mayihavecookie
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Posts posted by mayihavecookie
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Nice one ashton. I had a nice year at Jeonbuk in this challenge as well. There shouldn't be too much challenge for the Champions League, at least there wasn't in FM15
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MIHC - So near to a historic victory. I don't know how you can call yours a poor international record. Holy crap. I've just realised you're not that far behind me, and my save is sometime in the 23rd century now. I think its my 200-year anniversary at newcastle soon.
Thanks for the kind words and congratulations to your league title for the 200 year anniversary! I'm trying to follow in your footsteps, I just joined the Premier League too. But with Arsenal I hope it's possible to get that title a bit sooner. Also I took over Brazil after their manager resigned after the Superclasico or whatever its called. So next time I'm gonna get that title.
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Copa America 2027
I've been without an international jobs for two years. After the World Cup 2026 Argentina, England, France, Spain and some other teams sacked their managers, and I applies for some of these jobs, but nobody wanted to give me a chance to get back into international football. Spain even decided to get a totally unknown 58 year old Regen manager with obscure reputation instead of me. What?
After I resigned from Boca Juniors I hoped to find a job in the MLS but I didn't. But in the Job Security window I saw that the Uruguay manager's job was very insecure, so I declared interest in the job. He was sacked two days later and I took over six months before the Copa America 2027 in our own country. I only played two friendlies before. A 2-1 win against Ivory Coast in March and a 3-1 win against River Plate (URU) in june.
Group Stage
We went into the tournament with our star striker, 40 year old Luis Suarez, injured. Still, a win in this easy group with Paraguay, Venezuela and Bolivia was compulsory, and Suarez would hopefully return for the quarter finals. We started with a 5-0 win against Bolivia. Franco Acosta, our second veteran striker, scored four goals.
Next we played Venezuela and again we won 3-0. In the other game, Bolivia surprisingly beat Paraguay and so we already had the 1st place in the group booked. A little setback was that two more of my better players were out with long term injuries.
In the third game against Paraguay I rested some players and we lost 2-1, still finished 1st though. But with two more injuries, one for 4 weeks and one for 11 days, my squad was now down to 17 players.
Quarter Final (Uruguay - Chile)
Another man down just before the game. But with Luis Suarez and another player with a light injury back in the team I'm still able to field 11 players on the pitch and 7 on the bench. In other news, Argentina lost 1-2 against Venezuela (haha!) which at least doubles our chances of success in this tournament.
In minute 12, a Raymundo free kick from around 30 meters hits the cross bar and Dos Santos isn't able to score from the rebound. But after 38 minutes, Raymundo profits from a mistake of a Chile defender and scores with hard shot from short distance. Just 5 minutes later we block a corner and start a wonderful counter attack that is finished by Raymundo again. 2-0 for half time.
Towards the end of an uneventful second half, Chile comes back one goal after a corner. But we are able to defend our 2-1 lead until the final whistle.
Uruguay - Chile 2-1
Semi Final (Venezuela - Uruguay)
Venezuela again. We should be able to beat them even though my team is on their last leg. Suarez is back in the starting eleven for the first time in this tournament.
The first big chance belongs to us. It's Raymundo who turns up before the goalkeeper again, but his shot is blocked. 6th minute. After 20 minutes, a Suarez shot is blocked by a defender, but the ball lands in front of Raymundo and this time he scores. 1-0.
Venezuela have their first big chance after 26 minutes. A cross comes in from the right and Ponce hits it volley from five meters, but Correa manages to keep it out of his goal. Martinez tries to score from the rebound, but Correa wins again. Big save. Then Correa saves our ass two more times before Dos Santos scores the 2-0 after a nice pass by Luis Suarez in minute 42. And to makes things clear we score a third time from a penalty right before half time. 3-0 Gallo.
In the second half not so much happens until minute 70, when Pérez scores after another nice assist by Suarez. 4-0. But this is not the final score, because Suarez steps up to become the oldest player to ever score in a Copa Libertadores game (40 years, 5 months and 5 days) when he bangs in a short pass by De Los Santos from 11 meters. 5-0 final score. We're in the final against Brazil.
Venezuela - Uruguay 0-5
Final (Uruguay - Brazil)
On a normal day they should be able to beat us. Let's see what we can do. Brazil had some trouble starting into the tournament. They drew their first two games against Colombia and Chile. But after that they got really strong and reached the final with a 5-1 against Peru, a 5-1 against Paraguay (who beat us) and a 4-1 against Mexico U23.
Brazil playes with a dangerous 4-3-3 (not a 4-3-2-1 or something. 3. central. strikers.) But we have the better start. Suarez scores with a volley after a De Los Santos cross in minute 10. 1-0. But Brazil hits back immediately. 1-1 after 15 minutes. And only 2 minutes later we let them score agaian. My defenders decide not to run after a long ball, my goalkeeper somehow runs past the ball and Badé says Thank you. 1-2. But after 30 minutes we are able to equalise. This time it's a header by De Los Santos. 2-2 for half time.
After the break, Brazil are better than we are, and it's my former Dortmund player Gabriel Barbosa who scores the 2-3 after 48 minutes. And only 3 minutes later it's 2-4. Jeferson. And we can never come back from that. Tite even scores the 2-5 after 90 minutes. Brazil wins.
Uruguay - Brazil 2-5
Reaching the final with Uruguay is a respectable achievement but nothing that helps me with my poor international record. I resign from the Uruguay job, Luis Suarez retires from Football.
[b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER Year Nation NL WC Cont. Conf. Notes & Achievements[/b] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 South Korea Joined 22.7.18 2019 South Korea QF Sacked 6.2.19 2019 Cameroon Joined 17.2.19 World Ranking 29th 2020 Cameroon 2021 Cameroon Won Won African Cup of Nations 2022 Cameroon 3rd Resigned 10.7.22 World Ranking 4th 2023 France SF Joined 17.7.22 World Ranking 7th 2024 France QF Sacked 14.7.24 World Ranking 4th 2025 - 2026 - 2027 Uruguay Final Joined 10.1.17 World Ranking 39th
Challenge Progress Club 7/10 top domestic leagues (China, South Korea, South Africa, Germany, Spain, Holland, Argentina) 6/10 domestic cups (China, South Korea, South Africa, Spain, Holland, Argentina) 3/5 club continental championships (Asia, Africa, South America) 1/1 club world championship (Boca Juniors) International 1/5 continental tournaments (African Cup of Nations with Cameroon) 0/2 world tournaments
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****, that must be new in FM16. What a stupid change, doesn't make any sense at all.
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are you sure about this? it worked in FMC for me
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mayihavecookie's Challenge, Season 12
Season 2026
Boca Juniors - Primera División
League Table | Schedule 1 | Schedule 2 | Schedule 3 | Schedule 4 | Manager Profile | SextupleI had to stay a whole other year just to get that cup title, and I did my best to make sure we wouldn't fail to do so. I spent some money to considerably strengthen my squad. I bought two top players from last years second Newell's (a centre back and a striker), also I got two new left backs, a goalkeeper and some backup players in several positions. And we were invincible this year. Newell's was keeping up with us in the first half of the season, but after we beat them 5-1 shortly after the summer break they lost a few games in a row and eventually went down to 3rd place. There was no competition after that anymore and we easily secured the title again after 23 games.
We started our international season by winning the South American Recopa (winner of the Copa Libertadores against winner of the Copa Sudamericana) against Atletico Mineiro (7-3) on aggregate.
In the Copa Libertadores we were handed an easy group and easily finished 1st with 18 points and 39-2 goals from 6 games. We then went on to beat Universidad de Chile, Flamengo, Vélez and finally River Plate, making us champions of the Copa Libertadore again (I'm happy about this one, because last years win was a bit cheap as I only took over right before the semi final).
Right after the Copa Libertadores ended, we entered the second continental tournament in South America, the Copa Sudamericana. Like last year, we met River in the first Round, meaning we played our fierce rivals four times in only two weeks. We beat them two more times which was nice
. Then we met Universidad de Chile again, then Cruzeiro, Belgrano, and in the final we beat Atletico Mineiro and won the Copa Sudamericana. Now who will play in next years Recopa?Of course the most important competition for me this year was the Copa Argentina. We started with a 13-0 victory over Dep. Maipu. Next was a 3-1 win against Dep. Moron, a 3-0 against All Boys, a 2-1 against Vélez, a 5-1 against Independiente Rivadavia and last but not least a 3-0 against Huracan in the final and we won the Copa Argentina with no trouble at all.
Before this very succesful season ended we had to play the Club World Championship once again, and in my 5th attempt I finally managed to win it! We beat Etoile du Sahel in the semi final and managed to take Juventus to penalties were we beat them 5-4. With our win in the Club World Championship I now count seven titles this season: Recopa, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, Primera Division, Copa Argentina, Supercopa Argentina and Club World Championship. Time to leave for the next challenge.
[b]CLUB CAREER Season Club Pos DC1 DC2 Cont Notes & Achievements[/b] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 CHN Renhe 11th QF n/a n/a Took over after 13 games in 16th 2015 CHN Renhe 2nd QF n/a n/a Chinese Manager of the Year 2016 CHN Renhe 1st Won n/a R2 Won Chinese Super League & FA Cup 2017 KOR Chunnam 2nd R4 n/a Won Won Asian Champions League 2018 KOR Jeonbuk 1st Won n/a Won Won Asian Champions League, K-League Classic & FA Cup 19/20 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 2nd Won QF n/a Won SA Cup 20/21 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 1st Won R1 open Won SA Cup, Be The Coach and Premier Soccer League 21/22 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 1st R1 QF won Won African Champions League, left after 13 games in 1st 21/22 GER Borussia Dortmund 3rd F n/a n/a Took over after 26 games in 9th 22/23 GER Borussia Dortmund 1st F n/a EL won Won Bundesliga and Europa League 23/24 ESP Real Madrid 1st Won n/a R2 Won La Liga and Spanish Cup 24/25 HOL Ajax 1st Won n/a R2 Won Eredivisie and Dutch Cup 2025 ARG Boca Juniors 1st n/a n/a Won Took over after 15 games in 2nd. Won League & Copa Libertadores 2016 ARG Boca Juniors 1st Won n/a Won Won Copa Argentina, Club World Cup and everything else [b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER Year Nation NL WC Cont. Conf. Notes & Achievements[/b] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 South Korea Joined 22.7.18 2019 South Korea QF Sacked 6.2.19 2019 Cameroon Joined 17.2.19 World Ranking 29th 2020 Cameroon 2021 Cameroon Won Won African Cup of Nations 2022 Cameroon 3rd Resigned 10.7.22 World Ranking 4th 2023 France SF Joined 17.7.22 World Ranking 7th 2024 France QF Sacked 14.7.24 World Ranking 4th 2025 - 2026 -
Challenge Progress Club 7/10 top domestic leagues (China, South Korea, South Africa, Germany, Spain, Holland, Argentina) 6/10 domestic cups (China, South Korea, South Africa, Spain, Holland, Argentina) 3/5 club continental championships (Asia, Africa, South America) 1/1 club world championship (Boca Juniors) International 1/5 continental tournaments (African Cup of Nations with Cameroon) 0/2 world tournaments
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Congratulations vikeologist, finally back on track. I hope you can build on this and finally get that Premier League title. I never made the experience that having an international job would scare off potential employers, is that a really a thing?
Also welcome to the challenge Trainspotting, threelions and Fabian
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Congratulations Normandy what an achievement! You'll get that Champions League next season!
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mayihavecookie's Challenge, Season 11.5
Season 2025
Boca Juniors - Primera División
League Table | Schedule 1 | Schedule 2 | Manager ProfileThere have been a lot of jobs opening up this summer and after I resigned from Ajax I was offered the manager job at around 7 or 8 eight clubs. But except for Bayern and Barca (I've already finished Germany and Spain) the only job that made me think twice was Liverpool. They have been struggling a lot though in the last few years, and I decided to wait for something better.
But finally something happened I've been waiting for since I started this save: Rodolfo Arruabarrena left Boca Juniors after 12 very successful years to join Napoli, and I applied the same day and actually got the job. Could it be that I'm actually the first one to manage Boca in this challenge? I don't remember seeing anyone else managing them.
Of course, as soon as I signed my contract the River job got open as well (also for the first time in my save), but it's OK, Boca would have been my first choice anyway.
I took over one week before the semi final of the Copa Libertadores against Flamengo and I only had one friendly to prepare for it. But we played very well and beat them 2-1 away and then at home as well. Next was already the final and we met Atlético Mineiro. We beat them 5-0 at home and went into the away game with a lot of confidence, were we beat them 7-4 in a crazy game. So with only four competitive games played at Boca, I had already won the Copa Libertadores (though I can't take much of the credit for this
).We were placed second in the league when I took over, 7 points behind Belgrano with 14 games to go. We won all of them except for one draw away to Independiente Rivadavia and easily finished the season on the 1st place of the Primera Division with 9 points more than Newell's on 2nd.
I only suffered two defeats this season. The first one was a 0-1 away defeat in the 2nd Round of the Copa Sudamericana (the second international tournament in South America that doesn't count towards this challenge) against our rivals River which made us drop out of the tournament (we beat the 2-1 at home but were out on away goals).
The second one was a 1-3 against my former team Real Madrid in the final of the Club World Championship. This means I failed in that tournament for the fourth time now.
Sadly we were already out of the Copa Argentina when I took over, so I will have to stay for at least another year to chase this title (really makes me wish we would have won that stupid DFB Pokal back at Dortmund). It's going to be a lot of fun though.
With that Copa Libertadore and league title I'm now slowly getting closer to finishing the club part of the challenge. I'm still without a national team job though after my failure with France at the EURO and I really need to start making some progress in the international part.
[b]CLUB CAREER Season Club Pos DC1 DC2 Cont Notes & Achievements[/b] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 CHN Renhe 11th QF n/a n/a Took over after 13 games in 16th 2015 CHN Renhe 2nd QF n/a n/a Chinese Manager of the Year 2016 CHN Renhe 1st Won n/a R2 Won Chinese Super League & FA Cup 2017 KOR Chunnam 2nd R4 n/a Won Won Asian Champions League 2018 KOR Jeonbuk 1st Won n/a Won Won Asian Champions League, K-League Classic & FA Cup 19/20 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 2nd Won QF n/a Won SA Cup 20/21 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 1st Won R1 open Won SA Cup, Be The Coach and Premier Soccer League 21/22 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 1st R1 QF won Won African Champions League, left after 13 games in 1st 21/22 GER Borussia Dortmund 3rd F n/a n/a Took over after 26 games in 9th 22/23 GER Borussia Dortmund 1st F n/a EL won Won Bundesliga and Europa League 23/24 ESP Real Madrid 1st Won n/a R2 Won La Liga and Spanish Cup 24/25 HOL Ajax 1st Won n/a R2 Won Eredivisie and Dutch Cup 2025 ARG Boca Juniors 1st n/a n/a Won Took over after 15 games in 2nd. Won League & Copa Libertadores [b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER Year Nation NL WC Cont. Conf. Notes & Achievements[/b] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 South Korea Joined 22.7.18 2019 South Korea QF Sacked 6.2.19 2019 Cameroon Joined 17.2.19 World Ranking 29th 2020 Cameroon 2021 Cameroon Won Won African Cup of Nations 2022 Cameroon 3rd Resigned 10.7.22 World Ranking 4th 2023 France SF Joined 17.7.22 World Ranking 7th 2024 France QF Sacked 14.7.24 World Ranking 4th 2025 -
Challenge Progress Club 7/10 top domestic leagues (China, South Korea, South Africa, Germany, Spain, Holland, Argentina) 5/10 domestic cups (China, South Korea, South Africa, Spain, Holland) 3/5 club continental championships (Asia, Africa, South America) 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (African Cup of Nations with Cameroon) 0/2 world tournaments
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Nice one, congratulations pug 407. Champfan10, good luck in Australia, hopefully you'll get your first league title next season.
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Thanks guys. I have the biggest respect for the three of you who are really trying to build something big with mediocre teams (or even a team from a lower league jay). Once you get that title you were working for so hard it will really kickstart your career (jay) / bring it back on track for the last few steps of this challenge (vike) / be easy to get that CL as well and take your place in history (normandy).
I always took the easy route in this challenge. Since I had the chance to move from Chunnam to Jeonbuk I only managed teams that at least belonged to the top three of their league. But it's exactly this journey man feeling that I enjoy so much about this save. I've always tried to have total control of every aspect of my team in other saves, and now it feels great to just come for success and leave for the next challenge as soon as I've won the title and cup I needed. But this is what makes this challenge so great, everyone can play the way he likes.
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mayihavecookie's Challenge, Season 11
Season 2024/25
Ajax - Eredivisie
League Table | Schedule 1 | Schedule 2 | Schedule 3 | Double | Manager ProfileAjax had been Dutch champions five times in a row before I arrived. The squad was already really strong, I only had to bring in two wingers and a central midfielder. We lost the Super Cup final 0-2 to Vitesse, but started the league with a 8-1 home win against Heerenveen. We started well, but soon it became clear that we had a big problem in away games that actually got worse and worse as the season continued. Around mid season some teams like Feyenoord, Vitesse and Den Haag overtook us. At some point we dropped down as far as 7th. But the league was really close. We kept fighting and somehow made it back to the top.
In the last national team break of the season, we played two friendlies against small teams that we won 11-0 and 8-0. This started a winning streak that lasted until the end of the season, allowing us to win the league as well as the Dutch Cup. Maybe the deciding game of the season was against AZ Alkmaar, four games before the end of the season. We were down 0-2 after only five minutes but fought back to a 4-2 end result. In the next game we claimed back 1st place and didn't give it back anymore.
In the Champions League, we finsihed second in a group with PSG, Shaktar and København. In the first knockout round we met my former team Real Madrid who beat us 3-0 on aggregate.
[b]CLUB CAREER Season Club Pos DC1 DC2 Cont Notes & Achievements[/b] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 CHN Renhe 11th QF n/a n/a Took over after 13 games in 16th 2015 CHN Renhe 2nd QF n/a n/a Chinese Manager of the Year 2016 CHN Renhe 1st Won n/a R2 Won Chinese Super League & FA Cup 2017 KOR Chunnam 2nd R4 n/a Won Won Asian Champions League 2018 KOR Jeonbuk 1st Won n/a Won Won Asian Champions League, K-League Classic & FA Cup 19/20 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 2nd Won QF n/a Won SA Cup 20/21 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 1st Won R1 open Won SA Cup, Be The Coach and Premier Soccer League 21/22 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 1st R1 QF won Won African Champions League, left after 13 games in 1st 21/22 GER Borussia Dortmund 3rd F n/a n/a Took over after 26 games in 9th 22/23 GER Borussia Dortmund 1st F n/a EL won Won Bundesliga and Europa League 23/24 ESP Real Madrid 1st Won n/a R2 Won La Liga and Spanish Cup 24/25 HOL Ajax 1st Won n/a R2 Won Eredivisie and Dutch Cup [b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER Year Nation NL WC Cont. Conf. Notes & Achievements[/b] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 South Korea Joined 22.7.18 2019 South Korea QF Sacked 6.2.19 2019 Cameroon Joined 17.2.19 World Ranking 29th 2020 Cameroon 2021 Cameroon Won Won African Cup of Nations 2022 Cameroon 3rd Resigned 10.7.22 World Ranking 4th 2023 France SF Joined 17.7.22 World Ranking 7th 2024 France QF Sacked 14.7.24 World Ranking 4th
Challenge Progress Club 6/10 top domestic leagues (China (Renhe), South Korea (Jeonbuk), South Africa (Kaizer Chiefs), Germany (Dortmund), Spain (Real Madrid), Holland (Ajax)) 5/10 domestic cups (China (Renhe), South Korea (Jeonbuk), South Africa (Kaizer Chiefs), Spain (Real Madrid), Holland (Ajax)) 2/5 club continental championships (Asia (Chunnam & Jeonbuk), Africa (Kaizer Chiefs)) 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (African Cup of Nations with Cameroon) 0/2 world tournaments
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I'm having some huge trouble in away games with Ajax at the moment. I think we've won every home game so far but lost away to teams we should beat easily. Just won 3-0 at home against PSG in the CL, then lost away to the 16th in the league. I've had the same problem last season with Real but the team was so strong it didn't matter so much.
Any advice on how to handle this? In my impression, playing more cautios makes it worse and playing more attacking makes it alot worse
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Out in the Quarter Final against Turkey. I will probably be sacked
Edit: I was sacked. I'm really disappointed, there really was some talent around and we should have been much better than this. Holland sacked their manager as well, but I won't apply. There is no point in taking over another struggling European team with four years to go until the next European championship, so I'll stay without an international job for the moment.
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mayihavecookie's Challenge, Season 10
Season 2023/24
Real Madrid - Primera División
League Table | Schedule 1 | Schedule 2 | Schedule 3 | Double | Manager ProfileIt was a season I enjoyed a lot. Real was actually in debt and our transfer budget was not as big as I expected, but still more than I've ever used before and more than enough to bring in the few reinforcements we needed.
I played a 4-2-3-1 for the first time in my career. Isco, Ødegaard, James and Kroos were the four star players I rotated on the three AM positions. In CM I had two very strong newgens: Alfonso came back to us after one season on loan to play a big role in the first team with 7 goals and 11 assists, and English/South African Mkhwanazi joined us for free after his contract with Everton expired. In defence we had a few strong centre backs who played on rotation, as well as world class right back Dani Carvajal. I bought Lucas Digne, one of the strongest players of my French national team, as a left-back. On the goalkeeper position I relied on 36 year old Keylor Navas for the first half of the season. In winter I brought in a newgen goalkeeper from Porto who did pretty well. My most valuable player this season was Felipe, a 23 year old Brazilian striker I got from São Paulo for £18M. A bit of a rirsk to spend so much money on a player who never left South America so far, but he played as if he'd been playing in a European top league for years. Reaching 50 goals and 17 assists in 45 games with 11 Player of the Match awards.
We didn't have the perfect start and drew two of our first three games. This resulted in us chasing after Valencia for the bigger part of the first half of the season. We were able to overtake them when we beat them in the 14th game of the season. We then never gave away the first place again and Valencia dropped down to 4th over the course of the season. We finished as League Champions with 98 points from 38 games with a goal difference of 123 to 25.
We won the Spanish Cup as well, beating Huesca, Sevilla, Granada, Barcelona and finally Atlético on our way.
In the Champions League we didn't have any success, which was a bit disappointing. We had an easy group with Viktoria Plzen, Bremen and Olympique Marseille and we won the group with some luck, taking 12 points from 6 games. In the First Knockout Round Chelsea was too strong for us. We lost 1-4 away and weren't able to fix it in the home game were we only won 2-0. The board was disappointed obviously, but since we were leading the league by some points, my job security only went down to stable.
I will leave now Real Madrid and move to Ajax, a team I wanted to manage for a long time.
We easily qualified for the EURO, winning every game after our embarrassing defeat against Iceland and our out against England in the Nations League Semi Final. I reevaluated my squad in the winter break and found some promising youngsters who deserved a call up in the friendlies before the EURO, and some of them made it into my squad for the tournament. I'll take seven players to Italy who are between 19 and 22 years old. We won all of our four friendlies this year (Serbia 3-2, Slovakia 2-0, Croatia 4-1 and Scotland 1-0) and I'm looking forward to the EURO. I'll post an update very soon.
[b]CLUB CAREER Season Club Pos DC1 DC2 Cont Notes & Achievements[/b] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 CHN Renhe 11th QF n/a n/a Took over after 13 games in 16th 2015 CHN Renhe 2nd QF n/a n/a Chinese Manager of the Year 2016 CHN Renhe 1st Won n/a R2 Won Chinese Super League & FA Cup 2017 KOR Chunnam 2nd R4 n/a Won Won Asian Champions League 2018 KOR Jeonbuk 1st Won n/a Won Won Asian Champions League, K-League Classic & FA Cup 19/20 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 2nd Won QF n/a Won SA Cup 20/21 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 1st Won R1 open Won SA Cup, Be The Coach and Premier Soccer League 21/22 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 1st R1 QF won Won African Champions League, left after 13 games in 1st 21/22 GER Borussia Dortmund 3rd F n/a n/a Took over after 26 games in 9th 22/23 GER Borussia Dortmund 1st F n/a EL won Won Bundesliga and Europa League 23/24 ESP Real Madrid 1st Won n/a R2 Won La Liga and Spanish Cup [b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER Year Nation NL WC Cont. Conf. Notes & Achievements[/b] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 South Korea Joined 22.7.18 2019 South Korea QF Sacked 6.2.19 2019 Cameroon Joined 17.2.19 World Ranking 29th 2020 Cameroon 2021 Cameroon Won Won African Cup of Nations 2022 Cameroon 3rd Resigned 10.7.22 World Ranking 4th 2023 France SF Joined 17.7.22 World Ranking 7th 2024 France
Challenge Progress Club 5/10 top domestic leagues (China (Renhe), South Korea (Jeonbuk), South Africa (Kaizer Chiefs), Germany (Dortmund), Spain (Real Madrid)) 4/10 domestic cups (China (Renhe), South Korea (Jeonbuk), South Africa (Kaizer Chiefs), Spain (Real Madrid)) 2/5 club continental championships (Asia (Chunnam & Jeonbuk), Africa (Kaizer Chiefs)) 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (African Cup of Nations with Cameroon) 0/2 world tournaments
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mayihavecookie's Challenge, Season 9
Season 2022/23
Borussia Dortmund - Bundesliga
League Table | Schedule 1 | Schedule 2 | Schedule 3 | Schedule 4 | Manager ProfileOh what a strange season with a very lucky ending for us. I set my goal to win the league first try and if possible take the DFB Pokal as well. We invested some money to build a squad that would be strong enough to beat the invincible Bayern. Playing with a big transfer budget for the first time in my career I realized how hard it is to bring in the right players if you're rich but the other teams are rich as well. Forget about German talents, it's impossible to catch a talented young German player from another Bundesliga team unless you're willing to buy 30 millions +, so I had to go for old players and foreign players instead. I bought Mesut Özil from Bayern who was still strong enough for a good season, English goalkeeper Fraser Forster, also Dutch striker Adam Maher as a F9 to support Ballon d'Or winner Gabriel Barbosa and Hungarian CB Kenny Otigba. The biggest part of my budget was spent on world class Swiss left back Ricardo Rodriguez.
We started really well in the league with 7 wins out of our first 8 games and a draw away to Bayern. Then of course Rodriguez, who hadn't been injured since 2019, tore his hamstring and was out for 3 months. We still played a really good first half of the season with 44 points from 17 games sitting comfortably in first place. I decided the team was strong enough to reach my goals without any more transfers, we were first and Rodriguez would be back after the winter break, making us even stronger. Two days after the transfer window was closed, Rodriguez broke his leg and was out for the rest of the season, leaving us with a real problem in left back. Then we lost at home against Bayern due to a stupid goal in injury time and away against Köln and we were already down to 2nd place. We didn't really recover. Always won two or three games then lost again, even against teams like 1860 München. But somehow, I still don't really understand how, we suddenly were given a last chance to turn it around when Bayern lost away to Augsburg four games before the end of the season. We played Bremen the next day and I knew, if we won this match we would make it. We were down 2-1 after the first half and I cursed my team. Then I decided to change to the 4-4-2 I succesfully used with Cameroon. We equalised after 80 minutes and in a dramatic showdown, Gabriel Barbosa scored the winning goal with a header in injury time. We then played the remaining four games with the new tactic and got the 12 points we needed with a 5-0 against Stuttgart, a 4-0 against Frankfurt, a 4-2 against Hoffenheim and a 3-0 against Augsburg. Bayern lost their last game against Hannover and we even finished four points before them, 1st in the league.
In the Champions League we were handed a tough group with Inter, Arsenal and Maccabi. We went out with 8 points so we went into the 1st Knockout Round of Europa League. We beat Olympiakos, Everton, Roma and Man Utd on our way to the final. There we beat Napoli 3-0 with two freak goals, making us Europa Lague winners even tough I rested most of my first team for the cup final against Bayern.
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The day of the DFB Pokal final, I had already made my decision to leave Germany and look for another challenge. It was a season full of surprises with very frustrating periods. Dortmund will have some problems to solve next year. Many players are starting to get old and are making more and more mistakes. Özil and Gündogan are injured most of the time and Barbosa had a bad season and wasn't even shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or this year. Also the finances went to insecure due to the absence of Champions League money and the expensive old players. But someone else will have to solve these problems. I won the title I needed with some luck and I am happy to leave sooner rather than later.
I went into this game knowing it would be my last one with Dortmund. And before I even knew what was going on, we were down 0-2 after 5 minutes. For the rest of the first half, my team was chasing after the ball like children. Bayern dominated and had some big chances to decide this game, but somehow we made it to half time just two goals down. In the break with all the players gathered around me, I informed them of my decision to leave Dortmund. There was nothing to lose anymore and I hoped they would react positively and try their best to give me a win as a farewell present. It worked. Loran scored with a header just five minutes into the second half, and for the rest of the game we were chasing the 2-2. Neuer couldn't be beaten anymore though, and in the final minutes of the game Bayern scored twice to win 4-1, beating us in the final for the second time in a row.
The next day I got a call from a number starting with +34. A Spanish manager trying to buy Gabriel Barbosa? I was no longer the right person to call for that.
It was Florentino Perez, and he offered me the manager post at the biggest club in the world.
...
Flying to Madrid, I couldn't help looking back at my short career in disbelief. Who would have thought that moving to China would turn around my life like that. Maybe my Director of Football at Renhe thought it was a good idea to make that English loudmouth youngster - the captain of his youth team who had just learned Chinese - become manager of his team. Or maybe he was just really really desperate. The other players however weren't that impressed with his decision. But they learned soon enough that it was worthwhile listening to what their new manager told them. Success came fast and after two and a half years we surprisingly won the Chinese Super League. I was still only 22 years old, but two times Chinese Manager of the Year and winner of the Super League and FA Cup. This was enough to get me a job at a South Korean top team. With Chunnam I didn't manage to win the league, but I won my first continental title, the Asian Champions League. After a year I moved to Jeonbuk, where I won the ACL again, as well as the K League Classic and the FA Cup. Around that time I also became manager of the South Korean national team. There I experienced the first big disappointment of my career when we were knocked out of the Asian Nations Cup in the quarter final and I was sacked for the first in my career.
Then I decided to turn my life around again and move to Africa. There I had some big success during my three seasons at Kaizer Chiefs where we won everything we could. In addition to that I spent three and a half wonderful years as manager of the Cameroonian national team, winning the African Cup of Nations and reaching third place in the World Cup 2022. Then I was offered the Dortmund job and, only 29 years old, I was manager of a European top team. And even though I needed some luck, I won my first big league title after just one year.
I got my suitcase and took a taxi to the hotel. What surprises would the next year bring to the new manager of Real Madrid?
I took over France after their 2nd Round out in the World Cup and we won our Nations League group with Spain and Holland with 10 points from 4 games. We also beat Uruguay and Belgium in the friendlies. The year 2023 didn't start so well though. In the first game of the Euro qualifiers we beat Bosnia & Herzegovina luckily 1-0 thanks to a last minute penalty goal. Then we embarrassed ourselves with a 0-2 defeat in Iceland before being hammered by England in the Nations League semi final. We should easily qualify for the EURO from our easy group. But we'll have some work to do before next summer.
[b]CLUB CAREER Season Club Pos DC1 DC2 Cont Notes & Achievements[/b] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 CHN Renhe 11th QF n/a n/a Took over after 13 games in 16th 2015 CHN Renhe 2nd QF n/a n/a Chinese Manager of the Year 2016 CHN Renhe 1st Won n/a R2 Won Chinese Super League & FA Cup 2017 KOR Chunnam 2nd R4 n/a Won Won Asian Champions League 2018 KOR Jeonbuk 1st Won n/a Won Won Asian Champions League, K-League Classic & FA Cup 19/20 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 2nd Won QF n/a Won SA Cup 20/21 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 1st Won R1 open Won SA Cup, Be The Coach and Premier Soccer League 21/22 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 1st R1 QF won Won African Champions League, left after 13 games in 1st 21/22 GER Borussia Dortmund 3rd F n/a n/a Took over after 26 games in 9th 22/23 GER Borussia Dortmund 1st F n/a EL won Won Bundesliga and Europa League [b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER Year Nation NL WC Cont. Conf. Notes & Achievements[/b] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 South Korea Joined 22.7.18 2019 South Korea QF Sacked 6.2.19 2019 Cameroon Joined 17.2.19 World Ranking 29th 2020 Cameroon 2021 Cameroon Won Won African Cup of Nations 2022 Cameroon 3rd Resigned 10.7.22 World Ranking 4th 2023 France Joined 17.7.22 World Ranking 7th
Challenge Progress Club 4/10 top domestic leagues (China with Renhe, South Korea with Jeonbuk, South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs, Germany with Dortmund) 3/10 domestic cups (China with Renhe, South Korea with Jeonbuk, South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs) 2/5 club continental championships (Asia with Chunnam & Jeonbuk, Africa with Kaizer Chiefs) 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (African Cup of Nations with Cameroon) 0/2 world tournaments
(Sorry for the long post, I thought I'd take the chance to update those of you who joined recently about my career so far. Good luck to everyone starting this! I really hope there will be no problems with this beta that make it impossible to finish the challenge.)
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. Then we met Universidad de Chile again, then Cruzeiro, Belgrano, and in the final we beat Atletico Mineiro and won the Copa Sudamericana. Now who will play in next years Recopa?
The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - Silver Age Archive
in Challenges, Sign-Ups & Experiments
Posted
Still here! Congratulations pug and good luck with your new club!
vikeologist, big achievement, nice to have that Confederations Cup crossed off your list.
Will update in a minute