Benjoe Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 @BoxToBox Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 8, 2017 Author Share Posted April 8, 2017 16 minutes ago, Benjoe said: @BoxToBox Shia makes a strong argument, to be fair. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 8, 2017 Author Share Posted April 8, 2017 Fortune favours the bold, eh? Boy will be a monster! I still need a holding playmaker and a pair of strikers....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 All thanks to the great Shia Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 8, 2017 Author Share Posted April 8, 2017 30 minutes ago, kidthekid said: All thanks to the great Shia The fans are already working Actual Cannibal Shia LeBeouff into the chant rotation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 In a place where I can't watch Shia...but I'm glad you did it. A no-brainer in my mind! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjoe Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Yes! He looks insanely good! Glad Shia talked you into it! Who needs strikers when you've got him! Okay. I didn't say that. You always need strikers. Always. You hear me @ManUdt1! Edit: Ugh, can't get it to tag you, man. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjoe Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 4 minutes ago, thehazeofspades said: False. You ALWAYS need strikers. The more the better. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 1 minute ago, Benjoe said: False. You ALWAYS need strikers. The more the better. You're sooooo 2016. Strikerless formations are the new hot topic Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjoe Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 2 minutes ago, thehazeofspades said: You're sooooo 2016. Strikerless formations are the new hot topic I despise a lot of the modern trends so I'd say I'm something much more old school than that! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Just now, Benjoe said: I despise a lot of the modern trends so I'd say I'm something much more old school than that! (I say this while playing with two strikers in my formation. #HypocrisyAtItsBest) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Just now, Benjoe said: I despise a lot of the modern trends so I'd say I'm something much more old school than that! If your goalkeepers and defenders don't boot the ball upfield every single time, are you old school enough? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehazeofspades Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 1 minute ago, kidthekid said: If your goalkeepers and defenders don't boot the ball upfield every single time, are you old school enough? FOUR FOUR FECKIN TWO Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjoe Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 2 minutes ago, thehazeofspades said: (I say this while playing with two strikers in my formation. #HypocrisyAtItsBest) I swear by hypocrisy. 2 minutes ago, kidthekid said: If your goalkeepers and defenders don't boot the ball upfield every single time, are you old school enough? Depends which school you went to, I'd say. Anyways, sorry for the off topic @BoxToBox! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 8, 2017 Author Share Posted April 8, 2017 1 hour ago, Benjoe said: Anyways, sorry for the off topic @BoxToBox! Geez, don't be sorry for having a bit of fun! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjoe Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 5 minutes ago, BoxToBox said: Geez, don't be sorry for having a bit of fun! Well in that case. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 8, 2017 Author Share Posted April 8, 2017 10 minutes ago, Benjoe said: Well in that case. That's our new fitness regime, to be fair. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjoe Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Goddamnit! Here I was trying to be offtopic! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 9, 2017 Author Share Posted April 9, 2017 Well, we finally put to bed an absolute nightmare of a summer, most of it my own fault. Most of the incoming fees are over a great period of time. Pretty happy with the outgoing deals. Didn't want to sell Schuurs, mind. We don't have many Dutch left in the squad which is an issue, and we'll probably struggle with a limited Europa squad because of it. Eteme will be a fantastic BTB one day. Zarate is one of the ones I'm most excited about, he has the foundations of a deadly striker and a professional personality with it. He's started dreadfully though! I really like this guy, a key player. Hoping his long shooting will kill stubborn defences. Lucky he was transfer listed at Feyernoord. Not quite ready for the first team, and we should be squeezing every penny, but wanted to undercut some big sides. Two year loan, and a 200k option to buy, should he do well. Needs some work, and his personality is meh, yet still a clear upgrade at CB. We know all about this lad, Shia be praised, but he's struggling to adapt so far. He has too much quality to not come good. A wonderkid of the past, he's not quite that here, but still a good young player. Having a targetman is always useful too. Started on fire, 6 in 6. Gumbau is fighting for the defensive playmaker spot, As is Febas. I like Febas the better, but his passing needs work. I was especially excited about this fellow, and wanted to play his as some kind of support striker, using his dribbling and flair to carve defences. Been an absolute disaster so far, though! I'd been scouting this fellow, and thought it was all over when Spurs bid and PSG were interested. He rejected Spurs! SO we popped a bid in and though it was difficult, made it happen. That was our money gone, but on deadline day, the board gave me an extra 800k to play with and our strikers mostly disappointed and we've made one more big deal. I'm expecting a lot from the great Dane, he has a lot of quality and should excel at either the point of attack or the support striker. I need to decide whether to try and train him to break offside traps, Ars used that PPM to devastating effect last year and Berg is in a similar mould, but it could hurt his effectiveness in the support role. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 Is Goodwin John Nigerian by any chance? I know he came from Parma, and at 16, he's probably Italian but does he have a second nationality? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 9, 2017 Author Share Posted April 9, 2017 1 minute ago, kidthekid said: Is Goodwin John Nigerian by any chance? I know he came from Parma, and at 16, he's probably Italian but does he have a second nationality? Nigerian first, Italian second, born in Nigeria. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 9, 2017 Author Share Posted April 9, 2017 I forgot! The Europa group we drew as Austria Wien, Krasnodar and Man City... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 9, 2017 Author Share Posted April 9, 2017 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deisler26 Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 On 08/04/2017 at 16:43, BoxToBox said: This is becoming a frustrating summer, I mean I've found *some* deals, but there's a lot less quality available than I expected, and a lot of the players who are willing, are unaffordable. There's a centre back I want for example, but he'd cost about 5m, he's an 18 year old Argentine who's already Eredivisie quality, and doubtless world class potential wise. He'll join too. The issue is, we have 890k to spend, I can pump this up to 2m if I chuck my entire 24k wage surplus. We also have a player sale ongoing for 1m, of which we'd get 700k added to the kitty. I can structure the deal that it'd cost 1.7m of the budget and they've accepted, that's with 3.5m over 48 months. So, the deal is doable. What concerns me though is, the clubs current balance is 3m, and is valued at 10m, so it'd be quite irresponsible to spend 5m on a single player, that the club would be paying off for years. On the other hand, I do know we will enter the Europa at the group stage. That's another 2-2.5m in the bank in August....... I'm confused, I'm not sure if I'm trying to talk myself out of this, or into it..... It is exactly how I suffer at RKC. Look to your youth system. Pump cash in there, get loans, survive. Leeuwenburgh is a cracking keeper. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 Henk de Jong is smokin' the good stuff in Amsterdam, I see. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 8 minutes ago, Deisler26 said: It is exactly how I suffer at RKC. Look to your youth system. Pump cash in there, get loans, survive. Leeuwenburgh is a cracking keeper. I need to give Leeuwenburgh more of a chance, mostly been playing Fulignati, who's been doing well to be fair. 5 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said: Henk de Jong is smokin' the good stuff in Amsterdam, I see. Some chance he's been passing it around the training ground too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 This question always gets my goat, as if we're after oil-balling the league. Sure, we've spent 9m, and we'll be paying most of that off for the next 5 years, our actual net spend for this season is 839k somehow, which is still 3rd highest. The only reason Ajax aren't on top after spending 35m on players, is PSG pinched two off them for 60m, ffs! Also, we're paying about 2m per year in wages total, compared to Ajax spending 23m.... It's definitely us that's making it rain, though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
withnail316 Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 On 08/04/2017 at 16:43, BoxToBox said: This is becoming a frustrating summer, I mean I've found *some* deals, but there's a lot less quality available than I expected, and a lot of the players who are willing, are unaffordable. There's a centre back I want for example, but he'd cost about 5m, he's an 18 year old Argentine who's already Eredivisie quality, and doubtless world class potential wise. He'll join too. The issue is, we have 890k to spend, I can pump this up to 2m if I chuck my entire 24k wage surplus. We also have a player sale ongoing for 1m, of which we'd get 700k added to the kitty. I can structure the deal that it'd cost 1.7m of the budget and they've accepted, that's with 3.5m over 48 months. So, the deal is doable. What concerns me though is, the clubs current balance is 3m, and is valued at 10m, so it'd be quite irresponsible to spend 5m on a single player, that the club would be paying off for years. On the other hand, I do know we will enter the Europa at the group stage. That's another 2-2.5m in the bank in August....... I'm confused, I'm not sure if I'm trying to talk myself out of this, or into it..... Moneyball is the way forward in Holland, man. Who is your most saleable, non-homegrown player? Sell him on for a huge sum, but obviously not to another Dutch side. Then get some young kids from around the world in, preferably those who can become homegrown in a few years to help with your European squad restrictions. The great thing about the Eredivisie is you can make some outrageous fees for your players, so it's daft not to take advantage of that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 1 minute ago, withnail316 said: Moneyball is the way forward in Holland, man. Who is your most saleable, non-homegrown player? Sell him on for a huge sum, but obviously not to another Dutch side. Then get some young kids from around the world in, preferably those who can become homegrown in a few years to help with your European squad restrictions. The great thing about the Eredivisie is you can make some outrageous fees for your players, so it's daft not to take advantage of that. I'll be happy to moneyball eventually, just need a little time, practically all my squad is only here six months. Europa was a nightmare, often only had 5 on the bench, but we made it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 Miracles in the league at the midseason break. PSV look a state, but they have two games at hand. Two losses to Man City, but an otherwise excellent showing. Sporting Club Portugal in the knock outs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjoe Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Catching up here. Nice signings and very solid run in the league. Like what I'm seeing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 11, 2017 Author Share Posted April 11, 2017 January was a bit crap. Couple of my players upset because I rejected crap bids from Porto and PSG, so not much strengthening happened. Mostly lads on amateur contracts that I wasn't pushed about losing. Few pre-arranged deals we were waiting on, the start of trying to bring in the Irish, we already have a Norn in the U-19's that looks far closer to being the real deal, though. Husband is the big deal. Heck of a wingback. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 7 minutes ago, BoxToBox said: Husband is the big deal. Heck of a wingback. He definitely looks the business, man. I'd get him set up to push forward and launch some crosses (duh...), he'll be massive in the Dutch league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 11, 2017 Author Share Posted April 11, 2017 15 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said: He definitely looks the business, man. I'd get him set up to push forward and launch some crosses (duh...), he'll be massive in the Dutch league. That's exactly what I want, wingbacks are pretty much expected to be massive threats going forwards. He has the aggressive style of play I love. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 11, 2017 Author Share Posted April 11, 2017 Youth Intake Day! Speaking of wingbacks..... We have a pair of lads there, the top two that I'm really happy with. Keeper might not be complete rubbish either, but the rest are and only the ones with high professionalism will be kept for squad personality balancing issues. This! This is the guy! One of the most exciting prospects I've seen in a save, I don't think I've ever had such a naturally pure wingback show up in an intake before of a team I've managed. Tidy looking finisher, may not be special, but will eventually be able to contribute. A club grown squad option is always good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 11, 2017 Author Share Posted April 11, 2017 Great season in the end, couldn't keep up with Ajax, but 2nd is far better than I was planning at the start of the season. Got punked in the cup by a Jupiler side after we rotated the squad too much. Europa was excellent, we made it out of the groups, beat Sporting Portugal 3-2 on agg. We were demolished 6-2 agg by Sevilla in the next round, but a good showing on the whole, Man City beat Athletic in the final. The Eredivisie had dropped to 14th in rank after the first season, which is why our CL run starts in the early qualifiers, even Ajax don't go straight to the groups! It's hopped back up to 9th after this season, probably mainly due to Ajax making the Europa semis. RKC have come dead last in the Jupiler this season, disappointingly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Bravo How is the Argentine cb doing? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 11, 2017 Author Share Posted April 11, 2017 2 hours ago, kidthekid said: Bravo How is the Argentine cb doing? Cheers! He's well on the way to being an absolute monster. Rough start to the season but he picked up form and was a key player as the season went on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 I'm so incredibly jealous of your intakes... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 12, 2017 Author Share Posted April 12, 2017 Market is closed for the summer, and it'd been quite the weird one. I expected to be batting off the bids as we have a lot of exciting young players, but it never really happened. I knew we were losing key player N'Goyi, as the deal was arranged in January, so I blew my budget replacing him with an absolutely stellar midfielder. Then it was just a case of a few pre arranged transfers landing until we got the CL money, and the board upped my budget a little, so I picked up some keepers, as that's going to be an issue in the near future, and a mid that I picked for homegrown regulations, as it's another season of running shorthanded in Europe(and will be regardless). Thought I was done at that, but with two hours on the clock, Anderlecht came in for Gustafson and he wanted to discuss terms, so I sanctioned a deal after some negotiation with Anderlecht. In a rush to replace him, I did pick up an Argie player who looks quite a prospect, but probably not ready or quite at Gustafson's level yet, and I probably overpaid too... AMC is actually going to be a position of weakness short term, but in January there are a pair of real nice Columbian AMCs joining up. Besides Gustafson, Lenihan was let go because it was a fair offer, and I knew I already had replacements in hand. Gumbau was just outclassed by Febas in the end, so he makes way for homegrown depth. Even though we paid quite a lot of money by our standards, he's a steal. He's very well rounded, but not only being an excellent ball winner, or box to box, he's better than Febas as a DLP. Febas doesn't have the aggression to be a ball winner or the attacking intent that Yuri has, so he'll remain the playmaker and Yuri will be a ball winner or box to box. Hossain was just an opportunity I was alerted to by his agent, couldn't say no, but I expected to handily pick up a loan for him. That didn't happen so he's retraining as an AMC since he won't really fit the squad otherwise. Were he a lefty, I'd have almost took a punt at LWB. Calabresi is depth at CB. Was actually a bit better than this when signed, attributes have taken a dip. He'll surely recover, and hopefully go past that, he's still very young. Vicente is going to be a monster wingback one day, he's not bad as is, really, just needs to work on his attacking skills. Dario could have been the ball winner if I didn't pull off the Yuri deal(this was already long set), but now he'll be a wingback. Luckily enough I'd have been working on developing the same attributes(off the ball especially) for either role, so playing as one won't hurt his prospective development in the other. An cracking looking keeper prospect I'm glad I managed to pinch from Sparta's academy. I definitely overpaid for Carel, but I'm expecting a good holding playmaker out of him. Valentin is goalkeeping depth, he has a well rounded set of skills, he could be starter before the season is over. The Italian on loan isn't much interested in joining us now, wanting 16 grand a week, so why waste time with him that I can use on the guys I expect to be here next season, Cojocaru and Leeuwenburgh? Ramiro was a rash buy, of course he was with the deadline looming large, but he has a lot of the tools in his locker to be a great AMC. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano16 Posted April 12, 2017 Share Posted April 12, 2017 How do you set up you're scouting to find such good prospects? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 12, 2017 Author Share Posted April 12, 2017 32 minutes ago, Keano16 said: How do you set up you're scouting to find such good prospects? A combination of having the countries on scout and knowing which clubs to keep a close eye on. Watching the hot prospects of the likes of Danubio, Boca, ASEC, Ajax, Athletic, NYCFC's youth team, etc, and the academies like FFA COE, INF Clairfontaine and USDA. Some are random punts that look decent that may or may not come good, also undercutting big clubs. If you see Man Utd, PSG etc bidding on some random centre back in a Portuguese 2nd division side, chances are he's a star in the making and it's worth throwing your hat in the mix. Usually very cheap even if you have to overpay in wages to get them to pick you over a bigger club. It's part scattergun, the ones that don't develop can always be sold for a bit of a profit later on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 13, 2017 Author Share Posted April 13, 2017 Well that's crap, Berg is a key player. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjoe Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Ouch. Not what you'd wish for when he is that dominant. A really good player for the future but how does the depth look without him the next 4 months? Yuri is complete and I fancy your rash buy, Ramiro quite a bit! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 13, 2017 Author Share Posted April 13, 2017 Plenty of depth, especially since Hossain Sheikh Soleimani can cover at striker, been a bit of a boon for him, getting more football than looked likely. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 13, 2017 Author Share Posted April 13, 2017 Usually, when you chuck in swear words, you get "launched into a string of expletives" message, I was surprised to see the actual message come through! Anyway, he kept in on it, saying they were much better than us, who are not only competing in the CL, but also four points ahead of them with two games in hand. Henk has been sharing his stash with Jean-Paul. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 At least this is an actual "war of words". Many times, FM comes up with this ridiculous idea that you verbally attacked the opposing manager when you didn't say anything. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted April 13, 2017 Author Share Posted April 13, 2017 Vicente broke his foot, and Ramiro strained his knee ligaments, along with my other right wingback picking up a two week knock at the start of November, right before a crucial CL game, and we're putting up a title challenge.... Any more injuries and we're in trouble. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjoe Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 Sounds like your team could use a witch doctor to cure the injuries! Looking forward to seeing how the title challenge is working out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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