Thomas van den Leeuwen - Making De Godenzonen The Kings Of Europe Again

[tomtuck01]

Thomas van den Leeuwen - AFC Ajax - March 2020

Eredivisie

Four wins from four and we'r now just one win away from clinching another title.

Feyenoord came to Amsterdam at the start of the month for De Klassieker and we gavem them a thumping. We ent ahead in just the thirteenth minute, Queensy Menig sweeping home Joost Hodselmans - making his first Eredivisie appearance - pass. A nice little passing move led to Ezra Walian doubling out advantage on the half-hour, Hodselmans again providing the assist. Before halftime it was three when Walian slid Anwar El Ghazi through on goal and he made no mistake. In the second half we sat back and controlled things, only adding a fourth with nine minutes to go when Timothy Fosu-Mensah headed in Donny van de Beek's cross. A resounding win. An away day at PEC Zwolle followed, and we scored a comfortable 3-1 win. Daley Sinkgraven fired us infront in just the fifth minute, and Queensy Menig soon made it two-nil, tapping in a low cross from Mitchell Dijks. Zwolle got one back soon after, but young Brazilian Gabriel Fernando rounded off the scoring soon before the break, going past two men before calmly finishing into the bottom corner. AZ Alkmaar travelled to Amsterdam next, and gave us a decent game, but we saw off their challenge well enough. An early goal from Ezra Walian of coure helped us along, but AZ put us under alot of pressure and were quite fortunate to lead at the break. Twelve minutes into the second period and our nerves were calmed thanks to Queensy Menig tapping in after a scramble from a corner. 2-0 the final score, and ultimately routine enough in the end. We finished the month off with a trip to The Hague to face ADO. It wasn;t our best performance of the season, but we came away with all three points. In just the second minute we fell behind, but we hit back int he 21st minute thanks to a header from defender Damon Mirani. Before halftime we got the goal that proved to be the winner, Anwar El Ghazi curling home a tremendous freekick.

Title number six in a row (for me personally, ten for the club), is almost upon us. A win at home to NAC in our next game and it's ours!

Champions League - 1st Knockout Round, 2nd Leg

We somehow pulled it off!

Trailing 2-0 from the first leg I knew this would be an uphill struggle. We also had a few players out, so much so that youngster Tolga Duman, who realistically doesn't have a future at the club, made his debut. The decision to field the younster paid off, as he smashed home a volley in the 27th minute to nring us right back into the tie. Chelsea of course bossed most of the proceedings, but Duman again provided on his debut, whipping in a freekick that was struck home by defender Damon Mirani. To extra time it went, both sides having chances, but no goal was forthcoming, and to penalties it went. In the end we won the shootout 12-11, goalkeeper Stan van Bladeren making the crucial final save to take us through to the quarter finals.

A seemingly impossible 2-0 win on the night, and victory via penalties. Just thrilled.

[Rikulec]

Great comeback in the Champions League.

[tomtuck01]

Great comeback in the Champions League.

Thanks. Bit fortunate really, as Chelsea are much stronger than us and had a hell of alot of chances over the two legs.

[Northernpilgrim]

Great win over Chelsea! They've been a pain in the arse for me on my save

[tomtuck01]

Great win over Chelsea! They've been a pain in the arse for me on my save

Cheers. Always hate coming up against them.

[tomtuck01]

Usual understated "priase" from the board. Why don't they love me more?

Usual love from Marco van Basten.

[tomtuck01]

Thomas van den Leeuwen - AFC Ajax - April & May 2020

Eredivisie

April & May

A solid end to the season, if not particularly spectacular.

We secured the title in our first game of April, just about, as January signing Ahmed Kamel scored his first goal for the club in the 93rd minute. We weren;t at our best, and indeed goalkeeper Mickey van der Hart was man of the match. Still, the 1-0 win was enough - job done. Groningen then came to Amsterdam, and we saw them off by two goals to one. Queensy Menig put us 1-0 up in the 25th minute, and soo after Timothy Fosu-Mensah put us 2-0 up. Groningen pulled a goal back early in the second half, but we did just enough to secure the win. We then travelled to PSV and we came away with a point. PSV took the lead early on, but two goals in three minutes from Ezra Walian and Queensy Menig put us ahead at halftime. PSV drew level twenty minutes into the second half, and both sides had chances to win there after, but a goal was not forthcoming. Late on Daley Sinkgraven was sent off late on for a second bookable offence, but it mattered not. For the final game of the season Go Ahead Eagles came to Amsterdam, and after a poor first half which saw us miss a penalty and trail at the break, we came out on top after some harsh words at halftime. Substitute Didier Traore made an immediate impact, drawing us level in the 48th minute and putting having the shot that led to a 50th minute own goal that put us infront. Fifteen minutes later Nikolai Laursen wrapped up the win, blasting home from close range.

Another title, and the second time we had gone the season unbeaten.

Champions League - Quarter Finals

April

Disappointing, very disappointing.

Monaco dominated the first leg, but we created chances though we were eventually edged out. We fell behind in the 21st minute, but four minutes before halftime we equalised through Ezra Walian. Monaco though grabbed the winner though seventeen minutes from time. In the second leg Monaco dominated possession but we had the better chances. A goal was not forthcoming though and we went out 2-1 on aggregate.

[tomtuck01]

Only thirteen trophies in six years...thought I'd won more than that.

[deltablue]

Bit of a bummer going out to Monaco, unless that have a particularly strong side.

[tomtuck01]

Bit of a bummer going out to Monaco, unless that have a particularly strong side.

They have some seriously good players, but after losing the first leg just 2-1 I really thought we'd get the job done.

[tomtuck01]

Thomas van den Leeuwen - AFC Ajax - Season Review 2019/20

Eredivisie

Results 1 - Results 2

Final table - Champions

Title won by thirteen points and a second unbeaten season. Can't at all complain!

We won eleven of our first twelve games, but PSV kept pace with us in those early stages, and indeed as late as twenty games into the season they were just three points behind us. Through February though PSV dropped points, winning just three out of six games and we pulled away, eventually winning the title on April the fourth. By the end of the season we'd scored as many goals as last season, conceding three less.

With the unbeaten season we're now 52 games unbeaten, needing to go thirteen unbeaten at the start of next season to break our record of 64.

KNVB-Beker

Eliminated in Quater Finals

Very poor, and in six seasons we've won just one domestic cup.

We didn't play particularly well against Capelle in the second round, but two goals in the space of seven half minutes were enough. In the third round we comfortably beat Montfoort, with youngster Marcus Bengtsson scoring twice. Willem II gave us problems in the fourth round but we saw them off, but Utrecht did for us in the quarters, and deservedly so.

Next season we have to win it - we haven't done so nearly enough.

Champions League

Eliminated in Quater Finals

Another quarter final elimination - our third in six seasons.

We navigatd a difficult group in sound style, topping it with thirteen points ahead of both Inter and Atletico who finished on ten. The highlight was definitely beating Atletico 3-2 away from home thanks to a Queensy Menig hattrick. In the first knockout round we faced Chelsea and managed to overcome them via a penalty shootout - it really was some feat after losing the first leg 2-0! Monaco did for us in the quarters saddly - we were utterly toothless in the second leg when all we needed was a 1-0 win.

This isn't going to get any easier - sides like Monaco have some great players, whereas all our best lads are lured to the bigger leagues so early.

Other Information

Squad Stats - Transfers - Finances

(A further ten players left for free upon the expiration of their contracts on July 1st 2019).

Just daft amounts of players used this season - the squad will be trimmed this summer one way or another. Saddly much of that will be down to players wanting to leave for bigger league where there is more money on offer.

As usual we made good profit in the transfer market, securing a profit of over £50million. Not quite as large as in previous seasons, but we didn't sell quite as many big players as we have done in previous seasons.

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Three Season Transfer Income/Expenditure

Time for my little sub-section here before I mention the finances as we're at the end of our second three year transfer period. If you are unaware of what I am on about, then go back to the very first post of the thread and look at the "Rules" section; 5. Make profit on transfers over every three year period (2014-2017, 2017-2020, etc). So here we are...

Expenditure; £53.67million - Income; £327.4million

Difference; +£273.73million

A super period for the club in the market, making a staggering profit over the last three years. I can't imagine the next few seasons will bring such big profit as many of our massive players have left the club in these last three years.

--------------

Our balance sheet is around £30million better off than this time a year ago, but we had fewer big mone sales that in the summer prior to the 2018/19 season. Can't complain though, the club is in great shape.

Player & Young Player

Of The Year

Alexandre Pato

A great season for Pato, and god how we missed him later on in the season when we missed vital Champions League games against Chelsea and Monaco through injury. He turnes 31 early next season so will doubtless begin to slow down a bit. Maybe one more season or two from him.

Henrik Liereng

Not spectacular, but for his first season in the first team he did very well when called upon. Hopefully we can keep him for another couple of years or so yet before the inevitable offers from the Premier League in England come.

What Next

Players will be leaving. Clubs from bigger and better leagues seem to be looking at my players when they are now barely 21, whereas a couple of seasons back I was able to hang on to my star youngsters until they were 23/24. So maximise our sales income and bring in the next raft of youth.

[tomtuck01]

A super season from The Duck. Pity he missed a fair few games through injury.

A few years ago I never imagined he would be my first choice, but now he's firmly the clubs number one. Such a high accolade for him.

[tomtuck01]

Nice random message from the board - I didn't even ask for any work doing. The board knows.

[tomtuck01]

Thomas van den Leeuwen - AFC Ajax - Season Preview - 2020/21

Board Expectations

Eredivisie - Title Challenge

KNVB Beker - Win it

Champions League - Not expected to progress past group stage

Johan Cruijff Schaal - Not important

Personal Expectations

Eredivisie - Win it, obviously

KNVB Beker - Win it for a second time

Champions League - Get to the quarters

Johan Cruijff Schaal - It's against ADO, so not fussed

The boards expectations beggar belief. We've made it to the quarter finals or beyond of the Champions League four times in six seasons, and have won the title every season. Why such low expectations in both competitions now? Ludicrous. I on the other hand expect more. This season we may be losing a few players, but I still expect to win the league and make it to the Champions League last eight. The board can go sod themselves.

Budgets

Transfer: £445,471,648

Wages: £2,501,654 p/w (Currently spending £579,775)

Balance: £369,732,090 (+£46,309,866)

Well, these are fun amounts. Hopefully the balance can go towards a new stadium in the future as it's not doing much else!

[tomtuck01]

Come on, give it to me!!!

[tomtuck01]

Thomas van den Leeuwen - New Job (July 2020) - The Netherlands

Name: The Netherlands (Holland in-game)

Nickname: Oranje

FA Founded: 1889

Stadium: Amsterdam ArenA (53,052 - 52,960 seated)

Was always gong to take this job if offered it. It was the only other job I was prepared to take on during this save, with even other international jobs not interesting me. Indeed, even after this summers European Championships Italy offered me the job as their national manager, but I was never remotely tempted.

As of yet the draw hasn't been made for qualifying for the 2022 World Cup - that takes place in January 2021. However, I am unsure if we will have to participate in the qualification process as we are the current World Cup holders.

In the mean time, we have the UEFA Nations League to play in. In our mini group we have Spain and Greece, with the first game against Spain at home. Before that though we face South Africa in a friendly.

KNVB Expectations

UEFA Nations League Division A - Reach semi-finals

Personal Expectations

UEFA Nations League Division A - Be nice to win

[dllu]

As of yet the draw hasn't been made for qualifying for the 2022 World Cup - that takes place in January 2021. However, I am unsure if we will have to participate in the qualification process as we are the current World Cup holders.

Only the hosts qualify automatically (same as with the EURO), so you will get plenty of not-completely-pointless games the next two years...

[tomtuck01]

Only the hosts qualify automatically (same as with the EURO), so you will get plenty of not-completely-pointless games the next two years...

Haha thanks for that.

[deltablue]

You didn't know that?

[tomtuck01]

You didn't know that?

I knew it had happened recently in real life, but by 2020 it might have been changing and implemented in game!

[dllu]

To be fair, there has been talk of expanding to 40 teams and giving one of the extra spots to the defending champions, but if those speculations had been coded into FM, it would have been quite the easter egg...

[tomtuck01]

To be fair, there has been talk of expanding to 40 teams and giving one of the extra spots to the defending champions, but if those speculations had been coded into FM, it would have been quite the easter egg...

Certainly be getting ahead of themselves a bit!!

[tomtuck01]

Well this was annoying, but we were able to arrange another friendly for the same date - Iceland at home.

[b101]

Really enjoyed reading through this yesterday evening - you're doing an incredible job, especially with all the selling you're having to do. I'm not sure I could have made myself adhere to that so rigidly! Out of interest, have any of your ex-players gone on to become world-beaters?

Keep it up!

[tomtuck01]

Really enjoyed reading through this yesterday evening - you're doing an incredible job, especially with all the selling you're having to do. I'm not sure I could have made myself adhere to that so rigidly! Out of interest, have any of your ex-players gone on to become world-beaters?

Keep it up!

It has been hard at times to stick to it - especailly with so much money in the bank and knowing a three or four big signings could take us to European glory. But in all honesty that is part of the fun. (Need to be slightly sadistic to find that fun, mind!).

Hmm players that have turned into world beaters? Richairo Zivkovic was only with me for the first season and a half, and after a poor spell at Barcelona he is finding his feet at Chelsea. His record for the Netherlands is a staggering 37 goals in 42 caps.

Regen Niels van Zanten is great too. Since joning Milan in 2018 he has scored 39 goals in 80 apps. Not bad for a kid who is still only 21.

Apart from those two, no one has really excelled elsewhere, but there are quite a few who have played under me in my Dutch squad.

[DavidBeckham]

Good to see you take the Holland job! How many Ajax players are in your first squad?

[tomtuck01]

Announcement

Saddly this save is no more.

After updating to Windows 10 neither the original save or the back-up will load. Very annoying as a couple of newer saves I have made load fine, but the Ajax ones do not. It's even more annoying as I was enjoying the constant rebuilding I was having to do in my quest to win the Champions League.

A bit dejected to be honest.

[tommer]

Announcement

Saddly this save is no more.

After updating to Windows 10 neither the original save or the back-up will load. Very annoying as a couple of newer saves I have made load fine, but the Ajax ones do not. It's even more annoying as I was enjoying the constant rebuilding I was having to do in my quest to win the Champions League.

A bit dejected to be honest.

Balls

[Cocu]

This makes me sad.