[FM14] Undrið FF, the Faroese Wonder

[Torminator]

Wow that AB Argir group result must do wonders for your country coefficient right?

[RBKalle]

Indeed our coefficient is enjoying the extra points from AB, and it was about damn time... We're likely breaking into the Top10, and will get an extra EL spot next year (2 Playoff, 1 QR3 and 1 QR2), but Norway's 6th place that would grant us 2 spots in CL Group Stage and 1 in EL Group Stage is still some 16 coefficient points away...

We can outperform Rosenborg consistently in CL, and despite AB having advanced farther than the second Norwegian club in recent years, the likes of Lillestrøm, Aalesund, Molde and Viking always reach at least the EL Knockout stage (LSK made it to the semis this season...) while the Faroese sides are lucky to make it to the Group Stage and to steal a handful of points there.

It took AB a decade with sugardaddy's money to become competitive, I'm afraid the rest of the league will keep on going nowhere in the Qualifying Rounds in the foreseeable future...

[RBKalle]

2040-41 Champions League Knockout Round

Undrið FF - Manchester City

In the first half at Manchester we failed to make our superiority pay in front of the goal. We often took one pass too many in the final third or wasted perfectly fine chances. Daniel Kamola's tap-in on a low cross was the least we could do.

City equalized in similar fashion, when 3 of our defenders fell asleep on an easy ball in the six yard box.

1-1 at half time and cue in the hairdryer treatment.

As usual, it worked wonders. Our first attack forced City to scramble for a clearance in front of the goal, just to concede on the following move through the middle, capped off by GSJ with a well-placed shot from the edge of the box.

They tried to bounce back, but around the hour mark we countered them mercilessly and Kamola had an easy task putting the third goal away following sub striker Frederik Mehlsen's raid on the right side.

Mission accomplished, you may think, but our lapse in concentration have become a classic, and this game made no exception. City hit the crossbar from a DFK and forced a great save off Quevedo in injury time while we were just spectators of a failed comeback.

The return match started horribly, when we gifted City a goal with a criminal backpass that their striker put away with a classy chip from 20 yards away.

Things almost went from bad to worse a few minutes later, courtesy of another piece of sloppy defending. Luckly Roberts (the goalscorer) somehow managed to hit the crossbar from 1 yard away with a header even the worst Conference striker would have converted.

Like in the first leg, you miss a goal, you take in a goal... CB Santiago Sosa equalized for us on a corner, showing Roberts how you head in from close range...

In another act of generosity, City decided to get even also in the defensive blunder department, tripping on a loose ball and allowing Saliba to hit the lower corner for the 2-1.

City looked stunned and the break didn't help them either, as they conceded the third goal right after the kickoff on another flowing attacking move.

With a 6-2 lead and 30 minutes to go we lowered our guard and eventually City pulled one back with the typical "FB low cross+forgotten striker taps it in" move. Nothing to worry about but still... Defensively we tend to suck a lot despite having worldclass players...

2040-41 Champions League Quarter Final

Undrið FF - Valencia 3-0

A lucky draw for this QF and for a change we didn't take it lightly...

3 minutes into the game and we were ahead already, after an incisive move through the middle. It'd have been two just a little later, but Coulibaly, after a solo run on a counter from our own half decided to go for a fancy chip when a good ol' fashioned hard shot would have made it... Crossbar and goal kick.

I didn't have time to curse at him because Andersen hit the top corner from a DFK, Pirlo-style.

The first half went to die with nothing more to report, and the second half started the same way. Saliba wasted an easy chance and the whole team looked a bit sloppy.

Valencia countered one of our sterile attacks and their striker was clear on goal... Mintsnot Mamo cinically tripped him, but the ball was in control of another Valencia player. Instead of giving the advantage the ref blew the foul... And there was no booking either!!!

What could, and in fairness should, have been a turning point ended up with a free kick several yards off target.

Again we were smart to take advantage of the situation and Sosa scored the third goal on a corner.

Everything looked fine and we were just running the clock down when... goalkeeper Quevedo injured himself while taking a goal kick... It was the 90th minute and the game was in the bag, however we didn't have a backup GK on the bench, so it was striker Zoran Zaja's turn to wear the gloves...

To make matters worse, former first-choice Sam Power wasn't registered for the CL to spare a non-HG spot... So it'll be one of the awful 2nd or 3rd team local GKs to step up during Quevedo's three weeks absence.

Or maybe not... I've a handful of outfield players with 4 as GK rating and great physical attributes...

[RBKalle]

2040-41 Champions League Quarter Final

Valencia - Undrið FF 3-3

Quevedo's absence put me in a hell of a pickle... Should I field one of our terrible U21 keepers or one of our physically competent outfield players with 4 as GK rating?

It was a difficult decision but having seen enough of my third and fourth-choice keepers in preseason friendlies, and going by the average level of the Youth Champions League, I took aleap of faith and choose...

Striker Emanuel Saliba is our impromptu keeper!

It's a huge gamble, but at least there's a chance he can be decent, while the other, actual, keepers are just awful.

So it was on... Valencia tried to capitalize on the situation and went all out attack right off the bat, hitting the crossbar. Things got quieter and Saliba didn't have to make a save, but his passing foot proved itself useful even from the goal, as he provided the long pass that allowed Frederik Mehlsen, after a poor defensive clearance, to place the ball in the bottom left corner for the invaluable 1-0.

A few minutes later Miranda danced along the line after a corner and passed it back 45° for Coulibaly's easy tap-in. Surely it's beyond reach for Valencia...

Just before halftime, however, we conceded Valencia a bit too much space around the edge of the box and their striker placed a curled shot in the top corner. Saliba had no chance, but not even a "real" keeper could have saved it... No shame in that goal.

Around the hour mark, after an uneventful stint, our defenders had another blackout, forgetting a Valencia player alone near the penalty spot: the pass came while TWO defenders were closing on the man in possession, and the solitary striker had no problems to place it in the corner, out of Saliba's reach.

We woke up, and went on to waste two great one-on-one chances, with a mix of poor shooting and good goalkeeping. Still, with a few minutes left, their keeper miskicked an easy clearance, passing the ball to GSJ, who couldn't believe his luck, at the end of a mediocre showing, and scored one of the easiest goals of his career.

Valencia worked hard to salvage their honour and grabbed a deserved equalizer with another smooth move, enabled by our defenders who had decided the game was sort of over already. Again, Saliba had no chance.

A 3-3 away draw having played a striker on goal isn't something I expected, although I decided it was useless trying to defend the lead... We concede when playing at full-strength, it'd have been insane believing we'd have held out without a proper keeper...

Attacking WAS indeed the best form of defense.

Will it work again against Rosenborg in the semis?

[RBKalle]

2040-41 Champions League Semifinal

Undrið FF - Rosenborg 3-1

We're still without a viable choice in goal, so striker Emanuel Saliba is still our makeshift keeper.

As Rosenborg aren't exactly pushovers, our best chance to get a positive result (not with a waterpolo-like scoreline) is to play keep-away... The less they have the ball, the fewer chances they have to shoot.

The plan worked perfectly in the first half: GSJ wasted a one-on-one chance on the counter earlier on, then nothing happened until the half-hour mark, when Mintsnot Mamo pushed the ball into the net following a scramble on the goal line.

The second half began as planned too, with another corner providing our second goal, again scored by a defender, Sosa.

We barely had time to celebrate and Rosenborg caught our backline napping, and their striker placed a curled shot into the bottom corner, completely out of Saliba's reach. Once again, not even our worldclass keeper would have save it.

Having conceded un untimely away goal, we had to push forward to secure a more solid lead for the second leg. We hit the crossbar with the usual miskicked cross, and finally, with only minutes to go, Andersen picked up a loose ball at the edge of the box and slotted it in.

It was indeed a shame we had one tiny lapse in concentration... 1 shot on goal, 1 conceded goal... Good news is, Quevedo will probably make it back for the trip to Norway.

Rosenborg - Undrið FF 2-2

Quevedo was fit enough to play, albeit not completely fit. Still better than relying on a striker though...

However, the guys seemed to feel the pressure, much more than in those keeperless games. Rosenborg put us under serious pressure for the whole first half, and were close to score on at least three occasions. Small margins were on our side when their strikers missed the net, once following a dreadful clearance from Quevedo himself.

Still goalless at half time, only 45 minutes to go, but I couldn't be happy with the mentality, so I had to remind my team what they had to do.

After a quarter of hour of pure rubbish football, we got a corner, our secret weapon in time of need. Mintsnot himself jumped, unchallenged, at the near post to flick the ball into the net for a gamechanging goal.

Rosenborg charged forward and grabbed a quick equalizer with an emphatic header in the 6-yards box. They felt it was time to go for broke and we promptly hit them on the counter with a cross+header combo of our own for the second goal.

Rosenborg didn't look like they had more goals in them, so in the 90th minute our whole team took pity in them and everybody basically stood still when they hit us with a copycat of their first (and of our second) goal.

An unforgivable drop in concentration that has becoming an annoying habit...

The place for the final has been booked, but I can say I'm happy with what I've seen in some of the games... Defensively we're still sloppy as hell, and some individuals are a bit too erratic and soft.

However...

[RBKalle]

2040-41 Champions League Final

Arsenal - Undrið FF

Our road to the final was indeed a mixed bag... Some great performances (without a goalkeeper), some questionable slip-ups and a worrying tendency to complacency. Still, Arsenal were relative underdogs, so we were clear favourites in my mind.

Things didn't go our way from the start... FB Kito hit the woodwork with yet another miskicked cross (man, those were all over the place in FM14). A few minutes later AMC Miranda lost a criminal ball on the edge of our box and topped himself by lunging onto the opponent to cause a penalty.

Quevedo chose the right corner and parried it away. That was close...

My relief was short-lived, as one tiny minute later, their striker stormed between our defenders (again, in freeze mode) to head in an apparently harmless cross. And so we were trailing...

The goal woke our guys up, but their attempts were frustrated, again by the crossbar, directly from a corner, and by two great saves, although in the second instance it was more GSJ's fault for shooting right at the keeper in a one-on-one chance.

Half-time down 0-1, I was far from happy with the players, especially with the strikers. Hopefully a bit of my desire will transfer to them.

Said and done... A few minutes into the half, Kamola got fouled in the box. GSJ stepped up, and I had a bad feeling about it... I was right, as the keeper saved the penalty. It was 1-1 indeed, but only in the useless "missed pens" score.

With our strikers clearly having a bad day in the most important match of the year (GSJ got subbed off shortly after having fluffed the penalty), our best weapon were corner kicks. Mintsnot jumped on the near post, the ball bounced off the post and two Arsenal defenders failed to avoid the ricochet and the ball rolled in.

A crappy equalizer for an increasingly crappy final... How fitting!

Later in the game, another scramble inside the box could have given us the chance to grab the win, but our players weren't resolute and quick enough to shoot and the danger was cleared.

So it was gonna be extra time!

It looked like we just couldn't create a decent chance, and yet another loose ball into the 6-yards box turned into a missed chance, when sub Mehlsen hit it straight at the keeper instead of placing it.

The teams were getting tired and stretched, with plenty of room for counters. We wasted one great chance a piece, with Arsenal shooting wide and our Zaja rushing the shoot and hitting the keeper again instead of running closer to the goal.

And as if it wasn't bad enough, LB Kito decided to stop an opponent's run in a 2-on-5 situation, getting himself the second yellow of the night and an early shower.

One man down, with our midfielders unable to connect two passes and the strikers not hitting a barn door, it was all about defending and settling for the penalty shootout. Not before conceding another CCC, luckly saved by Quevedo, despite having dived the wrong way.

I didn't have much faith in our players when stepping up to take the penalties, but they finally found their composure back. Quevedo saved Arsenal's third PK and it was all about keeping our head cool.

Zoran Zaja was the designated hero (mainly because I was out of better choices...) and he didn't disappoint.

What was disappointing, in fairness, was the whole game... I really hoped we'd have LOST the final as the players were simply woeful. We dominated, as expected, but simply failed to make our superiority pay due to individual mistakes and a general feeling of sloppiness. Bad luck, yes, but too many wasted chances and possessions.

3-4 on pens after a complicated 1-1 draw was almost unacceptable!

I wasn't happy at all and probably had one of the weirdest press conferences and private chats ever... Nobody reacted too negatively, but things will change for the next CL campaign... Time to start the phase out some of the old heroes and of the new, overrated, stars.

[RBKalle]

WE ARE BACK!

Or should I say "vit eru afturkomin"

 

After almost two years and some attempts at enjoying FM16 and FM17, I've reverted to the one and only save that makes sense...

Let's catch up quickly:

 

Season 2041-42

Another domestic walkover, with only 2 conceded goals. Not too much to say: the squad was largely unchanged with no major news, besides the constant disappoinment Saliba is being. I can't understand why a player of his caliber, and with solid mental traits to boot, struggles to perform at the level he should and could.

Anyway... CL Group Stage was decent enough, but our defens is still leaky and we had two close calls...

 

A worrying trend that continued during the knockout rounds, basically an Undrið v English Football... with Chelsea, Arsenal and City trying to stop us, to no avail, at least at home.

Away games were always difficult and disappointing. Good for us we were great in front of our fans and the ties were usually decided there, with the away game being almost a formality

The final against our friends-rivals Rosenborg was a glorified squash, with 2 goals per half to secure our 6th Champions League, the fifth in a row.

 

 

THE BIG NEWS

While everything is going boringly fine at the club, I finally took the NT over... The goal is to qualfiy for a big tournament, but we'll need a miracle...

TBC

[sc91]

Epic, one of the most enjoyable reads this was, glad to see it back. 

[RBKalle]

ROAD TO NORWAY 2044

The previous manager, Bárður Olsen ended his 26-years tenure with a rather unexpected, and lucky, WCQ 2040 campaign (3rd place with H2H advantage), the only highlight alongside a 4th in 2026 ECQ (but against much weaker opposition).

That result, owed to Undrið's youth system producing at least a handful of NT-ready youngsters every years since we've become an international powerhouse, put us in Pot 4 for the ECQ qualifiers.

Unfortunately the draw wasn't paricularly positive: Italy are clearly out of our league, and while Greece and Slovakia aren't exactly top-notch nations in their respective tiers, we'd have drawn a much weaker side than Moldova out of pot 5. At least Gibraltar will make it for 6 easy points and, hopefully, a goal difference boost.

 

THE TEAM

It's basically Undrið Reserves and former reserves I managed to sell or give for free to other clubs. The quality is barely average (best attributes in the low 10s) and, more worrying, there is little depth and some positions even lack basic coverage.

We have ONE decent GK
A physically and mentally weak WBR, playing RB
5 very limited and slow defenders, not even tall enough to be physically imposing
2 decent LB

NO wide midfielders on either side, forcing me to field AMR/AML (who are actually STRIKERS), with little return

A plethora of inconsistent MC/AMCs who have ok technical quality and creativity (there's even a 16 here and there!), but single-digits mental abilities, meaning they can't take advantage of their skills.

ONE good poacher and too many limited strikers, either pacey and ineffective or tall, slow and equally ineffective.

 

A SLOW START

The debut friendly in Azerbaijan was serviceable, although far from impressive: the final 4-1 win was too flattering, courtesy of two late goals.

I wasn't mistaken in being skeptical, as the opening ECQ game in Moldova was a tense affair. We were leading 2-0 at half-time, in a rather dreary game, and we duly conceded twice early in the second half, with some shockingly poor defending.

Another late goal after a failed clerance rescued a win we'd have secured much earlier.

The home game against Italy went exactly like I expected and I prepared it: defense and counter, with hints of parking the bus. It worked wonders until we finally conceded a stupid goal with only 15 minutes to go. 0 points were on the cards, but a 0-1 defeat was the best of the negative outcomes.

Same result in Slovakia, but we played worse and could have conceded more.

I'm not happy with the way we play, but the squad's shortcomings are too big to allow for some creative solutions. I may drop the 4-4-2 in favour of a more suitable 4-3-1-2, but I'm not sure it'll be much of an improvement.
We're shortstaffed in all wide positions, so I don't want to expose my fake RB... And we don't even have a proper DM to use as an anchor.

The experiment paid off, partly, in Bulgaria, where the new system gave us a chance, and a squandered 2-1 lead, against a good side. Maybe that's the way to go, but the defensive line is still leaky and it can cost us dearly, as we aren't in such a position to outscore our opponents.

 

GOALS FOR 2043

4th place in the group is the bare minimum, 3rd would be great, but it'll depend on how strong or weak Greece are. Slovakia are probably too strong and we'd be lucky to steal a draw at home.

Hopefully, I'll manage to loan as many of my reserves (all U21 players) to foreign leagues where they'll develop faster, although their potential is probably still too low. After all a "good" Faroese player is still an average one in second-tier nations.

[RBKalle]

SEASON 2042

 

Another quick update about the domestic scene.

After the stingiest transfers campaign in 2041 (2 young local players on free transfer, both already released), I went a bit PSG in the summer of 2042, splashing 45M on 6 hot prospects.

In hindsight, it's been a rather poor decision, so out of character, as only two of the kids, Argentinian LB Marcelo Lillo (paid 900k) and French AMC Bakary Touré (9M) are playing consistently, while the others are already on loan or still in the B team.
The market is going crazy, with "just ok" players going for fees over 30M, which were uncommon back in FM14.

Anyway, we won the league with our usual 100% record and made the Treble, BUT, things may take a turn for the worse...

For starters, the +165 GD is the lowest since 2031, moreso AB Argir went on to have an almost-perfect season, losing only to us, and only by a small margin. In addition, we had a very close call against on-the-rise ÍF with a disappointing 1-0 win.
Maybe the CL (and EL) money has started to have a positive effect on our rivals as well. That, and the fact I finally managed to loan many of my local talents in the league.

On the positive side, after years of GSJ dominating the topscorer table, there was a passing of the torch with Danish youngster Fredrik Mehlsen. Our old hero (32 now) is still banging in goals for fun though and will likely be given the honour of staying at the club as long as he wishes.

 

2042-43 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Nothing to see here, besides our trademark 1 conceded goal per game, and yet another struggling performance against Molde.

There IS something not right with the defensive side of our game currently, and I'm thinking it's probably CB Mintsnot Mamo who is the weak link, mentally, judging by some overreactions to me "slamming the team" after a couple of stinkers.

Time to look for a new CB... enough with a guy who has more moodswings than a pubescent girl...

 

 

 

 

[RBKalle]

2042-43 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - Part II

 

Undrið FF - Feyenoord 6-0 agg (5-0; 1-0)

First knockout round was as easy as I expected, at least the home game. A comfortable 5-0 that made the 2nd leg redundant. Nonetheless the team disappointed a bit with an underwhelming 1-goal win in Rotterdam. Nothing overly worrying, but we've kinda slowed down too often over the last few months.

 

Undrið FF - Bayern 3-2

It wasn't going to be an easy tie, and our keeper Rogelio Quevedo (the best in the world, apparently) decided to make things harder for us by giving away not one, but TWO, goals with an identical mistake.
Despite being completely unpressed, he clumsly cleared the ball from a wide position to the middle of the pitch, giving Bayern's players an easy volley into the emply net.

At least we turned the game around after the 0-1, with three goals, but they'd have been at least 5...

A 3-2 win at home was a disappointing result, and a dangerous score to travel with to Munich, especially with our shaky form.

 

Bayern - Undrið FF 4-0

I had a bad feeling going into this game, but that went beyond my worst fears!

Quevedo did it again, this time he fumbled a rather easy shot to the feet of a striker, who failed to tap it in, but no defender reacted and another striker finally put the ball into the net. After 11 minutes, we were facing elimination already.

Things went from bad to worse when our defensive line made a meal of an easy situation in midfield. CB Benitez (Sosa was suspended) hit DLP Kokot (another backup, as Perez was injured), while trying to clear the latter's mistake. Bayern took advantage of that shambolic play and countered. Luckly the striker went wide and it looked like we had recovered... until CB Mintsnot Mamo decided that the best choice was a two-footed challenge on his opponent, despite him being on the short side of the penalty box and the defensive line was set.

Red card and a penalty on the 45th minute. 2-0.

At half-time I was livid, but the hair-dryer treatment didn't work at all. The second half was as pathetic as the first one, with zero chances and the weakest display I've ever seen. To cap it off,  LB Kito gifted Bayern the 3-0 with a suicidal backpass that put them through one-on-one against the keeper, who was inexplicably standing on the penalty spot, a sitting duck for the chip.

I didn't even see the 4-0 as I was already "in the dressing room"...

 

THE AFTERMATH

 

The team got a well-deserved verbal beating in the team-talk and in the press conference.

Then, maybe unfairly, I singled out Mintsnot, and he didn't take it very well. It was the excuse I needed to get rid of him, after the Nth private chat about "my methods". PSG offered 20M and I gladly took them.

Some other players got a fair warning about poor performances, and they didn't cry foul... it was the least they could do!

The team hasn't reacted as well as I'd have hoped though. Key players like Miranda and Kamola are still struggling to perform at the usual level, even in the league (where 4-1 is becoming an usual scoreline...). Up front, only Mehlsen is in an acceptable scoring form, while the other strikers have been inconsistent as hell.

Also, frustration and complacency are creeping in more often during games, even in the kind of matches we used to dominate emphatically from start to finish.

Time to sell the heroes of the 5-in-a-row?!

 

 

[kidthekid]

i just read the whole thread. Amazing story, great to see it back up.

[withnail316]

Great to see this back,  

[RBKalle]

NO...RWAY 2044 FOR US

Again, my prediction was spot-on...

We had a good start against Greece, taking the lead twice, but eventually they turned the game around and we were lucky to salvage a draw with a late goal.

The goal galore went on in a narrow defeat against Wales that confirmed how much we suck defensively. It was our turn to come back from behind (2-0 to 2-2), only to be denied by a late goal. To add insult to injury, it was Undrið's own Owen Lake who condemned us to a defeat we'd have deserved anyway.

As iffy as those two games turned out to be, they were nothing compared to the laboured away win against Gibraltar. Despite them being the group's whipping boys, it took us the whole first half to finally break the deadlock. Things looked promising early in the second half, but the mix of technical ineptitude and mental weakness allowed Gibraltar to pull one back, twice. That'd have been acceptable, had we scored more (17 SoG), but the overall performance was lackluster at both ends.

Finally we got our game of the year against Moldova: an emphatic 3-0 that could have been even more flattering.

Sadly, it was our swan's song... Another respectable defeat against Italy was par for the course, but we threw it all away with another squanderlicious display against Slovakia. We went up 1-0 earlier on, but by half time we were trailing 1-3 and there was no way back from there.
With 2nd place already gone, we still had a chance to get a great 3rd in the final matchdays.

The homegame with Gibraltar was almost redundant, and I had to field the reserves to save the best lineup for the decisive game against Greece. The outcome was 90 minutes of godawful football (if it could be called so) against the worst team in Europe. A 1-0 win that made me more ashamed and angry than any potential drubbing at the hands of a top nation.

As if a scrappy 1-0 win wasn't bad enough, we didn't stand a chance against Greece and lost only 1-0 in a match that set Faroese football back by 20 years. 1 SoT, 33% ball possession... Thank god Greece struggled with their aim as well, because it'd have been much worse.

A friendly win against their neighbours Cyprus was a meager consolation prize, and it underlined, if it was still needed, how poor our defensive line is.

All in all, it was another transitional campaign. As you can see by the GD, we are much closer to the bottom two than to the top two sides. Out of our 13 points, 12 were obtained against weaker teams, and we weren't even able to thrash Gibraltar properly...
 

Tactically we suck: my 4-3-1-2 exposes the CB's weaknesses, but we lack a DMC or even a decent MC with defensive skills. And we don't have wingers or wide players either, so our only possible midfield consists of decent technical players with weak mentality, poor decision etc.
The U21 and U19 sides are rather meh as well, and the new batch of youth players doesn't seem all that promising, at least not in the positions we're in desperate need.

It's baffling how a Nordic country is churning out inconsistent technical players instead of tough SOBs who can't trap a ball to save their life...

 

ROAD TO AUSTRALIA 2046

4th seeded, tough luck.

We're not going down under. We're going just down... I bet my ass we're going to finish 4th again, with a negative GD this time around.

 

 

[RBKalle]

SEASON 2043

 

Another token domestic treble, but with MORE leaky defensive... In terms of conceded goals, it's a negative record that sets us all the way back to 2026...

On the plus side, Frederik Mehlsen scored 47 league goals (3rd highest league tally ever) and the rest of the forward roster did well too. However, MC/AMC Gilberto Miranda had a lackluster season, with only 1 goal and 11 assists.
That led me to revert to the old 4-2-3-1 I hadn't used in years. The signing of highly praised winger Lee O'Kane (on free transfer from Chelsea!) was a welcome addition, although he's a bit inconsistent and I don't really understand why my scouts were raving about him... He's fast, has good stats here and there, but not a world-beater.

It was a relatively busy transfer campaign both in and out.

As anticipated, Mintsnot Mamo was sent packing to PSG after the Munich debacle, and I replaced him with promising Dutchman Henk van der Horst. Not imposing as Mamo, yet, but surely less prone to stupid mistakes and tantrums.
There was some turnover for the backup keeper spot. Former #1 Sam Power ended up at Saint-Etienne for 5.5M, replaced by a Polish guy on free transfer, who'll then join Sporting Lisbon for 2.3M. In came 16yo Spanish prospect Borja Valer. He's much worse than those who came before him, but my scouts seem to be sure he'll turn out great... Anyway, first-choice Quevedo is only 30, so there's still time (unless he makes some stupid and costly mistakes again).

Other former rotation players and prospects left for good, with good-to-great profits in most cases. A few goodbyes were a bit of a shame (Andersen, Power himself, the Czech duo), but it was time for them to move on. And for me to cash in.

 

The most important thing however was the fact I managed to offload some local players, in the national pool and even in the NT squad, to other Premier Division sides. Not top-3 clubs, as they already have much better foreign stars, but the relegation candidates surely can take advantage of a few NT-caliber players and former academy prospects.

 

How good that'll do to my quest for a successful qualification bid, it's too early to tell.

[RBKalle]

2043-44 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

 

We had a lot to prove after the Bavarian humiliation, and the Group Stage sort of worked.

I say sort of because, as you can see, while we kept our 100% record and finally stopped conceding, we were noticeably worse in converting our chances.  Oddly enough, it was against United that we played our best games.
Elsewhere complacency was still a prominent issue and our forwards either kept on shooting at the fans standing behind the goal, or the midfield was unable to link up the play.

 

I wasn't overly confident going into the KO round, and it was another half-right guess.

 

Again, late goals saved our ass against Dortmund in two legs where we were definitely sloppy. I was fearful of another German debacle, but luckly we got away with only a scare.

Juventus didn't pose much of a threat, although complacency in the 2nd leg was very much there. Barça could have easily killed us with a Bayern-like home game, but that time around it was our turn to be surprisingly dominant.

So, with Schalke as the unlikely finalsit, my players clearly thought their hands were already on the cup. And performed accordingly... We took the lead, we conceded a soft equalizer and then failed to put the game away until very very late. Schalke had a couple of chances to keep the final going, but it wasn't meant to be.

I'm happy we won another Champions League to put a stop to whatever "curse" we'd have faced with another early exit. I'm more than happy that, finally, it was GSJ who secured us the trophy, and now I can think about phasing him out, at age 33. Slowly and respectfully.

I'm less than satisfied with how we played at times and with the lack of maturity displayed by the same guys who had been kicking every ass they met in Champions League only two seasons ago. Sure, the aggregate scores look impressive, but on a different day, our road to the final'd have been much shorter.
The odd thing is all those players have high Determination and no negative personalities... I wonder whether there is a hidden complacency trigger or something...

Even worse, there are no viable replacements, at least not without needing to fork out 50M or more for similar (and often older) players...

[RBKalle]

ROAD TO AUSTRALIA 2046

 

 

We ended up in a very tricky group, with the 3 top-seeded nations being clearly superior.

Luckly the opening game was against Malta and we used it as a bit of a morale kickstarter. Still, it wasn't as easy as I wished and hoped. It took us a whole hour to break Malta down, and we even conceded a goal, leaving us a slim 2-1 lead for a while. The fourth goal in injury time saved the guys from a less-than-pleasant team talk.

The away game in Croatia was a thrashing in every department except the scoreline. Good for GD, bad for everything else. We were outclassed and outplayed. Worse than expected. Those games are simply unwinnable, so there's not much point in dwelling on them too much.

We carried on the negative trend in a scrappy homewin against Kazakhstan. Our inability to cruise while leading is another worrying sign that I've yet to address properly. We are decent enough in midfield, with above average technique, but I suppose it's the lack of mental strength that undoes the rest of the gameplan.

Then we went on to lose the derby against Denmark in a carbon-copy of the game against Croatia.  The only positive is the low score, but we didn't stand a chance.

I didn't have much hope for the trip to Bologna, Italy either, but the Azzurri have been the disappointment of the group so far, with two consecutive 2-3 defeats to Denmark and Croatia. We didn't see much of the ball this time either, but didn't concede much either. Italy enjoyed sterile possession and were foced to pass the ball around a lot, with little profit.
We created a bit more than usual and even took the lead later in the second half. Newly turned-Faroese Jesper Nielsen (I've groomed him for the change of citizenship since he joined at 16) scored directly from a corner kick, with the much appreciated help of the Italian keeper.

Sadly we weren't able to hold on to the lead and eventually conceded a lucky goal of our own, with a half-miskicked cross to the near post. Still, an away draw to Italy is a valuable result, mostly because, possession aside, we finally were competitive and the scoreline was a fair reflection of the 90 minutes.

Overall, we are where I was expecting we'd be. 4th place, with an outside chance to grab the 3rd. However, the main goal is to climb the ranking in order to secure our spot in Pot 4, possibly reaching Pot 3 in the near future. Sadly, we're 86th overall and 38th in Europe, meaning it'll be Pot FIVE next draw if things don't improve...

[RBKalle]

SEASON 2044

 

 

Not much to say, except AB almost lost their stop as perennial runner-ups, with Víkingur having vastly improved.

The increased quality in the league meant we conceded doube-digits again, while our offensive game had a couple of hiccups, with a few wins came with a "small" margin.

However our stiker Fredrik Mehlsen broke several record, topping both the Topscorer and the Assists standings, netting 61 total goals, tied as the 2nd best season ever in the history of the club. Finally that impressive string of performances attracted the interest of a few top clubs, who were rather generous. Not PSG-generous, but still respectable sums, which I promptly refused.

Unfortunately the stagnation of my once-almighty MCs isn't over, but it's spreading like a disease... Daniel Kamola picked himself up, while Gilberto Miranda still sucked, and now young prospect Maurizio Cancelli has fallen victim to that as well, with a dismal season (28 apps, 3 goals, 8 assists).
Moreso, my two expensive Spanish youngsters, Fernandez and Oliver (both 19) have struggled a lot. Slow development, complacent and sloppy performances... I may cut my losses with the one who won't become HG, while still sticking with the other one.

Still, it was another quiet year on the market. (code-word for "I'm stingy")

Inconsistent and overrated winger O'Kane got shipped off to Napoli for 15M and almost no regrets. A few other lower-profile players disappeared or went on loan, looking for more exposure and a future transfer.
I accidentally signed too many LBs, with two kids coming from Ukraine/Russia whom I had completely forgotten about, so one is on loan and one is going to leave ASAP.

[RBKalle]

2044-45 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

IT'S HAPPENING!!!!

An all-Faroese Champions League final is probably the icing on the savegame's cake, as far as club football goes... It took the AI clubs much longer than it too me, but they're finally there!

Granted, they relied on massive, massive luck to make it that far, and they'll likely never make it again, but let's savour the moment!

The only negative part is that AB don't have a single domestic player in their senior squad, so the NT won't benefit much from their rise to European prominence.

As for ourselves, we played ok on our way to the final, at least in one of the two legs. It's almost a guarantee now, we'll SUCK BALLS in either of the two games of a tie, no exceptions allowed. Complacency is really killing us, and for the first time in years, I feel I'm not in control anymore and a defeat is only a silly mistake away.
Maybe it's time to abandon the 4-3-1-2 in favour of something sligtly more conservative, and with the lone striker to solve the "if A scores, B won't hit a hangar door" syndrome.

Anyway, let's see how it goes in Barcelona...

I won't lie, a part of me is kinda rooting for AB in the ultimate upset, in a lovely "book end" scenario.

[shizzo]

big fan of this. hopefully it makes a comeback 

[RBKalle]

The future of this great journey is still in doubt, but I owed you a CL final, so here we go...

 

2044-45 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL

Sorry, AB's fairytale was over and in a rather cruel way.

3 goals per half and the Cup is ours again. I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for AB, as that was their biggest defeat against us in 8 years. For a change my players did play at the top of their game when it mattered the most and the game was pretty much done and dusted at halftime.

Not too much else to say, as giving a breakdown of such a one-sided final would be redundant.

 

The NT opened the year with a convincing 4-0 away win against Malta, but the tour in the rich Gulf states was more of a mixed bag. 3-1 against UAE was acceptable (minus the conceded goal), but the 1-0 one against Bahrain was abysmal. Sloppy finishing is still an issue even against relatively weak opponents. It doesn't look promising for the upcoming WCQ fixtures.

[RBKalle]

SEASON 2045

 

Apparently yet another uneventful, boring, walkover, but there were a couple of unexpected bumps along the way.

We LOST a game, against our old nemesis, HB!

Luckly it was the 2nd leg of the Cup semifinal, so it didn't really matter, but it was the first defeat in a domestic competition since 2025 !

A bit of a dip in form almost cost us the Euro Super Cup, which we won on penalties at the end of one of the many dismal games against international competitions this season (more in the CL update later).

As if that wasn't "bad" enough, our strikers didn't even win the Top Scorer award (first time since 2021). AB Gonzalo Monje scored a whopping 43 goals, while Mehlsen was held back by some needed rotation. Still 30 goals in 16 apps weren't that bad, but too many options for the strikers duo aren't a good thing for individual stats.
On a sidenote, club legend GSJ is still going strong at 35 years of age, with 21 league goals. Physically he's still good (>10 speed), so reaching 600 league goals may be a feasible target (currently 528)

A bit of a generational turnover is ongoing, with 31yo RB Alan Bannigan being sold and local guy Ingi Johannesen taking over his spot. Also aging DM Santiago Perez was offloaded in favour of teenage sensation Laurent Pereira.
Next step will be phasing Miranda and Kamola out (both are 28) in favour of perennial "almost star" Maurizio Cancelli and Welsh star Owen Lake. Oddly enough, this new Ryan Giggs wasn't having much luck as a striker, but he's proven his worth as MC/AMC with great scoring potential too.
Sometimes, a diamond in the rough is outshining the expensive flashy signings... In fact, Spanish duo Fernandez and Oliver have been underperforming and their future at the club is far from guaranteed.

 

Tactically, the 4-1-2-1-2 will probably be put aside, with 4-2-3-1 wide making a comeback. No young striker so far has impressed, so I'll likely bring in some pacey wingers and rotate the 2 top CFs and the many good AMCs instead of wasting money and time on iffy prospects for the #9 shirt.

[RBKalle]

ROAD TO AUSTRALIA 2046

 

Predictably, we were stuck in the limbo between actual contenders and minnows.

It was especially disappointing because we kept on collapsing in the second half.

We were level at halftime against Croatia, after having taken the lead, but we got steamrolled later in the game.
A scrappy win in Kazakhstan was less than ideal and underpinned again our defensive weaknesses, but it was nothing compared to the messy game against Italy.

You'd think a 3-1 lead with 20 minutes to go would be quite safe... but you'd be wrong! Italy turned it into a 3-4 lead from the 71st to the 76th minute. Mattias Mørkore could have saved a valuable point for us with his late equalizer, but in typical Faroese fashion we wasted the match-point for the 5-4 in the dying moments of the game and duly conceded on the counterattack...

A tired and frustrated team eventually lost in Copenhagen in another craptastic performance.

We concede too many shots and then too many goals. At least we make the most out of our chances, but at the other end of the pitch we suck. We suck a lot and I can't find a way to close the floodgates, if not by giving up on attacking.
And even then, we'd end up losing 2-0, with marginal defensive improvements but with drastically reduced attacking power.

Let's hope the ECQ draw will be better.

[kidthekid]

nice to have this back.

[RBKalle]

2045-46 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

 

We got a tough group despite being the #1 club in Europe.

With the exception of the opening 5-1 thrashing of Real, we were far from impressive. Sure the record still looks great but the performances weren't. Too many wasted chances, too many unproductive spells. The usual patten was: score early, slowly lose the grip on the game, score again after an angry half-time talk, eventually concede once somewhere during the negative phases.

AB had an even worse time and snatched the 2nd place in their group on H2H against Roma.

 

Two easy opponents in the knockout phase didn't boost our scorelines, and when we finally scored more, it was only because I had to switch to a less defensively sound 4-2-3-1.  For some reason, the overal quality of our football has been decreasing steadly... Or maybe AI teams have improved...

I really feel the current batch of key players (all aged 28) is about to reach its expiration date, and some unpleasant and unpopular decisions need to be taken.. The absence of Gilberto Miranda and Daniel Kamola on the scoresheet is no coincidence...
BTW, striker Frederik Mehlsen picked up a nasty injury before the final, but hadn't been much of a factor anyway. So we didn't even have a consistent topscorer for the CL (our best finished like 7th)

 

Anyway... It was AB v Undrið again!!!

 

Kito scored early with a great build-up by youngster Paulo Costa (whose fondness for backheels is not a good thing). It looked like yet another session of shooting practice, but unfortunately the aim was barely suited for American Football punts.

It took almost an hour to score another goal, courtesy of AB's keeper who didn't cover his narrow post on a tame shot by Saliba. He did better later on but GSJ was ready to score on the rebound.

A fitting "underwhelming" win for an equally underwhelming campaign.

Sure, a win is a win and I'm having unrealistic expectations, but I know the players can do better than that.

[RBKalle]

SEASON 2046

THE STREAK IS OVER!!!

 

No, not the league... we won it again. But actually TWO streaks were broken in the short span of six weeks during the short Faroese summer...

First we DREW a league game away to AB, and it was the first time we dropped points since 2025! It was "one of those games" where Top Strikers can't hit a hangar door, so one point was the least objectionable outcome in a game we'd have won 4-0 but we almost lost 0-1.

Then a repeat of the same happened in the Cup final...

We started with zero intensity and AB took the lead. Then LB Igor Duda got himself booked TWICE in 30 seconds for two identical stupid fouls (maybe two dives, according to the commentary) on AB  striker Larrea. The stupidest red card ever, and soon we were 2-0 down.
At half-time I was furious, but that didn't wake those idiots either. I had to go Overload (with a new striker) to finally get the game back on track and I was hoping we'd bring it to penalties. Instead our defenders forgot to mark Larrea (him again...) on a corner and he got an easy tap-in on the near post.

We lost the Cup, for the first time since 2018.

Striker Frederik Mehlsen, despite being a beast, "only" scored 26 league goals... Whoever played alongside him did rather poorly, probably because they're all more suited for AMC role, and the only other actual striker is legend GSJ, now 36 and slowly turning himself into an assist-man (8 league goals but 19 assists in 15 apps).
 

Next year, it's gonna be 4-2-3-1 AMC

 

REVOLUTION

 

So, the first non-perfect season in two decades, and I'd say it was my fault too...

The performances in the first half of the seasons hadn't been as dominating as I'd have liked, so I decided it was time for some radical actions.

Swedish top-striker Emmanuel Saliba, 29 already, never reached the heights I hoped, so when a great offer came in, I accepted it. 65M plus bonuses were the point I decided it was worth selling, although the board still haven't forgiven me for that.
143 goals and 81 assists in 143 games would be stellar figures in any other situation, but in this particular football universe, they were "just ok" for a player with his attributes. Our all-time topscorers were much worse in terms of quality, but they had a much better scoring %.

Also, on the wake of the Cup debacle, long-time servants DC/DM Stjepan Kokot and Augusto Benitez left the club. Benitez was particularly disappointing as he had the nerve to take offense to my official warning and fine after his poor performance in said humbling defeat. If after 12 seasons as a reliable 3rd choice as CB (and emergency DM) you can't accept a well-deserved fine after a horrible game (Rating 6.0), it's time for you to move on.

In the NT's best interest, I also had to let CM Allan Jacobsen leave for La Liga. Valencia offered 9M and I was more than happy to give one of my top domestic players a chance.
LB Marcelo Lillo also left, following almost a whole year on the sideline due to injury.

I sold players for a total of 111M, but for a change I bit the bullet and forked out MAJOR MONEY to start rebuilding an aging and increasingly complacent team.

42M for Barça's top CB Oscar were a lot, but now I'm set for the next 8 years.
 

32M for the awesomely named Gandhi Carrasco were a bit on the profligate side, but balanced (and fast) fullbacks are hard to come by.

 

Then I added a couple of hot prospects and the usual Free Transfers I'll probably sell in one year for a small profit.

We'll see how the generational turnover will pan out.

[craigcwwe]

Some incredible stats there. What are your tactics?

[RBKalle]

4 ore fa, craigcwwe ha scritto:

Some incredible stats there. What are your tactics?

It used to be the good old 4-2-3-1 Wide (with AMR and AML) before a shortage of quality wingers and an overabundance of MC/AMCs forced me to play a very tiki-taka oriented 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow.

Now I'll probably go back to the old formation, but with 3 AMCs, as world-class wide players are still a rarity.

However it barely matters what tactic I play, as the gulf in quality between my team, AB (the other domestic side with consistent CL-money) and the rest of the league is so big I'd easily win the league with my backups and with a tactic created by clicking randomly.

The NT is the actual challenge in terms of tactics, and I'm not doing so great at the moment... Especially defensively, as CB is our weakest position

[RBKalle]

ROAD TO AUSTRIA-SWITZERLAND 2048

Pot 4 again in the ECQ draw, and it didn't go particularly well.

Norway are the reigning world champions (sure, why not...)
Ukraine are 26th in the ranking and were runner-ups in 2044 Euro U21
Ireland are 28th and, while not great (besides our former winger O'Kane), they're not the weakest team from Pot 3

Albania are rather crappy, but still not bottom-feeders in Pot 5
Kazakhstan are indeed a poor side. It'd have been San Marino or Gibraltar though...

HOWEVER!!!

 

With only four games to play, we're enjoying a 6-points lead over third-placed Ukraine, following an impressive undefeated streak!

 

The campaign started alright, with a solid, if unspectacular, away win in Albania. It took a while for the goals to come, but it was what we wanted.

Then came a mess of a game against Ireland. We went down twice, following our inability to defend through balls, but we played some unusually lovely one-touch football up front (something we'd have no business doing) to lead 3-2, just before conceding another cheap goal before halftime.
We hit them on the counter and looked comfortable, but our keeper fell asleep on a cross from deep and the ball went under his body and into the net for a disheartening 4-4.

Luckly the trip to Kazakhstan turned out being a welcome walk in the park. 7 goals and 3 points. Much easier than anticipated.

(the two friendlies against apparently soft(ish) opponents were instead a struggle, especially the home game with Canada. I guess friendlies aren't enough to motivate the players).

Our defensive weaknesses were once more exposed by Ukraine. Jesper Nielsen gave us the lead with a wonderful freekick and again we looked in control. That was until our CBs forgot how to defend and Ukraine turned the game around with a deadly one-two in only a matter of minutes.
Miscommunication between their CB and keeper gifted us the 2-2 and in injury time we found the winning goal with another nice combination that allowed Karstin Midjord to slot it in on the near post.

More goals and more defensive blunders at home against Albania. As usual, we can't really hold on to a comfortable lead. 3-1 at half-time should have been enough, but no! We conceded right after the restart, and not even the most ridiculous goal (4 rebounds in front of the goal before we finally put it away) with 20 minutes to go was enough. We conceded again and it was only two minutes before the final whistle we'd breathe a sigh of relief with the 5-3 goal.

With our defensive shape in the gutter, I was ready for a thrashing in Norway.

Instead we took the lead from the spot! Clearly it couldn't last and the home team immediately set the record straight. How? Of course with two through balls that cut our defensive line in half like the cable did to the passengers in the Ghost Ship movie.
In the first goal, the striker didn't even have to head the cross in, he just WALKED it into the net, as the defender was nowhere near him.

Another of Jesper Nielsen's magic freekicks brought us back on level terms, and I'd have gladly taken a point home... But the best was yet to come!

It was their time to forget how to defend a long ball, and it was the two strikers against the keeper... For a moment I feared Mortensen was going to blast it high (or straight into the GK), but he did the right thing and passed it to Mattias Mørkore who could gently tap in into the empty net.

But it wasn't over! 90th minute, we had a corner. Somewhat, somehow, we managed to squander the possession and concede a counter... I started to get flashbacks of Japan-Belgium and was ready to smash the keyboard through the monitor... BUT with a well-timed (and suspiciously rough) tackle, our defenders averted the danger and it was our turn to enjoy a counterattack. Long ball over the Norwegian defenders (on the halfway line) and Mortensen could put it away in style.

4-2 against the World Champions! What about that...

And now it's only four games to go. 3 points against Kazakhstan are a given, but we'll need to get at least 3 more, or hope the other teams will steal points from eachother...

We'll never have a better chance than that I'm afraid!

 

 

 

[RBKalle]

AUSTRIA-SWITZERLAND 2048 HERE WE COME!!!

 

 

We punched our Euro ticket with another emphatic thrashing of Kazakhstan, courtesy of both Norway and Ukraine drawing against Albania and Ireland!

The final two games were academic (and injury ridden). A dull 0-0 draw in Ukraine was all I could have asked for: finally a bit of defensive stability. Too bad the good work was undone with a collapse against Norway. We squandered a 2-0 lead in the final 5 minutes of the campaign with the usual sloppiness at the back.

No harm done though, and we can celebrate a completely unexpected triumph! I'd have signed for a playoff spot, but topping the group was beyond my most optimistic and delusional scenario.

 

HOW WAS IT EVEN POSSIBLE?

I could sit here and rave about my unbelievable managerial prowess... And in a way it's true, but not on the tactical side of things.

I invested money on Undrið's youth setup and we've been able to produce a handful of top-league players (DR Ingi Johannesen, CM Allan Jacobsen). But the two key players are indeed foreigners...  One is AMC Jesper Nielsen, who I signed from Brøndby when he was 16 and developed at the club til he opted for the Faroese citizenship.
The second is CF Christian Mortensen, another Dane, signed by AB and then Víkingur, who finally got his citizenship at 28 and immediately established himself as our best striker (and soon to be all-time topscorer).

Then a lucky draw, with Norway being wildly inconsistent despite their status as regning World Champions, and a couple of top-notch performances in an otherwise evenly matched group.

Still, we're leaky defensively and lack a good keeper who can make it up for that. Of course we're still one or two injuries away from going back to calling up awful players and losing 5-0...

Euro2048 will probably be a brutal reality check, but until then, we can celebrate from our #19 spot in the World Ranking! Not bad, for 13 months ago we were 86th...

[RBKalle]

Man, I thought I had recounted Euro2048...!!!

Apparently not?!

Oh well, stay tuned...

[RBKalle]

AUSTRIA-SWITZERLAND 2048 GROUP STAGE

Portugal - Faroe Islands 2-3

The start was as traumatic as I had feared... Portugal put two past our (out of position) keeper within the first 4 minutes and it looked like it was already over.

Slowly but steadly we worked out way into the game and pulled one back before half-time with a surprisingly well-crafted attacking move. The second half was a bit of a snoozefest, with Portugal happy to play keepaway, but unable to produce chances (no shots on goal after the 50th minute!).
We didn't see much of the ball, but we surely made it count in the few instances we had it. Another very good attacking move ended with Mortensen heading a short cross over the keeper and into the far corner for an unexpected equalizer.
A few minutes later, Mortensen was fouled inside the box and he confidently converted the penalty.

An epic win with an insane comeback, in one of the most FM-ish games ever... II'm sure in an alternate universe, the Portugal manager rage-quit the game wondering how they only managed 6 shots on goal... But in this universe, we happily took 3 points...
The only bad news was Germany losing to Slovakia, meaning the group'd have turned out more even than anticipated.

 

Faroe Islands - Slovakia 2-1

That should have been the easier game, on paper, among the two teams fighting to avoid finishing last, but the first match painted a completely different picture and suddenly a win could mean automatic qualification to the R16...

We started much better than against Portugal and even took the lead, courtesy of a rather cheap penalty (maybe it was outside the box AND/OR the defender tackled the ball first...). Anyway, CM Bartal Hansen scored it comfortably.
Slovakia didn't need long to bounce back, taking advantage of our defenders' slow reaction time. The keeper did great to stop a couple of shots, but in the end the Slovaks were too many and got their equalizer.

After the break, but we finally made our size advantage count on a free kick deep from their half. Substitute striker Teitur Petersen muscled his way into the six-yards box and was free to blast the ball past the keeper.
Slovakia didn't do much after that and Petur Djurhuus only had to make one actual save to keep us ahead.

2 wins, and Portugal's success over Germany, meant we were through! Unbelievable is an understatement, I'd say it's insane and absurd, but it makes somewhat sense... Our counter-based tiki-taka has created more troubles than it should have to sides with good forwards but with average defenders... Still incredible we made it out of the group alive and well...

 

Faroe Islands - Germany 2-1

Germany were already out, so the main goal here was avoiding injuries and possibly still finishing top of the group to get a better draw in the knockout round. Therefore I didn't rotate much, sparing only Star MC Allan Jacobsen and Bartal Hansen.

The Germans immediately decided to show why they were heading home... On the 1st minute they made a meal out of a backpass in a 3-on-1 situation, gave away a corner kick, which a defender headed into his own net.
We then caught their high defensive line napping (for a change it wasn't us!) and Matias Mørkøre doubled our lead with a well-placed shot in the lower corner.
The first half ended with one free-kick apiece. Germany's sailed well over the goal, while Allan Mørkøres hit the crossbar denying us of a deserved third goal.

Germany looked much better after half-time break (I guess their manager gave them the hairdryer treatment) but didn't amount to much besides a couple of corners and a scramble in the box. Our substitute striker Heðin Langgaard was stopped by the post once again, leaving us with the proverbial "dangerous lead". Lead that was reduced to 2-1 with a few minutes to go, when Germany finally succeeded in breaking us down and got a free tap-in following another good save by Petur Djurhuus.
They even got a huge chance to equalize in injury time but they blasted it over the bar.

 

Another rather scrappy win, but heck, I'd have gladly taken three scrappy DRAWS, so I won't complain about we having qualified as Group Winners... Meaning we then got a third-placed team in the next round...
If "not embarrassing ourselves" was the minimum goal and "maybe winning one game" was a tall order, advancing with a 3-0-0 record was a "yeah, right... not even if I cheat" scenario. But here we are anyway!

[withnail316]

Welcome back, mate. 

[Jimbokav1971]

I love this thread. 

[RBKalle]

AUSTRIA-SWITZERLAND 2048 R16

Serbia - Faroe Islands 0-2

We drew Serbia, the best among the third-placed teams. They lost to France, drew with England and defeated Bulgaria. Not a weak side, but still softer than any of the runner-ups (except maybe Hungary)

There wasn't much time to ponder the importance of the match, as both sides created chances right off the bat. Allan Jacobsen gave us the lead in the 3rd minute with a delightful long shot with the outside of his right boot.
Serbia were shaken but we failed to capitalize on our momentum. Two good chances went begging as out players aimed right at the keeper, once literally shooting AT him instead of placing the ball in either corner.

We slowly lost ground and we allowed Serbia into our final third a bit too much. They wasted a great chance in the closing stages of the half when their striker hit a volley inside the six-yards box but the ball sailed wide. The same wide play opened our defence again one minute later but the other striker headed it over the bar from only a few feet away.
That wake us up and we reverted to our usual breakaways, which gave us a decent shot, a corner and a wide header. It was again Petur Djurhuus who was tested just before half-time by a curled shot he managed to tip away.

After the break Jesper Nielsen solved our problems with one of his patented free-kicks. 2-0 and suddenly it looked real and possible.

Serbia had most of the ball but failed to threaten our defense in a significant way. A couple of rushed shots but nothing overly dangerous. We, on the other hand, wasted at least two more great chances. Mortensen headed over a great long-range free-kick and a great 3-on-2 counter was hampered by awful passing and debatable choices.

Still, we brought it home without it ever being in jeopardy! We're off to the Quarter-Finals! This time it's Croatia, led by two former Undrið players: CB Stjepan Kokot and striker Zoran Zaja...

[RBKalle]

AUSTRIA-SWITZERLAND 2048 QF

Croatia- Faroe Islands 3-3 (4-2 on penalties)

So close, so damn close...

It was both heartbreaking and fitting to go out on penalties after having played the BEST game of our tournament. Don't let the possession stat fool you, our patented counter-attack was working great and we did have MORE chances than Croatia. But it wasn't meant to be.

The first minute was a nightmare, with our defense buckling under pressure and the keeper literally falling asleep on a lame cross , allowing it to slip under his body and into the net.
Jesper Nielsen pulled another of his magical free-kicks off to equalize the game shortly after, and it was all fine in the world again. The rest of the half was a lot of back-and-forth, with both sides wasting good chances with weak shots straight at the keepers.

After the break we pushed forward a bit more, and eventually took the lead with another of our breakaways. A few minutes later Jesper Nielsen rattled the crossbar with a powerful freekick from 25 yards. That was the turning point... The third goal would have likely killed the game.
With only 10 minutes to go, our defense got torn apart by another deep cross, and the equalizer was a fact. Suddenly, our legs turned into jelly and Croatia got three more huge chances to bring it home. At that point, extra time didn't look like a bad scenario, considering it'd have ended 4-2.

Suddenly, the tide turned again... A Croatian defender misjudged a long ball, allowing Christian Mortensen to run toward the goal and to calmly place it into the low corner. An unexpected and welcome change of scenario, which, alas, wasn't to last. More sloppy defending brought too many players inside our box and former Undrið striker Zoran Zaja scored with an easy tap-in from close range.
We got another decent chance unfortunately on the not-so-educated foot of MC Emil Danielsen (who retired at the end of the season, aged 27), but it was Croatia with a true sitter to settle the game in the second half of extra time. The crossbar was on our side and off to the penalties we were...

Sadly, Jesper Nielsen's wet far of a shot was easily saved by the keeper, who then produced a great save on Bartal Hansen's final attempt to keep us into the tournament for an extra kick...

Of course it was still a gallant effort from the lads, well beyond my highest hopes and wildest expectations, but it was a shame going out like that... AA solid thrashing would have hurt a bit less, because there wouldn't have been "what if..." moments, unlike we got in this very close game.

In the end Croatia went on to win the whole thing, so we can at least claim we pushed the eventual European Champions to the limit.

A great campaign that will grant us a huge leap on the Ranking and a better draw for the upcoming WCQ Qualifiers...

[RBKalle]

SEASON 2047, 2048 and 2049

With all the focus on the National Team, there's a lot of catching up to do about Undrið...

Well, not really, as it's been "par for the course" anyway, with the usual boring Quintuples year in and year out. I won't even bother with the screenshots of with the match details.

However, a couple of interesting tidbits for you:

* We BARELY went past AB in the 2048 CL semis, on away goals... 2-2 away, 0-0 at home. Even the final against Bayern was a sloppy 2-1, despite having dominated the game.
* I've switched to 4-3-3 narrow due to overabundance of good strikers. Who, however, seem unable to play consistently and tend to get complacent, lazy or downright ineffective despite taking many shots.
* AB themselves are going through a bit of a slump: they got knocked out of the CL Group Stage in 2049. In the league Víkingur are closing up the gap and finished only 3 points behind.
 

* Another big "summer cleaning" was in order, with many aging stars pushing 30 and wanting a new challenge... Also, I got greedy and signed way too many players, both youngsters and at their peak, whom I didn't have use or need for, so now the squad is bloated and I have to get rid of many guys.
Among others: GK Quevedo, CB Sosa, LB Carrasco (after a huge argument) CM Coulibaly, Costa, Miranda, N'Diaye and CF Fernandez (for 84M!) left the club. A shame to sell some stalwarts, and some youngsters'd have definitely come in handy now, but what can I do...

* I think I'll now give the younger guys a chance instead of spending 40-60M on "made" players for rotation purposes. The Starting XI is filled with worldclass players anyway, so it's a bit of a waste having 5 or 6 top CMs or Strikers.

* Speaking of which, Guðmundur Steinn Jónsson is RETIRING at age 39, despite still going strong. This season he scored 25 league goals, plus 7 in the Cup and the 5-0 goal in the CL final... I tried to persuade him to play one more season, but he decided he still wanted to go out while still (sort of) on top.

Here are his career stats!

Had I played him in every league game, instead of saving him for CL especially in the early days (before we were a Top Club), he'd probably had broken the 1000 career goals threshold, but he was much more useful in our rise to European glory...
Also, he had a lot of competition in his later years and at a time he looked like his decline'd have been sharper and quicker (a la FM19 ) but then he enjoyed a renaissance and I started to play him more regularly in my newly employed 4-3-3.

Of course he'll get a testimonial match (against his original club Stjarnan, for which he player 4 games, scored 5 and was PoM 4 times...).

Easily my favourite player ever, the club's leader for apps, goals, PoM etc... The best 64k I've ever spent...

[RBKalle]

ROAD TO BRAZIL 2050

Again, from Pot 4 (for the last time, courtesy of our stellar Euro2048), we got a tricky draw.

Portugal, Belgium, Austria, Albania and Andorra... Not the strongest from Pot 1, but likely the strongest from Pot 2. Austria could also be tricky in the wrong day, but fine... Let's give out best and see what happens!

* vs Belgium away:

I decided our best chance there was to channel Simeone's spirit and make our opponents play like crap. Mission accomplished in the first half, 0-0 with only marginal chances. Then we surprisingly took the lead with our usual direct counter. Belgium pulled back level immediately after the kickoff, not allowing us a single touch while they opened up our defense like a can of tuna.
Still, nothing dangerous came after it, and a solid away draw would have been a good result. HOWEVER... On the 84th minute we caught Belgium napping on a throw-in. Jesper Nielsen was on his way to the goal, and Undrið DM Laurent Pereira tackled him from behind. Red card and penalty! Christian Mortensen confidently converted it.
What a start, what a win! I'd say we "FM'ed Belgium", but in fact it was a close match and they only had a marginal advantage in possession, and fouls committed.

* vs Andorra home:

Apparently 3 easy points, but those games can become complicated too if it takes too long for the first goal to come. Luckly Mortensen got it early, and we kept on dominating. Too bad we god THREE disallowed goals in the first half. Three good ones came just after half-time and we ended up winning 5-0. Solid game.

* vs Portugal home:

Priority #1: stay in the game! And it almost went down the drain in the opening minute, when Portugal got a good chance from the kickoff. We then settled into the flow of the match and even took the lead following a schmoz on a corner. Clearly it couldn't last and they got their deserved equalizer. Still, they didn't really dominate and only produced two good chances to win it in the second half. One was brilliantly saved by Djurhuus, the other one was wasted by an alleged worldclass striker... Oh well, their loss is our gain, and we got away with 1 point in a game we'd have lost.
Only disappointing part was the 25% shot on target ratio... A bad day on the job for all the 4 strikers involved.

With 7 points after having faced the two top sides of the group, things are looking very very promising...

* vs Austria away:

This time around we were at the good end of some terrible finishing... Austria wasted FOUR one-on-one breakaways during the game and ended up losing 0-2. We scored our typical goals (striker cuts wide, passes it backwards at 45° inside the box, the AMC/MC slots it home) and created many, but relatively inoffensive, chances.
It wasn't necessarily a scrappy or undeserved win, it was however worrying we conceded so much space for Austria to run into. On the other hand, we were rather clinical in front of the goal, which is unusual.

* vs Belgium home:

Belgium were out to get their revenge and put us under pressure for the entire first half. One disallowed goal, a couple of top saves by Djurhuus and we could regroup in the dressing room. A gentle reminder that we weren't there to watch a free game from the best seats in the house, and... Belgium scored on the 46th minute... Only for it to be disallowed again!
Finally we managed to string a couple of passes together and took the most unlikely of the leads! Allan Jacobsen fired it under the crossbar from the 15yards line to cap our first decent attacking move that didn't involve a corner.
Belgium didn't collpase under the weight of a clearly unfair scoreline and went on to create and waste some more chances. Eventually WE had to score the equalizer for them, when CB Johan Danielsen decided to stumble on the ball instead of clearing it from the 6-yards box. An own goal to cap off a befuddling game.
We didn't create much if not on set pieces situations, while Belgium could hand should have won by a 3 goal margin at least... Again, I'm not complaining, but hell, when our luck will run out, we'll be back to counting conceded goals with an abacus.

Still, halfway through the WCQ campaign we're in second place, with 11 points, 2 behind Portugal, but with Belgium already out of contention with 7. Unless we **** it up badly, at least a playoff spot is guaranteed. Maybe we can even get the spot as Best Runner-up.