A Danish Brondby?! No, what I asked for was.....

[BoxToBox]

36 minutes ago, Sheriff7 said:

Great job mate both with club and USA...Brondby's and Danish league european rankings looks great!!

Cheers!

[BoxToBox]

Never expected the bottom of our group to look like that, well done Sparta! FCK picked up a win against Atletico! We got about as good a draw as possible in the World Cup.

Now, on to a nightmare winter, everyone is trying to force their way out.

[BoxToBox]

One week before a big CL knockout game against Zenit.

This, along with Fisse Mike falling apart, and the best mid we could have recalled from loan at Molde just done his cruicate, trouble. There may have to be a shake up.

[john1]

Nice to see other Danish teams did well in Champions League

[BoxToBox]

Vilfort Day!

Lets see what the man has for us, a centre back and centre mid would be a great help.

*sad trombone*

Well! That's disappointing, but I guess every intake can't be a hit, and he'd given us solid gold so far.

That said, he likes Peter Norgaard, and there's certainly something about him, he's the only one I'll keep, though.

3* isn't bad at all for our level, and he's got a bit of quality. More of an AM or ST, but he can pitch in at CM too. Technically good, hardworking, good shot, naturally fit and a good personality. Definitely something we can work with.

[BoxToBox]

Zenit weren't ever in it. Real Madrid up next...

Few days later, Norgaard has instantly popped to 5* ppa. Might have been a mistake to chuck the rest of the intake. None of them had any good attributes, though.

[BoxToBox]

Didn't think we could do anything with Real Madrid, but the boys thought differently.

Never seen a message like this before, pretty neat.

This happens in every save, with Mourinho. I have no idea why!

Still we managed to get the needed result, and on to the final against Arsenal(we were the only non-English semi finalist, the other was Chelsea).

 

[BoxToBox]

No biggie, just our star left wingback, five days before the Champions League final.

Haven't seen a fixture run like this in FM, in ages.

[oneronaldo]

I took one glance at Norgaard's age and his attributes, and I thought he can't possibly be just a 2-3star potential, he's as well-rounded a 15year old regen I've seen in a while.

[BoxToBox]

5 minutes ago, oneronaldo said:

I took one glance at Norgaard's age and his attributes, and I thought he can't possibly be just a 2-3star potential, he's as well-rounded a 15year old regen I've seen in a while.

Yup, he quickly put that 2-3* daftness behind him, I should have realised it myself looking at his attributes.

[noikeee]

See, I told you it wouldn't be long until you win the Champions League... just one match to go now. Go and destroy Arsenal.

[BoxToBox]

Champions League Final

Whatever happens tonight, there will be a new name etched into the history books. This is Arsenal's third final, second in the last four years.
Arsenal are favourites, but missing some important players, they have immense depth to cover, though. Bernardo Silva joined in January from Real Madrid, which is why he's ineligible.
Brondby are just missing the on player, after Kaper Erikson has recently recovered from a knock just in time for the final(90% condition).

Line Ups

Arsenal are taking some real risks here, playing a quite clearly injured Ridewald(orange inj tag, 70% condition), and Ramsey who's not 100% recovered from a knock(85% condition).
They line up in Wengers preferred 4-2-3-1, with a solid and balanced double pivot, blistering fullbacks and the dangerman Alexis Sanchez on the left wing. He's lost a yard of pace, but is still truly world class, technically gifted, creative, monster shot and works as hard as a box to box mid. Origi up front offers pace and movement for their vast amount of creative players to find with killer balls. Angel Correa is in the unusual position of starting a CL final, but also transfer listed, unwanted by his club. Which is baffling as he is amazing.

Brondby lineup in a slightly more consfervative version of their standard 5-2-1-2 formation, the wingbacks asked to defend deeper, both Berge and Moller asked to play with a little less freedom than usual.
The notable thing about Brondby's team selection is that seven players are from their academy, two(Seppa and Fisker) joined when 16, only Berge and Jansson(who could have guesed when he left a relegated Leeds for Denmark, this is where he'd end up!?!) were already senior players at their arrival.
Olsen is the only real worry, this is his third game in a week, but he's apparently been on extended rest between games.

Kick Off

I'm already wondering how I can exploit the struggling Ridewald, but the players are way ahead of me. Madikane quickly finds Radebe, Ridewald tries to close him down, he send the ball to Fisker, who threads a killer ball for the line breaking Madikane. Near post tap in, Brondby take the lead, 1:09 on the clock.

Wenger makes the strange decision to instantly demand Arsenal go on the attack, chasing the game. Against a Brondby side practically built to counter, this seems risky.

Arsenal quickly move forward, a lazy through ball attempt by Fabinho is picked off by Eriksen, launching a counter, finding Fisker. Fisker moves it to Radebe with just Ridewald to beat. Ridewald can't close him down as he drifts left, top corner! Brondby double their lead, 4:48 on the clock.

Fifteen minutes played, Arsenal still haven't had a shot, Brondby comfortably control possession, and the game.

A few minutes later, Brondy have a throw in, just in Arsenal's third. Seppa finds Moller, who burns forward past Arsenal's defence, squares to Radebe who effortlessly drifts past Ridewald, and rattles the crossbar, should have been three!
Olsen, in for the injured Daniel "Dan" Danielsen picks up the rebound on the edge of the box, moves in, shoots with his weak foot... A massive defelction off Mustafi wrong foots Fruchtl, it is three! 21:57 played!

Half an hour played, Arsenal have had two shots, neither on target, but are clawing back some of the possession.

37 minutes in, Brondby try to find Radebe with a free kick, easily intercepted by Ridewald. Arsenal move quickly, finding Tierney, the Fabinho, to Correa who switches play to the OX. He bursts forward only to be picked off by Olsen. Brondby eat up yards at a similar pace to Arsenal. To Erisken, to Holm, to Radebe, lays it off for Fisker, who finds Olson on the wing, he crosses it, Radebe with a poachers effort! It's four-nil! 37:20.....

Half Time

Arsenal have evened up in possession, and taken more shots but mostly reckeless potshots from distance.
Arsenal ring in the changes, Michael Keane for Ridewald(why didn't he start? Ridewald was in no condition to play...) Will Hughes for Bellerin, looks like Fabinho moves to right back.

51 minutes, Vlad Dragomir on for Angel Correa.

60 minutes, Arsenal look far more competitive and in control, but struggle to break down Brondby's iron defence.

65 minutes, Arsenal attack down the right wing, but a cross takes a wicked deflection off the unaware Holm, straight to Fisker's feet, who then launches to Radebe splitting their defence. He shoots, and and is parried for a corner, Fruchtl forced him too far right for a lefty, but that counter is there all day for Brondby. Fruchtl handily collects the corner.

74 minutes, and John Drake uses all his subs. The Borg comes on for an exhausted Olsen who'd given everything for his team tonight(and all week, the cup final was just 3 days ago!) Looks like Eriksen goes to LWB and Borg to CB. Kare Erisken also gets a run out for the tired Fisker, and Mike Jensen comes on for Moller, in what may be his final game for the club, the Brondby hero having faded a great deal over the season after a nasty hip injury. If so, what a way to bow out!

From here, the game peters out, Arsenal still unable to get past Brondby's resolute defence, Brondby in turn comfortable with letting the clock run down.

Mercifully, the ref gives but one minute of extra time. Which Arsenal use to launch one last free kick into Brondby's box, hoping for a consolation goal to save their blushes. It's handily cleared, the ref blows his whistle, Brondby are European champions!

 

I wish the youtube vids could be centred....

[BoxToBox]

58 minutes ago, noikeee said:

See, I told you it wouldn't be long until you win the Champions League... just one match to go now. Go and destroy Arsenal.

Cheers! Done!

[noikeee]

4-0 by half-time.  I mean, come on, this is just silly now...

[BoxToBox]

3 minutes ago, noikeee said:

4-0 by half-time.  I mean, come on, this is just silly now...

Seriously though, they played an injured guy at 70% fitness, man marking a player who is basically Lukaku but faster and a better shot.

[BoxToBox]

Season Review.

Football, bloody hell! I know I said I wanted to progress past the first knockout rounds, but I didn't expect to go the whole show and batter Arsenal in the final to boot! Capped off a wonderful treble.
Oh, and Solbakken did leave FCK midseason, not sacked but poached by Leicester.

EDIT: These were very important league and cup wins, 16th and 10th, respectively, making Brondby the leader in both competitions.

Preliminary Phase - Champions Group - Cup - Europe

On to the World Cup.

[deltablue]

Nice and convincing win against Arsenal.

[mark1985]

amazing result!!!      Well done mate

[BoxToBox]

5 minutes ago, deltablue said:

Nice and convincing win against Arsenal.

 

2 minutes ago, mark1985 said:

amazing result!!!      Well done mate

Cheers guys!

[kidthekid]

Amazing stuff. Especially with the challenges you set up for yourself to make the save harder.

Could I ask a tactical question. Do you notice any significant difference between your wingbacks when played in the DM slot vs when played in the FB slot?

[BoxToBox]

1 minute ago, kidthekid said:

Amazing stuff. Especially with the challenges you set up for yourself to make the save harder.

Could I ask a tactical question. Do you notice any significant difference between your wingbacks when played in the DM slot vs when played in the FB slot?

They track back sooner, defend deeper, the centre backs defend narrower, and the whole defence defends as a flat back five rather than a wide three with the two wingbacks in front,

 

[BoxToBox]

Here, you can even see the difference on a kick off.

This is a normal game, with the centre backs wide and wingbacks high. @Keano16 looking at this, my wingbacks are much higher than yours sit, I honestly thought they were much closer!

 

This is the final, against Arsenal, you can see how much narrower the centre backs sit, and the wingbacks a yard deeper. If we were in a defensive situation, they'd drop in line with the defence, where as in the above they'd defend a bit further forward.

[Bitner]

Congratulations on the European trophy. What next now?

Cheers,
Bitner 

[BoxToBox]

[BoxToBox]

1 minute ago, Bitner said:

Congratulations on the European trophy. What next now?

Cheers,
Bitner 

Cheers, I have no idea what'll happen now.

[kidthekid]

That's awesome. So is there any disadvantage in playing them in fullback slot. I assume the attack may suffer, but I'm not sure if the fullbacks are fast enough

[BoxToBox]

1 minute ago, kidthekid said:

That's awesome. So is there any disadvantage in playing them in fullback slot. I assume the attack may suffer, but I'm not sure if the fullbacks are fast enough

It might just be my imagination, but I believe they're more likely to be in position to intercept switches of play and passes to wingers when they're in the wingback slot. They'll attack just as much, that's no issue.

The main thing I guess, is that you may want the centrebacks to spread wide for whatever reason. In my case, I'm trying to leave space to encourage the Libero to have a roam forward.

[ManUtd1]

Incredible run in the Champions League, man! Truly impressive!

[BoxToBox]

9 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said:

Incredible run in the Champions League, man! Truly impressive!

Cheers!

[BoxToBox]

World Cup 2022

Big surprises in the group stages as England, Portugal and Germany fall at the first hurdle, Mexico would normally be a surprise if only for being in a group with Germany and Uruguay.

We ended up having a magnificent campaign, in the end. If the squad just had a tiny bit more depth, or even if some Serb clogger didn't scythe through Acosta and injure him for five weeks ruling him out of the rest of the tournament, we could have done something special. I fancied a crack at Spain since we beat them in the Confederations Cup final.

Still, we somehow pipped Argentina to third!

Might leave the job now though, not sure if it'll be possible to progress any more, quite a few of the squad are old, and there's a bit of a dropoff in quality beyond them.

[ManUtd1]

Great World Cup run, man! It is a shame that you came so close...3rd is a massive achievement.

What's next, having conquered Europe and done so well with the States?

[Keano16]

2 hours ago, BoxToBox said:

Here, you can even see the difference on a kick off.

This is a normal game, with the centre backs wide and wingbacks high. @Keano16 looking at this, my wingbacks are much higher than yours sit, I honestly thought they were much closer!

 

This is the final, against Arsenal, you can see how much narrower the centre backs sit, and the wingbacks a yard deeper. If we were in a defensive situation, they'd drop in line with the defence, where as in the above they'd defend a bit further forward.

You lied to me! 

And in regards to the CL win, just **** off.

I don't suppose you want to take over Ireland? (Pretty please....)

[Benjoe]

Wait. Did that **** just happen by 2022? 

Jesus ****ing christ. Impressive work, and happy you've done it with Brøndby! 

I would imagine loads and loads of tifos would have been made in your honor had this all happened irl.

But with all these great players in your team from Scandinavia and Denmark is the only team who qualified, and they didn't even get points at the WC.

Who is managing DK?!

Great work with US and A. Getting real tired of praising you. Please fail sometime, ye?

Edit: And South Africa didn't qualify either so no WC action for Radebe

 

[BoxToBox]

1 hour ago, ManUtd1 said:

Great World Cup run, man! It is a shame that you came so close...3rd is a massive achievement.

What's next, having conquered Europe and done so well with the States?

I have no idea what to do now. No idea.

That said, I'm not bored of Denmark or anything, but just winning more stuff with Brondby won't make for an especially interesting thread.

1 hour ago, Keano16 said:

You lied to me! 

And in regards to the CL win, just **** off.

I don't suppose you want to take over Ireland? (Pretty please....)

I was tracking Ireland, but never got a message the one time it was available! Now they're quite happy with Mick McCarthy. Just happy they made it to the World Cup. Like real life, heh.

1 hour ago, Benjoe said:

Wait. Did that **** just happen by 2022? 

Jesus ****ing christ. Impressive work, and happy you've done it with Brøndby! 

I would imagine loads and loads of tifos would have been made in your honor had this all happened irl.

But with all these great players in your team from Scandinavia and Denmark is the only team who qualified, and they didn't even get points at the WC.

Who is managing DK?!

I certainly never expected it this year, especially without Fransson, but Madikane stepped the hell up and dominated in every CL game.

I am appalled by Denmark. I, and most especially Kim Vilfort have given then the spine of a world class side, Per Olsen, Kasper Erisken, Morten Moller, Jeppe Olsen, Casper Holm, and of course Sebastian Fisker who came through at Nordjaelland before we developed him and Michael Enevoldsen from Lyngby. That's just at our club.

In fact, add them to existing top talent.... Andreas Christiansen, Jannick Vetsergaard, Simon Kjaer(admittedly at the end of his NT career), Christian Eriksen, Kasper Dolberg, Pione Sisto, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Andreas Cornelius,  Yussef Poulsen.

That's a squad that should give anyone a game! Yet they lost all three games 0-1, and have been playing Andreas Christiansen as a right back, Yussef Poulsen as a right mid in a flat 4-4-2. Ridiculous.

Their manager is Brondby icon Lars Olsen, that starts off managing the Faroe Islands, joined in 2018.

1 hour ago, Benjoe said:

Great work with US and A. Getting real tired of praising you. Please fail sometime, ye?

I'll try and suck more.

Wait..... that doesn't sound right....

1 hour ago, Benjoe said:

Edit: And South Africa didn't qualify either so no WC action for Radebe

It's a shame, bit him and Madikane are the only two really high level players they have.

That said, he's scored 34 goals in 52 games for them and they've won the ACON.

[BoxToBox]

That's the list of countries that chucked their manager after the world cup.

[Keano16]

1 hour ago, BoxToBox said:

That's the list of countries that chucked their manager after the world cup.

Are you looking at any in particular? 

[BoxToBox]

11 minutes ago, Keano16 said:

Are you looking at any in particular? 

Nah, none are clubs that would fit in with what's going on at Brondby. I'd go for almost any of them, if I was managing a club in their country or had an open transfer policy. As it stands now, I'd only go for Ireland or Denmark.

EDIT: Ideally, if the Ireland job was available, I'd want an open market to bring a few of them in too....

[Keano16]

It's up to you man, it's your save. Obviously I'd love to see you take Ireland should the opportunity arises but Denmark is equally as intriguing with all the talent.

[BoxToBox]

Oh, I'd take Ireland either way, just saying it'd be best if I could have a few of their talents in my squad.

It's why I have Cork City as a feeder club, but none have come through our intakes yet.

[Benjoe]

6 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

That said, I'm not bored of Denmark or anything, but just winning more stuff with Brondby won't make for an especially interesting thread.

I beg to differ.  We just need you with Denmark too!

6 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

I am appalled by Denmark. I, and most especially Kim Vilfort have given then the spine of a world class side, Per Olsen, Kasper Erisken, Morten Moller, Jeppe Olsen, Casper Holm, and of course Sebastian Fisker who came through at Nordjaelland before we developed him and Michael Enevoldsen from Lyngby. That's just at our club.

In fact, add them to existing top talent.... Andreas Christiansen, Jannick Vetsergaard, Simon Kjaer(admittedly at the end of his NT career), Christian Eriksen, Kasper Dolberg, Pione Sisto, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Andreas Cornelius,  Yussef Poulsen.

That's a squad that should give anyone a game! Yet they lost all three games 0-1, and have been playing Andreas Christiansen as a right back, Yussef Poulsen as a right mid in a flat 4-4-2. Ridiculous.

Their manager is Brondby icon Lars Olsen, that starts off managing the Faroe Islands, joined in 2018.

That adds up to quite the insanely talented team tbh. I don't know how all the different players you named have developed in game but I know enough from real life that they should be really nice players in their late 20s.

It was a tough group to be fair I guess, but they should have done better no doubt. Lars Olsen is an icon at Brøndby - but his managerial antics have not been too impressive so I am not really surprised. They need to fire him asap. 

1 hour ago, BoxToBox said:

It's a shame, bit him and Madikane are the only two really high level players they have.

That said, he's scored 34 goals in 52 games for them and they've won the ACON.

Ah, fair. I would've thought they'd produce something other than your two boys. How are they both looking anyways? 

1 hour ago, BoxToBox said:

I'll try and suck more.

Wait..... that doesn't sound right....

[BoxToBox]

1 minute ago, Benjoe said:

That adds up to quite the insanely talented team tbh. I don't know how all the different players you named have developed in game but I know enough from real life that they should be really nice players in their late 20s.

It was a tough group to be fair I guess, but they should have done better no doubt. Lars Olsen is an icon at Brøndby - but his managerial antics have not been too impressive so I am not really surprised. They need to fire him asap. 

 

You have to be able to do something with that. At least be able to keep a few clean sheets.

10 minutes ago, Benjoe said:

Ah, fair. I would've thought they'd produce something other than your two boys. How are they both looking anyways? 

[john1]

Wow!! Congrats on winning the Champions League

[BoxToBox]

Cheers!

[Benjoe]

Cheers for all the screenies, @BoxToBox!

With that squad at Lars Olsen's disposal it is really some achievement to perform that bad.

The possibilities are many with those players.

Per in goal, obviously. Just look at him. 

Three man defense. Kasper-Andreas-Jannik with Andreas' taking the ball out of defense into midfield. 

Two aggressive wing backs with Jeppe being the left one, and someone on the other side, Peter Ankersen probably. 

In midfield you can either use Casper Holm or Pierre beside Morten Møller in midfield - Møller would control the **** out of that team. 

And then have a trident of terror in front: Dolberg-Eriksen-Fisker. 

Jesus ****. That is brutal.

Also Radebe should really have been given a Danish passport a loooooong time ago. 

[BoxToBox]

Rasmus Nissen Kristensen is about the best right back I can find, you you could play aggressively with that three man backline, and use a winger as a wingback, like Jacob Brunn Larsen. Or Ankersen, as you say.

[BoxToBox]

Mini clear out. There was one more striker I wanted to sell, but no offers came in, and I wasn't devaluing him by transfer listing him.

Something suspicious about the media dream 11.

Arsenal, of course! Not a group to worry about, though. FCK got a nasty one.

Sadly Nordsjaelland didn't make it to the group stages, but it was kind of done when they drew Barcelona in their playoffs.

Gave 'em a fight, to be fair!

I guess they got an alright group, I mean if you can give Barca a rattle, surely you can challenge Basel and Rosenborg? AaB are screwed, mind...

[BoxToBox]

Kristinsson, Wang and Enevodsen are promoted to the first team. Note that the staff are worried about Wang's touch......

Mijailovic is not promoted but covering for Dan Dan Dan's broken leg, he's wrong footed, but that's better than broken.

 

[jambos1990]

sensational season! Outstanding progression in such a sort time! Inspires me to keep my Norwegian dream going! And that champions league run! some incredible results! All you need is the Denmark job!

[BoxToBox]

8 minutes ago, jambos1990 said:

sensational season! Outstanding progression in such a sort time! Inspires me to keep my Norwegian dream going! And that champions league run! some incredible results! All you need is the Denmark job!

Cheers! Definitely keep at it in Norway! 

[Benjoe]

8 hours ago, BoxToBox said:

Rasmus Nissen Kristensen is about the best right back I can find, you you could play aggressively with that three man backline, and use a winger as a wingback, like Jacob Brunn Larsen. Or Ankersen, as you say.

I'd go for one of the latter two. Feel like Nissen is too defensive for that wing back role. In a four man backline he would be my pick, however. Not that this all matters as long as they got Lars Olsen ruining the Golden Age.