the very day a 2M move to Germany saw set to be finalized, Liverpool came in for a bid for the same amount for Valasek and I couldn’t afford to lose both, leading to the cancelation of the Juninho transfer, making him justifiably angrier. Needing another forward I spotted the ideal signing in Belarus but he wanted to stay there to grow further, had a probable medical-failing injury, and wouldn’t have come until January for age reasons anyway. I’d still probably try and move for him again as soon as I could but no go for now. We ended up without 2 of our main attacking 4 for last year and while it didn’t weaken us that much on paper I was worried we’d lost quite a bit of attacking edge, while also needing a much better defensive performance. Expectations were still nice and low at top half so there wasn’t too much pressure from the board to have a strong season but I still had my eyes on being near the top. Signings Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 July 2019 Sparta Prague 3-1 Slavia Prague (CSC) Jose Carlos We started the season against Sparta in the super cup and but were pretty powerless to stop them dominating and they went ahead in the 25th minute. Jose Carlos equalized just before half-time, shortly after coming on but realistically the game was only going to go one way and they got a winner in the 69th minute. Slavia Prague 1-1 Jihlava (D1) Arthur The league got off to a slow start against Jihlava and we went behind in the 32nd minute. We deserved a point from a second-half fightback and got it when Arthur headed in a corner in the 77th minute. Mlada Boleslav 1-5 Slavia Prague (D1) Jose Carlos, Bochorishvili (2), Kalinin We were thankfully a lot better at Mlada Boleslav, dominating from the start and eventually taking the lead from a 28th minute own-goal. Jose Carlos added another a couple of minutes later and though he went off injured (with a hamstring injury that ruled him out for a few months), Bochorishvili made it 3-0. They pulled a goal back on the stroke of half-time but Bochorishvili scored again and Kalinin finished off a 5-1 win. Aug 2019 Slavia Prague 2-1 Inverness CT (EL) Suchanek Inverness were our European opponents and we were very well matched in the home leg. An own-goal gave us the lead after 35 minutes, and though Juninho had another disallowed, Suchanek, one of a couple of promising young forwards we had (very useful in the current situation) gave us that second-goal. They got an away goal in the 73rd minute but despite Hubnik getting a late red card we maintained the aggregate lead to take to Scotland. Slavia Prague 4-0 Banik Ostrava (D1) Bochorishvili (3),Patras We were thankfully coping with the early season demands a lot better than last year, and tore Banik apart with surprising ease. Bochorishvili got a brace late in the first-half, completing a hat-trick in the 60th minute and Patras finished them off in the last minute. Inverness CT 1-3 (2-5) Slavia Prague (EL) Patras, Juninho, Bochorishvili Patras gave us a 12th minute lead in Inverness but they weren’t going to make it that easy. They equalized on the night in the 25th minute but we remained calm and picked them off, Juninho and a Bochorishvili penalty putting it beyond them by half-time. Teplice 1-1 Slavia Prague (D1) Suchanek We were on the defensive for a lot of the game at Teplice and went behind in the 53rd minute. Suchanek was turning into a super-sub and managed to give us a point with a 72nd minute equalizer, even though he’d be out for a few weeks after that. Slavia Prague 2-1 Bohemians 1905 (D1) Vesely, Bochorishvili We went behind in the 2nd minute against Bohemians 1905 but they soon went down to 10 men. We pounded them for what seemed like a week before Vesely finally equalized in the 40th minute. Bochrishvili gave us a 2-1 win in the 53rd minute but it wasn’t necessarily that comfortable. Slavia Prague 1-0 Arsenal Kiev (EL) Vesely Arsenal Kiev was a winnable Europa League playoff draw, and we certainly put them under considerable pressure at Eden but faded away in the second-half. It looked like our chance had gone but Vesely’s header in the 87th minute gave us a deserved win at an undeserved time. Jablonec 1-0 Slavia Prague (D1) Jablonec were always one of the toughest sides to play and it didn’t help that they took the lead from the most embarrassing defensive mess imaginable. Kamenar in goal spilled the ball from a cross, Jurcik attempted a clearance by the goal but it hit Arthur and went in. It ended up being the only goal in a match that had a bunch of chances for both sides but only one shot on target each as no one else really covered themselves in glory either. Arsenal Kiev 1-4 (1-5) Slavia Prague (EL) Bochorishvili, Hubnik, Juninho, Ildemar We hoped to hold on in Kiev, but a penalty right at the start of the match put paid to that. Bochorishvili missed a penalty of our own but gave us the lead of the tie again (and an away goal) with the follow up. A Hubnik header in first-half stoppage time meant they needed 3 goals and a 70th minute Juninho goal put it beyond them, Ildemar wrapping up a 5-1 aggregate win 10 minutes later. Reaching the group stage was always going to be the limit of our ambitions and we got a group of Hoffenheim, Braga and Sampdoria, though only the latter looked particularly frightening. Sept 2019 Hradec Kralove 2-4 Slavia Prague (D1) Kalinin (3), Hubnik We showed no signs of being tired at Kradec Hralove, taking a 3-0 lead in just 17 minutes, a Kalinin brace sandwiched by a Hubnik header. They pulled a goal back but the Ukrainian completed a hat-trick in the 37th minute. We were so comfortable that conceding a second goal barely registered. Tabor 0-4 Slavia Prague (CFC) Kalinin, Patras, Hubnik, Juninho Our cup defence started at Tabor, with Kalinin (who had gone off with a knock in the last game but was otherwise fine) giving us the lead in the 29th minute. Patras and Hubnik made it 3-0 either side of half-time and Juninho capped off a great performance with a stoppage time 4th. Slavia Prague 4-0 Sigma Olomouc (D1) Bochorishvili, Hubnik (2) Sigma Olomouc were up in 3rd but that didn’t stop us when we emerged from the international break. Bochorishvili gave us the lead in the 5th minute, his 7th goal in 8 league games so far this season, with Hubnik and an own-goal making it 3-0 after half an hour. Another Hubnik goal finished off a 4-0 win by half-time. Slavia Prague 2-1 Sampdoria (EL) Patras, Kalinin Sampdoria was a tough opening game for the Europa League group stage, especially with Juninho injured, but not only were we able to match them, Patras gave us the lead on the hour mark. A mad 5 minutes followed where they equalized but Kalinin nudged us ahead again as we just about claimed a great victory! Slavia Prague 4-0 Ceske Budejovice (D1) Ildemar, Guba, Ogar The game against Ceske Budejovice was a slow burner for a majority. Ildemar gave us the lead in the 2nd minute and an own-goal in the 59th minute gave us another. We burst into life late on with Guba and Ogar scoring in the last 10 minutes for deceptively impressive 4-0 win. Brno 1-2 Slavia Prague (CFC) Bochorishvili, Hubnik A trip to Brno in the cup was a bit of a distraction and we went behind in the 10th minute. Bochorishvili equalized in the 25th minute and after surviving a disallowed goal, Hubnik’s stoppage time header saw us squeak through. Oct 2019 Braga 2-4 Slavia Prague (EL) Bochorishvili (2), Kalinin, Patras We went to Braga in the second Europa League game and raced out of the blocks, Bochorishvili giving us the lead after just 20 seconds and Kalinin making it 2-0 after 15 minutes. As expected they came back strongly and scored in the 36th minute but that was quickly followed by Bochorishvili restoring the 2-goal advantage. Things got even better in the second-half as a red card dented their chances of fighting back and Patras made it 4-1 after 70 minutes! I could barely believe my eyes, though a penalty in the 77th minute gave them a second-goal and we had a faint chance of letting it slip but we didn’t. Slovan Liberec 0-0 Slavia Prague (D1) I expected it to be tough going to Slovan just a couple of days after Braga and under the circumstances we didn’t do too badly though neither side really had the advantage and it ended up 0-0. Slavia Prague 4-1 Sparta Prague (D1) Juninho, Bochorishvili, Latsuzbaia, Kalinin Thankfully the international break gave some players a nice rest before the derby. The cup final proved that we could beat them on our day and Juninho gave us the lead in the 24th minute but they levelled it before the break. Bochorishvili gave us the decisive second goal at the start of the second-half, followed by his compatriot Latsuzbaia (a late summer signing), who then set up Kalinin to finish off a great 4-1 win. Hoffenheim 3-0 Slavia Prague (EL) I felt a 3rd Europa League group win was a step too far when we went to Germany and it was clear from the start that the game would only go one way. After numerous chances missed they eventually hit the target twice late in the first-half, and we weren’t able to put up any resistance at all as they eventually got a 3rd. Viktoria Plzen 2-0 Slavia Prague (D1) Our busy start seemed to be catching up to us a little and we fell disappointingly at Plzen. They scored in the 5th minute and we never looked like doing anything, conceding again in the 57th minute. Mlada Boleslav 1-4 Slavia Prague (CFC) Juninho (3), Bochorishvili We went to Mlada Boleslav in the cup, hot off the heels of the Plzen defeat and bounced back in style. Juninho was the star, giving us the lead in the 18th minute, setting up Bochorishvili in the 32nd, getting another before the break and though they had a strong second-half, getting a goal back and looking like scoring another, Juninho finished them off with 10 minutes left. It was a 2-legged tie but we seemed as good as through already. I must admit I was slighty worried at the start of the season, with all the chaos of the summer and two rather poor performances to open the season with, so it was wonderful to suddenly burst into life like that. In contrast to the terrible first few months last year, we've managed keep going very well despite our very busy schedule. Unfortunately we're still some way off Sparta's level even having beaten them but a lot of the squad is still very young so time is on our side and we're almost ready to pounce if Sparta drop off a bit in future seasons. Europe has been the big success of course. It was good enough making the group stage but the Sampdoria and Braga wins have given us a good chance of qualifying, which I really wasn't expecting. The remaining fixtures are sort of in our favour as well, with 2 home games left, against Hoffenheim, which would keep us in the hunt for top if we get something, and Braga, our potential rivals for 2nd, in the last round of matches. Sampdoria have the best squad in the group so I'm not expecting much of the trip to Italy but given the way they've been so far it might not be a total loss. Whatever happens we should get a very good rep and European ranking boost, especially given I don't think we were even seeds for the 3rd qualifying round. However I'm a little worried that fatigue will soon catch up with us which will hit us especially hard in Europe where there's far less room for a drop off in performance so I'm not counting chickens yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 Transfer Update The departures of Boulabiar and Arzhanov left us with virtually no backup for either Patras on the wing or Ildemar as midfield playmaker (and no one suitable coming up in the usual summer search), and as good as they both are, it would be hard to go through the entire season without any alternatives so I was very glad to be offered Latzubaia as another option for both positions, and for so little so I was willing to put up with key player expectations and wage demands to match in order to have that backup available and he's certainly proved to be useful so far. If Zaytsev had been born a week earlier I'd have him already. The Czech window lasts throughout September so when he was getting over his injury I decided to pounce before anyone else could. Had he wanted to come in the summer instead of staying to develop at his Belarusian club he'd have been 750k, this time it was 1.2M (and I wanted to be very generous with the contract to ensure he'd be willing to come this time), which was steep but a) he was good enough to justify it as long as we could spare the funds and b) the forced sales and other factors have left us in a pretty comfortable financial situation, with over 8M in the bank in early autumn so we could easily cope with it. When we played Hradec Kralove I spotted an exciting 16yr old forward who they had on loan from Mlada Boleslav who won't come now but who's definitely another to try and chase up, easily solving the forward depth problem we've had recently. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 A vast improvement, and a good chance of a top three finish Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 A vast improvement, and a good chance of a top three finish Well, we're probably going to need a much better Spring for that. Nov/Dec 2019 Slavia Prague 1-2 Most (D1) Bochorishvili We only had a couple more league games before the winter break (though a few more in other competitions), the first against Most. I was expecting a win but things just kept going wrong. They took the lead in the 23th minute and though Bochorishvili equalized 11 minutes later he had picked up a suspension-triggering yellow and they retook the lead from a penalty early in the second-half. Juninho got sent off and Ildemar injured to round off a bad day. Slavia Prague 0-6 Hoffenheim (EL) Ouch I hoped we could do better against Hoffenheim but once again they were far too strong, taking a 2-0 lead after 15 minutes and getting a 3rd 10 minutes later. A 4th arrived just before the break and a 5th in the 68th minute, immediately followed by a 6th. We were so poor it was painful. Vitkovice 0-0 Slavia Prague (D1) The slump continued at Vitkovice, not helped by Juninho and Bochorishvili being suspended but didn’t excuse being almost completely dominated and failing to get anything at all. Slavia Prague 1-1 (5-2) Mlada Boleslav (CFC) Kalinin We had the Mlada Boleslav tie pretty much wrapped up already, which was probably just as well as we were on the back foot for a lot of the match. Kalinin headed in a Patras cross after 50 minutes but they got a late equalizer on the night. Having just the two European games left gave us the chance to have a bit of a rest. Sampdoria 0-0 Slavia Prague (EL) We were neck and neck with Braga and ahead of our critical final match we went to Sampdoria while they played Hoffenheim and went behind which took the pressure off us a little. We had our share of the chances in the early stages but soon found ourselves on the back foot. We had the occasional chance in the second-half but otherwise had Vyskocil in goal to thank for keeping it 0-0 and ahead of the Portuguese in the group, though we already had a clear head-to-head advantage so it didn’t really make much difference. Slavia Prague 0-2 Braga (EL) We welcomed Braga to Eden on a cold mid-winter Prague night needing simply to avoid defeat but we failed miserably to rise to the occasion. They scored in the 7th minute and we were soft enough to concede another early in the second-half. The game was actually very even chances-wise but aside from a weak defence, Juninho and Bochorishvili were in ‘couldn’t hit a barn door’ mode and a great chance to stay in Europe after Christmas was just thrown away. That was a very disappointing end to 2019 but I'm not that surprised that a busy schedule eventually caught up with us. Under normal circumstances we'd be hoping for 6 points (or at least 4) against Most and Vitkovice, not a single point we were very lucky to get and I'm relieved we were as good as through in the cup already though we might have been able to rise to the occasion and win if there had been much need to make any sort of effort in the second leg against Mlada Boleslav. Going out of Europe was a crushing blow. Yes I'd have been delighted if you'd shown me the final group table at the start of September and it was still a very good European run but to have been in a good qualifying position almost the entire stage and suddenly mess up the final hurdle is always going to be tough to take. Admitedly after winning the first 2 games we only got one point from the remaining 4 but Hoffenheim were far too strong, a draw in Italy was the best we could have hoped for and a decent performance against Braga would still have been enough, shame it just wasn't forthcoming. Making it out of the group would have felt fantastic, especially if we got the chance to play a big side and try and give them a good game. It's an opportunity that will be hard to come by again. Hopefully no more European games and the addition of Zaytsev will help us get our form back up in the second-half of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Heath Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 unlucky in Europe, hopefully you can push on in the league and qualify again Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolanthustrel Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 You started off in the group stage so well, Unlucky. Hope form returns for you in the league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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