FM12 - Chelsea F.C. Thread - A Mix of Youth and Experience

[Phil930]

Ranbir - It's taken you a while to get Lampard there! I'm at the start of the 2014/15 season and he is just seven away from breaking the record now.

Phil930 - Is the £4.3million a month just what you are spending on transfer panyments? I'm losing around £3-4million per month without transfer payments! It is going to be a massive challenge for you to keep the finances under control.

Take into account aswell that there is no guarantee that you will get the agreed fee's for Raul Meireles and Ramires. And besides Torres you'll be doing well to get any meaningful money for players such as Lampard, Cole and Terry if you offload them.

Hi Tom. I just checked, and its actually 4.1M p/m in transfer fees. If you are losing 3-4M p/m without such fees, then yes, I really do have a challenge. True on all the above, but, even if the agreed fees fall through I should be able to move them on. I expect minimal for Lamps and Terry, but Torres should recoup some cash. More importantly though, I can improve the cash flow by removing my three highest earners. Terry will stay for another 2 years atleast, but Lampard and Torres could leave sooner due to form and injuries (Torres has only managed 25 games in first season, and I'd love to either develop Lukaku with Cavani and give more time to Jordan Ayew, or switch to a loan striker and use my attacking mids).

I'll post finances at the end of the season to let you all know how it goes. Worse case scenario is I have to sell a big gun or two.

[jlm8695]

After I have failed to get into any saves ive tried, (Napoli,Arsenal and Dortmund) Ive decided to make a Chelsea save and to stick to it. I am planning a MAJOR clear-out of players and staff, and to build a new, youthful Chelsea. Ill post pre season+ transfers a little bit later on

[rubbersnot]

Can somebody help

i have war chest of 60 million for my second season in a online match with my mate (he has man city)

he finished 2nd and i was 3rd last season.

ive signed balotelli off him for 10 million, leaves me with 50. im going for neymar and have placed 15 million up front and then 18 over 36 months. Will the 18 over 36 months come off my budget for this season.

I know this might affect me in the next few years but we are only playing over 3 seasons

Last season i signed lavezzi, montolivio and also aimar in jan. ive sold anelka, kalou and drogba went for a free transfer

I want rid of malouda, and mickel and maybe sturridge as he aint doing much. Should i hang on hoping for bids or place them straight on the transfer list and how much should i put them up for

[tomtuck01]

rubbersnot - By the sounds of it, as good as he is, you don't need Neymar. I wouldn't sell Sturridge either as he's a great performer if used correctly.

As for selling players, you can probably get between £7 and £10million after the first season, and Mikel around £15million.

[tomtuck01]

Well after a couple of decent substitute appearances since joining my side on loan from Manchester City, I decided to give Mario Balotelli his first start at home to Wolves. It's fair to say he did pretty well;

If he keeps performing in this fashion he's going to be keeping Daniel Sturridge ut the side at times.

------------------

On another note, if I am going to be honest though I still don't like the feature where a player on a hattrick takes your penalty. Rather than Balotelli getting a third, I would rather Lampard have scored.

[tyro]

Yes, I agree with you. I prefer to have my best penalty takers take it, especially when it's an important one.

You haven't had Balotelli long but how has his attitude been?

[tomtuck01]

tyro - he's been fine so far, was even happy with my press conference after his performance against Wolves!

The only problem with him is that he hasn't developed well. This is due to him not playing much City or on a couple of other of loan spells. He's actually developed that little that my coaches only rate him as the clubs fifth best striker - below even Juan Mata, who is primarily an attacking midfielder.

[tyro]

Here is my Final report for the first season.

After being eliminated from all the cups and CL I was able to concentrate fully on the League and play my best players constantly as we had sufficient rest between the matches. The best eleven turned out to be (for the last 7 games):

Gk: Cech

RB: Bosingwa (Ivanovic had bad form and Azpilicueta was injured). If Bosingwa was younger I might have resigned him.

DCR: Luiz

DCL: Terry

LB: Cole (with Cissokho getting as many games as possible)

MCL: Lampard (he has played himself back into the starting 11 after being completely dropped by me)

MCR: Ramires (Ayew after he returned from injury)

AMR: Gaitan

AML: Mata

STR: Torres

STL: Cavani

April 7 vs Sunderland, Away

Sunderland had been playing badly as of late and I wanted to exploit it to make sure to take home a win. Mata scored early on with Cavani adding to the tally. Late in the game we had a penalty and Frank stepped up and placed it in the left corner. I was very happy as it would increase his confidence.

Result: 3-0 (Mata, Cavani, Lampard pen.)

April 9 vs Everton, Away

This game came just two days after the Sunderland game and I had to rest some players. I rested Luiz and Terry as well as Gaitan. Lampard scored another penalty and then he was unleashed. He set up Cavani for the second and then smashed in another from far out. Cavani rounded it up with his second. Just before the final whistle Everton got one back.

Result: 4-1 (Lampard x2, Cavani x2)

April 14 vs Arsenal, Home

We had lost the away game and wanted to set the record straight. Arsenal was on form though so it would be tough. We defended very well but did not manage to break down their defenses. We kept Van Persie under control though (20 goals). We ended up with a draw which was ok as we kept Arsenal's chances from catching up lower.

Result: 0-0

April 21 vs Fulham, Home

Another home game which we needed to win. We still had to play ManU and my assistant told me we needed 12 points to win the league. Both Arsenal and ManU were only 4 points behind. I dropped Torres to the bench and played Sturridge next to Cavani. Sturridge should have gotten credit for the first as he headed the ball to Schwarzer who then let it pass through his hands. It was counted as own goal. Gaitan set up Lampard nicely from a corner and he smashed his kick just inside the box and, apparently, it deflected from Shawcross for the goal. Shawcross got the credit but it was Lampard's goal really. The third goal was a mistake by Hangeland although again Sturridge was involved. Finally, Mata got on the scoreboard.

Result: 4-0 (Schwarzer o.g., Shawcross, Hangeland o.g., Mata) - 9 more points

April 28 vs Blackburn, Away

Another game I had to win. Arsenal had lost to City and was thus out of the race. But ManU was within the reach. They had played earlier and beaten Liverpool 2-0 and were at 79 points to my 80. But, the man that I had complained so much to you guys about was there. He stood strong and rallied the troops for the final games. And he led by example. Screamer by Lampard for the first. He added a second a bit later. Luiz headed home a header as well. In the 90th, an almost forgotten man showed he was still there, Torres for the 4-0. 93rd and Blackburn found their form. 4-1.

Result: 4-1 (Lampard x2, Luiz, Torres) Lampard with 5 in the last 5. He wanted to win the league. 3 more points. ManU had drawn.

May 5 vs ManU, Home

We needed only a draw really but they were in good form. I was hoping we could hold on to a draw. But I really shouldn't have worried. This was not the team from before. This was one that could have done well against Barcelona even. Gaitan started the scoring chart in the 15th. Lampard was back with the second. He set up Cavani for the 3rd. Cavani cooly rounded Lindegaard and tapped it in. Lampard added another. And then Cavani again. ManU was destroyed. And we won the league with one game remaining in style.

Result: 5-0 (Gaitan, Lampard x2, Cavani x2)

May 13 vs West Brom, Away

Who cared? Ok, it would be nice to go out winning but I rested all first team players except for Torres who needed match practice After his 3 months injury. I even gave Turnbull a game. Turnbull, Cissokho, Shawcross, Otamendi, Ivanovic, Meireles, Ayew, Kalou, Sturridge, Torres, and Drogba. By no means a weak team but clearly not on the same level as my A team. West Brom opened the scoring by using our confusion in the box after a corner. The ball went back and forth and then finally past Turnbull. I told them to show me something else in the second half. Ayew listened and scored in the 47th. Drogba was injured and I moved Sturridge next to Torres and put in Gaitan. He showed why he is joint top scorer in my team. Shortly after coming on he scored. I then replaced Kalou with Mata and we started rolling. Ayew set up Torres with a nice through pass who blocked by the keeper passed left and Sturridge found the open goal and placed it.

Result: 3-1 (Ayew, Gaitan, Sturridge)

League table end of season:

1. Chelsea 89

2. Arsenal 82

3. ManU 82

4. ManC 77

5. Tottenham 76

6. West Brom 62

7. Wolves 60

8. Newcastle 54

9. Wigan 52

10. Liverpool 50

11. Blackburn 50

12. Everton 45

13. Aston Villa 45

14. Fulham 40

15. Bolton 37

16. Sunderland 34

17. Stoke 33

18. Swansea 30

19. QPR 29

20. Norwich 25

FA cup winners: Liverpool (beat Tottenham 3-2 in the final)

League cup winners: Tottenham

CL winners: FCP vs Barca (to be played)

Euro cup: Lyon

Stats:

W 27, D 8, L 3 (teams that beat us: Arsenal away, Newcastle away, Wigan away)

Top scorers/assists:

Mata 14 (43 played), 16 assists

Gaitan 14 (38 played), 10 assists

Drogba 13 (27), 7 assists

Cavani 11 (19), 9 assists (massive boost for the team)

Torres 10 (29), 9 assists

Ayew 8 (31) 3 assists

Lampard 8 (37), 3 assists (scored most of his goals in the last few games)

Luiz 5 (43), 8 assists

Sturridge 4 (21), 3 assists

Meireles 4 (35), 10 assists

Top ratings: Cavani 7.58, Mata, Luiz 7.48, Gaitan 7.4

Key passes: Gaitan 52, Mata 46, Drogba 26, Torres 25 (those two are the driving force of the team)

Mistakes: Cole 63, Terry 37, Luiz 36 (Cole with a massive difference to the rest of the team)

Passes: Mikel 91%, McEachran 89%, Lampard 87%

MotM: Luiz 7, Mata, Gaitan 6, Drogba 5, Cavani 4, Lampard 2

Thoughts, developments, plans:

I want to consolidate my team and do well in the CL next season. Drogba is showing signs of decline and will not feature in heavily. Cavani and Torres are the main strikers with Lukaku and Sturridge stepping up.

Midfield I need to get rid of someone. I have too many. Lampard has shown brilliance and he will start for me. Ayew has been outstanding. So has Meireles but he is getting older and he is no Lampard. His stamina is too low for him to play 90 min. Ramires was average. Mikel did well in his role but not great. He is still young and his mental and technical stats are immense. Both McEachran and Romeu impressed. I believe Meireles will have to go.

Wingers I have Mata and Gaitan established with Kalou and Sturridge as subs. Kakuta is there too but he has little potential. However, he is home grown.

Defenders. Bosingwa is not being renewed and will leave. Azpilicueta and Ivanovic are the players there and will battle for starting spot. Cole and Cissokho are on the left with Cole still being quality (although 63 mistakes is something to think about). Terry and Luiz are my main guys (terry is even still improving). Shawcross and Otamendi are very capable back ups and would be starters in any other team.

Goalkeepers. Harpers contract expires. Turnbull is only there for the Home grown status. I want to see the two keepers that were loaned out before determining need. Cech is quality. 24 clean sheets from 38 games is one of the main reasons we won the league.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Awards:

Mata footballer of the year (Gaitan 3rd, Aguero 2nd)

Cech golden glove

Aguero top goal scorer

Rooney players player of the year

Bale players young player

Meireles Goal of the season

Hodgson manager of the year (me 2nd)

Team of the year: Cech, Evra, Vertonghen, Luiz, Sagna, Mata, VdV, Aguero, Gaitan, RvP, Rooney

[tomtuck01]

tyro

Good first season with a trophie won - I didn't win one in my opening season! Looks like you won the title comfortably enough in the end with a very good last seven games.

The Champions League I wouldn't worry about, I've found in the first couple of seasons that Barcelona are pretty superb, so going out to them, even by the scoreline you did, is no disgrace.

By the look of how many goals your strikers scored, it seems to me that you need to pick a striker or partnership, (depending which system you play most), and stick to him/them. To have your top goalscoring striker to only get 13 goals is pretty poor.

[tyro]

Yes I agree with you. This is why I brought in Cavani. I feel he can score over 20 in a season. He had 11 in 19 games and he needed to gel first. I think he can get at least double. He works well with Torres as the creative striker up front. Drogba started well but then drifted into anonymity. With Lukaku and Sturridge I feel the strikers are set for now.

On the up side, the goal threat came from anyone really. We were second to Arsenal in terms of goals in the season (84, they had 87). But it would be great to be able to rely on a striker up front who can do this. Cavani should be that and maybe Torres has a better second season. He seems to be doing well for others.

The final seven games were really important and I am glad Lampard stepped up. He really almost singlehandedly drove the team forward. His "rallying" speech improved morale before important games and he scored important goals.

Let's see what the next season brings.

[TF]

Got the Champions League Quarter Final 2nd Leg coming up against Arsenal, which we have a 2-1 lead in after the first leg but i'm fearing the worst as we currently have, Lampard, Terry, Cole and Meireles on the sidelines and all 4 have been key players this season. CB shouldn't be a problem as Luiz can partner Cahill so that should work, CM is Essien, Mikel and Ramires which again isn't bad but LB is Bertrand and he needs to really step up in a big game. Hopefully we can see it through, just need to hope Essien keeps putting in solid performances and no other players pick up injuries, otherwise we really are in trouble.

Edit - also got Liverpool and City coming up, Terry and Cole should be back, Lampard may not be. Also noticed I never registered Essien for the CL, which means either Romeu or McEachran will get the nod.

[Rohkey]

What does everyone think about Haris Seferovic? One of my scouts noticed him and I took a look, he looks very good. Also available for super cheap, got a bid of $4M accepted, and that's about $50-60M less than what Cavani would cost.

I also decided to pull up Genie to look at him, in my save

Genie says "He has the potential to be as good as Edinson Cavani." His PA is 159 (don't know if that is set or not) and he's for sale for $2.7M. He has the potential to be stronger and better in the air than Cavani, but has slightly lower attributes in first touch, finishing, technique, dribbling, and pace. I definitely think he would be worth it as a backup to Lukaku if you don't want to spend a ton for Cavani, who admittedly is a better overall player (but not but a whole lot).

.

[Phil930]

TomTuck01 in between season one and two right now, and I underestimated the year end cash inflow. Between PL prize money, CL TV revenue, and sponsorships, we are well in the black at 50M GBP. Add to that player sales exceeding 11M right now, and Ramires and Meireles about to depart, I have no worries about funding year 2 or my massive year one outlay. As previously mentioned, I doubt I will be signing anyone this summer other than youth prospects (16yr or younger). That doesn't completely rule out Gotze as I am prepared to change the rules for him, but, its certainly not urgent.

For the record, we won the PL in season one. A little closer than I would have liked, but finished the season on 92 points, with Utd in second on 91points, and City really falling off at the end with 86 points. My domestic cup exits were early, as explained above, and we suffered heartbreak in the CL. Took a 2-1 lead to Man City in the semi final, only to go down to 10 men after 15 mins. We held out all the way (2-1 down, 3-3 agg) until Terry of all people gave away a 121st minute penalty. Was pretty fired up after that.

Preseason starts soon and I plan to refine my training schedules and establish my first team squad, removing all fringe players who have no role to play. Really looking forward to developing both Chalobah and Kalas, and making sure my strikers start the season faster and kill off more games for me.

[tomtuck01]

Phil930

I still think you should tread carefully for now. Given how much you are paying each month just in transfer installments, (overall I'm guessing during the season you are losing atleast £6million a month), means that your current balance of £50million will disappear quickly.

I personally would rule out signing Gotze for now, though if you are intent on having him at some point then I would advise setting up a deal for the end of your second season. If not then his price will sky rocket even more so.

Decent first season really. As I said in a post further up the page I didn't win a single trophy in my opening season.

------------------

As for my save, an update will come very soon, but for now I will give you a tale of woe regarding injuries...............

Daniel Sturridge, who had bagged eight goals in nine games, got injured in a Champions League game against Nurnberg and was ruled out for 3-4 months with a torn calf muscleJust three games later in a fixture against Newcastle, both Josh McEachran and Romelu Lukaku were substituted with injuries. I found out afterwards that both had suffered broken ankle and would miss 2-3 months.

Now losing McEachran is a blow, but one I can cover for as I have an array of central midfielders. But with two strikers injured I'm looking a bit thin in that postition. Thank goodness I got Mario Balotelli on loan on the last day of the transfer window!!

[mattya456]

being a die hard blues fan i never want to sell any1 lol i plan on keeping lamps around for as long as eve reven if im paying him to drink tea in the dressing room (cept anelka lol) but started with the blues once again and got to say loving it!

i thought i would try for this file focus on development rather thna spending the big bucks and try and chase that elusive cup with the big ears!

had a good start to season p8 won 6 and d2 jammy city 90th equaoliser from who else mario the nut!

any1 out there ever had any success with stadiums as chels, i jsut dont see anyway that i can make huge profits without getting at 80k capacity even if i reduce wage by half, if any1 has any ideas on this id love to hear!

development wise after only 12 games there have alrdy been good increases dude to 5star coaching! lukakau looks beasty!

oh and as for sturrdge on isnide forward! this guy should come with a health warning! dangerous and lethal!!! 8 in 4! !! sturridge for england!

[tomtuck01]

Well I've come to the end of November in my fourth season with Chelsea so it is now time for an update on how I have gone on since the start of September. Fourteen games have been played now in the Premier League.

September

Premier League - Aston Villa (A) 0-4 (Willian 2, Ramires, Mata)

Champions League - Benfica (H) 1-0 (Lucas Piazon)

Premier League - Wolves (H) 4-0 (Balotelli 3 (1p), Willian)

Carling Cup 3rd Rnd - Nottm Forrest (A) 2-4 (Mellis, Lukaku 2, Feruz)

Premier League - Ma City (A) 2-5 (Sturridge 2, Neymar, Willian)

A good month for us with five wins from five. The 1-0 doesn't look great on the face of it, but I actually played some younger players in the game, and as you can see one of them stepped up. The month finished brilliantly against Manchester City. A superb result against team who I was tied with on points at the time.

October

Champions League - AZ Alkmaar (A) 2-4 (Neymar 2, Sturridge 2)

Premier League - Liverpool (H) 1-1 (Balotelli)

Premier League - Blackpool (A) 1-3 (Barkley, Chalobah 2)

Champions League - Nurnberg (A) 1-2 (Sturridge 2)

Premier League - Derby (A) 0-1 (Kakuta)

Carling Cup 4th Rnd - Swansea (A) 1-4 (Lukaku 2 (1p), Bruma 2)

The Liverpool result aside, another solid enough month for us - very strange how our only home game of the month was the only one we didn't win! Despite just playing three league games, we managed to extend our lead at top slightly, and we all but confimed our progress to the next stage of the Champions League. The downside was an injury picked up by Daniel Sturridge in the Nurnberg game ruling him out for 3-4 months.

November

Premier League - Newcastle (H) 1-0 (Coloccini (og))

Champions League - Nurnberg (H) 3-1 (Balotelli, Chalobah, Willian)

Premier League - Arsenal (H) 3-0 (Balotelli, Willian, Lampard (p))

Premier League - Fulham (A) 0-2 (Neymar, Balotelli)

Premier League - Birmingham (H) 4-0 (Lampard 2 (1p), Neymar, Balotelli)

Champions League - Benfica (A) 1-2 (Ramires, Neymar)

Premier League - West Brom (A) 0-2 (Balotelli, Neymar)

A great month for us. We won all our seven fixtures, scored some goals, and conceded very few. Neymar also came back to form after a scoreless streak. In the Newcastle game both Romelu Lukaku and Josh McEachran broke an ankle and were ruled out for 2-3 months. The injuries are starting to pile up, lets hope I don't get more long-termers!

Thoughts Going Forward

Fourteen games in and we already have a healthy seven point lead at the top of the table. Our next league game is against fourth placed Man United at home. They are not in great form so hopefully we'll take another three points.

Before that thugh we have a Carling Cup quarter final away at Championship side Wigan.

Also I have the chance to sign Thiago Alcantara for £5million, but looking at my squad, (it's listed further up the page), does anyone think I should be bother?

------------------------------------------------

Any comments or suggestions are welcome, and I'll post any screenshots you want. Cheers to those of you who took the time to read this.

[TF]

So we managed to go through against Arsenal, we went 1-0 up thanks to a goal from Daniel Sturridge, only for Chamakh to equalise 3 minutes later and Arsenal then threatened to try take us to extra time, but we hung on and made it through. Got Barcelona in the Semi's and I don't really fancy our chances, especially being at the Bridge for the first game meaning if we do lead after the first leg, we have to try and see it out at the Nou Camp, which won't be an easy task.

[TF]

Will it work better having passing on Short or More Direct? Can't really tell which is making my players play better.

[tomtuck01]

TF

I have mine set to "short" on the team instructions screen, but I'm rather in-depth with my tactics so most of my players have individual instructions for passing.

[TF]

TF

I have mine set to "short" on the team instructions screen, but I'm rather in-depth with my tactics so most of my players have individual instructions for passing.

Ah okay, well i've got a cup match at the moment which i'm gonna try using "More Direct" to see how the players cope. We do play some good football when set to Short but I just feel sometimes they play it short even when theres an obvious longer ball that can be made to play someone through.

[tyro]

Nice start of the season tomtuck. 5mn seems very cheap for thiago. I just wonder if you need him. I'm having similar problems in pre season as Roman gave me £30mn to spend. I was actually happy with my squad.

TF:

I use default but most of the time when they don't have many chances I use get forward which increases direct passing. They seem to do well that way. In tough games though I use retain possession for short passing and we dominate possession, usually.

Good luck on the return game with Barca.

[Squadinho]

Hi guys!

I don't often post here, but I feel I needed somewhere to express my frustration over coming 2nd in the league to Utd, level on points but losing out on 1 GD, especially when this[/url] happened in my last but one game:

As you can see at one point, I was 4-1 up and they brought it back to 4-3.

That is really the tale of my season, I had no problem scoring goals really; scored 99 in the league and finished top scorers, but I conceded 33! I would go on a run of winning six or seven games with a clean sheet and then either draw the next 4-4 or end up losing to tital rivals 4-0 or something stupid. I even lost 8-1 to Real Madrid on aggregate in the Europa League (poor first season, didn't qualify for CL!)

This was generally my starting XI and I would pick my formation depending on who I was playing; generally counter for away games against the big guns, but all their goals seemed to be worldies! I know against R. Madrid 7 of the 8 were from obscure angles or 35 yards out!

So I was just wondering if you guys had any advice on how to play the big guns, specifically away from home. I battered them all at home, winning 4 or 5 nil (apart from R.Madrid :|) and how to ensure I keep a clean sheet when I 5-0 up.

Anyway, whilst I'm here I'll give you a quick overview of my first two seasons.

2011/2012

Poor, very poor. I started the season disabling the first transfer window, so no business was done. Went out of the CC in round 4, went out of the CL in the semi finals after a trouncing by R.Madrid and battled my way to 5th place in the league (which at one point, was not looking likely!). I then lost the F.A. Cup final to Swansea. I signed a couple of youngsters in January and a player called Dzsudzsak to play inside forward on my right hand side and a player called Willian to play IF on my left hand side, but they didn't starting firing until the following season. Some how the board offered me a new contract until 2017!

2012/2013

I started to reshape the squad in the summer, clearing out some of my older players. I made one big signing in the summer, Sebastien Corchia to play at RB and give Ivanovic some competition. I then signed Bender (teehee) in January to reinforce my midfield after deciding the let Essien go. I've also made a signing of a regen who looks pretty tidy I can retrain to play AML as an inside forward.

Transfers In / Out (Cash transfers only, Meireles went out on loan for £6.5m)

Portela

This season went alot better. I was sitting pretty 5 points clear at the top of the table at around Christmas, but a blip in February where I lost to Arsenal (in the league and FA Cup) and Utd in the League put me back down to second. I pulled it back with Utd and we were neck and neck right until the last day, where they beat Forest 3-0 and I beat Liverpool 2-0. Gutted!

I motored through the Europa League, drawing one game and winning the rest. Then R. Madrid came knocking and trounced me 8-1! My other cup journeys were short, lost in the Carling Cup in the 3rd round and the FA Cup in the 4th.

I had 4 real stand out players; Lukaku, Dzsudzsak, Willian and Torres. I rotated Torres and Lukaku depending on the opponents but the four of them were my attacking force. Mata, playing at AMC played well too but I could have got by without him I think.

Player Stats

My plans for the following season are to continue reshaping the squad and try and shore up my defence before making another assault on the League and pushing for CL glory!

[silv3rf0xx]

lost my saves as cfc and career saves grrrrrr got to start again just as i was shaping my squad and the club in general

[tommonufc]

Evening everyone, had a quick glace through the thread; but was just wondering if anyone can give me a look of how Josh McEachran has developed for them, or how he is playing for them?

Looking to sign him from Chelsea in 2016, he's now 23 and hasn't really played at all. What are peoples opinions upon the potential that could be reached from the age of 23?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[joe__the__man]

If he's 23 he probably won't develop too much further unfortunately, so I wouldn't expect miracles.

[tyro]

Squadinho:

33 conceded doesn't seem that much if you play attacking. Against the strong teams when they play well they will score goals. I usually play the same tactic but I change my match preparation depending on odds. Attacking movement or defensive positioning.

I will also study their tactical analysis, see who scored most, where their assists come from and then issue personal instructions to close down or tight mark or hard tackle those players. This again depends on the player you are facing. I can't tight mark Rooney because he is so well rounded so I have to hope for the best. But, RvP has a weakness - his speed. So tight marking or closing down has worked really well. I take him out of the game. Also, I check their condition and motivation. Any changes and I exploit it. Someone gets a knock and I hard tackle them. Someone is in danger of losing discipline. I do the same to get him a yellow or red. Someone is nervous I close him down constantly to force mistakes.

Tommonufc:

I don't have much experience with McEachran far in (only starting 2nd season) but he played well for me in the first when called upon. He has already attributes in the right places and my coaches say he is at 1.5 stars and can go to 3.5. I would assume in 2 seasons he will be a quality MC.

[tomtuck01]

Frank Lampard is a record breaker

I must point out aswell, that dear old Frank didn't do it with a spot kick after coming on a substitute or anything like that. He did it in style; the third goal of hattrick in a 5-0 win against Aston Villa, in which he was captain;

[Squadinho]

Hi tryo, thank you for replying.

I use the match prep similar to you, although generally I go for attacking movement if I play at home and defensive positioning if I'm playing away. Perhaps I need to change that a little bit and sometimes use defensive positioning at home too.

Perhaps I'm a bit slack on opposition instructions; I tend to use them generically for a position. I'll try going on their attributes and see what happens!

[tomtuck01]

The January transfer windw has closed so it's time for an update of how my save is progressing since my last update at the end of November.

December

Carling Cup Qtr Final - Wigan (A) 1-1 (Lucas Piazon) - Wigan win 4-1 on penalties

Premier League - Man United (H) 0-1

Champions League - AZ Alkmaar (H) 4-0 (Willian, Feruz, Romario, Neymar)

Premier League - Everton (A) 2-3 (Mata, Neymar)

Premier League - Reading (H) 3-0 (Luiz 2, Willian)

Premier League - Leicester (A) 1-3 (Andre (og), Lampard (p), Luiz)

Premier League - West Ham (H) 2-0 (Neymar, Mellis)

A couple of poor results to begin the month. The game against United was my first defeat in the league for 52 games, and what was even worse was that we performed awfully. After that we got back on track winning our last five fixtures in the month.

January

FA Cup 3rd Rnd - Millwall (A) 1-4 (Balotelli 3 (1p), Romeu)

Premier League - Norwich (H) 6-0 (Balotelli, Crofts (og), Mikel, Willian 2, Mellis)

Premier League - Tottenham (A) 1-2 (Neymar, Willian)

Premier League - Blackburn (A) 3-3 (Neymar, Chalobah, Olsson (og)

Premier League - Aston Villa (H) 5-0 (Lampard 3 (1p), Neymar 2)

FA Cup 4th Rnd - Blackburn (H) 0-1

Bit of a mixed bag this month. Great home wins against Norwich and Villa, and a top drawer performance away at Spurs, but in and around all that was a dreadfully sloppy game at Blackburn, and then at the end of the month we went out of the FA Cup to them with a poor performance at home. I made changes for the game but the side I sent out should still have won.

During this montht there was a bit of activity in the transfer market. Well I say that, but only one trasfer happened in or out, despite offers and such for players. Firstly I all but signed Thiago from Barcelona, everything was agreed but then the news item came up saying he had rejected the offer.

Next was David Luiz. Barcelona offered £20million, I asked for £29million which they offered. I accepted it, but Luiz then rejected their offer.

Towards the end of the month long term target Erick Torrres was subject of an offer from Real Madrid. Not neccessarily needing him, I went in with an offer of £14.5million (£5million upfront and £9.5million over 30 months) anyway. Along with Real Madrids bid, the offer was accepted. He chose me.

Thoughts Going Forward

There are fifteen games to go and we are currently seven points clear of both City and United. Our next game is a huge one - City at home. With a win we wuld all but end City's title chances. United though is another propositin. Since they appointed a new manager in the summer after Sir Alex retired, they seem to have something on me. During the second half of the season we have to travel to Liverpool, Arsenal, and United, so it could be fairly tricky indeed.

Out of both dmestic cups, the only other competition we have to look forward to is the Champions League. And in the first knockout round we have been drawn against Real Madrid. Very tough indeed.

------------------------------------------------

Any comments or suggestions are welcome, and I'll post any screenshots you want. Cheers to those of you who took the time to read this.

[Bracken]

tomtuck1], I think I can say on behalf of all Chelsea fans everywhere, congratulations on the superb achievement with Frank, and let's hope it happens IRL too. Never managed to break the record with Lamps myself, only with other players, so seriously, well done mate

[holmaz]

Im in the first season with chelsea and set malouda to tutor masek. at the time when the tutoring started masek had 2 star potential but now at the end of season one masek got 3,5 star potential!? anyone else experienced this before with either masek or someone else? and btw have someone tried to develop masek?

[MattieCoopz]

I'm playing him in an Advanced Forward role on my save due to striker shortage (multiple injuries to Torres and long-term injuries to Drogba and Lukaku.

Keen eye for a pass and has more assists than goals in this role, only in first season though cause of uni and such so no real improvements have been noticed by me yet.

[lukekarts]

I've started a new game with Chelsea. Updated the database slightly, to include the sale of Anelka in December, and the arrival of Gary Cahill. I became manager of Chelsea on 13th January in-game. By that point in the season, much like real life, I was way out of the title race in 4th position.

I decided to make do with my squad for the remainder of the season, finishing 4th, winning the League Cup, exiting the FA Cup in the 4th round, and most disappointingly going out in the QF of the Champions League.

To start the window, I've added:

DR - Cesar Azpilicueta from Marseille, for £12m

DR - Nathan Clyne from Crystal Palace, £4.5m

MC - Ross Barkley from Everton, £4.7m

I've sold:

GK - Ross Turnbull to Everton, £1m

DL - Ryan Bertrand to Aston Villa, £6m

DR - Jose Bosingwa to unattached, free

DR - Paulo Ferreira to unattached, free

DC - Alex to Manchester City, £10m

MC - Raul Mereiles to Paris S-G, £10m

AML - Florent Malouda, multiple bidders (awaiting decision), £5m

AMLRC - Salomon Kalou to Paris S-G, £10m

FC - Didier Drogba to unattached, free

The above activity has given me a sizeable transfer budget for the upcoming season, and I'm looking to move to a 4-2-3-1 formation based on the following:

GK - Petr Cech / Thibaut Courtois

DL - Ashley Cole / TBC

DC - David Luiz / Branislav Ivanovic

DC - John Terry / Gary Cahill

DR - Cesar Azpilicueta / Nathan Clyne

MC(d) - John Obi Mikel / Oriol Romeu

MC(b2b) - Ramires / Michael Essien

AML - Juan Mata / Gael Kakuta

AMC - Frank Lampard / Josh McEachren

AMR - Daniel Sturridge / TBC

FC - Fernando Torres / Romelu Lukaku.

Looking at Eden Hazard to bolster my creative options in midfield; and Xherdan Shaqiri for the wing. Good plan?

Any suggestions for a young left back? Bertrand wanted to leave and I'm not sure if van Aanholt is good enough.

Thanks

[tomtuck01]

Bracken

Thanks alot for the kind words. Now that I've done it with Lampard, I hope to do it with one of Sturridge, Neymar, or Lukaku.

lukekarts

Personally I think van Aanholt is good enough as back-up to Cole, and if you get Cole tutoring him and on a good training schedule then he'll be more than adequate in a couple of years when Cole has declined.

I'd also go for Shaqiri, but not neccessarily Hazard. Shaqiri can play both wings, and instead you could use Kakuta at AMC/AMR rather than spendong a fortune on Hazard. After a season or two Kakuta is top drawer.

[tyro]

Nice record tomtuck.

Yes, I think left backs are actually well covered. If I could redo it I wouldn't buy one. Bertrand develops well and even Van Aanholt has the necessary stats as a backup.

[Bracken]

Right lads and ladies, after a little absence from playing as the mighty Chels, I'm back at the club, but not on my old save.

I've been doing a little career/journeyman thing, starting out at Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa, followed by Daejeon Citizens of South Korea, Club America of Mexico and finally Santos of Brazil, before I ended up back where I belong at Chels. At my previous clubs I won the leagues and continental competitions of each division, which was my aim, meaning in order to complete the set I need only the Champions League, to have every major continental competition you can win with the default database. However, while I've been having some success, Chelsea certainly haven't.

AVB was sacked in 2013, he lead them to second in the league in his first season, but dropped out of the to four after that and so had to go. He was replaced by David Moyes, who got them back into the Champions league for a year and winning the Europa League, before dropping out again and jumping ship to Man City. Replacing him was Michael Laudrup, who did abysmally, winning a league cup but with nothing else to show for his two years. Then the mighty Alan Shearer took the helm, and it looked like things were on the way up, with Chelsea challenging for the title until the very end of the season, when a close league eventually saw them finishing 5th, after a 5-3 home defeat to Leeds. He left for the England job during that summer, leaving the position open for me, just as I was finishing the Copa Libertores with Santos. So here I am.

The squad when I took charge was a real mess, only a couple of players in the first team were under 25, with the club having (typically) investing heavily in older, more established players, and neglecting the youngsters. On the plus side, Josh, Chalobah, Lukaku and Ramires are still there, and they will form an important part of the squad going forward.

I've got a lot of players from my past clubs that I'd like to bring in, as I feel they could really step up, but it depends on money. I've been given a budget of £35.5m, which is pretty good actually, but I'll need more to radically reshape the squad and so I'll need more. My first task is to raise some cash, and then bring in the players we need. I'm doing that right now, and I'll update you with it when it's done, probably tomorrow night.

If you read all this, then thanks, and it's good to be properly back in the thread, I've enjoyed reading other peoples updates and hope to add a few more of my own now.

[lukekarts]

Thanks tomtuck - I took your advice and have trusted van Aanholt, and nothing better than a 4 month injury to Ashley Cole in the World Cup Semi Final to try him out! Seems to have performed well so far.

I went against your advice and bought Hazard though - don't think Kakuta is ready and I'm not sure the squad is good enough without him. Patchy start to the season though - demolished Juve 7-1 in the CL qualifiers and got two early wins, but had an abysmal display away at Aston Villa and lost 2-0.

Still tweaking tactics and not entirely sure how to get the most this 4-2-3-1.

[tomtuck01]

Bracken

Good luck with Chelsea in your journeyman save. I'm sure playing with them in that kind of save rather than "for the long haul" like in your other save will be radically different.

lukekarts

Glad I was even just a bit of help. If Cole is still injured and van Aanholt's performances decline a bit then you can always put David Luiz there at left back. He has played at fullback a few times, (both left and right), for me and he has always performed pretty well there.

[Rohkey]

Anyone have a coach who is capable of 4+ star training in ball control or shooting?

[tomtuck01]

Rohkey

I have two coaches for each category of the training, and in my opinion that is the way to go as it limits the workload and usually guarantee's atleast four stars every time.

[Rohkey]

Rohkey

I have two coaches for each category of the training, and in my opinion that is the way to go as it limits the workload and usually guarantee's atleast four stars every time.

Yeah, have you ever done any reading on how training works? Didn't know this until recently, but all that matters is the ability of the coach (training the particular category) with the highest stars, and training is more effective if you have a 'light' workload. So having a 5 star coach and a 2 star coach on a category (as long as the workload is shown as 'light') is better than having any number of 4.5 star coaches for that category. I was wondering if you guys had any 4+ star coaches for ball control/shooting because I'd like to find some in my game, all my categories are 4+ except for those two.

[Bracken]

Right, squad reshaping is complete for now, it didn’t come easy or cheap

Transfers

In:

Andres Taramasco – £3.5m – Santos

Jack Achterberg –£6.5m – Man Utd

Vampeta – £7.5m – Santos

Lano – £8m – Santos

Ernst Holzhauser – £7m – Frankfurt

Omar Al-Shemmari – £13.5m – Napoli

Reda Said – £9m – Ajax

Jose Manuel Ayala – £4.5m – America (MEX)

Rafael – £5m – Santos

Neymar – £39.5m – Santos

Ricky Dobbs – £3m – West Ham

Joe Ramsay – £10m - Schalke

Assorted Youngsters

Total: £118m

Out:

Pape Souare – £10m – Schalke

Carlos Kameni – £5m – Derby

Matias Ezquiel Schelotto – £19.5m – Fiorentina

Kyle Walker – £18.75m – Liverpool

Sokratis Papastathopoulos – £24.5m – Bayern Munich

Sandro – £40m – Barcelona

Delvin Ndinga – £10m – Anji

Seydou Doumbia – £20m

Many Players released or sold for nominal fees

Total: £155m

So as you can see, a huge amount of activity, because really it was needed. Very pleased with the fees for Papastathopoulos and Sandro, as well as Walker who wanted to leave when I arrived. A lot of the players, while decent enough, were in the later stages of their careers and I wanted a younger, fresher approach to the entire squad. Taramasco, Vampeta, Lano, Rafael and Neymar all played for me at Santos, and I was pleased to be able to bring in all of them, though I couldn’t bring Neymar’s strike partner with me as they wanted too much cash. I thought that around 40mill for Neymar was a pretty decent price, he’s a great player and did very well for me at Santos, it was tough to pull him away but I got my man in the end. Ayala was with me at Club America, while Said was my captain at Daejeon. I wanted to bring in Ayala’s defensive partner, but they wanted a massive amount of cash, Ayala luckily became unsettled, the same can be said of Said’s Egyptian teammate who was also with me at Daejeon, but he’d moved on to Dortmund and they didn’t want to sell. Overall through, I was very pleased with the transfers.

The Team:

We’re playing a 4-1-2-1-2 formation, trying to dominate the midfield and pick holes through their defence

GK: Taramasco, Cech, Courtois

DR: Canic, Achterberg

DC: Al-Shemmari, Ayala, Chalobah, Luiz

DL: Vampeta, Ramsay

DMC: Holzhauser, Lano

MCR: Ramires, Said

MCL: McEachran, Basile

AMC: Mata, Rafael, Narewsky

STCR: Lukaku, Comberton

STCL: Neymar, Dobbs, Santarelli

The first name is the first choice in each position, though there will be significant rotation. I’m pleased with the depth across the squad, and the balance between youngsters and more experienced players. Ramires will wear the armband, with Romelu as the Vice Captain. I was going to have Josh as VC, but he decided he wanted to leave for a new challenge. I managed to talk him round, but it changed my mind about giving him the captaincy.

Pre-season went well enough, not spectacularly, but well enough, and here’s my first month of results:

August 2017

Premier League

Leeds 0 –3 Chelsea

Neymar 29’, 34’, 49’

What a debut for Neymar, and a good defensive performance to kick us off

Europa League 4th Qualifying Round 1st Leg

Bursaspor 0 – 2 Chelsea

Lukaku 46’

Neymar 52’

Good performance, could’ve had more goals, but signs of a good partnership developing

Premier League

Chelsea 2- 0 Derby

Lukaku 55’, 57’

Decent enough, should’ve had a lot more goals but their goalie was pretty superb

Europa League 4th Qualifying Round 2nd Leg

Chelsea 1 – 0 Bursaspor

Said 76’

Well, a win’s a win

Conclusions

A good enough start to the season, not outstanding but we’re winning games and keeping clean sheets. Man City started incredibly with a 7-0 away win over Swansea, and followed that up with a 3-0 home win, so it looks like they will be stiff competition. Still, if Lukaku and Neymar can build on this budding partnership, we could have a superb team here. If you read all this, then thanks! I’ll update you guys with a September update when that’s done, hopefully it won’t be as epically long as this!

[tomtuck01]

Well my fourth season in charge of Chelsea has come to an end. A full end of season reiview will be posted tomorrow at some point, but for now here is a run down of my results since my last update at the end of the January transfer window.

February

Premier League - Man City (H) 4-2 (Lampard, Willian, Neymar 2)

Premier League - Wolves (A) 1-3 (Diakite (og), Hennessey (g), Erick Torres)

Premier League - Liverpool (A) 1-0

Champs Lge 1st KO Round 1st Leg - Real Madrid (A) 1-1 (Willian)

Premier League - Blackpool (H) 3-0 (Willian, Mata, Balotelli)

Premier League - Newcastle (A) 0-1 (Mata)

Not a bad month for us. It started well at home at City, but it was so annoying because we were 2-0 up and let them get back to 2-2. Thankfully Neymar rocked up with tw very late goals to give us victry. The game at Liverpool just a week later was very poor - the result was bad enough, but our limp, lifeless performance was what areally annoyed me.

Just days later we got a hugely credible draw in Madrid, before finishing the month by getting back on track in the title race with two victories.

March

Premier League - Derby (H) 3-0 (Erick Torres 2, McEachran)

Champs Lge 1st KO Rnd 2nd Leg - Real Madrid (H) 0-0 - 1-1 on aggregate, Chelsea win on away goals

Premier League - Arsenal (A) 1-0

With us being out the FA Cup and there being international games, we only had three fixtures in March, and what a funny month it was. Erick Torres was great against Derby as we started the month in good fashion. The 0-0 draw was enough against Madrid, and the scoreline doesn't tell you how well we played. As against Liverpool in February though, we weren't at the races against Arsenal.

Another big game lost, just how many more could we afford to lose?

April

Premier League- Fulham (H) 5-1 (Neymar 3, Lukaku, Luiz)

Champs Lge Qtr Final 1st Leg - Napoli (A) 1-1 (Lampard)

Premier League - Birmingham (A) 3-4 (Balotelli, Sturridge 2, Rodwell)

Champs Lge Qtr Final 2nd Leg - Napoli (H) 1-1 (Neymar) - 2-2 on aggregate, Napoli win 6-5 on penalties

Premier League - Man United (A) 2-1 (Sturridge)

Premier League - West Brom (H) 2-0 (Neymar, Chalobah)

Bad month. It started so well against Fulham, but sandwhiched inbetween a Champions League exit to Napoli was a shocking defensive display against Birmingham. Thankfully we squeaked home.

As if exiting the Champions League to Napoli wasn't bad enough, defeat against United also meant our lead at the top had been whittled down to just two points with five games to go. We beat West Brom at the end of the month as United won 1-0 at Spurs. With just four games left to be played it was going to be tight!

May

Premier League - Everton (H) 5-1 (Heitinga (og), Lampard, Sturridge, Lukaku, Cork (og))

Premier League - Reading (A) 0-1 (Pearce (og))

Premier League - Leicester (H) 4-0 (Barkley, St.Ledger (og), Lampard (p), Lukaku)

Premier League - West Ham (A) 2-4 (Romeu, Erick Torres, McEachran, Balotelli)

We started the month in excellent style by thrashing Everton after United had drawn at Aston Villa early in the day, and thus extending our lead to four points. At Reading we benefited from another own goal, but at that late stage of the season I don't care how the wins come!

We actually won the league without kicking a ball in the midweek before the Leicester game. United got hammered 5-1 at City, meaning they were four points behind us and had just had one game left, and could no longer catch us. The Leicester game was the perfect title celebration, and the 4-2 win at West Ham on the final day of the season rounded things off nicely.

United ended up ten points adrift in third place, and it was City who finished second, some eight points back from us.

------------------------------------------------

The full end of season review will be posted tomorrow evening some time.

[tremberz]

Just finished my 5th season and just won the league for the fourth year in a row. Neymar is a beast, has 25 league goals. Hulk has won player of the year three years in a row for me and Mata just got an all new record of number of assists in a season (33). I play a 4-2-3-1, and in this final season I bought Gotze in January. Has anyone else bought him? I'm not sure how to play him, and in what position. I usually play Mata in the middle as a trequartista, Hulk as a right winger and Neymar left wing. I don't know whether to put Mata on the left as a winger and Gotze as an Advanced Playmaker in the middle. Mata has 33 assists so it will probably be silly to change where he plays. But I just can't seem to get Gotze in the game? Should I play him as an AP on the left wing? What would everyone else do?

[tomtuck01]

tremberz

I don't see why you needed to buy him. And to answer your query, I've never had him so I wouldn't know how or where to use him to get the best from him.

[tremberz]

Yeah but hes fairly young, and I'm planning on playing Neymar as striker so that gives a free position in attack. Just don't know the best way to play him and Mata to be honest. I might try him CAM as an AP, with Mata as a left winger. But then again I think Mata is much better at CAM. Maybe play Gotze as a winger on the right and Hulk on the left? So many options, haha.

[Anxiietyyy]

Yeah but hes fairly young, and I'm planning on playing Neymar as striker so that gives a free position in attack. Just don't know the best way to play him and Mata to be honest. I might try him CAM as an AP, with Mata as a left winger. But then again I think Mata is much better at CAM. Maybe play Gotze as a winger on the right and Hulk on the left? So many options, haha.

Keep Mata how you played him last season. Play Gotze as a left-Winger > Attack set to 'cut-inside' and ser though-balls to 'often'.

[tomtuck01]

My fourth season in charge of Chelsea has come to an end, it is therefore time for anther end of season review. This season wasn’t quite as successful as the last when we won the domestic treble, and infact we only won one trophy; the Premier League.

Please enjy the read.

Premier League

For the most part of the league season we were fabulous. We scored more goals than we had in any other season, (105), but on the downside though we conceded ten more goals than last season, making the total 28. In the end we won the league by eight points, but we certainly had a bit of a stutter. With ten games to go all was looking great, but then we picked up just seven points from five games and United had reduced the gap to just two points. We went on to win our last five though as United fell away, and we got over the line with tw games to go.

Although it was a very good campaign, we found the going tough against some of the other big clubs at times, particularly against Manchester United. They appointed Marcelo Bielsa at the start of the season, and his 3-4-3 system really does cause me bother. They could be a force next term.

Premier League Awards

Football Writers Footballer Of The Year; Neymar - Chelsea

PFA Player Of The Year; Gareth Bale - Tottenham

PFA Young Player Of The Year; Knowledge Musona - Blackburn

Barclays Premier League Golden Boot; Sergio Aguero - Man City (31 goals)

Barclays Manager Of The Year; Arsene Wenger - Arsenal

PFA Team Of The Year; Nathaniel Chalobah, Frank Lampard, Willian, and Neymar

Great to see Chalobah get in the Team Of The Year for the first time, and brilliant for Frank Lampard to get in the side at the age of 36!

Domestic Cups

This season we had a bad time of it in the domestic cups after the success in the previous years, (we had been to every domestic cup final in the opening three seasons, winning three and losing three), not getting so far as the semi-finals in either competition.

In the Carling Cup the back-up/reserve players did well in the 3rd and 4th round, knocking out Nottingham Forrest (4-2), and Swansea (4-1) both away from home. In the quarter finals though we got knocked out away by Wigan on penalties (1-1 AET) in what was a woeful performance.

The FA Cup was certainly no better. After victory at League One Millwall in the 3rd round (4-1), we hosted Blackburn in the 4th, who were mid-table in the Premiership. We lost 1-0 in a performace that simply wasn't good enough from my side.

Wigan, (in the Championship now), went all the way to the Carling Cup final before losing to Manchesr United 2-0. The FA Cup final was contested between Man City and Liverpool, and after a 1-1 draw, City won on penalties.

Champions League

We again failed in the Champions League, getting knocked out in the quarter finals. We started our campaign by winning our group with six wins out of six.

Benfica (H) 1-0

AZ Alkmaar (A) 2-4

Nurnberg (A) 1-2

Nurnberg (H) 3-1

Benfica (A) 1-2

AZ Alkmaar (H) 4-0

In the first knockout round we got the toughest draw available to us; Real Madrid. In the first leg we defended excellently and played on the counter, earning a 1-1 draw. The second leg finished 0-0 despite us dominating the game. This meant we went through on the away goals rule.

The quarter finals saw us face Napoli. Again we got a 1-1 draw away from home in the first leg. But in the second leg we really didn't perform well and we had to rely on a late equaliser to make the game 1-1, (2-2 on aggregate), and take it to extra time. With no goals in extra time the tie went to penalties, and Napoli won 6-5.

Barcelona lifted the trophy againm beating Manchester United 1-0. They have now won the trophy in three of the four seasons of my save, and have won it in four of the last five seasons overall.

Top Scorers And Other Info

This season five players got into double figures for goals. Just one got more than 20, although two of my strikers, (Sturridge and Lukaku), suffered a fair bit with injury throughout the season.

Neymar - 41 starts, 4 sub apps - 23 goals

Mario Balotelli - 19 starts, 11 sub apps - 16 goals

Willian - 45 starts, 0 sub apps - 16 goals

Frank Lampard - 36 starts, 2 sub apps - 13 goals

Daniel Sturridge - 20 starts, 1 sub app - 12 goals

Neymar had a really great season when you factor in that most of the time he was playing in the AML position. To add to his 23 goals he also got 16 assists. Mario Balotelli was superb, grabbing important goals when needed. Willian had another fantastic season goal scoring wise and overall.

The standout player for me this season was Lampard. At the age of 36 he was brilliant, scoring 13 goals - four more than last term - and assisting 17, his highest number of assists during my four years with Chelsea.

The 17 assists for Lampard was the joint highest amount at the club this season with Willian and Juan Mata.

Romelu Lukaku only managed 14 appearances, (9 starts 5 sub apps), this season due to injury, but he managed seven goals and five assists. Since joining the club in January Erick Torres' appearances were few and far between. He made four starts and seven sub appearances, bagging four goals and getting two assists, so not a bad return from his limited number of games.

Willian had the clubs highest average rating, (7.55), from his 45 appearances. From the 54 games we played this season we scored 137 goals and conceded 42. The team collected 59 yellow cards, and received 3 reds. The average attendance at Stamford Bridge was 42,839.

What Next

After years of great service Ashley Cole is leaving the club on a bosman. Jacob Mellis has finally got itchy feet and wants first team football so will be sold. After a season of struggling to offload him, Ulises Davila will be let go one way or another. The same goes for Mohammed Abu and Lucas Piazon, who despite some exposure to first team football, didn't develop quite enough. And John Obi Mikel will also be offloaded after complaining about playing less and less first team football.

Despite my already ample options in the attacking areas, I have decided to sign loanee Mario Balotelli permanently. Although I agreed a future fee for him, he was available on a free and I have agreed a deal with him. Besides that the only players who will be coming into the club will be youngsters.

------------------------------------------

Comments and suggestions are welcome. And I'll be happy to upload any other screenshots you wish to see.

Thanks to those of you who took the time to read this.

[philgeo1]

Just finished my first season, finished third behind Man Utd and Man City. Did poorly in all other competitions. Damiao came in January to score 23 goals in all competitions, leaving Torres on the bench....Has anyone gotten rid of Torres and lived to regret it?

[Sparky_07]

I'm fuming with my Chelsea save, first season. I got drew Inter in 1st leg of Champions League knockout round. All of my first team are away on international duty, so I have to field a teamful of reserves and under 18's. Got beat 6-1 1st leg. GREAT