[FM20] An American Abroad - Perhaps...?

[ranks39]

January/ February 2032

Nothing of note here, just a few friendly wins and a draw to Slavia Prague.  League play kicks off on 3 March.

[ranks39]

Another Affiliate!

This affiliation is to increase our likelihood of recruiting foreign youngsters.  Thus, a club with good youth recruitment, great youth facilities, and great training facilities fits the bill.  Also, the chance of recruiting Chilean youngsters(especially since we have an affiliation with an Uruguayan club, too) is very enticing!

 

 

[ranks39]

International Call-Ups

 

 

Edited June 27, 2020 by ranks39

[ranks39]

Youth Intake

Not the best I've seen, but  not the worst, either.  Maybe we can make something of a couple of these players.

Sergiy Polyarus

 

Victor Zinchenko

 

 

[ranks39]

March 2032

A horrible month sees us slip behind Shakhtar in the table.  We haven't yet lost a match this season.....

 

 

[ranks39]

April 2032

We've lost our first match of the season.... and we've essentially fallen out of the title race....

We're now firmly in the second position.

[ranks39]

International Call-Ups - Euro 2032

 

[ranks39]

Incoming Transfer - Future

After 3 months of chasing, we finally got our man for $3.3M - Rodrigo Bustament - a newly-capped Chilean midfielder.  We need a little bit more impetus in the middle of the park and Bustamente provides it in spades.  He will join us on 1 July.

 

[ranks39]

May 2032

Well, we finished by finding our scoring boots but we fell short of the target of winning the league.  We are reinforcing the squad for next season but I'm sure there will be some casualties, as well.

Ultimately, our run of draws and scoring drought cost us the top spot as Vincent and Kompany ran away with the league title.

Will post an end of season recap once awards are announced.

[ranks39]

International Call-Ups

 

***Potential First Caps***

Nikolay Kovalev - a young, right-sided defender who is with our U-19 side.

 

Dmytro Pavlov - A goalkeeper with our U-19 side, I don't think he'll ever make the jump to the senior team, if I'm being honest.

 

[ranks39]

End of Season

 

 

Ukrainian Premier League team of the Season

Just us and Shakhtar represent the best of the Ukrainian top division.

Legend.

Squad

 

Danila Plotnikov stepped in once we sold Ivanov to China and he performed very well at the right back position.

 

On the other side of defense, Ben Howard put in his usual, quietly effective shifts and locked down the position for us.

 

Our favored center back pairing of Nazar Pavlenko and Nikolin Pashaj was brilliant, leading the defense to the best goals allowed mark in the league.  Pavlenko continues to work his way into the Ukrainian senior squad and Pashaj continues to be a regular call-up.  Unfortunately, Pashaj has come to me asking to move on to a bigger club.  Pumas(Mexico) have already come in with an offer that meets his $38.5M release clause and he is being tracked by much of Europe and I'll be offering him out in order to drum up more interest as he is assuredly leaving us.

 

 

Sergiy Yermakov patrolled the middle of the pitch effectively this season - his first as a first-choice player.

 

Our wide attackers, Amilton dos Reis and Roman Man'ko had up-and-down seasons with Manko registering 9 goals and 2 assists and dos Reis providing 11 assists, while scoring 6 goals.

 

 

After losing Getsko as our AMC to China, Yaroslav Kovalchuck was slotted in and he performed well while improving IMMENSELY.  He is the latest in our academy pipeline to the first team.

 

Finally, the fan-favorite, highly influential, oft-scoring jewel of our academy, Yuriy Sydorenko.  He consolidated last season's success by further entrenching himself as our first-choice striker and has also forced his way into the Ukrainian setup, including announcing himself as a star for club and country by scoring a hat trick in just his third match with the senior national team.   He made 28 appearances for us in league play, scoring 18 goals and providing one assist.

 

Next up, our on-loan players

 

Olexandr Melnychenko was on-loan at Russian First Division side, Nizhniy Novgorod and actually won the young player of the year award for the First Division, on top of guiding the team to promotion!

 

Notable Youth Development

Vladimir Kulik - it looks like we have an heir to the striker throne once Sydorenko outgrows us.  This young man has developed wonderfully over the past season, and in the U19 league he played in 33 matches, banging in 16 goals and assisting 10 times.  The next step will be to get him out on loan and get him some senior minutes.

 

 

Edited June 27, 2020 by ranks39

[ranks39]

 

[ranks39]

Nikolin Pashaj and Walter Transfer Finalized

Pumas have signed Pashaj.  His only other concrete offer was Ajax, which he rejected.  It's all profit as he came through our academy.

 

We've also sold versatile defender, Walter.  Once Stoke came in, he didn't want to stay.

 

Edited June 27, 2020 by ranks39

[ranks39]

Transfer Records Broken

 

 

[ranks39]

Transfers

Here I'll just recap the goings-on of our transfer dealings.  

***Outgoing***

Nikolin Pashaj and Walter to Pumas and Stoke, respectively.... That's it!

***Incoming***

So, we've gone for a bit of a South American movement......especially given our ties to our Uruguayan and Chilean Affiliates.

MARIO MALAN - Brought in on a Bosman free from Liverpool de Montevideo(Uruguay).  Overall, he won't move the needle all that much with the fans but I see a midfielder that can run for hours, composed on the ball, with great decision making and technique.  His passing will need work and he lacks that South American flair but I'll have him play a simple passing game and he'll do just fine for us!

 

SERGIY VLAEV -  $2.1M from Olexandriya(Ukraine) Alright, so this signing was a bit unnecessary but I'd rather have more options at each position than less.  Vlaev is a very talented keeper who has allowed less than 1 goal/match and has been capped by the full national team twice.  

 

ALEXIS DUARTE - $1.3M from Cerro Porteno(Paraguay) Duarte is a young right back that will likely start out as cover for Plotnikov but will be eased into the starting role. 

 

RODRIGO BUSTAMENTE - $3.3M from Colo Colo(Chile) Bustamente is an extremely talented young midfielder that will immediately slot into my central midfield.  He has been capped 7 times will the full national team and will be a huge piece for us.  We also got a $22.5M minimum release clause on his contract!

 

Jose Eugenio Hurtado - $850K from Atletico Nacional(Colombia) Hurtado was a bit more of a gamble at a position of need, center back.  If he develops well, I could see him getting some minutes there in the next few years.

 

Edgar Figueroa - $9M from River(Argentina) Figueroa is a full Colombian international and will slot in nicely at left back, relegating Ben Howard to a backup role.  

 

I may look to bring in one or two more new faces but my transfer dealing for the first team is pretty much done for now.

[ranks39]

Ronaldo has had quite a journey since retiring!

Young Boys U-18 coach, Fulham U-18 coach, Forest Green Manager, Nacional de Madeira Manager, EA Guingamp Manager Olympique Marseille manager, and finally to Juventus!

 

[ranks39]

Transfer Finalized - Center Back cover for the future!

 

 

[ranks39]

A look in the mirror: where did we come from?

I'm just going to do a round-up of where each club that Rank has managed is currently at and where some of my favorite players are playing/managing!  First and foremost, here's a look at the man in charge as of 13 July, 2032.

 

Alright, our first stop is KF Shenkolli.

Shenkolli have been something of a yo-yo club flitting between the Superleague and the First Division....  Nearly the entire team has also turned over in the 7 years since moving on.

The lone survivor being QPR loanee, Armelindo Mema, who we loaned in for three seasons, making 90 appearances and scoring 11 goals.  He is now 30 years old and has returned to Shenkolli after bouncing around the Albanian top tier.

 

Petr Samec is a Czech left back who made 177 appearances for Shenkolli before moving on to Kamza(Albania) and is now at Skenderbeu, well after their punishment has ended.

 

Finally, the man that fired the team to a stunning Superleague title and almost setting the Superleague goals record - Kristian Dervishi!  Sadly, it looks like he spent the 2024-2025 season with Shenkolli before retiring in 2026.....

 

Next, Rank moved on to Legia Warszawa from 2024-2026.  Legia have been a little bit up and down since Rank's departure but they got back to their winning ways this past season, winning the Ekstraklasa after a three-year hiatus.

 

Upon first glance at the squad, a couple of names look familiar but much of the squad has been turned over by 4 managers.

First is a player that never played a match under my tutelage but I signed him to a future transfer quite early in my tenure - the heir Kazakh apparent, Arman Butkov! It looks like he will be moving on to Serie A very shortly.

 

The other player that I recognize is Nemanja Kovacevic, who we signed in 2025.  He has made 191 appearances for the club and 5 for Serbia.

 

One of my favorite signings at Legia was Matchoi Djalo, a midfielder that saw 75 appearances with the club before being sold to Strasbourg for $2.4M(we bought him for $170K).  He has also seen 50 caps for Guineau-Bissau!

 

Another of my favorites was a center back signing made in my third season with Legia, Przemyslaw Wisniewski, who became our team leader.  He is currently 33 years-old and a free agent.

 

From there, Rank was offered the Celta Vigo job in 2026 and remained there until being sacked in 2031.  In 2025/2026 Vigo finished 13th, from there, we finished 15th(in Rank's first full season), 5th, 6th, 4th, before being sacked while in a mid-table position.  To be fair, they finished the past season in 7th(the first full season after Rank was sacked).

 

Much of the squad remains intact since Rank was relieved of his duties.  Fan favorites such as Urko Alonso, Ibrahim Kol, Mathys Durand, Aboubacar Toure, Sergio Olaizola, and Anthony Roux remain in the first team!  In fact, I recognize nearly all of these names.

 

First, it jumps out to me that one of our academy products, Aldan Callon, has jumped into contention for the starting goalkeeper role with Olaizola, who was purchased for nearly $20M!!!  Callon looks impressive, though!

 

Another favorite of mine was Dario Zenga, who was a good option at both center back and left back!  He has gone on to get his first two caps for Italy!

 

Jiri Vencl was a player that I brought in to fill the Mukashev role and he became a do-everything type of player, playing on the wing, in the center and at striker at times!  He is closing in on 150 appearances with the club!

 

Ivan Korz is another player that I was excited to bring to Vigo!  He has made 7 Argentinian appearances and 140 for Vigo!

 

Another player that is neat to see is Juanjo Aznar, who was bought as a 17 year-old!  He has now cracked the first team!

 

But the player that I really enjoyed the most during my time at Vigo(and is still there) was Manu Mendez!  The local boy who fought his way through the academy and became an important part of the first team.  He is still just 21 and has appeared for Vigo 76 times.  He is wanted by Celtic and Monaco...

 

Finally, the man that started it all!  We had our eye on him since he was 16 and boy did he turn out to be worth the wait!  Joining us for 19 matches at Shenkolli before moving to Legia for 38 - his minimum release clause of $6M was then triggered by OL, where he appeared in 82 matches before moving to his current club of Watford, where he has appeared in 91 matches, while appearing in 77 for Kazakhstan - DANIEL MUKASHEV!  He is being tracked by Inter at the moment, too.

 

[ranks39]

Pre-Season 2032-2033

A good pre-season sees us win 4 of 5.  We kick off the season with the Conference Second Qualifying Round against IFK Norrkoping.... wish us luck!

The squad are ready to go!

 

[ranks39]

July 2032

Well, our Euro Cup II campaign has started off as well as expected.  The new boys have slotted straight into the team with no issues, as well!

Shakhtar have dropped their first match of the season!  We need to continue winning now!

 

[ranks39]

A new youth Affiliate!

I try to arrange as many of these as I possibly can!  This one is an Eastern European country, like us, so it definitely fits!

 

 

[ranks39]

International Call-Ups

Interesting to see a few young Americans getting call-ups!  Edson Rosales has actually contributed to the first team, Howard is a rotational option, and Onopko is on-loan.  Onopko is seeking his first cap at any level and Ben Howard is seeking his first cap in over a year!

 

 

***First Cap watch***

Dymtro Pavlov, goalkeeper.  He is currently on our B team but is not likely to ever be good enough to break into the first team.

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by ranks39

[ranks39]

August 2032

This was a busy, busy month!  I've pretty much rotated two "squads" with one squad covering league matches and the other, continental matches.  They are both a mix of first-teamers and reserves.  We've been very good, keeping hold of the ball very well and peppering the opposition goal with shots!

We dominate the ball and complete passes galore with our short passing game and we are very solid at the back!

We currently sit top-of-the-table.

Euro Cup II Group stage draw

Honestly, this was about as good as we could've asked for!

***Mukashev Update!***

The legend, himself, is being heavily tracked by Real Madrid!

 

[ranks39]

September 2032

An FM'ing to start the month but we responded well, drubbing Aberdeen and Sion in Euro Cup II and smashing Mariupol and Ingulets Petrove in league.

We're flying through our group - we'll definitely be favorites in all remaining group stage matches.

Still top of the table at the moment.

In selection news, Luiz Eduardo has displaced Roman Man'ko as my regular AML - Man'ko was injured for 6 weeks and Eduardo played so well in that position that I can't take him out of my first-choice team.  I'm also hoping that this will put Eduardo in the shop window for some clubs and we can pick up around $20M for him - it's working thus far with Nantes and Valladolid both being linked with a move for him.

 

 

We've also been rotating a number of center back partners for Pavlenko.  New boys Hurtado and Rosales have been playing well and we've sprinkled in Plotnikov(both on the right and in the center) and Afanasjev.

Hurtado has seen 7 starts across Euro Cup II and the league.

 

Rosales has seen 8 starts across both competitions.

 

Plotnikov has seen 9 starts between right and center back across the two competitions - and has been rewarded with call-ups to the national team.

 

Finally, Afanasjev has seen 3 starts across the two competitions.

 

***Dynamo Kyiv Players of the Month***

Rodrigo Bustamente is honestly too good for us and the Ukrainian Premier League, in general.  I'm going to be looking to re-up his contract with a higher release clause.  Across his 11 competitive club appearances this season, he has scored once and assisted twelve times with an average rating over 8.  All class.

 

Amilton dos Reis is coming good for us, as well.  I can't imagine that a Portuguese call-up is too far off.

 

Yuriy Sydorenko continues to do what he does best and that is smash in goals.

 

Finally, a surprise inclusion here, Vladyslav Levchenko, the longtime backup to Sydorenko has performed admirably in rotational starts.  He has bagged 5 goals and 3 assists thus far this season in 13 appearances between league and Euro Cup II.  I'm hoping that he'll play his way to a move this winter, that way he can get more minutes and we can cash in and promote a younger player.

 

***International Call-Ups***

The usual group.  Ben Howard seems to have become a more regular selection for the USA despite being a backup/rotation player for us.

Duarte is seeking his first senior cap.

Edited June 28, 2020 by ranks39

[ranks39]

PERFECT!

 

[ranks39]

October 2032

A couple of nice items finishing up!  And then immediately:

 

Here's how our facilities look now:

And our finances are very healthy due to some shrewd sales and competition prize money!

Now onto the monthly stuff!

A perfect month is just what the doctor ordered!

If we were to win our next match against Vojvodina, we'll advance from our group!

Shakhtar and Mariupol have both stumbled a bit this month, which has opened up an 8 point lead at the top of the table for us!  Our defense has been absolutely suffocating, allowing just two goals, while we have scored 24.

***Dynamo Kyiv Players of the Month***

So, to start, we lost both Sydorenko and dos Reis for 4-6 weeks.  We have sufficient depth but those two are two of my best 5 players.  This opened the door for Levchenko and academy product Kulik(who we had to recall from his loan to first division side, Kolos Kovalivka) to get some minutes.  In his second start, Kulik scored his first senior goal(he was then injured for up to 5 weeks, so Sydorenko will be back before Kulik) and Levchenko has continued his fine form!

 

 

Eduar Figueroa, our left back, has been improving at a solid clip and performing well!

 

[ranks39]

International Call-ups

Vlaev finally gets another call!

 

 

[ranks39]

November 2032

A pretty so-so month, with the loss to Shakhtar as the real low-light.  We dominated the game and conceded a 97th minute goal.....   We rested a number of first-choice players against Aberdeen as we have three matches during the week of 28 November, against Lviv(which we won) on Sunday, Karpaty on Wednesday, who sit 7th, and Chornomorets on Saturday, who sit 5th.

We're still 7 points clear at the top.

We've also qualified from our group!  We just play Sion at home to close up the group stage.

***Dynamo Kyiv Players of the Month***

Roman Man'ko has reclaimed his starting spot on the left wing via a surge of good performances.

 

Mario Malan has been excellent of late and is now in the discussion for a call-up to the Senior Uruguay side.

 

Alexis Duarte has been stellar on the right side of our defense, reclaiming the job from Plotnikov, who has hit a bit of a rough patch.  He is also becoming a regular with the Paraguay national senior setup.

 

Finally, our homegrown boy, Yaroslav Kovalchuk has turned in some very solid performances of late.  He won't be long until he breaks into the senior national team.

 

[ranks39]

December 2032 - Winter Break

So, we've played a couple of matches in December and the winter break is upon us(we'll be back in play in March for both Euro Cup II and league.  I'll keep this update short and sweet and will do an around the world recap in my next post.

So, we started the month with a rough, scoreless draw at home that allowed Shakhtar to pick up two points on us.  We went on to handle our business down the stretch run of the month and officially won our EURO Cup II group, on goal difference.

We are still top of the table but Shakhtar picked up a couple of points on us due to our draw to Karpaty.

We've won Group H!

[ranks39]

Around the world!

Champions League

 

Europa League

 

EURO Cup II

 

Premier League

Wow, the last 13 seasons have season a total of 4 teams in the top 3 - Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, and Man U

La Liga

Not too many surprises here.

Ligue 1

Maybe France will be my next stop to break up the PSG dynasty?!?!?!?  Really neat to see Stade Lavallois in the top-flight from the National.

Bundesliga

Hertha have established themselves as one of the top clubs, being in the top 3 in 4 of the last 5 seasons.  Same with Schalke, who have been in the top 3 in 7 of the past 9 seasons.

Serie A

Serie A seems to be the most dynamic league in terms of title winners.  Juve have not won the Scudetto in 12 seasons and have finished outside of the top 3 on 6 occasions. 

World Cup

Norway runners-up in 2026.

Euros

Interesting!

Champions League

 

[ranks39]

Youth Intake Preview!

I really enjoy seeing that there's a local boy who could be a real talent!  I'm also hoping to see some of my youth affiliates begin to pay off by way of prospects.  We'll see!

[glennuk]

This is a great career update. Just read it all today hoping you sign Mukashev at some point in the future.

 

Can we have a detailed look at your tactics (I always play with AML and AMR so interested in no winger tactics)

Edited June 29, 2020 by glennuk

[ranks39]

12 hours ago, glennuk said:

This is a great career update. Just read it all today hoping you sign Mukashev at some point in the future.

 

Can we have a detailed look at your tactics (I always play with AML and AMR so interested in no winger tactics)

Thanks for the kind words!  I would love to get Mukashev back in my squad!  It's very gratifying to have identified a player that would go on to be world-class so early on(I spotted him when he was just 16!) - though I had no idea what exactly he'd become!!!!

As for my tactics, I use the word positions AML and AMR simply to refer to my wide, advanced players - but, I don't use out-and-out wingers, I employ Inside Forwards, with an Advanced Playmaker in support.  This allows me to get at least three in the box on the attack(since we play gegenpress) if we can win the ball in the opponent's defensive area.  I also employ attacking full backs, which still requires a lot of two-way work but still maintains some defensive responsibility(rather than wing backs that are generally attack first, obviously depending on their instruction.  This quickly flips us from a more defensive posture to an attacking one very quickly, often while the opponent are piling forward to counter us.  Another big identifier of my tactic is our desire to have as much of the ball as possible but when we get into the final third, we are going for goal nearly immediately.

Here is the specific tactic that I generally employ:

So the premise of my tactic is to have as much of the ball as possible and also to challenge the opposition defense as much as possible.  So, the shorter passing allows us to be safe with the ball when it is in the center of the park and I like to pair that with the run at defense, which frees up my inside forwards to cut inside and try to unbalance the wide defenders.  This also draws the outside backs into the box, which allows for my full backs to show in attacking, wide positions and to hit crosses in.  The other part is through the center of my midfield - first, I like to have an advanced playmaker in support to sit underneath the attacking three and pick out passes(so flair, technique, passing and decisions are crucial.  Joining him at times are the deeper-lying Advanced playmaker and box to box midfielder.  As you would guess, we prefer to be on the front foot and if we are to be beaten, it is usually by a team that will either try to possess more of the ball(and have better players) or teams that counter us into oblivion.  I prefer short distribution(goalkeeper rolling the ball out) and to begin my attacks from the wide areas.  Defensively, we just press hard - we don't allow the goalkeeper to roll it out, we mark tightly, we press urgently and we engage higher up the pitch. 

Statistically, it is what you would guess.

1. We see a lot more of the ball than anyone else.

 

2.  We score a lot of goals.

5. We put a lot of shots on target.... a lot

 
 

4.  We like to get our players in one-on-one situations

 

5.  We don't allow a lot of goals, but can be prone to disasters on set pieces.

 

6.  Through balls from our midfield are a key and there are multiple options to pick out(2 wide players cutting inside and our advanced forward)

 

Here are our team stats for goals.

Our strikers, Levchenko and Sydorenko account for the majority of our goals, followed by our inside forwards dos Reis, Eduardo, Man'ko.  Our central players, Kovalchuk(AP), Malan(CM - Advanced Playmaker, Support), Davydov(AP) and finally, our defenders(as we don't often score off of set pieces).

Finally, our assists.

The bulk of our assists come through the center of the pitch, lead by Bustamente, who plays as a CM(Advanced Playmaker, support), followed by Levchenko(ST - AF), Davydov(AMC-AP), Sydorenko(ST-AF), and Kovalchuk(AMC - AP) is up there with three.  As you get down towards the lower end of the list, you'll see our wider players - dos Reis(Right Inside Forward), Duarte(right back), Figueroa(left back), Man'ko(left inside forward).

Stats can obviously be manipulated but I think that we do a good job of playing the way that I intend to play, and at the end of the day, that's why I play - to enjoy the identity of football that I like to see and that I prefer to play and it's very neat to see the players actually executing it as I intend it  

Hope that's what you were looking for, @glennuk

 

[ranks39]

Winter Break 2033

A perfect set of friendlies with a couple of impressive wins against Russian Premier League sides!  Hopefully that will prep us for Dinamo Zagreb.

***Transfers***

Outbound

We see Afanasjev and Ben Howard go to Chinese Super League side, Renhe for a combined $31.5M.

Afanasjev was a rotational depth player for us but was had made 146 appearances for us over the last 6 seasons.

 

Howard was a two-time player under Rank and came in on a fee, so $9M was a big win for us, especially given his declining role since Duarte joined us.  Still, it was sad to see him go as he was a player that I still saw value in.

 

Now for the fun part: INBOUND!

First, Camilo Lagos came to us on a free from Union Espanola in Chile.  He is a player that I believe has good potential but he is still a long ways off.  Still, we couldn't pass him by for free.

 

Next up, we signed Iranian Central defender Ghader Safavi from Iranian side Sepahan.  He looks like a steal as he came to us for just $625K.  At just 19, he is already a regular for the national side.  He looks like he can be a Ball Playing Defender as I try to move to that sort of central defender.

 

We then saw Uruguayan Nicanor Lopez join us from our affiliate, Defensor Sporting - the second player to come as a result of this affiliation!  We bought him for $2.4M.  Lopez is a VERY VERY VERY tiny, 5'3", 141 lb. right Inside Forward.  He looks to be a little wizard on the wing, with decent pace/acceleration/Agility, very good dribbling/First Touch, Excellent dribbling, good off the ball skill, and great long shots and technique with a dash of flair!  I'm very excited about this player.  As interest in dos Reis heats up, Lopez will see more and more minutes.

 

Finally, our last signing to join us this window......oh boy, what a mistake I've made.....  Backstory - my first-choice Right Inside Forward, dos Reis, began to see significant transfer interest in the neighborhood of $25M from Chinese sides.  I declined a bid and he moaned about leaving, I told him that I'd accept the next one....  the next day, another bid comes in, I accept - end of story.  Feeling rushed to find a replacement(as I only had the outgoing dos Reis and the new Lopez), I knew that I needed to make a splash with all of this incoming transfer cash and I wanted it to be a Ukrainian boy.  So, after minimal scouting and $28.5M - yes, TWENTY-EIGHT AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS - we had purchased Yury Prokhorov from Anderlecht.... we had a tailor-made replacement for dos Reis.  Well, dos Reis decided that he was happy to stay with the club and rejected the contract offer.... Now I'm saddled with a big wage($2.49M per year) and a second very good Right Inside Forward/Striker..... Oh, well.

 

We've also lined up some future transfers!

First up is a player that I found while mass-scouting Eastern European national teams and reminds me a lot of a player that I once bought a long time ago!   Nikoloz Tskhadadze is a 17 year-old Georgian Right back that has great potential, a fairly professional personality and will join us next February.  We spent a speculative $1.8M on him and we'll see what happens.

 

Finally, my Chief Scout found this gem from OM.  He is still years off of his best but the potential and personality are there for all to see.  He will join us next January for $4.8M.

Also interesting that he has a second nationality of Algerian.... very cool!

 

***EURO Cup II Second Knockout Round Draw***

 

***New Youth Affiliate***

Exceptional Youth Recruitment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Maybe we'll get some Chinese players in!

[ranks39]

Well, look at that.....

I've not applied, nor have I ever managed in Italy on FM.

[ranks39]

International Call-Ups

 

***First Cap Alert!***

Vladimir Kulik and Artem Romanchuk are seeking their first U-21 Cap!

 
 
 

Rod Pierce looking for his first cap at any level

 

Edson Rosales looking for his first SENIOR USA cap!  Let's go young man!

 

[ranks39]

Youth Intake

Not the best of intakes.

Matkobozhyk - could be a depth option down the line.

 

Galenko - If he goes where the black stars say he could, he could be a solid player.

 

[ranks39]

Let's Restore a Fallen Giant.

So, Rank's career journey has taken him from Shenkolli, Albania to Warsaw, Poland to Vigo, Spain to Kiev, Ukraine and now onto Turin, Italy.

Their reputation has dropped.....

The club are clamoring for success, having not won the Serie A since 2019/2020.

And, boy, did the club need a change.

Facilities look great

Finances look a bit mismanaged.

Hopefully we can curb the trend of Sackings.  Rank follows up Cristiano Ronaldo.

And our staff includes Sergio Ramos.

Finally, the squad.

It's.....ok.

Let's see where this goes!

[Muttley84]

Suits them well doing so poor after keeping that awfull Ilie Stan for almost 5 years. He's so poor even by Romania Liga 1 standards, dunno how he ended up at them.

[ranks39]

7 hours ago, Muttley84 said:

Suits them well doing so poor after keeping that awfull Ilie Stan for almost 5 years. He's so poor even by Romania Liga 1 standards, dunno how he ended up at them.

He made the most of his career by dominating after moving to FCSB and then RB Salzburg - I guess winning everything there enamored the Juve board to go after him.

 

[ranks39]

April 2033

So, a lot has happened since taking over, both on and off the pitch.  I've started to overhaul the squad by listing the players that I really don't have use for and scouting heavily in areas that I believe to have a lot of talent.

So, life on the pitch started pretty badly with a home draw to then-bottom of the table Torino, followed up by a demolition at the hands of Inter.  The press started then talking about pressure and perhaps the sack coming.  Well, the team responded against bottom of the table sides, Benevento, Verona, and Parma(we eventually sealed their relegation).

So, we sit just one point adrift of Atalanta and our next match is against - you guessed it - Atalanta!  It really is all to play for!

***Players of the Month***

Junior Bienvenu has been magical for us since the start of April, registering 2 assists  and a goal!

 

Argentine Central Defender Damian Arias has been fabulous for us at the back, as well.  He is a club stalwart, closing in on 300 appearances!

 

Finally, Marco Passaro, operating as a Right Inside Forward, has provided 3 assists in 5 matches for us.  He will work his way into the Senior National Team setup soon enough!

 

***Other interesting items***

I've brought a few youngster up into the senior team to get some training under their belt at a higher level.  I've been reasonably impressed with most of them, including handing out a debut!

Ivano Dalmasso, he has played very well for the U23 side so we brought him into the senior squad and give him some match time.  He rewarded our faith with a nice little assist on his debut!  I'm a little bit more encouraged by his attributes than the stars show but he definitely has work to do.

 

Roberto Fernandez has been called up by France for the U20  World Cup, so we rewarded him with a call into the matchday 18.  He has loads of potential but must work hard to realize it.

 

Argentine number 10, Matias Mino, looks the part of a gifted Argentine advanced attacker.  He has great first touch, dribbling, passing, technique and vision, he brings composure on the ball, can anticipate a pass, and has world-class flair.  He can reach the first team if he cracks on in training but he'll probably go out on loan next season.  He was excellent this season with our U23's in Serie  C, recording 4 goals and 6 assists in 14 appearances.

 

Tshepo Khumalo, a South African attacking midfielder, is already a Serie A regular at Udinese and a regular with the National Team.  I'd like to give him a look with the first team in pre-season next year.

 

Eduardo Libro is another highly-talented attacking midfielder that was stashed in our U23 side.  He has the attributes to be a good player for us, he just needs to perform better in training!

 

Silvio Spadavecchia is a left-sided inside forward .  His technical ability is the only thing holding him back right now but he can certainly improve and be around the first team in the years to come.

 

One of the Jewels of our academy, Mario Cerami has been promoted just to train with the first team.  Can he reach his great promise???? Time will tell.

 

Finally, one of the other jewels of the academy crown is Matteo Monzeglio, who can play up and down the right side of the pitch.  Again, he has plenty of promise but still has a long way to go.

 

[ranks39]

May 2033 / End of Season Update

A terrible end of the season.  After losing to Atalanta, we employed a much younger side and actually picked up a couple of points, still not good enough for a club of Juve's size.

Inter win the league by one point!  Crotone finish up mid-table!

***Juve Overall Best Eleven***

 

***End of Season Awards***

 

 

***Squad***

 

Bjorn Schulze took over after my hire and played better than Dragowski had all season.  This is definitely a position in need of an upgrade.

 

Xavier Mbuyamba was our regular Right Back and he was solid.

 

Sander Berge and Damian Arias paired in the center of the defense down the stretc.  Berge saw his 150th National Team cap, as well.

 

Manuel Pires held down the Left Back spot and played well all season!

 

Junior Bienvenu is the man in the middle that makes it all happen, and he was outstanding all season!

 

Marco Passaro and Gabriele Russo were excellent as the Inside Forwards!  They scored 16 and 10 goals, respectively.

 

Finally, Gaona led the line with 19 goals!

 

Now, the real work begins!  The squad will be far different next season!

[ranks39]

Competition and Club Rankings

Now we'll see how far Juve have truly fallen.

 

West Brom have fallen on hard times, too - sheesh.

[ranks39]

New Youth Affiliate!

 

 

[ranks39]

Off-Season Transfer Dealings

Rather than bunch the transfer dealings in with the pre-season, I figured that I'd just go ahead and dedicate on post to it - and boy, was it a silly season!

First off, we'll deal with the OUTGOINGS - there were a lot of players for one reason or another that I didn't keep(mostly age, but some didn't fit my system and some were just offers that I couldn't refuse).

Ryan Gravenberch was sold to Wolves for $30M.  He was not a key part of my squad, we were looking for younger options, and provided a good infusion of cash.

 

Ethan Ampadu was sold to Liverpool for $25M.  Ampadu was unhappy, 32 and ready to move on and we were ready to cash in.

 

Xavier Mbuyamba leaves us for Burnley for around $25M after just one season.  Still a very good player but he was aging out of my plans and we needed to cash in while his value was still as high as it was.

 

Diego Lainez left us for Club America for $4.6M.  It was time to send the 33 year-old home.

 

Goalkeep Bartlomiej Dragowski was sold to Watford for $1M.  He is nearing the end of his career and we were looking for a youthful replacement to mind the net for the foreseeable future.

 

Samuele Barbaglio was sold to Crotone for $2M.  He was in our greatest position of depth and the $2M was a good payday.

 

Filip Stevanovic left us for Serie A rivals, Napoli.  We weren't actively looking to sell him but they can in with a $40M offer and that was enough to move him on.

 

Theophile Praud moved on after a loan spell to West Ham last season for $30.5M(possibly moving to $39M).  He is a very good player but for the money that we were offered, it was too good to turn away.

 

Now, the INCOMINGS.  We brought in more players than we lost but spent much less than we got!

Nuno Mendes came to us via a clause in his loan agreement(agreed before I took over) from Arsenal.  He is still a very good player but will back up Pires on the left side of defense.  The fee attached to the loan was $22.5M.

 

Luis Camargo was a shrewd signing from Penarol in Uruguary.  We spent just $1.5M on the midfielder and he looks as though he can play a prominent role in our future.

 

Andre Cameron came to us on a fee from Arsenal and I'm much higher on him than the stars show.  His physical and mental abilities are definitely at Serie A level and his passing is world-class!  I think he has a part to play in bringing Juve back to the top!  Also he had been on loan in Serie A(starting 33 matches for Atalanta two years back) and had broken into Arsenal's first team last season, starting 21 matches.

 

Next up, we addressed our vacancy in the net with a young Turkish 'keeper!  Cem Demir is a 22 year-old, Serie A ready keeper with world-class abilities!  We bought him for $8.5M from Ajax and he looks to be a steal for us!

 

Italian 16 year-old Roberto is a future play and comes to us for $1.5M from our rival Roma.  If he can develop to his potential, he will be a big danger on the right wing.

 

Our next signing is one that I'm very excited about!  Giulio Di Biase comes to us after making 10 appearances for Roma and 212 for Torino for $11M.  The stars show an average player but I really love his Mental and Physical attributes with decent defensive abilities!

 

Roberto Bertozzi comes to us for a $3.3M.  To be honest, this was a speculative bid and it doesn't look to be worth it as of now.

 

Branko Djordjevic comes to us on-loan from Man City.  To be fair, he looks a real talent!

 

Nico Ebersbach comes to us from Bayer Leverkusen for $1.8M.  He looks to have great potential and he can certainly improve mentally.  

 

Another real talent comes to us via Montpellier, Redouane Toual, a young Algerian, for $850K.  He is already developing nicely but he needs to improve his finishing!

 

Giorgio Tempesti is an attacking midfielder that comes to us from relegated Parma for $2.3M.  He is a decent backup option with good physical attributes.

 

Andres comes to us on loan from Southampton and will provide depth at our right back spot.

 

Fabio Sousa comes to us from Hertha Berlin for just $4.7M.  I think that we got an absolute bargain for the price and I'll likely be looking to move him into a central defender role, but it will be nice to have the versatility of using him in the midfield, as well.

 

Finally, our replacement at right back comes with plenty of experience in Europe's top leagues and nearly 100 caps for his country.  I saw an alert come across my desk that he'd been transfer-listed and we had to oblige.  He has made 82 appearances for OL in Ligue 1 and 125 appearances for Watford in the Premier League, as well as 87 appearances for his native Kazakhstan..... Daniel Mukashev!  We purchased him for $45M.  With world class speed, acceleration, agility and balance, great dribbling, passing and crossing, he will be a menace in our right back spot.  Welcome home.

 

[ranks39]

Pre-Season

Picked to finish third, I'd honestly take it after last season.

A great set of friendlies to get us fit!

We finished up one more piece of transfer business.  Hassan Shamba, a Swedish central midfielder comes to us for just $2.3M.  Another piece of our future and it's looking bright!

 

Here's how we'll line up!

Let's do it!

 

[ranks39]

International Call-Ups

 

***First Cap Watch***

Essomba will be looking for his first cap at any level.

Wembangomo will be looking for his first Congo DR cap, as well!

Passaro is looking for his first senior national team cap!

Cem Demir is looking for his first senior cap, as well!  Hopefully he can lock the role down.

Edited July 2, 2020 by ranks39

[ranks39]

August/September 2033

Just the one mar on a great season thus far!  It was particularly disappointing as we dominated the match against Brescia and they scored a late penalty.  Our demolition of Roma away was particularly pleasing.  The season really begins to get tough over the next month with Inter(H), SPAL(A), Atlalanta(H), Fiorentina(A), and Bologna(H).

We sit second at the moment.  Our affiliation with Perugia is really beneficial at the moment as I'm able to send youngsters that are very close to the first team off to get Serie A experience.

***Serie A Monthly Awards***

 

 

Nice to see our big-money signing, Mukashev scooping a spot!

***Juve Players of the Month***

To be completely honest, our best defender was new man, Giulio Di Biase, who has repaid my faith in him with a goal, and a 7.5 average rating thus far in 5 starts.

 

My duo of Inside Forwards have been a wonderful revelation as well with Passaro on the right accounting for 4 goals and 3 assists in 5 matches and Russo on the left accounting for 6 goals over 6 matches.  Passaro also saw his first senior Italian cap!

 

But our unquestioned best player is on-loan midfielder Branko Djordjevic.  He has scored 4 goals and assisted on 6 while maintaining an 8.37 average rating!

 

***International Call-Ups***

 

[ranks39]

 

[ranks39]

October 2033

A great start to the month with a win over Inter but followed up by a horrorshow to at the time, bottom of the table SPAL and a draw to Fiorentina by pitching a 94th minute goal....  We closed the month with a 4-0 flogging of Bologna.

We  still sit second but Lazio are not dropping points.

***Serie A Awards***

 

 

***Facilities Upgrades***