Return of the Max

[Cardiovascular]

End of October

A superb start to the season saw us score 13 goals and take maximum points in August, including a 3-2 win over Arsenal. Then we travelled across London for a class with Spurs and again, we came away with all three points and things were looking terrific for us. A draw and loss to both Manchester clubs brought us back down to Earth but we composed ourselves to thrash newly promoted Blackburn to end September. Into October, we easily beat Burnley but dropped points to Everton before a massive 2-1, last minute win over current champions Liverpool. We are looking good!

Carabao Cup

We managed to defeat Everton on penalties before a rotated side dismissed Shrewsbury easily.

The league looks good but it is early doors at the moment. Spurs seem to have gotten over their torrid season last year. Wolves are also performing very well at the moment.

Euro Cup update will come in a seperate post!

[PaulHartman71]

If you can keep the goals flying in like that you could be in for a good season!

[Cardiovascular]

On 12/04/2021 at 09:56, PaulHartman71 said:

If you can keep the goals flying in like that you could be in for a good season!

The score more than the opposition tactic never fails..  

[Cardiovascular]

Bees on Tour

I decided to use the Europa League as an opportunity to blood in some younger players and rest some of our more important players. It was risky but I was prepared to take the chance to impress in the league over Europe.

Matchday 1

A terrific second half performance saw us past the Belarusian side.

Matchday 2

A disappointing result in truth but Gladbach are a good side.

Matchday 3

The first real test of our European adventure and a pretty straightforward one too, rather unexpectedly. 

Matchday 4

A European double was completed over Dinamo without conceding a goal.

Matchday 5

BATE weren't difficult opposition. A good hattrick for young striker Ocampo here!

Matchday 6

This was a dead rubber as both of us had already qualified, we were on course for revenge of the 1-0 defeat in Germany until Longstaff got himself sent off and subsequently, we finished second in the group behind the Germans.

We face PSV in the next round.

[Cardiovascular]

Wahid Faghir is reaping rewards from his terrific form this season! Really starting to show some serious signs of reaching his potential

But you can't please everyone clearly...

[Sonic Youth]

2 hours ago, Cardiovascular said:

Wahid Faghir is reaping rewards from his terrific form this season! Really starting to show some serious signs of reaching his potential

But you can't please everyone clearly...

Is there some other form that I missed?

Looking good in Europe and in the league 

Edited April 13 by Sonic Youth

[deltablue]

Good stuff so far in Europe.

[Cardiovascular]

22 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Is there some other form that I missed?

Looking good in Europe and in the league 

I think everyone has missed his poor form.. with that said, he was out for four weeks with injury but that's no reason to call for his exclusion!

[Cardiovascular]

End of January

Our form has dipped a fair bit as we've picked up alot more draws rather than wins (five on the bounce seems mad) and lost three games including a bit of a shocker at Leeds. Our draws also came against some of the sides at the lower end of the league which is even more frustrating. We lost Sima for four months and Faghir and Hudson-Odoi for a month each all at the same time, as well as some more minor injuries for players meaning we were struggling to fill out an 18 at points without calling on youngsters.

The Carabao Cup saw us defeat City before a penalties loss to Chelsea - we probably should be in the final all things considered. Conceded a stupid late goal in the first leg.

As expected in the FA Cup, Leeds game was a bit closer than I'd hoped but we're still in the competition. Everton away next.

Still in the top four though! We need to sort our form out or we won't last.

Transfers - Out

Ghoddos left for China after becoming unhappy at the lack of gametime. A young lad left for Stoke, we found a loan move for our promising LB and the big news was Lamptey heading to City on deadline day. He wanted to leave and whilst I wanted a lot more money, I didn't stand in his way for that amount. This left me scrambling for some more options at the back, conulted my shortlist and two names stood out...

In came Johan Saarvedra from Colo Colo for a fee rising to £3.9m, very promising I think but I've decided to shift him down to the U23's for the rest of the season.

Saarvedra was quickly followed by a £9m deal for Tsvetelin Tsvetanov (what a mouthful) - he's immediately our best CB at the age of 18 and equally good at right back too.

 

[PaulHartman71]

6-0 against Spurs 

[Sonic Youth]

That’s a lot of orange. 4th at this stage is poised nicely. Just need more oranges converted into greens.

That Bulgarian CB looks a bit tasty 

[Cardiovascular]

21 hours ago, PaulHartman71 said:

6-0 against Spurs 

A demoliton! I didn't think we had anything to fear following their shocking season last year and I was right.

20 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

That’s a lot of orange. 4th at this stage is poised nicely. Just need more oranges converted into greens.

That Bulgarian CB looks a bit tasty 

He does look good, doesn't he? No idea what mercenary means in terms of personality though.

[Cardiovascular]

Europa League First Knockout Round - First Leg

I expected a more difficult challenge from PSV but we dismantled them easily enough. Nice to see Sima scored twice on his full return from 4 months out with a broken foot. No Faghir or Hudson-Odoi available for either leg though, possibly beyond.

 

 

[Cardiovascular]

Europa League First Knockout Round - Second Leg

PSV don't spring any surprises in the second leg as we come away with a solid win. Job well done from our young team. We face Roma next!

[Cardiovascular]

Europa League Second Knockout Round - First Leg

Bit of a disappointing result as we can't break down Roma's wall in between the sticks with any of our 12 shots on target. A stormer for the Roma keeper, but happy not to concede an away goal as well.

[Cardiovascular]

Europa League Second Knockout Round - Second Leg

This was always going to be a tough game for us, but given we were coming off the back of a 6-0 loss to Everton (!), things were looking rough, The team practically backed off Villar inviting him to run from deep and score in the first half. Thought for sure that was it, we had more efforts in the second 45 but nothing was coming until a scrappy clearance from Roma fell to Mbuemo who crossed for Faghir to give us an amazing equaliser and a passage to the next round on away goals. Scenes!

We faced Man Utd next..

[Cardiovascular]

Just received our youth intake and received a potentially best of his generation player...

Those mental stats are incredible for 16 years old! He's going to be a star.

[Cardiovascular]

Europa League Quarter Final - First Leg

Defensively, we were shocking as we were carved open effortlessly in the first half. We've done okay to come away with two away goals but we've a huge task ahead of us in the second leg.

[Cardiovascular]

Europa League Quarter Final - Second Leg

It was a more respectable performance in the second leg and a goal from Spasojevic - who has hit some red hot form in the second half of the season - gave us a sniff of a chance in the second half but ultimately it wasn't enough. 

[abulezz]

Shame about the Europa League result but Meyers is an absolute stud. 

[Cardiovascular]

3 hours ago, abulezz said:

Shame about the Europa League result but Meyers is an absolute stud. 

 

He's probably one of the best young players I've seen, certainly on this FM. Gave him his debut in a rubber match against Villa and he scored  

[Cardiovascular]

End of Season

February was a great month for us as we saw off United at home before expected victories against Burnley and Blackburn. But while February was great, March was downright terrible summed up by an inexplicable 6-0 loss against Everton (losing against Everton was a recurring nightmare this season). Everton's striker Sinsterra only got the five goals during the match... We bounced back from a poor month in some style though with four games, four wins and four clean sheets and 14 goals scored. A poor loss to Palace, a satisfying win against Norwich and a wild draw against Villa in essentially a bounce match rounded off our season.

But where would it leave us?

Knocked out of the cup by, yes you guessed it, Everton...

Champions League baby!!! Max gets his first real crack at the Champions League next year following a simply wonderful season for us. 

Key Players

Ronaldo Camara is a superb player and we miss him when he doesn't play. 17 assists from central midfield was the best for us, as was his average rating. Surely can't be far off a Portugal call up.

Spasojevic came into some unreal form in the second half of the season when we lost Faghir. He was a rotation choice for the second striker spot until Sima broke his foot and he seized his opportunity up top and made himself undroppable. Was one goal away from being Premier League top scorer.

Would be harsh to have Spasojevic and not Faghir on here - another terrific season from him. Couple of slight injury concerns but nothing major.

 

[abulezz]

Spasojevic was certainly a surprise, I'm sure. I can't wait to see Meyers develop!

[Cardiovascular]

European Update

Sickener here as Atletico Madrid, still under the management of Simeone, pick up their first Champions League trophy and rule themselves out of contention as a job for Max!

An all English Europa League final was surprisingly won by mid-table side Leicester. Rafa Benitez proves he's still a terrific manager as he brings home Leicester's first European trophy.

Pretty much as you'd expect it to be in France with PSG coming very close to an invincible season.

Same in Germany. Gladbach should probably have done slightly better.

Atletico also take home the league title in a terrific season from them. Real Sociedad (I think? ) the surprise inclusion in the top four and in the Champions League.

[Cardiovascular]

Career Overview

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Season      Club        League             Position            Achievements/Other
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020/21   Brentford    Championship          10th                      -
2021/22   Brentford    Championship          1st                   Champions
2022/23   Brentford    Premier League        10th                      -
2023/24   Brentford    Premier League        5th                       -
2024/25   Brentford    Premier League        4th                       -
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trophy Cabinet

SkyBet Championship - 2021/22 (Brentford)

Max Bruz Champions League Wins - 0

Tumbleweed...

AI Champions League Wins - 2

Manchester City - 2022/23
Atletico Madrid - 2024/25

The AI goes 2-0 up! Apparently the most dangerous lead in football...

[Cardiovascular]

11 minutes ago, abulezz said:

Spasojevic was certainly a surprise, I'm sure. I can't wait to see Meyers develop!

 

Yeah he was quite surprising, but you could definitely tell in some matches his finishing wasn't amazing. It's kinda disappointing he's shown so little improvement on that front, though if he keeps scoring, I won't complain  As for Meyers, I'm the same. One of those players you just know you'll try and sign everywhere you go if possible.

[Cardiovascular]

Pre-Season - Transfers

Lots of loans here, let Stevens and Gilbert leave for fees as I wasn't renewing their contracts at the end of this coming season. Valgeir Valgeirsson was a big sale for us, signed for £475k we made a huge profit on him. I signed him thinking he was this amazingly talented player, but I based this all on Championship football. He wasn't good enough for the Prem, and after two good loan spells with Hull, we capitalised on his value to offload him. However, the huge news of the summer happened early doors and therefore wasn't captured on the transfer page...

Yep, our star player for the past couple of seasons is now dead to me. He had a release clause in his contract for £49.5m which I had completely forgotten about and when Leicester (12th place last year...) matched it, off he went. Of course this sent us out on the hunt for a replacement, but I'd be monitoring one player in particular and made a quick move for him when it became apparent Ronaldo was leaving

It was an absolute no brainer to meet Gorka Vera's £40.5m release clause from Bilbao. He's a terrific addition and possibly even better than Camara. My only gripe with him is he demanded to play as a Mezzala so I guess that means trying something new centrally now.

Kyle Beaton was our first arrival, but he remains at Motherwell for the season.

Dexter Sneddon has been on my radar for some time and wasn't cheap coming in at £37.5m. I think he's a terrific looking player though and will continue to grow.

I earmarked LM as a potential problem area, so took Goran Pajovic from Man Utd for a compensation fee. Decided to send him to America for half a season to develop.

LB was also a bit of a weak point in our squad and Abrams has the potential to be the solution for sure. Think he needs alot more work in crossing and dribbling but there's potential to work with for sure.

The media still predict us to finish 9th, well below where we finished last year. Hopefully, we can make the Champions League again. Speaking of which...

That is a wildly difficult group for our debut season  I think we can make Europa knockouts but any more is a very tough ask.

[Cardiovascular]

End of October

A nervy start to the season saw us only just beat Crystal Palace and Villa but then followed it up with a shocking loss to Everton, who our rapidly becoming our bogey team in this save. Just cannot find a way by them. Ended August with a frankly brilliant win over City. September was okay, West Brom and Arsenal pushed aside easily before Chelsea got the better of us at our place. Again, October brought two fine wins but the draw at Stoke was a huge disappointment on our part. Overall, a good start but could be better.

The Carabao Cup stung us as Sheffield United scored two early goals and a late, late goal while we pushed for an equaliser to send us out. Hopefully, this allows us to focus on Europe and we can capitalise on this. Everything has a positive, right?

This table contains an extra game from the first day of November - a loss to Leicester - but we're in a good position here.

[abulezz]

Two points off of CL football - this is a good start. 

[PaulHartman71]

Nice one making it to the CL. 

Rafa with another European trophy!

[deltablue]

Have fun in the CL.

[Sonic Youth]

On 17/04/2021 at 22:26, Cardiovascular said:

Just received our youth intake and received a potentially best of his generation player...

Those mental stats are incredible for 16 years old! He's going to be a star.

Does that mean your sorted at CB until kingdom come? He looks great, especially when paired with the Bulgarian.

[Sonic Youth]

Nice work on getting into the Champs League by finishing 4th.

Good run in the Europa league this season, and at least you now have a better idea what your team needs to compete and also play two games a week.

[Cardiovascular]

On 23/04/2021 at 00:09, PaulHartman71 said:

Nice one making it to the CL. 

Rafa with another European trophy!

Yep - very impressive from him too. Leicester were in a bit of turmoil last year and Man Utd have shown so far they are no pushovers.

On 23/04/2021 at 09:07, Sonic Youth said:

Does that mean your sorted at CB until kingdom come? He looks great, especially when paired with the Bulgarian.

I'd like to think we were between those two! Giving Meyers some time in the youth team first but will be calling him up ASAP.

On 23/04/2021 at 09:12, Sonic Youth said:

Nice work on getting into the Champs League by finishing 4th.

Good run in the Europa league this season, and at least you now have a better idea what your team needs to compete and also play two games a week.

Yeah absolutely, it was excellent experience for us. I find in this version players get a lot more knackered than in previous (my last was 2017) so it definitely helps to have depth.

[Cardiovascular]

European Update

Matchday One

Our toughest match first and we never came close to bothering Atletico. Elsewhere, Zenit beat Dortmund 1-0 which opens the group up a little.

Matchday Two

Our first Champions League night at our stadium and it was an absolutely doozy, we were three goals down and looking a little lost but Spasojevic took control of the game and substitute Ocampo helped seal and incredible comeback. Zenit and Atletico played out a 0-0 draw.

Matchday Three

Zenit were proving themselves to be a nuisance in the group so I was a little wary of their visit to us but as it turned out, we had nothing to worry about. In the other game, Atletico picked up a 2-1 win in Germany.

Matchday Four

The return visit to Russia was another exciting game but Wahid Faghir stole the show and scored four to help us win. The other two played out a one-all draw in Spain.

Matchday Five

...not really sure what happened here  but we gained revenge for the 3-0 defeat in Spain and qualified for the knockouts in the process. What a result! Dortmund thrashed Zenit 6-0 in the other game but it doesn't matter, the best they can do is the Europa League.

Matchday Six

I took the opportunity to rest players which ultimately cost us top spot as Atletico beat Zenit by seven goals to one in the other game.

We qualified pretty strongly to be fair but as mentioned, the loss to Dortmund cost us top. But it doesn't really matter as we drew Real Madrid while Atletico drew Juventus, it was a tough tie either way.

[Sonic Youth]

Well if you want to get on the board, you’ve got to win these second round ties 

Oh, and nice work progressing from the group stage.

[Cardiovascular]

5 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Well if you want to get on the board, you’ve got to win these second round ties 

Oh, and nice work progressing from the group stage.

 

Thank you! A few good results from the group stages, we can be very happy with our performances.

[Cardiovascular]

End of January

A really disappointing loss at home to Leicester was followed up by a brilliant smash and grab at Anfield but after beating Wolves we were humbled by United who reminded us that despite how high flying we are, we still have a long way to go. December was kind to us but our only dropped points rather bizarrely came against sides in the relegation zone as we couldn't find ways past Leeds or Forest. January also brought disappointment as we lost away to Crystal Palace and - as usual - to Everton before following it up with a couple of good wins against West Brom and Arsenal. 

Two lower league ties, but while Championship side Sheffield United dumped us out the Carabao Cup, we made sure not to repeat our mistakes here. Thumped Cardiff then just about beat Charlton in a game which was not as close as the scoreline suggests.

The league table is extremely tight for the top four with a bit of a gap to the teams below, but United look like they've wrapped up the league barring a massive collapse.

Transfers

Some big movers here but one major one as you can see. Rico Henry was fed up of being backup and he left for Fulham, same story with Balerdi and we managed to get a really good fee for him which seems rather high for a Swiss side? Sebek, Pajovic and new signing Castilla left on loans - Pajovic might have gotten some game time if we didn't make one of our incoming transfers. More on that later. The big loss was Joaquin Rios who demanded a move in late November and I decided to grant him it after Lyon came in with a good fee. Despite knowing for months he wanted out, I still wasn't prepared for anyone to come in which left me scrambling a bit.

Gundak was our first arrival, high potential but I'm not 100% I see it, poor work rate and determination for a start. Time will tell.

Castilla is a really good looking goalkeeper and a great backup for us but we can't get a work permit for him! Hopefully a season or two on loan will allow us time to get one for him but I dunno if that's how the system works in this game.

So after checking some potential options, I settled on loaning in Rovella for the remainder of the season from Juventus with an optional future fee of £30m. He looks really good so we'll see how he plays and whether we exercise the option to buy.

So Brandt was a bit of a panic buy - with around 5 days to go I received a reminder that I'd promised new signing Gorka Vera I'd strengthen the midfield so I brought in Brandt on loan to hopefully appease him. There's a future fee of £32.5m in this loan but that will likely be too much for a 30 year old by the end of the season.

[Cardiovascular]

Well then. We signed Brandt for nothing.

[Cardiovascular]

Our U18's had interesting opposition in the first round of the U19 CL knockouts...

 

 

@PaulHartman71how's that for a crossover?

[Cardiovascular]

Champions League First Knockout Round - First Leg

When Musiala gave Madrid the lead, I was a bit worried they were going to take control of the game but Spasojevic replied instantly to put our nerves at ease. Faghir then got on the end of a wonderful ball over the top from Rovella to make it 2-1 and it was tough to take when they equalised eight minutes from time. It's hard to be disappointed with a draw at home to Madrid but we had so many chances to score. We've given ourselves a difficult task going into the second leg in Spain.

[Cardiovascular]

Champions League Knockout First Round - Second Leg

A clumsy penalty given away would ultimately cost us as Real Madrid edge us out in the second leg. Faghir's goal came too late for us to do anything with it really. Overall, Madrid nullified our threat well and alot of our players failed to turn up. All of these contributed to us bowing out of the Champions League this season.

[abulezz]

Real Madrid are always a tough team to play against. 

[Cardiovascular]

On 25/04/2021 at 09:11, abulezz said:

Real Madrid are always a tough team to play against. 

 

Definitely, we can be proud of our performance against them I think,

[Cardiovascular]

End of Season

Really good start to this group of fixtures as we defeated Manchester City on their turf, but a visit to Stamford Bridge proved too much for us as we lost 4-1. Won the next five which included a good win over second placed Liverpool, but United proved too much for us the weekend after. That loss to United would start a poor run where we drew with Wolves and Leeds and lost to West Ham, slipping up and losing positions in the table. Going into the final day versus Forest, we were sixth but everyone from third to us in sixth were equal points - it was crazy standings to be honest, closest fight for top four I've ever seen. In the end, we easily defeated a relegated Forest side to just about squeeze into the Champions League again.

We brushed past the two Championship sides but we got the toughest draw in the semi final (the other match was Leeds v West Brom!) and Liverpool just proved to be too good on the day.

You can see just how close it was here - West Ham slipped up away to Leeds and Chelsea lost at home to Norwich of all teams, so luck was most certainly on our side for us to finish fourth!

Key Players

Spasojevic continues to defy his poor finishing stats and his thirty five goals for us was a massive return. Not just adept at scoring, he also set up 13 as well!

Spasojevic's partner was equally impressive, slightly behind the Serb in terms of numbers but a good season for Faghir nonetheless. Had his head turned by City so if they come for him in the summer, he might leave.

Another impressive season in goals for our Polish keeper but I definitely hoped for more clean sheets from him. Part of me wonders if we can do better, with that said January signing Castilla has been granted a work permit so we finally have some competition for him!

[Cardiovascular]

European Update

An all-Madrid final here but Atletico couldn't defend their crown and Real Madrid ran out comfortable winners. Must've been the defeat to us that spurred them on as it began a run of English sides they knocked out! 

For the second time in this save so far, the Europa League is won by Dortmund. They never really looked in trouble in any of their ties either. Hertha with a really good run to the final, though it appears they turn very good in alot of saves?

A nice spread of different names in this competition, particularly surprising to see Kilmarnock in there.  Eventually won by Roma, knocking out Sevilla in the final.

No massive shocks here really.

Same in Germany, maybe Koln going down is a shock, I'm not sure. Gladbach missing out on Europe is a surprise. Really poor season from Dresden.

Barcelona take home the Spanish title this year, it's quite an exciting league this! Valencia will be disappointed to miss out on Europe.

[Cardiovascular]

Career Overview

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Season      Club        League             Position            Achievements/Other
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020/21   Brentford    Championship          10th                      -
2021/22   Brentford    Championship          1st                   Champions
2022/23   Brentford    Premier League        10th                      -
2023/24   Brentford    Premier League        5th                       -
2024/25   Brentford    Premier League        4th                       -
2025/26   Brentford    Premier League        4th                       -
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trophy Cabinet

SkyBet Championship - 2021/22 (Brentford)

Max Bruz Champions League Wins - 0

AI Champions League Wins - 2

Manchester City - 2022/23
Atletico Madrid - 2024/25

 

[Cardiovascular]

Pre-Season

Transfers In

Rovella's loan spell was made permanent as soon as possible. It was a no brainer really as he is pretty clearly our best central midfielder at this point, plus we have Gorka Vera who wants to leave.

Valdez is a promising left winger who is also equally capable playing central midfield as well. He's a tidy player but he does lack the pace to be a winger right now I think.

I was a bit rocked by Wahid Faghir's demands to move on so moved to bring in a promising youngster from Ajax who I've had my eyes on for years. Altintok will prove competition for our front four since Faghir eventually did not leave (and signed a new monster contract.)

Transfers Out

A few loans for our younger players, van den Berg left on a free as it never really worked for him here. As does Ethan Pinnock who was a great player for us in the Championship and competent enough back up for the Prem. Another two of our Championship stalwarts left as Mbuemo moved to rivals Fulham and Dasilva left for Russia.

Champions League

We meet the side who knocked us out last year in Real Madrid and also face off against Lille and PSV. Should be a group we can progress from.

[Cardiovascular]

End of October

Solid start to the season but a bit of a shocker of a result at home to West Ham set us back, we then followed that with a couple of unconvincing wins over Norwich and Burnley seperated by another disappointing result at home to Leicester. October brought a tough run of fixtures and we managed to win our home matches against Spurs and Chelsea but we suffered a last gasp loss to Liverpool and we were pretty easily defeated by Man City

The Carabao Cup brought us an easy enough tie against Hartlepool but then again - following the theme of this update - we suffered another shock loss at home as a near full strength XI lost to Villa.

Table still taking shape. It's very tight.

[Cardiovascular]

European Update

Opened this season's Champions League campaign with a good comeback against Lille. Was a little worried when we went one down but we rallied well and ended up with all three points

Real Madrid visited us next and to say the result was a surprise would be an understatement, a two goal lead was made nervy in the last 20 before Spasojevic popped up at the end to secure the win.

PSV came to London next and were swept aside pretty easily.

The return fixture in Holland again saw an easier match than expected as a brace from Sima helped us to victory and qualification to the knockout stages.

A rotated squad picked up all three points at home against Lille, Faghir scoring a rarer goal this year.

The final match again saw us play a pretty weak XI but we still came away with a point thanks to Altintok's last minute equaliser, excellent result!

Unbeaten, and this sees us qualify top! We face Hertha Berlin in the next round.