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

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad depth. Aug 2054. 

When I usually do this, my thinking is with regards to the here and now so it's more CA than PA, (although PA obviously plays a part). This time though I;m thinking longer term and it's going to be based on PA rather than CA, (but obviously CA still plays a part because a player with really low CA will find it hard to reach his PA). 

GK's. 

(50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 6'0" is far and away 1st choice and like Simões before him will play in every game for which he's fit and available. 
(46i) Silva (POR) 6'0" will be 2nd choice but obviously he's out on loan. 

DL's. This is probably the weakest area of the squad. 

(52b) Martins (POR) is actually a lefty and was always the long term DL.
(50g) Martins (POR) (FRA) DL is a DC/DM but I'm going to retrain him as a DL immediately. 
(52c) Pinto (POR) is both footed, but the 2nd best long-term option as DL we've got.
(49h) Ndlovu (POR) (RSA) 6'0" is more a centre-half than a DL, but needs must.   
(48c) Bronze (POR) 6'0" was going to be 1st choice, but he has become very unhappy that I wouldn't sell him to such an extent that he now considers me and adversary.  Last season I couldn't get him to perform at all and I may be forced to sell him. 
(41a) Gil (POR) * finished last season playing left back. He's a "righty" and has been playing MR for most of his career to this point. 

DR's.

(48c) Bronze (POR) 6'0" was always the long term option at DR (once we got someone through who could play at DL). The only issue is that he was so unhappy last season that he was next to useless. 
(50d) Fitas (POR) has the personality to allow him to reach his PA.
(50a) Amarante (POR)(CPV) 5'10" is too short to play centre-half (imo), so might just be a wildcard option for DR. 
(36c) Mussagi (POR) (MOZ) * has been our 1st choice DR for about 14 years. 
(45f) Basto (POR) has been a decent back-up, but is currently out with strained knee ligaments which might take it's toll. 

DC's. While the full-back areas are a real weakness, centre-half is very much a strength. 

(54a) Fati (GNB) (POR) 6'1" * has not just an excellent PA, but also a very good starting CA and a decent personality. He will spend this season playing for the B Team. 
(50a) Amarante (POR)(CPV) 5'10" is too short to play centre-half (imo), so might just be a wildcard option for DR.
(48b) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" * shows that an (Unamb) personality, (Amb of 5) is not a barrier towards developing a decent PA player to his potential. 
(45e) The Gimp (ENG) 6'3" seems to be one of those players who outperforms his ability. 
(41d) Hussein (TAN) 6'5" * is 29 but has been one of our top performers. He came through the Academy 3 years after (54a) Fati (GNB) (POR) 6'1" * was born. 

MC's. While we are are weak in the wide areas of both defense and midfield, we are strong all the way through the middle. 

(44c) Ogbu (ENG) (NGA) * is maxed out at 170 PA and although he only has 2 years left on his contract, I have just signed him to a new 5+1 deal on £500k a month. 
(51j) Vicente (POR) is a player I really like as a DLP on the left. 
(47k) Tavares (CPV) already has 52 Caps at age 22. His Cap count is going to be ENORMOUS!
(49f) Santos (POR) is more a grafter than a playmaker. 
(49a) Odhiambo (POR) (KEN)
(44l) Teixeira (CPV) (POR) has 64 Caps aged 26. 

ML's & MR's. 

ML's.

(47a) Soares (POR)
(49e) Madruga (POR)
(53b) Espínola (POR)
(46d) Osório (POR)

MR's.

(51a) Marinho (POR) *
(54b) Soares (CPV) (POR)
(52i) Simões (POR)
(52e) Oliveira (CPV)

 

SC's.

(44a) Simões (POR) *
(53a) Khwinana (ENG) (RSA) *
(50l) Bartlett (ENG)
(51b) Oliveira (POR)
(45c) Rosa (POR) *

Edited July 4, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[karanhsingh]

15 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

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?????

Thanks, that's a very interesting analysis. It's actually good to see the AI make the right decisions for a change. 

I also did not know you could check like this if a player came through an affiliate academy. 

That Benfica squad looks absolutely on the money. 8 players with CA over 150 and tons more over 140. Essentially a genuinely world class squad. I wonder if you compared this to the beginning of the game what it would look like. 

Has the average standard of the best teams in each league really improved over time is something which would be very interesting to analyse. I would wager this be the case due to the sheer number of world class newgens floating about which makes it easier to build good teams. 

So when you get as far in the game as you have do you essentially end up with all the best sides in the world splattered with 160+ CA players. 

[Jimbokav1971]

5 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Thanks, that's a very interesting analysis. It's actually good to see the AI make the right decisions for a change. 

It's the best I've ever seen the AI do consistently at 1 club so has the AI improved and we just haven't noticed, or is this just a 1 off?

I also did not know you could check like this if a player came through an affiliate academy. 

Yeah, it's been available on Player - History - Milestones - Landmarks for a while now. 

That Benfica squad looks absolutely on the money. 8 players with CA over 150 and tons more over 140. Essentially a genuinely world class squad. I wonder if you compared this to the beginning of the game what it would look like. 

I don't know, but when I transfer over the files for my experiments from the old laptop to the new one, I will also transfer over the starting save Belenenses save if I still have it and we can compare. IN truth though, the (POR) structure is much stronger in 2054 than it was in 2021/22, (currently ranked 3rd), so I would expect this to have an impact on buying power and player quality. This will also have been skewed by (ENG) not being loaded in the database. 

Has the average standard of the best teams in each league really improved over time is something which would be very interesting to analyse. I would wager this be the case due to the sheer number of world class newgens floating about which makes it easier to build good teams. 

No, that's not how I think it works, (I think). The number of world players at a PA range of 190-200 is quite stable, so although when a player retires who had a PA of 195 he isn't auto replaced by someone with the same PA, the game will reproduce him over time so that the standard of footballers across the World remains the same over time. 

So when you get as far in the game as you have do you essentially end up with all the best sides in the world splattered with 160+ CA players. 

It's possible that my save has been skewed by me only running 3 active structures, (I cut it down at the start because I generally know I'm going to go deep into my save), so with no active German, English or Frencgh clubs for example, while the elite clubs in these leagues might be as you would expect, the slightly smaller clubs is where they will miss out. 

Be sure to expand the quoted but above because I have responded in there too for ease. 

Liga Bwin now ranked 3rd highest Rep competition. 

Champions League Winnners in recent years. 

Something to watch out for here are the CA/PA values of grey GK's in some of these squads. 

Liverpool Squad by Actual PA. This actually seems high to me, so maybe you're right and I;m wrong. I suspect that things are still being skewed by so few active leagues though. 

R.Madrid squad by Actual PA. 

PSG squad by actual PA. 

Bayern squad by Actual PA. How many Brazilians? 

Dortmund squad by Actual PA. Very interesting that the 3x highest PA players at Dortmund are actually grey players, (because they don't have enough players in their senior squad). I wonder what determines the level of grey player that you are given if you don't have enough real players available in the correct positions? 

Man City squad by Actual PA. 

Just for the hell of it now I;m going to look at clubs who have Worldclass players in real life, but who haven't appeared on this list so far and who I think are generally not playing in the Champions League. 

I actually came here to tell you that the Big 6 in England is now the Big 4 because Spurs and Man Utd have fallen away, but actually both have experienced some sort of recent resurgence. 

Spurs. Despite their recent resurgence and winning the Premier League last season, this is exactly what I was hoping to find. There are loads of grey players here. The buying/drawing power of the regular Champions League teams has meant that in an inactive structure, the bigger sides just hoover up the quality and there are fewer 2nd level players available in the Nation so they go without. Some of these grey players are ridiculous! The question isn't "how have Spurs won the Premier League?", but how have Spurs won the Premier League with grey players? The truth is that we know the answer to that already. They do not get tired, fatigued or injured. The truth is that Spurs are so bad that they have become good. 

Man Utd. 

Edited July 5, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[karanhsingh]

Looking at that, I think there is some merit to what I felt may happen in the future. In my save for instance, which is in 2026 and still dominated by "real" players, there is a handful of clubs with world class squad - I could count Man City, Liverpool, PSG and Bayern. They have say 8-10 players of 170+ PA in their squads. 

However then the second tier of Madrid, Barca, Chelsea, Man Utd, Juventus etc. are quite a bit "worse" off with maybe only a couple of those world class players and the majority being between 150-170 levels. This I think is also quite reflective of real life.

It seems that once you get a decade or two in, you'll end up with probably 10+ clubs (or even more? if you are throwing in the likes of Spurs & Dortmund) having these "super-human" squads and by that I mean double digits of players in the 170-200 range. And so if you're a human manager looking to compete at the top level you need to build your squad to the same level too in order to stand a proper chance.

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2054. 

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. We were very much 2nd best and 5-0 would have been a fairer reflection of their dominance. We did have players absent though. 

Liga Bwin. It's a good start to the league campaign. Nobody scored more than 1 goal against up and we kept a clean sheet against Benfica, (who have already lost 2 of 5 games). 

xG watch. We lost the xG battle against Benfica, (despite being at home), but other than that we were pretty dominant. 
Belenenses 3.57 - 0.54 PdF.
Varzim 0.91 - 2.93 Belenenses.
Belenenses 1.33 - 1.66 Benfica.
Boavista 0.69 - 3.33 Belenenses. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.   

[ucdark]

Who was the Atletico Madrid manager when they won the CL?

[Jimbokav1971]

10 hours ago, ucdark said:

Who was the Atletico Madrid manager when they won the CL?

Atletico won the Champions League in 38/39 nad current Leeds Manager irl Jesse Marsch was manager. He actually won 3 Cups in 2 seasons after the previous manager Fernando Torres won 3 Cups in 8.5 seasons. 

Marsch won the Europa Conference League, then the Champions League and then the UEFA Super Cup.
Torres won the Europa Conference League, then the Europa League and then the UEFA Super Cup. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2054. 

Liga Bwin. 3 wins and 2 clean sheets is great, but even better is 2x 1-0 wins when your GK scores the goals.  We're level on pts at the top with Braga, but they have played a game extra and I don't expect them to keep this up. Nacional are the only other unbeaten side, (but they have dropped 6 points through 3 draws), and Benfica have already lost 3 games.

xG watch. A little surprising that we didn't score more goals this month, but can't really complain as long as we're keeping things tight at the back. 
Belenenses 2.38 - 0.38 Guimaraes. 
Famalicao 0.66 - 2.17Belenenses.
Estoril 0.38 - 2.73 Belenenses.

UEFA Champions League. 2 good wins see us in a decent place at this early stage. 

Allianz League Cup. A weakened XI had enough to see off Porto.

Goal-scoring GK's. A good month for our GK's with (50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 6'0" scoring in 3 successive games and (50f) Loris (LUX) (FRA) 6'0" scoring his 1st career goal. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2054. 

Liga Bwin. 3 more wins make it a maximum 30 pts out of 30 to start the league season. We're 2 pts clear of Porto and we have 1 game in hand. We're 6 pts ahead of Benfica with a game in hand and 7 pts ahead of Sporting. 

xG win. We're dominant in the 1st 2 games, but we destroy Nacional. 
Belenenses 2.18 - 0.79 EdA.
Leixoes 0.92 - 2.08 Belenenses. 
Belenenses 4.79 - 0.90 Nacional. 

UEFA Champions League. A comfortable win and we are just about assured of our position in the Knockout stages. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. Another comfortable win. 

Allianz League Cup. The Reserves have eased us into the Knockout stages. 

Records. Usually when you take a picture like this you lose the next game, however we have won 2 more games since this so the record is now up to 16.

Goal-scoring GK's. Just the 1 GK goal this month. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

2000 up. Nov 2054. 

Edited July 6, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2054. 

Liga Bwin. We've finally lost our 1st league game of the season when I started to wonder if we had a slight chance of going unbeaten. We've dropped to 2nd, but have a game in hand on Braga. 

xG watch. The lass against Braga came as a result of a 1st half sending off, but we still bossed the game. 
Belenenses 2.97 - 1.68 Sporting.
Belenenses 1.40 - 0.14 Braga.  

UEFA Champions League. We have qualified from the Group. Now it just remains to be seen if we will finish 1st or 2nd. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 2 more GK goals this month. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2054. 

Liga Bwin. It was a tough old month, not just with 6 league games, (+2 more), 5 of which were away games including the 4 on the bounce, We're still top of the table by 3 pts, but Braga are now just 3 pts back, Benfica are 4 pts back and Porto are 6 pts back, (with a game in hand). 

xG watch. We've done well in the 1st 5 league games this month, but Porto were too strong for us and made it count. 
Moreirense 1.56 - 1.85 Belenenses. 
Belenenses 3.49 - 0.33 Portimonense.
Adademica Coimbra 0.14 - 2.84 Belenenses.
Gil Vicente 2.75 - 3.59 Belenenses.
PdF 0.74 - 4.12 Belenenses.
Porto 1.19 - 0.73 Belenenses. 

UEFA Champions League. We secured top spot in our Group. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. A weakened team romped into the next round. 

Youth Intake preview. 4x A's is interesting, especially as they mention 2x DM's and 2x SC's. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Just 2 goals this month. 

 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2055. 

Liga Bwin. What a rubbish month. We drop points in not 1 but 2 league games, and also lose a Cup Final. We have particularly suffered with players being away on AFCON duty and in  particular my 2nd choice midfield pairing, (who are both away representing Cape Verde).

xG watch. We won the xG battles in all 4 league games this month and how we didn't beat Varzim is one of life's great mysteries. We should have also beaten Benfica, but at least it was a close game. 
Belenenses 3.36 - 0.76 Varzim.
Benfica 1.48 - 2.35 Belenenses.
Belenenses 2.68 - 0.44 Boavista. 
Guimaraes 0.45  2.50- Belenenses.

Taça de Portugal Placard. It was tight, but we squeezed through. 

Allianz League Cup. Playing the Final just days after the Semi will always seem strange to me. 

Goal-scoring GK's. It's interesting how poor (50f) Loris (LUX) (FRA) 6'0" is from the spot. His penalty taking attribute is 3, but I have seen GK's with a penalty talking attribute of 1 score more regularly than this. I wonder how his % will change as he takes more pens? 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2055.

Liga Bwin. I can't begin to tell you how angry I am about the Nacional result. I mean apoplectic. 

xG watch. We won all the xG battles, (just), the the Nacional game was still an absolute shambles!
Nacional 0.88 - 0.89 Belenenses. 
Belenenses 3.34 - 0.62 Famalicao. 
Belenenses 4.21 - 0.24 Estoril.

UEFA Champions League. This was rubbish too, but I was so angry about the Nacional game that this hardly registered. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Mar 2055. 

What are we looking for? 

I really want a left back. Please please please a left back. 

A Generational talent!  Let's have a look 1st before we get too carried away. 

This looks promising actually. 1x 5.0 PA player, 1x 4.5 PA player, 1x 4.0 PA player & 1x 3.5 PA player. Considering the quality of some of the players we have, this could be decent. 

The 4 players shown are DL, DM, MC & AMR.

Only 1x DL. Let's hope he's decent. 

Squad by PA. The Nationalities aren't great and the personalities really aren't great, but there seems to be a fair amount of PA and a little CA too. 

Squad by Actual PA. Wow!  197 PA & 153 PA in the same intake. 

(55a) Mavioso (POR) * is an absolute beast. What a newgen! He's bloomin 15 and although his coach report says that he's a  I would happily play him in the 1st Team now. This is the best PA player I have ever had.

(55b) Cunha (BRA) * is a player who I thought was a winger initially, and although his only natural position is as striker, I see him more as a wide player. He will play in both positions as he develops, but his PPM's will be chosen with MR in mind. 

(55c) Sousa (POR) looks decent. A real grafter to play alongside a more cultured playmaker. 

(55d) Trindade (POR) is a much needed left back, but I'm gutted to see that he has the dreaded duo of (Unamb) & (L.Det). The only saving grace is that he (Pro) of 14. I'm still not sure I'm going to be able to develop him to reach his PA, but he has a good enough starting CA that we've at least got a chance. 

(55h) Filipe (POR) is a much needed right back. He looks a little weak physically, (in fact he looks weak all over), and in addition to that I don't like his PPM for a full back and he also has (L.Det) and his (Amb) 9 and (Pro) 10 are not exactly great.  Ah well. we will just do our best and see how it goes. 

Whole squad by Actual PA. 

We're developing considerable depth in terms of PA, and 3 of this intake make the 1st page. I'm actually a little surprised by how much depth we have. 

We had a 187 PA player in 2053 and a 197 PA player in 2055. I can't wait for 2057 when we get a 207 PA player! 

[OlivierL]

Wow Mavisio is a beast ! 

[Jimbokav1971]

NxGn 2055.

(51a) Marinho (POR) * is developing well and this has been his 1st full season in the 1st Team. 

(53a) Khwinana (ENG) (RSA) * is still playing for the B Tean, but he's only 17 so has 1 more goes at this trophy and looks fantastic. 

(54a) Fati (GNB) (POR) 6'1" * is from last seasons intake, (so he also has 2 more goes at this trophy), but he is also developing well in the B Team. 

If I list the players at the club by CA rather than PA, then there are some players who might feel unlucky to have been missed off the list, but perhaps it was their PA that was their problem rather than their CA. While they might be good youngsters, they will never become Worldclass.

(52b) Martins (POR) has been fast-tracked in to fill our problem left back position. 

(51d) Almeida (CAN) (POR) will play a full season for the B Team next season, and it should speed his development. 

(52i) Simões (POR) hasn't really found his form for the B Team, but he will be given another opportunity next season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

27 minutes ago, OlivierL said:

Wow Mavisio is a beast ! 

Yep, he really is. We have some terrific young players at the club now. Things are developing really nicely. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2055. 

Liga Bwin. 2 wins with clean sheets is great, but we still trail Braga by 2pts with 7 games remaining. Benfica trail us by 3 pts and Porto are a further 4 pts back.

xG watch. We sneaked through a little against EdA, but we were very dominant against Coimbra.
Estrela da Amadora 0.93 - 1.25 Belenenses.
Belenenses 2.98 - 0.23 Academica Coimbra. 

UEFA Champions League. We trailed 3-0 from the appalling 1st leg and almost managed to claw it back but just fell slightly short. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. We were lucky to escape with a draw here and I'm hoping that's enough to nudge us through in the 2nd leg. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances.   
 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2055. 

Liga Bwin. What a really poor month with 5 points dropped. I don't really mind losing away to Braga. They are a good team and it was a close game and sometimes you have to take a defeat on the chin. I do mind drawing at home to Leixoes. We've dropped to 3rd but have a game in hand on Benfica & Braga who will be 2 points and 1 point ahead of us respectively if we win our game in hand.

We play 12th, 11th & 8th in our 3 remaining games. 
Benfica play 13th and 5th. 
Braga play 6th and 4th. 

I think we have blown the league and will finish 2nd behind Benfica.  In truth we don't deserve to win the league. 

xG watch. We won all the xG battles again, but we didn't score against Leixoes and it cost us. 
Belenenses 2.53 - 0.32 Leixoes.
Sporting 1.35 - 2.96 Belenenses.
Belenenses 1.78 - 1.02 Porto. 
Braga 1.54 - 1.89 Belenenses. Yes, we had a penalty saved against Braga. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. We romped comfortably into the Final after drawing the 1st leg 1-1. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Just 1 goal scored this month. We're not winning penalties nearly as often in the B Team. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2055. 

Liga Bwin. I was confident that we would win our 3 games, and although I expected Braga to drop points and fall behind us, I expected Benfica to win all their games. Fortunately for us they could only draw their last game with Nacional and that was enough to give us the title on a head-to-head basis. 

xG watch.
Belenenses 3.33 - 0.48 Moreirense. 
Portimonense 0.87 - 3.00 Belenenses.
Belenenses 3.41- 1.13 Gil Vicente. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. It was a close game and we just lost out. I can't complain though. We won the bigger prize. 

Facilities. 

Squad by Appearances. 4 players scored double-figure goals, (including a GK with 15 goals), but the top goal-scorer actually featured largely from the bench. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Only 1 penalty miss from (50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 6'0" allowed him to score an impressive 15 goals this season, and after missing 2 of his 1st 3 penalties, (50f) Loris (LUX) (FRA) 6'0" did well to finish with 6 from 8, (although he hasn't scored a free-kick and his penalties don't look good even when they go in).

Finances.   

[Thebaker]

Maviosio already looks good and has the personality to become the best player in your save. Great work on winning the league when it looked like it was getting away from you.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Thebaker said:

Maviosio already looks good and has the personality to become the best player in your save. Great work on winning the league when it looked like it was getting away from you.

Yep. He looks great and has started well for the B Team. 

I'm obviously delighted to have won the league, but not overly impressed by some of the performances that caused us to drop points. I feel like we have almost been gifted the title by Benfica drawing on the last day and it probably wasn't deserved. We'll take it though! 

[Jimbokav1971]

GK's Depth. Jul 2055.

1st Team.  (50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 6'0". I've got him on a 4+3 deal which will take him to 27 years old. He's on 43 career goals & if he scores 14 goals per season then he will be on 141 goals. 
B Team. (50f) Loris (LUX) (FRA) 6'0"
U23's. (51k) Diniz (POR) 6'4"
U19's. (52j) Candé (GNB) (POR) 6'1" & (55p) Turé. (GNB) (POR) 6'1".
Loan.
Sell. (46i) Silva (POR) 6'0"

[Jimbokav1971]

DL Depth. Jul 2055.

1st Team. (52b) Martins (POR) It's confusing having my 2 best DL's both called Martins, (even with the nicknames).
B Team.  (50g) Martins (POR) (FRA) DL
U23's. (52c) Pinto (POR)
U19's.
Loan.
Sell.

[Jimbokav1971]

DR Depth Jul 2055.

1st Team. (48c) Bronze (POR) 6'0", (36c) Mussagi (POR) (MOZ) & (45f) Basto (POR).
B Team. (50d) Fitas (POR)
U23's.
U19's.
Loan.
Sell. (50i) Faria. (POR) SELL, 

[Jimbokav1971]

DC Depth Jul 2055. 

1st Team. (48b) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" *, (50a) Amarante (POR)(CPV) 5'10, (47f) Santos (POR) 6'5" *, & (45e) The Gimp (ENG) 6'3".
B Team. (54a) Fati (GNB) (POR) 6'1" *,  (49h) Ndlovu (POR) (RSA) 6'0" & (53h) Alexandre (BRA) 5'10".
U23's.
U19's.
Loan.
Sell.  (41d) Hussein (TAN) 6'5" SELL, (48a) Côdeas (POR) 6'2" SELL & (46f) Mesquita (POR) 6'5" SELL

[Jimbokav1971]

MC Depth Jul 2055.

1st Team. (44c) Ogbu (ENG) (NGA) *, (49a) Odhiambo (POR) (KEN) and . (47k) Tavares (CPV), (44l) Teixeira (CPV) (POR).
B Team. (51j) Vicente (POR), (55a) Mavioso (POR) *, (49f) Santos (POR) &  (51d) Almeida (CAN) (POR).
U23's.
U19's.
Loan.  (51c) Alves (POR)
Sell.

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2055.

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. We don't seem to do very well in this fixture. We've only won it once from 7 attempts. Our fitness levels pre-season are rubbish. I don't prioritise it and just treat it as another friendly. I might have to reconsider that. 

Liga Bwin. We've dropped 5 pts already. The Braga points I can understand and accept but the points dropped against Sporting really hurt, especially so early in the season.

xG watch. The Braga game was close, but we came out on the wrong side of the result, (like last season). The Sporting game wasn't close though and we should have won. 
Portimonense 1.31 -3.62 Belenenses. 
Belenenses 3.70 - 0.60 Leixoes. 
Braga 1.03 - 1.43 Belenenses.
PdF 0.33 - 1.89 Belenenses.
Belenenses 2.74 - 1.65 Sporting.

UEFA Champions League Group. 

Goal-scoring GK's 

 

Finances.   

[karanhsingh]

Mavioso wow 

Just need to get that work rate up. 

Also congratulations on the league title!

[Sonic Youth]

On 04/07/2022 at 21:31, Jimbokav1971 said:

2. Samuel was bought from Brazil for £13.5M and is currently worth £246M-£268M.

That current worth is missing a decimal, right? 

[Sonic Youth]

Another league win, and this time you get the rub of the head-to-head 

When I said that it would be good to get some top talents though your youth intakes, I wasn’t expecting it to go this well! Mavioso plus Fati! That’s the spine of the team sorted 

Sad to see your stalwart keeper Simoes retire. I guess he was only hanging around for the WC which is pretty realistic. It is timed nicely to stop Ako from getting unhappy.

Looking forward to seeing you go deeper in Europe and winning the league in the next few seasons now  

 

[Jimbokav1971]

11 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Mavioso wow 

Just need to get that work rate up. 

Also congratulations on the league title!

Yep, looks decent. 

His workrate has already popped to 10. I'm training him as a RPM(s) at the moment, not because I want to play him as a RPM but it trains the attributes I want him to train most at the moment and I will change it to something else as he develops over time. If I were to train him as a DLP(S) (which is what I want to play as eventually), then workrate & stamina, (and other things), wouldn't get trained. I'm using his additional training to train quickness to boost his pace and acceleration. 

I still feel like we fluked the title. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

That current worth is missing a decimal, right? 

You would think so but no. Phenomenal business by them. 

[Sonic Youth]

4 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

You would think so but no. Phenomenal business by them. 

Wow. Can we get a screenshot of what he looks like?

Edited July 10, 2022 by Sonic Youth
Looks like

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Another league win, and this time you get the rub of the head-to-head 

When I said that it would be good to get some top talents though your youth intakes, I wasn’t expecting it to go this well! Mavioso plus Fati! That’s the spine of the team sorted 

Sad to see your stalwart keeper Simoes retire. I guess he was only hanging around for the WC which is pretty realistic. It is timed nicely to stop Ako from getting unhappy.

Looking forward to seeing you go deeper in Europe and winning the league in the next few seasons now  

 

Yeah, it was great to win the league again, but it felt a little cheap because I thought we had blown it and didn't deserve to win it. 

Yep, we've been pretty consistent with our youth intakes. Even when we don't get proper top-end players through, we still get decent depth.

I was gutted to lose Simoes because he still had 1 year on hos contract, but yeah, he was gutted about missing the World Cup squad and I'm sure that was significant in the retirement.

The timing with Ako taking over was probably a little overdue if truth be told and I think it's significant that he immediately scored 15 goals in a season which was 1 better than Simoes had managed in any season, (I think). 

We keep failing in Europe. I'm really frustrated.n 

[Jimbokav1971]

4 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Wow. Can we get a screenshot of what he looks like?

I don't really know what makes the valuation what it is. It's actually gone up since I posted. 

He scored 32 league goals and 42 goals in total last season. He looks good, but he doesn't look £293M good. At £696k per month he's the top earner at Benfica, (the next highest is on £520k per month). so I'm guessing that part of his ridiculous valuation is linked to his high wage. I love his physicals, but his dribbling, technique, workrate, off the ball and heading obviously effectively more than make up his lack of finishing. I have started scouting so I can see what role they are using him in. 

[Sonic Youth]

14 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I don't really know what makes the valuation what it is. It's actually gone up since I posted. 

He scored 32 league goals and 42 goals in total last season. He looks good, but he doesn't look £293M good. At £696k per month he's the top earner at Benfica, (the next highest is on £520k per month). so I'm guessing that part of his ridiculous valuation is linked to his high wage. I love his physicals, but his dribbling, technique, workrate, off the ball and heading obviously effectively more than make up his lack of finishing. I have started scouting so I can see what role they are using him in. 

I wouldn’t be paying that price for him. It will be curious if a team does!

He is missing some technical skills I’d have expected (finishing, passing), otherwise his mentals look great s as long with his physicals (a you mentioned), plus those skills also mentioned. I wouldn’t be surprised if he also has stellar hidden stats too (could come out in your scout reports), which will be interesting to see what his position is. I’m going AF(a)!

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

I wouldn’t be paying that price for him. It will be curious if a team does!

He is missing some technical skills I’d have expected (finishing, passing), otherwise his mentals look great s as long with his physicals (a you mentioned), plus those skills also mentioned. I wouldn’t be surprised if he also has stellar hidden stats too (could come out in your scout reports), which will be interesting to see what his position is. I’m going AF(a)!

His CA is maxed out at 165 and his (Pro) is 19, but we sort of knew it was good anyway from his personality. 

Pretty average elsewhere. 

[Sonic Youth]

22 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

His CA is maxed out at 165 and his (Pro) is 19, but we sort of knew it was good anyway from his personality. 

Pretty average elsewhere. 

Average like you said. Surprised he’s worth so much though.

[Jimbokav1971]

Just now, Sonic Youth said:

Average like you said. Surprised he’s worth so much though.

For a few issues of the game now, player valuation has been influenced more highly than previously by wage. 

He's on the biggest wage and he has a 5 year contract so that's the main driver I think. 

[Jimbokav1971]

International Form. Sep 2055. 

(45c) Rosa (POR) * has suddenly found some pretty outrageous form for Portugal, (with 20 goals in his last 7 matches). 

His form looks amazing until you look across at who the opposition was in these games. 

It boggles my mind that Luxembourg (114th), Faroe Islands (175th), Andorra (102nd) & San Marino (211th) can be drawn in the same group, but by the looks of it Luxembourg & Andorra have moved up the rankings and it makes sense.  

He is our 2nd choice AF. 

[Sonic Youth]

Rosa’s come a long way. Who’s keeping him out again?

[Jimbokav1971]

4 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Rosa’s come a long way. Who’s keeping him out again?

These are the strikers at the club ranked by CA. 

These are the strikers at the club ranked by Actual CA. 

I have 3 players in contention for the left hand striker role. 

(44a) Simões (POR) * came through the intake 1 year before (45c) Rosa (POR) * and has remained 1st choice largely as a result of that. I haven't actually compared them before so will do that later in this post. 

(45c) Rosa (POR) * has been 2nd choice for a while now, but that means that he often starts the easier games when I am resting players, and is more likely to start European games or domestic Cup games so the appearance/goals figures you see might be skewed a little. 

(50l) Bartlett (ENG) is not quite up to the standard of the other two, and usually plays for the B Team as a result. 

I wish I had historic minutes played for each section in each season, but this will at least give us a bit of a comparison. 

The 1st comparison page suggests that (45c) Rosa (POR) * is the better player, (but by very little). The 2nd comparison confirms that there is very little in it, but the big difference are long shots and natural fitness. There really is very little between them.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2055. 

Liga Bwin. We've bounced back well after dropping 5 pts in the opening month and are still in contention. We just have to be tighter at the back consistently and then take advantage when Benfica slip up and when we play them. 

xG watch. I think 1.48 and 1.24 xG against are too high. I really want us to have an xG against in each game of <1.00 but we keep conceding goals as a result of our GK being stranded upfield and that's skewing things. 
Varzim 1.48 - 2.41 Belenenses.
Belenenses 3.19 -0.48 Gil Vilcente.
Belenenses 2.72 - 1.24 Nacional. 

UEFA Champions League. Atletico are a good side and play in an active league. Every time we scored they fought back. 

Allianz League Cup. A hat-trick eased us through, but we shouldn't be conceding 2 goals here. 

Facilities. The only thing lacking here is the last upgrade of the Youth Recruitment, but I've lasted this long without changing it via the Editor that I'm not going to bother now. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances.   

[Sonic Youth]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

These are the strikers at the club ranked by CA. 

These are the strikers at the club ranked by Actual CA. 

I have 3 players in contention for the left hand striker role. 

(44a) Simões (POR) * came through the intake 1 year before (45c) Rosa (POR) * and has remained 1st choice largely as a result of that. I haven't actually compared them before so will do that later in this post. 

(45c) Rosa (POR) * has been 2nd choice for a while now, but that means that he often starts the easier games when I am resting players, and is more likely to start European games or domestic Cup games so the appearance/goals figures you see might be skewed a little. 

(50l) Bartlett (ENG) is not quite up to the standard of the other two, and usually plays for the B Team as a result. 

I wish I had historic minutes played for each section in each season, but this will at least give us a bit of a comparison. 

The 1st comparison page suggests that (45c) Rosa (POR) * is the better player, (but by very little). The 2nd comparison confirms that there is very little in it, but the big difference are long shots and natural fitness. There really is very little between them.

Nice dilemma to have! Tough choice to pick from Simoes and Rosa (Simoes by a hair for me). Though Rosa’s name seems to be popping out a bit more lately. Bartlett is another nice option to have as a third choice too 

I’d also include Teamwork as another difference between them.

[Sonic Youth]

51 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Sep 2055. 

Liga Bwin. We've bounced back well after dropping 5 pts in the opening month and are still in contention. We just have to be tighter at the back consistently and then take advantage when Benfica slip up and when we play them. 

xG watch. I think 1.48 and 1.24 xG against are too high. I really want us to have an xG against in each game of <1.00 but we keep conceding goals as a result of our GK being stranded upfield and that's skewing things. 
Varzim 1.48 - 2.41 Belenenses.
Belenenses 3.19 -0.48 Gil Vilcente.
Belenenses 2.72 - 1.24 Nacional. 

UEFA Champions League. Atletico are a good side and play in an active league. Every time we scored they fought back. 

Allianz League Cup. A hat-trick eased us through, but we shouldn't be conceding 2 goals here. 

Facilities. The only thing lacking here is the last upgrade of the Youth Recruitment, but I've lasted this long without changing it via the Editor that I'm not going to bother now. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances.   

Lots of GK goals!

Another good bunch of results.

The other result lately that’s good to see is the improvement in the overall balance 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Sonic Youth said:

Nice dilemma to have! Tough choice to pick from Simoes and Rosa (Simoes by a hair for me). Though Rosa’s name seems to be popping out a bit more lately. Bartlett is another nice option to have as a third choice too 

I’d also include Teamwork as another difference between them.

Yeah, good spot with regards to teamwork. It wasn't that I missed it and more that I don't really know what it does. I've always considered it to be more important from a defensive point of view, but maybe timing runs and stuff like that to link with a pass is included here, (although that's off the ball isn't it?)

Simoes seems to stay fit despite Rosa having better natural fitness. 

Simoes injuries. 

Rosa injuries. He has pulled his knee ligaments on no less than 8 occasions. I don't know if it's the same knee but I'm guessing there is a problem there. 

Edited July 11, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2055. 

Liga Bwin. I don't mind losing to Benfica or Porto, (or Braga at a push), because they are good teams, but I don't want to be losing to anyone else in domestic games. 

xG watch.
Porto 1.85 - 1.36 Belenenses.
Guimaraes 0.62 - 1.00 Belenenses.
Belenenses 3.88 - 0.19 Estoril.

UEFA Champions League. A good win and we're in a comfortable position at the halfway stage. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. A comfortable win. 

Allianz League Cup. We smashed them. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

(50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 6'0" has seen 2 in a row saved. They both looked like good saves to me rather than bad misses, but let's look at his happiness anyway. 

His individual training is currently set to strength, (to improve his Jumping Reach and Aerial Reach). I don't want to change it because I still think that he needs to develop more in these areas, but maybe I will stick him on something else for a month and then back to strength again for a short period? He's on Distribution (Short) for the moment but actually that hasn't worked because he still feels the same. I've swapped it again to Distribution (Long) this time and it seems to have worked, although there is still the contract issue to resolve. He's signed to a 4+3 contract. so I don't really want to renegotiate yet, (but will have to soon if I want to keep him happy and scoring pens). 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

5 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Lots of GK goals!

Another good bunch of results.

The other result lately that’s good to see is the improvement in the overall balance 

Overall cash balance? 

Edited July 11, 2022 by Jimbokav1971