[FM24] The Career of Juan Cardozo: Chapter II

[Rick87]

 

 

________________________________

Career Aims

My initial goals with Aurora is to simply prove myself as a manager and build my reputation. There are a few things I would like to achieve though.

 Qualify for Copa Libertadores with Aurora

Win Primera Division with Aurora

Be the first Bolivian club to win Copa Libertadores 

Manage Bolivia

Qualify for World Cup with Bolivia for the first time since USA 94

Win Bolivia's first Copa America since 1963

Manage Boca Juniors (My favorite South American club)

Move to a big European club

Win UEFA Champions League

Cement my place in football history by being inducted into Worldwide hall of fame

 

 

The story so far

Edited March 3 by Rick87

[El Payaso]

Looks brilliant. Will give this one a follow. 

Edited January 28 by El Payaso

[Rick87]

 

Day One

Welcome one and all to what I hope will be the meteoric rise to the summit of the footballing world - of Bolivian tactician Juan Cardozo. Cochamaba born Juan is an avatar I've used for years on FM and FIFA. He had a modest playing career in his youth, captaining several local amateur sides, but was hampered by a recurrent ACL injury that forced him to hang up his boots at the tender age of 25.

Thankfully for Juan, his on field leadership had been noticed by scouts of Club Aurora who saw potential in the stricken striker. Aurora offered Juan the chance to coach their U16's, where he showed an immediate aptitude for coaching, winning the U16 league in this first season, leading to a promotion to under-18 level, where he again demonstrated his tactical acumen by finishing second. Now the club have given their rising star the ultimate show of trust and given him the reigns of the first team squad following the departure of Roberto Perez who only lasted 72 days in the role. Can he repay the faith Aurora have put on his young shoulders?

 

Squad

A very solid base to work from; Though being a youth favoring manager, I am taking note that the average age of the squad is over 30, something I will be looking to address over the coming seasons, I will be cautious about making too many changes too quickly though. Tactically I would like to play some high pressure attacking football, again though this will be a gradual change rather than completely ripping up what the players already know and risking causing dressing room discord. To begin with I set up with a fairly standard 4-4-2 which I will tweak and develop over time along with other systems. 

 

The League

In this league, the top team is of course champions; the top three qualify for South America's elite competition - the Copa Libertadores. The teams from 4th-8th earn a place in the Copa Sudamericana. There is no automatic relegation here, the bottom team plays-off against the winner of Segunda division below to try and save themselves.

 

 

 

Edited January 29 by Rick87

[Rick87]

My preparations are complete! At least I hope they are. It was a good pre-season, the only defeat coming against Peruvian visitors Cienciano which I can excuse as they have a strong squad and it was only a narrow loss. In all the other games we pretty much blew the oppositions away, although they were all inferior in terms of stature to us, playing in the Segunda division or below.

I have four signings in;

Joel de Marco - Central midfielder Signed on free transfer after being let go by Argentine Premier side Aldosivi, Joel is only 19 and could still have a good career.

Ignacio Poplawski - Another midfielder signed from Argentina; who is adept at defending or getting forward, Joel was born in Florida but has spent the formulative years of his career with Estudientes, before loan spells in his home state with Orlando City and Inter Miami. Upon his return to Argentina he failed to make a single appearance for Estudientes and was transfer listed. I splashed £96k on Ignacio, not an inconsiderable amount here in Bolivia so I hope he can live up to the price tag.

Alain Nino de Guzman - My biggest and probably most exciting signing; from divisional rival Orliente Petrolero for £150k. Alain can play centrally or out on the left and I'll be expecting big things from him.

Juan Gil - Promising young keeper, snapped up on free following his release from Colombian side Deportivo Pasto as backup initially, as there were only two other goalkeepers in the squad and hopefully to develop into competition for the other two stoppers.

Going out I have sold central defender Ezequiel Michelli to Blooming for an initial £30k, potentially rising to £46k depending on appearances.

So now you've met the newbies, here is my squad as a whole. I've included the reserves in the screenshots as well to give you a better idea of what I have to work with going forward as I'll be looking to develop them to gradually replace my elderly squad, which as I said in the previous post has an average age of nearly 31.

 

Goalkeepers

No worries here, all three are solid enough based on what I've seen in pre-season, I'll not be looking to replace any of them this season.

 

Defense

Plenty of options to chose from, Luis Barbosa is my captain and rock at the back, usually he will be partnered with Paraguayan Sebastian Zaracho. Brother Didi and Jair Tarrico could be important as they can play in defense or midfield. I will be trying to break in young prospects Carlos Sejas and Brian Barao over the course of the season.

 

Midfield

Tons of options here too, there wasn't much strength in the center on day one, so my three midfield signings have added bulk to this area. Several old heads need moving on in the near future, 38 year old winger Serginho surely will be retiring soon, although he did look good in preseason to be fair. 

 

Forwards

We can easily play 4-4-2 or even a narrow 4-3-3 with a number of good forwards on the books, all of whom scored at least once in pre-season that was encouraging.

 

Tactics

I'm a great believer in keeping things as un-complicated as possible, a simple 4-4-2 keeps us defensively solid and gives us fire power up front in games where we will have to work hard for the points. I've gone for 4-2-3-1 when we are the favorites and will likely have a lot of possession of the ball. In both systems I've kept my default instructions to a minimum. I will tweak them on a game by game basis depending on the oppositions strengths and weaknesses and could easily switch to a 5-3-2 if we are up against a particularly tough opposition as we have a number of players who can play wingback effectively.

 

OK, Now onto the first competitive game of my career! at home to Oriente Petrolero.

 

[Rick87]

An entertaining debut as Aurora manager, even if I feel we should have come away with the win considering we were very much the better team, bossing the play throughout most of the game, but twice we surrendered a two goal lead. frustrating but there were plenty of positives on show to make me optimistic going forward, controlling possession and creating lots of chances.

 

Edited January 29 by Rick87

[Rick87]

Cup action this time out, we came worryingly close to throwing away a lead again, against an inferior opposition. Still we did get the job done, switching from 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-2 made us look far more solid in the second half. Great to see my new signing Alain Nino de Guzman getting on the score sheet when he jinked through the Universitario defense.

Edited January 29 by Rick87

[Rick87]

This one means a lot to the supporters, The Strongest are twelve time champions of Bolivia, so to beat them convincingly seems a fantastic statement of intent on our part. I'm not insinuating that we are title challengers at this point, my aim this season is to qualify for the Copa Sudamericana or preferably Copa Libertadores. But if we keep playing like today there is no reason we can't be dark horses.

[Rick87]

The unbeaten start continues! Though only just; a stoppage time equalizer rescued a point for us, in fact we actually scored again moments later, unfortunately Rodrigo Ramillo's header was disallowed due to a push on the goalkeeper, much to my annoyance. Still, a point is a point and it keeps our good start to the season going.

Edited January 29 by Rick87

[Rick87]

Apologies to those of you who like the graphic heavy style of update, but I'm switching to a monthly update instead as it was taking me more time to do the graphics than I was spending actually playing and enjoying the game.

 

March 2023

Our unbeaten start to the season continues into the third month;

The form hasn't be spectacular by any means, but we keep plugging along, whilst of the bigger clubs struggle;

 

The Strongest, Blooming and Jorge Wilstermann all in the bottom half, can we take advantage of their slow starts and close the gap that is already opening at this early stage between reigning champions Bolivar and the rest of the pack?

Through to the third round of the Copa Aerosur (the Bolivan cup) This is a title Aurora have never claimed, so it would be nice to lift it this season where I can put out full strength sides as we have no continental competitions to worry about, which hopefully won't be the case next season!

 

4-4-2 continues to look my best formation, we look really good playing it, much better than we do when I set up with the perhaps more fashionable 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-2-2-1. I'm still learning about my team and Bolivia but here is my preferred line-up so-far;

Admittedly it's been slightly confusing having three players all named Torrico in the squad, two of them even have the same initial so both appear as D. Torrico on the pitch. Didi and Jair are brothers, Dario is no relation as far as I know.  Defense is quite solid, the only game we looked somewhat shaky in was the 5-3 epic with Guabira when they had very pacy forwards. we found ourselves behind twice due to them outstripping our defenders, I countered this by dropping the defensive line deeper and having Moruno switch to defensive duties which allowed the others to push forward and eventually take take control of the game.

I'm trying to retain a solid core of Bolivian's in the line-up as I want to manage the national team someday and anything I can do to help my future prospects can only be a good thing. 

Next month I will get to experience my first Cocochamba derby as we take on arch-rivals Jorge Wilstermann, with whom we share the Estadio Felix Capriles. Can we keep our promising start to the campaign going?

Edited January 30 by Rick87

[Rick87]

April 2023

An amazing month for Club Aurora and our supporters! We are STILL unbeaten and have thrashed our two biggest rivals, giving us a great platform for achieving our goals this season;

Sixteen goals in April, we have been fantastic; beating our local rivals Jorge Wilstermann and smashing champions Bolivar, Bolivia's most successful club who make up almost half of the national team, 6-0 were huge results. My pre-season expectations were to qualify for one of the continental competitions, but if we can keep this form going, who knows, maybe we can win the club's second Primera division title.

We will reach the half way stage after completing the May fixtures, after that we will have a real idea of what exactly our seasons objectives will be in the second half of the season.

[TerminalPortugal]

Just read through and this looks great. I love the format! Never really had much of chance of managing in Bolivia but you seem to have started the season really well. KUTGW!

[Rick87]

16 hours ago, TerminalPortugal said:

Just read through and this looks great. I love the format! Never really had much of chance of managing in Bolivia but you seem to have started the season really well. KUTGW!

Thanks, I have managed in Bolivia before on an older FM, the format to the Primera is different now though, it was changed from having opening and closing stages and using an aggregate points system to a more straight forward league system. Which to be honest is much simpler to understand.

May 2023

Half way through the campaign now, and we are still unbeaten in the league, I don't think there is any denying we now harbor unexpected title aspirations now, trailing league leaders Oriente Pertolero by five points with a game in hand.

Dropping points against Nacional Potosi was frustrating, they had stubbornly resisted us for the entire 90 minutes before we finally scored through Dario T, obviously we thought the 92nd minute goal would be the winner, not to be however a long range shot squirmed past goalkeeper Luis Cardenes in the 96th minute. We also struggled with Royal Par, being held to a draw in the league before being dumped out of Copa Aerosur which was massively disappointing as I felt the cup was a winnable competition.

 

With the historically successful clubs; Bolivar, The Strongest, Blooming and Jorge Wilstermann stuttering so far, can we take advantage?

 

Not an encouraging intake by the looks of things, a shame as I really want to help shape the next generation of Bolivian stars. As I've said previously it is one of my career ambitions to take charge of the Bolivian national team in the future and help the reach the Wold cup for the first time in over 30 years.

[Rick87]

June 2023

A three week break for internationals meant we only played two competitive games this month; I organised a couple of friendlies against local oppositions just to keep the players match sharp, which seems to have worked as we are still very much hot on Bolivar's heels;

 

 

Injuries are starting to pile up a bit, thankfully we have quite a large squad, but it's still not useful as we get into the business end of our unlikely title challenge

38 year old Serginho is almost back to fitness after missing the last two months with a hip injury, he was in fine form before his fall so he will be a welcome return to the team., young Carlos Sejes's recent breakthrough into the first team squad has been delayed by a dislocated shoulder. Hopefully he won't suffer any long term repercussions from that as I have him earmarked as an important figure over the next couple of seasons.

The high injury count could be something to do with me tweaking the training routines, if anyone has any advice please do comment!

 

Without many games to worry about this month, I have spent most of my time deciding on my squad going forward. As I've said before, the average age of my team is 31, and whilst it's common for South American players to play well into their late 30's or even early 40's, I would like to build for the future and have begun to decide who to offer new deals to and who I will allow to expire at the end of the season.

Ramiro Ballivian - My first choice right back, Mr Consistent. He will remain my first choice in that position with the aforementioned Carlos Sejes stepping up to provide competition Fernando Aguilar will be allowed to leave.

Although he's 36, Jair Torrico is still as dependable as they come (I changed the three Torrico's in the squad to first name only nicknames as it was confusing on the pitch) and I don't want to lose his experience, especially with no younger player ready to step up and replace him.

Brian Barao has featured in friendlies so far, but with club captain Luis Barbosa considering leaving at the end of the season I will need to break Brian into the team sooner rather than later, my coaches rate him very highly so hopefully he can handle the step up.

Barbosa's usual partner in the heart of defense, Sebastian was a no brainier as far as deciding who's contracts to renew goes.

He may look like Rishi Sunak's doppelganger, but Nelson certainly isn't afraid of the opposition, he regularly rotates with Zaracho and will probably be his partner next season if Barbosa does leave.

 

That's the defense done for now, I may decide to keep others depending on what targets are available, next month I'll be deciding on my midfield.

And talking of renewing contracts, I've just signed mine!

Believe in project Cocachamba!

 

Edited February 1 by Rick87

[Rick87]

July 2023

Aurora visible on high ground! With ten games remaining, we are still undefeated and now have crested the summit of Primera division, can we keep it going to secure the clubs first title since 2008?

We had tough games against The Strongest and Always Ready that were decided by fine margins, but it was Palmflor del Tropico who gave us the biggest scare, they came from a goal down to fight back and take a 3-1 lead, a 95th minute equilizer by substitute Ignacio Poplawski rescued our incredible unbeaten record in the most dramatic fashion.

Two points clear of Bolivar, our game against them in September will be critical.

 

I'm disappointed as Luis was my captain and a great defender, however he wasn't interested in renewing with us so rather than lose him for free I sold him,. £70k might be peanuts in the big European leagues, but here it is still a lot of money that could buy me two decent new signings.

Though being the prudent manager I am; rather than splash the cash, I went bargain hunting for a replacement, and I think I've found a good one in the form of Panamanian international Harold Cummings, who was a free agent after leaving Mongas S.C in Venezuala. Harold has represented Panama 81 times and has had a club career that has taken him all over the America's; from San Jose in the MLS to Costa RIca, Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay and even a short spell here in Bolivia with Always Ready in 2021.

 

 

[TerminalPortugal]

Your absolutely flying at the moment. Keep it going!

[Rick87]

20 hours ago, TerminalPortugal said:

Your absolutely flying at the moment. Keep it going!

Thanks mate, hopefully!

August 2023

Plenty going on throughout August, through which we have emerged still top of the table and just six games from greatness!

Smashing arch-rivals Jorge Wilstermann to get two points clear was special for the fans, as was a late winner in a very tough tactical game against Blooming who performed well above their relegation battling status and pushed us all the way.

Still we are unbeaten, can finish the season that way? and indeed will it be enough even if we do? It would be terrible to have an unbeaten season and still not win the league! 

We will at the very least be in the Libertadores next season, continental competition was my personal aim this season even if the board were happy with mid table safety. I thought that the Copa Sudamericana was more likely mind you, So I'm really happy to have secured this chance to play with South America's best sides.

 

We have been busy on the transfer front;

I'm a little disappointed he decided to go, especially to one of our biggest competitors, but the money has come in useful in my squad planning for next season as I have secured three new players;

Cesar Mencacho - A direct replacement for Ramallo on the right wing, he joins us in January from Blooming for £97k

Miyhel Ortiz - Will replace Vaca as left-back, signing on free in January from Palmaflor del Tropico

Eduardo Demequil - A centre back who impressed me when we came up against Real Pari, another free transfer in January

 

We've also had our new youth intake;

I'm not sure how elite he looks at the moment, hopefully with some time in a mentoring group his bravery and determination will improve. We're also going to have to do something about his strength if he's to fit in with my style.

As with Taborga, we need to do something about those mental and physical attributes, I prize them more than technical. He does look a prospect though.

The rest of the intake;

 

I was gutted to lose my HoYD  this month as he moves into management with Segunda side Deportivo FATIC, good luck to him.

 

Next up is an absoloutly HUGE game against second place Bolivar, winning will open up a five point gap with as many games left to play, defeat would see them overtake us at the top. A real make or break game!

Edited February 2 by Rick87

[Rick87]

September 2023

Yep! the second Primera division title in Club Aurora's history is secured! 

Still two games left to play, but job done! we earned a point against Bolivar in the big game but manged to win our other three games to take the title in style. Will we complete the season unbeaten? I believe that would be first here in Bolivia, The Strongest have won the title with only a single defeat but I can't find any information about winning it without any losses.

 

I'm not sure why there is almost a month until our next fixture, and then another two weeks before the final one, perhaps an error in the editor data unless there is something I'm unaware of in Bolivia? Oh well, I will arrange a few friendlies to keep sharp.

Edited February 3 by Rick87

[Rick87]

October/November 2023

 

We did it! What a moment for our club, not only claiming only it's second championship win in it's history, but becoming the first club to ever finish the campaign undefeated. I'm over the moon and genuinely excited for next season as we enter Copa Libertadores,

Weird scheduling, but we got through it; we didn't perform at the levels we have shown throughout the season, especially against struggling Libertad Gran Mamore who hadn't won in 17 matches as labored to a draw, and it took two late goals to overcome Tomayapo. Still with the the title already secure I'll forgive a little malaise this once.

The final league table

 

This seems a massive amount for Bolivia and suspect is an error in the editor data file I'm using, if I was to hazard a guess I'd say the creator meant to set the money as 25M Bolivino (2.5M£) rather than 25M£. But still  it shouldn't affect the fair play of the Bolivian league as there are big prizes all the way down. I'm just worried about Bolivian clubs becoming unrealistically overpowered in the Liberdadores.

£13M is more money than I can realistically spend in a season. Most players who would consider coming to us have values up to around £250k, so I have asked the board to use money to upgrade the facilities and backroom staff instead as I try to establish Aurora as a force across South America as well as domestically. 

Edited February 4 by Rick87

[SixPointer]

I fellow Andean journeyman!  A huge accent you’ve already made. Great work. Following  along

[Rick87]

13 hours ago, SixPointer said:

I fellow Andean journeyman!  A huge accent you’ve already made. Great work. Following  along

Thanks mate, Yeah I'm enjoying it a lot at the moment and hopefully this will be my long term save on FM24 after a few false starts. I'm keeping up with yours also.

________________________

January 2024

Preparations for our title defense and Continental adventure are complete (I hope) Will we retain our championship?

 

Transfers In

Willian Alvarez - Striker who finished third in the Primera Division scoring charts last season with eighteen goals for Universitario de Vinto, he signs on free for us.

Ceaser Menacho - Right winger who can also play up front.  Signed on free from Blooming to replace Rodrigo Ramallo who left to join the Strongest.

Miyhel Ortiz - Another freebie, this time from Palmflor del Tropico where he impressed me with his performances against us last season. He will provide competition for Jair Torrico at left back.

Eduardo Demiquel - My final free signing, from Royal Pari where he was the highest rated defender in the league last term.

 

Transfers Out

Of all of the players out, only winger Dario can really be described as regular, he left after I failed in my promise to advance more youth academy players. Bit of a stupid reason to leave a title winning club if you ask me, but hey ho.

 

Full Squad

I'm happy with my team, I think we will be up there again this season and can cover all but the worse injury crisis. I've also managed to bring the average age of the squad down from 31 to 28.

 

Nothing too taxing in the pre-season schedule, just lower league oppositions to build up fitness and morale ahead of the opening game against Blooming.

 

In other news we have a new el presidente;

 

And I was approached by the two biggest clubs in Bolivia, on the same day!

Needless to say, I turned them down, I love it here at Aurora and have targets I want to achieve, mainly to become the first Bolivian side to win Libertadores. It won't happen this season, but with all the upgrades to facilities we are building a longterm  project. This season I would like to get out of our group.

 

Edited February 5 by Rick87

[Rick87]

I love this team! A cracking game to start to the season off, I felt sure our unbeaten run was coming to an end when blooming went 3-0 up after just 33 minutes. But some tactical jiggery-pokery changed things completely and given the amount of chances we had, we should probably have won comfortably.  Still, I'll take the point given the position we were in at half time. Onwards and upwards.

[SixPointer]

What a comeback that is 

[Rick87]

February 2024

All good things must come to an end right? Our incredible 34 match unbeaten run in the league came to an end this month as we suffered a slow start to the 2024 campaign.

It looked as if Blooming would be the ones to end my perfect record as Aurora manager, however we battled back from 3-0 down to earn a point as I detailed in my previous post. This was followed by a heavily rotated side easing through to the second round of the Copa Aerosur against Segunda side Ciclon. I don't much care about the cup and will use it as a chance to give my fringe players and brightest prospects some playing time for as long as we are still in it.

A draw with The Strongest was a respectable result, though the manner in which we lost to Santa Cruz was not, the first half was all one way traffic as the visitors surged into their two goal lead. We improved after half time and went close repeatedly, however we just couldn't put it away.

 

The league table doesn't mean a lot after just three games, but here it is anyway;

 

I've been a little disappointed with my new signings so far; Cesar Menacho hasn't played yet as he broke his toe in the friendly against Universitario del Sucre, Eduardo Demequil hasn't slotted in at the back as seamlessly as I would have liked, he has mad a couple of costly mistakes alongside Nelson Amarilla at the back, Harold Cummings will hopefully be back from injury soon, who is the partner I had in mind for Demequil, hopefully that lifts his game. Striker Willian Alvarez did get a brace in the cup but I  don't think I've quite decided on his best role, he has the attributes of a target man and is a threat in the air. I've told my team to try floating more crosses for him but being a very ground based possession Hungary team it's not working so well at the moment. 

Left back Mihyel Ortiz has performed ok, solid if not spectacular, I signed him to gradually replace 37 year old Jair Torrico, but so far it looks as if Jair will remain my #1 left back for now.

I'm beginning to wonder if I should have splashed some of that £13M transfer budget rather than relying on free's. The transfer window doesn't open until the end of July so my team need to pick it up until then. 

 

The Copa Libertadores starts next month, I'm excited to lead Club Aurora in only their third appearance South America's biggest club competition. They went out in the first round in 1964 and 2009. Can we make it past the groups this year?

 

I don't have much hope of beating Independiente, but I do think we can get through second, games against rivals Bolivar could get feisty, Our meetings last season finished 6-0 to us and 1-1 so they will have a point to prove. I'm looking forward to the trip to Buenos Aires to face Independiente, it is one of my ambitions to manage in Argentina so it will be good experirence.

[Rick87]

March 2024

The season is now in full swing as we compete for three competitions, we are off to a flyer in the Copa Libertadores, not so much in the league;

Beating Bolivar was a great result, but not as great as beating seven times Libertadores winners Inderpendiente! We stormed into a two goal lead at half time but it looked as if the Argentines were going to pull off a comeback when they got back into the game 2=2. However a late goal by Nino gave us a historic win.

Unfortunatley that momentum dind't carry over into our game against Guabira, who beat us convincingly 3-2. 

Through to the third round of the Copa Aerosur, a heavily rotated side made light work of Wilsterman Co-operative on our way to a tie against Real Potosi in the last 32 round.

I have no idea how we didn't win against newly promoted San Jose, we dominated from start to finish but they scored two nice long range efforts and we could only manage a draw despite our clear authority in the game;

Loooking good so far in the Libertadores, Deportes at home next in what will be a massive game in our bid to get through to the knockout rounds, it won't be easy was they also beat Independiente, suprising as I had expected the Argenties to boss this group.

It's not looking quite so encouraging in the league however, something of a slow start to our title defense. With a good run of results we will be right back up there though.

 

[Rick87]

April 2024

A tiring month for us with action in the league and Libertadores, but we have come through it in a stronger position and are on the cusp of reaching the knockout rounds of Libertadores as well as pulling ourselves up the table domestically.

There were no easy matches this month, every game was against sides favored heavily against us so we did well to pick up the points that we did. I've been tinkering tactically and have changed to a much more aggressive system than the box standard 442 I utilized last season.

So far it's worked well, only against Wilsterman in the Cocochamba derby did we fail to hit the net at least once. I had some doubts about the high defensive line but so far we have implemented it well, hopefully as we become more familiar with the players new roles we will get back to the kind of form that saw us win the title at a canter last season.

 

We were unlucky to lose at home to Deportes Tolima, we gave the Colombians a tough time and only a beautiful 85th minute freekick condemned us to defeat, we did manage to hold on in the reverse fixture, taking a well deserved point across the border in Columbia.

The was also a double header against rivals Bolivar, I remain unbeaten in my four meetings against the 24 time champions, drawing in Libertadores and beating them at home, much to the fans delight.

If we can better Bolivar's result against Tolima in our game against Independiente, we will be through to the next round, it would be a fantastic achievement for our club and a sign of the real progress we are making.

Back into the top half of the table, following our slow start. A couple of wins and we will be right back in the mix in what is a very competitive league. 

In other news, Serginho will be playing for us into his forties, the ever green Brazilian winger has provided four goals and two assists in ten games already this season and has earned a one year extension to his contract which also sees him take his first non-playing role, coaching the U19's. Whilst I'm very keen to phase out the older generation of players, several of whom are pushing 40, I don't want to do it too quickly and ruin the team dynamic. Serginho can obviously still perform so i want to keep him around, mostly as an impact sub and gradually phase him into my coaching staff, along with a few of the other elder statesmen we have.

 

[Rick87]

May 2024

Another up and down month where we have continued to be inconsistent.

A heartbreaking defeat in Buenos Aries saw our adventure in Copa Libertadores come to an end, that heartbreak was made all the worse by the fact we had battled back from 2-0 down to draw level, only to lose that precious point that would have been enough to take us through late on. Our loss coupled with Bolivar beating Deportes 3-0 saw our rivals go through instead.

The good news is, much like the European  Champions League, teams eliminated from the group stage in Libertadores drop into a play off round in Copa Sudamericana (The South American equivalent of the Europa League) So our continental adventure isn't over yet this season.

Peruvian side Garcilaso stand in our way, they are mid-table in the Peruvian Liga 1, so I reckon we have a good chance.

 

We are also through to the last sixteen of the Copa Aerosur, where we will take on amateur side Deportivo Cooper after we thrashed Nacional Petosi 6-2 in the last round. With us slipping behind in the league, this is probably our best chance of silverware now, so I am going to start taking it more seriously.

 

Five points from four games in Premiera isn't the sort of form that will see us shoot up the table, very disappointing. We are scoring plenty of goals but are also conceding them, I'm already looking into spending some of our title win prize money when the transfer window opens in August to shore up defense and hopefully add another midfielder to our ranks.

It looks as if the other pre-season favorites are also struggling so I perhaps shouldn't be too hard on my players, ten points behind the leaders it will take a good run to get back into contention but it's possible. I at least want to finish in the top three so we can have another crack at the Libertadores.

 

I got a preview of the new youth intake this month, which looks less exciting than last season despite the club pumping over a million into facilities upgrades;

Hopefully the upgrades will start producing results next season!

 

In other news, the Copa America tournement gets underway next month, My scouts and I are keeping a close eye on the event being held in the USA, which this year is open to teams from North, as well as South America. I'm particuarlly intrested in how Boliva fare in the tournament, as I've mentioned before I harbor ambitions of managing La Verde. If they should happen to do badly and decide to look for a new manager I will apply and try international management, alongside my club position, at least to start with.

[Rick87]

June-August 2024

Hi all, I've been without Wi-Fi for a few days so I've moved through a few months, here is a quick catch up with my progress

 

We came charging back in the league, putting together ten consecutive wins to actually briefly reach the summit of Primeria division, though we promptly blew that position by losing to the two main challengers, Oriente Petrolero and Jorge Wilstermann, I don't recall having ever had a player sent off whilst manager of Aurora before these games, we then had a red in these games back-to-back. Costing us dearly both times. We did bounce back by crushing rivals Bolivar 7-3 on their own ground though to keep our faint hope of retaining the title alive, we are five points behind with five game to go, so it's Oriente's to lose, but we have to be ready if the do slip up.

We are also through to the semi-final of the Copa Aerosur where a showdown with Oriente awaits, to be fair we have had an easy path through to this stage, playing mostly Segunda and regional sides on our way to the last eight, but still it would be great to have won both of the domestic competitions.

Sadly, our continental meandering is over this season as we went out of Copa Sudamericana 3-1 on aggregate to Peruvian outfit Garcilaso. The good news is we will be back marauding around South America next season, it's just a matter of whether that's in the Copa Libertadores or Sudamericana.

 

I used the transfer window to splash some of last years prize money to bolster the squad

Felipe Yanez - My new left back who cost us £1.4M from Colo Colo, a real hot prospect who could go far in the game

Keke' - Brazilian winger who can play on either flank, signed from Brazilian Serie C side Trombese for £350k to replace another Brazilian winger, Serginho, who is retiring

at the end of the season.

Daniel Camacho - Playmaker who at £87k from The Strongest was a bit of a bargain in my opinion as he's already been a great player for us, but the sale also weakens a rival.

Marcos Peano - A new goalkeeper from Argentine club Atlletico de Rafela, signed for £450k

 

 

 

 

[Rick87]

End of Season 2024

Meh - The best way I can sum up the end to the season. It fizzled out into nothing in the end. Highly disappointing after all the work we put in through the middle of the season to get ourselves back into title contention. But injuries coupled with the stupid scheduling at the end of the season cost us dearly.

Coming from 4-1 down to earn a point against Always Ready was impressive, as was thrashing Universitario, however the loss to Independiente Petrolero killed any realistic chance of holding onto our title, making the visit of Tropico a dead rubber, a good thing really as I would have been gutted by their stoppage time winner if it still mattered!

To be fair, the board only asked for qualification for continental competition, so we have achieved their goals, however I can't help but feel disappointed by fourth place after winning the title last season. 

Losing the semi final of Copa Aerosur on penalties was also upsetting, especially as we were ahead right up to the 92nd minute against Oriente. As soon as that injury time equiliser went in, I had that feeling that tonight wasn't our night, as it proved.

 

Here is my team of the season;

 

I've cast one eye to the jobs market, I'm not desperate to move and am making plans to lead Aurora in 2025 for our bid to reclaim the title, but if the right job comes up I could be tempted to apply. We shall see!

[Rick87]

January & February 2025

Hi all, sorry I've not been very active with this recently, it's been a hectic couple of weeks. I've now had a few hours of peace and have plowed through a couple of months to kick of the 2025 season in high Andes!

 

I have made two additions to the squad during the rather short off-season here in Bolivia;

Mirko Juarez - A club record signing, In all honesty I think I've over-paid on him, spending £1.6M to bring him in from Quilmes, but he is a statement transfer, wrestling away a player from a Argentine Primera side is no joke for a Bolivian club, and shows our reputation is rising. That been said he is still a tidy player who adds quality and significant potential to my defense.

Kevin Parra - Loaned with an option to buy from Colombian club Patriotas Boyca. Kevin is a useful winger who can play on either flank. Hopefully he can develop to his full potential whilst with us and become a permanent member of the team. 

 

Only one player was sold, reserve defender Brian Barao - who only made one senior appearence for Aurora, joins Always Ready for £69k. I had no doubts about letting him go and I reckon we got a very good price.

 

A hectic, but largely encouraging start to the new season, coming from behind to win on Penalties against Ecuador's Independiente del Valle in the Libertadores qualifying, we then overcame Chile's Union Espanola before our luck ran out against Argentina's Belgrano who we beat at home but were thrashed by in Cordoba. The one positive from that game was 17 year old hot prospect Sebastian Garcia scoring his first senior goal after coming on to replace Willian Alvarez when he picked up a knock.

I've got him in a mentoring group to try and improve his mental attributes. I'm also working on his strength as at 6'6 he should be a monster at set-pieces.

 

We might be out of the Libertadores, and sadly only the best two losing teams from the third round drop into Copa Sudamericana, but perhaps no continental competition might be good for us as we look to reclaim the title from Oriente Petrolero this season. 

My contract with Aurora expires at the end of next season and I intend to honor it, but what sort of final season I have will be determined by this campaign. I want one serious tilt at winning the Libertadores with Aurora, to do that we need to attract some of South America's top players, and to do that we need to be winning things. So this is a make-or -break season for me in my mind and if I should decide to renew my contract here or begin looking at moving on seriously.

 

 

[Rick87]

 

Turns out I was wrong about us not dropping into the Copa Sudamericana; In real life only the best two losers from the Libertadores third qualifying round get to enter the secondary competition, but this editor data I'm using appears to have all the losing teams advancing. Not that I'm complaining!

The board have set a wildly ambitious target of reaching the semi-finals, considering the likes of Vasco, Indipendiente, Estudiantes, Fluminense and Argentinos Jr's are in this competition that aim does seem unrealistic to me, but hell, I like a good challenge!

 

I've had to make an unplanned signing to keep things ticking over in the midst of a serious injury crisis;

Kevin Salvetierra - Kev was a free agent so I'm allowed to sign him outside of a transfer window, he's actually been on my shortlist for a while after impressing me with his performances for Royal Pari whilst on loan from Bolivar. Bolivar let him go at the end of his contract in December so I'm surprised nobody else has snapped him up before now. Anyway, he will provide cover whilst three of my four wingers recover from injuries. I gave Kevin a contract until the end of the season with an optional one year extension, whether I chose to use that option remains to be seen.

[Rick87]

I've just reached my century  as Aurora head coach;

We managed to mark the occasion with a 2-1 win over Always Ready

My overall career stats so far;

I'm definatly loving life at Aurora and I fully intend to try and make them a real force in South America, my ultimate aim is to be the first Bolivian club to win the Copa Libertadores. It's going to take time but with the board agreeing to several upgrades of our facilities we are getting the infrastructure in place to boost our standing in the world.

 

I'm really quite lucky to have a chairman who agrees with basically everything I suggest!

[Rick87]

March / April 2025

A grueling couple of months fixture wise has resulted in a revolving door being installed to the treatment room. Injuries have blighted us severely, but at this point we still lead the way in Primera. 

 

Five points clear but having played four games more than the chasing pack, It seems rather unfair we have had to play so many games in such a short space of time when the others haven't, especially as we are competing on two other fronts as well.

 

We opened our Copa Sudamerica group with a draw against Chile's Everton, a 87th minute header from Willian Alvarez saved a point for us which was the least we deserved after being the better team throughout. Unfortunately we have a habit of being the better team in terms of chances and possession but winding up not making them count, only to be punished, as was the case against Independiente Petrolero who scored with both of their shots on target, we however squandered chance after chance and should have won comfortably.

We are through to the third round of the Copa Aerosur where we ill face Segunda side Acadamia del Belompie Boliviano (ABB for short)  I'm hoping we can go one better than last season's semi, and reach the final this year as it's a competition Aurora have never won, finishing runners up twice in the 2010's. It would be great to be the manager who delivers that maiden success.

The aforementioned injury pile-up has forced me to turn to the youngsters, who are vying for a chance in the first team;

Fabricio has taken his opportunity wonderfully and has already made himself part of my plans going forward. He scored twice from midfield on his debut in the crushing 9-0 Copa Aerosur win over Deportivo Shalon. I rewarded him with a run in the first team, scoring his first league goal in the derby win over Jorge Wilstermann. Certainly one to watch.

 

Only one substitute appearence so far for young Oscar, he came on to replace the injured Ceaser Menacho in the 55th minute of the 2-1 defeat to Palmafor del Tropico. My youth coaches all rate him highly so I will be gradually giving him more chances to get involved.

 

Recalled from his loan at Garcia Agreda when I went down to just three fit defenders for the games against Everton and Independiente, Kevin came on in both games, performing solidly. Not sure he will feature for me long term but he is filling a need until my injured defenders return.

 

A couple of games less next month so hopefully the fitness problems begin to subside and we can get on a decent run domestically and on the continent.

[Rick87]

May 2025

After playing way more games than everyone else last month, we only played a single league fixture this month, which we duly won to cling onto the top spot by the skin of our teeth, break two club records and progress in the cup. Sadly our continental aspirations are over this season as we crashed out of the Copa Sudamericana in the group stage.

Wins over Everton and Talleres wern't enough to save our skin as Deportivo Cuenca took second place in the group behind Talleres.

The board had set me a target of reaching the semi-finals, which I though was unrealistic. However I was very disappointed we didn't even get out of the group. The board aren't happy either!

 

Thankfully we are doing well domestically which should keep pressure off me for now, we set a new club record by absolutely destroying ABB in the Copa Aerosur

Close game! I don't recall three different players getting hat-tricks in a single fixture before. Nice to see 16 year old Fabricio Hurtado getting his forth and fifth goals of the season as well.

Ignacio Poplawski's goal after 58 seconds was a club record for fastest goal, but that record only stood for two weeks as Willian Alverez gave us a dream start in the 2-0 win over Tomyapo after just 13 seconds!

Now everyone has caught up in terms of games played and we reach the half way point, it's really game on the race for the title. We are no longer involved in Copa Sudamericana which could prove a blessing in disguise considering all the injuries we've had.

 

In other news, Oswaldo Blanco has announced his decision to retire at the end of the season

I'll miss Oswaldo, he was a massive part of our undefeated title winning season in 2023 but there is no escaping the fact that he is now on the downslope, he has been second fiddle behind Willian Alverez as my primary striker and isn't quite as sharp as he was a couple of years back, and young academy graduate Sebastian Garcia is coming along nicely in terms of development, so I won't be trying to persuade him to stay on for another year. I would love for him to become part of my backroom team though as Serginho did at the end of last season.

Oswaldo Blanco's Aurora record.

Edited February 28 by Rick87

[Rick87]

What do you reckon folks? I'm really torn on this. I'm really enjoying Aurora and am on course for a second Bolivian title, possibly a league and cup double this season, I know all my players who all like me and am seen as an icon at the club. On the other hand Banfield are a big club in Argentina, who are currently playing in the Libertatores, with some investment they could become challengers for the Argentine title. In my goals in the first post of this thread, I said I want to manage Boca Juniors someday which hasn't changed, this would certainly be a step towards that, even if Banfield just ends up being a stepping stone for me.

The Bolivian national team job could also be coming up with La Verde on course to finish dead last in World Cup qualifying with four games to play. It is also an ambition of mine to manage Bolivia to their first World Cup since USA 94', so I could hold off from moving until after the final qualifying round in October where the Bolivian FA will presumably make up their mind regarding a change. As there won't be any WC games for Bolivia in 2026 I could potentially take that job and remain with Aurora for the final year of my contract for a third tilt at continental success.

 

Edited February 29 by Rick87

[Rick87]

Big news!

 

The Banfield offer never materialized as they went with another candidate, however shortly after I received another interview offer from an arguably bigger Argentine outfit;

After the interview I was offered the position and have accepted! Though I will be seeing out the season with Aurora, I don't want to leave with nine games to go whilst we are on for a league and cup double but I'm obviously excited by the step up next season.

 

 

Racing have had a bad season so far in Liga Profesional, languishing in 14th, well below expectations and out of the running for continental competition, so I will have a rebuild on my hands, possibly with a couple of my Aurora players joining me.

[Rick87]

June - August 2025

Well my time at Aurora may be coming to an end with my move to Racing Club on the horizon, but I am determined to leave Bolivia on a high, with a League and cup double very much on the cards it could be an amazing finale for me in Cocochamba.

We have been in sensational form since getting knocked out of the Copa Sudamerica, being able to focus purely on domestic football has clearly been beneficial to my team as we've smashed through the competition to establish what looks an unassailable lead at the top of the league;

 

Ten points clear with five games to play, two more wins will wrap things up.

 

Humiliating reigning champions Oriente Petrolero was a particular highlight, they had a red card after five minutes, which allowed us to destroy them 9-0, a very sweet result as they took our title last season and have beaten us on the last three meetings, including the semi final of the Copa Aerosur last year on penalties.

I'm hoping we will go go one better in this years Copa Aerosur, we have a stiff test from Bolivar, the highest reputation club in the country, however our recent record against the 24 time champions is impeccable.

 

 

The final five league games and the cup semi, I can't say I'm going to miss Bolivia's weird fixture scheduling at the end of each season when I move to Argentina;

We could potentially win the title against arch-rivals Jorge Wilstermann, with whom we share our stadium, which would be sweet to say the least, though we need Bolivar to lose to bottom of the table Royal Pari for that to happen which seems unlikely.

[Rick87]

Championes!

 

Exciting times as we clinch a second title in three years, it would be a fantastic way to sign off as Aurora manager, but there is still the matter of the Copa Aerosur to sort out, can we do the double?

 

We did our part by beating Wilstermann comfortably 4-0. However we still needed Royal Pari to do us a big favor and pull of a shock against Bolivar. Pari left it late, but they didn't let us down!

 

Some personal glory for me as well;

I want to reach the South American hall of fame some day, a long way to go for that yet, but being in the Bolivian HoF is a great start!

[Rick87]

September-November 2025

 

Well, my three years at Aurora comes to an end, there was no double unfortunately as for the second year running we went out of the Copa Aerosur on penalties in the semi-final. Frustratingly it was also the second year running we threw away the lead late on to go to extra time and penalties. Still I got to sign off with lifting the league title again against Libertad which was a great finale.

I'm going to miss Aurora and our over-achievement over the past three years, we've built a team that was dominating domestically, brought through a few talented youngsters, upgraded all the facilities to a level comparable with some of the top South American clubs and built up a formidable bank balance that should set the club in good stead for the future. 

 

Before I move on here is a quick summary of my career so far;

 

                  

 

Edited March 3 by Rick87

[Rick87]

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen as we embark on the second chapter of  our epic tale, chronicling the glorious career of our boy Juan. After three successful years learning his trade and building a reputation as fine tactician and supporter of attractive flowing football, Juan has earned a move to one of South America's biggest teams, eighteen time Argentinian champions and 1967 Copa Libertadores winners; Racing Club.

During the 1,600 mile drive from Cocochamba, high in the Bolivian Andes, to the bustling metropolis of Buenos Aries, Juan has time to consider his goals in life and reflect on what he has already checked off of his bucket list ;

Achieved / To-Do 

 Qualify for Copa Libertadores with Aurora

Win Primera Division with Aurora

Be the first Bolivian club to win Copa Libertadores 

Manage Bolivia

Qualify for World Cup with Bolivia for the first time since USA 94

Win Bolivia's first Copa America since 1963

Manage Boca Juniors (My favorite South American club)

Move to a big European club

Win UEFA Champions League

Cement my place in football history by being inducted into Worldwide hall of fame

 

The outstanding goals involving my native Bolivia will have to be put on ice for now, for now I need to concentrate me efforts on building Racing Club into a serious contender for the top honors in South America! Perhaps once I've achieved my other goals I can return to Bolivia for a final hurrah before winding my career down, but that's a long way off yet!

 

So, who are Racing?

Full Name: Racing Club de Avellanda

Nickname: El Primer Grande (The First Great)

Founded: 1903

Division: Primera Division

Stadium: El Presidente Peron (41,000 capacity)

Fierce Rivals: Independiente, Boca Juniors, River Plate, San Lorenzo

Last Season: 17th

Continental competition: N/A

Racing and Independiente are less than 300 yards apart, together they contest the Avellanda derby.

 

My first job will be to start assessing the squad, across U20's, reserves and first team there are almost 70 players which for me is far too many. I prefer a small squad filled with versatile players who can play multiple positions, my aim is to cut the squad down to two good players and youth prospect for each position.

 

[Rick87]

January 2026

My first month in Avallanda has been a period of great transition. As I mentioned in the previous post, there was over 70 players across the three squads here, I have been  trying to reduce that down by cashing in on some of the fringe players and youngsters I don't think will make it at our level

£5M generated from player sales so far, which I have reinvested in bringing in a couple of my trusted favorites from Aurora;

Willian Alvarez - Undoubtedly my star player at Aurora, he scored 51 goals in 58 games since I signed him in 2024. Can he continue his lethal form in Argentina? For a fee of just £325k he is definitely worth a punt.

Joel De Marco - Reliable midfielder who made over 100 appearances for me over three years in Bolivia when I signed him on free from Aldevosi. He returns to Argentina for £325k. I feel slightly guilty for not waiting a couple of weeks to sign him as he was only 17 days away from gaining Bolivian citizenship and possibly becoming an international footballer.

Tomas Silva - Very determined leftback who cost me £2.6M from rivals San Lorenzo.

Manuel Monaco - The new club record signing, Manuel cost us £5M from newly promoted Sarmiento Junin, who he helped to win the second division last season. Manuel will play the #10 role behind Alvarez in my 4-2-3-1 tactic. That high determination is the first attribute I look for in a player, combine that with his considerable skills and I think we are on to a winner.

 

OK, onto the results;

Pre-season was a very worrying time, I wasn't exactly welcomed warmly by fans or players, they were dubious of my appointment as I have only managed in lowly Bolivia previously. I didn't help ease the players unrest when I started making big changes to the playing squad and upsetting a couple of them by offering out their friends. Performances in the warm up friendlies reflected the lack of harmony as we failed to win any of the three games. 

Thankfully they seem to have set their issues aside now that Liga Profesional has kicked off as we picked up wins in both of our opening two matches. Manuel Monaco has been superb so far, scoring in both games, as has my boy Alvarez who looks as if he will handle the step up in quality just fine. 

League Table - It's a long season here in Argentina, Liga Profesional has 28 clubs in it, if I understand the rules correctly, we all play each other once, before the league splits in two and each half plays each other again, the top 14 group then commences in an eight team play-off for the the title.  (Can anyone confirm this is correct?)

 

 

 

Edited March 3 by Rick87