[FM17] A Journeyman Story: Knocking José Mourinho Off His Perch

[andychar]

And for the first time in a few seasons Jose Mourinho slept the whole night through.

But a good start to the league...shame about the cripplingly financial debt. Thought about taking out a payday loan?

[noikeee]

2 hours ago, Benjoe said:

Looks like it could be a decent move for everybody who are not Central Español. Yikes, that looks grim. 

But will be interesting to see what the future finances will look like now that debts been paid and you get a budget to work with. Are they completely unreasonable about giving you just a single scout more? Might have been due to the loan payment they restricted it? 

And also that junior coaching and youth recruitment.. Will be interesting to see if you get someone good who can be a part of your team before The Young One has left Montevideo. 

Debts aren't paid. We still owe 14M€, and are paying 131K€ per month for at least the next 10 years...

However, the board are being nice now. They did allow me now to hire another scout, and got rid of scouting restrictions so we can now finally have a look at players beyond South America - particularly handy to poach or loan Uruguayan players who aren't getting playing time in Europe or Mexico.

This "paying of debts" was stupid, they just gifted an extra 3.6M€ to the bank balance, and increased the transfer budget to 2.7M€. As far as I see the actual debt wasn't touched. Basically they told me "here's a bag with money, we trust you to be a sensible guy and save it all for our debt, and definitely not spend it all on transfers which you badly need and could save your arse as manager".

2 hours ago, andychar said:

And for the first time in a few seasons Jose Mourinho slept the whole night through.

But a good start to the league...shame about the cripplingly financial debt. Thought about taking out a payday loan?

I think moving to a club that could actually win things has made Mourinho's insomnia worse not better.

But like I said multiple times, I'm not obsessed with Mourinho. I definitely haven't hired a private detective to watch his every move including his sleep patterns.

[Benjoe]

1 minute ago, noikeee said:

Debts aren't paid. We still owe 14M€, and are paying 131K€ per month for at least the next 10 years...

However, the board are being nice now. They did allow me now to hire another scout, and got rid of scouting restrictions so we can now finally have a look at players beyond South America - particularly handy to poach or loan Uruguayan players who aren't getting playing time in Europe or Mexico.

This "paying of debts" was stupid, they just gifted an extra 3.6M€ to the bank balance, and increased the transfer budget to 2.7M€. As far as I see the actual debt wasn't touched. Basically they told me "here's a bag with money, we trust you to be a sensible guy and save it all for our debt, and definitely not spend it all on transfers which you badly need and could save your arse as manager".

I think moving to a club that could actually win things has made Mourinho's insomnia worse not better.

But like I said multiple times, I'm not obsessed with Mourinho. I definitely haven't hired a private detective to watch his every move including his sleep patterns.

Oh. Ooooooh. I completely misread that screenshot haha. Jesus that's grim. 

Seems like they have no ****ing clue what to do. Give you loads of money and say, "Here! Don't, and I mean, DON'T touch this, ey ". But good for you with a new scout, his wage can add to the bottomless pit that is your debt!

I think you even know when Mourinho gets his period... 

 

[noikeee]

By the way, I forgot mentioning that the TV money in this league is RIDICULOUS. As in, it's ridiculously ****. We've been getting 3K€ for every match on TV. Yes, that's not a typo. Three thousand euros. Yes, the kind of euros that's worth less than pounds.

I think even when managing in the Conference I picked up more TV money per match.

[Bigpapa42]

6 hours ago, noikeee said:

By the way, I forgot mentioning that the TV money in this league is RIDICULOUS. As in, it's ridiculously ****. We've been getting 3K€ for every match on TV. Yes, that's not a typo. Three thousand euros. Yes, the kind of euros that's worth less than pounds.

I think even when managing in the Conference I picked up more TV money per match.

Just catching up on this. Enjoyable save and great recaps. Learning about the Uruguayan league is pretty cool, as is South American club football as a whole.

If it makes you feel any better (and it won't), my current save is in Russia and a televised match earns 14K Euros for the club there. So its only marginally better there lol.

[argento]

Yeah looks like you are going to have to rely on selling players like I did, If you can get into the group stages of Libertadores that will provide a decent cash iniection about £1.8M I think, hard to remember since the competition stopped working!

[noikeee]

 

April-May 2019

 

Transfers

 

I hired one pretty impressive player on a free, but unfortunately he can only be registered for the league in July:

 

 

Whilst Axel Müller is one of our most gifted players at the moment, I feel he is not a perfect fit for what I want from my AM role, and this alternative Colombian looks better as a more skilled finisher.

 

 

Competitions

 

 

Uh-oh. This was bad. We drew 2-2 twice vs River and vs Torque to make it 3 draws in a row, and started losing touch with the leaders at the top. Away at Depor Maldonado we got one win which I thought would be the turning point, but instead this would be our only win for 2 months! This because against Defensor Sporting and Liverpool we were horribly uninspired and failed to convert our chances whilst the opponents did - two losses and we dropped to 4th on the table.

 

With just 2 matches to go, at least they were against 2 teams ahead us in the table so there was still a outside possibility we could improve. It just didn't happen. Against Wanderers we again failed to convert our chances, and/or to create enough of them, and it finished goalless. For the final match, the big derby vs Peñarol the best we could now hope for was to climb to 3rd if we'd win. It was never on the cards as Álvaro González saw a red card, and we could only salvage another goalless draw, making it 4 matches without winning or even scoring.

 

 

I kind of anticipated a few troubles but definitely not to this level - we were plain poor and 4th on the table for Apertura is not acceptable. It's starting to feel like this season is a write-off already - to qualify for the title playoffs we'll need to win Clausura (or the overall table, but that's unlikely now with a 7 points gap to Peñarol), but we'd need to improve a lot to do that. I see plenty of things wrong with my squad and I'm trying to fix that, but players only arrive in July; also I think my system whilst solid it works less well when people park the bus, and almost every team in this division does that against us. If I fail to salvage a more respectable showing in the Intermedio and Clausura I might just bail out of this club much sooner than I anticipated.

[Rikulec]

Tough luck, but you still have the Intermedio for some experiments and then the Clausura. Don't give up.

[noikeee]

4 hours ago, Rikulec said:

Tough luck, but you still have the Intermedio for some experiments and then the Clausura. Don't give up.

No I'm not giving up just yet! I think a bit of molding the squad to my liking could be a considerable improvement! We're also in a transition phase with a few veterans in the starting 11 who are too good to bench but are starting to fade, and a few promising youngsters still far from their potential not quite making the team yet. I think when all that settles we could emerge far stronger. It just depends on whether I succeed in riding out this phase...

[noikeee]

Erm, I didn't even know we were expanding the stadium. I guess it's good news but we're not really packing it at the moment so I don't know how useful this'll be. We might use the extra space if we start becoming more successful and attract more glory-hunting supporters, though.

[noikeee]

 

Youth intake 2019

 

 

 

 

 

A strong intake like you'd expect of Nacional. This looks rather top heavy with a few good attackers, I'm mostly excited by de Pablo, he has some of the skills I want and the right personality.

[DazRTaylor]

A quality intake.  

[argento]

couple of gems there!

[noikeee]

 

June-July 2019

 

Transfers

 

These were a very busy couple of months. Beyond doing deals for 6 new players, I also had to deal with a lot of interest for some of my players, and a lot of unhappiness from the ones I was unwilling to let go. In the end I did decide to sell 2 of them: the talented but misfitting left-back Alfonso Espino went for 975K€, and striker Leandro Barcia, who enjoyed a little bit of better form recently but was overall very underwhelming with just 5 goals despite playing a lot, went for 500K€ plus a 20% of profit of next fee.

 

The new guys:

 

 

Our least important transfer. I needed an extra backup centre-back and this guy fills up the position for 6 months.

 

 

 

A fairly impressive looking wing-back, I think I'm probably overpaying on wages but I think slightly better mental skills than our current starter Mauricio Gómez will help us. We needed a 2nd WB here as Sergio Otálvaro will move soon.

 

 

 

Another player brought in mostly as a backup.

 

 

 

This guy should play more. He is a bit of a midfield bully and I think we're lacking badly on that area so I paid some cash for him.

 

 

 

Our most expensive transfer, I was very unhappy with Barcia/Viudez as our best alternatives for the most advanced forward and in Núñez we get someone who is quicker and a better finisher.

 

 

 

Guess who's back! Cassiano did wonders for me at Central Español and I know I can rely specially on his excellent anticipation skills (the attribute I like the most in all my players!) to unlock matches.

 

 

 

Competitions

 

 

We got drawn on a fairly easy Intermedio group, but with the new signings not arriving until the middle of the competition and with ourselves on poor form and bad morale, I wasn't counting on anything. We kicked off with a slightly crappy away draw at Fénix, but recovered with 2 wins on a row, something that hadn't happened in a while... predictably we then could only get a draw at home over Boston River and then our defence turned into clowns as we conceded 3 times at Torque - despite them only hitting the target those same 3 times - and that was another draw.

 

Nobody was really on good form on this group however, and thanks to beating my old side Central Español - again playing a very disappointing passive, defensive brand of football - we were back up to 1st. This meant on the final match we were entirely in control and all we had to do was win again, even if it was a slightly tough fixture away at Liverpool. It turned out to be another shambles showing from our defence. Our attackers upfront did the business but when we leak 4 goals there's nothing we can do - it ended a defeat and Fénix sneaked past us to top the group and book a strange looking final vs Cerro, who won the competition.

 

 

 

This was again disappointing, we should've won that group and made the final at least, but at least we only lost one match and somehow won points vs a few other sides to climb to 2nd in the overall table, which admitedly is looking ridiculously close. My hope is the new players will make a difference, I have huge hopes on the 2 forwards, Freitas and the new wingback, I think we will improve for Clausura.

[noikeee]

14 minutes ago, DazRTaylor said:

A quality intake.  

 

9 minutes ago, argento said:

couple of gems there!

This is a really good youth setup, I've got a few others that I wasn't even expecting much from, suddenly looking like potential future starters. And I'm easing Diana (the DM) and Roberto (the GK) into the first team although they're not really playing as well as their attributes would suggest. At the end of the season I will show the progress of my best youngsters.

[Benjoe]

Very solid youth intake, and very good signings as well!

I like it, and Cassiano is a treasure to get once again. I think you're gonna do good next season. 

[noikeee]

Sale of Alberto Trinidad

I've found myself in a bit of a dilemma here - I'm blessed with a youth player that has obvious potential, however is a few steps away of realistically having the skills to integrate my side and I'm not so sure he'll ever be a perfect fit for my wingback role. Meanwhile there's huge interest from abroad. With my players having ridiculously low values, it's hard to get decent fees for them, I think I've managed to negotiate an almost-half-decent fee from Monaco:

 

 

It's not a deal I'm fully happy with and I really wouldn't have sold such a massive prospect if it wasn't for:

- the 50% profit of next fee clause

- the fact he's nowhere near my first team, and I'm not willing to risk my team's competitiveness by fielding players so far from ready 

- the fact we've got these two lads next in line too:

 

Neither of them is quite a great fit neither for WBR, but all things considered I think I had to let Trinidad go. It was either this, or he'd never become great for us and/or stiffle the progress of the other 2 guys. Let's hope in a couple years Monaco get a huge bid for him and we get some cash.

[noikeee]

3 hours ago, Benjoe said:

Very solid youth intake, and very good signings as well!

I like it, and Cassiano is a treasure to get once again. I think you're gonna do good next season. 

First impressions are that the team feels considerably improved now. Hopefully this turns out to be the case...

[noikeee]

 

August-September 2019

 

Transfers

 

We brought in one more player:

 

 

This was kind of unnecessary as we're overloaded with midfielders now, but Oscar Barreto had started poorly and I suspected that this guy, with a "fairly consistent" trait, would be an improvement. The jury's still out on that.

 

 

Competitions

 

 

Clausura couldn't possibly have started any better with a surprisingly convincing win (even if it was only 1-0) over our rivals Peñarol. Away at Fénix we could only draw, but then we went on a mini-run of very nice wins: Sud América and Villa Española were no problem at all, and then vs Cerro we had a hugely satisfying debut of a slight variation of our plan C 4-3-1-2, which resulted on us successfully unleashing chaos on their defence, and Axel Müller, playing as AM (I've been fielding him adapted to wingback recently!), got a hat-trick.

 

We were top and this felt like a completely transformed team, but then somewhat surprisingly we came stuck at Progreso, where we conceded first then grew frustrated throughout the match and ran out of creativity.

 

 

 

This feels better, although I'm not sure how to read the last match yet, it could be a blip or the start of something bad. We appear to be fighting for the Clausura title and if we get it, we still have a chance of becoming Uruguayan champions this season as we'd qualify for a title showdown playoff vs Peñarol. If we come short of that, the bare minimum goal for me is to at least hold on to 2nd in the overall table, which gives us direct qualification for the Libertadores groups - but Fénix are on a roll and trying to catch us there.

[ManUtd1]

Tough decision letting Trinidad go, but that 50% clause on such a low fee could pay off big time if he develops at Monaco.  The good thing is that the French league usually stays high in the rankings, so his value will be comparatively high.  Fingers crossed that it works out in the long run.

[noikeee]

10 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

Tough decision letting Trinidad go, but that 50% clause on such a low fee could pay off big time if he develops at Monaco.  The good thing is that the French league usually stays high in the rankings, so his value will be comparatively high.  Fingers crossed that it works out in the long run.

He could quite conceivably become a 30M€ player. If that's the case we'd get (30-2)/2 = 14M€. That's the entire club debt paid out at once!

Or alternatively, released on a free by Monaco and we get zero. Also very likely Nacional will only see the cash by the time I'm long gone for another job, but I'm managing on the club's best long-term interests, not my short-term interests.

I'm a little sad because now that the transfer has been confirmed, for next January, his attributes are skyrocketting. And I'm now sometimes experimenting with a IWB role for the RWB position, which was perfect for him as he's either-footed. Still, he was at least 2 or 3 points away in every major attribute for the position (dribbling, crossing, tackling, pace, anticipation, positioning) from being truly useful to me.

[Bigpapa42]

This sounds weird to say (or type), but I like that its a bit of a struggle for you. From a purely reader perspective, it adds a layer of drama to the proceedings that makes for a more enjoyable read. The club are in a tough spot and its going to be a bit of a battle to get them to dominance, but that makes for a great narrative. Ol' Jose has never had to accomplish something like that. Unless you want to count the struggle of trying to rebuild a club by setting a world record transfer fee....

I feel your pain on the Trinidad transfer. Personally, I think you did pretty well. The money isn't bad for a player who wasn't already a starter for you, and the 50% sell on could be huge. You are right that he could do nothing at Monaco, go out on loan once or twice, then get released so you get nothing. Its always a risk, but Monaco are buying him for a reason. And even if he just develops into a "good" player who they sell for 5 or 10m down the road.... that is still very significant money. And given the value of younger players, it can be rather painful to leverage those clubs into giving you a decent price. I'm facing that in a save in Colombia where clubs like Atletico Madrid and Sporting CP are offering deals of like 50K Euros for my 17 year high potential regens who are already every-match starters for the club. Its stressful worrying that the player will revolt or the board will be like "yay, money!" and take whatever is offered. The fact that you have 2 good prospects right behind Trinidad makes this an even better decision, in my opinion.

[noikeee]

2 hours ago, Bigpapa42 said:

This sounds weird to say (or type), but I like that its a bit of a struggle for you. From a purely reader perspective, it adds a layer of drama to the proceedings that makes for a more enjoyable read. The club are in a tough spot and its going to be a bit of a battle to get them to dominance, but that makes for a great narrative. Ol' Jose has never had to accomplish something like that. Unless you want to count the struggle of trying to rebuild a club by setting a world record transfer fee....

I understand and absolutely agree! It's more entertaining when there's a bit of a challenge than when it's just relentless success after success. It's more rewarding whilst playing, too, if you eventually overcome struggles.

I think you're being a bit unfair on Mourinho though, because I remember how Porto were when he arrived. We were absolute ****! Even at domestic level, nevermind at European level as Portuguese sides were on the back of a few **** seasons then! It's true he's had great resources with very wealthy clubs ever since, but he did prove himself on something similar at the very beginning of his career there.

[noikeee]

Remember this guy? Probably not since I didn't actually get to manage him:

On 14/03/2017 at 20:24, noikeee said:

It's official. I'm leaving. Sorry, Central Español fans.

Here's my final gift for you guys. The 5 free transfer signings I had lined up for next season. Will be nice to face them with Central Español shirts on.

(...)

Gabriel Fernández (ST)

(...)

He had a slow start, but over the last few weeks...

He's saving Central's previously dismal season single-handedly, and is way ahead on the top scorers chart for the league now, with 21. Ahead of our own Carlos Núñez, who's got 16, a fair few of them for River in the first half of the season before signing for us.

[noikeee]

 

October-November 2019

 

 

Competitions

 

 

We bounced back from the defeat away at Progreso with the most spectacular of matches away at my former club Central Español - a 4-3 win, which marked the last appearance of my hugely promising teenage keeper Matteo Roberto as I've correlated his chances in the starting 11 with a lot more shipped goals... This would start a streak of wins, over Boston, Cerro Largo and River. On this super form it was no surprise we climbed up to first in the Clausura table, toppling Fénix after the Cerro Largo match, and we've not looked back since.

 

There was a momentary blip with an away draw with Torque but then the victims lined up again - Depor Maldonado, Defensor Sporting, Liverpool, none of them were matches for our increasingly impressive attacking play at all. Most incredibly, after the Depor Maldonado match I noticed we were now up to 1st in the overall table!!! An impressive turnaround given how big the gap was to Peñarol just a few weeks ago. We have now mathematically won Clausura and retain the lead overall, albeit still only on goal difference over Peñarol.

 

 

 

It's by now absolutely clear our July signings spree, specially the top 4 stars Carlos Núñez (ST), Cassiano (ST), Alexis Zárate (WBR) and Gonzalo Freitas (MC) have completely transformed this side and elevated it to a whole new level. We now have a very real chance of the title and I'm buzzing for the final deciders.

 

As to what will happen now, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to give a lengthy explanation. We have won Clausura, Peñarol have won Apertura, and there is now a final showdown between the Apertura and Clausura champions. BUT, here's the catch, the winner of that Apertura vs Clausura playoff, only qualifies to play against the overall table champions for the real, definitive final (if that makes sense) to decide this season's Uruguayan champions.

 

The problem is, depending on the final fixture of Clausura (we face Wanderers away, Peñarol host Progreso), either us or Peñarol will top the overall table. So whoever won the overall table doesn't need to worry about a 2nd playoff if they win the 1st - they'd have qualified to play against themselves. However - I don't know 100% for sure how this works, but what if the team that topped the overall table, then loses the 1st playoff? I believe this team then gets a 2nd chance with another playoff. So it becomes of uttermost importance to beat Wanderers in the final match and clinch 1st place overall - it allows us to get a 2nd chance if we lose to Peñarol in the 1st playoff, or get crowned immediately if we win it. If we lose 1st place overall - we will have to beat Peñarol twice in 2 playoffs!

 

Got it? Yes I know it sounds extraordinarily confusing. It's rather simple on paper but I have a way of over-complicating with words...

[noikeee]

This old post by @DB08 in Dafuge's thread probably clarifies all that a hell of a lot better:

A team could do well in either the Apertura or the Clausura and be absolutely trash in the other. In that case, a team that consisently did well in both halves (say they came 2nd in both) could top the overall points table and go straight into the Champions Playoff. However, if they win one half AND top the overall points table, they do get 2 chances to win it as they have qualified for both the playoff and the champions playoff. If they win the playoff, they are automatically declared 'overall champions'. It's all a bit confusing.

[Bigpapa42]

1 hour ago, noikeee said:

I understand and absolutely agree! It's more entertaining when there's a bit of a challenge than when it's just relentless success after success. It's more rewarding whilst playing, too, if you eventually overcome struggles.

I think you're being a bit unfair on Mourinho though, because I remember how Porto were when he arrived. We were absolute ****! Even at domestic level, nevermind at European level as Portuguese sides were on the back of a few **** seasons then! It's true he's had great resources with very wealthy clubs ever since, but he did prove himself on something similar at the very beginning of his career there.

I can't claim much expertise in Portuguese football from that period. I knew Porto had a good period in the 90s, but I had a peak and I see what you mean. The three seasons right before Mourinho came in were not good by Porto standards. Makes sense that they would give a promising young manager a chance when they needed some growth. 

And good quote from dafuge about the weird dynamics that the split season can have. Its a strange aspect to South America but its rather cool IMO. 

[Darius1998]

Just one more game.  Hold on and you get some security. Fantastic turnaround after a not so good Apertura. I don't remember for sure but the first playoff maybe a two-legged one with the second being a one-off game. Either that or both are one-off games.

Edit: Never mind, seems like both are one-off games.

[DazRTaylor]

Not a bad  month.

[Rikulec]

Feels great transforming a team so much within one transfer window, doesn't it? Great stuff, good luck with the final stage.

[noikeee]

6 hours ago, DB08 said:

Just one more game.  Hold on and you get some security. Fantastic turnaround after a not so good Apertura. I don't remember for sure but the first playoff maybe a two-legged one with the second being a one-off game. Either that or both are one-off games.

Edit: Never mind, seems like both are one-off games.

No spoilers as to what happened and who won it - I played the rest of the season last night but was too tired to write the update - but the first playoff is a one-off game and the second playoff is a two-legged one.

 

3 hours ago, DazRTaylor said:

Not a bad  month.

 

1 hour ago, Rikulec said:

Feels great transforming a team so much within one transfer window, doesn't it? Great stuff, good luck with the final stage.

Thanks guys.

[noikeee]

 

December 2019

 

 

Competitions

 

 

It was so nearly a disaster vs Wanderers. With Peñarol having won their match beforehand, we were under pressure to win as well and clinch 1st in the overall table, but Wanderers scored first and we looked unimpressive. Thankfully we turned it around in the 2nd half with 3 goals, even if there was a late scare as they reduced in injury time.

 

Onto the playoffs I was hugely confident. Even if we messed up in the 1st playoff, at home no less, we still had a 2nd chance and all we really needed to do was beat Peñarol once in 2 attempts - doable when we were in good form and had beaten them in our last encounter. However, I forgot Peñarol themselves were on impressive form as well, and was unaware of how badly my team would react under pressure. On this 1st playoff we were utterly dull and whilst Peñarol were also rather workmen-like, they scored the only goal late in the match after insisting on a corner kick. Onto a 2nd playoff then.

 

This time it was a two-legged encounter and we met Peñarol away first. To my shock we entered as badly as possible, with 2 goals conceded within 12 minutes. An horrendous backpass under pressure by Diego isolated Gastón Rodriguez for the 1st, and just a few minutes later our defence looked incredibly passive as Peñarol found way for Rodríguez to score again. We now badly needed an away goal, but despite turning the match into a more even affair later on, failed to get it.

 

Onto the return match at home, our pattern of looking uninspired and nervous repeated itself once again. This time we did get the goal, with Núñez meeting a Alexis Zárate cross midway through the 1st half. And Peñarol hardly attacked properly all match long. But we got stuck whenever approaching the final third, and even after switching to increasingly more adventurous formations, and swamping the middle of Peñarol's 4-4-2 ever more, failed to scored a second during an intense 2nd half. We had let Peñarol run away with it.

 

 

 

 

We bottled it. Utterly, completely bottled it. Despite coming from so far behind in the regular season to just about secure every advantage in the book for the playoffs, we sulked under the pressure, failed twice, and let our rivals win their 4th title in a row.

[argento]

heartbreak in the final, feel for you!  Getting closer though, i'm sure you'll knock them off their perch soon enough

[noikeee]

27 minutes ago, argento said:

heartbreak in the final, feel for you!  Getting closer though, i'm sure you'll knock them off their perch soon enough

That's true but I'm getting a bit worried about this team's ability to handle pressure though, which doesn't bode well for more playoffs, or the Libertadores next year. My goal is to win both Apertura and Clausura and not have to worry about any playoffs!

[noikeee]

 

Season review 2019

 

This will go down ultimately as a disappointing season for Nacional - from the embarrassment in the Libertadores vs Vasco, to 4th in the Apertura, to losing out on the Intermedio final on the last group fixture, and then the double playoff loss to Peñarol to lose the title. Still, our impressive dominance in Clausura points to a team that vastly improved throughout the season, and the feeling I get is we're on the right path to more satisfying things next year.

 

Finances

 

A healthy 5.7M€ positive bank balance, and that's prior to the income from the Alberto Trinidad transfer which will happen next month. However we still have a net debt of 13.9M€, to be paid over the next 17 years.

 

 

Statistics, best 11, and top 5 players of the season

 

 

Yes, this is an utterly ridiculously sized squad (in fact not everyone fit into the screenshot, I had to downgrade 2 guys to the reserves) and I will be trimming that very soon.

 

5. Diego Vera (ST) - The veteran was our saviour in the first half of the year as our main (only?) source of goals and indeed still finished the season top scorer on 13. However, with the arrival of Núñez and Cassiano, I much preferred this agile duo over his more targetman-like qualities and he lost space.

 

4. Axel Müller (AMC, WBL) - His better performances came in the AMC position although very hit-and-miss. However, over the season I retrained him to a wildly offensive WBL where I feel his combo of excellent dribbling+pace+flair can make more damage in my system, and he was coming along well in it despite Diogo (our top assists man on 10 assists) still being the starter - Axel looked increasingly lively on that WBL spot throughout a lengthy injury to him.

 

3. Cassiano (ST) - Astonishingly impressive on the first couple of months after arriving, he seemed to thrive in the same system he had excelled for my Central Español side, now with better players by his side. However he looked on poorer form at the end.

 

2. Alexis Zárate (WBR, WBL) - A supremely impressive mid-season signing. If Diogo on the other wing finished with most assists - 10 in 32 appearances - I wonder just how many would Alexis have got had he played the whole year - he got 8 in 18 matches. He even looked good on rare appearances on the left.

 

1. Carlos Núñez (ST) - It's not a surprise 3 of my midseason signings ended top 3 here, and a case could be made for any of them as #1, specially Zárate with the highest ratings of the team. I reckon Núñez's 11 goals and 6 assists were the most important thing though, even if he started slowly for us, he looked excellent by the end of Clausura.

 

 

 

Mourinho watch

 

Thankfully (for me) this was yet another trophy-less season by Mourinho. 4th in the Premier League, Champions League semi-finals, early exits in the FA Cup and League Cup. Unfortunately I managed to fail to get the league title neither, so the table remains as it was for another year.

 

 

Career progress table

 

Season   League                  Cups                              Continental                    Other
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Central Español (Uruguay)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016     Segunda Div - 4th       
2017     Segunda Div - 1st                                                                        Champions, promoted
2018     Camp. Uruguayo - 2nd (Ap. 4th, Int. finalists, Cl. 3rd)                                  Qualified for Libertadores
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nacional (Uruguay)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019     Camp. Uruguayo - 1st (Ap. 4th, Int. Grps 2nd , Cl. 1st)                                  Lost Champions Playoff

 

[DazRTaylor]

Could you seek, say, eight of those players to recruit three better ones?

[noikeee]

27 minutes ago, DazRTaylor said:

Could you seek, say, eight of those players to recruit three better ones?

A lot of those are veterans whose contracts are running out, or players who I'm planning to sell either way, or youth players who I'm happy to be 3rd choice for now. Things are under control, don't worry...

[noikeee]

 

The Nacional talent factory - 2019

 

Moving on to more positive things now that I've reviewed the end of season disaster, the future is looking incredibly bright with an immense queue of youth products from the Nacional talent factory...

 

 

Group 1 - Players that have broken into the first team

 

I will be dividing this into groups. The first group is the players that have already made it. In here, there is just one name:

 

 

Emiliano Diana's emergence into the first 11 over the course of this season was predictable, but nevertheless spectacular. Whilst over the first half of the year he somehow appeared to collect far too many yellow cards despite having excellent tackling skills and low aggression, he became ever more dependable with time, and probably benefitted from being paired with Gonzalo Freitas next to him. Went from 2.5* CA to 4* CA to now be rated as high as anyone else in the squad. Holding on to him will be a challenge, all of Brazil's teams want him.

 

 

Group 2 - Players that are on the brink of breaking into the first team

 

On this second group I have identified 3 names whom I believe will feature a lot over the next year:

 

 

 

A disappointment, because with his immense talent and little competition for the position, he should've already been in group 1 and I gave him a few opportunities. However, with 14 goals shipped and just 2 clean sheets in 8 appearances I decided enough was enough, and for results' sake I fielded the overperforming veteran Nicolás Vikonis in goal for the rest of the season. But it's about time to take a punt on him and I will be attempting to start him again at the beginning of next season.

 

 

 

A massive surprise as I didn't even notice this player when I first arrived at the club. He improved immensely and by the end of the season I gave him 3 appearances from the bench in which he scored once and assisted once. He looks an incredible advanced forward for whenever opponents give us space to run into, my only major concern is a Vision of 2 (!) which might be bad as in my system, most of my advanced forwards tend to get a few assists.

 

 

 

Martín Merlo's attributes are also looking really good, although he is not delivering on loan to Juventud de las Piedras in the 2nd division with just 4 goals in 12 appearances and 6.69 ratings. However I will give him a go as a backup striker - together with Fernández - for next season, likely as an alternative to Cassiano as DLF.

 

 

Group 3 - Players who are a little behind and may or may not make it

 

 

 

One of 2 right wing-backs - and that's not even counting Alberto Trinidad who's about to leave - who are improving at an incredible rate and should be on the brink of the first team now. However I am cautious because he does not fit the profile of the attacking wingbacks that I fancy in my system, with poor dribbling, crossing, tackling, anticipation.

 

 

 

Copy-paste from Diego Moreira. He's just ever slightly behind him and with the same issues. Enormous workrate and acceleration might help mask problems, though.

 

 

 

Another player improving spectacularly, but whom I don't have a use for. Poor finishing, off the ball, passing and vision make him an unlikely candidate for my AMC spot. However, I have had one crazy idea that makes no sense in light of the availability of the previously shown Diego Moreira and Miguel Uzal, but might make him a far better fit for my system - what if I turn him into a RWB??? With spectacular dribbling+pace+flair it should go along as well as it did for Axel Müller in the main squad. I've started retraining already...

 

 

 

Very high potential, but total misfit anywhere, I don't use classic wingers to make things worse. He seems to have boatloads of pace and little else to show for it. Perhaps I should've sold when a few European clubs asked about him...

 

 

 

This season's massive disappointment, but it's not his fault. When I arrived, I identified him as our 3rd biggest prospect behind DM Diana and GK Roberto. A damaged achilles tendon which stopped him for 6 months, and now a broken leg just a few days ago in training, killed any chance of him making it. RIP Sebastián González's potential and footballing career.

 

 

 

This guy is a bit of a long shot, but is already capped for the U20s at the age of 18, and his attributes don't look terrible for a potential future backup centre-back.

 

 

 

Group 4 - Class of '19

 

The list is STILL not over. I haven't even gone over the 3 guys spawned by my youth intake this season...

 

 

 

Overtook his fellow colleagues to be the first of the Class of '19 to reach 2* of CA, and is the first to be named "Promising striker" as well. I like him a lot, he's so well rounded, all he needs is to get his finishing higher up and he can play either as my DLF or my CF/A / AF/A.

 

 

 

de Pablo was the player whose attributes most impressed me at the very beginning, as a potential very good fit for my AMC position, but doesn't seem to be improving wildly just yet, despite tutoring by veteran Álvaro González (resolute personality) to at least get his determination higher up.

 

 

 

Emiliano Fernández has a hell of a lot of competition, and ground to make up, if he wants to make it as a striker for us, but continues to be rated extremely high on potential.

 

 

 

 

That's it! "Only" 13 youth product players that I'm identifying as potentially useful! And that's not even counting with Trinidad who's about to get sold for 2M€ + 50% profit of next fee!

[ManUtd1]

Excellent future ahead of you, there! Love the detailed look at the youth.

[alslammerz@yahoo.com]

4 hours ago, noikeee said:

 

 

Another player improving spectacularly, but whom I don't have a use for. Poor finishing, off the ball, passing and vision make him an unlikely candidate for my AMC spot. However, I have had one crazy idea that makes no sense in light of the availability of the previously shown Diego Moreira and Miguel Uzal, but might make him a far better fit for my system - what if I turn him into a RWB??? With spectacular dribbling+pace+flair it should go along as well as it did for Axel Müller in the main squad. I've started retraining already...

 

 

 

Very high potential, but total misfit anywhere, I don't use classic wingers to make things worse. He seems to have boatloads of pace and little else to show for it. Perhaps I should've sold when a few European clubs asked about him...

 

 

Have you thought about retraining Do Santos like you have Pessoa and making him a LWB? He may not be as good a dribbler, but he's a better crosser, will definitely be an attacking wing back with that PPM, and he's pacier and has better natural fitness (and probably growth potential in stamina) to get back after attacking and run all day. And it didn't look like you had as many LWB's in the squad list above so he could at least be good backup. And it looks like he has some efficiency there already so it wouldn't be from scratch.

[noikeee]

16 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

Excellent future ahead of you, there! Love the detailed look at the youth.

I love that I get to manage all of them!

15 hours ago, alslammerz@yahoo.com said:

 

Have you thought about retraining Do Santos like you have Pessoa and making him a LWB? He may not be as good a dribbler, but he's a better crosser, will definitely be an attacking wing back with that PPM, and he's pacier and has better natural fitness (and probably growth potential in stamina) to get back after attacking and run all day. And it didn't look like you had as many LWB's in the squad list above so he could at least be good backup. And it looks like he has some efficiency there already so it wouldn't be from scratch.

He only has some efficiency there because I've been retraining him to LWB from day one. One of the first things I did at the club was to start retraining all classic wingers to wingbacks since I don't use them.

That being said I don't agree he's a particularly good prospect for that position. He's a speed merchant and average/poor at everything else which is not a good fit for the CWB/A role I typically use there. I find dribbling to be the most important skill and he doesn't have it. What I want from my LWB is to 1) create scoring opportunities and disrupt the defence by dribbling past the opposition, 2) provide width in order for the central players to have space and put in the odd cross, or alternatively 3) benefit from the central players overload to show up in space through good movement, and 4) win the ball back quickly high up the field. Pace is always useful but when the player only has pace, he's pretty much only useful if I'm quickly transitioning through him and I find I rarely use the LWB to do this. Stamina to go up and down is also useful but not that important by itself when the player does not have the skills to do his key tasks - he's missing dribbling for #1, crossing and off the ball for #2 and #3, and anticipation/tackling/bravery/workrate for #4.

[Bigpapa42]

Love the youth classification post. Cool to see the kind of youth talent you are brining through.

The retraining of Pessoa isn't crazy at all. It seems like retraining a player is the only way you can get a true Complete Wingback with flair. Even if a few of his attributes don't end up being ideal for the position, he could still make a really strong player there.

Any reason that Matteo Roberto isn't performing? Inconsistent or anything like that in the coaching report on him?

[noikeee]

2 hours ago, Bigpapa42 said:

Love the youth classification post. Cool to see the kind of youth talent you are brining through.

The retraining of Pessoa isn't crazy at all. It seems like retraining a player is the only way you can get a true Complete Wingback with flair. Even if a few of his attributes don't end up being ideal for the position, he could still make a really strong player there.

On the right I am using a rather more conventional WB/S so it would be crazy.  My thinking is that maybe one day in the future I'll reverse my tactic left-to-right, and he'd play CWB/A. What I know is I don't like him as a fit for AMC. My experience with Axel Müller as AMC, who is much better but similar in his combo of high dribbling+pace+flair, is that in my system the AMC is given too little space to properly use his dribbling skills.

Quote

Any reason that Matteo Roberto isn't performing? Inconsistent or anything like that in the coaching report on him?

Low morale because I rejected a bid from Marseille. But he was dodgy already before the bid.

He's gotten over it now, but now it's Emiliano Diana throwing a tantrum because I didn't let him go to Roma...

[noikeee]

A highly interesting offer that would represent a pretty clear promotion. I will however be rejecting this for 3 reasons:

a) I feel like in the middle of a challenge here, don't want to leave on a downer as last season ended, the job isn't done here yet

b) at the moment Nacional has higher chance of winning league titles which would help me catch up Mourinho in the hall of fame

c) I've already bailed out of a club that I had qualified for the Libertadores groups once, I don't want to do it all over again without actually playing that competition beyond the preliminary fixtures

[withnail316]

A good decision to stick around, I think. 

[noikeee]

12 minutes ago, withnail316 said:

A good decision to stick around, I think. 

I would miss all the youth players too of course!

[noikeee]

 

January 2020 - Pre-season transfers

 

This transfer window was all about trimming the fat, rather than introducing extra quality - because I struggled to find additions to the squad that would seriously improve us. Meanwhile, we said goodbye to a handful of players. The big sale was of course youngster Alberto Trinidad for 2M€, he finally went off to Monaco, but we also said goodbye to veterans Álvaro González (retired), Diego Vera, Sérgio Otálvaro, sold off already one of my signings Oscar Barreto, and forward Tabaré Viudez went as well.

 

In the other direction I only signed 3 players, one of which was already here last year, veteran goalkeeper Nicolás Vikonis, who now signs permanently for a final season, after being here on loan. The other 2 were centre-backs.

 

 

 

I'm taking quite a risk here, because this was a serious investment (875K€), and at the last minute my scouts found out he may have problems settling in another country. But he looks class, had great ratings in the Brasileirão, is "consistent", I needed an upgrade on defence. Let's hope he moves well to Uruguay otherwise I will have wasted money and a foreigner spot (though at the moment, after Diogo and Cassiano picked up the Uruguayan nationality, I only have 3 foreigners which is ideal - I can only play 3 of them at the same time).

 

 

 

More of a squad player, if he had better jumping he'd probably slot straight into my side because otherwise he looks good.

 

 

 

 

This is now our squad:

 

 

I decided to promote Diego Moreira as well as Daniel Fernández and Martín Merlo, let's hope the kids do the business. The older AMC Rodrigo Amaral also returns from loan as a long shot.

 

 

 

My goal evidently is to win the league, I'm hoping for a straight cleanout of both Apertura and Clausura to avoid getting into the playoffs later on as I think my players don't like the pressure. I will also be playing on the Libertadores groups for the first time, which I'm very hyped up for, hopefully we can hold our own vs the big foreigner clubs.

[deltablue]

Good idea to continue the job in Uruguay.

[noikeee]

I keep on getting brilliant job offers from leagues I want to manage in, at the wrong time...

[noikeee]

And our first Libertadores group match gets decided like this by Diogo in minute 89: