[FM22] Overhauling SAD Franchise, (completed) and now Portugal. (Portugese edition). (Youth Only)............... Maybe!

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2052. 

Liga Bwin. What a month this would have been had we just not conceded the goal against Moreirense. What makes it worse is that it was a goal from their own half with our GK upfield.  We're now 4 pts clear at the top after a terrific month, but Benfica, (1 game in hand), are 4 pts back and Porto, (2 games in hand), are...... oooof! They're gone. They've blown up completely, winning only 1 of their last 5 league games, losing 2 and drawing 2.  That's how tough this league is. You just can't have a blip. 

xG watch. There are 2 pleasing aspects here. First and foremost, we seemed to get better and better going forward as the month progressed, but also we were really miserly at the back. Still gutted that we conceded 1 though. 
Farense 1.21 - 1.62 Belenenses. 
Belenenses 2.56 - 0.54 Sporting. 
Belenenses 2.15 - 0.01 Leixoes. 
Famalicao 0.75 - 3.61 Belenenses. 
Belenenses 4.56 - 0.53 Moreirense
Estrela de Amadora 1.26 - 3.46 Belenenses.
Belenenses 4.45 - 0.25 Estoril.

This is possibly 1 of the best months of league football I have had in any FM save ever. Yes I've smashed teams in small Nations, but never like this in a big Nation like Portugal, 

UEFA Champions League. I would like to tell you that I threw the Liverpool game in order to finish 3rd and qualify for the Europa League, but the truth is that I thought we would beat them, (after drawing away), so when we lost, (comfortably), I was a bit shocked if truth be told. I think e=we're ridiculously unlucky not to qualify with 3 wins and a draw from 6 games. 

UEFA Europa League Knockout Stages. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Must admit that I'm happy with the 150 goal milestone, but I'm actually chasing 176 and he has 2 and a half seasons left on his contract. He's 37 now and will be 39 at the end of the contract so it's probably unlikely that I will get him to re-sign. I think he's on track to do it as long as he stays fit. 

ps. To all you who put a GK on the bench, please take this opportunity to check how many injuries occurred during a match and required that he was replaced by a sub GK. 

Finances.   

[DaneBramage]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

ps. To all you who put a GK on the bench, please take this opportunity to check how many injuries occurred during a match and required that he was replaced by a sub GK. 

Sub goalies are for cowards.

Impressive month, certainly put yourself in a good position to retain the title.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, DaneBramage said:

Sub goalies are for cowards.

Impressive month, certainly put yourself in a good position to retain the title.

I haven't used a sub GK since early in FM14. I was managing in Italy in FM14, (so had 12 subs), and STILL didn't use a sub GK. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2053.

Liga Bwin. We were never going to be able to repeat last months performances, but this is still a little deflating. What made it worse is that when watching the highlights of the Benfica game, after leading 2-0 we were pegged back to 2-2 and the highlights package finished at 2-2 so I thought we had drawn, only to see that we had in fact lost 3-2. I don't see this as a bug with the scoreline, (because the other goals were the same). I just think that the last goal was missed off the highlights package in error. It means that rather than trailing Benfica by 1 point, (as would have been the case had we drawn), we now trail them by 4 points, (and that seems like a much bigger deal). Having said that, there are still 12 games to play and we play only Gil Vicente & Guimaraes of the top 5, where as Benfica play Porto, Braga & Guimaraes, and on top of that heave a 2 legged Cup Semi-Final against Porto, 2 Champions League knockout games against Roma, and a League Cup Final against us. This isn't over yet! 

xG watch. Although we started the month strongly, we couldn't keep up with our xG against Braga and Benfica. 
Porto 1.51 - 2.33 Belenenses. 
Belenenses 4.29 - 0.25 Vitoria de Setubal.
Braga 0.78 - 1.20 Belenenses. 
Belenenses 1.28 -  0.69Benfica. 

Allianz League Cup. Nice and easy and we will play Benfica in the Final. 

Records. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2053. 

Liga Bwin. There are such fine margins in this league. We've only lost 2 league games all season and it still seems like we're struggling to haul in Benfica. I should be happy though because our 2 dropped points this month didn't cost us as much as they might have as Benfica could only draw at home to Guimaraes. 

xG watch. Dropped points are hard to take with such xG dominance. That being said, we should really have finished Varzim off earlier. If we take our chances then how many goals they score doesn't matter. 
Belenenses 2.84 - 0.39 Gil Vicente. 
PdF 0.56 - 2.69 Belenenses. 
Varzim 1.31 - 4.12 Belenenses. 

UEFA Europa league. We scored 9 goals which is great, but conceding 3 goals is still too many. The 2nd Knockout round sees us drawn against Sevilla and I would like to think that we should be fine, but looking ahead there are some big boys left in the competition. 

Allianz League Cup. We have been knocked out of both domestic Cups on penalties this season

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Mar 2053. 

Generational Talent? 

Squad by PA. Any 5.0 PA player is welcome, but when we have players with a CA of 170 at the club then a player with 5.0 PA is indeed impressive. 

Squad by Actual PA. The situation with the actual PA is both better and worse than anticipated. Better in so much as (53a) Khwinana (ENG) (RSA) does indeed seem to be a Generational Talent. Worse in so much as there seems much less depth than normal. 

(53a) Khwinana (ENG) (RSA) is the generational talent and looks a hell of a player. He's a "righty" and actually that fits in well with the 3 top "lefties" that we're developing. 

(53b) Espínola (POR) in a "lefty" right winger who is  who in turn is a Newgen who has had a pretty special career and scored 115 International goals from out wide. 

(53h) Alexandre (BRA) is a Brazilian centre-half who is quick rather than big. 

(53g) Lopes (POR) is  who is a Portugese Newgen with 109 Caps and 126 International Goals and who's career took him from Portugal to Italy, France & Germany. England, 

(53k) Charrier (FRA) 6'1" looks a better centre-half 

(53f) Diogo (POR) looks an average midfielder. I'm not sure receiving the ball to feet particularly suits him. 

Edited June 27, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Rikulec]

Khwinana could become really special!

[Jimbokav1971]

NxGn 2053. Mar 2053. 

This is the 3rd time one of our players have won this award

(49e) Madruga (POR) is  and has really surprised me. I wasn't expecting much out of him at all this season. At the start of the season I had him earmarked to play for the B Team and there were no less than 3 players ahead of him. 4 goals in 4 games for the B Team must have made me give him an opportunity at some point and he has rewarded my faith with 11 goals and 6 assists in 16(1) league appearances. 

(50l) Bartlett (ENG) is  and it's easy to see the similarities. He's the 3rd choice left striker and he's going to find it hard to get games for us so I have to think about what I'm going to do with him. 

(50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 5'11" is  and if he's anywhere near that good we will do ok. He has a couple of more years to wait though. 

(50a) Amarante (POR)(CPV) 5'10 is starting to break into the 1st team, but is physically a little short at this stage of his career. 

[Jimbokav1971]

41 minutes ago, Rikulec said:

Khwinana could become really special!

Yeah, he looks great. I would have much preferred lower quality from him and more depth in other areas though. Will be interesting to see how he develops though. 

[Sonic Youth]

5 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Youth Intake day. Mar 2053. 

Generational Talent? 

Squad by PA. Any 5.0 PA player is welcome, but when we have players with a CA of 170 at the club then a player with 5.0 PA is indeed impressive. 

Squad by Actual PA. The situation with the actual PA is both better and worse than anticipated. Better in so much as (53a) Khwinana (ENG) (RSA) does indeed seem to be a Generational Talent. Worse in so much as there seems much less depth than normal. 

(53a) Khwinana (ENG) (RSA) is the generational talent and looks a hell of a player. He's a "righty" and actually that fits in well with the 3 top "lefties" that we're developing. 

(53b) Espínola (POR) in a "lefty" right winger who is  who in turn is a Newgen who has had a pretty special career and scored 115 International goals from out wide. 

(53h) Alexandre (BRA) is a Brazilian centre-half who is quick rather than big. 

(53g) Lopes (POR) is  who is a Portugese Newgen with 109 Caps and 126 International Goals and who's career took him from Portugal to Italy, France & Germany. England, 

(53k) Charrier (FRA) 6'1" looks a better centre-half 

(53f) Diogo (POR) looks an average midfielder. I'm not sure receiving the ball to feet particularly suits him. 

There’s that extra quality forward! Now you’re going to have good depth there

It’s a shame that of the rest of the intake, only two or three others who can even get close to making your first team.

Edited June 28, 2022 by Sonic Youth
Re

[Jimbokav1971]

4 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

There’s that extra quality forward! Now you’re going to have good depth there

It’s a shame that of the rest of the intake, only two or three others who can even get close to making your first team.

Yeah it's a shame, but maybe that's the price you pay for getting someone through quite that good. While checking CA/PA, this is the best player I have ever produced I think. 

This is what we currently have in terms of strikers. 

(44a) Simões (POR) * is 1st choice on the left up front, but I'm starting to think that I might play him on the right and go with double AF's. 

(45c) Rosa (POR) * is 2nd choice on the left up front. Despite how good he looks, he doesn't seem to play as well. Not sure what the problem is at the moment. 

(50l) Bartlett (ENG) can't even get in the squad most of the time and is relegated to the B Team because he has not just 2 strikers ahead of him, but 2 strikers who play in the left hand role ahead of him. 

(51b) Oliveira (POR) is young and raw but is the 4th in line in terms of that left hand striker slot. 

(41c) Abrantes (POR) * is a different sort of striker to the others and we play much better when he plays even though he doesn't het the accolades. He's a big player for us and I struggle to cover for him when he's not available. 

(53a) Khwinana (ENG) (RSA) is going to make a big difference to us up front, but I need to work out how best to use him.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Yeah it's a shame, but maybe that's the price you pay for getting someone through quite that good. While checking CA/PA, this is the best player I have ever produced I think. 

This is what we currently have in terms of strikers. 

(44a) Simões (POR) * is 1st choice on the left up front, but I'm starting to think that I might play him on the right and go with double AF's. 

(45c) Rosa (POR) * is 2nd choice on the left up front. Despite how good he looks, he doesn't seem to play as well. Not sure what the problem is at the moment. 

(50l) Bartlett (ENG) can't even get in the squad most of the time and is relegated to the B Team because he has not just 2 strikers ahead of him, but 2 strikers who play in the left hand role ahead of him. 

(51b) Oliveira (POR) is young and raw but is the 4th in line in terms of that left hand striker slot. 

(41c) Abrantes (POR) * is a different sort of striker to the others and we play much better when he plays even though he doesn't het the accolades. He's a big player for us and I struggle to cover for him when he's not available. 

(53a) Khwinana (ENG) (RSA) is going to make a big difference to us up front, but I need to work out how best to use him.

I don't think I fully completed this post. 

So we have 4 current options for the left hand striker role, and another future option that looks like he could develop into a decent player. 

And while we only 1 current option to play on the right up front, we now at least have a 2bnd future option. 

I thought that I should show you the fringe players who I don't think are good enough, (but some of whom are reasonable and even decent. 

(45d) Cadete (POR) is a "righty" and has "something", but while his PA is 137, his CA is only 112. He's 23 years old and his peak development time is almost over. 

(46b) Pereira (POR) might be a "lefty", but he's more suited to the right hand more withdrawn role. Again though, while his PA is 135, his CA is only 113 and at 23 years old he has already passed most of his peak development period. 

(46a) Naldo (POR) (BRA) has a PA of 134 and a CA of 126 and at a year younger than the previous 2 on the list has a little more time to develop. 

(51i) Silveiro (POR) is only 17 so there is a long way to go, but with a PA of 133 there is lots of room for growth from his lowly CA of 70.

(49c) Ojog (POR) (MDA) 6'6"  stands out initially because of his height, but he is also more of a withdrawn forward rather than a finisher. It would be interesting to see how much he can develop from his CA of 99 to his PA of 131.

(51d) Almeida (CAN) (POR) is already a regular International and I'm trying to fix his lack of pace. He has a PA of 129 and a CA of 102. 

(47d) Fonseca (CPV) (POR) is a player I like the look of more than others, but he has a relatively low PA of 122, but a CA of 109. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar & Apr 2053. 

Liga Bwin. It's an unbeaten month and we only conceded 3 goals in 6 games, but we still dropped 4 pts meaning that we're 6 pts off the top despite having only lost 2 games all season and having scored at approx 3 goals per game. We've just drawn too many games. 

xG watch.
Nacional 1.07 - 2.04 Belenenses. 
Belenenses 1.60 - 0.05 Estrela da Amadora. 
Portimonense 0.24 - 3.90 Belenenses. 
Belenenses 2.04 - 1.15 Guimaraes. 
Sporting 1.13 - 0.85 Belenenses.
Belenenses 3.42 - 0.08 Farense. 

UEFA Europa League. This was a complete shambles and not what I had planned at all. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2053. 

Liga Bwin. We're unbeaten in our last 12 league games of the season, taking 30 pts from a possible 35, but we still fell short of the title by 2 pts. Benfica lost the same number of games as us, (2), but drew 5 to our 7 and that's what has won them the title. We're the top goal-scorers in the league with 98 and that's only been bettered twice so far in this save, (110 goals in 2030/31 and 105 goals in 2031/32). 

xG watch. Comfortable in all 3 games this month. 
Leixoes 0.48 - 2.29 Belenenses.
Belenenses 2.38 - 0.42 Famalicao.
Moreirense 0.66 - 2.24 Belenenses.

Goal-scoring GK's. 14 goals this season for (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" with 11 from 13 penalties and 3 direct free-kicks. (50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 5'11" only managed 5 goals this season, but the B Team were far less dominant, (despite winning the league), scoring only 72 goals compared to the 98 of the 1st team. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Facilities. May 2053. 

This is the 3rd stadium upgrade, (plus a completely new build stadium for the B Team), in the last 3-4 years. I dread to think how much it has cost us. We could probably have built a completely new stadium for the cost of the upgrades. 

I really want a South American feeder, (Brazil or Argentina ideally), but I'm struggling to make it happen. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Season Summary. 2052/53.

Liga Bwin. It was a decent season, but we fell short in the end. 

Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG. The B Team romped to the title with ease. 

 

Taça de Portugal Placard. We lost all 3 domestic Cup competitions on penalties this season. 

Allianz Cup.

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira.

Europe. It was a shambles, but at least we didn't lose on penalties. 

Portuguese U23 Premier League South.

Portuguese U23 Premier League Championship Group.

Portuguese U23 Cup. I have been doing ok managing the different squads, but I have been getting this competition seriously wrong for a while now. We haven't won it in ages. We keep winning the league but losing in the Cup, (which is effectively Playoffs).

Portuguese U19 First Division Group B. 

Portuguese U19 First Division Championship Group.

UEFA Youth League.

Finances. 

Squad by Appearances. 

[Sonic Youth]

That’s such a small margin both in Europe, the cups and especially the league in the way last season played out. I think any other season and you’d be champions, maybe won a cup and progressed deeper in Europe.

Madruga had a pretty decent end product and ratings season 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, Sonic Youth said:

That’s such a small margin both in Europe, the cups and especially the league in the way last season played out. I think any other season and you’d be champions, maybe won a cup and progressed deeper in Europe.

Madruga had a pretty decent end product and ratings season 

Yep. I'm actually not upset at all at how we performed. REALLY fine margins between a sort of meh season and a bloomin fantastic season. 

13 goals and 11 assists for a teenager is hugely impressive and it makes me wonder what we might be able to do with someone better. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad depth. Jul 2053.

GK's. 

(31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" has scored 156 career goals and is contracted for 2 more years. He scored 14 goals last season and if he scores 28 between now and retiring then that will take him to 184 career goals which surpasses my existing record of 176. 

(50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 5'11" should be playing in the Liga Bwin, but because I want him scoring goals wherever he is, (so that he can take over when (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" retires), he will stay here and play for the B Team. 

(46i) Silva (POR) 6'0" and (40c) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" are both good enough for Liga Bwin, so they will go out on loan. 

DL's.

We've just lost (36b) Sousa (POR) to Porto, (on a free), so we're short at left back. 

(48c) Bronze (POR) 5'11" is a "righty" but will be our 1st choice left back. 

(52b) Martins (POR) is only 17 but he's just about the next best left back, so he will be moved to the Senior Squad and also be made available for the B Team. 

With regards to the B team (45f) Basto (POR) & (50d) Fitas (POR) will be made available, but they are "righties" and it's not ideal. (49h) Ndlovu (POR) (RSA) 6'0" is more a centre-half than left-back, but beggars can't be choosers. 

DR's.

32 year old (36c) Mussagi (POR) (MOZ) * is still 1st choice and I have extended his contract for 2 years. 
(48c) Bronze (POR) 5'11" is out for 2-3 months, and although he has played at left back for much of his short career so far, his long term position will be right back. 
(45f) Basto (POR) will be providing cover in both full back positions, (especially) with (48c) Bronze (POR) 5'11" injured at the start of the season.
(50d) Fitas (POR) will play for the U23's in an attempt to transform their fortunes. 
(47j) Fernandes (POR) will play for the B Team.

DC's.

(50a) Amarante (POR)(CPV) 5'10" is the stand-out contender here, (in terms of PA at least), and at 5'10" maybe I should be more willing to see him as a DR rather than just a DC. 
(41d) Hussein (TAN) 6'5" *, (48b) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" * & (45e) The Gimp (ENG) 6'3" will give us considerable depth in this area. 

(47f) Santos (POR) 6'5" * will go out on loan hopefully. 

(49h) Ndlovu (POR) (RSA) 6'0" & (51n) Varela (CPV) (POR) 6'0" will play for the B Team.

MC's.

(44c) Ogbu (ENG) (NGA) * & (40a) Sérgio (POR) * are our 1st choice midfielders, but (40a) Sérgio (POR) * only has 2 years left on his contract & my plan is to sell him 1 year from now.
(47k) Tavares (CPV) & (44l) Teixeira (CPV) (POR) will be the 2nd pairing, (they are both (CPV) Internationals), but the player most likely to replace (40a) Sérgio (POR) * is (49a) Odhiambo (POR) (KEN). 

(49a) Odhiambo (POR) (KEN), (50g) Martins (POR) (FRA) 5'9", (51c) Alves (POR) & (51j) Vicente (POR) will play for the B Team. 

ML & MR. 

(43b) Antunes (POR) performed poorly last season so I'm looking to loan him out this season. 

ML's.

(49e) Madruga (POR) started last season as 5th choice ML, but his performances have elevated him to 1st choice this season. 
(47a) Soares (POR) will be 2nd choice. 

(46d) Osório (POR) will play for the B Team.

MR's.

(41a) Gil (POR) * is the 1st choice MR, but he might start the season and DR. 
(42a) Salazar (POR) will be 2nd choice. 

(51a) Marinho (POR) * has the big PA so he has been promoted to the 1st Team but made available for the B Team. 

SC's. 

(44a) Simões (POR) * & (41c) Abrantes (POR) * will be our 1st choice pairing.
(45c) Rosa (POR) * & (47d) Fonseca (CPV) (POR) will be our 2nd choice pairing. 

(50l) Bartlett (ENG) & (53a) Khwinana (ENG) (RSA) will play for the B Team. 

(51d) Almeida (CAN) (POR) & (51b) Oliveira (POR) will play for the U19's.

(46a) Naldo (POR) (BRA), (46b) Pereira (POR) & (45d) Cadete (POR) will all go out on loan. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2053.

Liga Bwin. A bit of a frustrating month. Not because we were beaten by Porto, (because they were better than us and deserved it), but because we dropped points at home to Leixoes on the opening day. 

xG watch. The general trend is fine, but I still think we're conceding too many goals, (or expected goals to be more accurate). 
Belenenses 3.32 - 0.83 Leixoes.
Nacional 0.38 - 2.12 Belenenses.
Belenenses 2.83 - 0.14 Boavista. 
Belenenses 1.75 - 0.40 Estrela da Adadora.
Benfica 1.46 - 0.12 Belenenses.

Champions League Group. Another easy group.  

Goal-scoring GK's. 

 

Finances.   

[Quiche Magnet]

Very unlucky not to win another title there. It's funny how many English talents you are getting despite no affiliated club! Both the young strikers in the B team look great

[Jimbokav1971]

Benfica. Sep 2053. 

Sporting have fallen by the wayside over the course of this save and Porto have just fallen off a tiny bit in recent years but Benfica are still right on the money. They have spent £145M on players in the Summer window, (although they also sold players to the value of £137M). 

It's very hard trying to compete with signings like this when you can't make any yourself. 

##

Although they sold players of £137M, these 6 players only cost them £44.8M to buy. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Quiche Magnet said:

Very unlucky not to win another title there. It's funny how many English talents you are getting despite no affiliated club! Both the young strikers in the B team look great

Year we have had a few decent ones now. I'm the only (ENG) staff member at the club so I guess it's just down to me. 

The English structure isn't active, (just Portugal, Spain & Brazil), so I didn't really see the point of looking for an English affiliate, especially with their relatively lowly Youth Rating. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2053. 

Liga Bwin. 2 wins and 2 clean sheets will do me. Porto and Sporting are already off the pace. Braga trying to mix it with the big boys but they have already lost twice. 

xG watch. We're giving them too many opportunities. 0.71 and 0.85 is too high. 
Belenenses 1.88 - 0.71 Braga. 
Portimonense 0.85 - 2.13 Belenenses. 

UEFA Champions League. It's a tough group and 3rd will be what I'm aiming for again. 

Allianz League  Cup. Rubbish! 

Facilities. 

Records. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

1900. Oct 2053. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2053.

Liga Bwin. 2 away wins is decent, but we got lucky against Famalicao and almost lost never mind about drew. 

xG watch. We're creating enough chances but still conceding too many. 
Dezembro 0.73 - 3.84 Belenenses.
Famalicao 1.84 - 3.24 Belenenses.

UEFA Champions League. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. Nice easy progress. 

Allianz League Cup.

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

European Top League player development. Nov 2053.

We're 2nd on the list but that's not what this post is about. 

The 4th team on the list is A.D. Huracán of Spain and that took me by surprise. They seem to be an U19 side only, (based in the Canary Islands), who's Senior Team play in a non-playable league, and Wiki seems to support this, suggesting that they played as high as the 4th tier for 7 seasons between 2002-2011.

They have an affiliation with Atletico Madrid, but that still doesn't explain why they have produced so many good players. 

If I look at the players who have come through their Academy....

2052/53.
CA23 PA72.
CA43 PA74.
CA20 PA75.
CA37 PA92.
CA30 PA61.
CA21 PA97.
CA22 PA79.
CA13 PA77.

2051/52.
CA31 PA63.
CA32 PA58.
CA40 PA61.
CA25 PA63.
CA30 PA59.
CA35 PA51.
CA47 PA57.

2050/51.
CA10 PA66.
CA31 PA85.
CA37 PA87.
CA54 PA94.
CA69 PA85.
CA36 PA72.
CA46 PA97.

This doesn't seem to be working because non of the players from the last 3 years are any good, so let's try something else. 

I thought I had stumbled on a club that produced great Newgens, but it appears it's just a bug. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2053. 

Liga Bwin. We're not in bad form, (just 1 loss and 2 draws from 12 games), but everything is relative and in comparison to Benfica taking 34 pts from a possible 36 it's tough. 

xG watch. We're still doing ok and the Gil Vicente game was simply an aberration where they managed to significantly out-perform their xG.
Gil Vicente 1.32 - 2.31 Belenenses.
Belenenses 2.74 - 0.41 Porto.
Belenenses 2.08 - 0.51 Guimaraes. 

UEFA Champions League. Remember, we're after 3rd here. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. 4 goals in ET? 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

(50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 5'11" has an issue with both training and his contract. I should be able to fix the training pretty quickly, but as he has 4 years left on his contract so I'm not overly keen to offer him a new one at the moment.

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2053. 

With the way that this works, this should be the best intake that I have ever seen, or at least they think it should be the best intake I have ever had.

We have a centre-half, a DM, an AMC and a striker who are all rated A. 

When I compare that to what we already have at the club in terms of CA, this is what we've got. 

Centre-backs. 
(40a) Sérgio (POR) * is a midfielder despite being a natural centre-half. 
(48c) Bronze (POR) 6'0" is a DL & a DR rather than a centre-half. 
Even if we ignore the top 2 players on the list, (48b) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" * has a CA of 135 and a PA of 158.

Defensive Midfielders. 
(40a) Sérgio (POR) * is a natural DC and a natural MC, but he's only Accomplished at DM so let's ignore him. 
(44l) Teixeira (CPV) (POR) is a natural MC but only an Accomplished DM so let's ignore him. 
(46h) Carlos (BRA) (POR) 6'1" is the best natural DM at the club with a CA of 119 and a PA of 133. 

Attacking midfielders. 
(44c) Ogbu (ENG) (NGA) * is a natural MC but only an Accomplished AMC so let's ignore him. 
(41c) Abrantes (POR) * is a natural AMC with a maxed out PA of 136. 

Strikers. 
(44a) Simões (POR) * is a natural SC and has a CA of 160 and a PA of 169.

[Jimbokav1971]

Awards. Dec 2053. 

FIFA Best U21 Men's player. 

World Golden Glove 2nd place. 

FIFA Best Men's GK 2nd place.

African Footballer of the Year 2nd place. 

European Golden Boy. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2053.

Liga Bwin. We dropped 2 points away at Sporting and it's costly as it has dropped us behind Benfica again, (although they do have a game in hand anyway). 

xG watch. We're still winning the xG battles, but towards the end of the month we struggled more down to fatigue.
Farense 0.40 - 1.35 Belenenses.
Belenenses 5.77 - 0.54 Estoril.
Belenenses 3.43 - 0.55 Moreirense.
Varzim 1.05 - 3.03 Belenenses. 
Leixoes 0.30 - 2.83 Belenenses.
Sporting 1.12 - 1.73 Belenenses. 

UEFA Champions League. This wasn't the plan at all. We were meant to finish 3rd and drop down into the Europa League, but it would seem that I wasn't paying attention and we have snuck ahead of Man Utd on the basis of...... well we were level on results against teams so next GD so that's it.  I'm even rubbish at NOT qualifying.

Taça de Portugal Placard. Would you have believed me earlier in the save if I had told you that I was going to rotate all 10 outfield players and still stick 5 on Sporting away from home? I don't think so. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

 

 

Finances.   

Edited June 30, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[RoguPL]

Just caught up with this

Congrats on winning the league, and happy that you are still continuing that challenge.

Although would be interesting to see how the club would do without you. Would they **** the money away at the first transfer window ? Would they be able to keep up with Big2 (Sporting has become a mid table team to me lol so not counting them)  

 

Re-laptop issues and save. I keep my save on Google Drive, simply because I share the save between PC and Laptop. I tried the integrated cloud saves before but it never worked as it should. 

 

Is Champtions League the target now ? 

 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

19 minutes ago, RoguPL said:

Just caught up with this

Congrats on winning the league, and happy that you are still continuing that challenge.

Although would be interesting to see how the club would do without you. Would they **** the money away at the first transfer window ? Would they be able to keep up with Big2 (Sporting has become a mid table team to me lol so not counting them)  

Re-laptop issues and save. I keep my save on Google Drive, simply because I share the save between PC and Laptop. I tried the integrated cloud saves before but it never worked as it should. 

Is Champtions League the target now ? 

Thanks. I don't know what they would do, but the issue isn't really the transfer budget, (because we have £123M available), but the wage budget of £5.2M per month, (of what we're already using £4.7M per month). All this while we only have £50M in the bank. 

The truth is that while I am keeping players and developing them and just making sure that the finances keep ticking over, I think the board would be much more likely to acceot offers for players in my absence. 

In that respect, we've just received the biggest ever offer for a player in this save. (45c) Rosa (POR) * has 2 and a half years left on his contract so there is no real reason to sell now, and at 24 years old the expectation is that his value will rise rather than drop. 

The player I am looking to sell is (40a) Sérgio (POR) *. He has 18 months left on his contract and at 29 years old we've well and truly had our moneys worth out of him. The plan is to sell him for about £45M-£50M at the end of this season. 

It's not just a matter of 1 or 2 players though. There are loads of players who we could sell for a significant amount. 

We're nearing the point where I can start to sell more players on a regular basis to generate income that will be able to boost our finances & therefore wage budget. 

If we're just looking at players who have a PA of 130+ then we have 53 players hopefully capable of reaching a good level, (and even the players with slightly lower CA should generate decent money. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2054. 

Liga Bwin. We weren't in great form as the month progressed, but we continued to get the job done until the month came to it's climax and we lost the lost the last league game. 

xG watch. Our xG numbers for are down and our xG numbers against are up. It's not a good mix. Braga was just a game too far for us. 
Belenenses 2.05 - 1.00 Nacional. 
Boavista 0.98 - 2.85 Belenenses.
Belenenses 2.43 - 0.99 Benfica.
Braga 1.20 - 0.93 Belenenses. 

This is how we beat Benfica. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. Our tactic in the Cups has seemingly been to do the absolute least amount possible while ensuring that we don't lose, (losing on penalties doesn't count), 

Allianz League Cup. We scraped past Porto on penalties but despite taking the lead against Benfica we couldn't hold out. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

 

Transfers. 

2053/54.

2052/53.

2051/52.

2050/51.

2049/50.

2048/49.

2047/48.

2046/47.

2045/46.

2044/45.

2043/44.

Finances.   

Edited June 30, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Sonic Youth]

That goal against Benfica 

Braga loss was unfortunate after beating Benfica 

Still in it, but going to be tough to climb that distance.

[Jimbokav1971]

44 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

That goal against Benfica 

Braga loss was unfortunate after beating Benfica 

Still in it, but going to be tough to climb that distance.

The best thing about the goal was the GK name. 

So many highs and lows. Before the Benfica game I thought it would be unlikely that we would be able to catch them, and even during the game it was all over the place. 

We had an early goal ruled out for offside.
Then we went 1-0 up. 
Then it was 1-1.
Then we had a penalty saved.
Then we nicked it. 

It was a real roller-coaster. 

Then we go and lose the very next league game. 

Like I said. A real roller-coaster. 

Edited June 30, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Big Offer. Feb 2054. 

£91M is a lot of money at any time, but when your record transfer fee is only £31.5M it's more than a lot of money. 

I'm not selling him though. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2054.

Liga Bwin. We've blown it. Losing to Estrela da Amadora is the end of the line as far as our title challenge is concerned. In this league you can't lose to a team like them if you hope to win the league. 

xG watch.
Estrela da Amadora 1.74 - 1.08 Belenenses.
Belenenses 2.69 - 0.29 Gil Vicente. 
Belenenses 1.82 - 0.20 Portimonense. 

UEFA Champions League. A surprising result, but I'm certainly not complaining. It's only a 1 goal lead to take into the 2nd leg, but it's better than no lead at all. 

Goal-scoring GK's. An indication of how poorly we are performing, (B Team too), is how few GK goals we have been scoring. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake. Mar 2054.

What do we need? A full back, (ideally a left back but I won't complain about a right back), or a winger, (either side).

Well this doesn't look great. 

This really doesn't look great. 

But any 5.0 PA player is always good and there is a (CPV) Nationality who might be decent. 

Squad by PA. There is some stuff to like in this intake, (2x (CPV) Nationalities for example, but there is also some stuff I particularly don't like. 

As well as 2x (Cas) players, there are also 2x (Unamb) players who also have low (Det). I'm going to make the decision to release these 4 players now, before I see the actual CA/PA and hope that it doesn't come back to bite me. The other (Unamb) player (54i), isn't getting released because he doesn't also have low (Det). 

Squad by actual PA. OK, wow!  That's better than expected. 

Interestingly, whether I have got lucky or not, the 4 players marked for release are not a problem. 3 of them are in the bottom 4 players, (ranked by actual PA), and the 4th has a PA of 106. He's still getting released. 

(54a) Fati (GNB) (POR) * looks great. He's surely going to be a superstar!

(54b) Soares (CPV) (POR) looks very good indeed and I love the fact that he's another (CPV) because I have serious designs on managing them. 

(54h) Tavares (POR) (CPV) has (CPV) as a 2nd personality and I wonder if his lowly starting CA might encourage him to accept a call-up from them rather than sticking with (POR)?

(54f) Sales (POR) looks decent 

(54g) Gomes (POR) has a decent PA but a CA of <50. It will be interesting to see how far he develops and if his lack of CA stops him getting game time even at aged group level. 

3 players from this intake in the top 22 players ranked by actual PA at the club. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NxGn 2054. Mar 2054.

(53a) Khwinana (ENG) (RSA) is ranked #9 on this list at 16 years old, meaning that he has 3 more attempts at winning this. He's having a good 1st season for the B Team.

(50a) Amarante (POR)(CPV) 5'10" has just been capped for the 1st time by (POR) as a teenager. His height/jumping is an issue though. 

(50l) Bartlett (ENG) is having a storming season for the B Team and I expect him to finish on 40+ goals by the end of the season. 

(50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 5'11" has been capped 5 times already by (FRA), but needs to play at a higher level to develop further I think. 

I'm expecting the following players to appear in next years list. 

(53a) Khwinana (ENG) (RSA) will be 17 next season.
(51a) Marinho (POR) * will be 19 next season. 
(51b) Oliveira (POR) will be 19 next season. 
(52b) Martins (POR) will be 19 next season. 

We have other players who have the potential to feature on this list in the future, but next season is likely to be too soon for most of them. 

[Jtomsett11]

Haven't been online in almost a month, so really pleased when catching up that you finally won the league! Well deserved! Almost better in a way that you're not just winning every year as the challenge then remains. Quite a few extra high PA players should help in the next few years!

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Jtomsett11 said:

Haven't been online in almost a month, so really pleased when catching up that you finally won the league! Well deserved! Almost better in a way that you're not just winning every year as the challenge then remains. Quite a few extra high PA players should help in the next few years!

Absolutely. I know we did the treble last season, but it's still really competitive. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar & Apr 2054. 

I keep forgetting to do the March updates because I do the Youth Intake update on the 20th March and then think I've already done an update recently so there can't be another one due. 

Liga Bwin. The 1st 4 games in this period were great, and as we were taking 3 points again and again, Benfica were drawing again and again, with 4 consecutive draws at the start of this period meaning that we were somehow level with them on points, (but still behind them on our head to head record). Just when I thought we might pull of the comeback of all comebacks, we coughed up 4 pts with away draws at Guimaraes & Porto to fall 4 pts behind them again as they returned to winning ways. 

xG watch. We won all the xG battles in this 2 month period, and although we dropped points in 2 games at the end, the games were away, against tough opposition and we were fatigued.
Belenenses 3.89 - 0.21 Dezembro.
Moreirense 1.73 - 3.57 Belenenses.
Belenenses 2.59 - 0.67 Famalicao.
Belenenses 2.75 - 0.73 Sporting. 
Guimaraes 0.5 - 0.91 Belenenses.
Porto 0.91 - 1.66 Belenenses. 

UEFA Champions League. We led Liverpool 1-0 from the 1st leg and managed to also beat them in the 2nd leg, (much to my surprise). We did really well against PSG and drawing 2-2 in the dying minutes we conceded the winner after our GK was stranded upfield after taking a short free-kick and losing possession rather than delivering the ball from out wide. In the 2nd leg we we won 2-1 after 90 mins, forcing extra time. Unfortunately PSG scored and we didn't so they went through. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. We smashed them in the 1st leg and it allowed me to pick team for the 2nd leg based on PA rather than CA. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Devastation. May 2054.

(31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" is on 167 career goals but this could be a huge stumbling block because it might take him a while to get over this. He's devastated that he has missed out on the (POR) World Cup squad. I wonder how unhappiness related to International selection will compare with domestic happiness and how that transfers to his ability to convert from the spot.

#

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2054.

Liga Bwin. 

Taça de Portugal Placard.

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.

[Jimbokav1971]

Disaster. May 2054.

Stranded on 167 career goals, (and chasing a target of 176 career goals), (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" has decided to retire. 

I've asked him to reconsider. 

But couldn't change his mind. Absolutely gutted. 

But at least he went out while still performing at the top level. 

[RoguPL]

Ako steps in to the first team now I guess? 

[Jimbokav1971]

51 minutes ago, RoguPL said:

Ako steps in to the first team now I guess? 

Yes, he is more than ready. In truth he has probably been held back a little and part of the reason he has missed 4 penalties in his career is recent frustration with regards to him playing in Liga 2 for the B Team.

On the plus side he has already scored 28 career goals at the age of 19. 

By the same stage of his career, (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" had only scored 5 career goals.

I wondered how I would feel about (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" retiring, and continuing the save, but actually I'm fine to carry on. 

(50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 6'0" has a real opportunity at 200 career goals I think. 

[karanhsingh]

Just had a catch up! Amazing to see the quality of the newgens being turned out. 

Sad about your goalkeeper deciding to retire though.

Btw, what formation are you playing? Do you think the foreign feeders have helped a lot in terms of the intakes? 

Also from the screenshots you put up of the Benfica squad it seems like they have some genuinely world class players. Is this something you see across the board due to the sheer number of quality newgens (compared to say real players at the start) or is it more because Portugal is an active league?

[Jimbokav1971]

6 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Just had a catch up! Amazing to see the quality of the newgens being turned out. 

Sad about your goalkeeper deciding to retire though.

Btw, what formation are you playing? Do you think the foreign feeders have helped a lot in terms of the intakes? 

Also from the screenshots you put up of the Benfica squad it seems like they have some genuinely world class players. Is this something you see across the board due to the sheer number of quality newgens (compared to say real players at the start) or is it more because Portugal is an active league?

Yeah, we've done really well in terms of PA in recent intakes, but actually I think the CA is still lower than I would expect. 

The GK is dead. 

Long live the GK! 

We're playing 442. Have done for about 3-4 issues of FM now. I don't like using overpowered formations and there is a balance with 442 that suits a Youth Only save. 

I don't think the feeders have helped in the slightest. The active leagues are Portugal, Spain & Brazil, but we haven't had a great Newgen from either of them. I have been desperate to get a South American Feeder but it just hasn't been an option, (but I will keep trying). I think we started with feeder clubs from Spain, Angola, Sweden, Cape Verde, Holland, Japan, Poland, Slovenia, South Africa & France. The Nations in bold have a link that sees players of that Nationality coming through our Youth Team ranks. Brazil is the one I really want for obvious reasons. Having a player come through the ranks from a foreign Nation sounds great, (and I love it personally), but from a purely number-crunching point of view I'm not sure that it makes sense to remove a player produced in Portugal and replace him with a player originating from a Nation with a lower Youth rating, but I suppose the player we lose is the lowest rated so maybe that evens it up a little. 

Benfica are producing some great players, but even more importantly they are playing the transfer market REALLY well. I've just checked and they have more than a full page of players with a PA of 150>.

1. João Carlos was bought from Brazil for £12M and is currently worth £43M-£55M.
2. Samuel was bought from Brazil for £13.5M and is currently worth £246M-£268M.
3. Olexandr Lytvyn came through the Benfica Academy via an affiliate link and is worth £77M-£122M. 
4. Javier was produced in Spain and signed as an experienced player for £19.25M. 
5. Gonçalo Saramago came through the Benfica Academy.
6. Márcio Aires came though the Benfica Academy. 
7. Kostyantyn Dontsov came through the Benfica Academy via an affiliate link. 
8. Braian Lareu was signed from Argentina for £9.75M and is currently worth £41M-£64M.
9. Betinho was signed from Brazil for £9.25M and is currently worth £81M-£100M.
10. Javi Pérez was produced in Spain and signed as an experienced player for ££27.5M.
11. Fernando Gabriel is a Brazilian who came through a Belgian Academy & was signed on a free. He has made 650+ appearances for Benfica. 
12. Luis Correia came through the Benfica Academy. 
13. David Espinoza was signed on a free from Peru and is worth £20M-£31M.
14. Xavier Rodríguez was signed from Colombia for £700,000 and is currently worth £3.2M
15. Chinedu Tanko is a Nigerian who came through the Porto Academy but was signed as an experienced player from Liverpool for £17M.
16. Ruslan Kotov came through the Benfica Academy via an affiliate link. 
17. Tobías Domínguez was signed from Spain for £775,000 and is worth £6M-£9.6M. 
18. Steven McAuley is a Scot who came through the Liverpool Academy. He was signed from Chelsea for £30M as an experienced player. 
19. Cristian Avero was signed from Uruguay on a free and is currently worth £35M-£47M
20. Antoni Sowiński came through the Benfica Academy via an Affiliate link. 
21. Stepan Kolomiets came through the Benfica Academy via an Affiliate link. 
22. Eduardo López was signed from PSG for £26.5M and is currently worth £49M-£61M
23. Nikita Nikitin was signed from Liverpool for £10.25M and is currently worth £44M-£66M.
24. Kevin Infante was signed from Liverpool for £27M and is currently worth £56M-£85M.
25. Eugene Bogdanov came through the Benfica Academy via an Affiliate link. 

So to summarise....

4 of top 25 PA players are products of Benfica Academy. 
5 of top 25 PA players are products of Benfica Academy via Affiliate links. 
4 have been signed as experienced players and are likely to be sold for a loss. 
12 have been signed and will be sold for significant profit. 

So actually, if you take away the 5 foreigners, (4x Ukrainians and 1x Pole), who have come through the Benfica Academy, the Academy has only produced 4 of 25 players, but with them it's a much more significant 9 of 25. 12 players have been signed for big profits and just 4 have been signed at their peak and will not generate a profit when sold. That's quite astonishing business from Benfica over a prolonged period and not something you usually see with the AI at all. Is it possibly skewed because we only have 3 active leagues? Yes, but they are still making the correct decisions. This certainly didn't used to happen with the AI. 

Benfica actually have quite similar affiliates to us. It';s interesting that they don't have one in Brazil. (I would have bet money that they would). 

I know that the foreign players came through the Academy via an affiliate link because it tells me. 

I've never actually checked any of mine so let's check them now. 

I've just gone back and checked the intakes for the last 10 years and checked every single player who has a Nationality or 2nd Nationality the same as our feeders and not a single one of them was produced as a result of the affiliate links. (Not even the Cape Verde players). I wonder what the difference is?????