[FM22] Ergotelis - We are Greek, but we aren't boring

[ManUtd1]

Love the IWB/Mezz/IF dynamic you have going here -- if it's anything like what I see with my setup (IW instead of IF), it's going to be saucy in all the right ways.

[Vladis]

A really great progress with the club and I like your tactical ideas.

And I want to ask: do you know why the league always starts so late in September - is it a bug? And how do you manage your pre-season when almost from the start of it you have European matches. In my save with PAO it looks like I will have the same schedule. It really confuses me as I always pay a lot of attention to preparation for a season.

[noikeee]

On 25/07/2022 at 04:26, karanhsingh said:

Love the tactical train of thought 

Treq is a role that's never worked for me either sadly. If this formation works well for you it'll certainly be the most innovative one I've seen in a while. 

It sadly soon became a bit inconsistent... went back to the drawing board yet again.

 

On 25/07/2022 at 04:48, ManUtd1 said:

Love the IWB/Mezz/IF dynamic you have going here -- if it's anything like what I see with my setup (IW instead of IF), it's going to be saucy in all the right ways.

Yeah and it had the wide CB on attack to help the width on the flank to add insult to injury, too.

However, as tonight's update will show, I've scrapped the whole thing...

 

On 26/07/2022 at 14:32, Vladis said:

A really great progress with the club and I like your tactical ideas.

And I want to ask: do you know why the league always starts so late in September - is it a bug? And how do you manage your pre-season when almost from the start of it you have European matches. In my save with PAO it looks like I will have the same schedule. It really confuses me as I always pay a lot of attention to preparation for a season.

I think it starts in September because it's so hot in Greece in the Summer, no? At least that's what I imagined these late starts were all about.

What I do is pretty simple, I let the assman set the friendlies, I rotate between 2 different 11s for each friendly (and use instant result because I can't be arsed to watch it), and only make sure to cancel the matches if they're less than 6 or so days before each European fixture. Sometimes I'll arrange 1 or 2 more friendlies to fill up the calendar here and there, but I don't mind going into an early European fixture with only 3 or 4 matches in the legs of the players.

[noikeee]

First, the Conference knockout tie.

 

Eh, not much of a story here. At home we didn't translate our xG stuff into that many goals, but in Cyprus, we did. Julio Cesar played as AF here in our new formation and he looked good in it, just like in the good old days, scoring 3.

 

Now, remember me posting that the Conference draw was looking a bit easy, and that with the teams left in the competition we probably looked good for the whole thing?

 

 

Scratch that, the group winners hadn't entered the competition yet.  I do think we have a more than decent chance against Vitesse, but with Arsenal, Leverkusen, Sevilla, Atalanta in the competition I think I need to calm down a little.

[Sheriff7]

35 minutes ago, noikeee said:

It sadly soon became a bit inconsistent... went back to the drawing board yet again.

 

Yeah and it had the wide CB on attack to help the width on the flank to add insult to injury, too.

However, as tonight's update will show, I've scrapped the whole thing...

 

I think it starts in September because it's so hot in Greece in the Summer, no? At least that's what I imagined these late starts were all about.

What I do is pretty simple, I let the assman set the friendlies, I rotate between 2 different 11s for each friendly (and use instant result because I can't be arsed to watch it), and only make sure to cancel the matches if they're less than 6 or so days before each European fixture. Sometimes I'll arrange 1 or 2 more friendlies to fill up the calendar here and there, but I don't mind going into an early European fixture with only 3 or 4 matches in the legs of the players.

It starts so late for the warm weather like you said and because we still believe that we have 1 team in CL group stage round and 2 in CL quilifiers...

[noikeee]

2027/28 - End of regular season report

 

Transfers

I am fuming.

The absolute MORON we have as president decided that mezzala Mateus, one of our key players, should be sold by 2.2M€. This amount can eventually increase to 7.75M€ but only if he plays a ton of matches for Villarreal. Oh but fear not, he's been loaned back to us for a few more months (so he can't get those matches). Sigh. Why do I bother negotiating contracts over and over again to eventually raise my players' release clauses, if my board is going to sell them for a tiny fraction of it?

Other things happened. Backup striker Álvaro Correa, who hadn't really done much for us, was sent away for 3.5M€. Centerback Raphael, who never found a first team place given we're so tight on non-EU player restrictions, sold by 150K€. Oh and we hired 2 players... one of which I broke the bank for.

Yulián Osorio (DR) - Hiring even more Colombians is probably not optimal, specially since we already have 3 of them (!) who can play rightback. But the potential was impossible to ignore, when I could get him on a free - and he's already developing rapidly. I sent him on loan back to his country.

David Samuel (AML, ST) - I totally smashed the transfer record of the club, paying 6.75M€ for this bloke. The fee is probably a bit on the high side but I wanted another star forward and he's certainly on the brink of becoming a pretty major player for us. Started slowly but is hitting a patch of good form now, has 3 goals and 4 assists in 9 starts and 1 sub appearance.

 

 

After my excitement at the end of December with my assymetrical 3-at-the-back tactic, January was a dose of reality for us. It just didn't seem to work in any match against tough opposition, although we utterly obliterated Asteras Tripolis 5-0 again with it. But in matches against AEK, Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, we were just caught back under far too much pressure, and were unable to put our passing game on the ground. I cut my losses and realised that although this tactic was spectacular at breaking down deep blocks, it's not going to be the long term tactic for us.

So I went back to the drawing board and thought about what would be the best compromise for us. After a while, I settled on a diamond. The AF/A-CF/S duo comes back, because that was what gave us the most direct attacking power on the counter, the AF always effective but greatly helped by having a partner. Adding a #10 behind a pair of strikers, often seems to work spectacularly well for the AI, so I went for it as well, with the generic AM/S role to make him as neutral as possible, to avoid making him a ball magnet as a playmaker, neither a shadow striker who would clash too much with the attacking mezzala.

With a F9, the runners from midfield like the attacking mez shone, without it I knew they'd stop being the shining beacon of the tactic, so I toned it down, making his MC partner a BBM/S. It wasn't quite working thought, so I switched to a MEZ/S and that's nice, since he moves a little wide he helps out the more traditional WB on his flank. Behind them, without a trio of CBs, it was time to turn the DM into a Halfback, to facilitate playing from the back, and also make the midfield a little more conservative since we have one fewer defender.

And you know what? We're on 8 consecutive wins with this. Most of these matches were against weak sides, so I don't know how it'll do against big teams, though.

 

 

Oh and the league table. We're in a lonely 3rd at the moment. Catching Olympiacos for the 2nd CL slot isn't impossible, given the cut-throat nature of the championship group that starts now; but overtaking Panathinaikos for the title might be a stretch.

 

Edited August 1, 2022 by noikeee

[noikeee]

One more deal before the Championship Group. We say goodbye to a player who has been here for a very long time! He was amazing for a while but by now there are so many RB/WBR options, we have to take a good deal for him.

 

[noikeee]

 

No problems here neither, and it's another European quarterfinal, albeit this year it's just the Conference League and not the Europa League as we managed to reach last year. The striking partnership of Júlio César-David Samuel is looking LIT.

 

Lille await us, they've beaten Sevilla who were surely one of the favourites for the competition. Lille should be favourites for our tie, but if we advance, we face the winners of Young Boys v Atalanta.

[noikeee]

2 of our Colombians have made the NxGnWkLstWntUnhXyzXxx thing.

[ManUtd1]

2 hours ago, noikeee said:

Yeah and it had the wide CB on attack to help the width on the flank to add insult to injury, too.

However, as tonight's update will show, I've scrapped the whole thing...

[noikeee]

 

The first leg, at home, was one of those classic tense-yet-open European ties. Lille took the opener, we then tried to break them down for a while until we managed to do it, we scored again, and then they equalised slightly against the run of play right before half-time. The 2nd half we mostly resisted them as they took an upper hand in the match. 2-2, decent result but a hard one to take to France.

However, in France, we benefitted from possibly the most inspired match so far in Jairo Cardozo's career. The Uruguayan midfielder who has been a bit of a peripheral figure of this team, played as AMC in here, took all his chances and bagged an hat-trick for a famous 3-0 win, which we'll happily take even if the xG numbers don't look that great for us, The club reaches our first European semi-final.

 

One of these clubs is not like the others. I expect the Milan-Crete air routes to be absolutely packed with people as everyone wants to go to Bergamo see this classic - and then the return leg at home.

Edited August 2, 2022 by noikeee

[noikeee]

Finally we get the youth setup to a decent-ish level. We did have a very exciting prospect in this years intake (I'll show him at the end of the season), but I want more, pretty much nobody has made the first team since I'm here.

[noikeee]

 

On the first leg, we were heavily tormented by creative midfielder Yusuf Yazici. Atalanta plan an upfront triangle much like us (AMC behind the 2 STs) and on this match the AMC was lethal. He snapped 2 goals and then added a 3rd through a penalty kick and Atalanta were running out clear 3-0 winners. At this stage it very much looked like our European adventure was over, but then 2 goals in quick succession by midfielders Van Gestel and Mateus opened everything up again, even if we went a goal down into the 2nd leg. We nearly made it 3-3 but Stefanov missed an injury time sitter...

 

But on the second leg... well well well. We were inspired! Atalanta started well, but we gradually took a hold of the match, and striker David Samuel equalised the whole tie with a powerful, clinical low shot from just outside the area. And right after half-time, centerbacks Budan and Navarro combined in a set piece to put us in the lead. In the final minutes Atalanta pushed on, and had no less than 4 injury time chances, but could not score.

It is just UEFA's third division, sure. But we're into an European final!!!

 

[noikeee]

2027/2028 - The season is almost over but not just quite yet, update

 

Transfers

Long standing first team member Victor Maffeo left, as I've posted above a few posts ago. I have been busy lining up a few deals for next year, but we'll talk about it in due time.

 

 

 

We have found ourselves in the slightly bizarre situation of reaching an European final before winning any major domestic trophy in Greece - although we have been close, after finishing 2nd in the league in 2025 and 2026, having come 3rd last year, and having reached the cup final in 2026. I think we are not winning any Greek trophy this year neither, but the chance is still there - currently we find ourselves 5 points behind Olympiacos, and are about to face them. Win and the league is wide open again.

A key match was the entertaining 5-3 over Panathinaikos, in which we went 4-0 up almost to throw the match away, and which saw Julio Cesar score 3, Stefanov score 2 and Jairo Cardozo assist 4. With that one we passed Panathinaikos for 2nd place, although we nearly squandered it by losing to Kalamata right next. The other domestic match we lost was to Olympiacos, which doesn't bode super well for our chances of beating them at home and still snatching the title.

 

Edited August 3, 2022 by noikeee

[noikeee]

 

Not very exciting news, but it gives me hope that the new board won't just sell players for ****** fees behind my back, like the previous Egyptian president did a couple of times.

[noikeee]

2027/28 - The there's only one match left to end the season update

 

 

Ergotelis-Olympiacos, the one match that could either decide a champion or throw the title race wide open again..... I'm afraid it decided the champion. Much like the previous match against them, it was really tough, they were fired up, and eventually broke us down in the final minutes scoring twice. This mathematically crowned them champions and we were relegated to fighting Panathinaikos for the 2nd CL slot.

I had to rotate my side against PAOK, and it nearly cost us dearly there. We just about scrapped a 2-2 draw to go into the final match 1 point ahead of Pana.

And then on the final day, on what was essentially a Champions League playoff match, we won 5-1, that looks good doesn't it. Well it's totally misleading! Pana went 1-0 up through a penalty kick and we really struggled to get back into the match for a while, did equalise right before halftime, but then had to wait until their legs went in the final minutes and they completely disintegrated. We return to the Champions League qualifiers, let's see if this time we finally make the groups.

But before that... an European final ends the season.

 

Edited August 3, 2022 by noikeee

[noikeee]

Munich, 24th of May 2028 - Europa Conference League Final

 

 

 

 

 

First half

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minute 20: 20 minutes have gone by and absolutely nothing has happened!!

 

 

Minute 22: I spoke too soon! Tomiyasu wins the byline, crosses low for Julian Alvarez... GOAL FOR ARSENAL! 1-0!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minute 37: A very long run from deep by Saka... is dispossessed... the ball falls back to Odegaard... long throughball to Alvarez!! Saved by Panov!

 

 

Minute 39: We pass the ball around... suddenly Bamba plays a delicious throughball to Noreña who's into the area!! Parried by Ramsdale! David Samuel takes the rebound!!! Blocked!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minute 45: We ping it around in midfield.. suddenly free space down the right wing, Noreña crosses to the penalty area!! Shot and it's parried! Another shot and it's parried! El Ouali shoots again and it's tipped up for a corner!! Loads of mayhem and the equaliser so close!!

 

Minute 45: Jairo Cardozo takes the ensuing corner... GOAL FOR ERGOTELIS, 1-1!! Júlio César has headed it in!!

 

Half-time: Well this match started really poorly, then it looked like we had no chance as we went a goal down and we were doing nothing, and then suddenly in the last 10 minutes we burst to life. We're in the game here!

Edited August 3, 2022 by noikeee

[noikeee]

Second half

 

 

Minute 48: Tierney to Smith-Rowe, dances down the flank, gains the byline, crosses low... OH NO IT'S A HUGE MISTAKE BY MIRKO BUDAN! GOAL FOR ARSENAL, 2-1, it's an own goal!!!

 

 

 

Minute 50: Tierney to Smith-Rowe, crosses low, Alvarez is free!!! But he's tackled

 

 

 

 

Minute 55: Tomiyasu down the flank, passes it low to Saka... hacked by Bamba! The ref says it's a penalty!!!

 

VAR confirms it! Penalty for Arsenal!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GOAL FOR ARSENAL, 3-1! Alvarez has taken it! We really look up against it now!

 

 

 

 

 

Minute 65: Van Gestel plays a long ball out left for El Ouali... the Belgian WB gains the byline and crosses... back to the head of Van Gestel... HITS THE POST!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minute 80: By now we've replaced Noreña, Cardozo and David Samuel with Prekop, Jasarevic and Stefanov.

It's fullback-to-fullback, Tomiyasu, to Tierney. Crosses!! Alvarez heads wide!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Minute 85: Bamba to Prekop, finds El Ouali in the area... fires a low shot... saved by Ramsdale!

On the counter, Tierney crosses to Alvarez on the near post again!!! Tipped wide by Panov!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minute 88: Tomiyasu carries it... and carries it... super dangerous low cross to Bajrami.... wide!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minute 92: Arsenal keep it in the corner passing the ball around themselves... Tomiyasu crosses it... GOAL FOR ARSENAL, 4-1! It's found McNeil's head!

 

 

 

Full time: I'm afraid we were really outclassed this 2nd half. The pitch seems super wide in the Allianz Arena here, and the Arsenal fullbacks constantly found space to create danger down the flanks - we just didn't have an answer to that, neither their total different level of ability. I guess we still did push them hard in the 1st half, so I feel like the final result is kind of harsh.

 

[noikeee]

Oh **** off the BBC. We've "still" not won the competition.  Assholes.

[ManUtd1]

2 hours ago, noikeee said:

Oh **** off the BBC. We've "still" not won the competition.  Assholes.

[noikeee]

Squad stats

Top players:

5. David Samuel (ST) - There would've been a decent argument for including midfielder Jairo Cardozo here, with a couple late season excellent performances; or pacey striker Lyubomir Stefanov who was electric early season; or wingback Johann Norenã who had a cautiously promising first season for the club; or midfielder-sold-behind-my-backs Mateus who got 10 goals and 8 assists total. I'm going for January signing David Samuel, our most expensive buy ever, who got 8 goals and 5 assists in half a season. Not super amazing but solid, and the talent is here to become a key player for the club.

4. Svenne van Gestel (MC) - Average rating isn't super high but with 10 goals and 13 assists, Svenne continued to be heavily influential, specially late in the season. PSG will continue to loan him to us and I don't mind.

3. Júlio César (ST) - A pretty crappy first half of the season, but he exploded later on when I switched to the 4-4-2 diamond. Scored so many late on that he just about beat his record from the previous 2 seasons (finished on 19 goals instead of 18), also grabbing 9 assists.

2. Mirko Budan (DC) - Solid as a rock, the Croatian centerback got the highest rating in the side (7.34) and also scored 5 goals.

1. Yann Bamba (DM) - A monster season from our Ivorian DM who is now the highest rated player in the side by my staff. 11 assists is a glorious output for a DM even if he often took corners - the defence-splitting throughballs were there as well.

 

Youth intake

Holy ****, we actually have a 5 star potential player this time.

Michalis Nikolaou (DC, DM) - Wonderful DM in the making. His stats aren't super high just yet, but he's also just 15. Cypriot nationality. By absolute miles the best prospect we've had yet.

Giannis Karakostas (MC, AMC) - A lot less potential but decent midfielder in the making with high mental stats.

[noikeee]

Yay more upgrades

[deltablue]

It's a shame that you lost so heavily against Arsenal.

[noikeee]

Pre-season 2028/2029

Transfers

Two big sales this pre-season so far. Midfielder Camilo Rivera, brought in last year, had been disappointing, so he was shipped off back to Colombia for 1.3M€. And I hesitated but eventually accepted an offer for RB/RWB/CB Brandon Botero, leaving for Celta for 3.7M€. He had been magnificent 2 seasons ago, and always performed well, but had now been relegated to backup to Noreña on the right, and was blocking the progress of the superexciting Yulián Osorio, the yet another Colombian RB we had who has been chilling out on loan - it's time to bring him back.

The new faces:

Stelios Issaris (DC, DM, MC) - Let's start by some fringe, long-shot future prospects. I want to add to our Greek contingent for homegrown registation purposes so this kid that got relegated from Olympiacos was snapped up. He can read the game quite well but his physical skills are poor.

Lazaros Ntiniotis (GK) - A similar profile from this keeper who is now 3rd choice, but is good enough to serve as 2nd choice in Europe freeing up a registration slot.

Gabriele Cazzetta (ML, MC, AMC) - Onto the really exciting signings. I splurged 2.7M€ on this guy, which may have been slightly excessive given he only has 2 attributes at 15+, but he's such well rounded to pretty much play any of our attacking midfield roles, and we use 3 of those (the 2 mez's and the AMC). Also a EU national, which is something we've been lacking recently with all those Colombians pushing our squad registration boundaries.

Jan Rezek (GK) - Another young goalie, Czech, might be only 4th choice for now.

Ariel Pepe (MC, AMC) - With Rivera sold and Mateus' loan contract coming to an end, I needed depth in the midfield and snapped up this Argentinian with Italian 2nd nationality. Can really spot a pass but might otherwise be a touch below the standard of player required for now.

Ricardo Lugo (AML, AMC, AMR, ST) - THE signing of the window. I am super excited about the potential of this Colombian forward, who looks an absolute killer advanced forward. For now my staff don't quite agree with him 100% yet and rate him just below Júlio César and David Samuel - if anyway he merely performs to their level and doesn't prove to be an upgrade, it's still great to add depth to the attack, given the backups for those guys, Goethals and Stefanov, are limited players with all pace and little else.

Nil Álvarez (DM, MC, AMC) - Yet another mezzala kind of guy. Released from Barcelona's academy, there is something about this Catalan kid, he is feisty and can ping a great pass as well. For now I'm not sure he has a starting 11 spot just yet but he's in the mix.

 

 

What we have here is a very small incremental upgrade over last season, because we seem to have hit a small ceiling: players are wanting bigger and bigger wages to renew contracts, and we aren't growing enough financially to outspend in transfers simultaneously as we do this.

Nevertheless the team looked feisty in the 2nd half of last season after switching to the diamond tactic, and so I am positive we might finally grab 1 of the 3 big objectives that are just in front of us that we haven't achieved yet:

• to break into the Champions League group stage
• to win the league
• to win the cup

Winning one of the domestic trophies would be a major breakthrough I think, because of the reputation boost it would give us. We have a huge stadium since the beginning but not enough fans to fill it. We need to have the whole damn island attending our matches and people all around the world buying our shirts. Reaching an European final last year was great, but I believe in FM it's winning trophies that really gives a big rep boost.

Oh, and we're playing Dynamo Kyiv in the first playoff for the CL. We need to beat them and then go through another playoff to make the groups.

[noikeee]

 

Surely this HAS to be the year?

[noikeee]

 

 

Well, I guess this wasn't a problem. We totally dominated for right about 160 minutes until the final 20 minutes of the 2nd leg, by which time they were 5 goals down.

 

 

Surely, surely, this is the year we make it to the groups???

[noikeee]

 

 

 

First leg... was one of those days. We shot at goal A TON, but they parked the bus and their keeper had a great day, so almost nothing went in. Then their keeper hoofs it, it flies above our defenders' heads, falls onto the striker, 1-1. It finished like that and I took the plane to Belgium rather aprehensively...

... Thankfully, our finishing in Belgium was so, so much better. We've finally made the Group Stage of the Champions League!!

 

[noikeee]

 

The group could've been much, much worse. We were 4th seeds and could've had Man City-PSG-Inter; or Man Utd-Juventus-Atlético. I fancy our chances of at least coming 3rd and making it to the Europa League.

Edited August 13, 2022 by noikeee

[noikeee]

2028/2029 - Mid-season report

 

Transfers

We picked up a loanee at the very end of the Summer transfer window:

Sascha Flüthmann (DL, DR, WBR) - We have moved beyond the point we were heavily relying on loanees, and I've actively tried not to bring many or even any of them at all recently, but this looked like a good deal - we needed another player that could cover the fullback/wingback positions and this kid looks like he's going to be world class in a couple of years.

 

 

This season has been different - we look to have made a step forward. For a while we looked utterly unstoppable, and as of now we are yet to be beaten in the league, although we have conceded 4 draws. 3 of them have come recently, against the big boys of AEK, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, and so we have momentarily conceded to PAOK what had been a solid lead at the top of the table - only for PAOK to drop points and gift us back the lead. It looks as if we might have this year a golden opportunity to finally clinch our first league title, perhaps.

In Europe, in our first presence in the CL groups, we were so close to qualifying for the knockouts. We kicked off with an entertaining yet tight win over Porto, and then we smashed Anderlecht twice (4-1 4-0), in the mean time losing to Roma twice in 2 very close matches in which we were rather unlucky. Come the final match all we needed to do was not lose by more than 1 goal to Porto. But I think I made a serious squad management mistake - just days earlier we were facing Pana for a super important Greak Superleague match, so I repeated the first XI in both matches. I did rest them all in training for 1 day, but it was not enough to recover them - their legs were absolutely knackered in the final 30 minutes v Porto, we suddenly melted apart and were fortunate to only lose by 3.

We drop to the Europa League to face Hoffenheim, but although Europe has been particularly lucrative this season, I think it's time to kind of forget about it and back the domestic competitions at 100%. We need trophies, it's time to push for them.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile... a bunch of other different stuff.

First, facilities. We have done upgrades again.

 

Then, Van Gestel. Ridiculously, PSG have let us renew his loan yet again for next year - it'll be the 4th season after we sold him. This is turning out not anywhere near as bad a business as it first seemed (board sold him over my head for 6.75M€).

 

Finally, this year's intake is looking not too terrible...

[noikeee]

 

 

 

 

 

 

A legend moves on, after 4 and a half superb years for the club. He was having a glorious season, by far his best one yet, and half of Europe noticed...

[deltablue]

Tough luck just missing out in the CL, though I guess you don't mind doing so to Porto of all teams

[noikeee]

On 24/08/2022 at 13:44, deltablue said:

Tough luck just missing out in the CL, though I guess you don't mind doing so to Porto of all teams

It was definitely a prestigious way to drop out.  

[noikeee]

 

Focusing on the league and leaving the 2nd XI to play in Europe backfired in the 1st leg here. The backups were no match for Hoffenheim, and we were beaten 3-1.

Shockingly, we started the return match back in Germany in great form and by minute 23 we had tied everything. However, just 3 minutes later Noreña saw a red card for a bad tackle and our soilidity disintegrated. We are out of Europe and now truly 300% focused on the domestic trophies.

 

Meanwhile, more upgrades:

[noikeee]

2028/2029 - End of regular season update

 

Transfers

January was marked by the sensational news of the exit of forward Júlio César, out to Leeds United for 15M€. An absolute cornerstone of our attack for nearly 5 years, the Brazilian-German striker was having his best season yet and had tied his record of 22 goals in a season for the club, by mid-January. A huge loss that we attempted to compensate in the transfer market, by bringing in another Brazilian-German forward.

In January I also decided to sell winger/forward/wingback Christoph Goethals, back to Belgium for 850K€; and Bosnian defensive midfielder Aleksandar Dordevic, to Hamburg for 5M€. Both were fairly useful squad players but 3rd choice in their positions at the moment, and I wanted to cash in before their contracts came close to running out.

On deadline day, I made two signings:

Fábio (AML, AMC, ST) - Replacing Júlio César was no easy task, and after scouting a few affordable players it was clear none of them were a match for the guy that had gone. Another problem is he was a EU national, and we're already having to scramble a lot in terms of squad selection to only play 5 non-EU guys in the squad in domestic competitions. So a star EU national was a priority, and therefore I decided to absolutely smash the club record transfer fee, by paying 10M€ for this Brazilian teenager (also German, just like JC). More of a creator than a paceyboy like JC was, Fábio can either play the 2nd striker or the AMC, which is still convenient given we have 3 great pacey strikers in Lugo, David Samuel and Stefanov. Fábio has already started in magnificent form with 5 goals and 3 assists in 7 appearances.

Mitja Valencic (DC, DR) - This was a surprise opportunity that came up on deadline day. I didn't really need a 5th centerback, but this Slovenian guy simply looks AMAZING; and was pretty damn affordable for just 1.5M€.

 

 

We dropped out of Europe as reported earlier - fielding the 2nd XI against Hoffenheim might've been a mistake, but the focus right now HAS to be the domestic competitions.

That's because we retain 1st place in the league; and have also qualified for our 2nd cup final after totally wrecking 2nd division side Panserraikos in the semi-finals - Olympiacos are the opposition in the final in May. I remind you all that we're yet to win either competition, so this is really an absolutely critical step to the development of the club, and a box I really want to tick. However, success is definitely not guaranteed - we have lost our first league match of the season against Larisa in a 5-3 thriller, and PAOK are just 3 points behind us.

 

Edited August 27, 2022 by noikeee

[noikeee]

Bayern loanee Flüthmann is represented, and rightly so, because he has 13 assists already this season and is on course to become one of the world's best fullback/wingbacks.

Osorio plays in the same position (at least on the right - Flüthmann plays both wings) and is nominated in this list for the 2nd year in a row. He's a little behind in development but will get there too. Amusingly, neither player is part of our strongest 11 - I play El Ouali on the left and Noreña on the right.

Sascha Flüthmann profile

Yulián Osorio profile

[noikeee]

2028/2029 - End of season update

 

 

Turns out. The "close fight" for the league with PAOK wasn't close at all. They fell off a cliff with their results whilst we kept doing alright, and it was just a matter of time until we could seal it. Come the Panathinaikos match in late April, a win would do it... and a rare Yann Bamba goal won it for us. For the first time, the Greek title comes to Crete. Finally!!

 

Now, this was great, but what would make it even better would be the double. The cup final against Olympiacos started in a tough way, as we went a goal down, but soon we equalised through the inspired Ricardo Lugo. We had a period of several major chances, but couldn't pounce on the 2nd goal, and even missed a penalty kick through Ayoub El Ouali. Later on, the match shifted and we started to have problems - our legs were more tired than Olympiacos'. To stop the plunge into the abyss, I switched to a 4-3-3 with playmakers on the wing and kept the ball. And so the match went on and on and fizzled out for 120 minutes. It was going to penalties.

9 penalties had been scored. It comes to our centerback Ludger Schade... skied over the bar. That's the 2nd Greek cup final we lose...

 

 

Squad stats

Top 5 players:

I'm gonna have to cheat and not name Júlio César, who was way ahead on course to become player of the year, when he got poached by Leeds in January. Still ended up top scorer on 22 goals!

 

5. Lyubomir Stefanov (ST) - Not a starter, but his form on the first half of the season when he was playing in the league whilst the other folks rested for Europe, was just utterly terrifying - as exemplified by his 7.78 average rating, way ahead of everyone else in the squad. As the season went on he kinda stopped scoring as many and then got injured, but still, some really high highs. 18 goals, 5 assists. Honourable mention to David Samuel, the guy that pipped him to a starting position later on, who got 17 goals and 7 assists; to midfielder Svenne Van Gestel who got double figures on goal and assists (11 / 11); and to AMC Matus Prekop (can also play a variety of other positions), who really stole a first team slot this year (13 goals / 9 assists).

4. Johann Noreña (WBR, DR) - Our inconsistent rightback might not perform every week, but when he's on it... he just loooooves to ping a throughball. 13 assists - which is not the highest on the squad. Incredibly, Bayern loanee Sascha Flüthmann (usually playing LB) got 15, but he also put in a few stinker performances.

3. Ramón Navarro (DC) - Started the season horribly bad, but then forced his way through to the first team again and ended up with one of the highest average ratings in the squad at 7.37. I play him as ball-playing defender, but he could do a job as RB, as DM, or even as mezzala - he is the ultimate allrounder and just super talented.

2. Yann Bamba (DM) - Another class season from our ever reliable Ivorian DM. Could not replicate the crazy assists number from last year, but was so so solid (7.33 av.rat.) and remains rated by my staff as the most talented player in the squad.

1. Ricardo Lugo (ST) - The reason why we didn't miss Júlio César that much after January. Sort of a different player as I usually played JC as the advanced forward, Ricardo excelled more as the 2nd striker on CF/S role, largely thanks to his "plays throughballs" preferred move, but he can also be great as the AF. A superb first season for the club with 21 goals and 13 assists, and surely the world is for him to conquer in the coming years.

 

Youth intake

The expected "golden generation" didn't turn out that brilliant, but we do have a couple alright strikers in the making.

Thodoris Fragoulakis (ST) - 3+1 stars of potential, 14 at finishing, 15 acceleration, 13 off the ball, but not much else and also he's "fickle". Meh.

Giannis Peristeridis (ST) - I think his skills are a bit better balanced, but has half-a-star less of potential.

[deltablue]

Nicely done in the league.

[noikeee]

Pre-season 2029/2030

Transfers

There's... a decent amount of money flowing around at the moment. We sold 5 first team players: Gladbach came with a 13.75M€ bid for mezzala Jairo Cardozo which I took because I don't rate him that high; Liverpool paid wonderkid RB Yulian Osorio's release clause (sadly a rather low 8.75M€); I had to let Benjamin Jasarevic go because it was the last year of his contract and he wasn't doing that well (sold for just 800K); and centerback Mirko Budan, not that long ago a key man, went for 3.1M€ as we had a few too many CBs.

But perhaps the most emotional departure was Filippo Tripi, the club captain, and by now the only man above the age of 25 in this squad. Off to Espanyol for 5.25M€ because he wanted to go and I didn't want to **** him off. Farewell mate.

I also sold midfielder Ariel Pepe who was out on loan last year. Total incoming fees: 32.5M€. Nice profit. Because we only spent 10.75M€, albeit the list of signings is fairly long:

Vangelis Kazepidis (ST) - Mildly recommended by my scouts, this 16yo has decent potential but nothing special. Came on a free.

Li Jun (ML, AML, AMC, ST) - Also on a free, I intend to possibly sell him for profit, the Chinese nationality is valuable. Loaned out not to fill a non-EU slot.

Patricio Cuevas (DR, DM, MC, ML) - The first addition to the first team. This is a player that can pretty much do anything well but nothing great, I am thinking of him mostly as first backup to Bamba as DM/halfback but can also be adapted to leftback or centerback, has fairly good pace and wins aerial balls.

Joãozinho (DC, DR) - An absolute steal for a 300K fee, for now I let him stay for another year on loan in Portugal, but by the end of the season I want him to return and fill a first team slot, I think he'll soon start for us as centerback.

Adar Hadad (MC, AML, AMC, AMR) - I think this is the signing of this Summer, I expect him to slot into the first team straightaway, possibly as the MEZ/A though he could do other things. A physical monster (18 for jumping!!) and also technically gifted and can spot a pass.

Andreas Botten (ML, MC, AMC, AMR) - My scouts weren't excited about him but I am. A really well rounded player that could do anything although he mostly excels at bombing down the flank dribbling and crossing, I see him retrained to attacking fullback - but could do with a boost in pace.

Nemanja Mijatovic (DL) - My scouts liked this guy more but I'm not quite seeing it. Too slow for a fullback, could probably do more of a job as DM which is what I'm retraining him as. I still picked him up because, cheap and potential.

Matyas Ryska (AMC) - I possibly overpaid a little at 2.6M€ for him, he's an okay midfielder not quite excelling at anything but if he can improve his attributes by a couple of points suddenly he looks a lot better. Will be a squad player for now.

Anton Coles (ST, AMC, AMR) - At the end of August I was pursuing this monster Argentinian forward to upgrade our frontline, but the deal collapsed. Frustrated, I turned to the loan market and found this kid from Arsenal who's a bit of a pace merchant. I'll give him a chance, since he only has 5 senior appearances in his career I suspect his skills will skyrocket once he gets match experience - and he's already terrifying for Greek league levels.

 

Our squad looks like this now, the choice of first XI is a work in progress, there's a few different combos I could go with.

I think this is a small but promising upgrade, Hadad looks LIT; there might be something about Coles; Fábio and Valencic now being a bit more settled after 6 months at the club could perform better - though I worry a bit about Valencic, he hasn't put his talent on the pitch just yet, I think he's a bit soft as a CB with low aggression/bravery.

 

As for the Champions League group...

Tough one, honestly I don't think we're yet at a point we can surprise Real or Arsenal, I guess it might be Europa League time again.

This is the first year we don't have qualifiers because we've bloody won the league and went straight to the groups, so by the end of the transfer window we've not played a competitive match yet!

Edited September 7, 2022 by noikeee

[noikeee]

Nah I'm good thanks

[noikeee]

2029/2030 - Mid-season report

 

 

We ended up in the same position as last year in our Champions League campaign - just barely not making it out of the group. We started off with a honourable defeat at Madrid; beat Dinamo comprehensively; and then had possibly our worst European match (or any match) in a few seasons with a dismal 5-0 loss at the Emirates.

That match would cost us, because we then recovered. We somehow sneaked a lucky 1-0 win over Arsenal when we met them again; and demolished Dinamo 6-0 in Croatia, to set up a mildly impossible chance of comeback in the final Ergotelis-Real Madrid match. Near the end we were winning this, and on course for 12 points which usually is a slam dunk qualification except this time it wasn't - Real would equalise but had we beat them 1-0 we'd have still dropped out to the Europa League on goal difference.

At the end of this short lived campaign, I feel we're still one step behind being able to compete at this level, tactical tweaks might need to be done (I'm working on it) or progressive squad improvements. Nevertheless we continue in the EL to face Nice, a team that knocked us out of Europe a couple times years ago, but now I do think we are much stronger and should give

 

 

In Greece it's been mostly fine except for just 2 matches that we lost against PAOK and AEK, which mean AEK just about lead the table rather than us.

 

I am far more concerned about my dressing room than that slight handicap in the league though, far too many players have complained about lack of match time due to my rotation system, so I had to promise a few key players I'd play them more and I'm now resting them out of training constantly to have them fit for so many matches. I think I also clicked something wrong because I promised a couple things to new signing Adar Hadad that I have no intention of ever fulfilling, so that's an extra problem. It's just a more toxic dressing room environment than usual this year.

 

 

On the tactics board I've made some subtle changes to try to make us a bit better defensively, I've switched the MEZ-A with the MEZ-S to help out a bit on the wing we have the advanced RWB; this led to switching the forwards as well; and then I decided I wanted to be a bit more cautious with my LB too who has been made CWB/S instead of CWB/A.

One thing I've also toyed with is some kind of wide 4-3-3 (as I had in the earlier seasons of this career), in the tough matches to keep more solidity down the wings, I tried it in the CL but it led to the 5-0 spanking by Arsenal so quickly abandoned it again!

[noikeee]

Holy ****. He's not been THAT good for us, I'm a bit surprised by this.

[noikeee]

Wait, what? What takeover?  

We have a large financial reserve in the bank after the dealings of the Summer and our Champions League runs, so yeah we do have the money and this is nice, but this news item reasoning for increasing the budget seems wrong?

[noikeee]

Sold him to PSG 4 years ago, kept him on loan for his entire contract at PSG, then now hire him on a free when the contract is over.

 

[noikeee]

 

Very tricky first leg, but a few minor tactical adjustments through the 2nd match did the trick.

 

 

In theory I can still face all 3 big Portuguese sides here.

[noikeee]

2029/2030 - End of regular season report

 

Transfers

A turbulent January with some big transfers. We ended up selling 2 Belgian defenders that already had homegrown status after having been here for so long - centerback Sékou Gerbas went for 7M€ and leftback Ayoub El Ouali for a club record 16.75M€. The former had lost space in the team, and the later was starting to look a bit short of the level we wanted to be at, and I was hiring a new leftback this window anyway...

With so much cash in hand, I grabbed as many promising kids as I could.

Rudi Gravdehaug (WBR, MR, AMR, AML) - I don't really use wingers but a player this promising, at a cut price of 3M€, had to be snapped up - perhaps I'll turn him into a striker to use his pace. Kept on loan at his original club.

Damir Paunovic (DL, DC) - The new leftback. Has not played brilliantly just yet, but has the potential to be one of the best fullbacks in the world. Straight into the starting 11 at the age of 18.

Peter Uljaky (ST) - I really didn't have space in the squad for another striker, but again, this was a crazy good deal to get him for 975K€. Either footed 18yo on the first steps of the road to superstardom.

Dorian Grossbötzl (DC, DM) - Perhaps I overpaid on this one (6M€), because he's a level below what we need right now, but he looks like the right profile of centerback. Might be rather handy in a couple years time.

Patryk Podgórski (DL) - Hey look, another fullback. If he can up his pace 2 or 3 notches he'll be a star as my scouts promise. If not he won't be. Kept on loan at his original club.

 

A swashbuckling January, and later we finally overtook AEK for first by beating them, but we finish the regular league season with a shock 1-4 home defeat. I'm IR'ing most matches, not too sure what the hell happened on that one.

The good news is we continue in Europe as I've shown above, we just about hold onto the league table lead, and are into another Greek Cup final, an all-Crete final as we'll face OFI. Perhaps this time we might finally grab that trophy!

[noikeee]

 

A good start in the 1st leg carried us here, Sporting got increasingly dangerous through the rest of the 1st match, scored early in the 2nd and we just about contained them through the rest.

 

We return to the Europa League quarter-finals after a presence here 3 years ago when we got beaten by Barcelona. This time we face slightly easier opposition in Valencia, let's see what can we do.

[metallimuse]

A great read and great progress you've made 

I've been toying with the idea of a Greek or Turkish save next game cycle so this may well just sway me over to having a bash there as my BETA save.

[noikeee]

9 hours ago, metallimuse said:

A great read and great progress you've made 

I've been toying with the idea of a Greek or Turkish save next game cycle so this may well just sway me over to having a bash there as my BETA save.

Cheers!

I've done Turkey before and find it harder than Greece. In Greece, the foreign player limits can be annoying, but you can still hire from within the EU with no restrictions. In Turkey, there is only a small amount of foreigners you can hire. Any foreigners. The rest have to be native Turkish...

The rest of the teams are in the same boat, but it's harder to build a squad and much harder to break into the higher levels in Europe. On the other hand, there's probably a little bit more money in the league.

[noikeee]

SIX of our players! That's how much young talent we have in our squad now.

Patricio Cuevas (3rd)
Damir Paunovic (6th)
Peter Uljaky (10th)
Rudi Gravdehaug (15th)
Joãozinho (35th)
Nemanja Mijatovic (50th)

[noikeee]

 

We were very lucky in the 1st leg. Valencia outclassed us, but somehow we got the equaliser out of nowhere at the very end.

The 2nd leg was a whole different story. They scored first, but we grew into the match and really looked alive in the 2nd half. Onto the semi-finals! The furthest we've gone in this competition.

 

 

Oooof, tough. Man Utd stand in our path to reaching our 2nd European final - remembering that we made the final of the Conference 2 years ago.