This Saint Gonna Be Easy: Ch. V - Endgame

[john1]

1 hour ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said:

Oh Christ, I just noticed this now. Looks like we'll be taking the 'win' out of winter...

Ouch  

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

1 hour ago, john1 said:

Ouch  

The title of this thread will become painfully relevant.

[john1]

14 hours ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said:

The title of this thread will become painfully relevant.

Indeed  I am hoping you can pick up points against few of them.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

Found this lad after the transfer window and met his 600k compensation fee. That fee came with add-ons such as 15% profit from next sale and future add-ons which may see it rise to £1.6M. Still a bit of a steal from us. Imagine him partnering Cléberson in a few years time. Matic will join on 1/1/2021.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

This happened after the second game of September.

Injuries are piling up for us this season. If this is what it's like in September, imagine what December will be like...

[john1]

20 minutes ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said:

Found this lad after the transfer window and met his 600k compensation fee. That fee came with add-ons such as 15% profit from next sale and future add-ons which may see it rise to £1.6M. Still a bit of a steal from us. Imagine him partnering Cléberson in a few years time. Matic will join on 1/1/2021.

He looks pretty decent, what does scout report on him?

[john1]

15 minutes ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said:

This happened after the second game of September.

Injuries are piling up for us this season. If this is what it's like in September, imagine what December will be like...

Dreadful timing  

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

7 minutes ago, john1 said:

He looks pretty decent, what does scout report on him?

They're telling me he has 5 star potential. They rate him as an 84/100 and they think he'd a very good signing for us. He's considered to have 2 star CA. They don't like his inconsistency and his competitive streak (15 aggression). They say “Currently operating at a Sky Bet League One level. He could improve a lot in the future. Would be a quality signing.”

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

16 minutes ago, john1 said:

Dreadful timing  

It is 

I'm pretty sure Goretzka will miss that really bad run of fixtures we have as a result.

[oneronaldo]

20 hours ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said:

Oh Christ, I just noticed this now. Looks like we'll be taking the 'win' out of winter...

**** 'em, they score 3 you score 4. Go full Kevin Keegan on their arses.

[Adonalsium]

This might be the start of a winless streak... what terrible news.

Get it... winter... 

Goretzka injured, damn. I started a Saints career recently, by the way, inspired by this one! I just bought a few young talents, plus Ashley Young to fill in as a wingback and a midfielder who I'd later retrain into a wingback role (speaking of youth Predrag Rajkovic is going to be one beast of a future goalie for me...)

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

11 minutes ago, Adonalsium said:

This might be the start of a winless streak... what terrible news.

Get it... winter... 

Goretzka injured, damn. I started a Saints career recently, by the way, inspired by this one! I just bought a few young talents, plus Ashley Young to fill in as a wingback and a midfielder who I'd later retrain into a wingback role (speaking of youth Predrag Rajkovic is going to be one beast of a future goalie for me...)

 Well played.

Glad to see I've inspired someone with this thread. I'll keep an eye out for yours. As for Rajkovic, I actually came in for him before I signed Pau Lopez. Unfortunately, so did PSG. The choice was obvious for him. Good luck on your save. 

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

September Update:

So I know there's one result which stands out here. You can blame Widmayer for that one.

Newcastle (H): G. Mario Lemina   A. James Ward-Prowse

We started off the month with a win over a team who I consider to be our unofficial rivals. I've nothing against them in real life but I hate them in this save. Mainly because the ****ers have been chasing our best players since getting their tycoon takeover. We took the lead early when Mario Lemina side-footed home from close range after JWP chipped in a pass from a previously blocked free kick. We peppered their goal for the rest of the half with nothing to show for it. They got back into a bit more in the second half but couldn't find a way back. JWP was immense in this game. He was popping up everywhere with the ball. Lemina hobbled off injured after twisting his ankle on 51' as you can see from the 7th post above this.

Sunderland (A): G. Jack Stephens  A. James Ward-Prowse

We then played the other team of the Tyne-Wear derby with an away match to Newcastle. Again, we controlled the game and came away with a win to show for it. From the start, we were getting into their box consistently but were very profligate in front of goal. We took the lead through an unlikely source when Jack Stephens nodded home on 38' from a James Ward-Prowse corner. First time we've scored from a corner in ages. The rest of the game was largely uneventful and we came away with a win. Getting two clean sheets back to back was very satisfying.

Brentford (A): G. Omar Abdel Halim  A. Callum Slattery

I played a very rotated side for this and let Widmayer manage it as it was the Carabao Cup. Some of the kids got a go, such as Slattery and Halim. If you don't remember Halim, he was the first regen we signed and that was in January of my second season. As I said at the top, let's just all agree to blame this all on Widmayer. We took the lead on 18' when Halim got his first goal on his first starting appearance (but not his debut due to a substitute cameo last month) for the club. Slattery got the assist, also making his debut. Canos pulled one back for them on 39' before Alan Judge gave them a surprise lead on 76'. Judge then tucked home a penalty on 90+6' to consign us to defeat. This was really our only chance to win the silverware that we promised Goretzka so he's gonna be pissed off.

Watford (H): G. Khouma Babacar (2)  A. Cedric, Ryan Bertrand

We deserved more out of this one but, as we have done many times before, we ****ed it up late on. After a back-and-forth first half hour, Nathaniel Chalobah gave them the lead on 34'. We then pulled one back from kick-off for the second half as Cedric sent in a low cross for Babacar to slot home. Just a minute later, we scored again with our other full back, Ryan Bertrand, assisting Khouma Babacar with a lovely through ball. Unfortunately, no one does bottlejobs like we do bottlejobs and we threw it away on 76'. Who got the equaliser? Who else but Backstabbiadini who got his first Watford goal. If you're wondering what my reaction was, check my username...

Key Points:

• So many injuries
• Fairly good month except for the Carabao Cup result
• **** Gabbiadini
• James Ward-Prowse appears to be back on form.
• Due to his bad form, we dropped Tarkowski at the start of the month and replaced him with Stephens who had been very good.
• Bakayoko and Meyer have been a little underwhelming. To be fair, they're still trying to gel with the squad.

League Table:

We're doing alright. Nothing outstanding but we've been fairly solid. We're in the top half which is keeping the board happy. We're on course which is pleasing. In other PL news, United are struggling early on whilst Sunderland have made a flying start on their return to the top flight. Everton are in some good early form while Newcastle and Leicester are performing slightly below par. Still very early days yet though.

 

 

 

[kidthekid]

11 hours ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said:

Found this lad after the transfer window and met his 600k compensation fee. That fee came with add-ons such as 15% profit from next sale and future add-ons which may see it rise to £1.6M. Still a bit of a steal from us. Imagine him partnering Cléberson in a few years time. Matic will join on 1/1/2021.

LEADERSHIP OF 1, 

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

10 minutes ago, kidthekid said:

LEADERSHIP OF 1, 

I'll get it retrained to 20 in no time. Same with that 12 jumping reach. He'll be all over the Balon D'Ors in no time.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

Michael was beginning to miss his former assistant manager. Despite only working with him for two years, Orlando had become a close of friend of his. Someone he could have a laugh with at training. Someone who he could rant about his players with after training. He was what you wanted in an assistant manager. Orlando was trustful, hard-working and tactically astute. He didn't blame him for wanting to leave. West Ham were offering higher wages and were looking like a club on the up.

Rainer just wasn't the same. He was very serious. Michael couldn't have a laugh with him. To be fair, he had barely any English so there wasn't a lot he  could joke about. He'd tried to moan about some of his players to Rainer after the Watford result but he wouldn't reciprocate. Probably thought it was a test of his loyalty or something. Still though, Rainer might loosen up as time goes on. Orlando had been pretty tense in his first few months.

As for Michael himself, he was just staying away from social media since the Brentford result. He had no desire to know what their fans or indeed their rivals' fans were saying. Krueger had made sure to inform him the day after though, the ****er. He had been hoping they could bounce back at home to Watford. But no. They conceded a late goal to a player King had insisted on selling. So instead of redemption, all they got was more taunts and a spot on ‘Top Ten Football ****-Ups.’ 

These were meant to be the easy games and they were dropping points. He was dreading what November and December would bring...

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

October Update:

I don't know what happened. I really don't.

West Brom (A): G. Luciano Vietto  A. None

We started off the month with an away match versus a very in-form West Brom side. And we got absolutely ****ed. Chadli would give them the lead in the first half, netting the opener after 17 minutes when Bertrand left him unmarked at the back post. Bertrand made the exact same mistake again on 54' and, lo and behold, Nacer Chadli popped up again to put them 2 up. We began to really push them for a goal after that but we couldn't get anything out of them. They hit us on the break on 90' and Gaku Shiibisaki (yeah, I've never heard of him either) sank us by getting their third. We ended up pulling one back on 90+4' when Vietto blasted home from  a pinballing corner. Awful from us.

Burnley (H): G. Mario Lemina, Khouma Babacar  A. Khouma Babacar, Charlie Austin

Bottlejob. No other way to put it. We started off brightly and created a few chances of our own before they took the lead slightly against the run of play. Paulo Oliveira got it on 31' from close range. We fought back and equalised quickly Babacar found Lemina on the edge of the box and he blasted it home on 36'. We then took the lead on 69' when Babacar turned from provider to goalscorer after a clever cross from Charlie Austin. We then threw away our lead on shortly after on 72' when Grégoire Defrel knocked one in to make it 2-2 from a Robbie Brady cross. They then got the winner on 74' when Defrel scored his second of the game. It was a 4-minute lapse of concentration but it turned 3 points into none.

West Ham (A): G. Maximilian Meyer  A. None

Given our form, I really didn't know what to expect from this one. We looked to retain possession in this one just a slight change of tactic and it seemed to be working. We were dominating the game from early on and we were rewarded when a JWP cross was headed clear as far as Meyer who tucked it into the bottom corner for his first Southampton goal. We got a few more chances in the second half which we didn't take and ended up ruing. Scott Sinclair volleyed home from a few yards out after a poorly cleared corner on 81' to earn a draw for the Hammers. They could've won it on 83' when Wallace gave up a penalty. Thankfully, Forster was able to deny Sinclair from the spot. Our concentration in the last 20 minutes of games is awful.

Key Points:

• We're dropping a lot of points ahead of our awful run of fixtures.
• I mightn't even be in the job long enough to navigate that run of fixtures at this rate.
• None of our strikers are in great form.
• Lemina is a very important player for us.
• We really miss Goretzka's creativity.
• What an utterly depressing month.
• JWP's faded away a bit.
• Forster, Lemina and Wallace are our only consistently good players. Stephens is doing fairly well too I suppose.

[john1]

Awful  Hopefully you can pick up points in November! 

Edited December 30, 2017 by john1

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

1 hour ago, john1 said:

Awful  Hopefully you can pick up points in November! 

It truly was dreadful. I'll hope that we improve.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

Um... Cheers? That would be good if we didn't have just £3M in our balance. Which begs the question: Exactly what improvement in the club's financial position do they think happened?

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

24th November 2019, 12.00

Michael sat before the board waiting to discuss his future as a manager like he had around this time two years ago. But this time, it wasn't with the Southampton board.

And a job was being offered, not threatened.

David Griffiths, the Welsh FA's president sat before him along with 2 other members of the board, one on each side of Griffiths. He broke the silence.

"Thank you for coming here today, Michael. Look, I'm not going to beat around the bush here. We, as you probably guessed, would like to offer you the job of becoming the new manager of the Welsh national team. We've a good squad, some bright looking youngsters and you would earn £28.5k per week on top of what you earn at Southampton." Griffiths paused as he awaited Michael's response.

Michael was rather mystified. Why him? Of all people, why him? He hadn't even applied. They just approached him. He was apprehensive but also quite tempted. This might be a chance to further his reputation. To think, he'd only gotten into management with a short-term view. Just be the Southampton manager, enjoy the fame and fortune while he could and try to stay in the job as long as he could and here he was being offered the Wales job!

"Well David, that's a very tempting offer. You've certainly got a great squad. There's some Premier League stars in there. And there's no Southampton players, so I wouldn't be accused of bias.", Michael replied.

"And it would give you the chance to increase your reputation", said David, as though he had read Michael's mind. He then added "And I know how much you like signing youngsters. I can promise you that you'd have first choice on signing and Welsh youngsters because they'd look up to you so much."

"There's certainly a lot of pros to taking this job...", Michael responded, thinking out loud more than anything. Griffiths beamed, confident he'd gotten his man.

"I'm surprised you haven't mentioned the main perk of the job though", Michael said.

"Oh?", queried Griffiths, "And what would that be?"

"Gareth Bale of course! He's the type of player any manager would want to work with. Honestly, getting to work with a player like him is the main reason I'm considering taking this job"

"Michael..."

"I mean the squad is kind of average other than him but with Bale in there, we can-"

"Michael, listen..."

"go on to achieve great things. I'd be fairly pessimistic about our chances without a player like-"

"MICHAEL!", Griffiths half-yelled.

Michael jumped. "What is it?", he asked.

"Gareth Bale retired from international football five days ago. He wouldn't be at your disposal."

An awkward silence fills the room.

"Riiiiight", responded Michael. He now looked a lot more unsure.

"We still have Ramsey and Woodburn and Allen...", Griffiths responded, aware that he was now fighting a losing battle.

"I hope you don't mind me asking this but I wasn't your first choice, was I?", Michael ventured.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, I'm employed for a start. I've never managed internationally, I've been average at club level and and I've no connection with Wales."

Griffiths frowned. "Admittedly, no, you weren't first choice. You were 7th in fact. The other 6 backed out after they heard about Bale. They, uh, Baled out", Griffiths said, chuckling feebly.

Michael didn't bother laughing. "Listen David, I appreciate the offer but..."

"But you're going to decline just like the rest of them. Well, that's fine. You were 7th choice, we didn't even want you. You're not even a good manager, you're doing **** this season and you'll probably be sacked come January. In fact, you know what?"

Michael got up from his chair and began to walk towards the door. Griffiths didn't appear to notice.

"This is a blessing in disguise really. So we're glad you didn't take this job, we don't want someone of your caliber in charge.", Griffiths ranted, continuing his outburst. Michael had his hand on the door handle.

"In fact, I should thank you for declining", Griffiths raged. Michael had one foot out the door. "So thank you Michael for declining because you've saved us the hassle of firing you in a few months time anyway", Griffiths continued, oblivious to the fact that Michael had left. The two men either side of Michael had said nothing this entire time and they continued to stay silent. They fiddled awkwardly, waiting for Griffiths to finish his rant, both unsure if they should mention that King had left already.

"WE DON'T WANT YOU SO YOU CAN **** OFF BACK TO SOUTHAMPTON WHERE YOU'LL BE SACKED BY NEW YEAR." Griffiths collapsed back into his chair, his outrage having finally abated.

Michael just about caught the last line of this long tirade as he walked down the hallway to exit the building and go back home. Thank God, he thought, he had not taken the job. He was already working under one ******** in Krueger, he couldn't imagine what working under two would be like. Besides, he wasn't ready for international management. Southampton was enough stress, he didn't want the weight of an entire country's expectations on top of that. And he liked working at Southampton. If he had one eye on Wales, it would surely detract from his work managing the Saints.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So, I declined the Wales job. I've tried managing club and country before on FM17 and I've not enjoyed it. It is handy for tempting youngsters into joining you but, so far, all of their regens in the Under 18's and Under 21's are ****. I didn't even apply so I've no idea why they offered it to me anyway. I'll be staying focused on Southampton.

[ManUtd1]

I was hoping you'd take it on, just to continue the top-notch narrative, but can understand!

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

1 hour ago, ManUtd1 said:

I was hoping you'd take it on, just to continue the top-notch narrative, but can understand!

Thanks man. 

It certainly would've had a lot of narrative potential, you're right about that. To be honest, if Bale was still there or if they had some promising youngsters I would've been quite tempted. But their squad is very mediocre and I've enough on my plate trying to keep my head above water at Southampton this season. 

[ManUtd1]

17 minutes ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said:

Thanks man. 

It certainly would've had a lot of narrative potential, you're right about that. To be honest, if Bale was still there or if they had some promising youngsters I would've been quite tempted. But their squad is very mediocre and I've enough on my plate trying to keep my head above water at Southampton this season. 

Fair enough. Managing a national side with little potential is brutal, no question.

[kidthekid]

That was brilliant. 

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

8 hours ago, kidthekid said:

That was brilliant. 

Cheers 

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

November Update:

Not bad except for the result against City. They've a very stacked squad so I expected a beating, I just didn't think it would be quite that bad.

Bournemouth (H):

It looks bad but, to be fair, the result didn't quite reflect the match fairly.* We controlled the match the match from start to finish but our end product was just very lacking. We found ourselves in their box a lot for the first half but just had nothing to show for it come the half-time whistle. We just kept hitting them straight into Begovic's arms. And the second half was the same story except they actually punished our profligacy. A low cross from the right wing on 74' saw Wallace divert the ball past Forster and into his own goal. We lost to our rivals, we deserved to win and it continued our poor run of form. Gutting.

Middlesbrough (A): G. Kasper Dolberg, Maximilian Meyer (2)  A. Dusan Tadic, Mario Lemina, Khouma Babacar

The Bournemouth result was the straw that broke the camel's back regards our current tactic. We changed up to something slightly different** and got a very pleasing result to show for it. I thought our poor run of form would continue when Theo Bogonda gave them the lead on 5' from a breakaway counter attack. This gave us the kick we needed and we went on to dominate the game. Our equaliser came on 34' when Kasper Dolberg struck after a Tadic through ball. We then took the lead just 5 minutes later when Meyer blasted one home from just inside the box after a Lemina pass. We continued to run the show, with them unable to launch any decent attacks. Then, on 85', Meyer struck again after Babacar played him in. A very encouraging performance.

Leicester (H): G. Kasper Dolberg  A. Dusan Tadic

I'm not entirely sure how to feel about this. On one hand, you could say we should've done better given the poor form they were in. On the other hand, it's a good result given the strength of their squad. So I guess that means a draw is fair game. They got first blood when Christian Fuchs (the contributor to the first part of my username) scored from a free kick on 33', curling it over the wall from some 25 yards out. We played fairly well and were able to pull one back on 57' when Tadic found Dolberg in the area where he would convert from close range. We played quite well but so did they so a draw is fair. Not a good result but not a bad one either.

Man City (A): G. James Ward-Prowse  A. Leon Goretzka

They were first at the time.

It was at the Emptyhad.

They have KDB, Gotze, Pulisic, Sanchez, Aguero, Nzonzi and more.

Now that the excuses have been made, here's what happened. We looked to hit them on the counter and frustrate them. Boy did that go well. We held our own valiantly for the first 20 minutes but then gave up the opener on 23' when Gotze met a cross at the back post. This dented the lads' confidence and they were able to get another on 33' when Pulisic cut inside and blasted one into the corner. We then found our defending boots again and held them to no more goals until the 75th minute where it all went to ****. Gabriel Jesus got their third goal on 75' after Gotze slid him in on goal. Marquinhos nodded in from a corner just 5 minutes later to put us 4 down. We then looked set to escape with a scrap of dignity on 90+2' when James Ward-Prowse was found on the edge of the box by Goretzka and JWP blasted home a beauty into the top corner. We then conceded from another corner a minute later when Bertrand turned it past his own keeper on 90+3'. Horrible.

Key Points:

• We look a lot better under this new tactic. More in control.
• Dolberg is coming into some good form.
• If we play against the remaining big sides like we did against City, we'll be ****ed.
• I think it was just an anomaly though.
• We need to pick up more wins or I'll be gone.
• Tadic is picking up a few assists which is nice.

League Table:

It looks worse than it is. We're only 5 points off fifth place so anything could happen yet. OK, we're only 4 clear off relegation too but let's just ignore that...

Elsewhere in the league, United are struggling badly while City are seeing some daylight between themselves and Chelsea in second. Also, the three newly promoted teams currently find themselves in the relegation zone. Ouch.

*

**

Only a minor injury for Wallace if you were wondering. This is slightly out of date too. Tweaked it slightly after the City game. The BBM is actually a carrilero while the AM (Su) is actually an AM (At). In turn, the AP drops from an Attack duty to a Support role. Also, Dolberg will start ahead of Vietto.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

Well, well, well. There's a turnaround compared to the first season.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

[noikeee]

Oh dear, this season is going a bit wrong here.

I think the issue might be that you're trying to effectively exploit the center with the tactics, specially with players rushing from deep, that doesn't work anywhere near as well in this FM than in the previous version. Maybe it can still be done if done well, but it needs to be absolutely spot on. You've got very little wide threat, with only the 2 fullbacks (on support!) and then "play narrower" on top of it, I don't think the Mezzala's wide movement is anywhere near enough to compensate for that. Play narrower works spectacularly well with wingers (classic or inverted), because it pushes them to this band on just the outside of the area where things become super dangerous in this ME (also the reason why using 2 or 3 strikers works great, they drift wide); but without wingers and with such a narrow formation I see little reason to further cram the players laterally.

Furthermore I think it's hard to get things working on the more cautious mentalities such as counter, and your formation isn't very suited to that type of game IMO. Although you're using "close down much more" so probably you're not that deep, but I'd advice against sitting deep on that formation as that would just open up a highway for the opposition fullbacks.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

41 minutes ago, noikeee said:

Oh dear, this season is going a bit wrong here.

I think the issue might be that you're trying to effectively exploit the center with the tactics, specially with players rushing from deep, that doesn't work anywhere near as well in this FM than in the previous version. Maybe it can still be done if done well, but it needs to be absolutely spot on. You've got very little wide threat, with only the 2 fullbacks (on support!) and then "play narrower" on top of it, I don't think the Mezzala's wide movement is anywhere near enough to compensate for that. Play narrower works spectacularly well with wingers (classic or inverted), because it pushes them to this band on just the outside of the area where things become super dangerous in this ME (also the reason why using 2 or 3 strikers works great, they drift wide); but without wingers and with such a narrow formation I see little reason to further cram the players laterally.

Furthermore I think it's hard to get things working on the more cautious mentalities such as counter, and your formation isn't very suited to that type of game IMO. Although you're using "close down much more" so probably you're not that deep, but I'd advice against sitting deep on that formation as that would just open up a highway for the opposition fullbacks.

So I should go to a more balanced width and set my mentality to something like Control? It says Counter in the pic but I usually play on Standard.

[noikeee]

29 minutes ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said:

So I should go to a more balanced width and set my mentality to something like Control? It says Counter in the pic but I usually play on Standard.

A more balanced width sounds like a good idea, but I haven't played a formation like that in FM18 so don't know how to pull it off. I suspect it might be tricky...

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

29 minutes ago, noikeee said:

A more balanced width sounds like a good idea, but I haven't played a formation like that in FM18 so don't know how to pull it off. I suspect it might be tricky...

Yeah, it can be difficult to get the balance right. I had a lot of success on FM17 with narrow formations so I'm trying to create a good one in FM18.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

Lovely stuff. I even manged to sneak in 3 year extension á la @ManUtd1. He'll be here at least until he's 23. His determination has gone up to 14 since that tutelage under Pau Lopez. Currently have Forster tutoring him.

Edited January 2, 2018 by Fer Fuchs Ake
Ii -> I

[ManUtd1]

You get an extension! And you get an extension! Three-year extensions for everybody!!!!

[BoxToBox]

"Optional....."

[noikeee]

*insert obligatory "don't forget, you're here forever"*

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

December Update:

A lot better.

Man Utd (H): G. Kasper Dolberg (3)  A. Leon Goretzka, Mario Lemina

We started off December with an incredible victory over Manchester United. We bounced back superbly from the 5-1 loss to City. Kasper Dolberg got a penalty on 8', only to fire at straight at De Gea who parried it away. Thankfully, he blasted home the rebound to give us a great start. He then doubled his and our tally on 10' when Goretzka found him just inside the box and Dolberg rifled it into the bottom corner. Mauro Icardi got one back for them on 15' when he nodded home from a Mkhitaryan cross. We killed the game off on 29' when Lemina drifted out wide and found Dolberg with a low cross and he side-footed it home for his hat trick. We could've made it four in the second half when we had another penalty but Dolberg's effort was saved again by De Gea. Very pleasing win.

Tottenham (A):

Well, we gave a good showing of ourselves given the opposition and that it was an away match. It was a very open game which saw them have 20 shots and us 15. It was a cagey affair for the first 15 minutes but they gradually began to get on top more and more. They made the pressure tell on 27' when Eriksen buried an Alderweireld cross from close range. We got into the game more after that and certainly gave them a run for their money but it just wasn't to be.

Liverpool (H): G. Kasper Dolberg  A. Yan Valery

I didn't expect any points but we were agonisingly close to getting all three. They had the better of the game in terms of shots and SOT but we enjoyed 63% of possession so both sides could claim to have deserved it. Yan Valery excelled in the full back role, deputising for the suspended Cedric. He was found out wide by Tadic on 42' where he would send in a beautiful cross to Dolberg who arrived at the back post to put us a goal up. Unfortunately, we appear to have surpassed Spurs in terms of bottlejobs and we threw it away at the last possible moment. Boring James Milner found Kramaric with a probing through ball on 90+3' and he leveled. Gutting.

Crystal Palace (H): G. Kasper Dolberg (2), Maximilian Meyer, Leon Goretzka  A. James Ward-Prowse, Maximilian Meyer, Mario Lemina

What a cracker of a game this was! Despite scoring four, we got all of ours before half time. Dolberg earned a penalty on 7' which he converted to give us the lead. Soon after, Henri Lansbury equalised for them on 13' after being played in behind the defence. James Ward-Prowse then hit a delightful cross to Meyer on 25' for him to restore our lead after he deftly spun his man in the box. We then got another two minutes later when Maximilian Meyer played a short pass to Dolberg who was lurking inside the area. He calmly slid it past Hart for 3-1. Their second was bizarre. Stephens intercepted a through ball and then ran it back into our box where he bumped into Forster, the ball spun away, they both stood there and Ings placed it into the back of the net on 32'. We got our final goal on 45+1' when Goretzka slotted it in from a lovely cross by Lemina. On 76', the final goal of the game came when Ladislav Krecji tapped home from a cross to the back post. We held on to claim an important 4-3 win.

Stoke (A): G. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg  A. Yan Valery

Not a bad result but not a good one either. Just average. I'd say we just about had the better of the game but not to the point where a draw was unfair. Hojbjerg got a rare start in this one as we rotated the squad due to our hectic schedule. He made full use of it too when, in what was a replica of Dolberg's goal against Liverpool, Tadic found Valery out wide who crossed for Hojbjerg to header in at the back post on 57'. Remember what I said about us being bottlers? Yeah, we conceded in the 83rd minute to come away with a point. The most gutting part was that Tarashaj scored the goal. At least he had the decency not to celebrate. Unlike a certain Backstabbiadini.

Key Points:

• Being a lone striker is suiting Dolberg.
• Meyer is beginning to really gel with the squad and he's getting a few goals and assists to show for it.
• We really need to play anti-football in the last 15 minutes. We're conceding way too many late goals.
• We did better against the big teams than I thought we would.
• Valery stepped up the plate when he played twice.
• We need to pick up wins now that the dodgy run of fixtures has passed.

In other news:

Edited January 3, 2018 by Fer Fuchs Ake

[oriole01]

Great to see the form heading back up. I think Dolberg has reached full potential for you here, what a player he's turning out to be! If you can continue to pick up points then you should be in good shape and make another challenge for Europe.

[john1]

Superb win over Man Utd  

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

2 hours ago, oriole01 said:

Great to see the form heading back up. I think Dolberg has reached full potential for you here, what a player he's turning out to be! If you can continue to pick up points then you should be in good shape and make another challenge for Europe.

Cheers Oriole. Dolberg at age 22 probably has reached his full potential and won't grow much more. He's developed into a fine well-rounded player and he's in great form. I think we're too inconsistent to get to Europe but we're certainly going in the right direction.

10 minutes ago, john1 said:

Superb win over Man Utd  

Cheers John. I was thrilled. It was so unexpected, especially off the back of the loss to City.

[BoxToBox]

3 minutes ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said:

Cheers Oriole. Dolberg at age 22 probably has reached his full potential and won't grow much more. He's developed into a fine well-rounded player and he's in great form. I think we're too inconsistent to get to Europe but we're certainly going in the right direction.

Any chance of a screenshot of him now, and while I'm being cheeky, Yann Valery to see how he'd developing?

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

12 hours ago, BoxToBox said:

Any chance of a screenshot of him now, and while I'm being cheeky, Yann Valery to see how he'd developing?

No bother.

Dolberg:

Valery:

[BoxToBox]

2 minutes ago, Fer Fuchs Ake said:

No bother.

Dolberg:

Valery:

Fantastic, cheers!

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

While I'm showing screenshots I may as well show you you all how our other best prospects are developing.

Omar Abdel Halim:

Luke Ryan:

Nikki Fraser:

Tom Askey:

If you don't remember, Ryan, Fraser and Askey are from last year's youth intake.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

January Update:

I didn't think we were doing badly. Not great but not too bad. You might be wondering why I'm not showing you all of January. You'll find out.

Everton (H): G. Leon Goretzka  A. Kasper Dolberg

Once again, we controlled the match only to throw it away by conceding a late goal. How many times are we going to do this? We started off strong and we were rewarded after half an hour. Kasper Dolberg found Goretzka who rifled one in on 30' to give us the lead. We continued to remain in control of the game though we couldn't finish any of our chances. Ultimately, we paid the price. Yannick Bolasie tapped home from a Sandro Ramirez pass on 85' to equalise for them. More dropped points due to another late goal.

Sunderland (A): G. Khouma Babacar, Tiémoué Bakayoko  A. Morgan Sanson, Omar Abdel Halim

The second string were tasked with defeating Sunderland, a side once again promoted to the top flight this season. We got off to a flying start on 6' when Morgan Sanson played in a lovely through ball to Babacar who slotted home to put us ahead. Jordan Ayew restored parity on 25' when he met an incisive pass into the box and swept it home. We took the lead just three minutes later when, on 28', Tiémoué Bakayoko blasted one in from just inside the box after a short pass from Halim. They would equalise on 65' when Solanke would turn from assister to goalscorer, meeting a low cross and stroking it home. We should've done better but we were away to a good side with our second string.

Arsenal (H): G. Kasper Dolberg  A. Leon Goretzka

Not a bad result here. I didn't think we'd come away with anything versus Arsenal. We held our own too with them just about having the better of the game. We took the lead after just four minutes when an accurate cross from Goretzka was met at the front post by Dolberg who nodded it in. We then had goal from Myer on 7' called back due to Wallace being offside. Looked a bit harsh from where I was. Milinkovic-Savic gave them their equaliser on 68' with a low effort into the corner. We could've won it on 74' when we earned a penalty. Dolberg's effort was pushed away by Cech. Brutal. A good draw to get though.

Chelsea (A):
Well, we kept it respectable. As I said earlier in the season, they've spent more on one player (Dybala) then our entire net spend the past three seasons. I think it's even more than out gross spend since I've been here. They were in control of the first half but they couldn't break us down. We were organised and resolute at the back which isn't something you'd be able to say about us often. Eventually, on 62', Paulo Dybala wove his way into the box and placed it into the bottom corner to give Chelsea the lead and ultimately the win. Mildly disappointing but not too bad.

Key Points:

• Only one thing needs to be shown:
• 

S***. This happened after the Chelsea game, as you probably had guessed.

I pleaded with them and this was the ultimatum:

With the inconsistency of this squad, I don't think we'll achieve it. But **** it, we'll give it a go.

Now obviously I'm biased but I think they're being harsh here.

Clearly, we're well below the top half position-wise. But points-wise? Not that far at all. Just two points off Sunderland in tenth though they have a game extra. Even if they win, it'll be a max of 5 points. We've already played two of the big teams this half of the season so I think we're not doing terribly. Not great but not enough to threaten my job. But I don't make the decisions.

8 points.

5 games.

No room to slip up.

[Fer Fuchs Ake]

MRW fans are questioning me on social media

 

[Guest El Payaso]

Good luck with that. 8 points from 5 is not too bad I guess? Your run looks a lot like mine with Swansea, though I am unable to score two goals in one match so far. 

[BoxToBox]

I think it's a thing in FM where the boards pay more attention to league position than points haul.

I mean right there, in 16th, you're 11 points from 18th, but equally 11 points from 4th, and certainly closer to a top half finish than relegation.