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

[Thebaker]

i always put all the wage budget into transfers and transfer some back when i go over the wage budget. I've noticed that the higher your wage budget the more players will ask for so i keep it as low as possible.

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Mar 2063. 

What were we expecting? A GK, 2x DC's and a winger. 

What are we hoping for? A centre-half or possibly even 2 centre-backs. 

What have we got? There are 2 centre-backs in the group, but neither of them are highlighted. 

Squad by PA. Considering I have mentioned the recent AFCON issues, seeing 5 players with an African Nationality 

Squad by Actual PA. 

• A decent number of foreign Nationalities, including 2x (GNB) and 1x (CPV)
• 4x players at 130+ PA
• 3 more players at 120+ PA.
• 4 out of the top 5 PA players also have decent CA. 
• Only 2 players with Det <9.
• We've got 3x Unambitious players and 2 of them also have Low Det so players (63g) & (63p) won't be signed. 

(63b) Rodrigues (POR) MR ** looks ok. We're not using inverted wide players at the moment so my plan is to retrain him on the right. 

(63a) Bettencourt (POR) * looks decent and it's his First Touch, Passing, Determination, Teamwork, Workrate & Natural Fitness that stand out. In particular his mentals look decent. IN fact, the more I look at him the more I like him. 

(63n) Lourenço (POR) * looks pretty raw and he looks more defensive minded than a WB, but could be ok if we can develop him. 

(63c) Vieira (GNB) (POR) looks decent. 

(63i) Keita (SEN)(FRA) looks good. He's a lefty but not sure he has enough ability to be a playmaker. Should certainly be good enough to feature though. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Thebaker said:

i always put all the wage budget into transfers and transfer some back when i go over the wage budget. I've noticed that the higher your wage budget the more players will ask for so i keep it as low as possible.

You make a very good point and it's something I will look at right now. 

Unfortunately it will only allow me to adjust it the wrong way. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NxGn 2063. Mar 2063.

2 of our players make the list this year and it's interesting to note that they are both 17 years old and so have 2 more years on this list. 

(62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) (CA 121 PA 161), is having a good 1st season. He's scored 4 goals for the B Team and made his Liga Bwin and Champions League debut, (also scoring in both). He also made his Senior International debut at the AFCON where Guinea-Bissau were losing Finalists against Mali. Astonished by his his high valuation at such a young age.

(61c) Novak (PER) (CRO) (CA 100 PA 137), is a player that I haven't really noticed much and am surprised to see on this list. He's a little raw, but you would expect that from a 17 year old. He's been playing regularly for the B Team and doing ok. 

17 year old (62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) (CA 121 PA 161) was ranked 11th on this years list. I'm taking a close interest in his development and expect him to make significant improvement.
15 year old (63b) Rodrigues (POR) MR ** (CA 73 PA 148) could appear on this list, but will need to develop significantly first. 
15 year old (63a) Bettencourt (POR) * (CA 73 PA 139) could also appear on this list in the future. 
18 year old (60m) Lehner (POR) (SUI) * (CA 86 PA 139) has 1 more year to get on this list, but needs to develop quite a bit in the last 12 months to make it. 
18 year old (60b) Costa (POR) (CA 101 PA 138)) also has 1 more year on this list. I expect him to be quite close to making the list.
17 year old (61c) Novak (PER) (CRO) (CA 100 PA 137) was ranked 40th on the list, but should be ranked higher next season. 
16 year old (63n) Lourenço (POR) * (CA 59 PA 136) is probably starting from too low a CA starting point to make this list in 3 years time. 
16 year old (63c) Vieira (GNB) (POR) (CA 79 PA 134) has a very good chance of making this list. 
18 year old (60g) Vieira (POR) * (CA 106 PA 134) was probably a little unlucky to miss out on the list this year. 
18 year old (61h) Fradinho (POR) (CA 98 PA 133) (CA 98 PA 133) should be in contention for a spot on the list next season. 
18 year old (61a) Mateus (BRA) (POR) SC (CA 106 PA 133) was unlucky not to make the list this season but should be in contention next season. 
17 year old (61j) Monteiro (POR) 6'0" (CA 91 PA 133) should be in contention for the next 2 seasons. 
18 year old (60a) Farny (POR) (SUI) * (CA 110 PA 133) was ridiculously unlucky not to make the list, but he has 1 more go next season. 
17 year old (62b) Indjai (GNB)(POR) (CA 92 PA 132) is a player I like the look of and has 2 more goes at this list. 

These are all our players who have at least 130 PA and who are at most 18 years old. 19 years olds now won't be eligible for this list next season so I have ignored them. 

I was just going to leave the list as is, (with no profiles), but actually I think I will post them now so you can have a look because it will be good to see what we have coming through.

17 year old (62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) (CA 121 PA 161) was ranked 11th on this years list. I'm taking a close interest in his development and expect him to make significant improvement.

See above. 

15 year old (63b) Rodrigues (POR) MR ** (CA 73 PA 148) could appear on this list, but will need to develop significantly first. 

15 year old (63a) Bettencourt (POR) * (CA 73 PA 139) could also appear on this list in the future. 

18 year old (60m) Lehner (POR) (SUI) * (CA 86 PA 139) has 1 more year to get on this list, but needs to develop quite a bit in the last 12 months to make it. 

18 year old (60b) Costa (POR) (CA 101 PA 138)) also has 1 more year on this list. I expect him to be quite close to making the list.

17 year old (61c) Novak (PER) (CRO) (CA 100 PA 137) was ranked 40th on the list, but should be ranked higher next season. 

See above. 

16 year old (63n) Lourenço (POR) * (CA 59 PA 136) is probably starting from too low a CA starting point to make this list in 3 years time. 

16 year old (63c) Vieira (GNB) (POR) (CA 79 PA 134) has a very good chance of making this list. 

18 year old (60g) Vieira (POR) * (CA 106 PA 134) was probably a little unlucky to miss out on the list this year. 

18 year old (61h) Fradinho (POR) (CA 98 PA 133) (CA 98 PA 133) should be in contention for a spot on the list next season. 

18 year old (61a) Mateus (BRA) (POR) SC (CA 106 PA 133) was unlucky not to make the list this season but should be in contention next season. 

17 year old (61j) Monteiro (POR) 6'0" (CA 91 PA 133) should be in contention for the next 2 seasons. 

18 year old (60a) Farny (POR) (SUI) * (CA 110 PA 133) was ridiculously unlucky not to make the list, but he has 1 more go next season. 

17 year old (62b) Indjai (GNB)(POR) (CA 92 PA 132) is a player I like the look of and has 2 more goes at this list.  

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2063. 

Liga Bwin. We dropped 2 more points against Estoril, but Benfica, (after 4 draws in the last 2 months), finally lost away to Moreirense and we have a 4 point lead as a result. I'm delighted that they are no longer unbeaten. 

UEFA Champions League. We trailed 1-0 from the 1st leg, and a late GK penalty was enough to see us through to the next round. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Ako has scored 20 goals this season now, (with at least 9 more games to play), after scoring 18, 25, 28 & 19 goals in recent seasons. He's never scored a hat-trick though. 

Finances.  The bank balance is now down to £60M in the red. Are we in trouble? Still no sign of investment from the board? 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2063. 

Liga Bwin. We're in good form in the league, but the real story is that Benfica have completely imploded. After winning 12 out of their opening 13 league games, they have now won only 6 of their last 13 games, (losing 2 and drawing 5 more), dropping 16 points in the process. We on the other hand have won 10 out of our last 13 league games, (drawing the other 3), so have dropped only 6 points, (10 points fewer than Benfica), and Benfica now trail us by 9 points with 3 games remaining. The title is as good as ours. 

UEFA Champions League. We again lost the 1st leg 1-0 and although we left it quite late for the winner, this time it was a thumping header from a corner rather than a goal-scoring GK goal. 

There were 3 Portugese sides in the Quarters, but only 1 of us reached the Semi's. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 24 goals in a season is decent and we still have at least 5 more games to play. Ako will play all 5, but with the league effectively already won and us having no unbeaten record to protect, my focus will be very much on the Champions League. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finances.  We're hugely overdrawn at the bank now and although I'm not concerned, it is playing on my mind just a little. In the grand scheme of things I know that some of our big earners are coming to the end of their contracts and I also know that I could sell multiple players for £100M+, so it's certainly not panic stations yet. I want the finances to come to a head so that they remove the £100M transfer kitty and lower our wage budget because at the moment it's high and I can't reduce it.

Edited August 27, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Disaster. May 2063. 

17 year old (62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) has had an impressive season so far. 

3 goals and 2 assists from 6 appearances for the 1st Team. 
6 goals and 4 assists from 16 appearances for the B Team.
0 goals and 1 assist from 5(2) International appearances for Guinea-Bissau.

But it's been cut short. 

I've used him sparingly but he has forced his way into the 1st Team and starts on the bench now by merit. Unfortunately he will miss out on the season finale. I suppose the fact that it comes at the end of the season and will give him time to recover and then recover through pre-season is actually a positive, but it doesn't feel like that in the here and now. 

I know that @_Ben_was interested in tracking his development. 

His CA was 114 when he came through the intake and I have just checked now and it's 122, (+8 points between Mar 2062 and May 2063). You might notice that his stamina has dropped 1 point recently, and I don't know if that is "weighted" in terms of CA or not. 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2063. 

Liga Bwin. We've been in good form in the league for ages, (won the last 9 and unbeaten in the last 28), but we almost choked in the last league game of the season, (imagine if we had been unbeaten then!!!), but 2 late goals saved us. 

UEFA Champions League. We squeezed through the Semi with a late late Goal-scoring GK goal in the 92nd min that leveled things up and forced ET, and then we went and won it on penalties, (after being the 1st to miss). The Final was a much more sedate affair and we were worthy winners. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 26 goals in a season is brilliant for a GK, but I look at this and I see that Ako missed 4 penalties and think of what might have been. (Imagine a GK scoring 31 goals in a season!!!) In any case, he's up to 209 career goals now and has 3 years left on his contract. If he continues scoring at 20+ goals a season then that will move him to something like 270+ career goals by then, (when he will be 31 years old). I'm pretty sure I can do more than 3 seasons before FM23 comes out so I need to work on extending his contract. The 1 thing I'm considering though is, after the board intervene with regards to the finances, I'm thinking of properly trimming the squad and selling all the senior players and just concentrate on younger players who I then sell. We've already won loads of stuff and I don't really fancy going all-out just to win the CWC, but a probably knock-on effect of that is that Ako will score fewer goals because we will be less strong as a squad than we are now, Decisions, decisions, decisions. 

 

 

Finances.  Money is still a problem, but obviously less than it might have been had we not progressed to the Final of the Champions League. 

Edited August 27, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

I'm not sure how this is judged, but happy to have done it. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Rankings. Jun 2063. 

European Competition rankings. 

European Club rankings. 

Nation Club coefficients. 

Qualification places. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad by Actual PA. Jul 2063.

Players >150 PA. These are the real Elite players at the club and although some of them are the wrong side of 30 and not going to be here beyond the end of next season, (5 of 15 players are 30+), there are also 9 players who are under 25. There is only 1 single player on this list who is 26-29 so they were either pretty barren years or we have many players produced just under this level. 

(44c) Ogbu (ENG) (NGA) *, (45c) Rosa (POR) *, (44a) Simões (POR) * are all in their last season with us now and I'm tempted to sell them this season for whatever we can get. 

Players >130 PA < 150 PA. These are the next level of players and can still play an important part in the clubs future/present. 

I think I've decided that I'm going to have a bit of a clean out and see how we go without some of our best players. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2063. 

GK. 

1st Team. (50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 6'0"
B Team. (57f) Vercleyen (POR) (FRA)
U23's. (58g) Rocha (POR)
U19's.
Sell. (51k) Diniz (POR) 6'5" SELL
Loan.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2063. 

DL.

1st Team. (52b) Martins (POR) * & (50g) Martins (POR) (FRA) DL *.
B Team. (57b) Trindade (POR) * DL
U23's.
U19's.
Sell. (59n) Sales (POR) SELL, (57o) Chana (POR) * DL SELL
Loan. (57d) Kravchuk (POR) (UKR) *, (58l) Pontes (STP) (POR)

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2063. 

DR.

1st Team. (56a) Juromito (POR) *** DR & (48c) Bronze (POR) 6'0".
B Team. (59e) Marques (POR) **
U23's.
U19's.
Sell. (58f) Abel. (POR) SELL
Loan.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2063. 

DC. This is the weakest area of the squad, but we might just get away with it because (57a) Lima (CPV)(POR) 6'2" *** & (54a) Fati (GNB)(POR) 6'1" *** are contracted for 5 more years.  

1st Team. (57a) Lima (CPV)(POR) 6'2" *** & (54a) Fati (GNB)(POR) 6'1" ***. (48b) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" * & (45e) The Gimp (ENG) 6'3" **. 
B Team. (59d) Coxi (ANG) 6'1" * & (59l) Cassamá (GNB) 6'0" DC *. (59c) Yufeng (CHN) 6'0" DR
U23's. (49h) Ndlovu (POR)(RSA) 6'0" * & (46h) Carlos (BRA) (POR) 6'1".
U19's. (61d) Santos (POR) 6'4" DC & (62i) Meireles (POR)
Sell. (58f) Abel. (POR) SELL, 
Loan.

Edited August 28, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2063. 

MC. 

1st Team. (55a) Mavioso (POR) *** & (62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR). (55c) Sousa (POR) * & (49a) Odhiambo (POR) (KEN) *. (47k) Tavares (CPV) * & (54h) Tavares (POR) (CPV) **
B Team. (60b) Costa (POR) & (63a) Bettencourt (POR) *. (59b) Cruz (POR) MC & (57m) Pinto (POR).
U23's.
U19's.
Sell. (44c) Ogbu (ENG) (NGA) * SELL, (51j) Vicente (POR) * SELL, 
Loan.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2063.

ML & MR.

ML.

1st Team. (53b) Espínola (POR) *, (58a) Flores (NED)(SLV) & (49e) Madruga (POR).
B Team. (63b) Rodrigues (POR) MR ** & 
U23's.
U19's. (63i) Keita (SEN)(FRA) ML
Sell.
Loan.

MR.

1st Team. (54b) Soares (CPV)(POR) *** MR, (55b) Cunha (BRA) *** MR
B Team. (60g) Vieira (POR) * & (63b) Rodrigues (POR) MR **.
U23's.
U19's. (63k) Maxted (ENG)
Sell.
Loan. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2063.

SC.

1st Team. (50l) Bartlett (ENG) * & (53a) Khwinana (ENG) (RSA) ***. (59i) Fernandes (POR) (CPV) * & (54f) Sales (POR) *.
B Team. (57c) Inácio (POR) &  (61a) Mateus (BRA) (POR) SC. (61h) Fradinho (POR) & (60a) Farny (POR) (SUI) *.
U23's.
U19's.
Sell. (45c) Rosa (POR) * SELL, (44a) Simões (POR) * SELL, (53c) Brandão (POR) SELL, (53g) Lopes (POR) SELL, (47d) Fonseca (CPV) (POR) SELL, (58b) Carreiro (POR) 6'5" SELL
Loan.

[Jimbokav1971]

Team selections. Jul 2063. 

You might be interested to note how few partnerships there are in the 1st Team. The reason for that is obviously that we are selling/have sold some really experienced players, and these are obviously players who will have had the most game-time and built the most relationships and partnerships. They will build partnerships and it should be pointed out that while the Reserves are a team of less quality, they have better relationships/partnerships and this should serve them well. If I was to hazard a guess at this early stage of proceedings, I might suggest that The 1st Team are expected to lose more games than the Reserves. 

1st Team. 

Reserves. The Reserves aren't actually in a different squad. They are all members of the 1st Team squad. It's just a 2nd Team selection that I call the Reserves. 

B Team. For some reason I never relationships develop in the B Team or U23's/U19's. It doesn't seem to matter how long they play with eachother. They partnerships simply aren't shown. 

These pre-set selections are obviously just a guide and at any time I will expect to have to make changes to the team whenever I use it, (whether through, injury, suspension, International duty, fatigue or whatever else might impact on selection). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2063. 

Liga Bwin. I don't mind that we have dropped points already. In truth  don't expect to do anywhere near as well this season as a result of selling so many elite players. We have some good youngsters but there is no replacement for class. 

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. I don't care that we needed penalties. It's another trophy in the cabinet and that's all that matters. 

UEFA Super Cup. We may not have needed pens this time, but it was still close and we needed ET. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Summer Transfer window. Sep 2063. 

Many of the out-goings here are about moving players off the wage bill rather than selling them for a profit. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2063. 

Liga Bwin. 3 draws from 8 isn't great, but it's better than losing. We're currently on a big unbeaten run, (in the league at least), and I'm keen to extend it as long as possible. Is an unbeaten league season possible with this squad now? I'm not sure. I would have said yes before the Summer transfer window, but now...... probably not.

UEFA Champions League. I wasn't expecting the Reserves to beat Chelsea away, but I'll take it. 

Allianz League Cup. A comfortable win for the Reserves again. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Only 1 goal in 2 months isn't great based on previous seasons, but he's missed 2 penalties so could be on 3 goals for the season by now. I think it's simply a reflection that we're not as strong as recent seasons after the recent transfers out. 

Finances.  We made a loss of only £1M this month, so things have certainly improved in that respect. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2063.

Liga Bwin. We're in decent form, but we're not smashing teams the way we have been in recent seasons. 

UEFA Champions League. 2 quite narrow wins in Europe. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. Another narrow win. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Scoring opportunities have really dried up for Ako. 

Finances. 

Edited August 29, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Sonic Youth]

So much has happened!

Congrats on the winning everything last season  

This season is offering a different challenge with what happened during the offseason.

You’ve started well 

[Jimbokav1971]

Goal 50. Nov 2063. 

Well this was a surprise. 

[Sonic Youth]

Ako is the winner? That’s amazing 

Ako hasn’t scored 20 league goals yet? I’m surprised I missed that.

I’m also surprised how low Mavioso and Khiwinana are!

[Jimbokav1971]

On 29/08/2022 at 13:57, Sonic Youth said:

So much has happened!

Congrats on the winning everything last season  

This season is offering a different challenge with what happened during the offseason.

You’ve started well 

I think the fact that we did so well was the catalyst to me making a change and off-loading a few of the high earners. Although we have started well in terms of results, the margin of victory is often low and not like that smashing we gave teams over the last couple of seasons. 

Th knock on effect for that is that we're having less GK efforts on goal and although there have been FAR fewer GK goals, this hasn't been helped by Ako missing 3 of 5 penalties. 

[Jimbokav1971]

13 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Ako is the winner? That’s amazing 

Ako hasn’t scored 20 league goals yet? I’m surprised I missed that.

I’m also surprised how low Mavioso and Khiwinana are!

It really is amazing because he's really just not that good. Obviously things are skewed by so many goals being scored. 

Nope, 19 is his best return in the league. 

I'm just happy that we had 3 players on the list. I don't care what position they come in. 

4 next season? 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2063. 

Liga Bwin. Only 1 game in the league this month, but the win is enough to keep us top of the table on head to head with a game in hand.

UEFA Champions League. I'm really surprised that we have won 5/5 in Europe, but I suppose it's an easier Group. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. A comfortable win for the Reserves.

Goal-scoring GK's. We;ve had a really slow start to the season with GK goals so it's good to slot a few in. 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Awards. Dec 2063. 

Not just Ballon d'Or winner but 1st and 3rd. It's the 2nd time we have won this award. 

We were 2nd and 3rd in FIFA Best Men's Player, and we have never won it. 

1st and 3rd in FIFPro Player of the Year. This is the 2nd time we have won this. 

World Golden Glove is almost permanently ours. Ako has won it on 8 occasions now and previous Goal-scoring GK Bernardo Simões won it on a further 5 occasions. 

FIFA Best Mens GK. 

FIFA FIFPro Team of the Year.

African Footballer of the Year (3rd place). 

African XI of the Year. 

European Golden Boy. This is the 11th time we have won this award with 11 different players. 

@_Ben_might be interested in this. (62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) *** is the 1st proper CM(a) I have had at the club and he is absolutely smashing it. After he's scored 13 goals in 21(1) appearances this season, (9 of which have come in his last 6 games). His CA is 127 and his PA is 161 so there is still plenty of room for growth. I was training him as a CM(a), but that was a mistake and I have reverted to B2B(s) which was what he should have been on. I think I was looking at something a couple of months ago and it must have got left on in error. Glad I caught it. 

African award winners. 

[_Ben_]

18 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

@_Ben_might be interested in this. (62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) *** is the 1st proper CM(a) I have had at the club and he is absolutely smashing it. After he's scored 13 goals in 21(1) appearances this season, (9 of which have come in his last 6 games). His CA is 127 and his PA is 161 so there is still plenty of room for growth. I was training him as a CM(a), but that was a mistake and I have reverted to B2B(s) which was what he should have been on. I think I was looking at something a couple of months ago and it must have got left on in error. Glad I caught it. 

I use two CM(a)s and they are unstoppable! His work rate will take that role to the next level, too. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2063. 

Liga Bwin. When Benfica beat us in a tight game, it brought to an end a run of 21 competitive victories in all competitions, unbeaten in 32 in all competitions and an unbeaten record of 44 Liga Bwin games. That sounds amazing until you look at the league table and realise that we're just 2 pts ahead of Benfica, (but the good news we have a better head to head record having smashed them 4-0 at the start of the season), and that record is like another point. I'm obviously annoyed to lose, but it was a really tight game and that's just the way it goes sometimes. They scored and we didn't. 

UEFA Champions League. We left it late to beat Chelsea, but we got there in the end and secured maximum points in the Group Stage. Our Reserves has started all these games, (I think), so that's even more impressive. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. A narrow win with a much weakened side that were nearly held to a draw but sneaked a late winner. 

Allianz League Cup. A really strong performance. 

Youth Intake preview. 2 wingers and 2 strikers when we're really looking for a centre-half. 

Records. Posting this usually means that a loss is imminent. We play Benfica in 5 games time so I hope we can extend it until then at least. 

When we had a player sent off in 19th min in the next game & Ako missed an early penalty,  I worried that we would lose immediately, but we fought back & extended the record, (with Ako scoring the winner).  

Goal-scoring GK's. 

 

 

 

 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

10 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

I use two CM(a)s and they are unstoppable! His work rate will take that role to the next level, too. 

I must admit, the runs beyond the attackers remind me of the AMC role back in the old CM Diablo'esque tactic and it's almost akin to cheating. 2 of them together must be mental. 

I take it when you say you use 2x CM(a);s you also have a DM behind them?

Edited August 31, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2064. 

Liga Bwin. We keep winning, but the margins of victory aren't huge and with that in mind it's pretty impressive that we keep grinding out the results. We've won 15 of the last 16 league games and yet we're only 2 points clear at the top of the table. Interestingly, it's Braga rather than Benfica who are closest to us as Benfica have lost and drawn in the league this month, (dropping 5 points), as well as crashing out of the Aliianz League Cup. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. This was tight, but a GK gave us the draw and we sneaked through on pens. 

Allianz Cup. We comfortably beat Benfica here. They are not the dominant force they once were. 

Goal-scoring GK's. After a slow start to the campaign, Ako is now up to 12 goals for the season and 221 career goals. He's missed 5 pens this season though so could easily be on 17 goals. 

 

 

Finances. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Mar 2064.

What we're expecting. 2 wingers and 2 strikers. 

What we think we've got. A striker a centre-half and 2 wingers. 

Squad by PA.

• Another (CPV) player. 
• 3x (Unamb) & 1x (Casual) players. 
• I won't be signing the 3x (Unamb) players (64m), (64n) & (64p). 
• I don't want to sign (64c) but fortunately/unfortunately he's too good not to sign. 

Squad by Actual PA. 

• A good amount of CA on show (86, 86, 82, 79, 78 & 72). 
• Very good PA on show (169, 166, 139, 134, 127, 126 & 123). 
• Not 1 but 2x DC's which we've been desperate for. 

It's really hard to judge players on Day 1, but let's give it a go anyway. 

(64a) Conceição (POR) looks good. Finishing and Heading of 15. Acceleration and Off the ball of 14, but also with passing of 12, technique of 13 and composure of 11. Maybe he's better than just "good". Maybe that's a "very good" starting point. He's a righty and I think he might be more suitable to the right hand role rather than the left hand role. 

(64d) Mahler (POR) (SUI) 6'2" is the 1st of 2 much needed centre-backs. He's showing 6x attributes at 9 and if they were a 10 I think he would look a much better player. I like looking at Day 1 players and imagining what they would look like if their 9's were all 10's, (because it's a change that we could see very quickly). What I've done here is use the editor to actually change the 6x 9's to 6x 10's and I've shown the new profile right after the initial profile. I think you will agree that the new version looks WAY better than the real version. I really like him. 

(64k) Sequeira (CPV)(POR) 5'11" is a GK and I've mentioned before that this save will end when Ako retires, (if not before), so how good another GK is doesn't matter in the slightest. It's a real shame though because I would have loved to have a (CPV) GK this good. 

(64g) Gonçalves (POR) is another striker, (and a good one), and again he looks like a striker more suited to the right-hand role rather than the more clinical left-hand role. Like the above previous example, I try to imagine what he would look like if his 8x 9's were 10's. Again, there is a big impact and I think you would agree that the 2nd version of the player appears a lot better than 8 attribute points better than the original version. I really find that imagining the players like this really helps. I obviously change the attributes back to the original with then 9's, (or more accurately I simply load a save from before I made the changes), the way our brains work in terms of single digit numbers and double digit numbers makes such a difference that perhaps the issue isn't the way that we view the player with the 9's but the way that we view the player with the 10's. Either way, I find this process really useful. (The imagining rather than the actual editing). 

(64f) Guerra (POR) 6'4" is the 2nd centre-half in the group and I really like the look of him. A tiny bit limited physically, and certainly needs to work on heading and positioning, but I think he looks great. Something that has caught my eye is the PPM "Likes to switch the ball to wide areas", and while that's something I usually prefer to see from my midfield playmakers, in real life there are a number of centre-backs currently using this to great effect. Jan Vertonghen was one of the 1st I saw do this regularly, but at the moment the likes of VvD, Dier, Andersen are using this to great effect. As his passing is starting at 12 I think this will work, although vision of 6 and decisions of 7 is not idea. 

(64b) Lambert (FRA) looks decent. He's a little weak physically, but I like him. 

(64c) Rowley (WAL) looks REALLY good. Initially when I saw him I saw a winger, (great), until I saw his tackling attribute. Then I saw a full back, (even with the low positioning). I definitely see him as a DL, but the problem is his personality. We know that casual is bad, but to remind you, it's low (Det) and very low (Pro). His issue is worse in that he actually has very low (Det) and very low (Pro). I'm determined not to "game personalities" in this save so I'm not going to be doing anything special to change his hidden attributes/personality, and as a result I think it unlikely that he will develop to anything near his PA> Actually, from his starting point of 78 CA I think he will do really well to get anywhere near 100 CA. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NxGn 2064. 

I'm astonished that (62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) *** is our only player on this list. 

(62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) *** was ranked 11th last year and has moved up to 1st this season, (and will still be eligible next season). 
(61c) Novak (PER) (CRO) was ranked 40th last season but hasn't even made the list this season, (but will be eligible again next season). 

I've checked the list from this year and the lowest CA 102 on show is and the lowest PA on show is 129.

These are the teenagers at the club with a CA of 100+. (Player eligible for next season's award in bold). 

18 year old (62a) Pereira (GNB)(POR) *** CA133 PA 161.
19 year old (60d) Ribeiro (POR) 6'0" CA 114 PA 128.
19 year old (60a) Farny (POR) (SUI) * CA 117 PA 133.
19 year old (61a) Mateus (BRA) (POR) SC * CA 113 PA 133.
19 year old (61h) Fradinho (POR) CA 117 PA 133.
18 year old (62b) Indjai (GNB)(POR) CA 106 PA 132.
19 year old (60g) Vieira (POR) * CA 106 PA 134.
18 year old (61c) Novak (PER) (CRO) CA 104 PA 137.
18 year old (61j) Monteiro (POR) 6'0" CA 101 PA 133. 
19 year old (60b) Costa (POR) CA 101 PA 138.

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb & Mar 2064.

Apologies. Forgot to post the Feb update. 

Liga Bwin. 4 dropped points over the 2 months, but we're still 3 pts ahead of Braga and a further 1 [t ahead of Benfica.

UEFA Champions League. Ako has now missed 9 penalties this season and 1 of them was in the 2nd leg against Man Utd. Had he scored it would have taken the tie to ET and penalties. 

Allianz League Cup. A dominant win for a treble. 

Records. I'm surprised we haven't beaten this before now. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2064. 

Liga Bwin. 4 more wins together with Benfica drawing twice more and Braga losing and drawing, give us an 8 point gap at the top. I'm so frustrated with the 1-0 away loss to Benfica that looks like it might have cost as a 1st unbeaten league campaign.

Taça de Portugal Placard. A comfortable victory and we're into another Final. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Ako has been awarded 24 penalties this season, (which is ridiculous), but he has failed to score 11 of them. 

I don't understand why Ako is suddenly failing from the spot.

His Overall Happiness is "Delighted".
He's a Model Pro personality. 
He has 6 morale positives and 0 morale negatives. 
He's delighted with his playing time. 

It just doesn't make any sense. 

 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2064. 

Liga Bwin. That we won the league after losing 4 senior players is quite remarkable and that we lost only 1 game, (1-0 away loss to Benfica), is even more surprising. I'm delighted to have won at all, but to win by 7 pts in these circumstances really is a shock based on my pre-season expectations. Also surprising is the fact that Benfica didn't finish 2nd, and it's good to see that Braga and Porto seem to be challenging with real consistency now. 

Benfica imploded at the end of the season, (again), dropping 7 pts in the last 6 games, that would have seen them trail us by just 4 pts in 2nd place had they won. I wonder when the last time they failed to win a trophy was before this season? Actually it was last season.  Before that it was 2051/52, (12 years ago). 

Taça de Portugal Placard. This was the 1st time we have won this trophy in 7 seasons so it was great to finally win it again, (for the 12 time, 9 times under my tenure). 

Goal-scoring GK's. We finish the season with Ako on 17 goals, but he failed from the spot on no less than 11 occasions, meaning that he could have scored 28 goals this season. When you consider how much I weakened the team with 4 big players sold, and the fact that we crashed out of Europe in the 1st Knockout Round, it also meant that he missed out on 5 possible games in comparison to last season. Still, he has scored 17, 26, 18, 25, 28, 19 & 18 goals in recent seasons. 

Facilities. 

Finances.  Finances are still an issue, but this debt has built up over the full season so is far less of an issue than it was last season. I am comfortable that we can manage it and let's be honest, while it can be cleared with the sale of 1x £1M player I'm not overly concerned, (as long as we have a £1M player. 

[Sonic Youth]

League double! And cups. Only an Ako missed penalty away in Europe stopped progressing there (weird what’s suddenly happening with him).

Is this the start of the decline of Benfica?

[Thebaker]

Great league win considering the departures. I'm always surprised by Sporting's poor performances, must be a while since they finished above 5th.

[Jimbokav1971]

10 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

League double! And cups. Only an Ako missed penalty away in Europe stopped progressing there (weird what’s suddenly happening with him).

Is this the start of the decline of Benfica?

Yeah happy to win 5 trophies this season. Just need to add Champions league to it. We've fairly racked em up in recent seasons. 

I'm afraid I can't really explain what's going on with Ako. Although everything tells me he is happy, he was often part of a leadership group that approached me about the players I sold, yet that wasn't mentioned in his unhappiness. He's got 2 years on his contract and is 29 now, so if I can sign him to a 5+3 contract now then that will take him through to 37. 

I'll have to wait though. 

I'll have to keep an eye on Benfica to see. I know that they always seem to bottle it when we put the pressure on nowadays, but maybe they just have a young squad that is developing and will improve, (but I will report on that in the future). 

[Jimbokav1971]

9 hours ago, Thebaker said:

Great league win considering the departures. I'm always surprised by Sporting's poor performances, must be a while since they finished above 5th.

Sporting have been poor all the way through this save. (At least since we have been in Liga Bwin). 

They might have finished 5th this season, but they were a whopping 18 points off 4th place. 

In actual fact though, they have finished 3rd in 3 of the last 6 seasons, so maybe things are actually on the up for them. The fact that they have only lost 6, 7, 5 & 5 games in the last 4 seasons suggest that they are on the right track finally. 

They haven't won the Liga Bwin title since 2037 and haven't been Runners Up since before even that. 

When I last checked, (ages ago), I decided that their transfer dealings were poor, (certainly in comparison to Benfica). 

[DaneBramage]

How is the Hall of Fame looking? Guess you must be near the top of most of them now.

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, DaneBramage said:

How is the Hall of Fame looking? Guess you must be near the top of most of them now.

I didn't even know where to find this info at 1st. 

It's a sad indictment of the English game that, (other than myself), Stevie G is the only modern manager on the list. I don't recognise Jack Reynolds, but he managed Ajax in the early 1900's. I also don't recognise Tom Watson, (other than the golfer), and he managed Liverpool and Sunderland at the end of the 1800's and the beginning if the 1900's. That there is nobody on the list suggests that successful English clubs have been managed by non-Englishmen all the way through the save.

Stevie G is the sole exception to that and he won trophies at Bayern, Inter, Rangers & Real Sociedad, but also managed Getafe in Spain, Arsenal and the England National side. He never managed Liverpool. 

David Alaba was my nemesis at Benfica for years. He managed them for 26 years and won 16 league titles and 39 Cup wins. He has been a phenomenal manager and I would go as far to say as he is without equal. His 16 league wins are all Liga Bwin wins, where as my 20 league wins obviously also include Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG titles. (That's why his score is 1200+ more than mine). He has been amazing but is thankfully now retired, and as @Sonic Youthpreviously asked for the reason for the decline of Benfica, I can point to his retirement almost 2 years ago. His replacement at Benfica is newgen Bernardo Borreicho and he is not even close to Alaba's standard. The reason for the decline of Benfica is quite simply the retirement of Alaba. 

Nagelsmann has managed Bayern, Barca, Inter, Liverpool, Man City and Real Madrid. That's cheating in my book. No wonder he has won so much. 

Pogba has managed Man Utd, PSG & Porto. 

[Sonic Youth]

5 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

David Alaba was my nemesis at Benfica for years. He managed them for 26 years and won 16 league titles and 39 Cup wins. He has been a phenomenal manager and I would go as far to say as he is without equal. His 16 league wins are all Liga Bwin wins, where as my 20 league wins obviously also include Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG titles. (That's why his score is 1200+ more than mine). He has been amazing but is thankfully now retired, and as @Sonic Youthpreviously asked for the reason for the decline of Benfica, I can point to his retirement almost 2 years ago. His replacement at Benfica is newgen Bernardo Borreicho and he is not even close to Alaba's standard. The reason for the decline of Benfica is quite simply the retirement of Alaba. 

Definitely makes sense for how Benfica have declined in the last two years.

[Jimbokav1971]

16 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Definitely makes sense for how Benfica have declined in the last two years.

He's had such an enormous impact on the whole save. Fighting against them when they were such a good team was such a challenge and probably the reason I have enjoyed this save so much. What we have won has been brilliant, but it is worth much more because of all the Finals and league titles we lost. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2064. 

GK. The most striking thing in this picture is the personalities. You have to remember that I'm not "gaming the personalities" at all, so to have 2x Perfectionists, 1x Model Pro, 1x Resolute, 1x F.Pro & 1x F.Det is decent. 

(50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 6'0" is the only GK I'm interested in and I've just signed him to a 5+3 deal which will keep him at the club until he's 37. I'm not sure I will be able to get that far into the save. 

1st Team. (50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 6'0"
B Team. (61j) Monteiro (POR) 6'0"
U23's. (58g) Rocha (POR) 
U19's. (63c) Vieira (GNB) (POR) & (64k) Sequeira (CPV)(POR) 5'11.
Sell. (62p) José. (POR)(ANG)
Loan.(60d) Ribeiro (POR) 6'0"

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2064. 

DL.

1st Team. (52b) Martins (POR) * & (50g) Martins (POR) (FRA) DL *.
B Team. (57b) Trindade (POR) * DL & (60m) Lehner (POR) (SUI) *.
U23's. (60m) Lehner (POR) (SUI) *.
U19's. (64c) Rowley (WAL)
Sell.
Loan. (57d) Kravchuk (POR) (UKR) *

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad Depth. Jul 2064. 

DR. We sold (48c) Bronze (POR) 6'0" for £31.5M in the Summer Transfer window so 17 year old (59e) Marques (POR) ** steps up from the B team.

1st Team. (56a) Juromito (POR) *** DR & (59e) Marques (POR) **.
B Team. (63n) Lourenço (POR) * & (59c) Yufeng (CHN) 6'0" DR
U23's.
U19's. (62d) Delgado (POR)(CPV)
Sell. (58l) Pontes (STP) SELL
Loan.