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[FM18] The Dynamics of telling you to shove your transfer request up y- a journeyman career


noikeee

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September 2029


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The fun is back. The goals are back. I said **** it, threw away the 4-2-3-1 completely (at least for this month), and went back to the 4-4-2, making it even more attacking. The result is entertaining. We might be conceding, but we're scoring, a lot, and lead the Premier League for now. That being said, we've had a very easy calendar so far, and we lost the only time we faced a real challenging team, Spurs away, with Dylan Beale murdering us scoring three times. And we've had some silly tight escapes, like away at Cardiff, having to turn the match in the 2nd half.

In the Europa League, we also had to turn it around against a feisty Ingolstadt, but a surprisingly inspired Emmanuel Mercier helped us with a hat-trick; and in the League Cup we kicked it off by smashing Leicester. Stoke away are next, not the most comfortable draw.


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October 2029


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On the league there is a blip here. We smashed Villa (with a poker by 80M€ signing Simon Hopkins!), but against an effective Chelsea that scored 2 early goals, we had to risk things and equalized only to then be terminated later on; and almost did the exact same against Southampton but managed to at least hold on to the 2-2 scoreline. That's lost points twice and we drop to 3rd, but I remain optimistic.

The fun was in the Europa League with two huge away wins, there is little doubt we should win our group. In the League Cup it was a bizarre tie against Stoke, extremely difficult and tight for a long time, but in the 2nd half of extra-time we suddenly scored 3 South American goals - Brazilians Caio César and Victor Hugo, and Colombian Óscar Navarro qualifying us for the quarter-finals.


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Hopkins is on the running! I reckon Tetteh (amazing form for Utd), Kane (ridiculous player) and Herrera (current Ballon d'Or, killed us in the CL last year) all are ahead in the pecking order, but could we have a Derby player in here?

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November 2029


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This is decent! We utterly smashed both Leicester and Swansea, but were a little fortunate to get a point from Liverpool, not our finest performance. Nevertheless we remain just 1 point behind leaders Man Utd and... West Ham. I have no idea why West Ham, they're not particularly strong on paper.

In Europe, another two big fat 4-0 wins qualify us for the next stage and our record is just ridiculous at +20 goal difference. And we're yet to play Qarabag at home.


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12 hours ago, Fosse said:

The only times Derby ever beat us are on your save :D

Don't think you beat Derby often these days when they're in a different division. :D

15 minutes ago, Ninza said:

Is is it possible to see your coaching setup?

Yeah no problem I can put some screenies later when I'm home, but I'm not sure any of that is particularly interesting? I just hire as many good coaches as I can, improve the facilities as often as I can, and click on "assign training by assistant manager". On match preparation I train "teamwork/attacking/defensive" depending on whether I think I'm favourites for the match or not, and just train "balanced" most of the season. In pre-season I'll switch to "team cohesion" and "match tactics".

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10 minutes ago, noikeee said:

Don't think you beat Derby often these days when they're in a different division. :D

Yeah no problem I can put some screenies later when I'm home, but I'm not sure any of that is particularly interesting? I just hire as many good coaches as I can, improve the facilities as often as I can, and click on "assign training by assistant manager". On match preparation I train "teamwork/attacking/defensive" depending on whether I think I'm favourites for the match or not, and just train "balanced" most of the season. In pre-season I'll switch to "team cohesion" and "match tactics".

Thanks, just started to read your post today and makes me wanna do a journeyman save

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18 minutes ago, Ninza said:

Thanks, just started to read your post today and makes me wanna do a journeyman save

Welcome to the dark side. We have cookies. It's lots of fun, I promise. :) 

Although by now I'm not even sure I'm doing that much of a journeyman anymore. I'm already on my 7th Derby season. Ideally, I'd love to stay until we finally win the Club World Cup. Being out of the CL this season, that means the earliest we can possibly do that will be 2 years from now. That's 9 years of Derby, minimum. :D So much for travelling the world club to club.

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The Europa League round of 32 draw:

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We are one of the favourites for the competition so really cannot be afraid of any team here, but this was one of the easiest we could've got. Also good for us to see many of the bigger sides facing each other this early (Southampton-Napoli, Sevilla-Tottenham, Valencia-Milan). I'm not too fussed about the Europa League but the board is demanding that we reach the final, so we must put in a decent effort here.

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8 hours ago, noikeee said:

Yeah no problem I can put some screenies later when I'm home, but I'm not sure any of that is particularly interesting? I just hire as many good coaches as I can, improve the facilities as often as I can, and click on "assign training by assistant manager". On match preparation I train "teamwork/attacking/defensive" depending on whether I think I'm favourites for the match or not, and just train "balanced" most of the season. In pre-season I'll switch to "team cohesion" and "match tactics".

Here's a couple of screenies on that, not sure if this is what you wanted to see @Ninza

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December 2029


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It wasn't a great start to December with a defeat away to Palace, but the rest would go just great, and with a difficult calendar. We got a routine win over relegation-threatened Arsenal (!) and then the key would be the next 3 fixtures - a win away over West Ham would let us leap ahead of them in the table for 2nd; a draw away to Man City with a 88th minute Spruit equalizer was decent enough; and then the truly big game: Derby v Man Utd. 3-0 win for us and we shoot up to 1st! And we still just about hold on to 1st going into 2030, but it took a 92nd minute winner away to West Brom in a very tough match.

In the EL, a 5-0 win over Qarabag let us finish the group with a silly goal difference of +25; and we also had the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Man City. This was solved very early - a very inspired Warren Jenas (a Derby County youth product, remember) got a hat-trick within 11 minutes and would still score a 4th. We continue but will have to face Man Utd in the semi-finals, yet another 2 explosive matches to play for against our title rivals in January.


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Tactics review


 

You guys remember this 4-4-2 setup from a few years ago? I first developed it in Russia, then with Derby it took us all the way from the Championship to the Premier League title:


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(screenshot from 2 seasons ago)
 

This was great but there were problems. First, it was too open, too unstable to play away from home, so by the time we won the Premiership I was already only using it at home, switching to the 4-3-3 away. Second, after I won the Premiership, teams played even more defensive against us, and this system started to struggle to break teams down even at home. So I ended up... not playing the 4-4-2 at all, for most of last season. It would be a season of frustration, walking around in circles tactically, and eventually heading down a 4-2-3-1 blind alley (not to mention how uninspiring that bog standard system was).

But I decided to bring it back now. With a vengeance. And if you look at the Premier League table, with Derby now in 1st place, it seems to be working:
 

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This 4-4-2 is what we're playing now, at home. It's... not that different. But crucially there's a couple of details here that make a difference.

  • the fullbacks are instructed to stay wider (PI), to gain us some width. This contrasts with the "much narrower" TI and looks seriously different on the pitch. The FBs now give us a much freer passing outlet down the wings, that helps breakdown parked buses immensely.
     
  • to encourage using them, I've added "look for overlap".
     
  • Inverted wingers are back, for both flanks. the IW/A on the left and the IW/A on the right were what I had from the beginning, but I lost my way experimenting with tweaked WM/A roles specifically for Maes and Fratucello. They may be classic wingers but do just fine with IW roles. With the return of the IWs and the wider FBs, and the team told to look for overlap, we gain a very nice dynamic of recycling the ball to the wings, then it's passed back to the IW which cuts inside with it, then back to the wings, etc. This back-and-forth easily confuses the opposition defences, freeing up space for deadly through balls, fed mostly to the strikers.
     
  • I've ditched "short passing". With 2 CMs, 2 inverted wingers, and 2 strikers on support, the team already naturally combines short enough in front of the area without this TI. Plus this is now the zone parked buses love to occupy. I don't want to limit my side to look only for combinations in this crowded area, if we can stretch play more directly.
     
  • I remain conflicted whether to use CF/S or CF/A. Sometimes, against teams that come at us and push the lines higher, CF/A is clearly better, the through balls into crazy-quick forwards like Hopkins or Navarro on this role are absolutely devastating. Other times, against teams that are not compact, the CF/S dropping off is very handy. I'm keeping the support duty as default for now, but often switch.

There are issues though, this new version is much better at breaking down parked buses, hence our superb record at home this season, since we switched to it. But it's still unstable against attacking sides, we obviously give away a ton of space with no DM, 2 attacking fullbacks, attacking mentality and high pressing. So I'm yet to click perfectly with a tactic for playing away from home, but there's a couple of options.


First, there's the good old 4-3-3, as I've shown a few times:

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For whatever reason, even if this setup has given me excellent results away from home both with Derby in previous seasons, and with both Juve and Milan in test throw-away FMT saves, this no longer feels as effective. I've started many away games with it this season and have struggled in almost all of them, invariably switching to the 4-4-2 or variants of it. Which is why I've started developing a tamed down version of the 4-4-2... which I just used to smash Man Utd (it was at home, but against an absolute top side, so fullblown all-out-attack mode wasn't appropriate):
 

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So this 4-4-2 with DMs is what I'm considering my new main away tactic. It feels very @smp20 like, doesn't it? With the MCs dropped off to the DM line, the fullbacks on support instead of attack, we intend to limit the opportunities we give the opposition, without sacrificing our gameplan and general intent. It's still not quite super perfect - it's slightly less effective than main 4-4-2 going forward, and in certain games we still concede a lot of chances with this -  but it's definitely a useful tactic. I've experimented with Control mentality instead of Attack, and it very much DIDN'T work, we seem to lose the soul of it. Experiments with "push higher up" instead of "close down more" (to improve defensive stability without retreating back too much), have looked a little more promising.


Finally, there's a little twist on the 4-3-3 that I retain on my arsenal, and puzzlingly, despite being so similar to the 4-3-3 I shown above which isn't working anymore, it can be absolutely DEVASTATING. But only on specific circumstances.


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This is the exact same 4-3-3... except the FBs are now FB/D - FB/S instead of FB/S - WB/A; and the striker is CF/S instead of DLF/A. On a normal day, this isn't particularly any different. However I keep this absolute gem of a tactic for the dying minutes of a match.... specially when the AI lose their cool and decides to switch to an "attacking" tactic. Narrow 4-3-3? Attacking 3-4-1-2? 3-4-3? Ha ha. I get a smile on my face any time the AI switches to such things. Because this one, with the cagey fullbacks, and the naturally stable structure this formation has, is strong enough defensively to face those crazy attacking formations and survive most of their waves of attacks. But then it packs one hell of a punch on the counter... it's a secret for how we've scored so many late goals. Just ask West Brom, how did their switch to attacking 3-4-1-2 go in the final match of 2029. 92nd minute goal for us, wasn't it?

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Ballon d'Or 2029

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Germany and Man Utd's Samuel Tetteh gets his first Ballon d'Or (after coming 2nd to Kane 3 years ago), an entirely deserved award as his goals fired them up to the Premier League title last season - ever since Allegri arrived at the club, they've played a 4-1-4-1 whose attack relies exclusively on Tetteh, and he has delivered immensely under these responsibilities. Darío Herrera might feel slightly aggrieved that he missed out on retaining the award, he was astonishing last year on his first season in Serie A and completely assassinated us on the Champions League semi-finals (even if Schalke would then beat them on the final). A broken foot that has kept him out of competition since October, probably cost him.

But the real news here is A DERBY PLAYER MADE THE TOP 3!!! Simon Hopkins was very obviously helped by the 80M€ move from Swansea to Derby in the Summer, to gain the media profile needed to feature here. But he has looked superb these first few months at Derby, performing a formidable striker partnership with Óscar Navarro. He has an astonishing 15 goals and 17 assists in 20 appearances for the club, and deserves this recognition - perhaps to cheer him up whilst he sits out January with an injury.

World Player of the Year was the exact same top 3.

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January 2030


 

(Transfers)

A homegrown player leaves us on deadline day. I spent most of January trying to get a deal for any of my unwanted players, but selling Kristian Bradley wasn't expected. This centre-back from the Derby County academy had broken into the first team quite a few years ago, but as the club moved on, he became a mere backup... except he was a useful backup, occupying a homegrown player spot. However, when Swansea came in with a 29,5M€ bid, potentially reaching 34,5M€, plus 35% of next sale profit, for a player that over the course of the last 4 seasons, I had only given him 3 league appearances? I had to accept. Specially when the club actually needs cash: we were dangerously close to a negative bank balance, due to the high wages we're paying, the astronomical transfer fees we paid in the Summer, and the lack of Champions League prize money this season.

Danny Johnson YP24B was also loaned out. This defensive midfielder was once a highly promising player, but doesn't seem to be going anywhere now...

 

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We kicked off the year great with another truly excellent month, even missing Simon Hopkins (and Nikola Zikic) for most of it, as we clear out all league matches. Wins over Stoke, Boro, Everton, Spurs, Bournemouth and Brentford have kept us in 1st place, but a very strong Man Utd does not let us escape very clearly, and remains just 3 points behind. Nevertheless I am very encouraged by this form, specially the 3 away wins!

In the cups, we started our FA Cup run beating Swansea fairly easily (MK Dons are our next opponent), but then there was an explosive League Cup semi-final tie against the current superstrong version of Man Utd. And they nearly killed us already in the 1st leg at Old Trafford, but crucially Erwin Spruit got us an away goal in injury time to take back home. We still had it all to do, but a Simon Hopkins returning from injury made an immmediate impact, scoring one and assisting another, and we're into the final for the 2nd year running (although I have NOT won this trophy yet!), to face this year's surprise team in England, West Ham.

 

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9 hours ago, Ninza said:

Arsenal in the relegation zone, that's crazy

Their slow fall from grace has really been quite astonishing, because it just seems to keep going worse and worse. At this point they're becoming one of the most interesting teams in the game world I could take over after Derby,  even - could be really fun to build them back up. But I'm not sure I can stomach continuing in England for that long, I think a change of scenery post Derby into another league would be better.

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Europa League 1st KO round (round of 32)

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The trip to Austria was annoying because for the first, and so far only time this season, we failed to score. We were properly FM'd there after having comfortably dominated the match. A slightly dangerous result to take back home to England, but there the Red Bulls were more like pale docile cows and failed to attack us at all, whilst we smacked them with 4 goals.

As for the next round...

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We're facing my childhood club! No time for sentiment here, I am a professional. This is, sadly, a good draw - Porto have had a very poor time throughout all the years of my career, and even only finished 5th last year in the league, although they seem much stronger this season, now managed by former Real Madrid star striker Fernando Morientes.

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 Youth intake 2030


 

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We've got a genuinely promising striker here in Kevin Edwards, I can see him reaching Premier League level! But the rest looks pretty poor tbh. Maybe centre-back Billy Doyle might have a little more potential than is being communicated to me here.

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February 2030


 

(Transfers)

Through February the transfer window was still open in Russia... and so I dispatched Caio César to Krasnodar for 32,5M€. I am sad to sell a player that just 2 years ago had a superb debut season in England scoring 25 goals and starring in the Champions League final. He was versatile and dependable - even last year, with our crap form, he got double digit numbers for both goals and assists. It may even be a pretty low fee that we're getting here. However, we just had too many attackers, he fell down in the pecking order, and didn't have the correct English passport for homegrown registration purposes. And was starting to stir up **** by missing training repeatedly.


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No more big wins with lots of goals in the league this month, but these results have suited me well enough. Even if we lost points to Villa, the wins over Cardiff and Chelsea (a very difficult match) helped us increase our lead at the top, as Man Utd trip up twice. We now have a 6 points lead!! Starting to smell the sweet fragrance of glory at the other end of the tunnel here...

In Europe we beat the tame bulls, and in the FA Cup neither MK Dons or West Brom posed much of a problem, even if both matches were away. We're also playing away, to Norwich next, not much of a problem in theory as they're on the Championship.


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Carabao Cup final


 

It's yet another cup final for Derby! Can I actually win a cup in England for once, after having lost the 2028 and 2029 FA Cup finals, the 2028 Community Shield, and the 2029 Carabao Cup final? (last year). Our opponents this time are Unai Emery's West Ham, a team having a surprisingly strong season. They do not have a particularly outstanding squad, but started the Premier League season on amazing form, and still remain in 5th place there.
 

Here's the teams on the pitch today:

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I'm picking my routine "strongest 11" for this season, this features Spruit and Victor Hugo on the wings as players that will naturally search for narrower positions in the field, although I'm seriously starting to wonder if we're better off with good old Maes and Fratucello who have been in stellar form! Even if I'm using them as inverted wingers, an un-natural choice for players that prefer to run wide. I retain them both on the bench if necessary. Starting on the regular, more aggressive 4-4-2, with MCs.

 

Minute 1: GOAL FOR DERBY COUNTY! Straight from the beginning Victor Hugo takes advantage of a set piece insistence.... but oh no... IT'S RULED OUT FOR OFFSIDE! Let's calm down for a minute here, it's still early!

 

Minute 11: And I've got to use a sub already. Zikic has a knock, Özdemir comes in for him in midfield.


 

Minute 26: PENALTY FOR DERBY!! A West Ham defender has been naughty in a corner and the ref points to the spot!!!





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Óscar Navarro will take it... I'm not confident... he's missed a few sometimes...







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GOAL FOR DERBY! 1-0! The keeper guesses it but has no chance when it's a missile to the top corner!!






Minute 33: GOAL FOR DERBY!! 2-0!! Suddenly the two fake wingers burst into space and Spruit crosses low for Victor Hugo to put us 2 goals up!!

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Minute 39: Counter for West Ham... Tammy Abraham is free... GOAL FOR WEST HAM!!! But no! Again, RULED OUT FOR OFFSIDE!!





Minute 41: It's a corner for Derby.... passed back to a lurking Bastianini.... back to Spruit who had taken the corner.... crosses for Navarro, GOAL FOR DERBY!!! 3-0!!!

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Half-time: I almost feel bad for West Ham. They're defending well, but we've been freakishly effective with our few chances - and their defensive stance has let them down going forward, too. The match looks over already. Am I finally winning my first cup in England?

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Minute 46: It's a corner for us.... the ball is recycled around... back to a lurking Bastianini again... he shoots in a great position!! Tipped over the bar!!



 

Minute 57: It's a controlled, patient attack for West Ham... Jensen and Abraham switch passes in front of the area... Abraham drives one in!!!! Tipped wide by Barrancos!!!

 

Minute 59: Another corner for us on the right wing... Spruit takes it.... Özdemir on the near post unmarked!!! High up!!!! Massive chance wasted!








Minute 75: A subbed-in Warren Jenas releases Navarro... he's half free down the wing and shoots!!! Tipped wide, great save!! Almost the hat-trick for the Colombian forward!!



Minute 78: The fans pay their respects for Erwin Spruit who comes off for Warre Maes. Superb performance from the Dutch striker-turned-winger, with 2 assists today.




Minute 81: Victor Hugo drifts inside and releases Navarro down the wing.... crosses to Jenas in the keeper's area!! Heads it straight at the keeper!!





Minute 88: Attack for West Ham... from one wing to another from Vermeulen to Djerlek!!! Straight at Barrancos!! The minutes are passing and West Ham is running way out of time to come back from 3 goals!













Full time: DERBY COUNTY WIN THE LEAGUE CUP!! At last, I win a cup in England!

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Also, I have become a Derby "icon". :cool:

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To be fair, it doesn't seem difficult to be a icon here. Even Caio César, who I just sold and who was here for just 2,5 years, is one too. Quite a lot of players from my era here, from "legends" Spruit and Maes, to icons Mason Bennett and Caio César, to favoured players Fratucello, Navarro, di Nolfo and Adams.

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4 minutes ago, Borussia Teeth said:

Things are looking good. Any job offers recently?

Not really, I think the fact I signed a 3 year contract at the end of last season turned interested clubs away. But I don't really mind, not looking to move right now at the moment, as long as I keep gaining reputation it's fine. ;) 

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1 hour ago, ManUtd1 said:

After all, what's the Champions League when compared to the almighty Carabao Cup?!

Well, it was definitely harder for me to win the Carabao. Been playing it for like, what, 7 years? I won the CL at the first try! 

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Europa League 2nd KO round (round of 16)
 

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Our trip to Portugal to play in THE MOST BEAUTIFUL STADIUM IN THE WORLD (if cold and windy, though) resulted in the confirmation that, sadly, the club I've loved is now a pale shadow of its former glory. Easy 3-0 win to take back to England, led from the beginning with a couple of early goals. And back home, we just repeated the same result - this tie was never even remotely in danger here.
 

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And we're facing... another team I knew well from years gone by. I met Kobenhavn a couple of times when I managed Naestved in Denmark - I never ended up managing in the Danish top level, but we seemed to always draw them on the cup. Kobenhavn might look on paper quite possibly the least reputable team left in these quarter-finals, but do have at least 2 or 3 freakishly good players, so it should not be a total walkover.

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Uh, I thought I was safe from crazy calendars this season, apparently not, just check out our April. Have you ever seen back-to-back European 1st and 2nd legs, within the same week? Wtf is UEFA smoking?

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It might get worse, I'm about to play Norwich in the FA Cup, if we beat them (which we should), there's an extra FA Cup semi-final in here somewhere.

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March 2030

 

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A perfect month! It was almost all clean sheets too, but we had to concede a 87th minute goal against Liverpool - still beat them, though. That was one of the 2 league matches we had in March, the other being a quite emphatic 4-0 away win over Leicester. We're only 5 points ahead of Man Utd now... but with 2 games in hand. Win those 2 games and essentially we have one hand on the PL trophy already.

The rest is going pretty smooth too. Porto on the Europa League? No problem, 3-0 3-0. Norwich on the FA Cup? Possibly our least impressive performance in months, but we scrap through to the semi-finals, winning a chance to get revenge over Spurs (they beat us in this competition last year on the final). Oh, and we won a cup this month, too. My first in England. Sorry for actually giving importance to the Carabao Cup but I was starting to think I'd NEVER win that. Or any domestic cup in England.

 

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Europa League quarter-finals
 

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Tuesday at home started amazingly well with 2 goals in the first 10 minutes, but quite frankly, the end result was poor for what we had done - we had the chances to score 10 or more, yet won by just 2 goals and conceded an away goal. And we also lost Matías Bastianini for the rest of the season. So I went to Denmark 2 days later cautious and pessimistic... and then it turned into the massacre the first leg should've been.
 

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It's a somewhat unusual semi-final opponent in Rennes, who are not known to go deep in European competitions, and only last year finished in the French league top 6 for the first time in almost 20 years - but the French league is on the rise. Still, we should be favourites again.

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22 hours ago, john1 said:

Surprised no top clubs in Semi Final (ie Sevilla etc)

Yeah this does seem like a somewhat weak semi-final lineup. Even more so when you look at last year, when PSG won this competition.

The biggest teams all got knocked out in one way or another. Atlético was beaten by Real Sociedad; Valencia beaten by Milan who got beaten by Benfica; Napoli was beaten by Braga; Sevilla beaten by Tottenham who got beaten by Rennes; Rennes also gunned down Lazio, etc.
 

16 hours ago, DavidBeckham said:

Good draw in the Europa League! Absolutely destroyed your quarter-final opponent as well. I would put money on you to win it mate. Good luck!

Thanks, we kind of have the responsibility to win this, we're by far the biggest club remaining.

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April 2030


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A difficult month, that started with an absolutely shocking defeat! We had been undefeated at home from the beginning of the season (in all competitions!), and nothing indicated a routine league match against Palace would end that. But it did, and it threw us into a bit of a mini-confidence crisis, but we just about dodged most of the bullets in the league the rest of April - barely beat Southampton, lost points again to Arsenal, got the winner over West Ham only in minute 90, and then a slightly easier win over Swansea. 

We have 3 points over Utd and 1 game in hand as we approach the very end of the season. If we beat West Brom and Bournemouth in the next 2 Premier League fixtures we're as good as champions, but if we don't, things could get tricky - the last two fixtures are Man Utd (A), Man City (H)...

In the Europa League we smashed Kobenhavn en route to the semi-finals, and there was still time in this month for another semi-final, now in the FA Cup against Spurs. And we.... lost!! No revenge for last season's final defeat, instead Spurs stun us again. We conceded early in the 1st half, and looked tired and uninspired for the rest of the match, missing several decent chances and then an absolutely clear one-on-one for midfielder Carlos on minute 91. I was kinda hoping we could sweep all competitions this season, but there shall be no quadruple - this is still not the year I win the FA Cup.


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Europa League semi-finals


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The first leg was getting a bit ridiculous, much like against Kobenhavn we had chance after chance after chance and seemed unable to score them.. until finally we started doing it in the 2nd half. We were well on course for a big 4-0 win when we condeded an away goal just to ruin our mood. 

Thankfully it was still too much of an advantage for Rennes to realistically overcome, and as soon as we went one goal up in France the tie was over. Later in the 2nd half things got seriously crazier as lots of goals went in, but ultimately we won again and reached our second European final.
 

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However Benfica are not necessarily opponents I want. Well on course for a 5th consecutive title in Portugal, they are a solid side, and can hurt us, particularly since in recent weeks we seem vulnerable, possibly due to the super-intensive, super-attacking system we play starting to weigh on the players' legs. We're favourites again, but winning the final is far from guaranteed.

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Premier League - Round 37


 

Welcome to an absolutely explosive Premier League match at Old Trafford, as Manchester United host Derby County. After Derby's defeat to Bournemouth last Tuesday, the league table stands like this:

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Derby have a 3 point lead over their opponents - if they win today, they are champions. However, after the Bournemouth match, things have now completely opened up - if Man Utd win, they would still be behind in goal difference (unless they win by 4 goals or more), BUT Derby face an also very strong Man City side on the final day, so anything could happen.

Moreover, Derby seem very tired and out of form after an extremely busy calendar in recent weeks, and several injuries. Today, the only missing player is Matías Bastianini. Derby line up with Barrancos; Carlos César, Albu, Petcu, Baroncelli; Özdemir, Zikic; Victor Hugo, Maes; Navarro, Hopkins. In a 4-4-2DMs formation.




Minute 2: GOAL FOR MAN UTD! 1-0! Oh dear, terrible start for us. A cross from the right by Sönke Aey is finished by lone striker Robert Duffy. I immediately switch to the 4-4-2 version with MCs.

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Minute 28: GOAL FOR MAN UTD!! 2-0! We look a pale shadow of peak Derby County of just a couple months ago, and let in one in a set piece. Justin Kline's header smothers the ball down for Nenad Ilic to fire it at goal with success.

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Minute 30: GOAL FOR MAN UTD!! 3-0!! Robert Duffy does it all on his own dribbling past a couple of defenders and firing into the back of the net! We're being humiliated! One more goal and Man Utd goes into the actual lead of the table on goal difference!

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Minute 37: GOAL FOR MAN UTD!! 4-0!! Alex Pinto's cross finds Duffy for his 3rd of the day!! Man Utd are into first! What on earth is going on here!

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Minute 47: GOAL FOR DERBY COUNTY!! 4-1!! Our only second shot of the match, with Victor Hugo winning the byline for Hopkins to tap in! This may actually mean something as we're back to 1st place in the Premier League table!!

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Half-time: Wow, this is an absolutely catastrophic first half. It seems unlikely we could bounce back from this and salvage a draw or win, however every goal counts - Hopkins just put us back up to 1st again. We absolutely cannot afford to lose by any more than 3 goals.

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Minute 56: Second yellow for Nikola Zikic! Red card! We're down to 10 men!! I take off an awful Óscar Navarro and bring in midfielder Carlos.










Minute 80: GOAL FOR MAN UTD!! 5-1!! Oh dear, just another 10 minutes and we would've held on, now Utd are back up to 1st. Alex Pinto's cross is volleyed in by Nicolás González at the far post.

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Full time: This completes one of the biggest disasters in my whole career. We had such a huge advantage a couple of weeks back, but it's Man Utd's league now.

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Premier League - Round 38 - final day


 

Derby County v Man City. Southampton v Man Utd. We can still be champions, but need to win by 1 goal more than Man Utd. I honestly have very little hopes, the team has fallen into a morale abyss and I really think I made a mistake going attacking all season long. The last few weeks, it looks like we're late into every challenge on the pitch, and need twice as many chances to score. The intensity is taking its toll.

Nevertheless, let's see what happens. Lining up with: Barrancos; Baroncelli, Petcu, Albu, Carlos César; Özdemir, Carlos; Maes, Fratucello; Hopkins, Navarro.






 

Minute 22: The news come in. GOAL FOR MAN UTD!! Southampton 0-1 Man Utd, scored by Robert Duffy. Our match is looking tight and we need to win by 2 now...









Minute 41: GOAL FOR DERBY COUNTY, 1-0!! City have looked very dangerous the last few minutes, but we score against the run of play! Carlos César's cross is met by an accurate Warre Maes!

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Minute 42: GOAL FOR DERBY COUNTY, 2-0!! Maes again!! Navarro's cross from the right finds the Belgian winger who does not miss. As it stands, Derby County are again top of the Premier League table... on goals scored.

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Half-time: Derby 2-0 Man City. Southampton 0-1 Man Utd. I did not see this coming, as it stands we're champions. BUT, any goal will change this again. And Utd have the easier opponents.

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Minute 50: Oh no! The news come in that Duffy has scored again! GOAL FOR MAN UTD, 0-2!! They go back top again...











Minute 58: GOAL FOR DERBY COUNTY, 3-0!!! It's a quick counter, Navarro releases Hopkins and the Welsh striker puts us back top! It swings back to Derby again!! With still 32 minutes remaining....

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Minute 65: GOAL FOR MAN UTD, 0-3!! Bloody hell, that man Duffy yet again!! We were only top for 7 minutes as Man Utd overtake us once more. Things just keep on swinging back and forth in this crazy Premier League final day!!





























 

Minute 81: GOAL FOR DERBY, 4-0!!!! It's Hopkins who retributes the favour and releases Navarro for the 4th goal!!! Unbelievable, it swings yet once more, and now Derby are top again!!! 9 minutes remaining!!!

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Minute 92: GOAL FOR MAN CITY, 4-1!!! Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. The scenes at the iPro Stadium in Derby!! Man City has just given Man Utd the title!! It's a hopeful shot by Sidnei Lopes in a counter, totally out of the blue!

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Full time: We lose. But wow. What an absolutely insane finale. I'm gutted. At least that was exciting. But we have absolutely no business losing this title after the massive advantage we had a few weeks back. 

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