Voetbal - Bergkamp Edition

[mannojunior]

Voetbal - Bergkamp Edition

An Introduction

I must pay homage to Michael Cox and his book, Zonal Marking, which has given me the idea for this save. In his book, he focusses on the dominant Dutch era between 1992-1996 where Cruyff and Van Gaal introduced their tactical philosophies. The book discusses how the likes of Cruyff and Van Gaal differed in their styles and how the Dutch produced 'Total Football'. If you haven't read the book, I suggest picking up a copy as it is a great read. 

The Dominant Dutch Philosophy

During the dominant Dutch era, pressing was on of the key attributes of tactical systems. It needed a high defensive line and for the banks to have minimal space between them. Forwards needed to press early and hassle defenders in the build up. Keepers needed to be good with their feet and they needed to be footballers. Traditional goalkeepers were not favoured. Wingers were key, they needed to be quick, confident in one on one situations and they needed to be good crossers of the ball. If the wingers came into traffic they needed to turn inside and switch the play. They were not instructed to cut inside in the way an inside forward would, they were traditional wingers. One of the most important components was the number 10 or the shadow striker. The idea was that wingers would occupy full backs and a busy centre forward would occupy the central defenders leaving huge space for the number 10 to operate. The number 10 would often have the highest goal tally in the team whilst also offering a huge creative output. The most notable number 10 was Dennis Bergkamp who made the shadow striker role his own whilst he was Ajax, scoring 103 goals in 185 appearances. And that leads us onto the next section.

The Manager

So the save needs a manager and that man is Dennis Bergkamp. Dennis features regularly in the book and was key in the shadow striker role which is debatably the most important role in the Dutch tactical approach. I've therefore decided to instil Dennis Bergkamp as the manager in this save as I thought it was only fitting for him to lead the resurgence of Dutch football. 

Aim of the Save

If you hadn't guessed, Dennis will start his career at Ajax, looking to bring back the dominant Dutch philosophy initially in the Netherlands. 

Dominate domestically 

Use a Total Football philosophy

Bring Dutch football back to the top of world football

Maintain the Ajax approach of selling and reinvesting in younger players

Naturally time will run its course at Ajax and once this happens I will look to move to a different country and attempt to use the Total Football style to dominate that country. However, step number one is to do that in the country where the philosophy started.

 

[gggfunk]

Nice one! I think about starting an Ajax save too so I'll definitely follow this.

[mannojunior]

3 hours ago, gggfunk said:

Nice one! I think about starting an Ajax save too so I'll definitely follow this.

Cheers mate! I had a long wait at the airport yesterday so got inspiration from reading the book. No idea how it’ll go!

[mannojunior]

Voetbal - Bergkamp Edition

                                          

Transfer Window

It's been a fairly busy transfer window. There have been no departures since taking over while I use the first half of the season to assess the squad and their fit for the system. The club gave me a budget of £30 million to spend and I thought it would be worth spending it to try and get the squad to where I want it to be. Let's have a look at what Dennis decided to do in his first transfer window. 

Central defence was the first area of concern and I think the area that will still need an upgrade going forward. First through the door was Nat Phillips who joins us from Liverpool for a fee of £5 million. We then spent big on Josip Sutalo from Dinamo who joins for £18.5 million and he is comfortably our biggest outlay of the window. I then managed to bring Gbamin in on loan for the season after seeing that he was available. He can also cover in the DM role so it was a bit of a no brainer for me. I was hoping to get some slightly quicker centre backs in but there really wasn't a lot available in the market in our price range but I am still happy with what we've got. 

I then needed to address the DM position and although it wasn't my first choice, we did manage to sign Renato Tapia from Vigo for a reasonable fee of £6.5 million. He's a solid player who can fulfil the Anchor role well and I think he will do well for us. Central midfield wasn't really an area I was looking to strengthen but when Toma Basic became available for £2.5 million I just couldn't turn it down. We now have a very strong central midfield unit which will only help us moving forward.

Finally I decided to add another body up front in the form of Youssef Chermiti who joins on an initial loan from Sporting. We also have an optional future fee set at £3.3 million if we want to make the deal permanent next summer. 

                                          

The Tactic

I'll be honest, I have no idea how this is going to go in FM but I'm determined to give it a try. We are going to focus on a high press with an emphasis on getting the ball out to our wingers who will then be encouraged to cross rather than cut inside. I am hoping that with a pressing forward this will free up the space for Kudus playing in the 10 to receive the ball in lots of space. 

 

[mannojunior]

Voetbal - Bergkamp Edition

An unspectacular start to the season. 3 points is 3 points at the end of the day but I would have preferred a bigger scoreline. Kudus and Rensch the scorers but sadly no clean sheet.

[mannojunior]

Voetbal - Bergkamp Edition

                              

August 2022 Results

The perfect month. 6 games in August and 6 victories for us. We've yet to be troubled in the Eredivisie, although I am slightly concerned that we have only kept one clean sheet in 4 in the league and 1 clean sheet in 6 in all competitions. It's safe to say that the new boys are settling in well. Chermiti has made the striker position his own with superstar Kudus claiming the number 10 role in behind. It looks like Nat Phillips will contribute goals from set pieces which is always promising to see. A nice even spread of goals with Basic scoring a couple showing the our midfielders will get forward and score goals when the space opens up. If I'm being picky, I would have liked to have amassed a bigger scoreline against Aberdeen, especially in the first leg where they only had 10 men for the majority of the match. The aggregate victory does put us through the group stage of the Europa League where we will face...

I'll agree with the media on this one. I think we have been given an easy group on paper. I don't see us having too much trouble qualifying for the knockout stages and it will be good to have a deep European run.

                                  

League Table

This is how things stand with 4 games played. I don't think we can draw any conclusions just yet. We've had an easy set of fixtures to open up the season and I'll reserve judgement until we play Feyenoord and PSV later on.

                                    

Player of the month

There was only one man who was going to claim player of the month for August. Our bright star playing in the important number 10 position. Kudus has scored 5 goals in 6 and has assisted 4 in 6. I think arguably the number 10 position is the most important in our system. I have instructed Kudus to be more creative and roam from his position so he can find pockets of space to cause a nuisance. He's been on fire so far this season and he is only going to get better.

 

[mannojunior]

The FM Gods appear to be against us. That's now Rulli out for another 3 weeks, Chermitti out for 3 weeks and Berghuis for 5 weeks. We've got adequate cover but that's three first choice players out of contention for the rest of the month.

[mannojunior]

W

We are cursed. Media now citing that we are in an 'injury crisis'. 

[mannojunior]

Voetbal - Bergkamp Edition

                                   

September 2022 Results

Almost another perfect month for us. Things are starting to take shape for us now, although there is a recurring theme in that we appear shaky when trying to hold on to a lead. A 1-0 over Wallwijk wasn't entirely convincing to start the month. We then picked up three points in the Europa League with a win over Hungary's Ferencvaros with goals from Rasumussen and Berghuis. Our first big test came against Feynoord at home and it took a 86th minute winner from Conceicao to give us all three points. A win is exactly what we wanted but it's another narrow victory which does concern me. Back to Europa League action and I fielded a rotated side away at Qarabag and we comfortably dispatched of them 3-0 with a hat-trick from Brobbey who has had to wait patiently for his chance. Defeat finally struck at home to FC Twente who were sat second at the time. This result really infuriated me as we were 2-0 up within 31 minutes and in cruise control, only to **** it up with 5 minutes to go.

A game we dominated and should have won but sometimes that is life. A win would have put a nice gap between us and FC Twente but unfortunately that didn't happen. We got back to winning ways a couple of weeks later as we travelled to AZ. It wasn't plain sailing and we had to call on an 87th minute winner from Steven Bergwijn to pick up all three points. It was nice to see Bergwijn get on the score sheet as he has really struggled in this system so far and he may be one of the first out of the door at this rate.

                                     

Eredivisie Table

That loss against FC Twente is really annoying me as we'd be sat comfortably at the top of the Eredivisie. Instead, we are likely to be one point behind Twente once they play their game in hand. Feyenoord look slightly off the pace in their title defence and PSV also haven't had the best start. Still, there is a long way to go and I don't think we can draw any conclusions just yet. 

                                      

Europa League Group Stage

A solid start in Europe. I'd have been disappointed with anything less than 6 points from the opening two games. If we are to be tested I think it will come in the next two games as we have a double header against the Greek side Panathinaikos.

                                     

Player Performance

Another very good month for the club, especially with key players missing through injuries. I think we would have put in some more assured performances if we'd had a full selection of players but again, that's football. It's safe to say our biggest miss is Kudus who plays such an important role in the number 10. Rulli and Chermiti are now back from injury. Rulli will go straight back into the side and Chermiti will be phased back in, depending on how Brobbey performs. I'm not a huge fan of Brobbey and I definitely think Chermiti will be better but I have two very decent strikers at my disposal which I can't complain about. We now are without Berhuis, Kudus and Klaassen, although Klaassen will be back soon and hopefully Kudus in a week or so.

Having played two months of the season, I think the biggest area of concern is our wingers. Bergwijn has really struggled out on the right and Daramy hasn't covered himself in glory either. I'm well aware that the winger support role is not really the role he will be most natural in but the philosophy we have set out requires an out and out winger. On current judgement, it may well be that Bergwijn is shipped out as soon as possible to fund a move for a more natural winger. On the left I don't have so much of an issue as Conceicao has performed relatively well and I've be using the Danish 19 year old, Christian Rasmussen as his understudy and both have performed well. September was a more difficult month to nail down a player of the month but I've decided to give it to Nat Phillips who has performed consistently well at the back and has also managed to score a couple of goals in the process. I've been really impressed with how he has settled in to that back line.

[SixPointer]

Like the fact you’ve went for pure total football. Surprised you haven’t went with wide centre backs though. 

[mannojunior]

8 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

Like the fact you’ve went for pure total football. Surprised you haven’t went with wide centre backs though. 

Needed a narrative for the save and that’s the total football element. I may well introduce wide centre backs at some point. I feel like I need another couple of windows to improve that back line. Phillips is a stop gap as he will never become a top player and I don’t think Rensch will either. Sutalo is a start!

[mannojunior]

October 2022 Results

October was absolutely rammed full of games and we really didn't cope with it very well. We were very inconsistent and dropped points against teams we really shouldn't have. This month saw a lot of squad rotation and it showed me that we have a real lack of depth in central defence. Medic simply is not good enough for this level, neither is he suited to playing in such an attacking system where you need to be good with the ball at your feet. I've also deployed Gbamin in a WCB role and although he hasn't been awful, his height really doesn't help him out. 

The month didn't start great with a 2-2 draw at Panathinaikos, especially as we were in control early...again! We followed that up with some better performances and beat Almere City and Panathinaikos 3-1. We then dropped 4 points in the space of two games in the Eredivisie as we failed to beat both Heerenveen and Sparta Rotterdam. Both performances were poor and a case of not being able to capitalise on early pressure. In both games we scored early but couldn't add to our tally and then ultimately paid the price by conceding. The game at home to Heracles wasn't much better but we were able to hang on to the win here, thankfully. We then secured Europa League qualification in a 1-1 draw at home to Qarabag. Another concerning result and we only came away with a point thanks to a dramatic stoppage time equaliser from the skipper, Davy Klaassen. We rounded off the month in disappointing fashion with a 2-0 loss at home to PSV. We dominated the first half and were unlucky to not be ahead but 5 minutes into the second half...

Steven Berghuis decides to go in to a tackle two footed and receives a straight red card and puts us down to 10 men. From there we were never able to recover and PSV cruised to a 2-0 victory. Incredibly frustrating.

                                   

Eredivisie Table

We've got a lot of work to do here. Surprise front runners FC Twente continue their strong form and they have now opened up a 6 point gap over us. We are also now level on points with Vitesse and we are being trailed by Feyenoord.

                                    

Europa League Group A

Still unbeaten in the Europa League and we have now secured our place in the knockout stages as group winners. Slightly disappointed that we haven't been more dominant in terms of results in this group given the calibre of opposition but I really shouldn't complain at being confirmed group winners after 5 games. We take on Ferencvaros in our final group game and I've pencilled it in to rotate the side and give a few of our youngsters some minutes.

                                         

Tactical Shape

I thought I'd just provide a quick update on our shape as I made a few minor tweaks during October. I toyed initially with sticking our wingers onto 'attack' roles but they became very selfish and were constantly looking to take on defenders and fashion chances for themselves rather than beating their man and crossing the ball into the box. The major change is to our backline. I've opted to go with WCB's to try and provide assistance on the flanks and to also widen our back line. I've dropped Sutalo into a Libero as he is well suited to the role and it is actually a role that was favoured by the Dutch in the past.

                                     

Player Performance

It's been a frustrating month, especially as a lot of our injured players returned to full fitness but failed to improve our performance. The biggest concern is Kudus who returned to the side but really hasn't looked anywhere near the level he was showing before his injury. It's also been a disappointing month for Rulli who is by far our best keeper. I've warned him about his recent form and I am hoping this will provide a positive result. It may well be that next summer a new keeper is on the shopping list. 

In terms of a player of the month, it has to go to Chermiti who returned from injury and has scored a lot of goals. He notched 5 goals in the month and has well and truly become the number 9 for us. He's showing some good progress for an 18 year old and at this rate I think that I will be triggering the option to buy at £3.3 million!

[mannojunior]

Just gave this lad his debut at 16 in the Europa League against Ferencvaros. Not bad for a debut! He could be a very good player in the future if he develops well enough.

[warlock]

4 hours ago, mannojunior said:

Just gave this lad his debut at 16

I signed him for my Brentford save a couple of months ago - he's a great prospect. My problem was deciding whether he was an LB or CB in a back-four, but he might be great in your system

[mannojunior]

1 minute ago, warlock said:

I signed him for my Brentford save a couple of months ago - he's a great prospect. My problem was deciding whether he was an LB or CB in a back-four, but he might be great in your system

He looks very promising! What did you decide on in the end? I’m going with LCB in my system. I feel his jumping reach and height push him more towards to BPD in my system. Could also be a great WB

[warlock]

1 minute ago, mannojunior said:

What did you decide on in the end?

Well, I decided on CB... but hit a bad run of injuries at LB so he ended up playing more games there. Then I started the new Benfica save so didn't get see how he did long-term. I think he'll be great as a WCB with a licence to get forward if his attributes develop the right way - sort of 'best of both worlds'.

[mannojunior]

Just now, warlock said:

Well, I decided on CB... but hit a bad run of injuries at LB so he ended up playing more games there. Then I started the new Benfica save so didn't get see how he did long-term. I think he'll be great as a WCB with a licence to get forward if his attributes develop the right way - sort of 'best of both worlds'.

Me too! Sadly I think with FM24 on the horizon I won’t get to see much of him. I spotted that Liverpool are tracking him IRL so will be interesting to see his attributes in FM24

[mannojunior]

Voetbal - Bergkamp Edition

Disappointing. We are almost out of the title race before it has even begun. Beating Ferencvaros with a largely rotated team was pleasing and I thought a good omen for the month. We then scraped our way past Voldenham, and I mean scraped!! Utrecht should have been a relatively easy game on paper and what did we do? **** it up. Royally. We are in such a strange position. Defensively fragile and we need another centre back and fast. Offensively, our wingers aren't perfoming and we aren't converting our chances. We now have the World Cup break to have a think about how we can improve things. 

In other news, it looks like Steven Berghuis has played his last game for the club. I slammed the lads in the changing room and threw the water bottle after the loss to Utrecht. He didn't agree and I told him where to go. He will leave in January.

                                 

Soon to be 9 points behind FC Twente and potentially leapfrogged by Feyenoord and Vitesse. Disappointing.

                                  

Some positivity as we top Group A and stay undefeated. Now to avoid some of the big boys in the next round.

[mannojunior]

And he's gone. Transfer agreed for him to join Juventus in January for £17.5 million. I wanted £20 million but nobody wanted to pay that much. Gives me some funds to invest in January.

[mannojunior]

Medic departs for £1.5 million to Darmstadt. A player that was way off the pace and not good enough for our style of play. He's a very traditional centre back and there was no place for him. Time to try and recruit a new defender.

[mannojunior]

It was bound to happen. Although, United are way off the pace with their bid which has been rejected. I would need at least £50 million up front before I consider. As a result of the interested from United and Liverpool, Kudus is not willing to renew his contract which has 2 years to run. In line with our philosophy, I won't stand in the way of his departure but the overall package will need to be roughly £60 million before I sell. Let's see how January goes.

[mannojunior]

Voetbal - Bergkamp Edition

An almost perfect month. Exactly what we needed following our inconsistent November. The lads appear to have come back more determined and refreshed following the World Cup. Some big wins which is pleasing, inlcuding the 4-0 over Excelsior and the 7-0 thrashing of Almere City. Kudus has returned to form and in the game against Almere City I made the bold move to play him as the 9 and well, it worked. A pleasing month. 

                                         

Maybe the title race isn't over. Just over half of the season gone and a 5 point gap to close. Vitesse and PSV are by no means out of it either. We will need to remain consistent to catch FC Twente.

                                       

Following the departures of Berghuis and Medic we had some money to spend. Oumar Solet comes in for £12 million and slots straight in at CB. A huge signing for us and he has been impressive so far. Josip Brekalo arrives on loan with an option to buy at the end of the season for around £2 million. He becomes our first choice winger on the right hand side. A really pleasing deal to get done. Finally, I've brought in Lovro Majer from Rennes for £6.25 million. The Croatian boasts versatility across the front line and has a lot of quality to offer.

                             

With the additions made above, I would now consider this my best starting eleven. Kudus has had initial success in the 9 with Majer impressive in the 10 which means Chermiti drops to the bench but he will get plenty of minutes. Rensch drops out for Solet but there will be plenty of rotation in that backline. Finally, Bergwijn makes way for Brekalo who has been solid out on the right hand side.

[john1]

Enjoying reading this

[mannojunior]

2 hours ago, john1 said:

Enjoying reading this

Glad you are enjoying it!

[mannojunior]

Good news after a rather underwhelming youth intake preview. 

[mannojunior]

The draw for the Last 16 of the Europa League has been done and we will take on Bayer Leverkusen. The German club are currently 9th in the Bundesliga and came second in their Europa League group behind Real Betis. A decent draw for us.

[SixPointer]

Great last month to bring you back into the title race. Clean sheets started to come which looked to be the issue earlier in the year.

My only question how does the libero perform? With an anchorman in front I thought he would have limited space to work in when in possession? 

[mannojunior]

7 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Great last month to bring you back into the title race. Clean sheets started to come which looked to be the issue earlier in the year.

My only question how does the libero perform? With an anchorman in front I thought he would have limited space to work in when in possession? 

It's been a great turn in form. Clean sheets have been huge but also we've started winning by bigger margins and therefore decreasing the risk of losing that one goal lead. 

You're right, there is often limited space between Sutalo and Tapia and I have thought about giving Tapia a more advanced role but things are working at the moment (touch wood)!

[mannojunior]

Voetbal - Bergkamp Edition

A very good month ended on a low note. Some cracking performances in the League and an impressive victory to see us through to the Semi-Final of the Dutch Cup. I had my eye on the PSV fixture as it was always going to be crucial. We played poorly and to be fair, a draw was probably the fair result. Unfortunately Solet made a mistake at the back with 10 minutes to go and gave PSV their goal. A poor end to an impressive month otherwise. Kudus is back in the goals, as it Chermiti which is good news. 

                                         

It's just not going to be our year is it? I'm not quite sure how FC Twente are top but they are now 6 points clear. We've been so impressive the last two months but that defeat to PSV has really dented our chances at the title. Who's up next? FC Twente...

                                  

Not good news for us. Phillips out for two months and Rensch has his time to shine. Hato will also get a change.

[mannojunior]

What the actual **** was that? Dumped out of the Dutch Cup courtesy of a second half battering.

[SixPointer]

2 hours ago, mannojunior said:

It's been a great turn in form. Clean sheets have been huge but also we've started winning by bigger margins and therefore decreasing the risk of losing that one goal lead. 

You're right, there is often limited space between Sutalo and Tapia and I have thought about giving Tapia a more advanced role but things are working at the moment (touch wood)!

My suggestion would be maybe try a half back instead of anchor. Might provide you with some nice positional rotations in early build up phases. 

[SixPointer]

1 hour ago, mannojunior said:

What the actual **** was that? Dumped out of the Dutch Cup courtesy of a second half battering.

Ohh that’s a huge collapse. Complacency killer. Hard to swallow. 

[mannojunior]

51 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

Ohh that’s a huge collapse. Complacency killer. Hard to swallow. 

Such a horrible second half to watch unfold and one where you feel powerless to stop it.

[mannojunior]

Nice to see that we have two of the top 3 in the NXGN ratings. Chermiti has been in fine form this season and has netted 25 times in 26 starts in all competitions. We also have Naci Unuvar who was already loaned out to FC Twente when I took over and he has been having a sensational season. He is going to be coming back at the end of the season and I will be putting him straight into the first team. 

                          

Edited September 17, 2023 by mannojunior

[warlock]

Shaping up to be a tough, disappointing season - but still, reasons to be optimistic. If you finish 2 or 3 points off the top, well, it's not your team. You have the chance to rebuild, at least a little, in the summer and kick on next season. You'll have Unuvar and Twente won't; that alone is a big swing in your favour.

Keep the faith, brother!

[mannojunior]

21 hours ago, warlock said:

Shaping up to be a tough, disappointing season - but still, reasons to be optimistic. If you finish 2 or 3 points off the top, well, it's not your team. You have the chance to rebuild, at least a little, in the summer and kick on next season. You'll have Unuvar and Twente won't; that alone is a big swing in your favour.

Keep the faith, brother!

You’re right, this season was always going to be a transition period. Hoping I can reshape the squad over the summer. Unuvar will be a huge help. 
 

It’s also been nice to see the style of play works in FM and hopefully a few tweaks and personnel changes will get it better. Wingers have been a huge challenge!

[mannojunior]

Voetbal - Bergkamp Edition

                      

It doesn't get any more frustrating than this. Losses to FC Twente and Feyenoord in the league mean we are going to have to do it the hard way if we want to win the title. Good results mixed in between with a win and a draw against Leverkusen which puts us into the quarter finals. Big wins over Utrecht and AZ show that we can be dominant but we are so inconsistent and don't show up against our title rivals. A poor month I think it's fair to say.

                               

It's not over just yet, but Twente have a game in hand and will be looking to extend their advantage to seven points. Realistically we are now playing for second place.

                           

A kind draw in the Europa League quarter final as we take on AEK Athens. Liverpool, Napoli and Inter Milan all remain in the competition.

 

[mannojunior]

It's advantage us as we head to Greece. Another game without a clean sheet. We have a full week to recover and train as we don't have a league game at the weekend which is rather helpful.

[mannojunior]

Voetbal - Bergkamp Edition

                        

Unbeaten for the month but 2 points dropped against Vitesse. When we win we win big but sometimes we look so far off the pace. Chermiti had a good start to the month before fading away. Kudus with another outstanding month and he is rightly attracting interest from abroad. Lovro Majer has proved a very valuable addition allowing me to remove Chermiti if he is having a poor game. What a way to end the month with an 8-1 victory. 

                            

We sailed through the quarter final, although the 0-0 away leg was not one for the ages. We face Inter Milan in the semi final. At least we have avoided Liverpool I suppose. Time to see what we are made of in Europe.

                              

With four games to go it is almost certain that we are playing for second place. All eyes turn to the Europa League now.

                             

Chermiti and Kudus lead the way with goals. Both have put in unbelievable shifts this season and I hope I can keep hold of both going into next season.

Basic and Kudus topping the assist charts. Basic has had an outstanding first season at the club and looks an absolute steal. Taylor is also showing his class and is one to watch next season. 

[mannojunior]

Voetbal - Bergkamp Edition - End of Season Review

                

So there we have it, a funny old season comes to an end. We finish 4 points behind surprise champions FC Twente and fair play to them. I'm not too disheartened as I can think of so many league games where we lost by small margins or just lost concentration at the wrong time. I really do think that if we can have a strong summer transfer window we will be able to play at the peak of our powers next season. We take second spot and this gives us a spot in the Champions League for next season.

                            

The Europa League semi-final is where we ender our European run. I have to say the manner in which we lost that second leg was embarrassing and hopefully we won't have a result like that again in the future. Disappointing that we couldn't put up more of a fight in Italy and more regret about not making the most of our dominant home leg. Napoli went on to beat Inter 3-2 in the Final so I guess there is some light at the end of the tunnel?

                        

It wasn't hard to guess who would be taking home most of the awards at the end of this first season. Mohammed Kudus has had an exceptional season and he has flourished in his shadow striker role. He notched 28 goals and 14 assists in all competitions. Top scorer goes to Youssef Chermiti who has had a breakout season aged just 19. 33 goals is a fantastic return for a player who joined the club in the summer aged 18. There is a special talent in that lad. Keeping hold of both will be key moving into the summer transfer window. Kudus is attracting a lot of interest which is no surprise but we should be able to lock down Chermiti on a permanent deal.

 

                        

The budgets have been set for the summer. We are going to have to sell a few players to bump up the transfer budget as we will need to spend to improve this squad enough to challenge in the Champions League next season. Before diving into the transfer market I've had some time to assess the areas of concern. We desperately need a new keeper to replace Rulli and this will be number one priority. I'd also like to bring in a new central defender with a bit of pace to provide competition to Nat Phillips and play on the right hand side. I think I may also need to assess options out wide as I would have expected a lot more assists from both wingers.

 

Edited September 26, 2023 by mannojunior

[mannojunior]

Voetbal - Bergkamp Edition - 2023/2024 Season Preview

                   

Transfers Out

A summer of building a war chest. But what did we spend it on?

                          

Transfers In

We've been busy. Livakovic replaces Rulli in a transfer that may well prove to be one of the most significant signings of the summer. An area we desperately needed to strengthen and I think Livakovic solves a problem for us. Sanz, Johannesson and Gbamin all join on relatively cheap deals to give us some good squad depth ahead of a busy season. I've spent big on Ez Abde and it will be interesting to see whether he justifies the price tag. I think he looks good and I think he becomes our first choice left winger. I simply had to trigger the £3.3 million optional clause for Chermiti after the season he had last season. The same applies with Brekalo who returns on a permanent deal. Centre back was probably the hardest position to recruit for this summer and I've gone with a lad who had a good season for FC Twente last season and who arrives for a modest fee in the grand scheme of things. I think he has real potential and will slot in on the right hand side. Finally, I took a gamble on Diawara and I have probably overspent but I want competition for Tapia in that DM spot and I think Diawara can offer that.

                            

Champions League Qualification 

Pre-season included the Champions League qualification stages and we have managed to safely navigate our way to the Group Stage. Following the first leg away at Braga I did wonder whether we would falter in the second leg but I was wrong.

Our reward. Some really exciting trips to look forward to and a group that we realistically have a chance at finishing second in. I don't think Real Madrid will finish anywhere other than top.

                          

August Eredivisie Results

6 points from 6. An outstanding opening day performance at home followed by a slightly below par 1-0 over Walalwijk. Two clean sheets, a big positive.

                           

Eredivisie Table

Nothing to be drawn from the table at this stage. Two relatively straight forward games to kick things off on paper.

 

[vara]

brilliant mate. im reading the same book at the moment and considered doing the same for fm24 (albeit with a different dutch team). looks like you've got a lot of the aspects right and its coming together well. Twente's performances perhaps a bit of an anomaly?!

what were your final GF and GA in the league?

keen to see how season 2 goes with that year of planning/testing behind you.

[mannojunior]

4 hours ago, vara said:

brilliant mate. im reading the same book at the moment and considered doing the same for fm24 (albeit with a different dutch team). looks like you've got a lot of the aspects right and its coming together well. Twente's performances perhaps a bit of an anomaly?!

what were your final GF and GA in the league?

keen to see how season 2 goes with that year of planning/testing behind you.

Glad to see someone else enjoying the book and taking it into FM24! It's given me so many ideas and I'm sad I'm almost coming to the end of the book!

Here's the final table. We outscored everyone by a distances but our defence was shaky. I think Rulli had a poor season and Nat Phillips was only ever going to be a stop gap. Livakovic is a big improvement from Rulli. Hilgers should help that defence as he comes from a Twente side that conceded just 19 goals last season! Not quite sure how they did it but definitely a freak season for them. 

[mannojunior]

Voetbal - Bergkamp Edition - September/October 2023 Update

                      

Results

It's been an impressive two months for Dennis Bergkamp, with the Ajax board slowly coming around to his managerial style. Last season's disappointment remains but the progress made so far this season will no doubt be noticed by the board. September was almost flawless in more ways than one. The defeat to Utrecht meant that our unbeaten start to the Eredivisie had gone and so had a month full of clean sheets. Disappointing but a huge upgrade on last year from a defensive point of view. October also saw just a single defeat at the hands of Real Madrid. We can be proud of how we battled in Madrid and in honesty, Real were lucky to come away with three points on the night. Other than those two defeats we have been flying. The Kudus and Chermiti partnership is in full flow with both heavily involved in our goal output. Our defence has amassed 5 clean sheets in the last 10 games and we have conceded just 5 goals in 10. 

                      

Eredivisie Table

Top of the pile after 9 games. PSV will likely be close behind with their game in hand to come. Bergkamp has overseen a substantial improvement in the defensive unit since the end of last season and that shows in the league table. A goal difference of 23 with just 4 goals conceded and a massive 27 goals scored. Although the Champions League is the trophy that everybody wants, Bergkamp's main focus is on regaining the Eredivisie title. There is still a long way to go in the season but the signs are positive.

                       

Champions League Group C

Halfway through we sit just a point behind leaders Real Madrid. A huge win over Lazio saw us make the best possible start to the group stage and we can take huge positives from the draw away at Real. Celtic are resigned to being the basement boys of this group and we will need to ensure we take maximum points from them and at least a point at Lazio to ensure our progression to the knockout stages. Time for optimism in Amsterdam.

                       

Players Stats

It's safe to say Bergkamp's men are dominating the Eredivisie. Kudus and Chermiti are joint top scorers with 7 so far. Basic and Unuvar trail Esgaio for assists. The surprise package this season has been the development of Lovro Majer. The Croatian was brought in last season to provide cover in the number 10 but this season he has made the left winger position his own. He's ousted the hugely disappointing Abde from the left and has made that position his own for the foreseeable. 1 goal and 3 assists in 8 starts along with a 7.23 average rating. The 25-year-old is even improving at this stage in his career. So impressive that Conceicao hasn't had a sniff.

Chermiti leads the way for goals, with 12 in 13 starts in all competitions. Kudus is trailing by one and central midfielder Kenneth Taylor has hit 6 so far this season in what has been a mightily impressive start to the season for him. The returning Unuvar has found his game time limited with Kudus in such good form but he has managed 4 goals and 4 assists when he has played. Basic tops the assist charts from central midfield and is closely followed by Brekalo and Kudus. Brekalo has certainly found another gear since his permanent arrival at the club. I'm hoping his assists continue throughout the season. I'm running out of words to describe Kudus but he is the man. Is there anything he can't do?

 

 

 

[vara]

impressive start to the season! got them all tuned in to the system now. nice work!

[mannojunior]

5 hours ago, vara said:

impressive start to the season! got them all tuned in to the system now. nice work!

Things seem a lot more fluid than last season! Wingers are contributing more which is great. Just wish we could eradicate the small blips like the loss to Utrecht.

[mannojunior]

Voetbal - Bergkamp Edition - November/December 2023

                         

Results

I'm starting to think that things might finally be clicking for us at Ajax. Two perfect months in domestic competitions and just the single defeat at the hands of Real Madrid in the Champions League. There are some huge performances in there with a 5-1 demolition of reigning champions FC Twente and a dramatic last minute winner at home to PSV. That PSV victory really did feel like a milestone for us as last season we would not have won the game from that position. 

                              

Eredivisie Table

This may well be our year in the Eredivisie. We are starting to separate from the rest of the pack and at this stage it looks like Feyenoord will be our only competition for that Eredivisie title. I won't get too ahead of myself as we do have half a season to go and the dreaded AFCON comes around in January which means that we lose both Kudus and Diawara for a considerable period of time.

                         

Champions League

A final group stage game against Lazio was a big one in the context of the group. Avoiding defeat saw us through to the Round of 16 in a game that could have gone either way. A very professional performance on the night and we please the board with qualification for the knockout stages. Realistically, I don't think we will progress much further but it was imperative that we came through the group and put ourselves back on the map in terms of the Champions League and that's certainly what we've done. What would our reward be for progressing through in second position?

A date with Arsenal. The current champions of England are our reward. In fairness, I don't think there was an 'easy' draw that we could have got. Make no mistakes, we will be up for the fight.

                                 

Players Stats

Remember when I said Abde might have been a waste of money? Yeah, I was wrong. 

Credit where credit is due, the young Spaniard has come out firing in the last two months and he now has an impressive 8 assists to his name. His versatility helps him massively as I've been able to deploy him both out on the left and right wing. He's naturally gifted with both feet which means he is incredibly important for us going forward. Majer will have to work his way back in now! Brekalo continues to have a standout season on the right wing as he's notched up 11 assists and 3 goals so far.

It's the usual suspects lighting it up in front of goal for us, no surprises there. 

Chermiti continues to impress and improve with every game. He moves himself 7 goals clear of Kudus in second. Naci Unuvar has become a really important player for us as he offers us a rotation option for both Chermiti and Kudus. With 9 goals and 6 assists he will feel hard done by not to have played more at this stage. He does however have a huge role to play when Kudus goes of to AFCON.

One of the key differences between this season so far and last season is how much better our defence is. Sutalo in the Libero role is absolutely crucial for us and he continues to back up his large price tag. I think we are going to be fending off interest in him over the January window and I am not sure whether he will stick with us or decide to jump ship if a big club come in for him. I should also say that it's not just Sutalo who's been impressive, but our summer recruit Hilgers has made the RCB role his own and he has put in some consistent performances so far. He's certainly justified the transfer and it is nice to have another Dutchman in the side.

January will be an interesting period for us as I am bracing for some bids for players. I really need to keep this team together to fight for this Eredivisie title and I am not really open to January sales. However, in line with our principles I won't stand in the way of anybody's dream move if the right bid comes in. I do fear that Sutalo and Kudus may get some interest. In terms of incoming, I don't plan to spend unless I have to.

 

[warlock]

3 hours ago, mannojunior said:

I'm starting to think that things might finally be clicking for us at Ajax

Certainly looks that way . Some excellent team and individual performances.

Hope you can keep the gang together, at least for the rest of the season. But I had Sutalo in season 2 of my Brentford save and City came in for him and he wanted away. You might be wise to line up a replacement.

[vara]

a date with Arsenal, it was meant to be for Dennis!

humming through the league now, great job!

[mannojunior]

11 hours ago, vara said:

a date with Arsenal, it was meant to be for Dennis!

humming through the league now, great job!

The stars have aligned! Arsenal appear to be a force in this save so it’ll be tough. 
 

League is going well and has to be the priority now.