[FM23-24] How Is Our Trophy Case Still Empty - Crystal Palace

[keeper#1]

13 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

Good Luck with this. It sounds a lot like the season I just finished with Schalke04. "Basketball on Grass" I like it and might even use it.

I've noticed some large gaps in the central midfield especially in the defensive phase that I need to figure out how to close.  The MEZ (s) stays too high - almost up with the forward three - when the opposition has a goal kick.  The CM (s) drops back to midfield line and we have a big gap that opposition uses to start their attack.  We can't set up our press because the initial pass goes over the initial press.  If I can get that MEZ (s) to drop off the forward line on goal kicks, I can hopefully improve our press and help our defense.

[SixPointer]

15 hours ago, keeper#1 said:

I've noticed some large gaps in the central midfield especially in the defensive phase that I need to figure out how to close.  The MEZ (s) stays too high - almost up with the forward three - when the opposition has a goal kick.  The CM (s) drops back to midfield line and we have a big gap that opposition uses to start their attack.  We can't set up our press because the initial pass goes over the initial press.  If I can get that MEZ (s) to drop off the forward line on goal kicks, I can hopefully improve our press and help our defense.

Could you ask the mezz to man mark a zone on his PI? Not something I have done before personally but would be worth playing around with. May help him drop into the line for the initial kick but no blunt what you won’t from him in attack. 

[keeper#1]

September 2030 - Barely Holding On

It may not look like we are struggling since we are sitting in 3rd place with a +11 goal difference but when you look at the results, we are starting to struggle.  The offense is just not clicking like it was in August.  Some of that could be because we are playing better opposition but even against weaker opponents, it's becoming harder and harder to score.  On the whole, Chelsea are proving to be the club to beat this season and are already putting some daylight between themselves and the rest of the league.  At the bottom, Burnley are struggling with just two goals in eight matches.  Swansea and Brighton are looking like potential relegation candidates but I said that about Swansea last season before they performed their great escape in the second half of the season.

Crystal Palace 3 Leeds 2: A poor first half showing from our defense gave us just a 3-2 lead and we needed a first-half extra time goal to maintain the advantage.  The team played much better in the second half and kept Leeds out of our net to preserve the victory.

Crystal Palace 0 Celtic 3 (Champions League):  A terrible showing in Scotland as Celtic outperforming us for the entire match.  3-0 was a generous scoreline.

Crystal Palace 1 Arsenal 0: A very even match saw us escape Arsenal on the right side of the 1-0 score.

Swansea 1 (5) Crystal Palace 1 (4) Carabao Cup: A match that we completely dominated but lost on penalties to Swansea.  We could do everything but put the ball in the back of the net.  A gutting defeat on penalties.

Aston Villa 0 Crystal Palace 0: We got a lot of shots off in this match but a lot of them were low-percentage attempts on net which were easily saved by the Aston Villa goalkeeper.  A disappointing 0-0 draw in match that we controlled.

Five goals in five matches playing with three forwards - not very good.

[keeper#1]

11 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Could you ask the mezz to man mark a zone on his PI? Not something I have done before personally but would be worth playing around with. May help him drop into the line for the initial kick but no blunt what you won’t from him in attack. 

I may give this a try.  My only worry is the mezz tracks all the way back into the defensive half of the pitch following his marker which puts him out of position when we transition from defense to offense.

[keeper#1]

October 2030 Update - Back on the Grind

A Abtough set of matches has seen us dip into 5th place.  Not overly concerned since we are still in touch with the top teams in the table.  Chelsea has lost of the daylight between themselves and the rest of the league.  The bottom of the table still sees Burnley and Swansea without wins as the calendar turns to November but they are still within striking distance of getting out of the relegation places with a couple of wins.  

We switched back to the 4-3-3 wide formation.  It just suits the roster better and it brings us some balance.  Just gotta make sure we don't get to defensive minded and play with attacking intent.

Rennes 0 Crystal Palace 3 (Champions League): We did to Rennes what Celtic did to us.  We put them to task right from the opening whistle and scored two late goals to give the 3-0 score line that we deserved from this match.

Crystal Palace 0 Newcastle 2: Newcastle got to face a very tired Crystal Palace squad after their Champions League match and took complete advantage.  A 2-0 defeat to Newcastle is exactly what our play from this match deserved.  Thoroughly outclassed from beginning to end.

Manchester United 2 Crystal Palace 2: When Martinez scored in second half stoppage time, I really thought we had won this match and scored a massive three points against a title rival but Manchester United came right back with a stoppage time goal of their own to tie the match and poach a point from the match.  Gutting draw.

Crystal Palace 1 Real Madrid 1 (Champions League): Another tough to take as we held a 1-0 lead for most of the match before Real tied it late.  We are getting good performances from the squad but the results don't show it.  Newcastle-United-Real Madrid is a tough stretch of matches especially with two of those matches on the road.

Bournemouth 0 Crystal Palace 1: Absolutely dominant performance against Bournemouth.  The 1-0 score does not do it justice.  We just completely dominated the match.  But struggled to find the back of the net.  Raskovic made sure the home fans went home happy with a late goal to capture all three points.

[SixPointer]

13 hours ago, keeper#1 said:

I may give this a try.  My only worry is the mezz tracks all the way back into the defensive half of the pitch following his marker which puts him out of position when we transition from defense to offense.

Hopefully by FM24 we will be able to achieve stuff like this, much simpler anyway. There is talk of positional play  

[keeper#1]

November 2030 Update - Starting To Come Together

It doesn't show it in the standings but we have improved from September and October.  Our play is becoming a lot more fluid and our defense has been solid.  I'm encouraged that if we keep this way that our table standing will improve.  It's tight at the top.  Need to find a way to beat the teams at the top to get to the top.  It's a real seven-team pillow fight for the three relegation slots.

Crystal Palace 1 Brentford 0: Jesus (Martinez) saves Crystal Palace with a late stoppage time goal to earn a 1-0 victory.

Crystal Palace 3 Ajax 2 (Champions League): A back and forth affair in Amsterdam.  Crystal Palace score three second half goals to earn a 3-2 victory.  Palace held a 2-1 lead allowed Ajax to tie before scoring the game winner.

West Ham 0 Crystal Palace 2: A dominant performance against West Ham.  17 year old left back Alex Thornber scored his first goal for Palace and Raskovic added a second goal right before the half time whistle as Palace cruised to a 2-0 victory.

Crystal Palace 3 Burnley 0: Another dominant performance.  Three second half goals propelled Palace to the victory.

Bayern Munich 0 Crystal Palace 0 (Champions League): Two good offenses nullified by defense in a 0-0 draw which saw plenty of shots on goal.  A solid performance against a good German side.

Crystal Palace 0 Manchester City 3: Manchester City ruined our chances of an undefeated month by carving our defense apart in a 3-0 game.  

[keeper#1]

December 2030 - Moving On Up

A great month saw us move up from 6th to 3rd place (a place that we are very familiar with).  We started strong and then limped home in the last two matches but we are hanging with the big boys like we always do.  Just need to find a way to beat them instead of just hanging with them.  Brentford has been the surprise outfit, this season, in 7th place and has some daylight between themselves and Manchester City.  West Brom and West Ham have moved up and turned the seven-team relegation fight into a five-team fight.  Swansea got hot and moved out of the relegation zone.  It's going to go all the way to the last match day of the season at both the top and bottom of the table.

Chelsea 2 Crystal Palace 4: Offense clicking on all cylinders as we jumped out to a 2-0 and then 3-1 leads before finishing the match off with a 4-2 victory.

Crystal Palace 2 West Brom 0 - West Brom played well for about 10 minutes before allowing us to dominate the last 80 minutes of the match as we scored two second half goals to earn a 2-0 victory.

Crystal Palace 1 Monaco 0 (Champions League): A great back and forth European affair which saw us earn a second half penalty which was converted by Dundar and that goal was the only goal of the match.

Everton 0 Crystal Palace 3: Everton's defense kept us at bay for the first half but our offense proved to be too much as we scored three second half goals including two by Brajan Gruda as the defense runs it's scoreless streak to three matches.

Crystal Palace 2 Middlesbrough 0: Defense is placing a wall over the net as the scoreless streak goes to four matches.  The offense scores a goal in each half en route to a very professional 2-0 victory.

Liverpool 0 Crystal Palace 1: Charlie Patino scores a first half goal.  The defense keeps the opposition away from our net.  We continue our hot streak with a 1-0 victory over Liverpool.

Crystal Palace 0 Aston Villa 2: Our shutout streak came to an end as Aston Villa used the counter attack to score a goal in each half and end our winning streak.

Arsenal 2 Crystal Palace 0: We dominated this match against Arsenal everywhere but on the scoreboard.  Arsenal score two second half counter attack goals and suddenly we have a potential losing streak on our hands.

Forgot to grab the stats screen grabs.

[keeper#1]

January 2031 - Steamrolling January

Things are starting to tighten at the top of the table.  Arsenal and Newcastle are proving to be the class of the league.  We sit just behind them in a pack with Leicester (how did they get here), Chelsea (who have fallen off since their hot start), Manchester City and Brentford (another question of how they got here).  From there, it some distance to the Manchester United-Liverpool-Everton rivalry.  The relegation fight is still breathing and still trying to drag teams into the fight.  A three-way tie between Brighton, Bournemouth and Middlesbrough is interesting and it could come down to goal difference on the final day.  Burnley, Swansea, and West Ham should not breathe easy.  A couple of bad results and they will be dragged deeper into the relegation fight.

Crystal Palace 1 Manchester United 0: Finally we get on the winning end of one of these matches against a big club.  Abreu got us an early lead and the defense did a great job holding on to it.

Newcastle 1 Crystal Palace 0: The exact opposite of the Manchester United match, we gave up the early goal and couldn't break through the Newcastle defense.

Huddersfield 0 Crystal Palace 3 (3rd Round FA Cup): The reserves absolutely batter the Championship side Huddersfield to advance to the 4th round of the FA Cup.

Crystal Palace 4 Liverpool 1: A well-rested group of starters score four goals in the last 22 minutes of the match to pound Liverpool 4-1.

Dinamo Zagreb 0 Crystal Palace 4 (Champions League): Completely outclass Dinamo Zagreb to continue our push to the top 8 and a bye into the Champions League Round of 16.

Tottenham 0 Crystal Palace 2: Defense led the way in this contest.  Never led the Spurs offense get close to our goal and chipped in with a set piece goal to claim a 2-0 victory.

Gladbach 1 Crystal Palace 4 (Champions League): Another strong second half effort from the offense with four second-half goals as Crystal Palace claims a spot in the top eight and earns that bye into the Champions League Round of 16

 

 

Two players joined us in the January transfer window including one absolute stud of a defender.

Italian center back Marco Cappelli joins us from the Saudi Pro League.  Absolute unit in the center of the defense.  His wages demands caused us to sell a couple of players but he is worth it and he cost the low price of 22 million pounds.

Reece Evans is a young right-back from West Ham to help us build up some depth there and he's an English player as well to help those numbers.

Transfers Out

 

[Hootieleece]

Cappelli looks like a player to build a backline around.

KUTGW!

Great seeing the Manchester clubs in trouble.....not so much Liverpool though!

 

 

[keeper#1]

February 2031 - Hammertime

It's getting down to the business end of the season and we are right in the fight.  In a tie with Newcastle and just two points behind league leader Arsenal.  The three clubs have put some daylight between ourselves at the pack queuing up behind us.  Manchester City has righted their ship and moved back into the European fight.  Manchester United and Liverpool are still struggling to get into the fight - especially Liverpool.  They are rapidly fading into the mid-table.  The bottom of the table is shaping up to be four teams for three relegation slots.  I can't say who will go down and who will stay up it's just that close.

Crystal Palace 4 Everton 2:  First of two straight matches against Everton.  We put them to task in the league matchup as our starters just overpowered their squad.  Our defense allowed two soft goals which made the final score 4-2 instead of 4-0.

Everton 0 Crystal Palace 1 (FA Cup 4th Round); The reserves peppered the Everton net with shots but only one found the back of the net but that was all we needed to advance to the 5th round.

West Brom 0 Crystal Palace 3: Our starters, fresh from a week off, jumped on the board early.  Youngster Ibrahim Kamara 30A scored his first ever senior goal to make the final score 3-0.

Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 0: Yakup Dundar scored a penalty in first half stoppage time and the defense turned away Chelsea attack after Chelsea attack in the second half to claim a 1-0 victory.

Champions League

We get to face an opponent that we have never faced before in Europe and arguably the weakest club that advanced to the round of 16.

Some tough matchups here:  Arsenal-Manchester City, Manchester United-PSG, even Real Madid-Newcastle is a tough draw.

[keeper#1]

1 hour ago, Hootieleece said:

Cappelli looks like a player to build a backline around.

KUTGW!

Great seeing the Manchester clubs in trouble.....not so much Liverpool though!

 

 

I'm really pleased to bag Cappelli.  Shout out to my scouts for finding him.

[rich ruzzian]

Kopenhagen looks beatable. 

[keeper#1]

March 2024 - At The Top

With just six matches remaining in the season, we have worked our way to the top of the table.  If Arsenal win their game in hand, they will be three points behind us and one point behind Newcastle still in third place.  This could finally be the season where we break out of our rut of 3rd place finishes and get into the top two or even lift the trophy again.  Realistically, only four team have a shot at the title: Newcastle, Arsenal, Leicester and ourselves.  If the top eight earn tickets to Europe, like the league has earned most seasons, Two of these four clubs will be left out of Europe: Chelsea, Manchester United, Everton or Liverpool.  The relegation fight is down to four teams: Bournemouth, Burnley, Middlesbrough and Brighton.  Everything should come down to the final match day.

In the Champions League, we were able to blank Kobenhaven over the two legs to make another trip to the quarterfinals.

Crystal Palace (2) Sheffield United 2 (4) (FA Cup 5th round): The reserves gave away leads of 1-0 and 2-1 which led to penalty kicks against Sheffield United.  They triumphed 4-2 on penalties to knock us out of the FA Cup.

Crystal Palace 3 FC Kobenhavn 0 (Champions League Round of 16 Leg 1): An absolutely dominant European performance in Denmark.  A 3-0 victory puts us completely in charge of the tie heading into the second leg.

Crystal Palace 3 West Ham 2: The Crystal Palace cast off, Jacob Greaves and Ebere Eze, scored both of West Ham's goals.  We needed a goal from Jesus Martinez late in stoppage time to claim a 3-2 win.

FC Kobenhavn 0 Crystal Palace 2 (Champions League Round of 16 Leg 2): We rested some starters so we could be in peak condition for the Manchester City match just a few days later.  The squad was still able to win the tie and keep the sheet clean.

Manchester City 0 Crystal Palace 1: Harvey Elliott scored a goal in the opening minute.  The defense played lights out to earn a clean sheet.  Crystal Palace keeps on rolling with a 1-0 victory.

Burnley 0 Crystal Palace 3: Bottom of the table Burnley was no match for high-flying Crystal Palace.  Three goals by three different players as Palace rolled to a 3-0 win.

Our opponent in the quaterfinals will be Nice from Ligue 1.  We've only played them once in a pre-season friendly.  It should be a tough quarterfinal but one where I favor us to win.

We definitely dodged all the big boys in the quarterfinal draw considering we were the first team out of the hat.  All the other draws feature historical European heavyweights.

 

[keeper#1]

April 2031 - Near The Mountaintop

We have just four matches remaining in the season and we have a one-point lead over Newcastle but have a game in hand on Newcastle.  Arsenal sit our traditional 3rd place position with Leicester in fourth.  These four teams have Champions League football all but sewn up.  Manchester City has rebounded in the second half of the season to move up into 5th place and Brentford are in 6th place but could be in a dog fight with Chelsea once Chelsea plays their game in hand.  Manchester United or Liverpool will not be in Europe next season and the club that is in Europe will be in the Europa Conference.  It's down to four teams for relegation and I still can't tell you who is getting relegated and who is staying up.

Crystal Palace 3 Bournemouth 0: We jumped on Bournemouth early scoring three first half goals.  We went into cruise control in the second half and rested some players for the Champions League Quarterfinal in just a few days time.

Nice 2 Crystal Palace 0 (Champions League Quarterfinal Leg 1): We controlled the play and the ball for the entire game.  Nice scored two goals on the counterattack and kept us out of their net to take a 2-0 lead back to the south of France.

Crystal Palace 3 Nice 0 (Champions League Quarterfinal Leg 2): Brajan Gruda scored two first-half goals to tie the match.  Vicente Roldan gave us the lead late in the match.  The defense preserved the victory and we advanced to the Champions League semifinals.

Brentford 0 Crystal Palace 1: Gruda kept up his hot form with a first-half goal that was the difference between us and Brentford.  The train keeps rolls with a 1-0 victory.

Inter Milan 0 Crystal Palace 4 (Champions League Semifinal Leg 1): Harvey Elliott got us the lead in the first half.  We piled on the pressure in the second half and poured in three more goals.  A four-goal advantage heading to the San Siro.

 

[keeper#1]

[Hootieleece]

What a Final! Let's see this out.

CP for the win!

 

[keeper#1]

End of Season recap coming later tonight.

[keeper#1]

End of Season Notes

I'm now the most successful American manager passing Bruce Arena

Full end of season update coming tomorrow afternoon.  The college football tonight is just too good since I've on the field hockey all day.

[Alejandro_FM]

Kudos on a great season! Nice to follow along. 

Your thread overall reminded me of what a whirlwind the EPL is in the game. Seems like in your 9 seasons there have been 4-5 different champions. Hard to imagine that happening in any of the other top leagues. And the competition remains fierce despite your solid transfers and tactical adjustments. 

All the ingredients for a good long term save... 

[keeper#1]

End of Season 2030-31 Update - Double The Fun

It took until the last day of the season but we did it!  We won the Premier League for the second time under my management.  We won our last match and Newcastle drew so the point spread was four points in the end.  We are sending a lot of teams to Europe.  

Champions League (6): Crystal Palace (champions), Newcastle (runners-up), Arsenal (3rd place), Leicester (4th place), Manchester City (5th place - UEFA Coefficient Team), Chelsea (6th place but Europa League Champion)

Europa League (2): Manchester United (7th place but highest place team not in the Champions League), Aston Villa (Europa Conference Champion)

Europa Conference (1): Brentford (8th place but highest place team not in the Champions or Europa League)

At the bottom of the table, Brighton, Middlesbrough and Bournemouth head back down into the Championship.  Swansea survive for another season.  Burnley survive on just 25 points but in 17th place.  Liverpool and Totterham were the big clubs in the "Icky middle."  Liverpool with their 9th place finish and Tottenham down in 13th.

Crystal Palace 0 Leicester 1: Leicester and Crystal Palace met in a battle of top 4 teams.  Leicester, behind Tyler Dibling, scored in the second half and kept the high-powered Palace offense at bay.  Palace lose ground in the race for the title while Leicester solidify their top 4 place.

Crystal Palace 0 Inter 2 (Champions League Semifinal Second Leg): Crystal Palace rested a bunch of starters so they would be fresh for the league encounter with Leeds.  Inter score twice but Palace claim the 4-2 aggregate victory.

Leeds 0 Crystal Palace 2: Some unsung heroes got in the goalscoring act against Leeds.  Sebastian Rosfeldt, who leads the team with assists, got his fourth goal of the assist.  Harvey Elliott, who has thrived out on the right wing, doubled Crystal Palace's advantage and claim the 2-0 victory.

Swansea 0 Crystal Palace 5: Harvey Elliott scored in his second straight match and led the Crystal Palace onslaught as Palace hammered Swansea, 5-0.

Crystal Palace 2 Brighton 0: Brighton never got a good look at the Crystal Palace net as Palace scored twice to claim the title and lift the trophy.

Manchester United 0 Crystal Palace 2 (Champions League Final): Palace do the Champions League-Premier League double by pounding Manchester United into dust.  All of Manchester United's shots come from out the prime scoring zone and Crystal Palace flood the United net with shots to claim the trophy.

Defender of the Year: CB Jean-Clair Tobido

Midfielder of the Year: CM Nikola Roskovic 12 goals 10 assists

Forward of the Year: CF Jesus Martinez 15 goals 8 assists

[Rikulec]

Great season. 

[Hootieleece]

I didn't realize this wasn't your first Champion's League win.

Great Double!

[keeper#1]

2 hours ago, Rikulec said:

Great season. 

Thank you.

1 hour ago, Hootieleece said:

I didn't realize this wasn't your first Champion's League win.

Great Double!

Thank you.  Yeah, we caught fire and got the right draw in the CL a few seasons ago and got lucky.  

Edited September 24, 2023 by keeper#1

[keeper#1]

Summer 2031 - Do Something!

By our standards, it was a very quiet summer transfer window.  We only brought in two new players.  Mike Maignan, the 35-year old starter for the French National Team and AC Milan, joins us as Alisson's replacement.  We need some English talent to meet some registration requirements.  So, we again turn to Italy and bring Josh Hope home.  Hope started his career at Sunderland before hooking up with Inter Milan where he scored 14 goals in Serie A last season.  On the international stage, he has four goals in his eight appearance for the England National Team.  He will come to us as a rotational option at both the center forward and center midfield positions.  He will see plenty of playing time for us this season.

We shipped a lot of talent out to other clubs.  All of these were players who were in rotational positions that were on big salaries which could be filled by younger talent from the U21 team.  We will miss their experience but we will not miss their salaries.

Riding high in a tie on points for first place and only trail Newcastle due to goal difference.  I'm quite pleased with how things shook out this month.  13 goals in five goals and only two goals allowed.  Manchester City's offense has been clicking on all cylinders and then some with 22 goals in five matches.  They have beaten Aston Villa 5-1 and Swansea 9-1?!?!?!?  But in between lost to Everton 3-1.  Too soon to call the relegation fight.  Need more matches to see how things could shake out.

Arsenal 2 Crystal Palace (Community Shield): Arsenal took advantage of their chances and we did not. They took the lead and we pressed for the tying goal which allowed them to double their advantage on the counter.  The Community Shield is an event that I'm not destined to win.  0-3 in the shield thus far.

Crystal Palace 4 West Brom 0: We took our Community Shield frustrations out on West Brom.  Completely dominated them from beginning to end.  Nikola Raskovic led the way with a hat trick.

Crystal Palace 2 Chelsea 1 (UEFA Super Cup): Victory in the Super Cup.  Vsail Andonov opened the scoring with a thunderous shot from outside the box.  Chelsea tied the match but Yakup Dundar quickly gave us the advantage again.  Defense held firm in the second half to claim the trophy - my 10th trophy of the save.

Crystal Palace 1 Sunderland 0: No hangover from lifting the Super Cup.  Center back Jean Clair Todibo scored the lone goal in the 1-0 victory.

Reading 1 Crystal Palace 4: A well rested squad showed Reading what they are made of.  Four goals from four different goal scorers.  Reading ruined the shutout with a goal on the counter attack.

Everton 1 Crystal Palace 3: Everton played well and kept the score 1-1 until late in the second half.  Then, we poured in two goals so the home fans could go home happy with a 3-1 victory.

Crystal Palace 1 Manchester United 0: A tough match between two of the top teams in Europe.  Yakup Dundar broke the deadlock in the 80th minute and Palace returned to London with a 1-0 win.

 

Another tough slate in the Champions League.  Trips to Madrid, Milan and Dortmund highlight the schedule.  It's a weird schedule.  Home for match days 1-2 and 7-8 but on the road for match days 3-6.

 

[keeper#1]

September 2031 Update - Where's the Defense?

It doesn't look like it from the league table but our defense has been struggling all month.  On the flip side, the offense has been clicking to overcome the leaky defense.  Some of the goals allowed can be attributed to our starting goalkeeper fracturing his finger in practice but the back four has been helping keep the defense away from our net.  The league could quickly become a four=horse race between ourselves the two Manchester clubs and Newcastle.  Burnley is rapidly becoming the weak spot in the league with a trio of teams on just four points.  I don't expect Arsenal to stay in the bottom half of the table for long.  But they are off to a very slow start.  They have played the goalscoring machine in Manchester City but have also allowed four goals against Everton.  Strange things going on there.

Burnley 1 Crystal Palace 3: We controlled 95% of the this match scoring three goals including two by winger Fabiano Abreu.  Burnley had one real attack into our area and scored a goal from it.  100% efficiency but not a lot of chances.

Real Madrid 2 Crystal Palace 2 (Champions League League Phase): A great game between two good teams.  I thought we had the three points wrapped up but Real scored late in stoppage time to turn a Crystal Palace win into a draw.

Crystal Palace 1 Tottenham 2: Team still hungover from the Real Madrid draw.  Never really in this match.  Jesus Martinez scored late to give us some false hope and we still fall to Spurs 2-1.

Watford 1 Crystal Palace 3 (Carabao Cup 3rd Round): Confidence building win over Championship Watford.  This game was never in doubt as the rotation pieces earned us the 3-1 victory.

Leeds 1 Crystal Palace 2: Another very dominant performance by starters but we could not efficiently put the ball in the net.  Leeds had one chance and converted to tie the match.  Fabio scored on another set piece to earn us the victory.

Crystal Palace sweep the top three places in the FIFA U21 Player of the Year voting.  Jesus Martinez claims the title.

[Hootieleece]

Keep at it. Defense might be helped if you change the partnerships sometimes. Look at the Attributes for the role and look at all the players at the club. Make sure to keep the Gunners down in the Relegation Brawl.

 

 

[keeper#1]

October 2031 - Sitting On Top

A surging Tottenham has seen them move into the Top Four and Manchester City and slid down to fifth place.  Other than Arsenal still down in 15th place, the league is playing out as expected thus far in the season.  Burnley already setting themselves up to be relegated with Fulham, Swansea (AGAIN!), Brentford and Reading all in the relegation fight as well.  

Sporting 0 Crystal Palace 4 (Champions League League Phase): Sporting came to London in hopes of winning.  Nikola Raskovic made sure that did not happen scoring a hattrick.  Henrik Sverre Heltne Nislen added a fourth goal to make the final score 4-0.

Crystal Palace 3 Brentford 1:  Three different goalscorers, including Lubomir Kucera with a debut goal, led the way in a rout of Brentford

Newcastle 0 Crystal Palace 2:  Newcastle made a strong push late in the first half and early in the second half but could not score.  Vicente Roldan broke the deadlock and advanced us to a 2-0 victory.

Crystal Palace 2 Dinamo Zagreb 2 (Champions League League Phase): We gave the kids some run in the Champions League in Zagreb and they responded.  Ibrahim Kamara 30A opened the scoring and Josh Hope ran his goal scoring streak to three games en route to the 2-0 victory.

Liverpool 0 Crystal Palace 0: Liverpool played with only 10 men for almost an hour and we could never find the back of the net in a disappointing 0-0 draw.

Tottenham 0 Crystal Palace 1 (Carabao Cup 4th Round): Kids get some more run in the Carabao Cup and they responded with another victory, this time, over Tottenham 1-0.

[Hootieleece]

What's up with Arsenal?

[keeper#1]

1 hour ago, Hootieleece said:

What's up with Arsenal?

For some reason, they had a really rough start to the season but they seem to be righting the ship.  But also, Brendan Rodgers is in charge so who knows what will happen.

I had this news come to my attention.  We are, currently, in a transfer embargo.

[Hootieleece]

2 hours ago, keeper#1 said:

But also, Brendan Rodgers is in charge so who knows what will happen.

No wonder.  

[keeper#1]

November 2031 Update - Ties?  We Got 'Em

The month was a month of ties and bad defense.  The defense has an issue with staying fit between matches.  I have to heavily rotate the defense when we get into these stretches where we are playing two tough matches a week.  There really wasn't any let up this month.  Tough match after tough match.  We grinded out a win against Manchester City and then rattled off four straight draws before finally running out of gas against Arsenal, whose resurgence continued with a 3-0 victory against us.  Just a tough month with not a lot to show for it.

Crystal Palace 2 Manchester City 1: Our best match of the month.  We jumped on Manchester City in the first half to take a 2-0 lead.  They had lots of quality chances and our goalkeeper stood on his head.  We held Haaland, who is playing out of his mind, to just one goal en route to the 2-1 victory.

Crystal Palace 2 Atletico Madrid 2 (Champions League League Phase): Thought this was going to be three points but a stoppage time gut punch which turned the win into a draw.

Leicester 1 Crystal Palace 1: A match where we dominated but couldn't score.  Leicester put in an early second half goal to earn the 1-1 draw.

Crystal Palace 2 Chelsea 2: We need to comeback from both 1-0 and 2-1 to earn this 2-2 draw.

Crystal Palace 1 Inter Milan 1 (Champions League League Phase): We were lucky to escape Italy with a draw and Milan completely outplayed us.  

Crystal Palace 0 Arsenal 3: Arsenal did what Milan couldn't: completely dominate us on the field and on the scoreboard.  A 3-0 loss to the Gunners stings.

All the ties have not really impacted our league standing.  We sit a close second behind Newcastle with the two Manchester clubs sitting behind both of us followed by Tottenham and Liverpool.  It's a tight top six.  Arsenal are continuing to move up the table and now sit in 9th place but you can see how that slow start has really hurt them in the standings.  The bottom of the table is starting to take shape with four or five clubs setting up at the bottom.  Will Swansea be able to pull off another great escape?  They've been hanging on by the skin of their teeth every season but, right now, it looks like they are starting to run out of magic.

[13th Man]

It appears the trophy case isn’t quite so empty anymore, eh?

Skimmed through to catch up, so forgive me if I missed a write up, but saw that you took some inspiration from the Coiled Spring. Did it work out, or did you move away from the general idea?

Also saw you grabbed Xavi Simons he was fantastic for me at PSV before being snatched by Chelsea at the end of the 2026/2027 season for €74m!

Anyway, great work getting CP to the big time. Especially fun to finish my catching up following CP’s real life win over Man U

[keeper#1]

3 hours ago, 13th Man said:

It appears the trophy case isn’t quite so empty anymore, eh?

Skimmed through to catch up, so forgive me if I missed a write up, but saw that you took some inspiration from the Coiled Spring. Did it work out, or did you move away from the general idea?

Also saw you grabbed Xavi Simons he was fantastic for me at PSV before being snatched by Chelsea at the end of the 2026/2027 season for €74m!

Anyway, great work getting CP to the big time. Especially fun to finish my catching up following CP’s real life win over Man U

Yes, I did take some inspiration from the Coiled Spring when I was building things at Palace.  Now, I need to stretch the field and put the defense on the back foot.  

I had Xavi for a few seasons and he was very productive.  I sold him to make room for some talented English players.

 

[keeper#1]

December 2031 - Busy Calendar

Swansea 0 Crystal Palace 4:

Crystal Palace 1 West Ham 1:

Crystal Palace 0 Dortmund 0 (Champions League League Phase):

Aston Villa 0 Crystal Palace 1:

Crystal Palace 1 Arsenal 2 (Carabao Cup Quarterfinal):

Fulham 1 Crystal Palace 5:

Crystal Palace 2 Leeds 0:

Tottenham 1 Crystal Palace 1:

It's looking more and more like a four-team race for the title.  Manchester City, despite their high-powered offense, have slipped in the title race down to 5th place tied on points but ahead on goal difference over Tottenham.  Liverpool are in the weakest position of the top four only because they have played 22 matches compared to 21 matches played by United, Palace and Newcastle.  Arsenal continue to recover from their slow start and sit in 8th place.  They are in contention for a lower level European place but getting into the top four will be a huge ask for the Gunners.  The relegation fight is, now, turning into a five-team race.  You can throw a blanket over the bottom five teams and three of them will be relegated come the end of May.

[13th Man]

That is tight at the top for so far through the season.

[keeper#1]

January 2031 - Still Busy

Another busy month but a very successful month with seven wins and a loss coming to Fulham?!?!?!?!?  The defense was on fire all month allowing just four goals in the eight matches along our offense to control the match and play on the front foot.  We got to see a variety of teams across a variety of levels in January.  Just very busy busy busy.

Crystal Palace 3 Newcastle 2:

Crystal Palace 1 Reading 0:

Crewe 0 Crystal Palace 2 (FA Cup Third Round):

Brentford 0 Crystal Palace 3:

Lyon 0 Crystal Palace 2 (Champions League League Phase):

Crystal Palace 0 Fulham 1

Lille 0 Crystal Palace 1 (Champions League League Phase):

West Brom 1 Crystal Palace 2:

The win over Newcastle gave us momentum which we carried for the entire month.  The loss to Fulham was confusing considering the their form coming into and out of the match.  Still, we are now on top of the table.  Even if Manchester United and Newcastle win their game in hand, they will still be behind us in the table.  We are in a great position the calendar turns to February and the matches start to mean more.  Arsenal continue their incredible turnaround and now sit in 7th place but there is a big gap between themselves and Manchester City, who are still only interested in scoring goals.  The bottom of the table is five teams for three relegation slots.  Reading is doing everything they can to make one of those relegation spots theirs to keep.  But the other clubs understand that relegation is bad and doing whatever they can to stay in the Premier League next season.

In January, I recalled some defensive players that were out on loan to help our tiring backline: Mark Kenzie and Angel Mendoza come back.  Val Furijan gets called up from the U21 squad to replace Ilaix Moriba, who wanted to leave the club for Real Madrid.

Champions League League Phase Table: We just missed out on a spot in the top eight and earn ourselves a bye into the round of 16.  A ninth place finish puts us in the "seeded team" pot but it really didn't help when it came to our draw for the play-in round:

[SixPointer]

Trophy cabinet coming along nicely now dude! 

[keeper#1]

February 2032 - Let's Keep Rolling

A fairly relaxing month in terms of matches.  No real heavy hitters in the league.  We were drawn against Preston in the FA Cup.  The only tough matches were the matches against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.  Those were a tough pair of matches.  A draw in Span followed by a dominant 3-0 performance at home to advance to the Round of 16.

Preston 0 Crystal Palace 3 (FA Cup Fourth Round)

Crystal Palace 3 Aston Villa 1

Crystal Palace 0 Atletico Madrid 0 (Champions League Play-In Round Leg 1)

West Ham 1 Crystal Palace 1

Atletico Madrid 0 Crystal Palace 3 (Champions League Play-In Round Leg 2)

Brighton 1 Crystal Palace 4 (FA Cup Fifth Round)

Going toe to toe with Liverpool for the league lead.  The only difference between ourselves and Liverpool is the goal allowed (19 to 23).  Arsenal have completed their journey from the bottom of the table to the European Places and now sit in 7th place.  They are only nine points behind Manchester United for third place and six points behind Newcastle for fourth place so a Champions League place is not out of the realm of possibility.  The bottom of the table still features five teams for three relegation slots.  Like last season, it could come down the final matchday to see who goes down to the Championship.

Champions League Draw

We stay in Spain with a tie against Real Madrid.  Two European heavyweights meet in the Round of 16.

[keeper#1]

March 2032 Update - Fading, Fading, Fading

March saw our Premier League dreams start to slowly slip away.  Dropped points at both Arsenal (draw) and Leicester (loss) since we had to deal a very tough Champions League Round of 16 tie with Real Madrid.  Liverpool just kept on winning since they have no continental competitions to worry about this season and put their entire focus on the Premier League.

Real Madrid 0 Crystal Palace 2 (Champions League Round of 16 Leg 1)

Arsenal 1 Crystal Palace 1

Crystal Palace 2 (4) Real Madrid 1 (1) (Champions League Round of 16 Leg 2)

Crystal Palace 1 Leicester 2

Crystal Palace 4 Swansea 0

Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 3 (FA Cup Quarterfinal)

 

Liverpool have put a five-point gap between themselves and us - this is the direct result of the draw to Arsenal and loss to Leicester (that's the five point difference).  Manchester United is lurking just a point behind us for third place.  After that, it's a group of five teams fighting over the remaining tickets to Europe.  Everyone from Leeds to Sunderland are playing for pride, positioning, and prize money.  Brentford, Fulham, Swansea, Burnley and Reading are the five teams in the relegation fight.  Reading look to be in the worst position but Fulham and Swansea have terrible goal differences so that could hurt them come the end of the season.

Champions League

Another tough Champions League Draw with Newcastle in the quarterfinals.

An English team is guaranteed a spot in the finals as we have a England and non-England semifinals drawn.

 

[keeper#1]

Last game ever at Selhurst Park is a big one.  Win over Manchester United and we win the title.

[keeper#1]

End of 2031-32 Season Update - Doubling Up

Crystal Palace 0 Liverpool 1

Newcastle 1 Crystal Palace 1 (Champions League Quarterfinal Leg 1)

Manchester City 3 Liverpool 1

Crystal Palace 0 (1) Newcastle 1 (2) (Champions League Quarterfinal Leg 2)

Tottenham 1 (8) Crystal Palace 1 (9) (FA Cup Semifinals)

Chelsea 1 Crystal Palace 3

Crystal Palace 2 Everton 1

Sunderland 0 Crystal Palace 1

Crystal Palace 4 Burnley 0

Manchester United 0 Crystal Palace 2

Manchester United 0 Crystal Palace 2 (FA Cup Final)

In mid-April, I really thought our season was lost.  We lost a pivotal league match to Liverpool.  Then Newcastle knocked us out of the Champions League in the quarterfinal round doubling our disappointment.  Sandwiched in there was a loss to Manchester City and I thought the season was completely lost.  Next up was the FA Cup semifinal against Tottenham.  I played a mix of starters and reserves but more reserves than starters.  They needed a rest after four huge matches in a ten day span.  We responded with gutty penalty shootout win to advance to the final.  That match was the springboard for the rest of our season.  We did not drop another match including back to back 2-0 victories over Manchester United.  The first win, coupled with Liverpool bottling their run, earned us our second straight EPL title, and third title overall.  The second win earned us the FA Cup trophy to earn us a domestic double.  A season that I thought was lost turned into a great season with a domestic double and a trip to the Champions League quarterfinals.

Only one point separated us from Liverpool for the league title.  Newcastle and Manchester United were within striking distance but could not close the deal.  Still good enough for the Champions League.  Tottenham will also go to the Champions League via the UEFA Coefficient extra slot award to the two highest nations in the UEFA Coefficient table.  The chain reaction causes Leeds to move up to the Europa League and Manchester City goes to the Europa Conference.  Arsenal overcame their bad August and September and finished 6th to go the Europa League.  Swansea's run of barely surviving in the Premier League came to an end as they finished 18th and will be relegated along with Reading and Burnley.

Defender of the Year CD Mario Capelli

Midfielder of the Year: LW Henrik Sverre Heltne Nilsen

Forward of the Year: CF Yakup Dundar

First Decade at Crystal Palace

[Hootieleece]

Congratulations on the Double! Are you thinking of retiring on a high note?

[keeper#1]

44 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

Congratulations on the Double! Are you thinking of retiring on a high note?

I'm seeing if I can win the treble before 24 comes out.  If that happens, I'll retire.

[Hootieleece]

1 hour ago, keeper#1 said:

I'm seeing if I can win the treble before 24 comes out.  If that happens, I'll retire.

You know supposedly you will be able migrate saves to FM24.

I agree winning a treble before FM24 comes out is a good end game.

My save will end in whatever season I am in when FM24 comes out. I will finish that season however.