Kafra FC 2020

abulezz · January 18, 2020

SEASON REVIEW 2026/2027

TEAM REVIEW

Very happy with how this season went, having jumped from 12^th Place to 8^th Place from last season to this one. Our offense was good again, having placed as the 4^th Best team in the Premier League, and our defense wasn’t the worst! We managed to beat 2 other teams defensively and placed as the 18^th Best (Worst) team in the Premier League. Overall, the team exceeded my expectation, and although I am disappointed we managed to throw away our chance at a European qualification spot (we were in the mix of things up until the last month or so), I am not upset at how things played out. I am encouraged for the future, especially as we are now starting to develop some real quality players like Chamberlain and Milton.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

RIGHT WINGER - James Chamberlain (2023), 20 Years Old: 37 Apps, 9 Goals, 13 Assists (2^nd in PL), 4 PoMs, 44 Chances Created (1^st), 72 Key Passes (13^th), 2.19 TpG, 5.54 DpG (4^th), 52% Shot Target, 7.35 AR (12^th)….Chamberlain winning his first Kafra Player of the Year award was bound to happen sooner rather than later, and this was the fateful year. Our first ever “Wonderkid” was a revelation this year, he set career-highs with 13 Assists and 7.35 AR, adding to an already impressive set of numbers for this season. He continues to refuse to sign a new contract (it expires 2029), declaring the club isn’t big enough to match his ambitions. We have 2 years to prove him wrong, as I really don’t want to lose what has been the most talented player the Kafra Youth Academy has given us so far this save. Rating: 8.5/10

DEFENSE

GOALKEEPER - Aidan Connolly (2019), 24 Years Old (4 Caps): 38 Apps, 2.24 Con/90, 1 Clean Sheets, 7.05 AR….Despite less than solid numbers, his 7.05 AR points to how good he’s been for us. We have the 18^th worst defense in the league, yet he still manages to deliver 7.00+ AR, which is quite an accomplishment. One of our most talented players, he renewed his contract at the end of the season to keep him with us until 2032. Rating: 7/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - John Morris (2022), 22 Years Old: 35 Apps, 3 Goals, 2.27 TpG, 97 Interceptions, 20 Key Tackles, 57 Shots Blocked (1^st in PL), 40% Cross Completion (1^st), 6.80 AR….Yes, Morris was first in the entire Premier League with his 40% Cross Completion rate! Very weird statistic, but I’ll take it nonetheless. Overall, Morris regressed slightly (6.90 AR to 6.80 AR), but he remains a solid foundation piece for us in the back. My staff believe he is currently of a PL-level talent, and although his talents are probably better suited at full-back, he is currently our most talented CD, as well. Rating: 6/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - John McPake (2019), 24 Years Old: 32 Apps, 2 Assists, 2.77 TpG, 102 Interceptions, 23 Key Tackles, 27 Shots Blocked (4^th in PL), 6.76 AR….He had a significant fall in form (6.93 to 6.76 AR) this season that affected his play, to the point where I even sat him for a few games as he was not playing well at all. He’s been solid for us over the past few years, but this was probably his worst season since 2021/22. He has now played 305 League Games for us, and he is not in immediate danger of losing his starting spot yet, but I hope he picks it up again next year. Rating: 6/10

MIDFIELD

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Alexis Milton (2020), 24 Years Old: 37 Apps, 6 Goals, 9 Assists (10^th in PL), 3 PoMs, 37 Chances Created (2^nd), 67% Pass Ratio, 82 Key Passes (9^th), 104 Interceptions, 2.27 TpG, 1.56 DpG, 7.28 AR….Playing with the new contract he wanted behind him and signed, Milton bounced back this season and was one of our best players. He has become our highest paid player by a long shot (£100K per week) and is our 2^nd highest valued player after Chamberlain at £30.5M. He was dangerous with the ball at his feet going forward, and his 67% Pass Ratio, while not impressive, was a good improvement for him over last season. He is one of the few Premier League talents we have on the squad, and he is a vital part of our midfield. Rating: 7.5/10

LEFT WINGER - Martin Breen (2019), 24 Years Old: 36 Apps, 11 Goals, 13 Assists (2^nd in PL), 4 PoMs, 36 Chances Created (4^th), 48 Key Passes, 62% Pass Ratio, 58% Shot Target (9^th), 2.40 TpG, 3.64 DpG, 7.25 AR….Breen took what I said about him last season to heart apparently, because he gave us his finest season in the Premier League thus far. His 7.25 AR was his highest since he registered 7.44 AR in 2020/21 when we were still in the League One. He was a much more efficient player this season and was amongst the most dangerous passers in the league, as witnessed by his 13 Assists and 36 Chances Created. Very happy with how his season turned out. Rating: 7.5/10

ATTACK

FORWARD - Michael Flynn (2019), 23 Years Old (Scotland: 39 Caps/19 Goals): 37 Apps, 25 Goals (2^nd in PL), 11 Assists (7^th), 6 PoMs (3^rd), 25 Chances Created, 1.82 DpG, 50% Shot Target, 7.48 AR (6^th)….Not only has he become one of Scotland’s primary players, he was also one of the best players in the entire Premier League this season. He was 2^nd in the PL in scoring, but he also delivered 11 Assists, easily his highest mark since we got promoted to the PL. His 7.48 AR was a career-high, bringing his career average to 7.34 AR to go along with his 311 Career Apps and 179 League Goals. Rating: 8/10

FORWARD - Aaron Dennis (2019), 25 Years Old: 37 Apps, 22 Goals (3^rd in PL), 7 Assists, 4 PoMs, 82% Pass Ratio, 67 % Shot Target (1^st), 2.26 DpG, 7.30 AR….Aaron Dennis is one of those players that is always seemingly underappreciated, but the facts and the numbers point to him being just as vital as Flynn over the course of his career to the club. In fact, he has more Goals (186) over his career, and his 7.28 AR career-average is almost on par with his more famous partner up front. He was the 3^rd highest scorer in the PL this season, and he scores his goals with high efficiency, as witnessed by his 67% Shot Target ratio. Overall, he continues to be a great asset to the team. Rating: 8/10

HOT PROSPECTS

LEFT DEFENDER - John Wrigley (2023), 20 Years Old: 35 Apps, 1 Assists, 4.81 TpG, 82 Interceptions, 20 Key Tackles, 38 Shots Blocked (2^nd in PL), 6.64 AR….Wrigley hit a hard wall in terms of development this season – the stagnation is real. He is not the long-term answer for us at the position, and he regressed noticeably this season (6.78 AR to 6.64 AR). I am already actively looking for solutions to replace him despite his young age as it is now obvious he won’t live up to what was one his supposed potential.

FORWARD - Paul Jordan (2024), 20 Years Old: 20 Apps, 2 Goals, 1 Assist, 82% Pass Ratio, 64% Shot Target, 6.79 AR….My coaching staff are still very high on him (5/5 PA), but he not proven to be a threat up front for us yet. This was his first year with us after spending two years on loan, but he did not impress. Considering he is now out of his teenage years, he needs to show us good progress in both form and attributes to continue to remain part of the first team. He is a very similar player to Dennis, who is ironically the player he is competing with for minutes.

RIGHT DEFENDER - Graham Clarke (2024), 19 Years Old: 34 Apps, 2 Assists, 4.89 TpG, 128 Interceptions (6^th in PL), 23 Key Tackles, 22 Shots Blocked (11^th), 6.80 AR….Continues to improve, to the point where he was actually one of our best performing defenders this year. He might be a right-back by position on the pitch, but his talents are more suited for the CD position. He’s done well for us over the past couple of years, and I am excited to see if he can take his game up one more notch.

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Chris Atkinson (2025), 19 Years Old: 29 Apps, 2 Assists, 12 Chances Created, 37 Key Passes, 78% Pass Ratio, 5.76 TpG (4^th in PL), 6.90 AR….He has put in work on the training ground over the past 2 seasons, and it shows in his encouraging improvement in his attributes. Now the question is – how good can he get from here? I don’t think there is much doubt that he is going to be a good player at this level, but will he be able to transcend and be a star for us? He has one glaring weakness and that is his Attacking Movement with the ball going forward, despite having good Passing and Vision. Historically, we see a 3^rd year jump in terms of form, so hopefully this happens for him.

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Lyndon Wordsworth (2025), 18 Years Old: 25 Apps (14 Starts), 58 Interceptions, 7 Key Tackles, 5.47 TpG (14^th in PL), 6.82 AR….Is he the future for us at the CD position? He very well might be after impressing this season. He has a high TpG average – a rarity for CDs in my system – and he was consistent enough to register the highest AR out of all my CDs. He has not replaced McPake as a starter yet and he will still start the season as our first CD option off the bench, but I have my eye on him.

RIGHT WINGER - Tyrone Phillips (2026), 17 Years Old: Phillips was sent out on loan to Preston in the League One during his rookie year, and he registered 3 Goals and 6.85 AR in 14 Appearances while there. He showed encouraging improvement in his attributes – the only problem is he plays in the same position as Chamberlain, and I don’t see Phillips developing to be as good as him. Still, the talent is there, so it will be intriguing to see his development and how good he can get over the next few years. He has already been capped by the England U19 team.

FORWARD - Kevin Hislop (2026), 18 Years Old: I sent him on loan to Cardiff, but they let me down, only playing him 5 times. Regardless, he still showed some good attribute improvements during his rookie year, and now he seems to be talented enough to challenge Paul Jordan for a spot on the bench as third choice striker. I love his speed, and although his finishing needs work, his versatility (he can play anywhere on the wing) is something that will add a lot to the first team if I decide to promote him.

LEFT WINGER - Dan Power (2026), 17 Years Old: This is one I am excited about. He is a left winger whose rookie year went well on loan at Dover in the Vanarama South. Yes, I know the level of football is quite low, but he registered 5 Goals, 8 Assists, 5.27 DpG, 1.98 TpG, in 32 Appearances, so he played up to standard. I am strongly considering promoting him to our first team and putting him as the back-up left winger to Breen. That way, I would be able to control his playing time and keep a close eye on his development, as he seems to have a lot of potential.

IMPORTANT PLAYERS LEAVING/RETIRING

None.

YOUTH INTAKE

Harlee Peters – Ashley Akrigg

No “Golden Generation” claims for the first time in a few years, and although my staff is extremely high on Peters, I have my doubts. Overall, on first impressions, this does not look like an impressive Intake. There doesn’t really seem to be a standout prospects, and even the most talented ones need a lot of work. I cannot be mad since I have had a decent run when it comes to Intakes, though.

abulezz · January 25, 2020

abulezz · January 30, 2020

SEASON REVIEW 2027/2028

TEAM REVIEW

It was a tough year. We took a step back from 8^th Place to 11^th Place, and out defense was ranked dead last in the Premier League. Of course, as is customary, we were saved by our offense, which was ranked 4^th in the PL, and some strong wing play. It is obvious, however, that our defense needs to improve. Our full-backs are not up to standard, and our CDs are perhaps the least talented in the PL. However, we were still a mid-table team, which is where we have been for the past few years, something I appreciate as I am really not in the mood to get into relegation battles and the anxiety that comes with it. There is still a clear difference in skills between the top teams in the PL and us, but we’ll get there

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

FORWARD - Michael Flynn (2019), 24 Years Old (Scotland: 46 Caps/24 Goals): 38 Apps, 25 Goals (3^rd in PL), 5 Assists, 4 PoMs (7^th), 20 Chances Created, 1.74 DpG, 49% Shot Target, 7.39 AR….Kafra’s all-time leading goalscorer with 204 career Goals, Flynn is undeniably our club’s greatest ever player thus far. For the past 4 years in the Premier League, he has been one of the best scorers and top frontline performers, which is an amazing feat considering he is still only 24 years old. Scotland’s most influential player currently, he is our captain and our leader on and off the pitch. Club legend. Rating: 8/10

DEFENSE

GOALKEEPER - Aidan Connolly (2019), 25 Years Old (6 Caps): 38 Apps, 2.37 Con/90, 2 Clean Sheets, 7.05 AR….One of the most impressive things about Connolly’s career so far is how durable he has been – in 4 years in the Premier League, he has yet to miss a single League game. In fact, over his career, he has played in 376 League Games out of 382 League Games – that is no small feat. He earned a couple of Caps for England this season and is generally considered one of the best at his position in the country. Rating: 7/10

RIGHT DEFENDER - Graham Clarke (2024), 20 Years Old: 34 Apps, 5 Assists, 6.08 TpG (7^th in PL), 115 Interceptions, 32 Key Tackles (3^rd), 29 Shots Blocked (4^th), 6.88 AR….For the 4^th consecutive season since breaking into the first team and becoming our starting right-back, Clarke improved his form. He registered 6.57 AR his rookie year, but this year it was a career-high 6.88 AR. The steady improvement has been noticeable, and he was the best player in our back four this season. My staff think he is a Championship level defender currently, but he does still have the potential for further development and to be come a PL level CD in the near future. His Technical abilities are almost non-existent, but his Defensive skills are quite good. Let us see if he continues to develop over the course of the next 2 years. Rating: 6.5/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - John Morris (2022), 23 Years Old: 35 Apps, 2.49 TpG, 111 Interceptions, 25 Key Tackles, 40 Shots Blocked (2^nd in PL), 6.83 AR….The statistical aberration of Morris leading the Premier League in Cross Completion Ratio a season ago proved to be just that – he was not even ranked this season. He did continue to be amongst the leaders in Shots Blocked (he actually led the PL last season), and he improved his form slightly from 6.80 AR to 6.83 AR. He’s got some pretty good Defensive instincts and skills but not much else, although he does have some idea of how to play CM, as well. I personally think he is our most talented defender currently, and I believe that will show more when our league-worst defense gets better. Rating: 6.5/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - John McPake (2019), 25 Years Old: 32 Apps, 1.98 TpG, 149 Interceptions (2^nd in PL), 17 Key Tackles, 89 Key Headers (7^th), 42 Shots Blocked (1^st), 6.72 AR….Despite being a leader in a lot of defensive stats in the PL, McPake did not have a good season. His 6.72 AR is a far cry from the 6.93 AR he registered 2 years ago and my coaching staff have generally not been happy with his performance both on the pitch and in training. He remains our best option along with Morris at CD, however, but I am actively looking to develop a better alternative. Rating: 5.5/10

LEFT DEFENDER - John Wrigley (2023), 21 Years Old: 32 Apps, 5 Assists, 6.00 TpG (8^th in PL), 77 Interceptions, 27 Key Tackles (10^th), 20 Shots Blocked (12^th in PL), 6.77 AR….Considering his relative lack of talent, I would say Wrigley is an overachiever. Simply put, there is no way Wrigley should be a starter for a PL club, but not only is he our starter, but he registered some pretty decent stats in the process. Obviously, his 6.77 AR could be better, and his stagnation in terms of development has been very real, but there is no way I could realistically expect anymore from him. He is not the answer at left-back, but he did a decent job for us this season. Rating: 6/10

MIDFIELD

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Alexis Milton (2020), 25 Years Old: 36 Apps, 9 Goals, 7 Assists, 2 PoMs, 45 Chances Created (1^st in PL), 64% Pass Ratio, 99 Key Passes (1^st), 94 Interceptions, 1.84 TpG, 1.44 DpG, 7.36 AR….Playing as an Advanced Playmaker at the CM position has been good to Milton, and he gave us arguably his finest season since the club got promoted to the PL 4 years ago. Leading the PL in Chances Created and Key Passes is no easy feat, but that is exactly what Milton did this season – if it wasn’t for him burning out towards the end of the season which resulted in a big dip in form, his numbers would have been even greater. While his Assists numbers have gone down the past few seasons, he registered a career-high with his 9 Goals, and his 7.36 AR was his highest mark since starting to play in the PL. Rating: 7.5/10

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Chris Atkinson (2025), 20 Years Old: 34 Apps, 6 Assists, 10 Chances Created, 30 Key Passes, 74% Pass Ratio, 4.09 TpG, 6.81 AR….I was hoping for more from Atkinson this season – I thought he would take a leap into 7.00+ AR territory, but I was disappointed. He has not developed the kind of consistency needed to become an indispensable member of our squad yet, and he even showed some noticeable regression from his form last season. His 4.09 TpG was down from 5.76, and his 6.81 AR was down from 6.90. He wasn’t bad, but not up to expectation. He has a lot of talent, so I’m still betting on him figuring it out soon. Rating: 6/10

LEFT WINGER - Martin Breen (2019), 25 Years Old: 38 Apps, 12 Goals, 11 Assists (4^th in PL), 29 Chances Created (8^th), 45 Key Passes, 69% Pass Ratio, 55% Shot Target (15^th), 2.23 TpG, 3.45 DpG, 7.18 AR….At this point, I would hesitate to state that Breen has become a club legend. In 362 League Appearances, he has registered 104 Goals, 93 Assists, and 7.15 AR over the course of 9 seasons. That being said, if our new prospect Davies develops as I hope, I don’t see Breen being our full-time starter at left wing for too much longer. It is just one of those things were the player coming up has a lot more potential than the current starter, so I will have to find a way to give him playing time at Breen’s expense. Rating: 7.5/10

RIGHT WINGER - James Chamberlain (2023), 21 Years Old: 36 Apps, 9 Goals, 6 Assists, 4 PoMs, 32 Chances Created (5^th in PL), 62 Key Passes, 2.28 TpG, 4.88 DpG (7^th), 49% Shot Target, 7.31 AR….The man responsible for the biggest problem I have currently. He refuses to sign a new contract, and we are not about to enter his final season. It wouldn’t be a big deal if he was the most talented player the Youth Academy has given me so far – he is a player that my coaching staff consider World-Class, and its amazing to me that he has not earned a cap yet. He is a hugely talented right winger, and when he’s on, he changes the game single-handedly. Sadly, the chances that this will be his last season with us continues to grow with each passing week. Rating: 8/10

ATTACK

FORWARD - Aaron Dennis (2019), 25 Years Old: 30 Apps, 10 Goals, 5 Assists, 1 PoMs, 83% Pass Ratio, 54% Shot Target (1^st), 2.40 DpG, 7.05 AR….As we look to better the team, players like Dennis – who have become club legend but whose talents are not quite PL level – end up being the martyrs. Trying to push Paul Jordan’s development came at the expense of Dennis’ playing time, and this was only his 2^nd season where he failed to register at least 20 Goals. The driving force of our offense along with Flynn over the past several years, he still has a role to play as he will split starting duties with Jordan. Definitely one of the legends of this save. Rating: 7/10

FORWARD - Paul Jordan (2024), 21 Years Old: 33 (20 Starts) Apps,1 2 Goals, 5 Assists, 2 PoMs, 81% Pass Ratio, 56% Shot Target, 7.12 AR….Jordan showed immense improvements in his form this season, and was rewarded with heavy playing time that also aided his attributes development. He finally showed a decent goalscoring touch, giving us 12 Goals and a high Shot Target ratio. He has good speed, and it seems he is finally learning to use it to his advantage – he also has developed good Technical skills that could prove him to be a good passer, too. He will split time with Dennis this coming season as he continues to prove himself. Rating: 7/10

HOT PROSPECTS

FORWARD - Kevin Hislop (2026), 19 Years Old: Played with Forest Green in the League Two this season, registering 9 Goals, 3 Assists, 3 PoMs, and 6.85 AR in 40 Appearances. His main strength is his speed, although he is quite dangerous in the air, as well. He will need to improve his shooting to have a chance to earn playing time with the first team, however.

RIGHT WINGER - Tyrone Phillips (2026), 18 Years Old: Spent his sophomore year on loan at Coventry in the League One (his rookie year was spent with Preston, also in the League One). He did pretty well – in 37 Apps, he registered 2 Goals, 8 Assists, 3 PoMs, 2.80 TpG, 3.30 DpG, and 7.14 AR. He has all the right skills for the wing position, and I think I will try to find minutes for him with the first team next season.

LEFT WINGER - Dan Power (2026), 18 Years Old: Spent his sophomore season with Boston United in the League Two, but he didn’t have a great season. In 36 Apps, he registered 3 Goals, 3 Assists, and 6.69 AR, which I think is not a real reflection of his abilities and potential. Like a lot of our young wingers, he has good speed and pace, but his Technical abilities have begun showing signs of improvement, as well. I am not sure what the plan is for him next season, but whether he stays or goes out on loan again, he needs to continue to see playing time.

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Ashley Akrigg (2027), 18 Years Old: I honestly can put my finger on what Akrigg’s potential is. His current ability for a player his age is pretty good, but my coaching staff are not as high on him as some of our other young players. He spent his rookie year at Dulwich Hamlet in the Vanarama South, registering 4 Goals, 5 Assists, 3.73 TpG, and 6.98 AR in 34 Apps. In the time, he showed some progress in his abilities, mostly in his Physical abilities. He seems like he could develop into a well-rounded CM if he lives up to his potential – to me, he is an exciting prospect that I really want to see develop right.

FORWARD - Harlee Peters (2027), 17 Years Old: Has yet to make his debut, but it will inevitably happen next season whether with Kafra or on loan. He looks like one of those players that could develop into a real dangerous offensive threat, but he has a long way to go.

IMPORTANT PLAYERS LEAVING/RETIRING

None.

YOUTH INTAKE

Kyle Davies – Craig May

Not a strong intake, but we do have one very strong prospect in left-winger Kyle Davies. He looks like he could give Breen some almost immediate competition for minutes down the left flank. The hope is he doesn’t stagnate early in terms of his development – I will try to avoid that by giving him plenty of playing time in an otherwise shallow position for us.

abulezz · February 8, 2020

abulezz · February 14, 2020

SEASON REVIEW 2028/2029

TEAM REVIEW

This was our worst finish in the Premier League since our debut season where we finished in 15^th Place. We have not yet made the kind of advancements needed in terms of quality – our Intake always seem outstanding, but I suspect it is because the quality of the team is low and therefore we always get highly rated players that don’t end up turning out to be quite PL quality. Our best and only world-class player, James Chamberlain, is most likely leaving the club on Free Transfer as I failed in getting him to sign a new contract, so the future is not looking so bright in the short term. Our defense remains porous, while our offense remains the only reason we are still a mid-table team. I don’t have high hopes for next season as I just want to maintain the status quo until we get some real world-class talent developed, which we currently have a lack of.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

RIGHT WINGER - James Chamberlain (2023), 22 Years Old: 36 Apps, 12 Goals, 16 Assists (1^st in PL), 4 PoMs, 33 Chances Created (1^st), 59 Key Passes, 2.54 TpG, 5.26 DpG (1^st), 49% Shot Target, 7.39 AR (8^th)….The greatest player the Kafra Youth Academy has produced thus far this save, and unfortunately it looks like we will not experience his peak years, at least not in a Kafra jersey. His contract is up this summer, and he remains adamant that he wants to join a bigger club. He is classified as a World-Class winger, and this season was his best so far in his young career. He led the PL in 3 major categories – Assists, Chances Created, and Dribbles Per Game, solidifying himself as one of the league’s best wingers. As such, he won his 2^nd Kafra Player of the Year award. I wish he would change his mind and remain at the club, but c’est la vie. He will be missed. Rating: 8.5/10 – Career Stats

DEFENSE

GOALKEEPER - Aidan Connolly (2019), 26 Years Old (12 Caps): 37 Apps, 2.24 Con/90, 5 Clean Sheets, 6.91 AR….A lack of competition at the GK position saw Connolly named England’s new No.1, and although he might not be the ideal GK, he has been serviceable for both club and country over the past few years. By the numbers, this was his worst season of his career, as his 6.91 AR was the lowest mark since he broke into the first team in 2019. He now has 413 League Appearances in his 10 years with the club, with a career average of 7.02 AR. He actually missed his first game in 5 years this season, and although he remains a target of some of the biggest clubs in the country, he has been a model citizen for us. Rating: 7/10

RIGHT DEFENDER - Graham Clarke (2024), 21 Years Old: 37 Apps, 3 Assists, 5.00 TpG (17^th in PL), 137 Interceptions (4^th), 23 Key Tackles (10^th), 23 Shots Blocked (8^th), 6.82 AR….He is consistent, that’s for sure. He might have had a better season last year, but he remained amongst the league leaders in a lot of relevant defensive categories this season. His 6.82 AR was lower than last season, however, when he registered 6.88 AR. Not much to say, otherwise – I know what I am getting from him, and while he rarely delivers a big game, he rarely gives us a bad one. Rating: 6.5/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - John Morris (2022), 24 Years Old: 33 Apps, 1.41 TpG, 72 Interceptions, 8 Key Tackles, 40 Shots Blocked (2^nd in PL), 6.72 AR….This was Morris’ worst season since joining the first team in 2022. His numbers were down across the board, and his 6.72 AR was by far his lowest mark in the club’s 5 years in the Premier League (for comparison, his last 3 seasons were 6.90, 6.80, 6.83). It is disappointing because he is our most talented CD at this point, as well as having been a player I could generally rely on. Hopefully, this was just a blip instead of a trend – I will be monitoring him next season to see if his form gets better. Rating: 5.5/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - John McPake (2019), 26 Years Old: 30 Apps, 1.84 TpG, 118 Interceptions (10^th in PL), 15 Key Tackles, 82 Key Headers (9^th), 47 Shots Blocked (1^st), 6.78 AR….The battle is on between Morris and McPake to see who will join young prospect De Cruz at the CD position. Right now, Morris gets the upper-hand based on his talents, but given how delicate and fragile my defensive line is, I will definitely lean towards who is performing better. McPake’s days as the undisputed leader of our back-line is over, but he remains the first name off the bench in terms of defenders. Rating: 6/10

LEFT DEFENDER - John Wrigley (2023), 22 Years Old: 38 Apps, 2 Assists, 5.38 TpG (12^th in PL), 65 Interceptions, 38 Key Tackles (1^st), 33 Shots Blocked (4^th in PL), 6.73 AR….One of the best tacklers in the Premier League and its leader in Key Tackles, Wrigley is amongst the most inconsistent players on the team. His 6.73 AR for the season is the same as his career average but given how he is a league leader in some important defensive categories, the assumption is that his form would be better. He is not talented enough to be a PL full-back, and I will not hesitate to replace him when a better alternative comes along. Rating: 6/10

MIDFIELD

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Alexis Milton (2020), 26 Years Old (2 Caps/1 Goal): 38 Apps, 3 Goals, 6 Assists, 17 Chances Created (13^th in PL), 71% Pass Ratio, 70 Key Passes (12^th), 100 Interceptions, 2.31 TpG, 2.02 DpG, 7.12 AR….Milton led the PL in Chances Created and Key Passes last season, so his drop-off this year was significant. He also had a big drop-off in form (7.36 to 7.12), although his defensive stats did improve slightly. Overall, he still had a pretty decent season, just not at the level of the past 2 seasons. He did earn his first Caps for England (finally), even scoring a goal for his nation. He has been playing in the same position with the same instructions for the past few years, so I am hoping he will return back to his prime form next season. Rating: 7/10

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Chris Atkinson (2025), 21 Years Old: 34 Apps, 7 Assists, 15 Chances Created, 36 Key Passes, 82% Pass Ratio, 3.52 TpG, 1.24 DpG, 6.90 AR….He is still not at the form I want him to be, but there was improvements this year. His 6.90 AR was up from 6.81 the previous season, and his Pass Ratio went up from 74% to 82%. Overall, he was an efficient player, rarely making a mistake and generally always making the right play, but he remains prone to getting lost in the match and failing to shine. He is still young, and he showed some encouraging growth in his attributes this season, so I hope he can finally hit that 7.00+ AR mark soon. Rating: 6.5/10

LEFT WINGER - Kyle Davies (2028), 18 Years Old: 32 Apps, 10 Goals, 6 Assists, 15 Chances Created, 27 Key Passes, 68% Pass Ratio, 3.37 TpG, 3.68 DpG, 7.03 AR….Replacing a club legend like Breen was never going to be an easy ask, but Davies managed to do a serviceable even in his rookie year. He was highly active down the left flank both defensively and offensively, as witnessed by his TpG and DpG numbers, and he also managed to score 10 Goals. Inconsistency was obviously an issue, but he did manage to soften the blow on me as I am quite a big Breen fan. I had to make the decision, however, because Breen is not talented enough to be my long-term left winger in the PL and Davies needs all the development aid he can get if he is to reach the level I hope for out of him. Rating: 7/10

ATTACK

FORWARD - Michael Flynn (2019), 25 Years Old (Scotland: 52 Caps/26 Goals): 38 Apps, 23 Goals (1^st in PL), 5 Assists, 4 PoMs, 17 Chances Created (13^th), 1.74 DpG, 59% Shot Target, 7.35 AR (13^th)….The Premier League’s Top Goalscorer for the 2^nd time in his career, Flynn has failed to score less than 20 Goals in each of his 5 seasons in the PL thus far. The 25 year old striker has had a wonderful career thus far (387 Apps, 227 Goals, 7.35 AR) and he has undoubtedly been our best player this save. He is the team captain for a reason, and his loyalty to the club has been unwavering thus far. Legend in every sense of the word. Rating: 8/10

FORWARD - Paul Jordan (2024), 22 Years Old: 35 Apps, 13 Goals (13^th in PL), 9 Assists (11^th), 4 PoMs, 14 Chances Created, 86% Pass Ratio, 58% Shot Target, 7.12 AR….This was the 2^nd straight season that Jordan registered 7.12 AR, but I would say he gave us a better one this year than last. The big improvement came in his passing – his Assists, Pass Ratio, and Chances Created were all up, and he showed very good efficiency with his passing. My staff still have him at 5/5 PA, although I don’t see him developing into the kind striker that can light the PL on fire. He has officially replaced club legend Aaron Dennis in our starting lineup – I figured I had enough scoring and needed to add a different dimension to my attack. Rating: 7/10

HOT PROSPECTS

RIGHT WINGER - Tyrone Phillips (2026), 19 Years Old: The PA is now down to 4/5, although he finally did get a decent amount of playing time this season with us. He played in 16 Games, registering 2 Goals and 6.79 AR – nothing to write home about, but not terrible. He had 2.11 DpG, which was encouraging, but his 70% Pass Ratio needs work. Overall, I don’t think we will turn out to be the player we need on the right wing, but he could still end up being serviceable for us.

FORWARD - Harlee Peters (2027), 18 Years Old: With what looks like the inevitable departure of James Chamberlain looming, I started looking for potential alternatives at the right-wing position, and the conclusion was that I would give Peters a chance to prove himself. Although he only played in 5 Games, he scored 3 Goals and registered 7.28 AR – yes, it is a small sample size, but he performed well. Additionally, my staff have him at 5/5 PA, and he seems to have a goalscoring touch. If Chamberlain ends up leaving, Peters is the prime candidate to replace him as our starting right-winger.

IMPORTANT PLAYERS LEAVING/RETIRING

None.

YOUTH INTAKE

Dean De Cruz – Ron Lockett – Dylan Adebayo – Scott Smith

We got a great prospect in De Cruz, plus I love his name. He is going to be part of the first team immediately, and he will get some starts before the end of the season. I am very excited about this one. Additionally, we got some good winger prospects, so if only one of them develops as I want, this Intake will be classified as a big season (depending on De Cruz’s development, of course). With a name like that, its easy to imagine him becoming of the world’s biggest stars – Dean De Cruz!

Edited February 14, 2020 by abulezz

kidthekid · February 14, 2020

I think Clarke and Morris could switch roles, so Morris due to his height plays right back and Clarke plays CB.

That's just an opinion, so you don't need to consider it.

Hopefully Tyrone can step up when Chamberlain goes.

Edited February 15, 2020 by kidthekid

abulezz · February 15, 2020

12 hours ago, kidthekid said:

I think Clarke and Morris could with roles, so Morris due to his height plays right back and Clarke plays CB.

That's just an opinion, so you don't need to consider it.

Hopefully Tyrone can step up when Chamberlain goes.

I've actually considered that - their talents are better suited for the positions you stated. I just didnt want to go through the inevitable learning curve that both players had to go through, dealing with the bad form and the unnatural fit in terms of positions they know how to play. I couldnt risk it given we are in the PL and I'm still not immune to falling into a relegation battle!

I think I am actually going to give Harlee Peters a go at it when Chamberlain leaves - lets see how he performs, lol. Chamberlain is a huge blow, honestly its been tough dealing with it!

abulezz · February 15, 2020

In other news, it is now official: James Chamberlain is a Liverpool player

xray1324 · February 15, 2020

3 hours ago, abulezz said:

In other news, it is now official: James Chamberlain is a Liverpool player

Damn, he looked like hell of a player too! Did he end up leaving on a free or did you manage to sell him so you made some money off the inevitable here?

Great series btw, followed.

abulezz · February 16, 2020

16 hours ago, xray1324 said:

Damn, he looked like hell of a player too! Did he end up leaving on a free or did you manage to sell him so you made some money off the inevitable here?

Great series btw, followed.

Thanks for the follow!

I don't need the money, so I milked to the very last second, lol. Even when he became a Free Agent, I still tried offering him a new contract, but he wouldn't even entertain a negotiation. That bastard.

xray1324 · February 16, 2020

4 hours ago, abulezz said:

Thanks for the follow!

I don't need the money, so I milked to the very last second, lol. Even when he became a Free Agent, I still tried offering him a new contract, but he wouldn't even entertain a negotiation. That bastard.

Welp. Reminds me of in my save (I'm managing Barnet now) I had this talent - the board sold him to Stoke without asking me for 600k. (Basically a striker, he was really good at 16 for Vanarama etc)

abulezz · February 17, 2020

18 hours ago, xray1324 said:

Welp. Reminds me of in my save (I'm managing Barnet now) I had this talent - the board sold him to Stoke without asking me for 600k. (Basically a striker, he was really good at 16 for Vanarama etc)

So there is a trick for that (if you dont mind using it). I was actually told about it on a previous version of this save as the same situation kept happening to me over and over again. Basically, put the Transfer Value for the player at 10K, and all the offers will come in at 10K - this way, the board will never accept because they felt "the offer was too good to refuse." It has worked wonders for me!

abulezz · February 18, 2020

xray1324 · February 18, 2020

2 hours ago, abulezz said:

I had two of those "golden generation" preview and the last one I got didn't even have a single person worthy of signing a contract (all potentials were 2 and a half star), I wouldn't hold your breath about it, though it looks like you'll have some decent full-backs, maybe a decent midfielder lol

abulezz · February 18, 2020

4 hours ago, xray1324 said:

I had two of those "golden generation" preview and the last one I got didn't even have a single person worthy of signing a contract (all potentials were 2 and a half star), I wouldn't hold your breath about it, though it looks like you'll have some decent full-backs, maybe a decent midfielder lol

Oh, I know! The "Golden Generation" means nothing really, at least not in my save thus far. Almost every Intake I have had has been a Golden Generation, and in 12 years, I've had one World Class player in James Chamberlain and one decent player in Alexis Milton. No one else has been really of standard that has come up from the Youth Academy - players like Flynn and Connolly were Create-A-Players I started with.

abulezz · February 22, 2020

SEASON REVIEW 2029/2030

TEAM REVIEW

Considering we were reeling from the departure of our (now former) Player of the Year and best player James Chamberlain, I didn’t know how much effect it would have on the team. There was some obvious detriment offensively – it simply was not running as smoothly as before – but overall, our team managed to maintain its mid-table standing and even improved a couple of spots, finishing in 12^th Place. Our defense was predictably horrible, although we can take solace that weren’t the absolute worst in the Premier League (19^th). Our offense took a bump down to 5^th, and my guess is that was directly related to the departure of Chamberlain.

Disappointingly, the only young prospect we have with a 5/5 PA rating is Dean De Cruz (god I love the name) – we have a few at 4.5/5 PA, but it really points out to how underwhelming our Youth Academy has been, especially considering that is Exceptional in every way and has been for the past few years. At some point, it has to deliver another Chamberlain for us – he has literally been the only World-Class player the Academy has given us in the past 12 years.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Alexis Milton (2020), 27 Years Old (2 Caps/1 Goal): 38 Apps, 4 Goals, 12 Assists(4^th in PL), 3 PoMs, 31 Chances Created (1^st), 73% Pass Ratio, 86 Key Passes (4^th), 82 Interceptions, 2.53 TpG, 1.87 DpG, 7.28 AR….Milton won the Kafra Player of the Year for the first time in his career, thanks to an improvement in form and an off-year from Flynn. He has become our highest valued player at almost £50M (almost twice that of Flynn), and is generally considered the most talented player we have currently. He has signed a new contract with us worth a ridiculous £220K per week – for comparison’s sake, our next highest player is Martin Breen at £69K per week. In any case, Milton and Flynn can be considered the stars of the team now that Chamberlain is gone, and if continues giving me seasons like this, I have no quarrel with it. Rating: 7.5/10

DEFENSE

GOALKEEPER - Aidan Connolly (2019), 27 Years Old (19 Caps): 38 Apps, 2.13 Con/90, 3 Clean Sheets, 7.02 AR….England’s current No.1, he returned to 7.00+ AR territory after registering 6.91 AR last season. He has now surpassed 450 Leagues Games for us (451), and I can safely say he has entered “legend” territory in terms of what he means to the history of the club. Despite the defensive line’s general inaptitude over the past few years, he has a been a big reason for our relative mid-table safety, as he has had more than his share of good games to make up for the line’s bad ones. Rating: 7/10

RIGHT DEFENDER - John Morris (2022), 25 Years Old: 30 Apps, 4.10 TpG, 69 Interceptions, 16 Key Tackles, 26 Shots Blocked (7^th in PL), 6.64 AR….Building on an idea given to me by kidthekid, I switched Morris and Clarke position-wise. While the latter thrived, Morris struggled, which I half-expected considering he had no idea how to play the position and it was his first season at it. What is needed now is for him to show improvement – if he can show decent improvement in his form in his second season as our starting right-back, then the experiment would have been a success. Rating: 5.5/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Graham Clarke (2024), 22 Years Old: 36 Apps, 2 Goals, 5 Assists, 2 PoMs, 2.69 TpG , 151 Interceptions (1^st in PL), 18 Key Tackles (12^th), 49 Shots Blocked (1^st), 90 Key Headers (6^th), 208 Headers Won (6^th), 6.96 AR….Clarke definitely enjoyed the switched to CD from right-back, as opposed to Morris. He led the Premier League in several defensive categories and was generally our best player in the defensive line. What is encouraging is that he is still young, so there is yet a chance he could improve further. Rating: 6.5/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Dean De Cruz (2029), 17 Years Old: 35 Apps, 3 Goals, 2.90 TpG, 134 Interceptions (4^th in PL), 19 Key Tackles (10^th), 42 Shots Blocked (2^nd), 77 Key Headers (15^th), 194 Headers Won (10^th), 6.86 AR….Considering how seemingly difficult it has been thus far this save to get good performances out of my defenders, I was very happy with how De Cruz’s rookie season turned out. Other than the fact that I love his name, he proved to be reliable and as consistent as one can hope from a 17 year old CD. In just one year, he has already showed “Major Improvement” in his Mental and Physical attributes, which is an extremely good sign. I am really hoping this one turns out to be the real deal. Rating: 6.5/10

LEFT DEFENDER - John Wrigley (2023), 23 Years Old: 35 Apps, 2 Assists, 5.06 TpG (16^th in PL), 65 Interceptions, 23 Key Tackles (5^th), 31 Shots Blocked (4^th in PL), 6.73 AR….Has no business being a Premier League starter, but here we are. I think he is the least talented member of our starting eleven, but the full-back positions have been our weakest and shallowest so far this save. I still don’t have a real alternative to him, and I continue to wait on the Youth Academy to produce a left-back that can challenge his spot. Until then, we have to make ado with Wrigley. Rating: 6/10

MIDFIELD

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Chris Atkinson (2025), 22 Years Old: 38 Apps, 10 Goals, 3 Assists, 2 PoMs, 11 Chances Created, 35 Key Passes, 81% Pass Ratio, 3.13 TpG, 1.00 DpG, 60% Shot Target (12th in PL), 7.02 AR….Where did that goalscoring touch come from?! He went from scoring 1 Goal every other season to scoring 10 this year. Honestly, I have no idea where that came from – I suspect opportunities opened up after Chamberlain left, but why specifically Atkinson was the one to benefit from his departure, I don’t know. I didn’t change anything in my tactics with him (Box to Box Midfielder), but in any case, I am not complaining. He had a highly efficient season, and I can finally say I am satisfied with his form after a number of – in my opinion – underwhelming seasons. Here’s hoping this continues. Rating: 7/10

FORWARD - Harlee Peters (2027), 19 Years Old: 37 Apps, 10 Goals, 8 Assists (12^th in PL), 2 PoMs, 21 Chances Created (5^th in PL), 33 Key Passes, 72% Pass Ratio, 2.26 TpG, 4.43 DpG (15^th), 7.08 AR….He was no Chamberlain, that is for sure, but he did do a serviceable job for us. Initially brought along as a striker, I switched up his training and placed him as our starting right-winger over Tyrone Phillips. He proved to be a decent attacking threat, and although he is far from a complete player, he was not a liability in his first season as our starter down the right flank. Rating: 7/10

LEFT WINGER - Kyle Davies (2028), 19 Years Old: 31 Apps, 5 Goals, 8 Assists (12^th in PL), 1 PoM, 15 Chances Created, 23 Key Passes, 67% Pass Ratio, 3.39 TpG, 3.50 DpG, 6.93 AR….His rookie season was better than his sophomore one, but I am not really concerned (yet) because he continued to show good development in his attributes. He’s had Major improvement in all 3 of his attribute groups (Technical, Mental, Physical), and I think he will be a good PL-level left winger in a couple of years. Rating: 6.5/10

ATTACK

FORWARD - Michael Flynn (2019), 26 Years Old (Scotland: 54 Caps/29 Goals): 35 Apps, 17 Goals (4^th in PL), 7 Assists, 6 PoMs, 12 Chances Created, 1.46 DpG, 65% Shot Target (5^th), 7.30 AR (13^th)….The club captain and legend, Flynn had his first season in the Premier League where he failed to score at least 20 Goals. I’m not too concerned – he battled injuries through a big part of the season, and it surely affected his form. This is not to say he had a bad season – his 7.30 AR was still amongst the top echelon in the PL, but his goalscoring was simply not as dynamic was it was previously. My person take on it is that when he got injured, his Bravery took a hit, so perhaps he was afraid to take the chances he would have taken previously. Adding weight to that theory is the fact that he registered a career-high 65% Shot Target ratio, meaning it wasn’t his Finishing that was affected. In any case, I expect a return to 20+ Goals next season, and there is no reason why it should not happen. Rating: 7.5/10

FORWARD - Paul Jordan (2024), 22 Years Old: 38 Apps, 16 Goals (6^th in PL), 6 Assists, 2 PoMs, 10 Chances Created, 87 % Pass Ratio, 66% Shot Target (4^th), 7.09 AR….Jordan stepped up his goalscoring this season, registering a career-high 16 Goals. Honestly, he is a decent player and he seems to be a hardworking overachiever, but I really don’t get why my staff is so high on him. He definitely plays a complete game up front as witnessed by his high efficiency passing and shooting the ball, but he doesn’t strike me as a player that will one day be considered one of the best strikers in the PL. That being said, I have no complaints about his current form, and he has more than solidified his spot alongside Flynn in the starting lineup for now. Rating: 7/10

HOT PROSPECTS

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER/RIGHT WINGER - Dylan Adebayo (2029), 17 Years Old: I am perplexed by Adebayo – he seems to be like he has an incredible foundation in terms of attributes, and his Media Description is “Could be the next David Beckham”, which is no small feat. That being said, his progress is not where it should be, although the past few months have seen some really good movement in his Mental and Physical attributes. The obvious conclusion looking at his talents is that he could be of use down the right wing, which is why his training is set for the Right Wing position. I am haven’t decided whether to send him out on loan next season or see if I can get him some playing time behind Peters and at CM. If his progress picks up, this guy could be a star for us, but it’s a big if.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER/RIGHT WINGER - Ron Lockett (2029), 17 Years Old: Like his ’29 Youth Class partner Adebayo, Lockett’s talents are better suited on the wing rather than his “natural” position of CM. It’s a shame that two of our best prospects are both Right Wingers by talent and CMs by trade, and its unclear if any of them will develop to be good enough to best out Peters at the right-wing position. He is a candidate to go out on loan next season, as I really want to give him some playing time and see how he responds to that.

IMPORTANT PLAYERS LEAVING/RETIRING

None.

YOUTH INTAKE

Alan Combe – Tony Skinner

This was a relatively weak Intake, which sucks because after losing Chamberlain, we really need some potential star players to start coming through the Academy. All our Youth facilities are top-notch at this point, so I would say the Kafra Youth Academy has been underwhelming for what it is supposed to be thus far. Skinner looks like he could develop into a good player if he doesn’t stagnate, so at least there is some positive. My staff seem to high on Combe, and although I don’t see it, our full-back positions are probably our weakest, so anything right now would probably be an improvement over what we have.

abulezz · February 27, 2020

Another so-called "Golden Generation" that doesn't really address our problem spots in defense.

abulezz · March 12, 2020

SEASON REVIEW 2030/2031

TEAM REVIEW

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

LEFT WINGER - Kyle Davies (2028), 20 Years Old: 37 Apps, 15 Goals (8^th in PL), 8 Assists (14^th in PL), 6 PoMs (2^nd), 28 Chances Created (1^st), 39 Key Passes, 67% Pass Ratio, 2.59 TpG, 4.46 DpG 12^th), 7.29 AR (14^th)….Undisputedly our best player this season, Davies really took a step forward in both form and attributes and ended up one of the best left-wingers in the Premier League. Offensively, he was a beast, scoring and passing to his heart’s content, improving his Goals from 5 to 15. His 7.29 AR was a career-high, and he has now officially become classified as a Wonderkid. He’s had Major Improvement in all of the key categories since he came up from the Youth Academy, and although I don’t envision him becoming World-Class, he is definitely a good player to have at this level. Rating: 7.5/10

DEFENSE

GOALKEEPER - Aidan Connolly (2019), 28 Years Old (33 Caps): 34 Apps, 2.18 Con/90, 4 Clean Sheets, 6.99 AR….England’s undisputed No.1 for the past few years, Connolly has made a name for himself as one of the best English GKs of the past two decades. He has been pretty consistent over the past few years, and considering the weak defensive line in front of him, he has done a pretty good job of maintaining a 7.00 AR. He has been our No.1 since the beginning of this save, so as of yet, Kafra has not known any other No.1. Next season, barring any significant injury, he will cross into 500 League Games played territory, and he doesn’t turn 30 for another couple of years. He is without a doubt a club legend. Rating: 7/10

RIGHT DEFENDER - John Morris (2022), 26 Years Old: 24 Apps, 3 Assists, 3.91 TpG, 51 Interceptions, 12 Key Tackles, 20 Shots Blocked (7^th in PL), 6.67 AR….This was a rough season for Morris - he got injured in November with a Torn Hamstring that ruled him out for 3 months, and then he broke his ribs in April that ruled him out of the last month of action. Overall, he has found his adjustment to becoming right-back difficult, and he has struggled over the past couple of seasons since switching. Rating: 5.5/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Graham Clarke (2024), 23 Years Old: 36 Apps, 1 Assist, 3.14 TpG , 144 Interceptions (3^rd in PL), 15 Key Tackles, 54 Shots Blocked (1^st), 195 Key Headers (3^rd), 195 Headers Won (6^th), 6.76 AR….This was a strange season from Clarke – on one hand, he led the PL in Shots Blocked for a 2^nd straight season and was 3^rd in Interceptions (he was 1^st last season). Not only that, he continued to prove his superiority in the air, ranking amongst the top of the PL in Heading statistics. His 6.76 AR, however, tells a different story – it tells a story of an inconsistent CD who was prone to bad games and costly mistakes, something that happened much more frequently this year than last. Rating: 6/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Dean De Cruz (2029), 18 Years Old: 32 Apps, 2 Goals, 2.04 TpG, 118 Interceptions (7^th in PL), 9 Key Tackles, 53 Shots Blocked (2^nd), 83 Key Headers (4^th), 180 Headers Won (9^th), 6.83 AR….De Cruz’s sophomore year was similar to his rookie one, although it did seem like he had more trouble finding consistency this season. What has been encouraging is his attributes development, as he has shown good growth across all major attributes. He’s still super young, and he probably hasn’t finished developing physically, so I would say he is still on track to becoming a good CD in the next couple of years. Rating: 6.5/10

LEFT DEFENDER - John Wrigley (2023), 24 Years Old: 34 Apps (7 Starts), 1 Assists, 5.38 TpG, 19 Interceptions, 10 Key Tackles, 6.72 AR….Wrigley has most likely lost his starting spot – his development has been stagnant and I don’t think we would do any worse giving some young full-backs a go and maybe getting them to develop to be better than Wrigley. Overall, he wasn’t bad, he’s just nowhere near talented enough to be a starting PL full-back. Even though he only had 7 Starts, he still played in most of our games, so he definitely still has a spot on the team. Rating: 6/10

MIDFIELD

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Alexis Milton (2020), 28 Years Old (2 Caps/1 Goal): 37 Apps, 2 Goals, 7 Assists, 20 Chances Created (7^th), 69% Pass Ratio, 96 Key Passes (3^rd), 80 Interceptions, 2.05 TpG, 1.11 DpG, 7.08 AR….Although it wasn’t a bad season from our former Kafra Player of the Year, this could be classified as his worst season since the club joined the Premier League ranks 7 years ago. Milton’s numbers were down across the board and was generally less involved in our offense than he was last year. Did he get complacent after signing his massive £220K per week contract? It is possible, although I would hope that is not the case. I am looking forward to an improved year next season. Rating: 7/10

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Chris Atkinson (2025), 23 Years Old: 30 Apps, 2 Goals, 1 Assists, 1 PoMs, 3 Chances Created, 21 Key Passes, 81% Pass Ratio, 3.64 TpG, 0.76 DpG, 6.80 AR….A broken arm in December ruled out Atkinson for 2 months, and he inevitably played his least amount of games in the past 5 years. It wasn’t a good season from him – his numbers were way down, and after showing a goalscoring touch last season with 10 Goals, it was almost non-existent again this year. He registered the lowest AR of his career and was not active on the pitch as he was in seasons past. Like Milton, I am hoping this is an one season thing, and he’ll be back to form next year. Rating: 6/10

RIGHT MIDFIELDER - Harlee Peters (2027), 20 Years Old: 27 Apps, 3 Goals, 5 Assists, 3 PoMs, 15 Chances Created, 20 Key Passes, 78% Pass Ratio, 2.28 TpG, 5.08 DpG (4^th), 7.04 AR….Although he has done reasonably well for us over the past couple of seasons, I am not convinced that Peters is the man to be starting down the right wing for us. I have been experimenting with a couple of younger players to see how they will do, so Peters might not start next season as our starting right-winger. That being said, he definitely still has a role to play given that he is comfortable playing down the right-wing and as a striker, and we could definitely use the boost that he gives us when the ball is at his feet, as witnessed by his 5.08 DpG. Rating: 7/10

ATTACK

FORWARD - Michael Flynn (2019), 27 Years Old (Scotland: 63 Caps/31 Goals): 33 Apps, 11 Goals, 6 Assists, 1 PoMs, 14 Chances Created, 1.46 DpG, 61% Shot Target (11^th), 7.07 AR….Unfortunately for us, this has been Flynn’s worst 2 year stretch in his entire career. After registering 17 Goals last season (the 2^nd lowest mark in his career), he only registered 10 Goals this season, easily the lowest of his career. I honestly thought he would bounce back to being amongst the top goalscorers in the PL (a title he had won twice previously in ’25 and ’29), but this was the first time in his career where he failed to hit 20 or more goals in back-to-back seasons. He is supposed to enter the prime of his career now, so there is optimism he can be back to form. Rating: 7/10

FORWARD - Paul Jordan (2024), 24 Years Old: 35 Apps, 16 Goals (6^th in PL), 5 PoMs (6^th), 5 Chances Created, 80% Pass Ratio, 5% Shot Target, 7.03 AR….Jordan’s role has always been as support to Flynn, but this season he was our main attacking threat as Flynn faltered. Our offense, which was once amongst the top in the Premier League, was mid-tier, but I can only imagine where we would have been if it wasn’t for Jordan. My coaching is way higher on him than I am, and I honestly don’t see why they like him so much, but he remains our best striker outside of our club captain Flynn. Rating: 7/10

HOT PROSPECTS

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER/RIGHT WINGER - Dylan Adebayo (2029), 18 Years Old: His description is still “Could be the next David Beckham”, so I still have high hopes for him. He played in 12 Games this season, starting nearly all of them, but his form left much to be desired. At 6.61 AR, there is massive room for improvement, although he did show decent defensive ability and his 2.87 DpG pointed to him being comfortable advancing forward with the ball at his feet. He’s had some good improvements in his attributes, especially Mental and Physical, so he seems committed.

RIGHT WINGER - Ron Lockett (2029), 18 Years Old: I think it is obvious at this point that Lockett’s talents belong down the right wing as opposed to his more “natural” role of CM. Like Adebayo, his 6.63 AR in his 7 Appearances was not impressive, but his 4.79 TpG and 2.13 DpG in his limited minutes was definitely an eye-opener. He carries the right skill-set, now it is all about how much he can improve over the next couple of years.

RIGHT DEFENDER - Alan Combe (2030), 18 Years Old: During Morris’ last injury of the season, I replaced him with Combe and the rookie started the last 4 Games of the season. He did decent, but was really eye-popping was his 7.25 TpG to go with 6.72 AR. My staff are very high on him, and it looks like he is going to get a lot more playing time during his sophomore year.

LEFT DEFENDER - Declan Cleaver (2030), 18 Years Old: Replaced Wrigley in the starting lineup towards to the end of the season, but had a really bad time at it. He registered 6.43 AR competing with Edward Sinclair as to who would be the starting left-back at the beginning of the 2031/32 season, so that did not bode well for him. That being said, I am not ready to throw him back on the bench yet – he has a decent skill-set for the position and if he can show some quick improvement, I am sure his form will also follow suit.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Tony Skinner (2030), 17 Years Old: I honestly expected more from Skinner in his rookie year, but then again, I didn’t give him much playing time to speak of. He only played in 4 Games, registering 6.60 AR

IMPORTANT PLAYERS LEAVING/RETIRING

None.

YOUTH INTAKE

Danny Bloodworth – Anthony Moore-Woodward

The Kafra Youth Academy gave me James Chamberlain, and now it has churned out Danny Bloodworth, who plays the same position at right wing. It seems my Academy likes its winger, its especially of the right-footed variety. He is a great prospect, but he is probably the only one that has a chance of making the first team – the rest of the Intake is very weak.

abulezz · March 18, 2020

abulezz · March 28, 2020

SEASON REVIEW 2031/2032

TEAM REVIEW

The thing I am happiest about is not our record-high 9^th Place finish in the Premier League, but our club record best of 15^th best defensive team in the Premier League! Yes, there were 5 teams worse than us defensively this year! That is an accomplishment in itself, and it is no coincidence that we also finished in our highest position ever. We did it despite finishing in a less than stellar 7^th Place offensively, a far cry from the top 2 we used to see a few years back. The departure of James Chamberlain has had a long lasting effect on us and our offense has not been the same since he left. We spent a good part of the season competing for a European spot, but we ran out of the steam in the last couple of months and didn’t really have a chance by April.

Liverpool recaptured the title for Man United after 3 years – either Liverpool or Man United have been Champions since 2023. Inter Milan defeated Man City to win the Champions League title, the first time they have won it since 2010 and the 4^th time they win it overall. Inter Milan have also won every Serie A title since 2023 with the exception of the 2028/29 season when Napoli (who have finished 2^nd the past two years) took the title.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

FORWARD - Michael Flynn (2019), 28 Years Old (Scotland: 70 Caps/37 Goals): 38 Apps, 20 Goals (3^rd in PL), 6 Assists, 2 PoMs, 18 Chances Created (11^th), 2.63 DpG, 58% Shot Target, 7.35 AR (13^th)….For the first time in 4 years, Flynn recaptured the Kafra Player of the Year, which was actually his club record 8^th time winning it. He also scored 20 Goals for the first time in 3 years, and while it was still relatively low compared to his peak years, his 7.35 AR (compared to 7.09 AR last year) was proof that Flynn’s form was back to where it was. He was the Premier League’s 3^rd highest scorer, and his 2.63 DpG was a career-high and a huge jump from the 1.54 DpG that he registered last season. He is 6 Games away from 500 career League Appearances, and in those games he has now scored 275 League Goals while registering a 7.33 AR career average. Rating: 7.5/10

DEFENSE

GOALKEEPER - Aidan Connolly (2019), 29 Years Old (43 Caps): 36 Apps, 1.89 Con/90, 7 Clean Sheets, 6.98 AR….Our defense ranked 15^th in Premier League this season, and considering how bad we’ve been the last few years, I am actually proud of our improvement. A big reason for our improvement has been the consistent and strong play of our and England’s No.1, and he has now earned 43 Caps for his national team. His 7 Clean Sheets was a new high for him in the Premier League, and his 6.98 AR was just a little below is career average of 7.01 AR. He is approaching the prime of his career now, so the next few years should see him in top form. Rating: 7/10

RIGHT DEFENDER - John Morris (2022), 27 Years Old: 37 Apps (14 Starts), 3.49 TpG, 29 Interceptions, 6 Key Tackles, 6.75 AR….Recovering from the most serious injury of his career and despite not earning his starting position back full-time, Morris gave us his best season in 4 years. I would still consider him my go-to at the right-back position despite losing a lot of playing time to Combe, but I am wary of him picking up another injury as he has appeared more and more fragile ov the course of his career. Rating: 6/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Graham Clarke (2024), 24 Years Old: 37 Apps, 1 Assist, 2.80 TpG , 116 Interceptions, 16 Key Tackles, 46 Shots Blocked (2^nd in PL), 6.78 AR….A couple of seasons ago, Clarke looked like he could be developing to be one of the better CDs in the Premier League, with potential even for earning an English Cap. Those plans have been derailed for the past 2 seasons, however, as his form as taken some major steps back from his 6.96 AR registered during the 2029/30 season. Once a league leader in Interceptions, even that number has dwindled down. Ironically, what was a down season from Clarke was perhaps our best defensively as a team since joining the PL. Still, Clarke is young enough to turn it around, and he as already proven he is capable of performing reasonably well at this level. Rating: 6/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Dean De Cruz (2029), 19 Years Old: 37 Apps, 3 Goals, 2.41 TpG, 178 Interceptions (1^st in PL), 14 Key Tackles, 55 Shots Blocked (1^st), 112 Key Headers (2^nd), 256 Headers Won (2^nd), 6.98 AR….I don’t think it is still a question about who is our most talented defender – De Cruz was a league leader in nearly every important defensive statistic this season, and his 6.98 AR was a career-high that proved he up to the task. He continues to show good improvement in his attributes, and still has the look of a future England CD. He still needs to develop some strength, but I don’t think he is too far from a 7.00+ AR season. Rating: 7/10

LEFT DEFENDER - Declan Cleaver (2030), 19 Years Old: Disappointingly, he showed nearly no improvement in his attributes throughout his first year as our starter at left-back. As such, my coaching staff have also lost faith in him, and he is now just 3/5 PA according to them. Overall, he didn’t do too bad – 6.73 AR in 35 Appearances, with 4.67 TpG, 72 Interceptions, and 28 Key Tackles. He definitely is not our long-term answer at the position, however. Rating: 6/10

MIDFIELD

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Alexis Milton (2020), 29 Years Old (2 Caps/1 Goal): 37 Apps, 2 Goals, 11 Assists (4^th in PL), 32 Chances Created (1^st), 70% Pass Ratio, 87 Key Passes (4^th), 84 Interceptions, 2.11 TpG, 1.26 DpG, 7.15 AR….One of our most durable players, he picked up the slack a little bit from last season and improved his form. He led the league in Chances Created, and was amongst the leaders in Assists and Key Passes, solidifying himself as one of best in the league with the ball at his feet in the center of the pitch. The very first player to graduate from the Kafra Youth Academy and end up in the starting lineup, Milton has entrenched himself in the history of the team – he has become a club legend. Rating: 7.5/10

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Chris Atkinson (2025), 24 Years Old: 37 Apps (27 Starts), 2 Goals, 5 Assists, 13 Chances Created, 34 Key Passes, 79% Pass Ratio, 3.20 TpG, 0.71 DpG, 6.85 AR….I switched up my tactics at CM this season – previously, Atkinson was playing as a Box to Box Midfielder, but this season I switched him up to a more traditional Central Midfielder. He seemed to respond well to it, as his AR went up from 6.80 to 6.85 and his Passing stats also showed improvement. I gave a bit of his playing time to young prospect Skinner, but he still played in nearly every game, a positive sign since he had a major injury last year. Rating: 6.5/10

RIGHT WINGER - Danny Bloodworth (2031), 18 Years Old: 32 Apps, 8 Goals, 6 Assists, 3 PoMs, 15 Chances Created, 24 Key Passes, 69% Pass Ratio, 62% Shot Target (8^thin PL), 3.09 TpG, 3.88 DpG (16^th), 6.94 AR….Although he did struggle a bit with displaying consistent form, I am extremely happy with how Bloodworth’s rookie season played out, both on the pitch and in training. He displayed a good goalscoring touch and was one of the rare players that registered 3.00+ in both DpG and TpG. Obviously, the expectation is that he will show further growth and better form in his sophomore year. He has potential to be our most talented player in a few years. Rating: 7/10

LEFT WINGER - Kyle Davies (2028), 20 Years Old: 37 Apps, 13 Goals (13^th in PL), 10 Assists (10^th in PL), 4 PoMs, 24 Chances Created (5^th), 38 Key Passes, 70% Pass Ratio, 2.63 TpG, 4.38 DpG (8^th), 7.23 AR….Along with Flynn and Milton, Davies has now become our most important player. Last year’s Kafra Player of the Year continued to give us good football down the left-wing, and has effectively deemed Breen – a club legend – as surplus to requirements. He registered a career-high in Assists this season, and scored double digit goals for the 2^nd straight year. Is he future England left-winger? It is still too early to tell, but he has become indispensable for us. Rating: 7.5/10

ATTACK

FORWARD - Paul Jordan (2024), 25 Years Old: 38 Apps, 13 Goals (13^th in PL), 3 Assists, 1 PoMs, 17 Chances Created (16^th), 83% Pass Ratio, 61% Shot Target (9^th), 2.38 DpG, 7.12 AR….His 7.12 AR equaled his career-high and he scored 12 Goals or over for the 5^th straight season. Do I think he should be one of our starting forwards? The answer is no, I don’t think he is good enough, but he continues to do a good job for us. He is versatile, and is able to play at CM or right-wing as well, something that is needed in our squad. For now, he remains our starter alongside Flynn up front. Rating: 7.5/10

HOT PROSPECTS

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER/RIGHT WINGER - Dylan Adebayo (2029), 19 Years Old: Although he played in a limited capacity this season, the improvement in form he showed was immense – his AR jumped from 6.61 to 7.15. He only played in 7 Games, but he was definitely an asset for us on the pitch when he did play. Although my staff have him at 3.5/5 PA, he still carries the description that he could be the “next David Beckham”. I’d like to see more development in his Technical abilities – if he can show some substantial improvement in those, he could compete for a first team spot.

RIGHT WINGER - Ron Lockett (2029), 19 Years Old: Loaned out to Havre in the Ligue 1, Lockett did a good job for them this year. In 14 Appearances, he registered 3 Goals and 7.13 AR playing in one of the most competitive leagues in the world, so I think he has earned himself some playing time with us going forward. His skillset is meant for the wings, but he is a natural at CM, as well – as you guys might be able to tell by now, I love a versatile player!

RIGHT DEFENDER - Alan Combe (2030), 19 Years Old: I think Combe will inevitably be our starting right-back, but he has to do better on the pitch for that to happen. His 6.68 AR was not impressive, especially as he played in 32 Games. His 5.19 TpG was good though, and he registered an impressive 81% Pass Ratio and 1.09 DpG. The problem with him is his consistency – he is prone to lapses that really affect his form. If he can get that together, he have a useful asset going forward at right-back.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Tony Skinner (2030), 18 Years Old: Skinner has me confused – he has a great skillset but looks absolutely lost on the pitch. His 6.55 AR has him nearly unplayable, although I did feature him in 12 Games. He needs to do better – I’m not sure what the secret with him is, but he is getting to an age where he needs to start performing. He has potential to be our most talented CM attributes-wise, but it needs to translate on the pitch.

YOUTH INTAKE

Carl Young – Colin Harewood

A decent Intake – I’m not sure how Young will develop, and he is more suited to be a winger than a striker, but for now he has the look of an exciting prospect. Harewood is already 17, and he has some glaring weaknesses, but he also has the potential to develop into a decent GK if he his attributes grow the way I hope. Overall, I’m looking for Young to develop into a good striker because Flynn is approaching 30 and Jordan has not won me over.

abulezz · April 7, 2020

abulezz · April 21, 2020

SEASON REVIEW 2032/2033

TEAM REVIEW

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

LEFT WINGER - Kyle Davies (2028), 22 Years Old: 35 Apps, 17 Goals (5^th in PL), 14 Assists (2^nd), 5 PoMs (3^rd), 15 Chances Created, 33 Key Passes, 67% Pass Ratio, 2.78 TpG, 3.63 DpG, 7.37 AR (8^th)….This was the 2^nd time in 3 years that Davies won the Kafra Player of the Year award, and there could have been no argument on whether he deserved it or not. Not only was he our best player, but he was amongst the top players in the Premier League, as well. He set career-highs in almost every major statistic, and by the end of the season, was one of the most feared wingers in the PL. At this point, I would say he has overtaken Flynn as our most valuable player – his valuation of almost £50M is the highest on the team by a long shot. Rating: 8/10

DEFENSE

GOALKEEPER - Aidan Connolly (2019), 30 Years Old (58 Caps): 38 Apps, 2.21 Con/90, 7 Clean Sheets, 6.89 AR….Although it did not feel like it, Connolly’s 6.89 AR this season was actually a career-low for him. England’s No.1 GK, who is supposed to be entering the prime of his career now, was not disappointing, but he was a little less consistent than he usually has been over the past few years. Our defense in general was worse off than it was last season, but that had not stopped Connolly from getting close to 7.00 AR previously. I have a feeling he bounces back to normal next season. Rating: 6.5/10

RIGHT DEFENDER - Alan Combe (2030), 20 Years Old: 36 Apps, 3 Assists, 4.47 TpG, 81 Interceptions, 26 Key Tackles (3^rd in PL), 21 Shots Blocked (9^th), 6.79 AR….Combe has become our full-time starter at the RB position, and his form was a decent. Obviously, I am looking for better form, but considering the general state of our defense and the fact that the alternatives did worse, I am satisfied with how his 3rd season played out. His 6.79 AR was a career-high and he has shown major improvement in all 3 of the attributes categories. Rating: 6/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Graham Clarke (2024), 25 Years Old: 30 Apps, 2.57 TpG , 93 Interceptions, 21 Key Tackles (10^th in PL), 28 Shots Blocked (2^nd in PL), 6.83 AR….After two seasons of having less than 6.80 AR, Clarke showed improvement and registered his best year of the last 3 seasons. Incredibly, he got hit with 6 different injuries this season, although none were classified as major, he still ended up missing significant time. Rating: 6/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Dean De Cruz (2029), 20 Years Old: 37 Apps, 1 Goals, 1 Assist, 1 PoM, 2.23 TpG, 156 Interceptions (5^th in PL), 22 Key Tackles (8^th), 44 Shots Blocked (1^st), 109 Key Headers (2^nd), 230 Headers Won (7^th), 6.89 AR….Like the rest of the defensive line, De Cruz’s form took a step back this season, although he remained our most reliable defender. He dropped from 6.98 to 6.89 AR, and a lot of his key defensive stats took a turn downward, as well. Most disappointingly, however, was his lack of real progress in his attributes this season – I am worried he has developed to his full potential, although he is still young. My staff consider him to be at a Championship skill level with a chance to develop into a Premier League level CD. Rating: 7/10

LEFT DEFENDER - Declan Cleaver (2030), 19 Years Old: 37 Apps, 4.49 TpG , 68 Interceptions, 19 Key Tackles, 6.69 AR….Disappointing in every respect – his form was bad and his development stagnated, leading him to be a League 1 level player, at best. This continues to be our weakest position, and there doesn’t seem to be a replacement coming anytime soon. It is difficult to find a positive, but his 4.49 TpG was a strong number. Overall, we need to find a proper left-back or I am afraid our defense will not get to the level I need it to be. Rating: 5/10

MIDFIELD

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Alexis Milton (2020), 30 Years Old (2 Caps/1 Goal): 35 Apps, 10 Assists, 19 Chances Created, 72% Pass Ratio, 73 Key Passes, 73 Interceptions, 2.58 TpG, 1.35 DpG, 7.10 AR….The last time Milton had a scoreless season was in 2025/26, but he did register double digit assists for the 5^th time in his PL career. He also crossed 500 League Games for the club – ended the season having played 517 Games – and has registered 126 Assists and 7.16 AR during that time. As he hits the other side of 30 years old, the numbers associated with athletic ability will begin to suffer, but for now, the club legend remains indispensable for us. Rating: 7/10

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Chris Atkinson (2025), 25 Years Old: 33 Apps (19 Starts), 1 Goals, 3 Assists, 8 Chances Created, 28 Key Passes, 76% Pass Ratio, 2.68 TpG, 0.57 DpG, 6.79 AR….The CM position has become our deepest, with a number of talented players trying to make their mark. This came at the expense of Atkinson, who despite seemingly having all the right talents, has not been able to translate it into consistent, PL-level form. His 6.79 AR was a career-low, and there was no real stand-out positive number from his stats this season. Rating: 6/10

RIGHT WINGER - Danny Bloodworth (2031), 18 Years Old: 32 Apps, 6 Goals, 5 Assists, 1 PoMs, 17 Chances Created, 25 Key Passes, 71% Pass Ratio, 48% Shot Target, 3.66 TpG, 4.66 DpG, 6.94 AR….Although he did not show much improvement in form during his sophomore year, I was highly encouraged by his progress in training. His improvement in his Technical and Mental attributes was fantastic, and he even increased his speed a few marks. He is currently the only player on our squad with a 5/5 PA by our coaching staff, and although I don’t think he will ever get to the level of James Chamberlain (whom he replaced after the latter left the club), I do believe Bloodworth could give us a standard of football that would be similar or better than his comrade on the other side of the pitch in Kyle Davies. Rating: 7/10

ATTACK

FORWARD - Paul Jordan (2024), 26 Years Old: 38 Apps, 24 Goals (2^nd in PL), 5 Assists, 3 PoMs, 14 Chances Created, 86% Pass Ratio, 68% Shot Target, 2.05 DpG, 7.26 AR….Jordan is one of the most overachieving players I have ever had in any version of the game – looking at his stats, he is not supposed to be almost lead the Premier League in Goals, which is exactly what he did. His 24 Goals were a career-high, as was his 7.26 AR. A big part of his success has been his efficiency, as his 68% Shot Target showed. His durability is underrated – he has missed only 3 Games in the last 4 seasons, and they all came during the 2030/31 season. He has now scored 102 Goals for the club, crossing the 100 Goals landmark late in the season. A couple more seasons like this, and Jordan would have forced his way into the history books of the club as a legend despite my doubts. Rating: 7.5/10

FORWARD - Michael Flynn (2019), 29 Years Old (Scotland: 81 Caps/48 Goals): 35 Apps, 17 Goals, 4 Assists, 5 PoMs, 13 Chances Created, 1.36 DpG, 65% Shot Target, 7.26 AR….Once one of the most feared goalscorers in the Premier League, Flynn has now recorded his 3^rd season in the past 4 where he has failed to score 20 Goals. That is not to say he had a bad season – he was consistent and efficient, but there can be no denying that the goalscoring ruthlessness he used to possess seems to be permanently gone. He is now only 8 Goals away from that elusive 300 League Goals over his career, and he maintains his position as the greatest player the club has had during this save. Rating: 7.5/10

HOT PROSPECTS

RIGHT WINGER - Ron Lockett (2029), 20 Years Old: He might not develop to be a world-beater, but Lockett has already proven he can be a contributor to our first team and part of our rotation. He played in 32 Games (9 Starts), registering 4 Goals, 3.54 TpG, and 3.63 DpG to go with his 6.88 AR, solid numbers all around. His value is now nearly £20M, which is not bad at all for a non-starter. Overall, I am reasonably satisfied with how his progress has been, and I believe he has started solidifying his position in the first team.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Tony Skinner (2030), 18 Years Old: After a couple of disappointing seasons, Skinner seems to finally be figuring it out – his 6.88 AR this season was a huge improvement from 6.55 AR in 2031/32. He also scored his first 3 Goals of his career while playing in 22 Games, but most importantly, his form took on a much more consistent form. Is he good enough to push Atkinson or Milton out of the starting lineup? Currently, no, but if he keeps improving, it might be difficult to deny him.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Anthony Moore-Woodward (2031), 18 Years Old: He does not have the conventional skill-set usually seen in CMs, but instead of being turned off by it, I am intrigued. He only played in 4 Games during his sophomore year so we did not get to see a lot of him, and the potential of him going out on loan is high next season, but I am excited to see how well he develops in his 3^rd year.

STRIKER - Carl Young (2032), 17 Years Old: Another highly intriguing prospect who I would like to see replace Flynn in a few years as our starting striker. His rookie year was nothing to write home about, although he did make his debut. He’s got good speed and his Technical attributes showed marked improvement during his rookie year, so there is cause for optimism. I’d like his Finishing to get better.

YOUTH INTAKE

Chris Grant – Harvey Parsons-Salis

Two CM prospects, which is already one of our deepest positions with 2 solid starters – in other words, not where I need help! Still, the they look like decent players so if they develop right, they will get a chance to push for a place in the first team. I was hoping for some full-backs or a striker, but no luck. Hopefully, they will be able to contribute to the team more than Skinner has currently been contributing.

abulezz · April 21, 2020

Our history in the save so far.

abulezz · April 23, 2020

abulezz · April 26, 2020

SEASON REVIEW 2033/2034

TEAM REVIEW

We improved from 13^th Place to 9^th Place this season, with our offense ranked 4^th in the Premier League and our defense 17^th. So in short, a typical season from the team, although I am encouraged that we improved by 4 Places. This has happened before, and then the team slipped the following season, so I am hoping we can use the experience to maintain our position and challenge for a European spot. We have been in the Premier League for 10 seasons now, with our highest finish being 8^th Place in 2026/27. Thankfully, we never really got into a relegation battle throughout our years in the PL, but I really want to get over our current hump and start realistically aiming for Europe.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

LEFT WINGER - Kyle Davies (2028), 23 Years Old (2 Caps/1 Goal): 36 Apps, 10 Goals, 11 Assists (5^th in PL), 4 PoMs, 29 Chances Created (2^nd), 52 Key Passes, 70% Pass Ratio, 3.00 TpG, 4.03 DpG, 7.30 AR….Davies won the Kafra Player of the Year award for the 2^nd straight year and the 3^rd time in his career. Although his 10 Goals were down from 17, his Chances Creates and Key Passes were significantly improved from last season as he starts becoming a more complete winger. He also earned his first call-up to the England national team this season, which saw his value catapult to almost £60M. His new contract will see him earning £220K per week, making him our highest paid player along with Milton. Honestly, he is irreplaceable for us currently and perhaps the primary reason why our offense is once again feared. Fantastic season from the winger. Rating: 8/10

DEFENSE

GOALKEEPER - Aidan Connolly (2019), 31 Years Old (62 Caps): 28 Apps, 1.43 Con/90, 7 Clean Sheets, 6.97 AR….England’s No.1 faced the toughest injury of his career this year as a hip injury kept him out of action for over 3 months. His form was definitely better this season than last when he did play, however, and his 1.43 Con/90 was the best of his career in the Premier League. If he remains healthy next season, he will become the first player in club history to surpass 600 League Games. A club legend who is hopefully still in the middle of the prime of his career. Rating: 7/10

RIGHT DEFENDER - Alan Combe (2030), 21 Years Old: 34 Apps, 1 Assists, 5.21 TpG, 74 Interceptions, 28 Key Tackles (5^th in PL), 81% Pass Ratio, 36% Cross Completion (3^rd), 6.81 AR….Combe’s 3^rd season as our starting right-back was also his most complete and this first time his AR crossed 6.80, a key landmark to be crossed by any full-back that plays for us. He remains one of the best tacklers in the Premier League, but he also showed efficient passing and crossing skills, as well. He’s not the most talented full-back, but he did the job this season and I don’t have any immediate concerns about the position – long-term, yes, but not now. Rating: 6.5/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Graham Clarke (2024), 26 Years Old: 37 Apps, 3 Assists, 2.68 TpG , 128 Interceptions (13^th in PL), 25 Key Tackles (6^th), 86 Key Headers (9^th), 6.94 AR….After 3 mediocre years, Clarke finally delivered a decent season, good enough to register his second highest AR (6.94 AR) after his 6.96 AR during the 2029/30 season. This was significantly higher than his 6.81 AR career average and it was a good bounce-back season after facing an injury-riddled one the previous one. He has become one of the leaders of the of both the defensive line and the team in general. Rating: 6.5/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Dean De Cruz (2029), 21 Years Old: 35 Apps, 3 Assists, 2.71 TpG, 140 Interceptions (7^th in PL), 17 Key Tackles, 107 Key Headers (1^st), 232 Headers Won (5^th), 6.93 AR….Although he is probably our most talented CD now, I am disappointed with how he turned out. His progress stalled and stagnated about 2 years, sadly. He is a decent CD for the PL, but he is not up to the standard I hoped he would develop to when we first got him from the Academy. He is great in the air and always is amongst the league’s leaders in some of the important defensive stats. I can’t see any of our current prospects replacing him or being better than him in the short-term, and that is OK because he is decent enough for this level at this point. Rating: 6.5/10

LEFT DEFENDER - Declan Cleaver (2030), 21 Years Old: 30 Apps, 4.31 TpG , 49 Interceptions, 16 Key Tackles, 6.80 AR….He might not be our first choice at left-back for long, but he did give us his best season to date this year before he damaged his cruciate ligaments – an injury that will rule him out of action for up to a year. He can play in both full-back positions, so his versatility will definitely be useful for us as he adds depth and some experience to our two weakest positions. He is the lowest rated player in our starting eleven according to my coaching staff, and I am inclined to agree. Still, as long as he does the job when called upon when he gets back from his injury, he will have a role to play for us. Rating: 6/10

MIDFIELD

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Alexis Milton (2020), 31 Years Old (2 Caps/1 Goal): 36 Apps, 3 Goals, 7 Assists, 2 PoMs, 32 Chances Created (1^st in PL), 72% Pass Ratio, 79 Key Passes (6^th), 69 Interceptions, 2.28 TpG, 1.11 DpG, 7.09 AR….He crossed 550 League Games – ending with 553 – this season, third only to GK Aidan Connolly and striker Michael Flynn in the history of the club. His 3 Goals also meant he has now scored over 50 Goals over the course of his career – 52 to be exact – along with 133 Assists, 25 PoMs, and a career-average of 7.16 AR. Since he came up from the Youth Academy, he has been a lock in our starting lineup, and is one of our most influential players both on the pitch and in the locker-room. Club legend. Rating: 7/10

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Chris Atkinson (2025), 26 Years Old: 36 Apps (29 Starts), 3 Goals, 6 Assists, 11 Chances Created, 43 Key Passes, 78% Pass Ratio, 3.59 TpG, 0.82 DpG, 6.83 AR….I would have to say that, so far in this save, Atkinson has been our biggest disappointment. His talent level is high and he should be consistently one of our best players, but he is not far from losing his starting spot instead. He hasn’t proven himself to be a threat going forward and is not a huge contributor without the ball – on top of that, his form is inconsistent. My hope is that he can figure it out, but it seems he has reached his peak. Rating: 6/10

RIGHT WINGER - Danny Bloodworth (2031), 20 Years Old (1 Cap): 35 Apps, 15 Goals (10^th in PL), 7 Assists, 3 PoMs, 23 Chances Created (6^th), 32 Key Passes, 67% Pass Ratio, 54% Shot Target, 3.28 TpG, 5.29 DpG (1^st in PL), 7.18 AR….Wonderkid and probably our most naturally talented player, Bloodworth started making noise about wanting to play for a bigger club as the season drew to a close. Luckily, he still has 4 more years on his contract, so at least in the short term, he is not going anywhere. He earned his first Cap for England, but was left off of the World Cup squad, much to his disappointment despite leading the league in DpG. He has become one of the biggest threats down the right-wing in the PL, feared and respected when the ball is at his feet. At this point, I would rank him as the 2^nd most talented player the Kafra Youth Academy has produced thus far in this save, after another right-winger in James Chamberlain. Rating: 7.5/10

ATTACK

FORWARD - Paul Jordan (2024), 26 Years Old: 34 Apps, 16 Goals (8^th in PL), 4 Assists, 5 PoMs, 12 Chances Created, 86% Pass Ratio, 63% Shot Target (9^th), 2.28 DpG, 7.24 AR….While Atkinson has been the biggest disappointment, Jordan has been the exact opposite – no player produced by the Kafra Youth Academy so far this save has overachieved as much as the striker. He didn’t the highs he hit last season where he scored 24 Goals (good enough for 2^nd in the PL), but he continued to give us exactly what we’ve come to expect from him the past few years – namely, efficient attacking play whether shooting, passing, or dribbling. He probably will never earn a Cap for England, but he remains one of our best. Rating: 7.5/10

FORWARD - Michael Flynn (2019), 30 Years Old (Scotland: 89 Caps/57 Goals): 38 Apps, 18 Goals, 8 Assists, 18 Chances Created, 1.68 DpG, 58% Shot Target, 7.20 AR….By now, Flynn has to rank as one of Scotland’s greatest forwards ever, if not players. He still reigns as our greatest player of all-time even though his days as a consistent 20+ Goal Per Season threat are likely over. His 567 League Games are the 2^nd most in the history of the club after Connolly and his 310 League Goals is a club record. He also is our club record holder with a 7.32 AR career average, and is just 9 Assists away from registering 100 Assists in his career. In short, he is our most accomplished player, our club captain, and our most legendary legend of all-time in this save so far. Rating: 7.5/10

HOT PROSPECTS

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Tony Skinner (2030), 20 Years Old: I purposely reduced his playing time this season after a disappointing run over the last two years, and it seems to have clicked something in him. His form improved, and he began showing improvement in his attributes at a faster rate than before. His 6.91 AR was a career high, as was his 4.19 TpG and 1.44 DpG. He is very similar in skill to Atkinson and he has the right attitude – he just needs to bring it all together.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Anthony Moore-Woodward (2031), 19 Years Old: I still don’t know whether to have him play CM or CD, but I really enjoy the versatility he has. My staff still have him at 4.5/5 PA despite a relatively slow season in terms of development. I still have him listed for loan as I don’t think I can give him the playing time needed to properly aid his development, but I remain intrigued into what type of player he will end up becoming.

STRIKER - Carl Young (2032), 18 Years Old: Out of all our young prospects, Young is the one that I expect the most from. He hasn’t translated potential into form yet (only 3 Goals in 16 Apps), but his value is already over £10M so I must not be the only one who sees the potential here. He is developing nicely in training, although I do want to see his Shooting attributes get better. He is due for some major increase in playing time next season.

GOALKEEPER - Colin Harewood (2032), 18 Years Old: We have had a lot of GK prospects come through the Academy over the past few years, but Harewood has emerged as the front-runner to replace Connolly when it becomes time. He has spent the last two seasons on loan – this year, he played with Blackpool in the League 2, playing 45 Games and registering 1.00 Con/90 and 6.79 AR. Going forward, he will begin learning under Connolly as his official No.2 so I need to figure out some playing time for him. At 4.5/5 PA, he is our highest rated GK prospect by my staff and I think they are right.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Harvey Parsons-Salis (2033), 18 Years Old: The young CM spent the season with Colchester in the League 2, playing 16 Games and registering a Goal, 2 Assists, and 6.76 AR. He is incredibly talented technically, so if he can get the rest of his attributes to develop, he is going to be a special player.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Chris Grant (2033), 17 Years Old: Unfortunately for Grant, the CM position is easily our deepest. That being said, he certainly seems to have the potential to challenge for a spot in the first team. He made his debut during his rookie season, playing in 3 Games and getting an Assist. He hasn’t shown much progress yet, but he is still young.

YOUTH INTAKE

Christian Porter – Ewan Tarbuck-Hudson – Sean Power

We finally get a good full-back prospect, and he is in the wrong full-back position. Either I will train him to be a left-back or turn our current right-back Combe into one – I am still undecided. I really like the look of Sean Power whose talents are very much suited for the CM position. Overall, this is a decent Intake that could net us a couple of players who have the potential to be good enough to be part of the first team.

abulezz · April 28, 2020

abulezz · May 4, 2020

SEASON REVIEW 2034/2035

TEAM REVIEW

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

LEFT WINGER - Kyle Davies (2028), 24 Years Old (6 Caps/6 Goals): 33 Apps, 15 Goals (6^th), 16 Assists (1^st), 6 PoMs, 17 Chances Created, 36 Key Passes, 69% Pass Ratio, 62% Shot Target (8^th), 3.37 TpG, 4.24 DpG (9^th), 7.51 AR (1^st)….Introducing the first ever Kafra player that has been named the Premier League’s Footballer of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year. Additionally, he also was named the PL’s Young Player of the Year and in the PL Team of the Year, as well as leading the league in some of its most important offensive categories. He became the first player on the Kafra roster to be valued at over £60M and earned a few Caps for England in the process. In other words, he had a truly magnificent season, one that has shot him into my “Legend” book along with the likes of Flynn and Connolly. The PL’s leader in Assists and AR, it is not wrong to say that he was the best winger in the PL this season. Can’t wait to see what he does next season. Rating: 9/10

DEFENSE

GOALKEEPER - Aidan Connolly (2019), 32 Years Old (63 Caps): 26 Apps, 1.83 Con/90, 3 Clean Sheets, 7.01 AR….Although he is still on the England team, his days as the country’s No.1 have come to end, having been replaced by Nottingham Forest’s Will Dickson. This was also the 2^nd straight year in which Connolly failed to appear in 30 Games – last season it was because of the worst injury of his career, but this year is was because of the emergence of Harewood, who took some playing time away from the legendary veteran. The split in playing time will likely continue until Harewood, who is looking likely to be Connolly’s successor, takes over for good. Rating: 7/10

RIGHT DEFENDER - Alan Combe (2030), 22 Years Old: 32 Apps, 2 Assists, 5.64 TpG (9^th), 58 Interceptions, 29 Key Tackles (1^st), 81% Pass Ratio, 6.87 AR….This was his 4^th straight year as our starter and this was his 4^th straight year of improvement. He registered a career-high 6.87 AR, a very respectable number considering the general terrible shape of our full-backs. He led the league in Key Tackles and was amongst the top in Tackles Per Game (TpG). Overall, he seems to have adjusted to the PL level of football, and I have no qualms about him being our starting RB going forward. Rating: 6.5/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Graham Clarke (2024), 27 Years Old: 36 Apps, 2 Goals, 2 Assists, 2.45 TpG , 118 Interceptions, 26 Key Tackles (2^nd in PL), 6.94 AR….This was the 2^nd straight season where Clarke registers 6.94 AR, the second highest mark of his career. His two year form over the past couple of seasons has been the best of his career, which makes sense since he is supposed to hit the prime of his career during this time. He’s getting the job done – no more, no less – which is fine considering just how bad our defensive line continues to be. Rating: 6.5/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Dean De Cruz (2029), 22 Years Old: 34 Apps, 3 Assists, 1.84 TpG, 138 Interceptions (4^th in PL), 19 Key Tackles, 104 Key Headers (2^nd), 233 Headers Won (5^th), 49 Shots Blocked (1^st), 7.06 AR….Six seasons into his young career, De Cruz finally registered over 7.00 AR (7.06), the first time he has done so in his career. This was obviously the best season in his career thus far, and it comes one season after I expressed disappointment in how he has turned out. While his talents and attributes remain generally the same as a year ago, his form drastically improved despite our defense being the worst in the PL. Rating: 7/10

LEFT DEFENDER - Christian Porter (2034), 18 Years Old: 35 Apps, 3.92 TpG , 67 Interceptions, 19 Key Tackles, 6.67 AR….Before the season started, I made the decision to put rookier Porter in the starting lineup. The thinking is simple – we don’t have any quality left-backs and with my staff rated Porter at 4.5/5 PA, I figured we might as well give him the maximum exposure to aid his development. His form was predictably mediocre (6.67 AR), but he did show some nice progress especially in his Mental and Physical attributes. The next couple of years will tell us how good he will be – I really hope he turns out decent as this has been a problem position for us. Rating: 6/10

MIDFIELD

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Alexis Milton (2020), 32 Years Old (2 Caps/1 Goal): 31 Apps (19 Starts), 1 Goals, 1 Assists, 9 Chances Created, 75% Pass Ratio, 38 Key Passes, 69 Interceptions, 3.01 TpG, 0.92 DpG, 6.84 AR….This was the first season since 2021/22 that Milton failed to average at least 7.00 AR, officially commencing the last phase of his career as it winds down. His form dipped significantly and given the amount of young talent coming up at the position, I found it difficult justifying keeping him as our permanent starter at the position. He is 16 Games away from 600 League Games, something which he should cross next season, but his days as an indispensable starter for us has come to end. He’ll turn 33 next season, and although he is absolutely a club legend and one of our greatest players of all-time, the jewel of the ’20 Youth Class has now entered the twilight of his career. Rating: 6/10

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Harvey Parsons-Salis (2033), 19 Years Old: 29 Apps, 4 Goals, 1 Assists, 12 Chances Created, 47 Key Passes, 76% Pass Ratio, 2.31 TpG, 0.98 DpG, 6.89 AR….His 3^rd year with the first team was also his first as a starter for us as he replaced Atkinson in starting eleven. He did decent – his 6.89 AR was a significant increase from 6.76 AR the season before and I think it was a direct result of his encouraging improvement he made in his attributes. His Technique attribute is the highest one the team and is definitely his strength, but he continues to become a more well-rounded player as he inches closer to his 20^th birthday. He is viewed as Championship-caliber player currently, but my staff think he has the potential become a good PL midfielder in the near future if his improvements keep up. Rating: 6.5/10

RIGHT WINGER - Danny Bloodworth (2031), 21 Years Old (4 Caps/3 Goals): 34 Apps, 13 Goals (10^th in PL), 9 Assists (7^th), 4 PoMs, 27 Chances Created (1^st), 35 Key Passes, 72% Pass Ratio, 55% Shot Target, 2.62 TpG, 4.48 DpG (7^th), 7.30 AR (7^th)….Is he the Kafra Youth Academy’s most talent product after Chamberlain? I think so, and ironically enough, they play in the same position! He definitely had a good season not only for the club, but also England as he scored his first few goals for his nation while his value shot up to £60M. He signed a new contract after fighting me about going to a bigger club, and now he is paid £250K per week until 2039. He was – at one point during the season – considered a World-Class winger, and I will not argue with that. Rating: 8.5/10

ATTACK

FORWARD - Carl Young (2032), 19 Years Old: 35 Apps, 6 Goals, 6 Assists, 13 Chances Created, 23 Key Passes, 85% Pass Ratio, 59% Shot Target, 2.31 DpG, 6.99 AR….Young replaced Paul Jordan in the starting lineup early in the year and ended up being a very similar player to him. His career trajectory is even taking the same curve so far, albeit Young performed significantly better during his 3^rd year than Jordan did. Like Jordan in his earlier years, Young has struggled finding the back of the net thus far, and while my staff have cooled on his potential some, I still have hope he will be a good striker for us. We desperately need it, too, as Flynn begins the final phase of his career. Rating: 7/10

FORWARD - Michael Flynn (2019), 31 Years Old (Scotland: 95 Caps/58 Goals): 35 Apps, 13 Goals, 9 Assists, 8 Chances Created, 1.53 DpG, 52% Shot Target, 7.12 AR….The club captain, one of Scotland’s greatest ever, and definitely Kafra’s GOAT! He’ll be 32 by the time next seasons starts so the likelihood of him returning to his 2020’s days are pretty slim – in fact, he has scored 20 Goals in just one of the last 6 seasons, so he definitely is not the threat he once was. That being said, we don’t have anyone better at the position, with only Jordan and Young joining Flynn in what might be our shallowest position. Definitely have enjoyed the ride with this guy, and although he probably doesn’t rank too high in terms of Greatest Kafra Players in Any Save, he was one of my least problematic stars/legends. Rating: 7/10

HOT PROSPECTS

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Anthony Moore-Woodward (2031), 20 Years Old: Rated at 4.5/5 PA by my staff although I really can’t see why. He doesn’t look like he will develop much further, and I am struggling to find him playing time at the CM position. He hasn’t really showcased any strengths to speak of, and I see him fading out sooner rather than later if he doesn’t show improvement.

GOALKEEPER - Colin Harewood (2032), 20 Years Old: Right now, Harewood is in solid position as the successor to Connolly when the time comes. GK is possibly our deepest position after CM, and there is a few prospects that have the potential to compete with Harewood, but he impressed me during the games I played him this season. After spending 2 years on loan, this was the first year he was active with the Kafra first team, playing in 13 Games and registering 2.42 Con/90 (yikes) and 7.02 AR. He should continue to improve at the same pace as the past few years, which would be very good for his prospects of becoming No.1 in the near future.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Chris Grant (2033), 18 Years Old: The potential is tantalizing, but the end product is still very far off. In 12 Appearances, he could only muster up an Assists and 6.67 AR, although he did also register 82% Pass Ratio. This was his sophomore season, but he has only shown “Minor” improvement in his overall Technical abilities over the past 2 seasons, something which needs to get better if he wants to compete with the other CM prospects for playing time.

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Andrew Kamara (2033), 18 Years Old: The young CD is on his way to becoming my first Intake success story in this save. He was 3/5 PA in the ’33 Youth Intake, and now sits at 4/5 PA having shown some really good improvement alongside his ample playing time. He made his debut and played in 11 Games this season, registering 3.29 TpG and 6.65 AR. Given how young he still is, if he continues to improve at this pace, he will be challenging either Clarke or De Cruz for a starting position soon.

YOUTH INTAKE

Ali Al-Mallah – Stuart Brooks – Junior Kennedy

I haven’t had a full 5/5 PA prospect in a while, so I am excited about this one. Of course, he plays in our deepest and probably most talented position, so he does have some competition. Our 2^nd best prospect in this Intake is also – surprise, surprise – a CM. Kennedy doesn’t look like much and I’m not so confident he will develop into the type of talent I need, but he will get the chance in any case. Overall, I am relatively content with this Intake, although I really need full-backs and strikers and they are just not coming.

abulezz · May 6, 2020

dino · May 6, 2020

Do you find the motivation tough when you're bobbling about in the middle of the league for years and years?

abulezz · May 7, 2020

6 hours ago, dino said:

Do you find the motivation tough when you're bobbling about in the middle of the league for years and years?

No - its part of the fun for me. This is the 5th edition of the Kafra saves, and I have yet to win the Champions League. Yes, that means I have not tasted what it feels like to be a Champions League champion since 2015!

abulezz · May 8, 2020

SEASON REVIEW 2035/2036

TEAM REVIEW

This was our highest ever finish as we ended the season in 8^th Place, something which I am proud about. The only disappointment is that we were competing for a European spot throughout the year, even working our way up to a Champions League spot at one point, but we are going to have to settle for another Europe-less campaign. Our offense is back on track despite the fall of Flynn thanks to our dynamite wingers, but our defense remains the biggest sore we have. If we can somehow improve the way we play defense and stop conceding these goals that cost us points, a Champions League spot is not too far off.

Manchester United ended Liverpool’s consecutive title run at four, taking the Premier League title for the first time since 2031. Led by star English striker and new signing Ronald Francois (PL Footballer of the Year, 36 Apps, 27 Goals, 10 Assists, 11 PoMs, 7.67 AR), Manchester United were able to capture the title with a phenomenal 15 point difference between them and 2^nd Placed Manchester City – this was Man City’s first time since 2031 to finish this high and only the second time since 2019, when they won the title, to finish in 2^nd Place. The champions had a huge drop in form, finishing in 6^th Place and outside of the Champions League spots, which went to Chelsea and Everton.

Speaking of the Champions League, Real Madrid won it for a record 16^th time, and also for the 2^nd time in 3 years. They defeated Paris Saint Germain in the Finals in Madrid – this was PSG’s first trip back to the Finals since they won the whole thing in 2021, which was also when a French team last made the Finals. Defending champions RB Leipzig crashed out in the Group Stages this year leading to a disappointing campaign to defend their title.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

LEFT WINGER - Kyle Davies (2028), 25 Years Old (18 Caps/16 Goals): 35 Apps, 20 Goals (4^th in PL), 12 Assists (3^rd), 5 PoMs, 24 Chances Created (2^nd), 42 Key Passes, 71% Pass Ratio, 49% Shot Target, 2.64 TpG, 4.91 DpG (4^th), 7.55 AR (2^nd)….The now former PL Footballer of the Year was still named our Kafra Player of the Year for the 4^th consecutive year and 5^th time overall, second only to Michael Flynn in the club’s history books. He led the league with 7.51 AR last season, and although he actually improved to 7.55 AR this year, he was bumped down to 2^nd in the PL. He is unquestionably a Premier League star at this point, well known to be one of the world’s greatest threats down the left wing. One of only 3 English players with a valuation of £70M or more, he is also his national team’s newest star, sporting a phenomenal goal ratio so far. He is rated a perfect 5/5 CA by my staff, and I would say its safe to call him a club legend at this point. Rating: 9/10

DEFENSE

GOALKEEPER - Aidan Connolly (2019), 33 Years Old (63 Caps): 26 Apps, 2.27 Con/90, 4 Clean Sheets, 6.87 AR….Has deteriorated pretty quickly both physically and in form as his 6.87 AR was a career-low. His strength and quickness is noticeably less and it looks like England former and Kafra’s current No.1 is coming to the end of his career. This was the third straight season where he played under 30 Games, and Ian Walker’s rapid rise through the ranks has expedited the need to aid his development. At this point, this could have been Connolly’s last season as our No.1 which should not diminish one bit how much of a legend he is to the club. Rating: 7/10

RIGHT DEFENDER - Alan Combe (2030), 23 Years Old: 37 Apps, 2 Goals, 6 Assists, 5.27 TpG (10^th), 71 Interceptions, 33 Key Tackles (2^nd), 82% Pass Ratio, 6.88 AR….Another decent season from our right-back, who despite only being 23 years old, has displayed maturity and a workhorse like attitude that has grown on to me. He has developed into one of the strongest tacklers in the Premier League and his efficiency is an added bonus. He also displayed a decent touch going forward this season, getting a career-high 6 Assists. He might not ever be an England player, but he is doing just fine for us currently. Rating: 6.5/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Graham Clarke (2024), 28 Years Old: 35 Apps, 1 Goals, 2 Assists, 2.19 TpG , 137 Interceptions (3rd in PL), 25 Key Tackles (5^th in PL), 87 Key Headers (5^th), 41 Shots Blocked (1^st) 6.90 AR….He has now played 414 League Games for the club and is easily one of our two best CDs in the history of the club. Our defense remains one of the worst in the league, but Clarke has been a bright spot in it for the past few years. Overall, he might be more of a Championship-level CD, but he is doing the job for us. Rating: 6.5/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Dean De Cruz (2029), 23 Years Old: 28 Apps, 3 Assists, 2.13 TpG, 111 Interceptions (14^th in PL), 13 Key Tackles, 78 Key Headers (8^th), 179 Headers Won (15^th), 33 Shots Blocked (2^nd), 6.98 AR…He dropped from 7.06 to 6.98 AR but it was still a pretty decent season from De Cruz. I have gotten over my disappointment over the realization that De Cruz will never develop into a world-class CD, but he does continue to be a serviceable one for us. He had to deal with an injured foot in March that ruled him out for almost a month so he ended up playing less than 30 Games for the first time in his career. With a couple of good CD prospects coming up, both De Cruz and Clarke will have competition for playing time going forward. Rating: 6.5/10

LEFT DEFENDER - Christian Porter (2034), 19 Years Old: 27 Apps, 4.56 TpG , 38 Interceptions, 19 Key Tackles,85% Pass Ratio, 6.89 AR….I have to admit, I am a fan. Porter’s come a long way since his rookie year, where he was the star of the ’34 Youth Class but ultimately failed to perform consistently. His progress both in form and attribute wise has been immense, so I am excited to see if he can keep this up for the next 2-3 years. Rating: 6.5/10

MIDFIELD

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Harvey Parsons-Salis (2033), 20 Years Old: 36 Apps, 2 Goals, 6 Assists, 2 PoMs, 20 Chances Created (4^th in PL), 90 Key Passes (3^rd), 77% Pass Ratio, 1.94 TpG, 0.97 DpG, 7.08 AR….His second year as a starter for us was much better than his first and he effectively replaced Milton in the starting lineup. Although Milton’s inferior in every way when he was in his prime, Parsons-Salis is currently the best CM we have based on current talent. My worry is that he has stopped developing as his growth stagnated this year. Rating: 7/10

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Ali Al-Mallah (2034), 17 Years Old: 32 Apps, 1 Goal, 3 Assists, 6 Chances Created, 18 Key Passes, 86% Pass Ratio, 27 Interceptions 2.77 TpG, 0.68 DpG, 6.73 AR….His rookie year was a learning experience, but the potential here is very obvious. He replaced Atkinson in the starting lineup, so we were operating with a brand-new partnership in the middle of the pitch. If I can get him to get a bit of creativity going on, then he will be the perfect CM IF he develops the way I hope he does. How his sophomore season plays out could go a long way in showing us what kind of player he will become. Rating: 6/10

RIGHT WINGER - Danny Bloodworth (2031), 22 Years Old (10 Caps/6 Goals): 36 Apps, 14 Goals (8^th in PL), 12 Assists (3^rd), 5 PoMs, 26 Chances Created (1^st), 45 Key Passes, 73% Pass Ratio, 49% Shot Target, 2.32 TpG, 5.10 DpG (2^nd), 292 Headers Won (1^st), 7.24 AR (7^th)….For the foreseeable future, both of England’s wingers are Kafra players – Davies on the left, and Bloodworth on the right. They are both our most important and highest valued players – Bloodworth is second on the team behind Davies at £64M. The right winger registered career-highs in Assists and PoMs this season, but perhaps the strangest statistic is Bloodworth leading the league in Headers Won. In any case, he is one of England’s brightest talents and one of the best young wingers in the world. Rating: 8/10

ATTACK

FORWARD - Carl Young (2032), 20 Years Old: 36 Apps, 11 Goals, 7 Assists, 2 PoMs, 15 Chances Created, 27 Key Passes, 86% Pass Ratio, 58% Shot Target, 2.29 DpG, 7.11 AR….Paul Jordan’s numbers in his 4^th season were 12 Goals, 5 Assists, 2 PoMs, 7.12 AR. They are almost identical to Young’s 4^th season numbers. I bring this up because even attribute-wise, they are pretty much the same player, and it shows in their stats. They are both extremely efficient with the ball, and they are both capable of being major threats in front of the goal, as witnessed by Jordan’s 24 Goals season in 2032/33 and Young’s 4 Goals against in Kafra’s 6-1 destruction of Nottingham Forest. If Young ends up giving us the kind of career Jordan has so far, I will be a happy camper. Rating: 7/10

FORWARD - Michael Flynn (2019), 31 Years Old (Scotland: 95 Caps/58 Goals): 28 Apps, 12 Goals, 5 Assists, 2 PoMs, 15 Chances Created, 0.95 DpG, 62% Shot Target, 7.18 AR….You know the end must be getting near when Flynn fails to play in at least 30 Games for the first time in his storied 17 year career. The truth is, the injuries have started to pile on and it has had a great effect on his game. He started the season very strongly but succumbed to nagging injuries before finally being shut down in April for the rest of the campaign. His form was actually better overall than last season, but it is clear that Flynn can no longer carry the burden of being Kafra’s main attacking threat after all these year. The club’s greatest of all-time is finally starting to show his age. Rating: 7/10

HOT PROSPECTS

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Chris Grant (2033), 19 Years Old: Definitely liked what I saw from Grant this season – 10 Apps, 4 Assists, 2.21 TpG, 81% Pass Ratio, 1.10 DpG, and 6.99 AR. What I want to see is better performance in training as his development was a little stagnant this season. With Milton turning 33 and Atkinson playing drama queen, there is opportunity in the center of the pitch for playing time.

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Andrew Kamara (2033), 19 Years Old: He played in 12 Games, registering 2.60 TpG and 6.79 AR, relatively decent numbers. He will have to take a backseat to emerging prospect Harland this coming season, but he has already forced his way into the first team so I think it would be a bad idea to count him out just yet.

GOALKEEPER - Ian Walker (2033), 19 Years Old: Call the ’33 Youth Class the class of the overachiever. Walker, like Kamara, came in with a 3/5 PA, but now sits at 4/5 PA with potential to be a PL level GK in the future, according to my staff. Just one year ago, Harewood seemed like the sure successor to Connolly – now, it is Walker’s prize to lose. The secret to his success? The work he put in during training forced me to take notice – this guy was improving at a crazy pace. He ended up playing 8 Games, registering 1.50 Con/90 and 7.03 AR.

YOUTH INTAKE

Russell Harland – Nick Power

This was our second straight Intake with a 5/5 PA prospect, and this one is actually in a position we need! I am excited about Harland, and although his starting attributes aren’t great, he is going to get plenty of time right off the bat so the hope is he can improve quickly. Other than Harland, however, this is an incredibly thin Intake – our next best prospect is Power, and unless he can show real dedication in training, he doesn’t look likely to become of much use to us.

abulezz · May 9, 2020

abulezz · May 12, 2020

SEASON REVIEW 2036/2037

TEAM REVIEW

There was a “generational revolution” this season, and the old guard were replaced in bulk. Four different positions had new starters by the end of the season as I expedited the handing over of the team’s keys. Even Michael Flynn, our greatest ever player who is sadly getting up there in age, was replaced. That being said, we had a decent season, finishing in 10^th Place – yes, that means we dropped two spots from last season and were never really in any real competition for a European spot. That doesn’t worry me, however what does worry me is our lack of U21 prospects that look like they belong in the first team that are not yet starters. There is no one pushing my players for playing time, and even deep positions like CM and CD don’t have the talent in the depth to real challenge the first team boys. I hired a new HOYD as my old (only one thus far) retired, and the first Intake he gave me was absolute garbage. As it stands, we have a great offense thanks to our two World-Class wingers, and we have a horrible defense that is simply not up to standard. We ranked near the top in Goals Scored, and dead last in Goals Conceded. We have been in the Premier League 12 years now, and we are no closer to challenging from a European spot now than we were back then. Its ridiculous.

In the Premier League, Man United successfully defended their title, and it was Everton that finished in 2^nd Place for the second consecutive season. Ronald Francois was not quite the terror he was in his first year with Man United last season, but he still scored 20 Goals and won a second title. Man City and Chelsea rounded out the Top 4, with Arsenal and Nottingham Forest grabbing the 2 other European spots.

The Champions League trophy returned to England after a 6 year absence thanks to Man United defeating Barcelona 2-0 in Kieve, Ukraine. Ansu Fati, the 34 year old Spanish legend, scored the first goal as his (probably) final meaningful contribution to the team he has been with since 2027. This was Barcelona’s 2^nd defeat in the Finals in the past 3 years, and they are stilling waiting to win the competition for the first time since 2015!

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

LEFT WINGER - Kyle Davies (2028), 26 Years Old (31 Caps/23 Goals): 36 Apps, 19 Goals (4^th in PL), 15 Assists (1^st), 3 PoMs, 22 Chances Created (2^nd), 37 Key Passes, 68% Pass Ratio, 54% Shot Target, 2.81 TpG, 4.70 DpG (5^th), 7.45 AR (5^th)….Davies set a new record for most consecutive Kafra Player of the Year after winning his 5^th straight one and 6^th overall this year. England’s latest star is now valued close to £70M after having another fantastic season. He led the Premier League in Assists and his all-around numbers were phenomenal. The 3 year stretch he is going through is by far the best of his career, and theoretically he is about to hit the prime of his career now, so I am looking forward to that. Rating: 9/10

DEFENSE

GOALKEEPER - Ian Walker (2033), 20 Years Old: 34 Apps, 2.38 Con/90, 5 Clean Sheets, 6.97 AR….Aidan Connolly’s rapid and drastic decline opened up an opportunity a couple of years earlier than expected, and while Harewood was once thought of as the eventual successor, Walker’s performances in training and on the pitch led him to a rise that was just as dramatic as Connolly’s decline. Walker’s strengths and weaknesses are the opposite of Connolly’s, so he represents a whole different experience for us between the sticks. I didn’t judge him on the first season, but I will expect solid form going forward. Rating: 7/10

RIGHT DEFENDER - Laurence Sharpe (2035), 19 Years Old: 24 Apps, 4 Assists, 4.20 TpG, 39 Interceptions, 13 Key Tackles, 86% Pass Ratio, 6.65 AR….Although this year represented the changing of generations when it comes to our first eleven, Sharpe was perhaps the biggest surprise as I replaced Combe with the youngster at right-back. He was an afterthought in the ’35 Youth Class, looked over for the likes of Ali Al-Mallah, Stuart Brooks, Junior Kennedy, and Joe Bennett. Al-Mallah is doing great, but Sharpe was impressed much more than the rest of the crop so far. Of course, he did not have a good season, but that was expected. Let’s see how he develops and does this coming season. Rating: 6/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Russell Harland (2036), 17 Years Old: 29 Apps, 1 Assists, 1.88 TpG , 90 Interceptions, 15 Key Tackles, 38 Shots Blocked (2^nd), 6.78 AR….Harland had an impressive rookie year both of the pitch and in training. His progress was very encouraging and considering how bad our defense was, 6.78 AR is actually pretty acceptable. It is obvious at this point that Harland and Porter are the future of our defensive line, so we need him to keep developing at this speed. Rating: 6.5/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Dean De Cruz (2029), 24 Years Old: 35 Apps,2 Goals, 4 Assists, 1.91 TpG, 143 Interceptions (3^rd in PL), 19 Key Tackles (14^th), 101 Key Headers (2^nd), 230 Headers Won (5^th), 41 Shots Blocked (1^st), 6.94 AR….De Cruz is now entering his mid-20s having never quite lived up to the expectations I had for him. That being said, he has been serviceable and a lot of times our best defender. He beat out Graham Clarke to keep his starting spot after I gave Harland the other one, but it doesn’t mean he is safe – I will be going with the “hot hand” between those two. Rating: 6.5/10

LEFT DEFENDER - Christian Porter (2034), 20 Years Old: 33 Apps, 4.27 TpG , 77 Interceptions, 21 Key Tackles, 83% Pass Ratio, 6.70 AR….Porter had a rough year as his form regressed from 6.89 to 6.70 AR. Not sure what quite happened, and the hope is he just had an off-year that he will bounce back from next season. He has talent and he is still developing – my coaching staff have even raised him to a 5/5 PA this season. They also consider him playing at a League One level, so he needs to do better with that. Rating: 6/10

MIDFIELD

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Chris Grant (2033), 20 Years Old: 36 Apps, 3 Goals, 5 Assists, 13 Chances Created, 52 Key Passes, 75% Pass Ratio, 2.27 TpG, 1.12 DpG, 6.97 AR….Part of the new generation revolution that happened this year, Grant was a snap decision I made while trying to figure out who to start alongside Al-Mallah this season. I had options (Milton, Atkinson, Parsons-Salis, Skinner), but I went with the outsider because I think he has the best chance of developing in a good CM from all the young CMs. He did not let me down and he did well for his first season as a starter and he became classified as a “Wonderkid” so I hope I am right about him. Rating: 7/10

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Ali Al-Mallah (2034), 18 Years Old: 29 Apps, 2 Goals, 2 Assists, 1 Chances Created, 18 Key Passes, 83% Pass Ratio, 39 Interceptions 3.54 TpG, 0.67 DpG, 6.78 AR….The future of our team, I’m not even kidding. I am enamored with this youngster – his skillset is one I don’t get very often and my only worry right now is making sure I don’t mess up his development. His first two seasons have been nothing to write home about, but I totally see Al-Mallah exploding through in a season and never looking back. Hopefully, that day will come soon (or never, if I am completely wrong about him!) Rating: 6/10

RIGHT WINGER - Danny Bloodworth (2031), 23 Years Old (22 Caps/10 Goals): 38 Apps, 22 Goals (1^st in PL), 12 Assists (2^nd), 7 PoMs (1^st), 25 Chances Created (1^st), 45 Key Passes, 72% Pass Ratio, 55% Shot Target, 2.48 TpG, 4.62 DpG (6^th), 242 Headers Won (3^rd), 7.42 AR (6^th)….I have no shame in admitting that Bloodworth is probably my favorite player so far in this save. I love his skill-set – I love his speed and power, and the fact that he is almost perfect with the ball at his feet is the icing on the cake. This was obviously his best season so far – he led the league in Goals, was 2^nd in Assists, 1^st in PoMs, and amongst the leaders in many other categories. He was the most dangerous attacking player in the Premier League this season, bar none, and I think he should have won the Footballer of the Year over his teammate. Rating: 9/10

ATTACK

FORWARD - Carl Young (2032), 21 Years Old: 36 Apps, 20 Goals (2^nd in PL), 8 Assists, 5 PoMs (8^th), 18 Chances Created (8^th), 30 Key Passes, 88% Pass Ratio, 61% Shot Target (12^th), 2.17 DpG, 7.48 AR (4^th)….Holy crap. Young came into this season as a decent but unspectacular contributor to our offensive unit, and ended it as the Premier League’s most prestigious player after grabbing the PL’s Footballer of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year, and Young Player of the Year awards. He was also named to the PL Team of the Year for the first time in his career, as well, and all of this despite missing almost 2 months at the end of the season after he injured his kneecap. Spectacular season from the striker. Rating: 9/10

FORWARD - Sean Power (2034), 20 Years Old: 29 Apps, 13 Goals, 8 Assists, 1 PoMs, 20 Chances Created (7^th in PL), 35 Key Passes, 79% Pass Ratio, 63% Shot Target (9^th), 0.64 DpG, 7.30 AR (9^th)….Out of all this so-called revolution, Power was my weirdest selection due to the fact we have zero prospects at the striker position outside of Young. He is not your conventional striker, yet somehow, he got the job done in a very big way. His 7.30 AR was amongst the best in the PL, and he even managed to turn himself into a credible threat that made defenses stay honest. As soon as a new prospect worth developing comes along, Power is going to be relegated to the bench, but until that happens, he partners up with Young in what is our weakest frontline so far this save, nothing against both players. Rating: 8/10

HOT PROSPECTS

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Andrew Kamara (2033), 20 Years Old: With the emergence of Harland, Kamara is going to have a rough time trying to get playing time now. His 6.45 AR in his few appearances this year didn’t spark much confidence in his abilities, either. He has decent talent, but I don’t see him breaking into the starting eleven.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Stuart Brooks (2035), 18 Years Old: I honestly don’t know what to think of this CM. He has yet to make his debut for the club as I just have not seen enough progress in training, but my staff remain high on him. Tried to get him loaned out, but no one offered. I like his skillset, but the problem is that he has to improve a lot in order to get to where we need him to be.

PLAYERS LEAVING

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Alexis Milton (2020), 34 Years Old (2 Caps/1 Goal): What can be said about Milton that has not already been said. He was part of the first Intake we had, and how lucky it was for us to have an absolute club legend in our first go. Over the course of his 17 year career, he has played in 606 League Games, registering 53 Goals, 135 Assists, 25 PoMs, and 7.14 AR. A crucial part of the team’s promotion to the Championship during his rookie year in 2020/21, his most memorable season came 3 years later when the team lifted the Championship trophy in 2024 with Milton being crowned the Championship Player of the Year (45 Apps, 8 Goals, 17 Assists, 5 PoMs, 7.46 AR) as well as its Young Player of the Year. He would go on to be one of the Premier League’s top CMs in the mid-2020s until the early 2030s, where his playing time started getting less and less as his age grew. Overall, Milton is easily Top 5 of All-Time for us, and is the greatest CM we have had so far and he should have had a lot more than only 2 Caps. Career

FORWARD - Paul Jordan (2024), 30 Years Old: In my opinion, Jordan is the most overachieving player we have had thus far this save. He became our starter up front in 2027, and would go on to give us some solid play until the mid-2030s, where he was replaced in the starting lineup by a more talented upstart called Carl Young. Jordan’s best season came in 2032/33 when he scored 24 Goals and was Runner-up in the PL’s Top Goalscorer award. His best two year stretch came from 2032 to 2034, where he was widely considered one of the better strikers in the PL. His playing time slowly decreased after 2034, and this past year he barely saw the pitch thanks to the emergence of Young and Power. Still, he will remain a club legend, if only on the strength of his wonderful 2032/33 season. Career

YOUTH INTAKE

Ronan Quinn – Eric Iranzi

This was our weakest Intake in a long time. I was really hoping for a striker prospect, but I got zero prospects in any position that look like they are first team material. Our two most promising prospects will need a lot of work if they are to develop into the standards required. Overall, terrible Intake which was made worse because this the first Intake of our new HOYD! Not a good sign.

abulezz · May 14, 2020

abulezz · May 16, 2020

SEASON REVIEW 2037/2038

TEAM REVIEW

The thing I am most excited about is finishing as the 16^th best defensive team in the Premier League! We were bad, but we are finally not THAT bad. Of course, our offense carried us, led by our two World-Class wingers in Danny Bloodworth – who won every individual award in the PL this season – and Kyle Davies. We missed out on Europe again, but we played so much better than previous years. I think the key to our team is Ali Al-Mallab, so time will tell if I am correct. With the departure of Flynn and Connolly, we have officially shifted generations at Kafra – let us see what this new one can accomplish.

In the Premier League, Man United won the title for the 3^rd consecutive year, with Liverpool bouncing back and finishing in 2^nd Place. Nottingham Forest and Brighton grabbed the last two Champions League spots, and although we finished in 10^th Place, we played like a European spot challenger almost all season long.

In an all-English affair in the Champions League Finals in Munich, Everton confidently defeated Chelsea 3-0 to win their 3^rd ever Champions League title and 4 years after falling to Real Madrid in Berlin. Everton had a rough road to the Finals as they had to defeat Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Man United before finally taking out Chelsea. This was Chelsea’s first trip to the Finals since 2012 when they defeated Bayern Munich in Munich.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

RIGHT WINGER - Danny Bloodworth (2031), 24 Years Old (29 Caps/13 Goals): 30 Apps, 23 Goals (1^st in PL), 8 Assists, 7 PoMs (3^rd), 21 Chances Created (3^rd), 34 Key Passes, 73% Pass Ratio, 51% Shot Target, 2.49 TpG, 5.24 DpG (1^st), 187 Headers Won (9^th), 7.63 AR (1^st)….For the 3^rd time in 4 years, a Kafra player swept the individual awards of the Premier League. Like Davies and Young before him, Bloodworth was named the PL’s Footballer of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year, and Young Player of the Year – what Bloodworth also did that Davies and Young did not, however, was lead the PL in Goals Scored. This was actually the 2^nd consecutive season that Bloodworth was the PL’s Top Goalscorer, and at this point I don’t think there can be any argument as to who has become the best player in England. I compare him to a young Kylin Mbappe and so far seems to be following the same career trajectory. He suffered an injury to his knee ligaments that ruled him out the last games of the season, but he still managed to lead the league in several offensive categories. His value has nearly reached £80M, and the best news of all? He just signed a new contract with us keeping him at the club until 2043 at least. He has the making to be this save’s best player. Rating: 9.5/10

DEFENSE

GOALKEEPER - Ian Walker (2033), 21 Years Old: 37 Apps, 1.78 Con/90, 3 Clean Sheets, 6.94 AR….Connolly, who served as our No.1 for almost the entire history of the club and is one of our greatest players of all-time, will leave the club this summer, but it will be merely symbolic as Walker has been our starter for the past two seasons. He is still young, but he will have to do a lot of improving in all aspects to someday want to be in the same conversation as Connolly. As it stands, we do have a few GK prospects who are similarly talented to Walker, so even the No.1 position is not set in stone yet. I would like to see 7.00+ AR from my GKs, so hopefully Walker can give us that as he is not so far off. Rating: 7/10

RIGHT DEFENDER - Laurence Sharpe (2035), 20 Years Old: 32 Apps, 1 Assists, 4.77 TpG, 53 Interceptions, 17 Key Tackles, 80% Pass Ratio, 6.72 AR….Had an improved season but has most likely lost his starting spot to upstart Ahmed El-Hadi whose potential surpasses that of Sharpe significantly. Sharpe is comfortable in either full-back position so his versatility is valuable for us, and my staff think he still has decent room for improvement yet. Rating: 6/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Russell Harland (2036), 18 Years Old: 35 Apps, 3 Goals, 2 Assists, 2.52 TpG , 123 Interceptions (5^th in PL), 30 Key Tackles (2^nd), 90 Key Headers (4^th), 231 Headers Won (2^nd), 43 Shots Blocked (2^nd), 6.93 AR….He is 18 years old with two full seasons of experience as a starter at the highest level and with a world of potential – that is probably the best way to describe Harland right now. His sophomore season was, in my eyes, a success, and I will be widely surprised and shocked if Harland does not develop to at least be one of the top CDs in the PL. Rating: 7/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Dean De Cruz (2029), 25 Years Old: 33 Apps,2 Goals, 2 Assists, 1.93 TpG, 128 Interceptions (4^th in PL), 10 Key Tackles, 73 Key Headers (11^th), 174 Headers Won (13^th), 51 Shots Blocked (1^st), 6.93 AR….De Cruz was the Harland of the early 2030s, but he never developed to the standard I was hoping for. He is still a decent CD, and has now played 314 League Games for us with a 6.93 AR for his career. He was at it again this season, retaining his role as one of the most active CDs in the PL and one of our main players. Rating: 6.5/10

LEFT DEFENDER - Christian Porter (2034), 21 Years Old: 37 Apps, 2 Assists, 4.58 TpG , 80 Interceptions, 28 Key Tackles (4^th), 82% Pass Ratio, 1.02 DpG, 6.76 AR….Is he a potential England-level left-back? My staff seem to think so as they have now bumped him up to 5/5 PA and he is still only at 2.5/5 CA. He had a decent season improving from 6.70 to 6.76 AR, but ideally you would want to see that number over 7.00 AR. His progression in training as also flattened out, and he didn’t show much in that respect this season. He would have to show substantial commitment to improving in training and his form would have to get better for him to be considered a good player and maybe an international level full-back. Rating: 6/10

MIDFIELD

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Chris Grant (2033), 21 Years Old: 38 Apps, 7 Goals, 9 Assists (8^th in PL), 19 Chances Created (7^th), 77 Key Passes (8^th), 74% Pass Ratio, 2.03 TpG, 1.14 DpG, 7.12 AR….Chris Grant is the new Alexis Milton! He played such a similar role this season it felt like it was the legend reincarnated. In some ways, however, he is even better, especially with the ball at his feet. Grant has really worked hard and earned his starting spot, and I have no regrets giving it to him over all the other prospects. He continued to improve in training as well, and at this point, with his value at around £25M, I wouldn’t be surprised if he got called up to the England squad. Rating: 7.5/10

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Ali Al-Mallah (2034), 19 Years Old: 33 Apps, 4 Goals, 6 Assists, 2 PoMs, 10 Chances Created, 47 Key Passes, 80% Pass Ratio, 54 Interceptions 2.80 TpG, 0.60 DpG, 7.00 AR….I have to say that Al-Mallah is the player that has most intrigued me in recent memory. He really started coming along in the second half of the season, and by the time it was over, he has brought his form up to 7.00 AR. I don’t know what it is exactly but he just oozes potential, and I am talking about the world-beater type of potential. Of course, I could be completely wrong, but next season should start showing us what kind of player we can expect him to become. Rating: 7/10

LEFT WINGER - Kyle Davies (2028), 27 Years Old (40 Caps/25 Goals): 38 Apps, 17 Goals (3^rd in PL), 11 Assists (5^th), 6 PoMs (5^th), 19 Chances Created (7^th), 42 Key Passes, 66% Pass Ratio, 55% Shot Target, 3.39 TpG, 4.55 DpG (7^th), 7.37 AR (5^th)….Throughout the 2030s, the ultimate left winger in the PL has been Kyle Davies. A goalscoring machine as well as an assist leader, Davies has been the driving force behind the Kafra offense. He has Bloodworth now, but Davies remains as critical as ever, and he could even challenge Flynn for the team’s GOAT status before it is all over. Rating: 8/10

ATTACK

FORWARD - Carl Young (2032), 22 Years Old: 38 Apps, 8 Goals, 8 Assists, 13 Chances Created, 24 Key Passes, 86% Pass Ratio, 54% Shot Target, 2.30 DpG, 6.92 AR….When Young won the Footballer of the Year award last year, I rolled my eyes. Nothing against Young as he is my player but he was the lucky recipient of being part of a great offense, and because so little was expected of him, it made the season he had all the more special. But Footballer of the Year? This year he reverted to probably his average, and the media moved on to the next big thing (Bloodworth). He is super young, so he has a lot of time to prove me wrong. Rating: 6.5/10

FORWARD - Sean Power (2034), 20 Years Old: 31 Apps, 8 Goals, 6 Assists, 1 PoMs, 15 Chances Created, 23 Key Passes, 76% Pass Ratio, 59% Shot Target, 1.09 DpG, 7.10 AR….The CM that became a Striker – the story of Sean Power. He hasn’t be been bad, which is heaven sent considering the dire state of my Forward position. He regressed a lot in terms of form, and I suspect the same offensive wave last season that made Young the Footballer of the Year also helped Power. It is possible that he might lose his full-time starter role and split time with Boyce, a more natural striker prospect, but he would also be free to contribute in the center of the pitch, as well. Rating: 6.5/10

HOT PROSPECTS

FORWARD - Andy Wall (2036), 18 Years Old: He made his debut this season, playing in 4 Games but failing to score in any of them. Realistically, I don’t think anyone is expecting him to be a star player, but he could still develop into a serviceable and versatile player who could contribute from the bench.

RIGHT DEFENDER - Ahmed El-Hadi (2037), 17 Years Old: He was past of a historically bad ’37 Youth Intake, but my ex-HOYD did single him out for me. Since then, he has taken our training grounds by storm, and finally we got a chance to play in the first team and he has not looked back. He is now at 4.5/5 PA from the 3/5 PA he was when he first came up from the Academy. Let’s see how he does in his first full season with the team.

PLAYERS LEAVING

FORWARD - Michael Flynn (2019), 34 Years Old (Scotland: 101 Caps/60 Goals): If this save were to end today, then Michael Flynn would have been this save’s greatest player. The 2020s was a decade owned by Flynn, who also became one of Scotland’s greatest players of all-time. A starter for Kafra since the first season in 2019/20, in the club’s first 10 seasons, he was named its Player of the Year in 7 of them. While he was a star in the early 2020s as the club bounced up from the League 2 to win the Championship in a span of 5 years, his legend really took off in the club’s first few years in the Premier League. For example, in the club’s first season in the PL, Flynn scored 26 Goals and won the league’s Top Goalscorer award, something he would do one more time in 2029. He would also be named in the PL’s Team of the Year twice (2025, ’29), but his crowning achievement came at the 2032 European Championship in England. Topping Group D over Iceland, Switzerland, and Ukraine, Scotland took out Greece 4-0 in the Second Round before falling to Spain 5-0 in the Quarter-Finals. Michael Flynn was named the tournament’s Best Player as well as Top Goalscorer thanks to his 6 Goals and 8.27 AR. The 2030s were not as kind on the Scottish legend as the previous decade, and he managed to score 20 Goals in a season only once – for comparison, he did that 9 out of 10 seasons in the 2020s. He ended his Kafra career having played in 664 League Games and registering 342 Goals, 109 Assist, 66 PoMs, and 7.29 AR. Still, he departure is going to be most painful because he is the only club captain we have ever had – he has worn the armband since day one. We salute you, Michael Flynn, pride of Scotland! Career

FORWARD - Aidan Connolly (2019), 35 Years Old (64 Caps): It is truly the end of an era when your two greatest players in the history of your club leave in the same summer. Like Flynn, Connolly was a legend for both club and country, something highlighted by the fact that Connolly was England’s starting GK during their first and only European Championship title win in 2032. His finest stretch probably came in the late 2020s during the club’s first few years in the Premier League – for 4 straight seasons, he registered all 7.00+ AR seasons. The culmination and peak came in 2032, where he was part of the England team that won the European Championship on home soil. The mid and late 2030s saw his playing time dwindle slowly, and he has been out of the starting lineup for the past two seasons. Still, 644 League Games and 7.00 AR are numbers not easily matched, and it will probably be a while before we see a GK that is as influential as Connolly was for us. Career

YOUTH INTAKE

Matt Boyce – Armando Knight

I am so desperate for a striker that I am excited over Boyce! Usually, I would take one look at Boyce and figure him to be a serviceable back-up at best in terms of potential, but because our situation is dire up front, Boyce is likely to get some heavy playing time right off the bat. That being said, this is not a good Intake – this is our second straight Intake without any real tantalizing prospects. Funnily enough, our “new” HOYD left us for Chelsea mid-season after giving us the worst Intake in history, and if he had anything to do with this one, as well, then wow, what a con artist.

abulezz · May 18, 2020

WillHoward42 · May 19, 2020

Scunthorpe United in the PL wow... any other teams where they shouldn't be?

Would love to see last league tables all down to Vanarama if you don't mind?

abulezz · May 19, 2020

Heartbreak in its finest form - we waited so long, and it was so close, but alas...

abulezz · May 19, 2020

12 hours ago, WillHoward42 said:

Scunthorpe United in the PL wow... any other teams where they shouldn't be?

Would love to see last league tables all down to Vanarama if you don't mind?

Ofcourse! Tables are below for the season I just finished, Premier League down to the National:

abulezz · May 21, 2020

SEASON REVIEW 2038/2039

TEAM REVIEW

Losing to Manchester City 3-2 on the Final Matchday was the biggest heartbreak I have experienced thus far this save – the loss meant we lost out on our European Qualification spot, something we had maintained almost the entire season. I was looking forward to it, too – it has been 15 years in the Premier League and we have yet to taste European football, so you can only imagine how excited I was. It was not meant to be, however, and we finished in 8^th Place in what was our best season in the PL as of yet. We actually were better defensively for most the year than we were the previous few seasons, but then we conceded 24 goals in our final 7 games which dropped us back down to 18^th Place. Offensively, we were a beast of an offensive machine – Bloodworth led the Premier League with 25 Goals, Young had 19 himself, and Davies and Boyce had 14 and 13, respectively. At the end, we tasted a bitter finale to the season, one which will be hard to forget in the short term.

I am disappointed at the complete lack of young prospects I have on the team outside of the starting eleven. I literally have no prospect that currently looks like they could replace someone in the starting eleven, which is a very bad thing in a youth only game! Obviously, there is some genuine world-class talent on the team such as Bloodworth and Davies and a couple of players on the way there such as Al-Mallah and Harland, but there is very little depth behind them. I need players that can fill that role without being a liability to the team because injuries are generally a complete disaster for us.

In the Premier League, Man City captured their first title since – wait for it – 2019 (!!), ending 20 years of torture for their fans and the Liverpool/Man United monopoly on the title that has been going on since 2023. The three-time defending champions Man United finished in 2^nd Place, with Everton and Liverpool taking 3^rd and 4^th, respectively, much to Everton’s delight and Liverpool’s horror. It was not a season of disappointment for Man United, however, as they lifted their 2^nd Champions League trophy in the past 3 years, defeating German Bundesliga champions Liepzig 1-0 in the Final in Wembley. After going a few years without winning the title, the Premier League clubs have won the last 3, with Man United grabbing 2 and Everton getting the one that separated the other two.

Three of our players (Danny Bloodworth, Kylie Davies, and Ali Al-Mallah) were members of the English team that faltered and crashed out in the Third Round in a shocking 1-0 loss to Australia at the World Cup 2038 in South Africa. Each player had a goal to their name from the tournament, but the result was a disappointing exit that was at least two rounds before the expectation.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

RIGHT WINGER - Danny Bloodworth (2031), 25 Years Old (42 Caps/19 Goals): 38 Apps, 25 Goals (1^st in PL), 14 Assists (2^nd), 6 PoMs (4^th), 27 Chances Created (1^st), 38 Key Passes, 71% Pass Ratio, 57% Shot Target, 2.41 TpG, 4.91 DpG (5^th), 257 Headers Won (2^nd), 7.50 AR (5^th)….Bloodworth is now worth £72M in value, and honestly he would be worth every penny of it. He became only the 3^rd player in the Premier League era to win the Top Goalscorer award 3 consecutive seasons – only legends Thierry Henry and Alan Shearer had accomplished that feat prior. He also won the Kafra Player of the Year for the second time in a row and things stay like this, he probably has the next 5 wrapped up, as well. There is so much to love here – his pace, his power, his new found technical abilities, his goal scoring, so much. Everything I get a highlight with Bloodworth galloping down the right, I know there is a good chance of a goal happening. I would love to see a 30 Goals, 10 Assists, 10 PoM season from him – better yet, 30 Goals – 20 Assists, 10 PoMs, 8.00+ AR. The Holy Grail, but he seems to be capable of it. Rating: 9/10

DEFENSE

GOALKEEPER - Ian Walker (2033), 22 Years Old: 31 Apps, 2.10 Con/90, 4 Clean Sheets, 6.98 AR….For most of the season, he was over 7.00 AR and was having a really good season. He ended up having a rough last month which dropped his AR down, and although I am not yet fully convinced about him being our long term starter, he has been doing well for us so far. This was his 3^rd year as our starter, and yes, the difference between him and Connolly is noticeable (the latter was better), but I don’t have an anxiety attack every time a highlight of the opposing team counter attacking pops up. Rating: 7/10

RIGHT DEFENDER - Ahmed El-Hadi (2037), 18 Years Old: 36 Apps, 3 Assists, 4.86 TpG, 76 Interceptions, 11 Key Tackles, 80% Pass Ratio, 6.68 AR….As a reminder, El-Hadi was part of the ’37 Youth Class that was the worst in recent history. None of the top prospects looks like they are going to pan out, but El-Hadi – who came up with 3/5 PA – is now at an amazing 5/5 PA after his sophomore year. His progress in training as been great, and obviously it has paid off because now my staff believe he can be a Premier League talent. He needs to find more consistency – a lot more of it – and then we are going to have success story on our hands. Rating: 6/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Russell Harland (2036), 19 Years Old: 36 Apps, 2 Goals, 1 Assists, 1.56 TpG , 145 Interceptions (3^rd in PL), 18 Key Tackles (2^nd), 113 Key Headers (2^nd), 249 Headers Won (3^rd), 48 Shots Blocked (2^nd), 7.01 AR….If Harland keeps this up, he has the makings of a future captain as he already exudes maturity and leadership. Did I mention he is also one of the better CDs in the Premier League already? Because he is and if the argument goes to strength in the air, Harland would be hard-pressed to lose one. Overall, he has the makings of becoming our best ever CD and I am not talking about the distant future. Anyway, he had a good season this year, which was his third with the club. It was the first season he had registered over 7.00 AR, so this was a good step in the right direction. He won the U19 European Championship in 2037 and was named captain of the U20 England team this year, so he knows how to lead and win. Very excited about what kind of player Harland can become. Rating: 7/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Dean De Cruz (2029), 26 Years Old: 34 Apps,1 Goals, 3 Assists, 1.12 TpG, 134 Interceptions (6^th in PL), 5 Key Tackles, 106 Key Headers (4^th), 225 Headers Won (6^th), 56 Shots Blocked (1^st), 6.96 AR….De Cruz was supposed to the player that Harland is set to become, but it never materialized. He remains a decent CD, but when he first came through the Academy to join the first team, I remember being very excited about him – his name, too! The good news is that he is not a liability – he gets the job done with minimal fuss. The bad news is he really does nothing to make this team better, but I don’t have any better options at the position currently. It wasn’t just me who saw something in him because in 2030 he was part of the England team in the U19 European Championship that came in 2^nd Place and he was selected to the Dream Team in a tournament which was dominated by Germany. He was also part the English team that finished in 3^rd Place at the U20 World Cup on home soil in 2031. The accolades have dried up since then, and while I appreciate what De Cruz brings to the team, there will always be a what if with him. Rating: 6.5/10

LEFT DEFENDER - Christian Porter (2034), 22 Years Old: 33 Apps, 1 Assists, 5.94 TpG (4^th in PL), 83 Interceptions, 23 Key Tackles (8^th), 82% Pass Ratio, 0.64 DpG, 51 Shots Blocked (4^th), 6.75 AR….It was a pretty standard season from Porter, who unfortunately started showing stagnation in his development. He is one of the league’s top tacklers and has been for a few seasons now, but this is his 3^rd consecutive season where he fails to register at least 6.80 AR. Although he had shown the potential to develop into a really good, international caliber full-back, his development has stopped and his talents are still well short of that. Rating: 6/10

MIDFIELD

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Chris Grant (2033), 22 Years Old: 38 Apps, 8 Goals, 13 Assists (4^th in PL), 2 PoMs, 25 Chances Created (2^nd), 82 Key Passes (10^th), 75% Pass Ratio, 1.53 TpG, 0.84 DpG, 69% Shot Target (2^nd), 33% Cross Completion (3^rd), 7.24 AR….Chris Grant is like Alexis Milton V.20 – although his skillset is relatively different, their style and tempo of play are almost exactly the same. This was Grant’s 3^rd full year as our starter (6^th season with the first team overall), and this was definitely the best season of his career thus far. Last year was a good one as he registered 7.12 AR while playing in all 38 Games and also registering 7 Goals and 9 Assists. This year, he has hit career-highs in almost every relevant offensive category and really got to show his multi-faceted game – for example, he was amongst the league leaders in both shooting efficiency and crossing efficiency while being amongst the top threats in the league going forward with the ball at their feet in the center of the pitch. His performance over the years in training (his Dribbling went up 6 points, Technique 5, Determination 10, Vision 5, etc) is the main reason he is reaping the benefits of being one of our most exciting players and one of my personal favorites. Rating: 7.5/10

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Ali Al-Mallah (2034), 20 Years Old (12 Caps/1 Goal): 37 Apps, 3 Goals, 5 Assists, 1 PoMs, 13 Chances Created, 78 Key Passes (11^th in PL), 77% Pass Ratio, 43 Interceptions, 3.37 TpG, 57% Shot Target, 7.18 AR….For the first month or so of the season, Al-Mallah might have been the best player in the Premier League and it looked like he was about to become of the world’s best players for the next several years. It did not work out that way, as nagging minor injuries and a drop in form meant that while he still had a good season, it was not the World-Beater season that I do expect him to start giving us soon. Incidentally, I changed our whole formation and added a DM instead of 2 CMs this season and responded favorably to his new role as Deep Lying Playmaker from the DM position. His passing got a lot better, and although his defensive stats suffered, he showed very good improvement in his attacking and vision categories this season, something which I have been looking to improve in his game. Overall, after 4 years of being a part of the first team and a starter, I am relatively happy with his progress. I really like him because I rarely get a player with his skillset in my saves, and I am having fun trying to figure out how to best utilize him. England manager Gennaro Gattuso (lol) is also a fan as he continues to give Al-Mallah playing time and has him down as one of his more important players. His value also shot past £30M for the first time in his career this season. Rating: 7.5/10

LEFT WINGER - Kyle Davies (2028), 28 Years Old (52 Caps/31 Goals): 35 Apps, 14 Goals (11^th in PL), 12 Assists (6^th), 6 PoMs (4^th), 17 Chances Created (11^th), 42 Key Passes, 65% Pass Ratio, 50% Shot Target, 3.61 TpG, 3.88 DpG, 7.27 AR….After only knowing one captain our entire history, it felt a bit strange being led out by Davies instead of Flynn this season. Our new club captain has probably been replaced by Bloodworth has our most important player, but Davies has etched his name in the history of the club as one of its most accomplished and greatest players of all-time, something which might even improve further as he still has a number of years of prime football to be played. Davies has been one of the PL’s and England’s premier talents over the past decade, with the 2030s all serving as Davies’ peak. He is one of those players that rarely has a season that is not spectacular let alone average, and his 7.27 AR this year was actually his lowest mark since 2031/32 – he is so good that a 7.27 AR is the lowest he has registered in 8 years. We’ve had 2 left wingers since the creation of the club in Davies and Martin Breen, and while I would say both are club legends, Davies is on a whole different tier – he is real close to joining the top tier of legends with Flynn and Connolly. Rating: 7.5/10

ATTACK

FORWARD - Carl Young (2032), 23 Years Old: 33 Apps, 19 Goals (5^th in PL), 5 Assists, 3 PoMs, 16 Chances Created, 23 Key Passes, 84% Pass Ratio, 63% Shot Target (12^th), 1.80 DpG, 7.22 AR….At this point, I think it is known that I am not Young’s biggest fans and I think he is overrated, but that in no way takes away from how much I appreciate the fact that I have him on my team these days. He was the 5^th leading goalscorer in the PL this season – 2 years ago, he was the PL’s Footballer of the Year! He is truly efficient, rarely makes a mistake, and while he does not provide the amazing, his consistency and reliability in what is now our team’s weakest and shallowest position is heaven sent. Rating: 7.5/10

FORWARD - Matt Boyce (2038), 17 Years Old: 37 Apps, 13 Goals, 4 Assists, 1 PoMs, 9 Chances Created, 16 Key Passes, 85% Pass Ratio, 59% Shot Target, 1.42 DpG, 6.92 AR….After the decision was made to bench Power and start the rookie Boyce (the situation upfront is that bad for me), there was a lot of talk about the mistake I was making. Boyce ended up having a memorable rookie season where he contributed 13 Goals, played in nearly every game, and played as efficiently as he could. The result was his 4/5 PA improving to 5/5 PA over the course of the season – came into the first team from the ’38 Youth Intake with a 4.5/5 PA that was dropped to 4/5 PA by the beginning of the season. The question now is just what is his ceiling? I had him working on his Shooting throughout the year and his Finishing jumped from 8 to 11 – another season like this kind of progress in his attributes and he might start making me believe that he can truly live up to his 5/5 PA, something which I am not totally convinced about right now. Rating: 6.5/10

HOT PROSPECTS

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER/RIGHT DEFENDER - Kevin Kane (2038), 18 Years Old: Kane came in through the ’38 Intake last season with 3/5 PA – he is now up to 4.5/5 PA while learning how to play a completely new position at right-back. He played sparingly in his rookie year, but when he did play there was a lot of reason for optimism with his 4.21 TpG and 80% Pass Ratio. Now that we have a DM position in our tactics, I might switch him over to be able to give Al-Mallah a breather, but I still want to see how good he gets as a right-back as I truly believe that is the best position for his skillset.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER/RIGHT DEFENDER - Jack O’Hara (2038), 18 Years Old: Kane and O’Hara were unheralded prospects in their Youth Class with Matt Boyce deservedly taking all the plaudits, but O’Hara has shown some amazing growth – he came up from the Academy with 2.5/5 PA and now sits at 3.5/5 PA despite only being a year apart. He made his debut this season but only played in 2 Games, both as a starter, but he was completely overwhelmed in both. I won’t judge him, of course, and I am actually hoping his progress will be similar to El-Hadi and Kane.

YOUTH INTAKE

Jay Lapslie – Giorgio Cardelli – Lee Taylor – Mitchell Ahmed – Jordan Davies – Justin Hall

This was Ruslan Vovkodav’s first Intake, and on paper, he did very well. Again, this is all on paper, but this looks like this could be our deepest Intake of all-time. I don’t see any sure-fire prospects in the way of Al-Mallah or Bloodworth, but we could get 4 to 6 squad players from the Youth Class. Of course, all of them could fail to develop the way we need, but that is the worst case scenario. I wanted a striker, but the one striker prospect we got (Justin Hall) does not have the traditional skillset for the position. In any case, this is an exciting Intake. I hope it doesn’t end up being a bust.

kidthekid · May 21, 2020

Good season, unlucky not to finish 6th. On the bright side, it looks like a sign of what's to come.

abulezz · May 22, 2020

3 hours ago, kidthekid said:

Good season, unlucky not to finish 6th. On the bright side, it looks like a sign of what's to come.

It looks like it because we have started the new season very competitive.

I switched up my training strategy a couple of years ago, and honestly it seems to have worked wonders - a lot of prospects are getting better quicker now.

abulezz · May 22, 2020

abulezz · May 24, 2020

SEASON REVIEW 2039/2040

TEAM REVIEW

The best offense in the Premier League finally actually meant something this season as our offense catapulted us to 5^th Place and a Europa League spot. Deep down, I am disappointed we couldn’t grab that final Champions League spot because we were battling for it almost all season – if we hadn’t run out of steam towards the end of the year, we might be seeing a different purse in August. We managed to maintain our 5^th Place to the end, but our form did get a lot more inconsistent towards the end of the year. Danny Bloodworth continued his campaign to be known as one of the greatest Premier League players of all-time and set a new record – he became the only player in the history of the PL to win the Top Goalscorer award four times in a row and tied Thierry Henry’s record for most times winning the award at four.

The biggest thing that happened this season was me finally switching formations after 20 years in this save. Basically, I shifted one of my CMs into a DM position in order to best utilize Al-Mallah’s talents, and it worked. His 7.41 AR was a career-high – hopefully that will be his average going forward and make me look good, getting all tactical.

The Premier League title returned to Man United after a one year trip to the other part of Manchester, with the defending champions Man City finishing in 3^rd. Arsenal finished in 2^nd Place and Everton nabbed the last Champions League spot in front of us. In the Champions League itself, Liverpool won their 11^th Champions League title with a victory over Atletico Madrid in the Madrid, a bitter loss for the Spanish team. This is the fourth time in a row an English team has won the Champions League, with Man United winning it twice and Everton once.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

RIGHT WINGER - Danny Bloodworth (2031), 26 Years Old (52 Caps/22 Goals): 30 Apps, 22 Goals (1^st in PL), 11 Assists (4^th), 5 PoMs (6^th), 23 Chances Created (4^th), 36 Key Passes, 73% Pass Ratio, 52% Shot Target, 1.98 TpG, 5.11 DpG (3^rd), 7.62 AR (1^st)….Bloodworth became the only player other than Michael Flynn to win at least 3 Kafra Player of the Year awards, winning his 3^rd in a row while also becoming the first Kafra player in its history to win the Premier League Footballer of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year awards twice. What was an even bigger deal than that? Bloodworth won his 4^th PL Top Goalscorer award in a row, becoming the only player in the history of the PL to accomplish that and tying Thierry Henry record, who also won it 4times in his career. He was – again – the best player in the best league in the world, and it will be interesting to see how that reflects in the world awards at the end of the year. Unfortunately, his season got cut short for the second time in 3 years when he dislocated his shoulder, although he will be ready to go for the new one. He has now crossed 300 League Games and 150 Goals for his career and he needs just 15 Assists to hit 100 for his career. I can now safely say he has surpassed James Chamberlain as our best ever product of the Kafra Youth Academy, and there are a number of fantastic years to come. My hope is for him to compete in the Champions League in his prime – I really want to make that happen. Rating: 9.5/10

DEFENSE

GOALKEEPER - Ian Walker (2033), 23 Years Old: 38 Apps, 1.84 Con/90, 7 Clean Sheets, 7.08 AR….He still makes me uncomfortable every time a counter-attack highlight comes on for our opponents, but his numbers are encouraging. Although he has now stopped developing – which means he did not end up becoming the GK I hoped for – he was one of the most in-form GKs in the Premier League this season. Our defense was slightly better this season than most and Walker was a big part of that. Rating: 7/10

RIGHT DEFENDER - Ahmed El-Hadi (2037), 19 Years Old: 34 Apps, 1 Goal, 3 Assists, 5.75 TpG (5^th in PL), 82 Interceptions, 23 Key Tackles (5^th), 82% Pass Ratio, 6.97 AR….Third time’s a charm – El-Hadi finally started figuring it out this year and had a significantly improved season than his first two. He became one of the PL’s premier tacklers while keeping his trademark efficiency with the ball. His 3/5 PA when he first came up to the first team is now 5/5 PA with my staff thinking he could be a real good full-back in the Premier League. He has been very committed in training and it has paid off. He has always had strong Mental attributes and now his Defensive attributes have begun showing very strong improvement. Honestly, the level of his form was a different world than last season – it was that improved. I really hope he is not close to peaking in terms of his attributes because he is starting to look like he could be real quality. Rating: 7/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Russell Harland (2036), 20 Years Old (1 Cap): 38 Apps, 1 Goals, 3 Assists, 1.47 TpG , 150 Interceptions (1^st in PL), 17 Key Tackles (2^nd), 124 Key Headers (1^st), 294 Headers Won (1^st), 7.06 AR….Harland was undoubtedly one of the best defenders in the Premier League this season, ranking top of the PL in several defensive categories. His 7.06 AR was a career-high, and he played in all 38 Games for the first time. As predicted, he is on track to develop into potentially one of the best CDs in the world, and he is already starting to show hints of it. He was appointed our vice-captain at the beginning of the season, and I am sure that I will assign him as our captain sooner rather than later. He is a vital piece of our team now, and if we get a fully developed Harland in a couple of years, he will be an even bigger piece. Rating: 7/10

CENTRAL DEFENDER - Dean De Cruz (2029), 27 Years Old: 30 Apps, 1 Goals, 1.70 TpG, 106 Interceptions (6^th in PL), 9 Key Tackles, 76 Key Headers (11^th), 6.99 AR….A calf strain and a virus ruled him out of two months combined, leading De Cruz to play the least of amount of games since the 2035/36 season. On the bright side, his 6.99 AR was the second highest mark of his career and the highest he has registered in five years. We are beginning to see some CD prospects with enough potential to make me think about giving them playing time at De Cruz’s expense, who has not become the CD I was hoping when he first came through in the last 2020s. He is inching towards 400 League Games for his career, although it has been one that is pretty void of personal accolades thus far. Still, consistency has been his calling card, and he doesn’t make many mistakes in the back. We could be much worse off, which I appreciate. Rating: 7/10

LEFT DEFENDER - Christian Porter (2034), 23 Years Old: 26 Apps, 1 Goal, 5.67 TpG (3^rd in PL), 53 Interceptions, 25 Key Tackles (7^th), 86% Pass Ratio, 1.83 DpG, 6.89 AR….Porter is likely to be one of those players that gets unseated from his starting position through no fault of his own but because of potential and development of a prospect. This is the case here as Jay Lapslie, who just completed his rookie year, will likely remain as a starter going into the new season after taking over when Porter went down with a broken toe that ruled him out of the last two months of the season. Porter has been as efficient as they come – he is a strong tackler and he rarely makes a wrong pass. Additionally, this year he bumped his average to 1.83 DpG – previously, the most he ever registered was 1.07 DpG during his sophomore year. Luckily, Porter is just as comfortable playing as right full-back as he is left, so his versatility will be important for us going forward. Rating: 6.5/10

MIDFIELD

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Chris Grant (2033), 23 Years Old (5 Caps/1 Goal): 36 Apps, 12 Goals, 7 Assists (4^th in PL), 6 PoMs (2^nd), 24 Chances Created (3^rd), 71 Key Passes, 74% Pass Ratio, 1.88 TpG, 1.29 DpG, 57% Shot Target, 32% Cross Completion (10^th), 7.40 AR (8^th)….I honestly could not have hoped for any more from Grant. He’s a hard worker, he is committed, and he is always involved with play. It shows in his numbers – he had a career-high 7.40 AR and scored a career-high 12 Goals while earning his first few Caps for England. A couple of years ago, there was legitimate questions about his potential and now he is a starter for the English national team. He deserves every bit of success and he is one of my favorite players on the squad currently. His Determination has increased 11 points to 17 since he came up from the Academy, which might be the first double digit attribute improvement I ever remember seeing! He is now worth £52M and is now considered a prime player in the world of football. Rating: 8.5/10

CENTRAL MIDFIELD - Ali Al-Mallah (2034), 21 Years Old (22 Caps/2 Goals): 37 Apps, 4 Goals, 7 Assists, 4 PoMs, 17 Chances Created, 105 Key Passes (6^th in PL), 79% Pass Ratio, 51 Interceptions, 2.36 TpG, 53% Shot Target, 46% Cross Completion (2^nd), 7.42 AR (7^th)….Are we ready to allow Al-Mallah entrance into the top tier of CMs in world football today? I think so, and it seems like England manager Gattuso also agrees. It was a really good season from the Defensive Midfielder – his 7.42 AR was a career-high and amongst the best in the PL. He improved in nearly every facet of his game, especially his threat level with the ball at his feet. When he first came out of the Kafra Youth Academy, he wasn’t the best with the ball on his feet – now, he is a player to fear. His Technique is great and he has developed a killer first touch. I remain of the opinion that Al-Mallah will become our most important player someday soon, and this season did nothing to convince me otherwise. Rating: 8.5/10

LEFT WINGER - Kyle Davies (2028), 29 Years Old (62 Caps/37 Goals): 35 Apps, 9 Goals, 14 Assists (1^st in PL), 3 PoMs, 31 Chances Created (1^st), 51 Key Passes, 66% Pass Ratio, 54% Shot Target, 2.78 TpG, 3.99 DpG, 7.28 AR….For the first time in ten seasons, Davies failed to score at least 10 Goals. He did, however, lead the PL with 14 Assists, good enough to be top of the league but not as much as his career-high (16 in 2034/35). This was actually the 3^rd time in his career that Davies leads the PL in Assists – only Liverpool and general football legend Mohammed Salah has done better, leading the PL in Assists five seasons in a row in the early 2020s. Davies is the second ever captain of Kafra in this save, and he will likely keep the armband for the next few years. I am bit concerned that there seems to be a regression in his pace when he hasn’t even turned 30 yet, so it is something I will watch. Otherwise, Davies has been a legend for us, and I would say that the Top Tier of Kafra Club Legends now reads like this: Michael Flynn, Aidan Connolly, Danny Bloodworth, and Kyle Davies. Rating: 7.5/10

ATTACK

FORWARD - Carl Young (2032), 24 Years Old: 33 Apps, 19 Goals (4^th in PL), 8 Assists, 3 PoMs, 16 Chances Created, 23 Key Passes, 83% Pass Ratio, 70% Shot Target (2^nd), 2.08 DpG, 7.33 AR….I don’t want Young and yet I appreciate him so much all at the same time. I wish I had a better striker, but I also have so much comfort knowing I have Young in the front line otherwise we would have a disastrous time up front. He had almost a copy of a season as the one before, all the way down to the 16 Chances Created and 23 Key Passes. His 7.33 AR is the second highest mark in his career, behind only his award-winning 2036/37 season. The comparisons to Jordan have now extended to their roles on the team as well, since Young is now playing the same role as Jordan, with the only difference being Jordan had Flynn while Young has Boyce. Rating: 7.5/10

FORWARD - Matt Boyce (2038), 17 Years Old: 29 Apps, 8 Goals, 3 Assists, 9 Chances Created, 16 Key Passes, 82% Pass Ratio, 64% Shot Target, 1.32 DpG, 6.89 AR….As is sometimes the case, Boyce’s sophomore year was a regression over an impressive rookie one. Boyce’s goal tally went down from 13 to 8, and his 6.89 AR was a small drop from 6.92 AR last season. The good news is my staff now see him as 5/5 PA talent, which is encouraging because I need a striker like no one’s business. I like the way his Finishing has improved so far and his pace is definitely a weapon so when my staff tell me he has potential to be a PL-level striker in the future, I believe them. Rating: 6.5/10

HOT PROSPECTS

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER/RIGHT DEFENDER - Kevin Kane (2038), 19 Years Old: Kane is now 5/5 PA and I have no idea at which position. He definitely is an intriguing talent – look at his numbers: 10 Apps, 3.41 TpG, 82% Pass Ratio, 1.36 DpG, pointing to the fact that he did well on both sides of the pitch. He is versatile – he can play at either RB or CD, as well as CM or RW. Let’s see how he does in his 3^rd season.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDER/STRIKER - Justin Hall (2039), 18 Years Old: I have a number of these position-less prospects and Hall is definitely one of them. He is naturally a striker but he can also play in CM, but his skill-set might not be conventional for both positions. Nevertheless, he did make his debut this season and actually played in 11 Games, registering 2 Goals, 82% Pass Ratio, 1.69 DpG, 85% Shot Target (!), and 6.77 AR. He is very quick and that is a good thing to have up front but his attacking skills are still lacking. Let’s see how he develops over the course of the next 2-3 seasons.

LEFT WINGER - Mitchell Ahmed (2039), 18 Years Old: Has yet to make his debut, but he is now officially listed as part of the first team so it seems inevitable that it will happen next year. The fact that he is so Unambitious irritates my staff, who have listed it as the first con on his Cons list. I honestly don’t know how he will progress – he could suddenly start improving very quick, and with his speed and fundamentals, he would have a good chance at becoming a very good player. If he stagnates, then he is nowhere near good enough to be considered for playing time based on current ability.

CENTRAL MIDFIEDER/RIGHT WINGER - Dean O’Connor (2039), 18 Years Old: In what was a deep and possibly star-studded Intake, the ’39 Youth Class’ current best player is O’Connor, who was given only 2/5 PA during the Intake. He played in 20 Games, registering 2 Goals, 3 Assists, and 6.77 AR, and by the end of the season, he was up to 4/5 PA and I think it will go up even more next season. His rookie year was a success in every way, and if he continues to improve at this pace, he is going to be a special player.

LEFT DEFENDER - Jay Lapslie (2039), 18 Years Old: Probably going to start his sophomore season as our starter at left-back. He showed a lot of promise during his rookie year, but encouragingly, he showed really good improvement in his attributes. His Positioning and Marking went up 4 and 3 points in just one season, respectively. He played in 15 Games, registering an insane 6.01 TpG, 82% Pass Ratio, 1.01 DpG, and 6.76 AR – if you look at his numbers, it showed just how comfortable he was attacking as he was defending.

STRIKER/LEFT WINGER/CENTRAL MIDFIELDER - Lee Taylor (2039), 17 Years Old: No one epitomizes the position-less prospect more than Taylor – I still have no clue where he will play. He played in all 3 positions during his rookie year but was perhaps most impressive as a striker. In 22 Games, he registered 5 Goals, 2 Assists, 79% Pass Ratio, 1.09 DpG, 68% Shot Target, and 6.82 AR, which was the most impressive stat-line from all of the rookies this season.

YOUTH INTAKE

Peter Osagie – Adam Goodyear – Matty Grainger – Ernest Ibrahim

It seems my new HOYD likes to keep his Intakes deep because for the second season in a row (his only two with us), that is exactly what he has given us. I don’t mind it at all, especially as I am seeing a couple of unheralded prospects from last year’s Intake also developing nicely. The other good thing about this Intake is the wide variety of positions that the prospects can play. I like the looks of Grainger and Ibrahim, although I am not completely sold on Osagie. Overall, a good Intake and I would have to say I am very happy with my new HOYD thus far.

Mr Highbury · May 24, 2020

Things are looking very promising I would say. Congrats on European qualification - hopefully the first of many!

abulezz · May 24, 2020

4 hours ago, Mr Highbury said:

Things are looking very promising I would say. Congrats on European qualification - hopefully the first of many!

Thanks! Althoughhhh...

We didnt end up making it to the Europa League. I finished in 5th, but because Liverpool won the Champions League and they finished in 6th, it looks like their European spot was forcibly donated to them by us.

Second straight season of disappointment.

kidthekid · May 25, 2020

Unlucky about not making Europe but great seasons nonetheless.

Maw74 · May 25, 2020

To finish above Liverpool, Chelsea & Tottenham and not qualify for Europe :eek: :seagull:

abulezz · May 25, 2020

5 hours ago, kidthekid said:

Unlucky about not making Europe but great seasons nonetheless.

It was a great season, our best so far. But not making Europe again when we did everything we were supposed to do is tough.

5 hours ago, Maw74 said:

To finish above Liverpool, Chelsea & Tottenham and not qualify for Europe

LOL! I didnt even think of it like that but its true!

xray1324 · May 25, 2020

53 minutes ago, abulezz said:

It was a great season, our best so far. But not making Europe again when we did everything we were supposed to do is tough.

Better luck next time then

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