Hoppin' around Europe... for now.

[CoachFlu]

March 9, 2019

Results:

League table - end of regular season

Well, so far we're doing our best to fulfill all the predictions.

Of course, it's difficult to say for certain whether our early exit from the cups has significantly contributed to our great form in the league. Last season - which was as busy a season as it could get - I didn't feel that our league performances suffered all that much from the high amount of matches. In fact, at some point I felt it actually helped to get back into form. Still, this season the lack of distractions certainly hasn't hurt us.

A few disappointing results nonetheless. A home loss against Genk where we were robbed (and missed a penaty), and a typical "ball doesn't want to get into the net/hit the woodwork three times" match against KV Mechelen.

On the other hand a few very pleasing results as well, mostly the 2-1 win against Anderlecht in early January, particularly pleasing because we got a man sent off early in the match but still managed to play very well. That was an important win, since it was a direct battle for the top spot at that stage.

Since then we gradually managed to increase our lead to seven points. Of course the work is only half done, since that seven point lead only translates to 3 points in the Champions Group:

Not out of the woods yet, then, especially since the remaining ten matches will all be against tricky opponents. At this point, it looks like it'll be two separate battles: the top three will fight for the title, the bottom three for the remaining European spots. Of the two teams still within reach, though, I don't consider STVV a major threat - they're a bit of a surprise package this season and certainly can't be underestimated, but they sold one of their top scorers in January, which doesn't help their cause.

Anderlecht, on the other hand, is still very much in the race. Their league form hasn't been bad at all, and one poor result from us can put them back alongside us again. The two direct confrontations may be decisive.

While I didn't quite expect to be in this position at this stage, we're here now, so I'd be disappointed if we don't manage to finish it off. Hopefully we can keep our nerves.

[Deisler26]

Cracking run so far, Coach!

[CoachFlu]

Thanks.

March 31, 2019

USA update:

Two friendlies this year, as final preparation for the Gold Cup next June. A very good result - and performance - against Australia, but then a bit of a bummer against Greece where we deserved a draw, and looked to get it until their winning goal in the 88th minute. No disaster, obviously; the important matches are yet to come.

Our group for the Gold Cup:

While the results of the friendly matches we've played under my management haven't exactly been promising enough to call us favorites for the tournament, I'd at least call us favorites to survive the group stage. If we don't manage that, I don't expect I'll be allowed to stay on past the summer.

Meanwhile, my services as international manager seem to remain surprisingly popular, as I've gotten two more unsolicited job offers - from Australia and South Africa. Both interesting offers, but obviously not at this stage in my career, so I turned them down swiftly.

[City2000]

Looks like an exciting end to the season, good luck

And going out of the cups early at least lets you pull out the "concentrate on the league" line which seems to be working!

[deltablue]

Good chance there.

[CoachFlu]

May 27, 2019

Standard Liège, Belgian Pro League, end of season 2018-19

Summary:

Media prediction: 3rd

Final position: 1st

Belgian Cup: 7th Round

Belgian Super Cup: Winners

Euro Cup: Group Stage

League table - end of regular season

Position graph

Last season we were a cup team, this season not so much. Out of both cups before Christmas, we indeed managed to make the "concentrate on the league" line work for us, and started the champions Group stage with a three point lead.

Results:

Not quite as splendid a form as during the regular season, but good enough to get the job done, and then some.

Match 3 and 4, direct confrontations with the two remaining competitors, were possible the most crucial results of the lot. We went two goals down against STVV, but managed to come back to save a point, and save our top spot at the time. We then followed up with a convincing home win against Anderlecht, which took some of the immediate pressure off us.

Two more home wins later, we were 8 points clear and pretty much smooth sailing. The second match against STVV clinched the title for us with two matches to spare. We played a few of our "progress stalled due to lack of match experience" youngsters in the remaining matches, which reduced the gap to three points again at the end, but I'm not bothered about that.

And so we had pretty much the exact opposite of last season. Which I don't mind at all; if I had to choose which trophy to win this season, it would have been the league anyway, even though I didn't entirely expect it.

Squad and tactics

With a number of last season's key players leaving the club, I didn't expect a notable improvement in our performance, but the replacements for those positions turned out quite nicely. Apart from that, the difference was in the details - a bit more effective at the back and a bit more productive up front.

Some of the key players:

Jimmy Dufour - DC

Our young French defender is maturing splendidly and has not yet reached his peak. Surprisingly, he seems to remain motivated to play for Standard, though I'm not sure how much longer that will be. During the January window we kept getting ever increasing transfer bids for him from a French club - Lille I think - the last one around €8.5M. He didn't seem to mind that I rejected those bids, but if a really big club comes knocking, he may not remain as stoic about it.

Raymond Zuiderwijk - MR

Another youngster who has matured splendidly over the past two seasons. He made the step up to international football this season - no small feat considering the strength of the current Belgium generation, though admittedly there was a gap to be filled at the right mid position. He had a great season, with 9 goals and 16 assists in the league, despite being out injured for a bit. He's still on low pay, but should get a significant pay rise during the summer - hopefully he'll accept it.

Mario Mulder - ML

Our new left midfielder more than fulfilled his expectations. To be honest, I was slightly surprised when checking his stats at the end of the season - "only" 9 goals and 8 assists, it felt like more as the season progressed. Nevertheless, he swiftly cemented himself into the first 11, and will remain there for the foreseeable future.

Oscar Santos - ST

After a "not bad" season, Santos went back to being the absolute star of the team. Great productivity in pretty much all competitions, but especially in the league. Broke all sorts of records again. I'm a bit surprised that no teams seem to be interested in him lately, but I don't mind at all.

Finances

Despite a mediocre performance in Europe, we still made a small profit this season. That's mainly due to our profitable transfer dealings last summer. Transfer income isn't nearly expected to be as substantial this summer, so we'll have to do a bit better in Europe to break even. The club is in good financial shape though - even better than when I joined, so I feel I've managed this club quite well the past almost-three seasons.

Next season...

The previous half-sentence is probably a good hint that I'm ready to move on now. I've won all domestic trophies with Standard, so there's not much left for me to do here except more of the same. Sure, last season's lost Euro Cup final makes it clear that success in Europe isn't impossible, with a little luck, but I don't particularly feel the need to achieve that with this club. I'm perfectly content to move on and go for success in Europe with another club.

Which club that will be, and when I'll move, remains to be seen. I still have a contract at Standard for the next two seasons, and I'm not entirely desperate to leave right away, so I can afford to be a bit picky for the time being.

I actually had an offer already a few days ago, which I turned down:

The Baggies finished bottom of the Premier League, which was pretty much end of story for me. Any mid-table Prem club I would have seriously considered, but moving to the Championship didn't seem like the right move at this time.

Apart from that, this past week I've been named as the favorite to take over at a few clubs who sacked their manager at the end of the season: Racing, Hertha BSC, Braga and Zenit.

Playing it cool for now, I declined to comment on all of them, which I slightly regret in the case of Zenit.

The other three left me lukewarm at best. They finished mid-table in their leagues, so no Europe for them next season. Racing didn't interest me at all. Berlin or Braga would have been worth considering as multi-season projects, though the prospect of Portugal didn't wildly excite me, and Hertha hasn't finished better than 12th the past three seasons, since Germany was added to the game.

Zenit, however, might well have been "as good as it gets" for the time being, so I probably should have declared interest or even applied for it. They finished 3rd in Russia, which means they'll start in the Champions League, so that was certainly no excuse. But somehow it didn't make my mouth water, so I decided to continue to play it cool.

I guess that means I probably missed the chance to start the new season at a new club - unless someone decides to retire next month, perhaps. So I may very well start the new season at Standard, and then see what happens as the season progresses.

[rancer890]

Watch out against Panama mate. USA didn't do so well against them in the 2011 Gold Cup (the group stage game anyways).

[CoachFlu]

I don't feel fully "in touch" yet with the USA squad, so we won't be underestimating anyone!

June 7, 2019

Chapter 3: Hopsakee!

PSV Eindhoven, Dutch Eredivisie

Alrighty then, looks like I'll start the new season at a new club after all. I'm not moving very far though. Eindhoven is just 100km or so north of Liège, though of course there's a border between it.

The sackings and job offers went on a bit longer after the end-of-season update, which I hadn't really expected.

Braga - for which I had already been rumored - came back with an actual offer first. That was a quick rejection though - no European football, no transfer budget, €80k/week wage budget (it was around €300k at Standard.)

Lokomotiv Moscow came knocking next, after their manager took the Zenit job. They did look in decent financial shape and had qualified for the Euro Cup, but I had just been named favorite for the PSV job and declared interest in it, so I rejected this one.

Shortly afterwards, another offer:

I was leaning towards no, but there was definitely some appeal to this job, as it was - much like PSV - a bit of a 'fallen giants' situation - they finished mid-table, so no Europe, but they definitely have the budget and reputation to get back to the top of Portugal. I decided to delay for a week, and possibly have a good think about it if the PSV thing didn't work out. But that didn't turn out to be necessary.

Plenty of budget here, then, and that's not even the main reason I was extremely interested in this job. I haven't managed in Holland since, heck I can't even remember, and if I could freely pick any Dutch team, PSV would definitely be it. I'm very much looking forward to this new challenge.

As is the case for a few Dutch clubs, several Belgians have featured prominently in the club's rich history. Dries Mertens, Timmy Simons, Gilles De Bilde, Luc Nilis, Eric Gerets... Hopefully I can add my name to that list.

Dutch Eredivisie 2018/19

As I mentioned, it'll be a bit of a 'fallen giant' type job. Not that they've completely fallen, it's not like they relegated or anything, but 9th for a club like PSV is far below expectations. Unsurprisingly, German manager Robin Dutt was sent packing after less then two seasons in charge.

PSV have finished either 2nd or 3rd in the previous five seasons, but they haven't won the Eredivisie since the 2011/12 season. They followed that up by winning the Euro Cup the next season, but they haven't won anything since.

They had an almost Standard-like season this year - poor in the league, but good performances in the Cups. They reached the Semi Finals in the Euro Cup - their best result since winning it six years ago. And for the first time in ages, they also reached the Final of the Dutch Cup again, but then threw away a golden opportunity for a long over-due trophy by losing that Final against FC Zwolle, who are bottom half of the table in the Dutch second tier.

Urgent time for success again, in other words. Domestic success, for starters - obviously, since we won't be playing in Europe next season.

The club is certainly in a strong enough financial position to achieve that success:

Finances

With limited income next season (no Europe), I won't be going crazy, but I do intend to spend at least some of that budget. There'll obviously be some squad building to do over the summer, but it's not at all a mammoth task. There's a very good core of a squad present already, with a few very nice players. I'll mainly need to add a few key players to it, to fill a few obvious gaps - goalkeeper is the most dire one - plus work a bit on youth for squad depth/the future.

I'll be aiming for quick success. Whether we'll achieve it in the first season already remains to be seen, but I certainly plan to challenge for trophies immediately.

[Deisler26]

Ah, I would have rather taken the Sporting job! Still, good luck!

[CoachFlu]

Well, even though the Portuguese league has a slightly higher rep than the Belgian and Dutch leagues, the PSV job appealed to me much more (and like I mentioned, not just because of the finances.)

And clubs aside, I've managed in Portugal in FM10, while a stint in Holland has been long over-due.

If PSV hadn't worked out, I would've considered Sporting, but it was probably around 50/50 whether I'd have accepted it or stayed at Standard.

[rancer890]

PSV are one of my favourite European clubs. Good choice!

[HotChocolate]

I managed Sporting on FM11 and had a few okay years with them, but they're nothing special

You made the right choice going to PSV!

[CoachFlu]

Aye, I quite like this new turn in the career. I certainly wouldn't call myself a PSV supporter, but they're pretty much my favorite Dutch team since the Nilis/Van Nistelrooy days.

June 13, 2019

GOLD CUP 2019 (Hosts: USA)

Alright then, time for my first senior international tournament in this career. I did a few tournaments with the Belgium U21s, of course, but that's not quite the same.

The 2019 Gold Cup, in front of home fans, will be an important first step towards restoring USA's football status in North America and the world. Not that that status is insanely terrible at the moment, but it's certainly well below what any god fearing American would feel comfortable with. Bottom of the group at the previous two World Cups, Quarter Final exits at the previous three Gold Cups - time for some "yes we can!" spirit.

The FA expects us to reach the Final in this tournament, and I can't disagree with that expectation. Personally I want to win the Gold Cup either this year or in 2021. To get a chance at winning the 2021 Gold Cup, we'll probably have to get pretty close to it this year already, or I may not be kept around much longer.

The squad selection:

Most of those names won't mean much to you; all but six of them are regens. And if not for a few midfield injuries at the time of call-up, that number would have been as low as four, as veteran Bedoya and especially Okugo would not have made the squad. Alejandro Bedoya, at 32, is the oldest player in the selection; this Gold Cup will most likely be his last international adventure.

So it's clear that this is a squad mainly aimed at the future. Bedoya and a few other "veterans" like Johnson, Chandler and Altidore drive the average age up to 25. The core of the squad consists of 23-25 year olds, a perfect age to work towards the 2022 World Cup.

Group stage, match 1:

USA - El Salvador: 2-0

A confident and promising start of our tournament, though of course El Salvador isn't exactly the strongest opponent we'll encounter.

USA captain Nick Keller - whose appointment last year was another clear indicator of our aim towards the future - gave us the lead with a close range header. We applied loads of pressure but didn't create all that many great chances against a very defensive El Salvador. Eventually a spot kick put the game beyond doubt, converted by Georges Coicou, the AMC in our standard 4-3-1-2 formation.

A clean win with no injuries and no bookings - a very smooth start.

Group stage, match 2:

Panama - USA: 1-2

I was warned to watch out for Panama. They won the Gold Cup in 2013, which was another warning sign. For a long time that didn't really show on the pitch though, as we were utterly dominant, with mainly their goalkeeper keeping them in the match.

In the last fifteen minutes Panama managed to put us under some pressure with a number of corner kicks, of which one went in and Johnson had to come up big on another one. But by then we had a two goal lead. The midfielders did the business in the first group match; this time the strikers managed to get off the mark: one each for Juan Agudelo and Jozy Altidore.

And so we're the first team to be certain of qualifying for the Quarter Finals, and we can relax a bit in our next match against Nicaragua. The real work will start after the group stage.

[abulezz]

Good luk with PSV and the USA (and New Zealand!)

[CoachFlu]

Thanks. (New Zealand is out of my control though, heheh.)

June 18, 2019

GOLD CUP 2019

Group stage, match 3:

Nicaragua - USA: 1-8

Nothing like a new record win (both for USA and Gold Cup) to increase expectations. We took advantage of a very poor Nicaragua side to have some good old fashioned goal scoring fun. Slightly disappointed that we allowed them a consolation goal, but nothing to lose sleep over.

I rested a number of players, including 4 of the 5 who were carded in the previous match. In hindsight, perhaps I shouldn't have done that, because now we have six players just one yellow away from suspension - the chance that we'll lose some of them for the Semi Finals is pretty high.

Georges Coicou, just days after agreeing a move to Man Utd, added two more goals to his tally, as did backup striker Orlando Caso, who got a rare chance to play 90 minutes, with Altidore starting on the bench. Andrew Kljestan scored his first international goal, and the Nicaraguans did their bit as well by gifting us two own goals. Thanks, guys!

Winning your group clearly doesn't guarantee you an easier opponent in the group stage. To be clear, I'm mainly talking from Canada's perspective there. For us, it's as good an opponent as any. Theoretically, the Mexicans are the only ones who should be able to give us a hard time. Then again, recent history blows that theory out of the water, with competitive losses against Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala and Honduras in recent years, so we won't be underestimating anyone.

[abulezz]

Canada always seem to get good very quickly in my saves - if that is the case in yours, then you could be in for a match

[CoachFlu]

In my save, not so much.

June 23, 2019

GOLD CUP 2019

Quarter Final:

USA - Canada: 2-0

An easy win, though our performance was largely unspectacular. The first half in particular was a complete snooze fest, but we finally woke up early in the second half. Canada never came close to our goal; the match stats show 1 CCC for them, but I must have blinked and missed that one.

Still, just the one goal lead is always tricky. We had a few very good chances to put the game beyond doubt, but only managed that in injury time, with a corner kick goal by Garry Poole. Poole may turn out to be the discovery of the tournament for us. He only made his USA debut against Nicaragua, being a late addition to the squad due to two DC injuries. I kept him in the lineup against Canada since he's the best header we have available, and he played very well defensively before scoring the late goal.

I was hoping to avoid them until the Final, but no such luck: we'll face Mexico in the Semi Finals.

USA played Mexico five times in the past 8 years: 4 wins for Mexico, one for the USA, back in 2013. Moment of truth, then.

[deltablue]

Go Mexico!

[CoachFlu]

Go Mexico!

Que?

[CoachFlu]

June 29, 2019

GOLD CUP 2019

Semi Final:

USA - Mexico: 0-2

Hmmm, disappointing. One of those matches where we had most of the ball, but didn't manage to do much with it, and were punished by an efficient Mexico side. We went a goal down early in the match after a splicing counter attack when we lost the ball near their corner flag, and never managed to make a fist after that. Some shouting in the dressing room didn't really change anything - they doubled their lead, and we sort of petered out.

Unsurprisingly, Mexico went on to win the Final as well.

The American FA decided to keep the faith in me for the time being - one of those "understand why the team were knocked out by Mexico" things. They are ranked significantly higher than us. I guess that's something we'll need to change in the coming years.

Onwards to the next challenge then. The next challenge with the USA, to be clear.

I'm not sure when qualifying for the 2022 World Cup starts, but I think it'll be another year or so. That'll give me some time to experiment, possibly with some new tactics. Plenty of work ahead.

[AK22]

Decent showing in the Gold Cup, just unfortunate you came across Mexico before the final.

Good luck with PSV too

[HotChocolate]

Unlucky on losing to Mexico but they are the strongest team in the tournament!

You saying about PSV being your 'fav' Dutch team, I always seem to like one of the 'big' teams in the Europe leagues. I like Celtic not Rangers, I like PSV not Ajax, I like Sporting not Porto etc, not sure if anyone's the same

[abulezz]

Unlucky with the Gold Cup, but the board seems reasonable. Mexico are always a tough team!

[DSYoungEsq]

Well, Coach, just played catch-up with this new career. Good to see it's got much better goings-on at the start than previous versions.

As noted, unlucky to meet up with Mexico before the Final, but I suspect you're a bit disappointed with the result, as the US seems to do fairly well against our southern neighbors when we play at home. Hopefully, you can turn the tables on them in two years, as build up for your successful run in '22 at the WC.

I would have taken the Portuguese club, but certainly cannot fault you for taking PSV. A good, solid club whom you should have at the top of the table very shortly, which will springboard you into the top leagues, I imagine.

[CoachFlu]

Cheers, lads.

Yeah, would have preferred to save Mexico for the Final, but indeed the goal for 2021 will be to beat Mexico, in whatever round we meet them.

And at the very least I'd like to see a much more exciting match. If we lose 4-3 aet after a cracking match, I can live with that much better than losing 2-0 in a boring match without really testing their goalkeeper.

You saying about PSV being your 'fav' Dutch team, I always seem to like one of the 'big' teams in the Europe leagues. I like Celtic not Rangers, I like PSV not Ajax, I like Sporting not Porto etc, not sure if anyone's the same

It varies a bit for me. I have clear preferences in Holland and obviously in Belgium, but in other leagues not so much. I do find myself becoming sort of "temporary semi-supporter" of the clubs where members of the Belgian national team play, which means I like almost half of the English Premiership teams a little bit better than the other half.

[City2000]

Unlucky to play Mexico before the final.

Some tempting offers there, nice move to PSV, good luck

[CoachFlu]

Aug. 2, 2019

PSV, Dutch Eredivisie, pre-season 2019-20

Right. It's been a long summer, but we're ready to kick off in Holland.

While the step up from Belgium to Holland, from Standard to PSV was perhaps not a huge step, as far as squad building is concerned there's a notable difference: at Standard it was still quite possible to find some quality "key players" among those who had been released and were without club. At PSV that's a lot harder. The free signings I brought in are for the most part squaddies who may well not get a single appearance this season, with the exception of a few veterans.

In other words, finding quality players for a club like PSV generally costs money.

Transfer history

€20M spent, €13.75M earned back, mostly from guys who were wasting away in the reserves - an acceptable balance.

The first player I brought in provoked an angry reaction from the fans, though, who felt I was throwing away the club's money.

Tomas Zajac - GK

Granted, spending more than 8 mil on a goalkeeper is quite uncharacteristic for me, but it was one of those "from the gut" decisions which I hopefully won't regret. The club was in urgent need of a quality shot stopper, and Zajac was one of three players the club had made an offer for, but I assume the offers were canceled the moment I joined the club. When the game sends me a through pass like that, I'm quite happy to put my foot against it without thinking and hope the ball ends up in the back of the net, so I swiftly re-opened negotiations and signed him. (Tried for the other two as well, actually, but they joined bigger clubs.)

It is quite a chunk of money for a goalkeeper, but if the performances on the pitch match the ratings my coaches give him, we should be all set for four seasons at quite a cheap wage.

After having a close look at the available players, I decided to stick with the 4-4-2-diamond formation I used at Standard. Most of the quality players at the club could be found around the central axis, though. The left and right side of the pitch needed significant reinforcements.

Diego Jara - ML

So our second most expensive purchase is a left midfielder. In this case, however, I had no second thoughts at all about paying River Plate €7.5M. I'm almost certain that, barring injury, Diego will be one of our stars this season.

Alekos Ioannou - DL

A much more bog standard transfer to fill the spot behind Diego. This Cyprus international was one of Dortmund's "send on loan every year" players, so we took him off their hands. I don't see him as "the last left back we'll ever need" but he should do us nicely for a few seasons, until we happen to come across a better one.

Junior Yenga - MR

Pretty much the only "under 30 key player" free signing we managed to find. He wanted top money, wage-wise, but in urgent need of a quality right mid, I was more than happy to agree to it. Released by Villareal, he was one of those "24-year old regens" created when Spain was added to the game. I'm wondering if his lack of strength is related to that. That's the only concern I have about him, but on the right side of the pitch it shouldn't be as crucial as in other positions.

Ibrahim Afellay - AMC

Perhaps not so much a key signing, but certainly a notable one. Afellay became a household name at PSV back in the 'naughts'. After adventures at Barcelona, At.Madrid and Chelsea, he returned to Holland last year for one season at Utrecht, and now returns home to Eindhoven. At 33, he still has what it takes to be in contention for a first team place, though he'll probably be mostly used as a utility bencher/rotation player. As far as the fans are concerned, this signing went some way towards redemption for my silly goalkeeper signing.

Of the players who were already at the club, these are the key players:

Jonathan Mensah - DC

Our team captain is the key man in the center of our defense. A Ghanese international with plenty of experience. His injury history is a bit of a concern though: 9 injuries in the past 2.5 years. Most of them less than a month, but still, it adds up, and could disrupt our defensive continuity.

Leroy Fer - DMC

DMC isn't strictly correct - Leroy is a natural MC, but he'll fill the defensive mid position in our diamond formation. Another experienced quality player, who - surprisingly - spent his entire career in Holland. (At Feyenoord, Twente, and now starting his 7th PSV season.)

Dudu - AMC

Further up in the diamond, this lad will have slight preference over veteran Afellay to start the season. Also starting his 7th season at the club, Dudu is a born Brazilian who took the Dutch nationality and became a Dutch international earlier this year.

Jean Marie Dongou - ST

This Spanish Cameroonian will be our key man up front, starting his third season at the club after spending a few years in Israel. Last season was a bit of a breakout season for him, with 11 goals in 22(7) appearances. We'll be looking for an even better average this season though.

There are still a few weaknesses in the squad. The center of defense in particular might become a concern, with Mensah's potential injury proneness, and a few "decent but not brilliant" options for the spot alongside him. If necessary, I'll look to spend the remaining transfer budget (9.5M) to strengthen this area in January.

The second striker spot is a bit comparable to the second DC spot - two or three comparable "decent but not brilliant" options. I'll give Dongou all chances to prove himself this season, but it's clear that we're some way off the level of once legendary PSV strikers like Van Nistelrooy, Nilis, Ronaldo, Kezman etc.

This, too, will certainly be a position we'll be looking to strengthen in the future, possibly in January already. Hopefully though, with only domestic football this season, we'll be fine until next summer.

A lack of decent youth prospects is also an issue which will need some attention. There are a number of 2.5 star potential lads in the reserves and U19s, enough to make up the numbers when we qualify for Europe next year, but nobody who could conceivably break into the first team. So I'll be keeping my eye out as the season progresses and will look to bring in a handful of 18 year olds - or younger - to build for the future.

Being new in this league, I'm not entirely sure where we stand exactly. The media puts us 3rd, the board expects European qualification. Depending on circumstances, I might be pleased if we end up around 3rd or 4th place, but that'll be the absolute minimum. I'm quietly hoping we'll be mounting a title challenge already.

[HotChocolate]

You seem to have got quite a few experienced players in your squad. Good luck for the coming season

[CoachFlu]

Yep, we have a few 29 year olds - and a few older than that - who'll need to be replaced within the next 2-3 years. Hopefully their experience will help us this season though.

Oct. 27, 2019

Results:

And one of those experienced players who'll need to be replaced will be team captain Jonathan Mensah. I had already spotted his 9 injuries during the past 2.5 years, so when he got his 10th injury - out for a month - between the 2nd and 3rd match of the season, I didn't hesitate and brought in an extra central defender before the transfer window closed:

Carlos Canova - Another South American, purchased for €3M from Mexican club Santos Laguna. He's at the age/level where a season of semi-regular playing time should make him ready to step into a solid first team role next season, so that's the plan.

The other end of the pitch, about which I had some minor concerns as well, isn't out of the woods yet either, but so far it's not at the stage where intervention is needed.

Our star striker, Dongou, is getting into a scoring position very often, but his productivity is still below par. 4 goals in 11 (mostly 90 minute) league matches, plus two cup goals - not totally terrible, but we need more. I wish the game kept track of how often someone hits the woodwork, as Dongou seems to have an amazing knack for hitting the frame of the goal. In two matches so far he managed the amazing yet frustrating feat of hitting the woodwork, getting the ball straight back and then slamming the rebound onto the woodwork again. Pull-your-hair-out moments.

This spectacular aim hasn't gone unnoticed. He made his first three appearances for Spain this fall - from the bench, but still, a good sign that he does have the talent, we just have to get a bit more out of him.

Our results, then:

Not bad, but it's a bit of a season with two faces so far. We've been utterly dominant in most of our matches. 8 wins out of 11, 7 of them clean sheets, and even the two narrow 1-0 wins were dominant performances (the one against Utrecht we were down to 10 men for more than an hour.)

Against the better teams, however - Feyenoord, Ajax and Twente - we were frustratingly poor. Granted, all three were away matches, and we gave away a penalty in two of them, but those are no excuses, really. The Ajax match wasn't terrible - at least we put up a good fight and with a bit of imagination we might claim that we earned a point there - but in the other two matches we were nowhere. That will certainly have to improve if we're to challenge for the title.

So far the table doesn't look too bad, but of the top four we're the only team without a game in hand (and Vitesse has two.) So, in effect, we've already lost touch with Feyenoord who are still undefeated. Still a long way to go though. If we keep playing as we have against the "lesser" teams, we're not out of the race yet.

[CoachFlu]

Nov. 20, 2019

USA update:

Results:

Just four friendlies since the end of the Gold Cup. We had scheduled a few in September as well, but they were both canceled at some point in August - apparently too late to find new opponents. Bit of a shame, since our young generation of internationals can use all the experience they can get.

Most of the older players have been left by the sidelines now to work a few extra younger players into the squad. The only 'veterans' still remaining are goalkeeper Sean Johnson and striker Jozy Altidore, both 30. Both of them are clearly our best options for their positions.

For the goalkeeper spot, we do have a few talented lads making their way up the ranks. They're getting an occasional friendly match to help them along, but it'll mainly be their progress at club level which will decide whether they'll evolve fast enough to push Johnson out of the nr.1 spot before the 2022 World Cup.

For the striker spot, the future harvest is a bit more meager. A few decent lads, and if one lad in particular stops holding out for Mexico and picks USA instead - he's from San Diego and his name is Warren Roberts, so come on already! - we might be ready to move Altidore to the bench and reduce his role a bit, but chances are he'll continue to play an important role throughout World Cup Qualifying, perhaps the tournament itself as well.

Speaking of World Cup Qualifying, the Phase 3 groups have been drawn. Our group:

Matches will start next August. Clearly this will be just a warm up, and we shouldn't have any problems qualifying for the next stage.

[rancer890]

A solid start with PSV. Just get them back into Europe and then build from there...the 3rd Phase will be a piece of cake and you will be in the hex not before too long.

[HotChocolate]

Good start with PSV, I second what rancer said.

[CoachFlu]

Aye, looks like we'll have to settle for Europe this season and move up from that next season.

Feb. 12, 2020

Results:

Obviously the above statement might be slightly premature with still 12 matches to go in the season. It wouldn't be the first time in this career that AI teams crumble near the end of the season and we make a late surge. This time, however, it doesn't really feel like one of those seasons.

What it does feel like is one of those seasons where we're getting some very good, consistent results, but just happen to run into AI teams who are having record-breaking seasons.

We have 50 points from 22 matches, a 16-2-4 record. With a record like that in the Belgian league, we'd be many points clear in the lead by now. Here in Holland, we're only 3rd, seven points behind the leaders. Feyenoord have an 18-3-1 record so far; that's pretty tough to keep up with.

We were actually managing to keep touch with them quite well, but our last match, a very poor result against NAC in typical "dominantly off-target" fashion, put a bit of a dent in our chase.

Of course we still have to play the top teams a second time, so good results in those matches could put is right back in the race again. Somehow, though, I'm not overly optimistic about our chances in those top matches. That's mostly because we're still having scoring issues.

That might be a bit of a roll-eye statement given our mostly-green form, but we've really been scraping a lot of results; 1-0, 2-0 and 2-1 wins. It's in no small part due to our great defensive record that we've eked out those results. Only 15 goals conceded so far - almost half of those in our 3-0 and 4-2 losses against Feyenoord and Ajax early in the season.

Scoring-wise we're only doing just enough at just the right time to get the results. In this last stretch, it only cost us points in two matches (the Vitesse draw can't be contributed to that, as we were down to 10 men for 75 minutes.)

Obviously 46 goals from 22 matches is far from terrible, but it's a bit below what our direct competitors are scoring. And obviously it's not so much the amount of goals, but the amount relative to the chances we create/dominant play we produce. Our most productive striker so far has scored 9 league goals (he started all 22 matches) - one clinical finisher à la Oscar Santos at Standard would probably be the difference between 3rd and 1st place this season.

But to be fair, it's not a huge issue. We're doing quite well, and - barring a spectacular crash of form - we should have no problem achieving the aim of qualifying for Europe, which will be a good platform to build on next season. If the season turns out that way, which looks likely, I'll be quite content. I've not entirely given up hope that the season may end in some excitingly spectacular fashion, though.

[DSYoungEsq]

I think you will nip into second. That's a prediction.

[rancer890]

Cmon Coach, finish higher than Ajax.

[CoachFlu]

Oh noes... DSYoung's predictions don't have a very good track record in my careers.

(Wouldn't mind finishing ahead of Ajax, as they're in the lead now.)

[abulezz]

Good luck as the season comes to a close - Ajax are always a tough team to beat!

[deltablue]

Facing a bit of a fightback I see.

[HotChocolate]

Don't lie, you're just giving them a chance rather than whooping their asses.

[CoachFlu]

May 29, 2020

PSV, Dutch Eredivisie, end of season 2019-20

Summary:

Media prediction: 3rd

Final position: 3rd

Dutch Cup: Semi Final

End of season table

Position graph

Right. I finished the season six months ago, right before going awol into the vast oblivion of life and work, but never got around to posting an update. I did upload the screenshots already, which is a good thing, since at my age memories don't stick around for anywhere close to six months - unless they're truly special, which this season clearly wasn't.

Convincing home wins against Ajax and Feyenoord were not enough to sneak past them. Just a few less-than-perfect results were enough to keep us chasing their tails.

Looks like I made the correct assessment of the season in the previous update already: "one of those seasons where we're getting some very good, consistent results, but just happen to run into AI teams who are having record-breaking seasons."

We finished with 77 points - in any of the previous eight seasons that would have been enough to win the title, this year we have to settle for 3rd with it. Such it goes.

Squad and tactics

Obviously this part of the update will suffer significantly from my poor memory.

The key players, as I selected them 6 months ago:

Michael Thurk - DC

Looks like I selected this young German as one of two excellent center backs because the other one - 29year old Ghanese international and PSV captain Jonathan Mensah - was the clear first pick from the start, and Thurk evolved from one of several "decent but not brilliant" options into a regular starter. It was his second season at PSV and this was quite a breakthrough season for him, resulting in his first caps for the senior German national team.

Dudu - AMC

Our Dutch Brazilian AMC had a superb season. With 17 goals he's (just about) our topscorer. Add another 11 assists and it's clear that he was certainly one of our key players. Lyon and Arsenal are interested in him, but clearly I'll want to keep hold of him for next season.

Jean Marie Dongou - ST

The striker I identified at the start of the season as the one whose form would be integral to our success. In doing so, I surely imagined him to score more than the 14 goals he scored this season, but adding his 13 assists to that certainly swings the balance into the positive.

Hrvoje Gudelj - ST

Much like Thurk for the second DC position, Gudelj cemented himself into the second striker position alongside Dongou. After two seasons as an occasionally featuring squaddie, this was certainly his breakout season, finishing with 16 goals and 14 assists. Not surprisingly, six clubs are interested in him, but I have no intention of letting him go.

Looking at those numbers, it seems as if we had a smoothly functioning triangle up front, with the AMC and the two strikers each getting roughly similar shares of goals and assists. No change needed there, then. And while the defenders don't feature as prominently among the key players, it's clear that no significant changes are needed there either. We have by far the best defensive record - 24 conceded in 34 league matches.

Finances

The lack of European football obviously hurt our finances a little. A season loss of more than €30M is not something this club can sustain for very long. At the moment there's certainly no reason to panic, but it's clear the club will either have to cut some expenses or get significantly more income to approach long term financial stability.

That "significantly more income" will obviously have to come from Europe. Judging by the numbers, it looks like we'll need regular Champions League group stage football to keep this club financially healthy...

Next season...

Returning after a six month break almost makes this like I just joined a new club. Good thing I have a few updates in this thread to go on, at least.

From those updates, it's clear that I tackled the PSV job aiming for success in the relatively short run. Rather than "cutting some expenses" to keep the Europe-less finances under control, I spent a chunk of the budget on new players to bring PSV back to its former glory. Even though we need to make another significant step forward - our 3rd place only qualifies us for the Euro Cup, while financially we really need to be in the Champions League asap - I see no reason to change that path.

I doubt I'll be able to spend as much as I did last summer, but from the looks of it, I won't really need to. A number of squaddies are leaving and will need to be replaced but, although I still need to do a more in-depth analysis of what's there and what's not, it looks like the first eleven are in close-to-excellent shape. Bringing in a number of promising youngsters with an eye on the future seems like a logical step, though seeing as how we're back in Europe now, I'll probably have to bring in one or two players who can make an immediate impact as well.

Clearly the goal next season must be to win at least one domestic trophy. Given our results this season and the players at my disposal, I should feel fairly confident of being able to achieve that. The only thing putting a dent in that confidence, however, is that I haven't played this game since December. :-)

[deltablue]

Well well, look who's back

[rancer890]

Welcome back Coach after a 6 month hiatus.

[DodgeeD]

CoachFlu hops back!

Good to see this thread going again. Nice wins over Feyenoord and Ajax - hopefully you can carry that form over to the new season

[cerud]

Welcome back CoachFlu

[CoachFlu]

Thanks, guys.

July 13, 2020

European Championship 2020 (Hosts: Belgium)

After the English dominated the first years of this game, it seems the French have taken over now. (England won the 2012 and 2016 Euros and the 2014 World Cup, France won the 2018 World Cup, and now this one.)

Portugal, runner-up in the previous two Euro Ch'ships, was the biggest casualty in the group stage, never recovering from a 5-0 loss against Russia on the opening match day (with Croatia and Montenegro the other two teams in the group.)

The other casualty of note: hosts Belgium, who started brilliantly by beating Spain but then lost to Norway and Romania and went out on goal difference. Not surprisingly, Jan Ceulemans just got the sack and I was named as the favorite to take his place. If they offer me the job, I might find it hard to turn it down...

[deltablue]

Terrible showing from the hosts.

[CoachFlu]

July 19, 2020

World Ranking: 32nd

Star Players: Thomas Kaminski, Vincent Kompany, Radja Nainggolan, Romelu Lukaku

And so, after just about two years, I bail on the USA just before the start of World Cup Qualifying. I do feel slightly guilty about that, but not much. If not for my six month break, I probably would have had a difficult decision on my hands here, but under the circumstances a sort-of fresh start has its appeal. And, of course, being Belgian - both in the game as in real life - this offer was hard to turn down.

The timing is pretty much spot on as well, just before the start of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. Our group:

A pretty standard group for us. Germany might be a step too high, but finishing second in the group and then qualifying through the playoffs is certainly a reasonable expectation.

There will, of course, be some issues to deal with. The most glaringly obvious one: the average age of Belgium's Euro squad was 29.55.

Belgium's "golden generation" - even if it turned out to be gold plate rather than solid gold - has pretty much passed its peak. Several of them are in their early 30's, or beyond - like Vincent Kompany, who's 34. So I'll have to decide how much of a "transition period" I want to make this, or whether to have a go at it with the veterans. At least I managed to make Eden Hazard (who's only 29) reconsider his international retirement he announced last week, heh.

Should be an interesting new challenge.

[CoachFlu]

July 29, 2020

PSV, Dutch Eredivisie, pre-season 2020-21

Right, the summer is finally (almost) over. I really need to clear some dead wood off my shortlist - summers take ages in my game, heh.

Transfers

Significantly less transfer turnover than last summer, when we spent €20M and brought in €13.5M. This year just a fraction of that.

With none of last season's first eleven leaving the club, and no real weak spots in the team which needed beefing up, it was mostly a matter of maintaining squad depth with an eye on the future. Most of the new signings are young players, in various stages of development - a few for the reserves, a few others quite ready for roles as regular substitutes/occasional starters.

The most important new signings:

Jorge Blasco - DR

Not counting a small compensation fee for one of the youngsters, this is the only player we paid a transfer fee for. He fits in the aforementioned "regular sub" category - not quite good enough yet to break into the first team straight away, but far enough in his development to fall back on in case of injury, and certainly too good to be playing at the Romanian second division club where we found him.

Andreas Sotiriou - ST

The only one of our new signings who can expect to be slotted into the starting lineup straight away. I wasn't really looking for a new striker, but my coaches rate this Cyprus international higher than any of our other strikers, so when he became available for free after six years at NEC - a midtable club in our division - I couldn't resist signing him. The only downside: he wouldn't budge on a very low Min. Fee Release Clause, so I'll have to try and re-negotiate his contract sooner rather than later.

Dries Mertens - AMC

I seem to have started a new tradition of bringing back former PSV heroes. Last year Afellay came back for his final season before retirement, this year Dries Mertens comes back, pretty much to take Afellay's place - cover for the AMC position. (Dries spent 4.5 seasons here between 2011 and 2016, then 3.5 at Lyon. Last season he spent a year in Belgium, at Cercle Brugge, and now he returns to PSV, where he's still a fan favorite.)

Vadim Demidov - DC

Much like Dries Mertens, except without the PSV history, this Norwegian veteran comes in for one season to provide some cover for the defense, though he probably won't get as much play time as Dries. He was only brought in because we got a hard-to-refuse loan-to-buy offer from Boca for one of our younger backup DCs. But after ten seasons at Real Sociedad, he should still be good enough to slot into the squad, should the need arise.

So, apart from the new striker - one which I have a good feeling about - we'll mostly be playing with the same squad as last season. Obviously the goal will be to do better than last season's 3rd place. The board expects a title challenge. I'm on board with that, though I'd like to do more than just challenge. I'd like to win the title, thank you very much. This club hasn't won a trophy since 2013. It's time again.

[SRL88]

Nice work getting the Belgium job .

[deltablue]

Good luck with Belgium.