It Started in Turin.......

[danmcconnell1]

It all started in Turin...

A young Dan McConnell had not chosen the path of many other youngsters. I love managing. I was a half decent player, nothing to write home about, but loved the tactical, organisational side of the game, and wanted to do it myself at the highest level. I got my coaching badges as quickly as I could and by the age of 23, I held the Continental Pro License, enabling me to apply for all jobs and actually get recognized. This is where Torino step in. A club that has always been in the shadow of it's city rival Juventus, Torino have always been the ugly step-sister, the unwelcome uncle at a wedding, but had offered me the job of manager. It was an easy decision to make and before I knew it I was on the plane to meet my new colleagues and players.

Before that, let's take a look at the facilities Torino had to offer.

The Olimpico in Turin is the home of Torino. With a capacity of just shy of 28,000, we'd need all the support we can get to try and help the finances and see us compete at the right end of the table.

As you can see, a prominent face in the crowd is that of Joe Hart, the England number 1 goalkeeper on a season long loan at the club from Manchester City.

He'll be instrumental for us between the sticks as we try to break into the top half. There are some other key players in this Torino squad, including the likes of;

Marco Benassi

Davide Zappacosta

And finally, the gem in the crown;

Andrea Belotti

After a 12th placed finish in the 15/16, I was hoping to take Torino into the top half and try to keep some of these talented players at the club.

Now, the first few posts of this story will be quite fast paced, as I've already managed to get to the year 2021 in this save, so I'll try and be as detailed as possible without being too boring!

But, for now, Forza Torino!

[danmcconnell1]

2016-2017 Season

Firstly, let's take a look at our transfer activity throughout the season.

We brought in the Serie A stalwart Antonio Di Natale on a free from Udinese. He managed 5 goals in 10 appearances before a playing career ending injury meant his time was cut short with us, furthering the burden on young Andrea Belotti up top. Ravel Morrison, Tin Jedvaj, Diego Farias and Ramadan Sobhi all joined on loan later on in the season and made good contributions, particularly Morrison who nailed down a starting place in midfield for most of the season.

Here's how we got on this season.

We had a relatively mixed pre-season, with big wins against HB, Morbegno and Rogoredo, but came unstuck against Zaragoza and could only manage a draw against ChievoVerona.

The season got underway with a cup tie which we managed to progress from and we stayed unbeaten through until the 16th October where we lost against Pescara. The run wasn't quite as impressive as it first looked though, as we had only managed to win 2 games, drawing all of the others. We then went on a run of 1 win in 7 which included being knocked out of the Coppa Italia to ChievoVerona. We followed this bad form up with a good bit of fortune with a 5 game league unbeaten run which included wins against Bologna, Crotone and Lazio plus 2 draws against Empoli and Sampdoria.

The run came to an end though away at Udinese, but we responded with a brilliant home win against Napoli. A couple of defeats ensued against Inter and Atalanta, but we managed a draw against Chievo, a good win against Cagliari and another draw against Genoa. Then started a wretched run of form which saw us win just 2 more games this season, against Sassuolo an Crotone, drawing against Palermo and losing all 9 of the others. We were in relegation danger for a while but other results did go our way towards the end of the season, and we sealed our fate with the 3-0 win over Crotone.

We ended the season in 14th place, a disappointing end to the season meant our good early season work was unhinged and we fell down the league dramatically. Juve continued their domestic dominance, whilst it was a season to forget for AC Milan, who up until game 30 were in 17th position and were looking in real danger for a while.

Here's the best 11 for Torino this year.

Here you can see the formation that was predominantly played throughout the season, particularly when we lost Di Natale. The campaign belonged to Belotti. 34 league goals with an average rating of 7.3 for a 22 year old playing in one of the most difficult leagues in Europe was no mean feat and his feats had been recognized across the continent. Big clubs were after our prized asset but I was determined to keep hold of him, for another season at least.

Next we move into the 17/18 season, could we hold onto Belotti? Could we better our 14th place in Serie A? Find out in the next post.

Forza Torino!

[danmcconnell1]

Season 2017-2018

After a disappointing end to last season, I really wanted to make sure we had some extra firepower upfront to lessen the burden on Belotti. He looked tired at times towards the end of last season, so some extra, quality legs up top were first on my priority list. Here's our transfer activity for this season.

Before last season ended, we had agreed deals with Arsenal and WBA respectively for Jon Toral and Saido Berahino. Toral is a player I know well after he spent a year with Birmingham IRL so I'm aware of his talents, plus Berahino is a talent that cannot be passed up for a club like us. Jurgen Locadia was also brought in from PSV, he would play out on the left as an inside forward supporting Belotti up top, with Berahino on the right also cutting in to support Belotti. We improved all over the pitch too with the likes of Nicola Murru, Andre Wisdom and Caglar Soyuncu coming in at the back, Yaya Toure, Hiroshi Kiyotake, Mikel Vesga and Mario Pasalic coming into midfield and Thomas Lemar on loan from Monaco and Gerard Moreno also coming in halfway through the season for reinforcements. Kurt Zouma also arrived in January and really bolstered our defence in the second half of the season.

A lot of these deals were financed by outgoings though. We got very good money for Marco Benassi from Marseilles therefore sold him, Bruno Peres was on loan at Roma last season and joined permanently for a good fee too. We sold others including Acquah and Obi for decent money too and brought in more than capable replacements.

Here's how we got on this season.

Again, another mixed pre-season with huge wins against Rogoredo and Morgegno again, but we lost against St. Etienne and Empoli who incidentally had just qualified for the Champions League. Competitive football got underway in the Coppa Italia again and managed to beat lower division Spal 4-2. We got off to a rocky start with no wins in our first 4 matches, but the breakthrough came and we then won 3 on the bounce against Empoli, Udinese and Atalanta. A 3-0 loss to AC Milan followed but another 2 wins against Sassuolo and Perugia meant we were in mid table. A run of just 2 wins in 9 games in all competitions was next, plus we had been knocked out of the Coppa Italia in that time against Pescara again.

The second half of the season got underway and we only managed 1 win in 5 in the league, losing the other 4. Our form picked up though and we then lost just once in 6 league matches, the only loss coming to Empoli, 3 wins and 2 draws gave our floundering points total a boost. A 4-0 win against Cesena wasn't the catalyst for our good form to continue and we didn't win in 4 after that, but did manage to end the season on a 4 game unbeaten run with wins coming against Bari, Inter and Pescara, the other a draw with ChievoVerona.

All of this meant we ended the season on 12th place this year. Another inconsistent season wasn't enough to see us break into the top half, and with us finding it even more difficult to hold onto our best players, we saw Berahino sold to Man City for top dollar, Belotti shipped off to Tottenham for money nowhere near his worth and Soyuncu sold for peanuts to Villarrael. I wasn't consulted about the Belotti or Soyuncu deals and despite my protestation, both were sold. It was the final straw for me and I stepped down as boss of Torino after having the power taken out of my hands at a time where I needed it the most.

Here is the best 11 for my second and final season in charge of Torino.

Another great season for Belotti saw him fall just 5 goals short of his total last season. Hopefully he can continue his terrific goal scoring form in England with Spurs.

Next up for me, there were some international teams that were in need of a manager, so I decided to apply for a few of them and see how it went.

Before I knew it, I had been approached by Brazil, Belgium and Holland. After much deliberation over national pools of players, I decided Belgium was the international job for me, packed my bags and made my way to Brussells.

[danmcconnell1]

So, I was now an international manager. The hustle and bustle of day-to-day management was now gone and I was the proud manager of Belgium. Of course, there are some fantastic Belgians currently playing, so it was my job to get them all to play together in a team. The best players that come to mind are;

Eden Hazard

Romelu Lukaku

Kevin De Bruyne

With this dearth of talent, I was hoping for big things. 

My reign in charge began in Brussells as we welcomed the recently dethroned world champions Germany to the Stade Roi Badeouin.

We got off to a pretty decent start in the European International League tie with the Germans. We fell 2 behind but came back to gain a point as we faced Chile within the same international break, where we won 4-1, again at home. A month or so passed and we travelled to Basel in Switzerland for another European International League tie in which we won again, this time 4-2. I had a free-scoring international side on my hands here, until 4 days later when we faced the current European Champions Portugal back in Brussells. They beat us through a solitary Ronaldo goal. In our penultimate match of 2018, we faced Germany, this time in Berlin in the EIL and lost 2-0, my second defeat as boss. We regained some credibility though a few days later with another win over Switzerland back at home and ended the campaign in second place of a 3 nation group.

Germany progressed into the knockout stages whilst Switzerland were relegated to Division B.

We moved into 2019 fully focused on qualification for the Euro 2020 championships which were to be the first to be held across multiple cities in Europe.

Here's how we got on in 2019.

As you can see, it was an extremely successful qualifying campaign for us as we stormed Group C with relative ease. Arguably our biggest challengers were Bosnia, are we dispatched of them in our opening qualifier in Zenica. We then welcomed still relative newbies Gibraltar to Brussells and managed to notch up another 6. We got a slender win against Turkey, a magnificent 8 against Leichtenstein, followed by another 4 against Bosnia, a 2-0 win against Northern Ireland, with another 7 past Gibraltar just off the coast of Spain. The only time we dropped points was at home to Turkey where we trashed out a 0-0 draw. We ended the campaign with 2 away games in Leichtenstein and Belfast and another 2 wins, which saw us qualify for the tournament as Group C winners.

So as we head into 2020, a European Championship year, could we carry on our sumptuous form going into the tournament and who knows, maybe spring a surprise on the rest of Europe? Find out in the next installment. 

[danmcconnell1]

In the middle of our qualifying campaign, it was pre-season across Europe. Teams were in need of a manager and BMG in Germany approached me. I was apprehensive as I didn't want to dual manage but after looking at the side and the budget available to me should I get the job, I went for the interview and a few days later was offered the job.

BMG play at the wonderful Borussia-Park in Monchengladbach. It holds just over 54,000 and is a big step up from the Olimpico in Turin where I'm used to managing.

My time in Germany began with a side that had finished 5th in the Bundesliga last season, but had sold some of their top talent including Christoph Kramer and Max Arnold. So we were looking for some reinforcements in the middle of the park, enter Adrien Rabiot, a £12.75m signing from PSG. I hoped he would be a more than adequate replacement for Kramer and really pull the strings from midfield.

Other signings included Wissam Ben Yedder, Soyuncu again from Villarrael and Jesse Lingard on loan from Manchester United.

Here's how I got on with BMG.

We'd already played a couple of friendlies before I arrived, but my first game in charge was a stormer against Grosseto as we easily won 8-0. 2 defeats then followed against lowly Paderborn and En Avant de Guingamp. We got back to winnings ways against Aachen and Spal before losing to superior opposition in Monaco and Liverpool. Competitive football then got underway as we dispatched of Balingen easily in the DFB-Pokal progressing through to the second round. Our first game of the season saw us travel to Frankfurt where we lost 1-0. We then welcomed Dortmund to Borussia-Park where we lost again, this time by two goals to one. We then welcomed Leverkusen where we picked up our first point of the season thanks to a late Eduardo Vargas equalizer. We then travelled to lowly Darmstadt and were beaten convincingly 2-0 in what was a poor performance. As I said at the start of this post, I wasn't 100% keen on dual management, so this poor start was enough for me to say enough and concentrate on just one job. I felt as though I owed it to Belgium to continue the good work started there and concentrate solely on them, therefore resigned as manager of BMG to enable us to focus on the upcoming European Championships in the summer.

BMG went on to finish in 9th place, missing out on European football altogether next season.

Next up we'll see how we got on before the Euro 2020 tournament with pre-tournament friendlies for Belgium against England, Czech Republic, Russia and Israel.

[danmcconnell1]

So, with my short spell in Germany now over, I could concentrate fully on the upcoming European Championships, the first to be held across Europe.

We organised 4 pre-tournament friendlies, the first of which was at home against England.

Bongiovanni gave us the lad on his international debut before Kane equalised before half time. We took the lead again through Witsel in the 2nd half but a late Danny Welbeck equaliser saw us draw this one 2-2.

Next up was the Czech Republic, again at home.

We fell behind early to a Filip Novak goal but responded brilliantly with goals from Michy Batshuayi, Bongiovanni again, Naingollan and finally Carrasco to give us a convincing 4-1 win.

We then travelled to Moscow to face an in form Russia side.

And in form they most definitely were. We took the lead through Charly Musonda but Dzaegoev equalised for them. Januzaj gave us the lead again only for Golovin to make it level again before half time. Things got worse before the break as Kokorin got the first of his brace before he finished us off just after the hour mark, giving the Russians a morale boosting win ahead of the tournament. We also lost Januzaj to injury in this one which meant he would miss the group stages of the tournament.

Our final pre-tournament friendly was back in Brussells against Israel.

We got our own morale boost in this one with a ruthless 7-1 win over the minnows. Naingollan gave us the lead and despite Eran Zahavi's goal to make things level before the break, we always looked in control truth be told. Benteke's goal on the stroke of half time gave us the lead going into the break, whilst goals for Fiore, Batshuayi, Origi, Eden Hazard and Witsel were enough to see us wipe the floor with the Israelis.

All in all, I was happy with the preparation for the tournament and just hoped that Russia game wasn't a sign of things to come.

Up next, the European Championships of 2020.

[danmcconnell1]

The Euro 2020 tournament was finally upon us and our preparation was complete.

Our group matches will all be played at the wonderful Puskas Ferenc Stadion in Budapest, Hungary.

Our opening group game was against Serbia.

Unfortunately, we couldn't get off to a winning start as we drew 1-1 with the Serbs. Romelu Lukaku gave us the lead just after the hour mark, but just 3 minutes later, Andrija Zivkovic equalised to see us start the tournament with a point. Unfortunately for us, Eden Hazard picked up an injury which would see him miss the rest of the tournament. It was a real shame as he'd done so well to be fit for the tournament after breaking his ankle playing for Real Madrid only in February.

Next up was France.

We were blown away by the French due to goals by Kingsley Coman and Corentin Tolisso. A late Origi goal was only enough to half the deficit, which now saw our tournament hopes hanging on by a thread.

We had to beat Ukraine in our final game to stand any chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.

And we did exactly that, convincingly too. We were 3 up at half time thanks to Alderweireld, Carrasco and a penalty by Origi, before Carrasco doubled his tally early in the second half which saw us race into a 4-0 lead. Yarmalenko and Zozulya got late consolation goals for the Ukraine but it was us who qualified automatically ahead of them on 4 points. France topped the group on 7.

After finishing second in the group, our reward was a tie against near neighbours and reigning world champions, Holland. This game was to be played at the National Arena in Romania.

Here's how we got on.

We dispatched of the World Cup holders with ease. The scoreline definitely didn't do us any justice as we found ourselves 2-0 up in the 52nd minute thanks to goals from Naingollan and De Bruyne. Memphis Depay scored on the hour mark for the Dutch but it wasn't enough to hold onto their tournament dreams and we progressed into the last 8.

Our quarter final opponents would be Greece at the wonderful Krestovskiy stadium in Russia.

Here's how we go on against the Greeks.

Another wonderful win saw us progress into the semi finals. Carrasco gave us the lead early in the 2nd half but Diamantakos equalised just 10 minutes later. Neither side could be broken down in normal time which mean extra time was needed. This is where our superior fitness levels showed as Carrasco and Benteke scored in the first half of extra time to seal a 3-1 win and our progression into the semis. Unfortunately, we lost another talismanic man in Kevin De Bruyne, he would miss the rest of the tournament.

Our semi final opponents were Switzerland at the home of football, Wembley Stadium in London.

Here's how our semi final went against the Swiss.

Our knackered side had done it, got to the final of Euro 2020 after a 3-1 win over Switzerland. We were 2 up after 32 minutes thanks to 2 Michy Batshuayi goals and were in control. Francisco Rodriguez got one back on the hour mark for the Swiss but Adnan Januzaj who had just returned from injury sealed the match for us in the 78th minute, meaning we'd be back at Wembley for the final where we would face Portugal.

The final was all ours. We dispatched of Portugal with ease. Carrasco scored 2 more making him the leading goalscorer for the tournament, Ze Gomes got one back for Portugal just before half time. An incredible 5 minute spell saw us score another 3 early in the second half, Lukaku getting 2 and Alderweireld the other, whilst Portugal could only respond with 1 more through Ze Gomes again. This meant that we were champions of Europe, and gave me my first major trophy as a manager, at the same time significantly increasing my reputation as a boss.

This was heading for Brussells.

[danmcconnell1]

So, after a hugely successful summer, what next for me?

Well, firstly I stepped down as manager of the Belgium national side as I wanted to get back into club management. There was a few jobs available, including some very big ones in Germany and Spain which I applied for. I was offered interviews by Barcelona, Dortmund, Everton and Marseilles.

I attended them all and was offered all 4 jobs within a week, therefore had a decision to make.

After a few days, I came to the decision I think most of you would have come to as well.

I was off to Catalunya.

Arguably the biggest club in the world, Barcelona FC have boasted some of the biggest and best players the world has ever seen.

MSN are still going strong in 2020 with wonderful records in the past 3 seasons.

Unfortunately for the Catalans though, they hadn't won the title since the 16/17 season. A barren spell with just one trophy in 4 years, albeit the Champions League in 2018, needed to be addressed. Club legend Luis Enrique stepped down to become the manager of the national side and it was now my job to take Barcelona back to the very top.

Before the season got underway, I'd been informed I had around £60m to spend on players should I see fit. I decided to take a look at how Belotti had done over the last couple of years at Spurs, and well, he hadn't set the world alight, mainly due to not being able to get into the team ahead of Harry Kane. I decided I was going to give him a chance here to challenge the status quo up top and try to become our main man. We agreed a £42m deal with Spurs and Belotti was now a Barcelona player. 

Here's how my first season in charge went.

My tenure couldn't have got off to a more bittersweet beginning. A couple of friendly wins over Wolfsburg and Dortmund were pleasing, but an opening day defeat to Atletico was not what I wanted. There was a real blow in this game too as Messi went down. We later learned he would miss 3-4 months with a damaged achilles tendon, really denting our title hopes before they really began. We turned it around magnificently though as we demolished Real Madrid in El Clasico at the Nou Camp by 5 goals to nil. We went unbeaten through until the 28th October where we lost our local derby against Espanyol. We won one more game against Sporting Gijon before going on a 3 game losing streak in the league, meaning we'd lost 4 league games in 5, 3 of which were at home. It did not make great reading in the table either as Real had started to pull away. We did manage to finish 2nd in our Champions League group though where we were drawn against Arsenal in the 2nd round. We managed to progress through to the semi finals in the Copa del Rey with 2 legged wins over Tenerife, Sevilla on away goals and Malaga, our semi final opponents being Real again.

We made one more signing in January, Gabriel Jesus was no longer needed by Manchester City, so we decided to take a £26m punt on the Brazilian as Phillipe Coutinho had failed to impress me so was sold to Monaco for £22 which could rise to £44m. We did no more business this season.

We played El Clasico 3 times in the space of 10 days, losing the league tie 3-0 at the Bernabeu, winning the semi final first leg back at the Nou Camp 2-1 but losing the second leg, again at the Bernabeu by 3 goals to nil, meaning Real would face their local rivals Atletico in the final in May.

Our season got back on track with a win against Villarrael at home before we welcomed Arsenal to the Nou Camp in the Champions League and wiped the floor with them, winning 4-0. We won our next 3 games in the league against Deportivo, Malaga and Eibar but lost our local derby again to Espanyol, before completely collapsing in the second leg against Arsenal at the Emirates, losing 7-0, dumping us out of the Champions League. I half expected to be given the chop after that embarrassing defeat but there was no board meetings, no talk of anything like that and we got back into good form, not losing a single game for the rest of the season, meaning we finished in 3rd place.

All in all, it was a disappointing first season in charge of Barca. We were never really in the title race, were embarrassingly knocked out of the Champions League after being in a commanding position going into the second leg and didn't make the final of the Copa del Rey. Improvements are definitely needed ahead of the new season, should I keep my job of course.

[danmcconnell1]

I managed to keep my job thankfully, and my second season needed to be a successful one for Barcelona. We obviously struggled at the back last season, conceding a lot of goals particularly at home, so reinforcements there were my top priority. I still feel as though the top of the pitch is looking strong, despite MSN not having the best season, partly down to Messi missing half of the campaign and only scoring 6 goals all season, almost unheard of for Messi. Suarez and Neymar were playing well though and both had good pre-season's particularly the latter, and we headed into the season looking strong. Here is our transfer activity for the summer ahead of our first game of the season.

Central defender Jonathan Tah was signed on a free from Leverkusen. Still just 25, I feel Tah and Virgil van Dijk as a centre back partnering can be most effective and with Pique and Umtiti in reserve, I feel we're more than covered at the back now. We also signed Wojciech Szczesny from Torino to be our new backup goalkeeper. Cillessen left to go back to Ajax at the end of his contract after growing frustrated with a lack of appearances due to the brilliance of ter Stegen, so we needed a new number 2, and here he is. Our final incomer is Riechedly Bazoer from Spurs. Another large amount of money goes Spurs' way for this player, I see him as the long term replacement for Busquets in the depth of our midfield. A strong tackler, Bazoer will definitely be in our first team as the holding midfield player this season, Busquets will be moved slightly further forward after his player of the year award winning exploits last season in La Liga.

Leaving the club this summer was a lot of deadwood. The aforementioned Cillessen left to go back to Ajax at the end of his contract whilst the other big outgoing was Andrea Belotti. It just didn't work out for my wonderkid from Torino as he just couldn't budge the sublime Suarez all season. He left Barcelona to join West Ham after making 31 appearances and scoring just 5 goals. All other outgoings were young players who didn't make the cut when it came to contract renewal time.

So we look ahead to the new season with this group of players.

As you can see, we're a lot stronger at the back this season with arguably a better backup goalkeeper, another top class centre back after Javier Mascherano retired in Jonathan Tah, a strong midfield which could also be changed as Rafinha has handed in a transfer request and of course, the big 3 upfront with backup provided by Thomas Buitink. As I say, if Rafinha does leave, I would be interested in bringing in either one of Youri Tielemens or Radja Naingollan, both of which I worked with from the Belgium setup. Naingollan would be the short term option if Tielemans didn't work out, but the former will be the prime target should Rafinha leave.

Pre-season went well with a trip to China to play 3 games, of which we won. We faced Shanghai, Shandong and Guangzhou and dispatched of all 3 with relative ease, Suarez nabbing a hat-rick in the final game.

The season is almost upon us, let's hope we can have a better season than last year. I've now caught up with where I am in this save, so I'll provide half season updates when the time comes. Thanks for reading!

 

[danmcconnell1]

Mid-season Update

Halfway through the La Liga season and we are having a much better campaign this time around.

We got off to a slow start against Valladollid away from home but beat recently promoted Tenerife in our first home game of the season convincingly 4-0. Shortly after that game, our Champions League group was drawn. We were drawn with Manchester United, Lyon and Olympiakos. I felt as though we could win the group if we could get a couple of decent results against Man United.

Back to the league, we remained unbeaten through until the 31st October, a run that included a win in the first El Clasico of the season at the Bernabeu, plus wins against Valencia, Sevilla and Real Sociedad. Our first loss though came away to Bilbao at San Mames. That remains our only league defeat to date though, despite some poor form around the end of November and early December.

Our Champions League campaign couldn't have gotten off to a better start with 4 wins from our opening 4 games which ensued our progression into the knockout phases after just 4 matches. We played weakened teams in the final 2 matches and lost both to Lyon and Olympiakos though. 

In the Copa del Rey, we were drawn against recently relegated Corboba. We rather embarrassingly lost the first leg 1-0 and only managed to beat them in the second after extra time, ensuring our progression into the next round where we will face Atletico Madrid in the new year.

All of this meant the La Liga table looked like this going into 2022.

We were in second place behind our great rivals Real Madrid. Despite only losing once, draws were costing us top spot. Both us and Madrid had a bit of breathing space from 3rd placed Bilbao, a 7 point cushion at the moment. Was it turning into a 2 horse race for the title already?

Here is how our players are performing so far.

Lionel Messi is our top scorer with 12, despite missing 2 penalties already this season. We lost Luis Suarez in October to a torn hamstring which gave Thomas Buitink the opportunity which he has taken well scoring 8 goals and assisting 6. Neymar has been getting a few niggling injuries too so his stats don't look too great so far, despite him receiving the Brazilian Olympic Comittee Footballer of the Year award on the final day of 2021. Suarez was bang in form before his injury, scoring 5 in a league game against Sevilla at the Nou Camp before falling to his knock. Jonathan Tah is really progressing well alongside van Dijk at the back and Umtiti has been deployed a lot more at left back due to the questionable fitness of Jordi Alba this season who keeps picking up niggles. Also, Gerard Pique has decided to retire at the end of the season, a decision that had been coming if we're honest. I tried to talk him out of it as he is pretty versatile still as he can play a holding role in midfield, but he wanted to bow out whilst at the top. Hopefully we can win a trophy or 2 for him this season and make it one to remember.

On a quick side note, 2 significant records have been broken this season by none other than the legendary Lionel Messi.

He has overtaken the record of Xavi for the most appearances for Barcelona, as well as becoming the all time top goal scorer in La Liga for Barcelona, now standing on 406 goals, a record he keeps breaking due to still playing of course. It's a wonderful achievement for what is a magnificent player, arguably the best to have ever graced the earth, and hopefully he keeps playing for many more years for me! Messi is the king of Barcelona.

[danmcconnell1]

End of Season Update

After a successful start to the season, we looked to try and continue our good league form into the new year and try to topple Real Madrid. We also made a couple of signings in the January transfer window.

Roberto Pena is a young and very talented left back who'll go straight into our first team ahead of Alba and Umtiti. We also brought in Sergio Aguero, initially on a free at the end of his contract with Manchester City, but when that was finalised I noticed the deal to bring him in now was just £1.9m, therefore decided to bring him in early and send Thomas Buitink out on loan to Sporting Lisbon.

Here's how we got on in the league.

Our league form was imperial for the rest of the season, the final game apart. By that time the title had already been won after a solitary Virgil van Dijk goal saw us beat Celta Vigo to claim the league title. We had some great results in the second half of the season with wins against Atletico Madrid, another win in El Clasico against Real Madrid, as well as beating Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad. Here's how the table looked at the end of the season.

We ended up winning the title by a total of 5 points ahead of Real Madrid, they fought bravely against us but our league form was outstanding this year, much better than last season and we finally toppled the winners of the last 4 league titles to bring the title back to Catalunya.

There were a few accolades handed out to Barcelona players and staff following the title win, here's who won what.

Stefan Lekic won the best rookie award this season. The young right back has made the position his own after an average rating of 7.57 this season. I don't believe there is a better right back in the world at the moment. Also, Albert Guso finished in 3rd place after a successful season which was hampered by injury.

The great Lionel Messi won player of the year award, with a total of 23 league goals and 9 assists in 35 matches. He finished with an average rating of 7.61 after what was a much, much better season than last year for him. Neymar finished in 3rd after yet another sumptuous season with 11 goals and an almost record equalling 17 assists.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen was named goalkeeper of the year. The 30 year old was brilliant between the sticks for us this year conceding just 18 league goals and keeping an unprecedented 23 clean sheets.

Here is the La Liga team of the season for 2021/22. As you can see, it's littered with Barcelona players including ter Stegen, Lekic, Tah, Neymar and Messi who all had wonderful seasons for us in our glorious title win.

And on a personal note, I was delighted to win manager of the year award. It was a very tough season but a double in El Clasico meant that we always had the upper hand when it came down to the title race, hopefully this spells the end of the Real Madrid period of dominance and the start of the Barcelona renaissance. 

In the Copa del Rey, our fortunes were not as great.

After squeaking past Cordoba in the 4th round, we faced an in form Atletico side who beat us at the Nou Camp 2-0 and just sat back in the second leg. I was frustrated as I really wanted to win this one this year after going out to Real last season, but it was not to be.

In the Champions League on the other hand, things were looking a lot better.

A loss to Roma in the 2nd round first leg wasn't the end of the world as we managed to score 2 vital away goals. We easily dispatched of them in the second leg back at the Nou Camp 4-0. Our quarter final opponents would be Monaco. An easy first leg at home finished 3-0 putting us in a commanding position as we headed to Monaco. We held out for a 0-0 draw and progressed through to the semis where we would face Tottenham. Never before had Spurs made it this far into Europe's elite competition, although it didn't show. They gave us 2 really tough matches, the first leg looking flattering in our favour. The scoreline was 2-2 with 10 minutes left, Spurs scoring what later turned out to be 2 vital away goals before Messi put them to the sword in the final 10 minutes giving us some breathing space in the 2nd leg. We travelled to the New White Hart Lane a week later and found ourselves 1-0 after 25 minutes, Neymar seemingly putting the tie to bed at 5-2. But Spurs wouldn't lie down, scoring 3 goals before half time taking the aggregate scoreline to 5-5 with them winning on away goals. I tried all the tricks I knew to try and break Spurs down but to no avail when in the dying minutes of the game, the 90th to be exact, Lionel Messi scored what can only be described as an insane goal to put us ahead on aggregate and book our place in the Champions League Final. It was extremely harsh on Spurs who fought a magnificent battle, but their luck ran out right at the death, much to our delight of course.

So, we headed to the home of our greatest rivals Real Madrid for the final of this season's Champions League where we would face Pep Guardiola's Manchester City. Pep has won the trophy 3 times now, twice with Barca and once with Man City and was looking to win it for a 4th time. This was of course my first taste of a Champions League final, but I had pedigree after winning the Euro 2020 title a couple of years ago with Belgium. Who will come out on top?

Here are the starting line ups.

We go with the trusty formation that's served us so well all season. Gerard Pique is on the bench too, he will retire from football after this match so we hope we can give him and his family the send off he deserves after a glittering career.

At half time, here was how we were getting on.

Antoine Griezmann had given City the lead after 36 minutes but just 3 minutes later Leandro Paredes scored a wonderful half volley from a Stefan Lekic cross and we found ourselves level going into the second half. Neymar has picked up an injury but it's not enough to keep him from going off, we'll see how he does in the second half.

Unfortunately, it wasn't to be our year. Morata got one just after the break which really knocked us for 6. We recovered slightly but an own goal by van Dijk really did knock the stuffing out of us and when Luis Suarez was sent off for a lunge on Morata it was curtains for us. Griezmann got a second to rub salt in the wounds late on and Manchester City were champions of Europe for the second time. 

For many clubs, a league title win and a European Cup final defeat would be regarded as a successful season, but this is Barcelona, and despite a great triumph in the league, I was determined to get my hands on the 2 trophies that have eluded me in Spain, the Copa del Rey and the coveted Champions League next season.

But for now, we'll recuperate in the summer and go again hard next season.

[thehazeofspades]

Great comeback this season, and a good foundation to rebuild and go again next season. KUTGW!

[danmcconnell1]

Cheers! Hoping to finish pre-season tonight, provide a quick update of the summer activity and get a half season update in over the weekend/early next week 

[danmcconnell1]

Pre-Season Update

So after what in hindsight was a successful second season in charge of Los Cules, we head into the third season looking to retain the league crown whilst going one better in Europe and doing better in the Copa del Rey. 

Before any of the pre-season matches got underway, we received this bad news.

Neymar would miss basically the whole of pre-season due to tearing some ligaments in his knee. Hopefully we'll have him back firing earlier rather than later as we agreed to pay for a specialist to treat the injury.

For those of you that may be interested, there was a big surprise in the World Cup.

Denmark are the new World Champions after beating Chile in the final after extra time. 

A quick sidenote away from Barca, the player that once held the world record for a transfer fee, Gareth Bale, was now a free agent.

How the mighty have fallen. He may well be 32 now but there are still some impressive stats there, I approached the agent to see if we could do a deal but he didn't want to join us of all clubs so soon after leaving our greatest rivals. He ended up signing for Marseille.

So, back to Barcelona and our pre-season schedule was a scarce one. Despite my assistant on friendly organizing duty, it seems he forgot, so the 2 matches we did play both ended up being testimonials, the first of which was for the legend, Lionel Messi.

We would face Dortmund at the Nou Camp for it and here's how we got on.

Messi didn't get on the score sheet himself, but did assist the opener for ex-Barca man Phillipe Coutinho. Another former player who I let go at the end of last season was Alessandro Florenzi who got our second. Pereira and Marek got Dortmund back in it but Gabriel Jesus scored the winner for us on his return from a ruptured ACL.

Our second pre-season testimonial match was for Villarrael's Manu Trigeuros at El Madrigal a week later.

In an attempt to try and get some of the fringe players so game time ahead of the new season, we played a much changed side in this game and took the lead thanks to Sergio Aguero's first goal for the club on the hour mark. Unfortunately, goals from Zapata and Coca won the game for the hosts and we didn't manage to win our second pre season match.

After the Villarrael match, a very interesting article appeared in the news tab.

Gunes had resigned as manager of England, opening the door for me to manage the country of my birth. I'm not that interested in managing at club level there at the moment due to the Brexit uncertainty, but to possibly help the national team achieve something they hadn't in almost 60 years was too good an opportunity not to even apply for. More on this as it progresses.

So, what transfer business had we engaged in this summer?

My director of football brought in a couple of youth prospects from overseas in Edmundo and Djemaoui for small amounts of money, whilst I spent relatively reservedly this year with only Bachli (regen) from Spurs (again) and Niklas Stark coming in as replacement for Rakitic and Pique. Isco also joined of a free from Manchester United. Despite reaching 30, Isco was still a player at the height of his game and I'm hoping he can really push the almost immovable front 3 to perform even better than last year, otherwise he's in the team as he's a supreme talent still.

We've had a fair few leave the club this year, but nobody really for a substantial fee. Mario was the other first team player to leave the club at the end of his contract, he wasn't getting near the side due to the fantastic Lekic so I thought it might be time to let a youngster challenge that position from La Masia instead of an aging full back on high wages. We've sent a lot of big prospects out on loan and I'll be keeping a close eye on the likes of Alarcon who made a fair few appearances for us last season, Golobart and Edu Coromina, just 17 and 16 respectively. I'm hoping they can break into their loan sides and really make a difference as they look to break through into my 11 possibly next season.

So, how does the team look heading into the new season?

Apart from sub-keeper Szczesny, here's the squad. It's slightly bigger than last season with a few younger players coming in with the likes of Bachli and Alejandro Diaz. Diaz is just 17 but will challenge Lekic for the right back spot this year and will get opportunities in the Copa del Rey and Champions League, possibly even the upcoming Spanish Super Cup. Carles Alena will also be given an opportunity to see if he can break into the first team, he's been out on loan for the past few seasons and is now 24, this season is make or break for him as a Barca player I think. Buitink returns from Sporting Lisbon and will be ahead of the under-performing Aguero in the pecking order behind MSN who are still my favorable front 3.

Our season gets underway as mentioned before in the Spanish Super Cup where we will face Real Sociedad after they beat Real Madrid in last season's Copa del Rey final. It'll be a 2 legged affair, the first leg at the Anoeta, the second back at the Nou Camp, all before our league season gets underway against Sporting Gijon away from home, our first home match being the following weekend against recently promoted Almeria.

[danmcconnell1]

Another quick side note, and FM really does baffle me sometimes.

I thought this was a little harsh if I'm honest. I didn't expect to get the job, not by any means, but I thought I'd at least be in with a shot. But, the FA clearly have their heart set on someone and if that's the case then fair enough, better luck next time........

Until I see who they'd go on to appoint.

They've gotta be taking the p***!?!?

It seems a 12th placed finish in the Championship with Brentford and 3 seasons with a Newcastle side finishing 17th, 12th and 9th with no silverware gets you the England job these days.

Again, not that I'm bitter or blowing my own trumpet here, but I've achieved international success already, something high on the FA's agenda surely. Plus I've a league title in the bag in the second most reputable league in Europe. And I'm English!? 

But Chris Powell is the better man.

FM eh.

[danmcconnell1]

Spanish Super Cup

So, the traditional curtain raiser was upon us in Spain. This year Real Sociedad and Barcelona would contest the Spanish Super Cup over 2 legs. Here's how the first leg went at the Anoeta.

A surprise was in store for us as we were rocked by 2 second half goals. Sandro opened the scoring from the spot and Emre doubled soon after to give Sociedad the lead going into the second leg at the Nou Camp.

Just 4 days later and the 2nd leg was upon us. We made a few changes for the game as we dropped Buitink who was largely ineffective and brought in Guso on the right and put Messi up top.

And what a devastating effect this had. We took the lead just after the half hour mark through Jordi Alba and managed to win a penalty which saw Sociedad's Lucas Boers sent off and Messi scoring the resulting spot kick. Suarez and Messi bagged 2 more before half time taking the aggregate scoreline to 4-2 at half time in the 2nd leg. We added 2 more in the second half, Bazoer scoring an absolute screamer from 25 yards and Jonathan Tah completing the rout with a few minutes left to give me my second trophy in charge and Barcelona's first Super Cup since 2013.

[danmcconnell1]

Mid-season Update

After our season got off to the best possible start in the Super Cup, it was time to start our defence of the Spanish title. A week or so after my birthday, some welcome news.

A contract extension and a small pay rise came and I was more than happy to stay at the Nou Camp for another 5 years.

Here's how the first half of our season has gone.

We got off to a cracking start. A noteworthy win came in our second game against newly promoted Almeria where centre back Jonathan Tah scored an unlikely hat-rick. We remained unbeaten through until we played Atletico at the Estadio de Madrid where we lost 3-2. 3 more wins ensued but right at the end of the year our league form really fell away and we dropped a few points which meant our league position at the end of the year really suffered.

17 matches played and we were third, 4 points behind leaders Real Madrid. We have already drawn one El Clasico this season so if we are to have any chance of retaining the title we really need to win the second El Clasico of the season to try and overthrow them.

In other competitions, the Champions League was once again upon us and we were drawn in a tough group with Liverpool, Shakhtar and Partizan. Here's how we got on.

We ended up finishing 2nd in a group which was run by Liverpool. A great start in our opening two matches saw us level on points with Liverpool, but when we travelled to Anfield they dealt us a real blow and took control of the group. We gained a point against them back at the Nou Camp and won our final 2 group matches convincingly but the damage was done at Anfield and they topped the group. We have been drawn against Manchester United in the first knockout stage of the Champions League in the new year.

As for the Copa del Rey, it was very much as expected as we dispatched of Hospitalet with ease over 2 legs.

We'll face Sevilla in the new year.

Here's how the players are doing so far this year.

As you can see, nobody has really set the world alight yet. Aguero isn't included in this screen shot, he's at the bottom, but will be retiring at the end of the season. He's yet to score a competitive goal for me and has really been a disappointment since signing from Man City last January. Messi is the top scorer so far with 12 and also at the top of the assist charts with 10. Even at 35 he's still going stronger than ever.

So, there's the mid-season update, we'll try and finish the season in the coming days and see if we can recover from our poor form as well as trying to overcome Manchester United in what will be a tough match over 2 legs, particularly as the second is at Old Trafford. Here goes nothing!

[danmcconnell1]

During the winter break in Spain, a change was afoot at one of the biggest clubs in England. Allegri was sacked by Liverpool. This was a real opportunity for me to get my foot in the door in the one league I wanted to manage in, and it could potentially be at one of the biggest clubs in the country. Chelsea had sacked van Gaal earlier in the season but I didn't fancy that job, but the romance of Liverpool appealed to me more than any other. Barcelona had been very good to me, provided me a platform on the biggest stage and I think I repaid that faith. But when an opportunity like Liverpool comes along, you just don't say no, therefore;

That trophy cabinet can only be bettered by Manchester United in England, and I'm going to try and better theirs sooner rather than later, but this campaign may well be one of consolidation. My only aim for the rest of this season is to finish in the top half, something I intend to do of course as I feel this squad is under-performing. We currently sit 12th exactly halfway through the season with fellow giants Chelsea struggling right next to us in 11th.

Here's what and who I have to work with.

I look at this squad in the same way I look at my Barca team. It doesn't look like anybody has set the world alight this season, goals are spread around the team so if we can maybe do that with a bit of regularity then we should be looking at doing a lot better with what's left of this season. Of course I take over a team that has already beaten my old Barca team in the Champions League this season and won the group, therefore we'll be playing in the first knockout phase in the new year against Besiktas. We also have an EFL Cup semi final to play against Southampton over 2 legs. I could be in a cup final very quickly into my tenure if things go well.

So, here we go. I'll update at the end of the season.

[danmcconnell1]

Apologies for the lack of updates, I didn't get much chance to play FM over the last week or so hence this mini update now. 

After taking over, I decided we needed to bring in some more fire power up top, so after taking a look at my old side, the new man had placed a few of my old players on the transfer list, one of which was Thomas Buitink for a measly £7.75m. He was soon snapped up and became my first signing as Liverpool manager.

I'm updating through until the end of February at the moment.

Here's how we're getting on in the league up to now.

I didn't get off to the greatest of starts at all. A home defeat in my first game in charge against Crystal Palace wasn't the way to welcome myself to the adoring Anfield faithful and when we travelled to Spurs and lost 3-0 I was almost wondering why I took the job. The players were so low on confidence it was untrue. Tides temporarily changed with my first league win in charge away at West Ham but we lost the next 2 again against Man City and Chelsea, only a late Kurt Zouma goal winning it for the visitors Chelsea. We then went on a run of just one defeat in 4 games, drawing 2 and winning the other convincingly against Burnley, a certain Alberto Moreno scoring an unlikely hat-rick in that game.

We find ourselves in a lowly 15th place at the moment. Our league form seriously has to improve and it has to do so urgently.

Moving on to the FA Cup and we've already played 3 games in this competition.

We just about beat Burton in the third round before comprehensively beating Hull and Bristol City in the 4th and 5th rounds respectively. Our quarter final opponents have yet to be announced.

As mentioned before, the previous Liverpool manager had managed to get the club in the EFL Cup semi finals against Southampton, here's how we got on in that two legged semi final.

We won away at St. Mary's and after a slight scare after they pulled the tie level back at Anfield, we managed to dispose of the south coast club and make my first major final as Liverpool boss less than a month after my arrival. We will face Manchester United in the final at the stadium where I really made my name, Wembley.

Here's how both sides lined up for the final.

On paper, United have the better side. We were nursing injuries to Sadio Mane and Dele Alli so were taking a chance in playing the 2 of them, I just hoped it would be a gamble that paid off as we were struggling to name a fit squad.

Our fans were ready.

Here's how we got on.

An enthralling match at Wembley saw us run out 2-1 winners with just 10 men for the vast majority of the second half.

An early Gabriel Gutierrez goal gave United the lead and they held it until half time. A second booking for our skipper Jordan Henderson early in the second half made me think it wasn't going to be my day on cup final day again, but up stepped Simone Zaza just 6 minutes after the dismissal to equalize for us. After that goal the bit was well and truly between our teeth and Zaza got on the end of a Mane cross with 16 minutes left only to see his effort hit the post and come off Fosu-Mensah to find it's way into the net to give us an unlikely lead. Mourinho was beside himself on the other bench as we managed to hold on and I had my first silverware in England at the very first attempt. I was certainly beginning to like Wembley Stadium.

Another piece of welcome news followed this cup win.

As winners of the EFL Cup, this meant we would be guaranteed European football next season in the Europa League, another cause for celebration in what's been a pretty dismal season in terms of the league. Hopefully this can prove to be a spring board for the rest of the campaign and we can really try to push up the table and perhaps finish in the top half, as well as progress in the FA Cup and potentially return to Wembley.

[danmcconnell1]

After the elation of winning my first trophy in England and securing European football next season, attentions turned to our dismal league campaign up to now. Here's how we got on in the rest of the season.

We didn't draw another match all season and won more game than we lost. We are still relatively inconsistent but we did register wins against Bournemouth, Leicester, Sunderland, Stoke, Watford and Southampton but lose matches against Derby, the Merseyside derby against Everton, high-flying Wolves were 4-0 up against us at Molineux after 33 minutes but ended up winning 4-2, Arsenal and finally the new league champions Manchester City beat us on their own patch on the final day of the league season. Here's how the league table finished up.

It was all very tight this season in the EPL. I took over a Liverpool side in disarray but managed to help the club recover to a respectable 7th place finish. Sunderland, Bournemouth and Norwich were all relegated so I might take a look at what talent they have to offer and see if they can improve us, but depending on what I'm given to spend in the summer, I'll wait until I'm given the budgets first.

Of course, we were still in the Champions League too, so here's how we got on in that competition.

We managed to beat Besiktas with relative ease over 2 legs. We got an away goal in Turkey in the first leg and easily dispatched of them back at Anfield to send us into the quarter finals where we faced the might of Real Madrid. We beat them 2-1 at Anfield mainly due to the dismissal of Casemiro in the first half but couldn't manage to hold on to our lead back at the Bernabeu and were knocked out at the quarter final stage.

In the FA Cup, we faced a quarter final against Chelsea and here's how we got on.

We beat Chelsea 2-0 AET thanks to goals from Henderson and Luan which meant that we were heading back to Wembley for the FA Cup semis against Manchester City. Again, we managed to squeak through after a penalty shoot out which we won 8-7 to send us into the FA Cup Final where we will face Tottenham.

So, we're back at the home of football, Wembley Stadium for another cup final this season in the FA Cup.

There's nothing quite like FA Cup Final day. The traditional end of the English season this year will see my Liverpool side face Tottenham as we look for our second piece of silverware this season. Here's how the 2 sides lined up.

Spurs were taking a risk in playing Harry Kane who's not 100% fit so hopefully we will be able to deal with him a little easier but we will have to watch out for the dangerous Halilovic and Pjaca as well as Eriksen playing in the hole. We of course have an in form Simone Zaza up top who before I arrived had scored just 3 goals, but now has 18 and is level in the goal scoring charts for us with Luan.

Here's how we got on.

Half time and Spurs have had the better of the first half but we have hit the post through a James Ward-Prowse effort.

We still couldn't be separated after 90 minutes so extra time is needed to sort out this one. Moreno did hit the bar in the second half too. We've had the better of the chances despite having less of them and the ball.

Still all square at half time in extra time. We make our final change at this point bringing on Emre Can for Ward-Prowse.

Still nothing between us meaning we're heading for the drama of a penalty shoot out to decide the winners of this season's FA Cup.

After a nail-biting penalty shoot out, we managed to see off Spurs and win the FA Cup 4-3 on penalties! My second trophy in charge of Liverpool in the space of 3 months and easily the most nerve wracking win of all so far.

So our season was now officially over and it was, all in all, a successful one for me personally. I now feel as though we have a strong platform to build on next season with success fresh in our minds and hopefully a better league campaign where I'm hoping to challenge the Champions League spots once again. I'll also be taking the Europa League seriously too as the winner's of that competition of course gain entry to the following seasons' Champions League too which is potentially another avenue for us to persue if the league isn't working out. Also, it would be nice of course to gain another trophy in the cabinet.

But for now, we'll try and rebuild the squad in the summer with some additions, budgets depending of course, and see how we get on in the friendlies I hope my assistant will arrange this time!

But for now, thanks for reading!