scousevasey Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 March 2029 A month that can be seen as positive, but not perfect which is what we need really Easy wins where expected, and a draw in the hardest game of the season As per usual we are controlling games against the weaker opposition. The Dudelange game was lacking in action, and shows where we lack the cutting edge Fortunately Dudelange lost to Union Mertert, meaning the gap falls to six points with six to play (plus their goal difference advantage). If we had managed to pick up the win against them we would be in striking distance of them making it an exciting run in but it isn't quite that exciting yet. Differdange and Jeunesse are keeping pace, with Progres needing to make up seven points and ten goals to reach the European places. Can we still win the league? 4th, 14th, 10th, 9th, 6th, 3rd to play 8th, 13th, 12th, 7th, 4th, 14th Adding together the cumulative positions to be faced the top list gets to 46, with the second getting 58. The higher the number the easier the fixtures as that means there are more teams in the lower reaches of the division. As an average the top has to face 7.67th position, with the second list facing 9.67th position. We have the top run in, with Dudelange having the second of the two shown. Of the games left Dudelange should only really by challenged by Jeunesse Esch, and the best we can hope for is that they suffer from a cup hangover from the quarterfinals. April brings four of the league games along with the cup game against Dudelange. While based on our league position with a four point cushion over Jeunesse Esch for the European spots the cup is not my priority, it would be nice to get some silverware for once. Of course if we fail to beat Jeunesse Esch in the first cup game of the month then the equation changes as a draw gives Differdange an advantage in the race for 2nd, and a loss means the gap is near enough erased. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 3, 2019 Author Share Posted March 3, 2019 April 2029 A busy month as April often seems to be with a cup run, Starting with the cup, as the semi final also falls in the month depending on the result of the quarter final Two wins, and we are in the final to face Differdange. Bit of a shame to finally manage to beat Dudelange this season in the cup, and not to close the gap in the league A perfect month in the league, as we keep up our part of the title race Not quite as dominant as in other parts of the season, but there was more rotation this month with the cup games, and the number of games to fit in While the title is not officially gone yet, we are six behind with six to play for, along with being 14 goals down on goal difference. I can't imagine that there will be such a swing, so instead the focus is on holding off Differdange for second. At the other end of the table everything is practically signed off, with Union Mertert five behind Rumelange with six to play for. The only thing really left to pay attention to outside of our tussle with Differdange is the two point gap between Progres and Jeunesse Esch for fourth which will be the final European spot due to the cup final being fought over by two teams already in Europe Racing (LUX) are always tough but down in seventh shouldn't be too much of a handful. We really need to win to put pressure on Differdange who will face Progres. If we get the win against Racing (LUX) then a draw will be good enough to secure second. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 6, 2019 Author Share Posted March 6, 2019 May 2029 We needed to be perfect, and for Dudelange to be perfectly bad... It was not to be in the league, but we managed to scrape the cup. After the draw with Racing (LUX) we slipped behind Differdange in the table, but the win helped us leapfrog over them again at the end, before a close cup final More shots, but we struggled to hit the target consistently with 50% accuracy being the best in the Differdange league game, and a paltry 21% against Racing (LUX) The penalty shootout was made interesting by the fact we went down to nine men due to the injuries to (28e) Weis and (26f) Holtz in extra time, although Differdange were down to ten due to their own injury Perfect from the spot though, and that gave us our first cup win of the save. Second by six points, with the number of draws costing us through the season. While the message after the cup final was nice to get, it is a bit hollow with the fact that those draws made the difference, and the record won't be extended due to us facing our Europa Cup Qualifiying next. Instead the focus will be on extending the run in the league, and turning those draws to wins... Pretty much everything else was sewn up by the end of April, with Union Mertert losing in the relegation playoff the head back to the Promotion Division Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 6, 2019 Author Share Posted March 6, 2019 2028/2029 Season Review Firstly our European adventure was a bit of a non-starter. Hopefully we will have a better draw this time round, and look to pick up the prize money for a win, and getting to the 2nd qualifying round. Our league position was good all season, with minor blips due to the draws, but we were always in the race for Europe as the board expected. It is nice to see our reverse against Differdange to start the season was triumphed over by the win to end the season, it gives a nice symmetry to the whole thing. 72% attendance is worth noting, as we are growing in support. While the finances keep taking a hit, and we managed to spend all of the European money through the season and end it in the red, we are getting closer to drawing solid crowds, and hopefully we can time that to match us having money and being able to get a new stadium. Partially as our pitch condition is always poor, even at the start of the season, so a new stadium would help with that. Internally it was awards season I am not sure I trust the fans choice fully, as (25a) Bozic only played 8(9) games this season, so missed nine whole league games. In my view there were players more important to our performance, although the ratings bear out their choice, along with the MoM awards. I tended to use (25a) Bozic as MC3 for the year, although his performances might force a rethink, and help me move from a star focused selection policy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 6, 2019 Author Share Posted March 6, 2019 Ten Season (ish) Review I have now reached the end of the tenth season I have taken charge of Rosport, although it is only nine and a half seasons since I took over A 50% (50.54) win rate seems good for an average at best player, with us at 68% (68.10) unbeaten. A positive goal difference overall should be a given in that circumstance, with it averaging out to be about +11 per season. Looking at the club records, my reign has been positive (disclaimer that as it has been most of the save that these records are likely skewed in my favour) I haven't managed the most goals in a season, possibly due to finding a formation that allows a single high goalscorer instead of spreading the goals out, and possibly for quality. Gabriel Gaspar was at the club when I arrived, with some of my Heur-Tongeren imports being closest to usurping them (208 for Maes (19h), 198 for Loos (18h), with (25h) Turpel leading the way for Rosport home grown players with 118 in his four years. Hopefully we won't beat the oldest player record of 38, with the aim of developing our youth, and with the early start to many of their careers I doubt they will last that long in most cases. Fastest goal is always an odd record that there is no control over, but apart from that we have gained all of the other club records The worst record of six games lost in a row is the only one that isn't mine, with the run of nine games without a win in 2019-2020 being a particularly difficult stretch where I worried about getting the sack and how the save would turn out at that stage. Trouble navigated, and the rest as they say is history. The 30 games without losing is still active, so could be extended, whereas the most games in a row was part of the title win, and something we need to replicate and extend if we are to completely usurp Dudelange and Differdange over time. The biggest defeat was an embarrassing moment, where we struggled in a run of games against the top teams before recovering with the weaker teams coming in a group from late October to December and at the end of the season. It will be difficult to beat the 12 goal highest scoring game without us fully capitulating in Europe. In terms of the league there is much improvement on our behalf, but still a long way to go to overcome the challenge set at the start to be a permanent change of hierarchy I took over in the 2019/2020 season, and we have only made the list in the past two seasons, so progress has been incremental (or glacial if you want to be harsh) Not even a continual upward trend which is a shame. Although a closer look shows a couple of things. Taking over in 2019-20 there was a first full season bump, before three variable seasons which can be put down to older players being eased out, and relying on some of the youth, who may not have been ready at the time. From 2023/24 there was steady improvement. Going forward the aim will be to stay top three, and look to slowly cement our position at the top of the table Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 6, 2019 Author Share Posted March 6, 2019 Our individual league tables starting with 2019/2020 through to 2028/2029 The points in the early years were fairly consistent with 40, 45 and 42 over three of the first four seasons, but that giving a range of 4th-7th in the table. That shows the closeness of the league behind the bigger teams. Two seasons in 10th with 24 and 32 points shows that as time has progressed the league has been more equal, and that is supported by there being three seasons with the champions getting over 70 points, but in the last couple they have dropped to the 60s. Usually there are not too many draws, with us managing to win or lose, the 6-6-14, and 8-8-10 seasons being oddities and no surprise that they were two of our weaker years. Only four seasons with fewer than 10 losses, and they have all resulted in top four finishes. Clearly that is a key thing, especially with the relatively short season of 26 games. In international news World Cup and European Championships haven't thrown up unusual winners, although the appearance of Greece in the 2028 Euro final was nearly a shock, along with a strong showing from Poland in 2018. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 7, 2019 Author Share Posted March 7, 2019 A look back at previous intake players, just to see what has happened in the past 12 years Heur-Tongeren Two and a half seasons spent here, with two intakes during that time 11 out of 16 still in the game, all as players. Loos (18h) at Rosport, one of the few players who was willing to leave Belgium for Luxembourg when I was struggling 12 out of 16 still going this time, with two players at Rosport, although they are falling down the pecking order. Mazingu (19f) is the only player still at Heur-Tongeren, and he has become a key part of their team in the last decade I then jumped before being pushed in December 2019 to join Rosport who had shown interest in being my first managerial position. Rosport 8 out of 16 left, shows the lower quality of player in those intakes and the difference in the two countries in quality level. None of these are still at the club, but they are all bouncing around the lower leagues of Luxembourg Only 5 left available, with one of those moving to a Managerial role for US Hostert after their relegation at the end of the season. It would be nice to get a game against them in the cup to have a little reunion Only four left here, again all in the lower reaches of Luxembourg. Four more in the 2023 intake. Looking at this run of remaining players, the struggles we faced in the league positions at this stage can be rooted in the lack of quality that had come through and were playing. At the time players like (20a) Lombardelli, (21i) Matias, (22a) Lehnen, (23a) Toussaint, and (23d) Bijelic were playing fairly key minutes (some more than others), and looked to be the future of the team with high potentials being advised. Obviously as the upgrades in Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment went through, the quality improved and they dropped off. It does highlight the gaps in the quality in Luxembourg. There is the big two (hopefully three soon), then the next level of around 4-6 teams who are comfortable in the top division, with a chunk of 8-10 teams who cycle between the bottom of the National Division and the Promotion Division. These weaker players from early in my time at Rosport are in the teams that can be seen in the battle for promotion, which means we shouldn't have to worry about the quality of any of the promoted teams 13 of 16 is much better, especially as these have only just hit the age of 21, but (24k) Clement and (24g) Dervisevic are the only two left at the club, with (24g) Dervisevic out on loan, and (24k) Clement on the development list as he has fallen down to 5th string striker. Hopefully this is the end of the high wastage and we can start to build a solid U19s team to feed the main squad, supplemented with players out on loan to get game time We have the whole intake left this time, which is a positive. The three not at Rosport were all victims of my squad clear outs in recent seasons, but there is the beginnings of the main squad at this point, who are all starting to mature nicely. Those at the bottom end who haven't made it to the first team, probably won't now, and I may need to look at the size of the U19s soon Another full complement, which should really be expected at this point. Of the four not at the club, two are on loan from us, with only two having been released with finality. This was the first year of the determination purges, which is why there are so many who are not at the club. It will be interesting to see how long (27h) Albuquerque lasts in the game without a club. (27p) Antunes spent last season with Mondorf, and has been a recent signing for Racing (LUX). It will be interesting to see how much game time he gets, as if he makes their main squad it will show the growing gap between ourselves and the other mid-table teams All of the players who have left have done so permanently apart from (28a) Klapp. There are more players beginning to appear who are being picked up by top tier teams, with Rumelange, Titus Petange and Norden appearing in this list. This is showing the difference in the quality of our intakes due to coaching upgrades above the other teams, and that means we should start to strengthen our position in the top three. The challenge is clearly going to be the gap to the top two. While we have better facilities than them, their squads are stronger currently Three I chose to release, with one being picked up by Differdange. Currently (29o) Alves is in their U19s, but our cast offs being picked up by the top teams, as opposed to them looking for our stronger players is something I can only see as being positive That is the sum total of what I have produced in my time, with the only players from before 2024 in the Rosport system currently being a handful of Heur-Tongeren intake players. Based on this I may look at comparing the squads of Dudelange, Differdange and ourselves once the squad registration is done. I may simplify the screens to show just a handful of things to allow ease of comparison (position, age, CA*, PA*, and value) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 7, 2019 Author Share Posted March 7, 2019 Season Preview 2029-2030 The new season approaches with the same expectations as last year, progress in Europe and reach Europe in the league The media expect that we can do it, with a small gap between us and Progres in third, but other than that it being close between the top eight. Dudelaneg are expected to be a force with them providing six of the eleven chosen by the media to stand out, although we have the best option in their eyes In terms of squad I have registered a full 30, looking to provide depth at every position As with the last few seasons there is a bunch of players at the 1-2* level who are predominantly backups, and some will spend most of the year in the U19s, but they are registered in case of injuries. For comparison purposes Dudelange Much more quality across the board, although a JPA of 6 and a JPP of 8 as our best scout (mainly used for next opposition scouting and not much else) means there may not be accuracy in the ratings. Sorting by value there are eight players without contracts, then three players with values between £20-30 thousand, three more between £10-20 thousand, two in the thousands, and two below £1000. While it is not an exact science due to age and length of contract playing a role, it is another way to judge players. Differdange Much more variance, which matches with the fact Dudelange are the favourites to win the league. Value wise there are ten players without a contract, and one player with a value above £40 thousand. Aside from that is one player above £20 thousand, two above £10 thousand and then four others with values in the thousands. As a point of comparison, out of my 30 players there are nine players between £10-20 thousand, and ten above a thousand. So while we don't have the top end value, we do have more players towards the top end of the value scales. The season kicks off against Racing (LUX), which is a slightly easier bookend to the season than last time out. THe harder games are spread through the season, so we should be able to manage peaks and troughs of rotation, with the trickiest run of games being Kaerjeng-Progres-Dudelange Obviously this comes after our European escapades, and it is fair to say it didn't go well. We performed fairly well in finding seven shots in the away leg, but couldn't hit the target enough. Much better in the home game, but obviously that was after the tie was lost badly Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 10, 2019 Author Share Posted March 10, 2019 August 2029 Based on last season, we need a good start (and middle and end to compete with Dudelange). Last season our single loss was the opening game, and the season before our two losses game in games one and three, so we are not the fastest of starters 100% so far, and we avoided the potential banana skin of Racing (LUX) away to open the season. Three clean sheets is a real positive too, as we played our strongest 11 against Racing (LUX), but rotated a couple for the other two games, and still managed to hold out Looking at the stats shot wise it has been near total domination. Only three shots against hitting the target, so the goalkeepers haven't been overworked so far, with only ten shots total given up. Ideally more of the Rosport shots would hit the target, with 55% being the highest against Hamm Benfica, and with eleven shots on target, we should be scoring more than two goals. This may have something to do with me starting (29f) Bohnert who is the player best suited to the AF role, but not the best striker overall. A rotation of strikers next month may see an uptick in goals October brings four games, with the middle of the month being trickiest. Differdange have struggled to start off, but are always strong, and after three games Titus Petange are the only other team who are yet to concede. Minimum aim for the month has to be 10 points, but ideally we are looking for 12 as we should be starting to beat Differdange at home. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 13, 2019 Author Share Posted March 13, 2019 September 2029 Inconsistent is the word to describe our current form. Although we have currently reached 32 games unbeaten in the league, it is not as good as it seems The game I was worried about was Differdange, but both Titus Petange and Una Strassen were third when we played them. Swift Hesperange were pointless after three games and we managed to allow them to pick up their first point of the season Again we lead in shot creation, although we struggle to hit the target consistently. This has led to a change in the roles of the front three AML - Inside Forward (Attack) - not changed AMR - Winger (Support) - now Winger (Attack) STC - Advanced Forward (Attack) - now Poacher (Attack) Hopefully this can lead to two things - a higher conversion rate from shots to shots on target, and an increase in goals scored October brings three teams off to middling starts, and the only other unbeaten team to end in Dudelange. With that being the home game against Dudelange we really need to pick up a win, as there is already a two point gap, and we can't lose out on our best chance to close it up Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llainen Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 I have read trough all of this today and man this is so much fun and really impressive! Can you please tell me where you dowloaded this add on for the Luxembourg league? I want to give it a go myself:) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 16, 2019 Author Share Posted March 16, 2019 14 hours ago, Llainen said: I have read trough all of this today and man this is so much fun and really impressive! Can you please tell me where you dowloaded this add on for the Luxembourg league? I want to give it a go myself:) I downloaded the @claassen World league pack. I think I went via sortitoutsi, but can't remember off the top of my head. Glad you are enjoying it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 16, 2019 Author Share Posted March 16, 2019 October 2029 Difficult decision to be made this month, with a midweek game due to the cup. Usually this isn't a problem, but the midweek game was against Dudelange in a top of the table clash. A slightly rotated team could only manage the draw against Progres, although annoyingly I rotated in defence more than in the attacking positions. As the result came in I though that might be the end of the title challenge as it was our third draw of the season, but Dudelange clearly had an eye on our clash and could only manage a draw to Swift Hesperange. The Proges game was awful with only 11 combined shots. The positive of that game is that we were accurate with our shots. Amazingly we were able to limit both Rumelange and Dudelange to three shots with none of them hitting the target. That all means that we have hit the top of the table We still need to ensure that we don't fall into the trap of too many draws. Two games left until we hit the reverse fixtures, and Differdange have started to come good after a slow start with three of their four wins in the last five games. Swift Hesperange are rooted to the bottom of the table with only six points but two of those have come from draws against the top two. We currently have a ten point cushion over fourth for the final European position after only 11 games which is good, with Fola Esch facing the issued we did last season with too many draws. November brings only three games, with Titus Petange in the cup being one of the most difficult draws we could have been given, and by the end of the month we will be exactly halfway through the league proceedings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 19, 2019 Author Share Posted March 19, 2019 November 2029 We reach the halfway point of the season, but not the winter break, and things are tight but looking positive. Unbeaten, but we are struggling to put teams away clinically despite our continued run of winning the shots battle. Hopefully this run won't come back to bite us. The league results this month led us to notification that our league run currently stands as 38 unbeaten, which is all of last season minus the first game (25) plus the 13 so far this season. We still have a way to go to match Differdange who went from November 2022-August 2026, a total of 92 games, three and a half seasons in total. The better team on every occasion as seems to be common, but with the league positions we are facing, especially Jeunesse Esch, we should be aiming for three goals minimum We reach the turn in the league, with Dudelange dropping points in their most recent game to Una Strassen who continue to perform well. Both of us have dropped points to Una Strassen and Swift Hesperange, with us drawing with Progres and Dudelange reaching a stalemate with Fola Esch, who are next to each other in the table and tied on points. There is something quite nice about this symmetry, with the only thing separating the two of us being our head to head fixture. After a poor start Differdange are keeping pace, but being 11 behind will be hard for them to close up with only thirteen games left, so they may be fighting with Titus Petange for third. December brings us two games we should be winning, so there will be a little bit of rotation, but not too much to avoid complacency settling in. We end the month and year with a trip to Steinfort who sit third in the Promotion Division, but did knock out Differdange in the last round so cannot be looked past, even if we shouldn't have too much trouble seeing them off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llainen Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 Bitter draw to face Brøndby ,especially in the first round.. Started with Dudelange and managed to reached the 1 knockout stage in the europa league. Finished second in the group stage the first season! Qualified for europa league this season also. But of course Dudelange is a easier task then Rosport but still! The board is accepting all my request to make the facilities better, but they dont want to improve the youth recruitment which is frustrating.. Can you post a ss of david turpel if he still is alive in your save? Of his career?:) Cant wait for next update:) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 20, 2019 Author Share Posted March 20, 2019 19 hours ago, Llainen said: Bitter draw to face Brøndby ,especially in the first round.. Started with Dudelange and managed to reached the 1 knockout stage in the europa league. Finished second in the group stage the first season! Qualified for europa league this season also. But of course Dudelange is a easier task then Rosport but still! The board is accepting all my request to make the facilities better, but they dont want to improve the youth recruitment which is frustrating.. Can you post a ss of david turpel if he still is alive in your save? Of his career?:) Cant wait for next update:) When it comes to Europe we are good enough to qualify, but not really ready to make a dent in the competition. Our best chance of progress at the minute is to win the league, meaning we are guaranteed a 2nd round tie in the Europa. I have my scouts set up to scout the league and they keep coming back with players at the level of our best player (26a) Payal, but Differdange, Dudelange, Racing (LUX) and Progres all have multiple players at that level while we currently only have the potential to be there. Until we are outstripping them quality wise we will struggle in Europe as we come from a poor quality nation. The aim is to completely usurp Dudelange and Differdange to the point where we are cruising to the title, before trying to do that in Belgium and the Netherlands, but it has taken a while to get to this stage so I am not sure how successful I will be. To manage it in one location may well be the limit. In a search of Turpel there is only one David listed Assuming this is the one you are after there is no player stats anymore due to his retirement but here are his staff attributes and career history Managed to stick around the top end of the table until his retirement, although he has failed to catch on as a HoYD so far Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llainen Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, scousevasey said: When it comes to Europe we are good enough to qualify, but not really ready to make a dent in the competition. Our best chance of progress at the minute is to win the league, meaning we are guaranteed a 2nd round tie in the Europa. I have my scouts set up to scout the league and they keep coming back with players at the level of our best player (26a) Payal, but Differdange, Dudelange, Racing (LUX) and Progres all have multiple players at that level while we currently only have the potential to be there. Until we are outstripping them quality wise we will struggle in Europe as we come from a poor quality nation. The aim is to completely usurp Dudelange and Differdange to the point where we are cruising to the title, before trying to do that in Belgium and the Netherlands, but it has taken a while to get to this stage so I am not sure how successful I will be. To manage it in one location may well be the limit. In a search of Turpel there is only one David listed Assuming this is the one you are after there is no player stats anymore due to his retirement but here are his staff attributes and career history Managed to stick around the top end of the table until his retirement, although he has failed to catch on as a HoYD so far Yeah i hear you, you have a tough task to brake the top 3 teams down. Hope you can push in some more consistency and go all the way in the league several seasons in a row! Wow that was some poor career stats for Turpel! In real life he is crazy in front of goal and obviously in my save with 35 goals in 43 matches last year and 31 in 26 so far this season. I feel he kind of is the Jonatan Soriano of the Luxembourg league hehe to good to play here, like a grown up paying against kids. In my save so far Differdange is really weak, here Fola Esch and Progres are the two other "giants" in the league. While Rosport finished rock bottom 12th with only 12 points and 17-56 and relegated. So far in 2division thing are not looking very good, standing at 8th after 15 matches.. Ps! I now remember you play fm18 and the player stats might be different:) Edited March 20, 2019 by Llainen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 21, 2019 Author Share Posted March 21, 2019 20 hours ago, Llainen said: Yeah i hear you, you have a tough task to brake the top 3 teams down. Hope you can push in some more consistency and go all the way in the league several seasons in a row! Wow that was some poor career stats for Turpel! In real life he is crazy in front of goal and obviously in my save with 35 goals in 43 matches last year and 31 in 26 so far this season. I feel he kind of is the Jonatan Soriano of the Luxembourg league hehe to good to play here, like a grown up paying against kids. In my save so far Differdange is really weak, here Fola Esch and Progres are the two other "giants" in the league. While Rosport finished rock bottom 12th with only 12 points and 17-56 and relegated. So far in 2division thing are not looking very good, standing at 8th after 15 matches.. Ps! I now remember you play fm18 and the player stats might be different:) Are you posting your story? It would be interesting to see how Luxembourg develops in another save, and with the changes in FM19 I know when I started the save Rosport was one job opportunity, but as they were expected to fight relegation I went to Heur-Tongeren for a gentler start to the career, but Rosport was a struggle to begin with. Clearly didn't go well in your save for them, with not much hope of bouncing back Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 21, 2019 Author Share Posted March 21, 2019 December 2029 We end the calendar year looking good, but it could be better We really should have beaten Hamm Benfica, and results like that will end up costing us. Fortunately as we were failing to win, so were Dudelange, meaning things weren't quite as bad as they could have been. One thing that is starting to intrigue me is the attendances. Our capacity is 1500, so the home games are starting to reach capacity although we don't have the money to expand or build a new stadium. We don't have enough to relay the pitch, and we haven't managed that since I took over, so the quality is not high. For the Steinfort game we took over 2000 travelling fans, yet against Hamm Benfica there were only 175 fans turning up. Clearly the cup is a bigger draw than the league, but the large gaps we are seeing the games is a little odd Again we dominated games, especially when it comes to shots. It may be time to make at least one full back a little more adventurous, or look at moving a midfielder to a more attacking role to take advantage of our defensive solidarity. I like the fact that the DM as a Half Back helps with this, and the fact that (26a) Payal is a DM means I don't want to move away from this, so I will consider three possible changes, to only change roles in the current formation, to move to a 4-2-3-1 with 2DMs, or to move to an asymmetric formation with one DM, one MC and one AMC with the MC and AMC offset from each other into a left and right combination. This third option would have to work with the roles of the wider AM players so they don't all congregate in one small space on the pitch In the league we hit the break at the top Still three points ahead of Dudelange who were slow to recover from losing to us, with Differdange continuing their charge, and closing the gap by virtue of our draw. Titus Petange are tied with Differdange, giving a nice battle for the European space, with a gap back to Kaerjeng in 5th who are closer to the relegation battle than the European battle. It will be interesting if we can help build this split over the next few seasons where we have a clear top 3/4, who are consistent as at the minute the 4th place team seems to vary In the cup we seem to be getting a bit of a horror draw In our first game we faced Titus Petange (currently 4th in the league), in the round of 16 we faced Steinfort, which while it seems easier had beaten Differdange (currently 3rd) to reach us. Then in the quarter finals we are due to face Dudelange (currently 2nd in the league), and we will face them back to back in league and cup games which will be interesting. If this was a pre-drawn cup it would be the most difficult draw possible, with the Steinfort upset the only thing making like tolerable. It does mean that the fourth European space is unlikely to go to 4th in the league, as there is only going to be one team from the top four left in the semi-finals, although they will be favourite to claim the cup, any slip up opens us up to an unusual team reaching the Europe League When we return from the break in 2030, we will face a tough run of games Swift Hesperange should be a win, but we only managed a draw and they were able to hold Dudelange too. Then we get 3rd, 4th and 6th in the league. If we survive this run we should have a good chance of claiming the title. If we fall behind Dudelange we will have the game against them to help us out, but a big drop off will blow our chances of the title again Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 23, 2019 Author Share Posted March 23, 2019 Winter Break 2029/2030 We went through the transfer window without too much hassle, with a couple of fringe players and U19s going out on loan, and the beginnings of some contract issues developing as 3-4 players rejected offers with 6 months left on their deals, so I will look to go back after the youth intake to sign those I want to keep, and if they are made redundant by an intake player it will be their loss On 21/03/2019 at 17:15, scousevasey said: It may be time to make at least one full back a little more adventurous, or look at moving a midfielder to a more attacking role to take advantage of our defensive solidarity. I like the fact that the DM as a Half Back helps with this, and the fact that (26a) Payal is a DM means I don't want to move away from this, so I will consider three possible changes, to only change roles in the current formation, to move to a 4-2-3-1 with 2DMs, or to move to an asymmetric formation with one DM, one MC and one AMC with the MC and AMC offset from each other into a left and right combination. This third option would have to work with the roles of the wider AM players so they don't all congregate in one small space on the pitch The only real change that happened this month was a tweak in formation, roles only, for our run of fitness based friendlies The CM has moved from Support to Attacking, and the DL has moved from DFB-D to FB-Support, looking to move into the space vacated by the AML who is an IF-A and therefore leaving the wide spaces to cut inside. We played four friendlies after the tweaks with positive results Berdenia Berbourg and Bersdorf-Condorf are two local teams who we should be beating, and I have played them both fairly regularly during friendlies. The reserve teams from Karlsruhe and Dusseldorf came from the list of Similar Reputation teams (Foreign), and were the ones looking for the lowest fees to travel. This was mainly due to our finances and the fact that teams with a larger rep came with massive fees from abroad, or are our main rivals when looking locally. Four good wins, with us controlling shot totals, and only one goal conceded means the tweaks haven't destabilised things too much. There is only one game in the league in February against Swift Hesperange, but I will break it down to see if the formation has worked in the league Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 23, 2019 Author Share Posted March 23, 2019 February 2030 Well we got the win that we should have done, the question is whether the changes worked Conceding two on five shots is a worry but we did score four which is an improvement, including a GK hat trick from the spot I rarely show the player stats, but there are a couple of things that stand out from this. Really I should do a comparison with another game from before the break but time is limited at the minute. DL is one position with a change in role, providing one chance created, and one key pass. MCL is the other position change, going to CM-A, which provided a total of 6 key passes (between (25h) Turpel and Maes (19j), although they failed to create a chance. Now obviously further digging would be required to show if the key passes led to any of the chances created, but overall in the game there were 11 chances created off of 20 key passes, so the opportunities are there The heat map provides some more information, as the CM-A is positioned fairly level with the BBM-S overall, with the IF-A (AML) only being slightly further infield than the Winger on the opposite side, but we did have more possession further forward on the left as might be expected with the roles provided. There is also a noticable gap in position of the DR and DL, with the flip side being that Swift had their highest range of possession in the space around the DL, with the DR being targeted as well. This may be due to the gaps in the formation, but it may require a further tweak down the line to switch the CM-A to the right of the two midfielders to avoid the left being too crowded, with a possible change from BBM-S to a Carrilero at MCL to cover the raids of the DL, possibly tied to a move where the DL becomes more attacking. Not much change at the top, with Dudelange defeating Differdange to extend the gap between 2nd and 3rd. Ideally a draw between those two would have been better, but we continue with our current streak of 41 without a loss This will be the test of the formation tweaks, with three tough games in a row. Based on the form of Dudelange we can only really afford to drop 3-4 points (either one loss, or two draws), with that wiping our our small cushion, and making the game against them in April more important. If we can be perfect then that allows us a bit of comfort for the game against them, although we do trail on GD currently Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 23, 2019 Author Share Posted March 23, 2019 Youth Intake 2030 Announced as a golden generation, with a very gifted player, and it looks reasonable Plenty of potential (supposedly), but that is not our issue currently. We have lots of players with potential to match our best player (26a) Payal, the challenge is allowing them to reach that potential while we are still part time. Finances mean that we are currently needing at least one European tie a season to break even, so without progressing (in reality we need a good Champions League run) we are not going to turn professional. Five players at 5* with four more about 3.5*, and a quite steep drop off after that. One first glance my though is to sign the top 9 (up to 30i Mota), and 30k Silva for his determination level. When it comes to making an instant impact (delayed by the squad rules, although the cup is an option), there are four players who could play, with one definite. (30d) Dias was marked as the very gifted star of the group, and based on this rating comes in as our best AMR. As (26i) Bossi didn't want to sign a new contract he may well be allowed to leave (signing a new contract and selling him would struggle to garner any income as there is no money in the league). (30c) Pleimling would start or be the reserve option in any other positions, but our spine is strong at the minute. He does allow us the option to move to the 4-2-3-1 2DM formation I mooted, as alongside (26a) Payal and (25h) Turpel it would allow us to have some depth, although that is not my preferred option. (30f) Chanot and (30g) Sacras are of the quality to be bench or rotation options, although they are in positions of relative strength for us Positionally we are fairly well set potential wise, with our weakest positions being depth at DR (currently some DCs are the strongest options), and then the AMR, AML and STC positions where we have potential but no stand out players. This intake helps us at AMR, and possibly at DR although we don't get a clear first teamer at the position. Our continued struggles at STC continue with no out and out option coming through We are nearly at the fully home grown level now with only (18h) Loos and (19j) Maes left from my desperate raid of Heur-Tongeren. (19j) Maes is struggling to get games, and is rotating in as I try to keep everyone happy, so it is possible that we can move on from him, but Loos is our stand out DL and we don't have a clear option to replace him yet Determination levels are increasing, although it is a shame that (30d) Dias is so low as the stand out of the intake. (30c) Pleimling has high Determination but a poor personality. Hopefully some time with one of our better players will help him out here. Based on this and the current situation at the club with players not being able to develop as part timers, I am starting to think that the summer will be a time for another deep squad review and clear out aiming to ensure we are in the best position to reach potentials Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 23, 2019 Author Share Posted March 23, 2019 March 2030 I think the tactical changes are working A perfect month, with no goals conceded. After the worry of shipping two to Swift Hesperange, we kept it tight against some of the better teams, and have managed to increase our scoring rates After the Rumelange game this arrived. We have six games left, and have secured a top three position, and will be looking to move upwards through April Only Differdange managed more than one shot against us this month, with two teams not even hitting the target. We were down to 10 against Differdange for 50 minutes, and still were able to control the game, so either we are hitting the point of being able to cruise to the title, or they are dropping off leaving Dudelange as our only challengers. While it is a two horse race, it will take a couple more seasons to be sure either way. I would ideally like to have more shots hitting the target, and be making games more comfortable than one-nil, although I don't expect us to be knocking in seven every game With six games to go, we are 15 ahead of Differdange so may secure a top two finish in the next game depending on the results. Dudelange dropped points against Jeunesse Esch giving us a five point cushion, which means we can lose to them and still be top of the table. Ideally we would win out, but the ability to drop points does help with confidence. The big win against Rumelange means we also hold the advantage of goal difference over Dudelange which extends the cushion a little bit April brings four games, with the possibility of a fifth, as the cup semi-finals are usually the final weekend of April. Going away to Dudelange twice in four days will be tough if we are aiming for a double. At this point the plan is to play the strongest team possible in the league game to try to wrap up the title and Champions League football (if we will all three league games and Dudelange win apart from against us there will be an eight point gap with nine to play meaning everything is practically done and dusted). The cup game will then depend on who is fit and available. Obviously if Dudelange collapse before our game against them and we are able to open a bigger lead, I may look to save a couple of players for the cup game to look to win the double, but at this stage the Champions League money is more important Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llainen Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 What rating is your youth recruitment? For some reason i cant even ask the board to upgrade them.. Your youth intake is much better then mine, even tough my facilities are better. Some exciting young players you got there! Nice job in the league, hope you can keep it in all the way! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 23, 2019 Author Share Posted March 23, 2019 1 hour ago, Llainen said: What rating is your youth recruitment? For some reason i cant even ask the board to upgrade them.. Your youth intake is much better then mine, even tough my facilities are better. Some exciting young players you got there! Nice job in the league, hope you can keep it in all the way! I have tried to improve my Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching at every chance, and while the board haven't accepted every time it has improved, but there are two key factors - I have Develop Youth as a board expectation, and I have now been at the club over 10 years, so it has taken time to get to this point I am near to the max in both, but I think there is one more upgrade. We need the European money to stabilise our finances, turn professional and then improve the facilities before we can consistently reach the potential of the players Our best players by star rating are all starting to hit their prime, but we are not exactly world class In comparison here is the facilities of Dudelange and Differdange Clearly we have an advantage in the two areas that I have improved, which is probably why we have caught up to them in the table, but they still match us for quality and are able to poach players from the other teams in the league seemingly at will Obviously with the caveat that the staff in Luxembourg aren't great, and we have a much greater knowledge of our own players this is the three squads sorted by CA (I am counting any black stars in these ratings as being true) 5* - 4 4.5* - 3 4* - 6 with the remaining 5 being less than 3* 5* - 1 4.5* - 1 4* - 4 3.5* - 4 3* - 4 with the remaining 5 being below 3* 5* - 1 4.5* - 2 4* - 1 3.5* - 1 3* - 1 with the remaining 18 players being below 3* What is particularly noticeable is the possible rate of improvement. At Dudelange the majority of the players are in the 'peak' years with little room for improvement. Differdange's top players are similar but the 2nd half of their list are young players with the ability to improve. Our oldest players are now 27, and with Loos (18h) being the only one who is getting major playing time the rest of the squad is built around the 2026 intake and are 20 or younger (we have about 5 players at 21 or over, whereas our rivals have roughly the same number under that age). That means that we are in a position to build a solid squad dynamic without players moving in and needing to settle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share Posted March 24, 2019 April 2030 At the end of March, everything looked positive, but April was a bit of a nervewracking month The draw at Kaerjeng, coupled with at Dudelange win meant that the gap dropped to three points, and the Dudelange game started to loom large, with me worried I would blow it. Apart from that we were perfect results wise, but far from it performance wise We controlled all of the games in relation to possession, and really should be picking up all of the points this month. Based purely on the stats, if I was to guess which game contained the draw I would guess the Dudelange league game, solely on the similar level of shots, although we were able to hit the target more frequently The glimpses of improvement in March seem to have disappeared, so the tactic will still need work as we go through the summer Europe is all sorted, apart from the chase via the cup. Dudelange could only manage a draw against Swift Hesperange while we beat Progres, moving the gap back to five points before we faced them, and with three games to play we are eight points clear. If we fail to win the league from here we will have thrown it away massively. The cup semi finals as league position pit 6th vs 1st, and 12th vs 4th. We should have the inside track for the double, with Fola Esch positioned well to claim the final European spot via the cup, or if we win as the fourth placed team in the cup. There is a part of me that wants to face Rumelange in the final and throw the game to see them relegated and in Europe, although the more logical side of me thinks this will not help our co-efficient, and having won the league and cup once each it would be nice to win the double. May will bring about the end of the season, although the cup final will be played in June this time around. Having drawn away to Kaerjeng recently we will be looking to show them that we are capable, before hopefully crowning our title win in front of the home crowd with a good display against Fola Esch. With Jeunesse Esch and Racing (LUX) looking over their shoulders with the relegation battle, hopefully we can end the season with a flourish and go unbeaten too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 May 2030 It took a long time in the real world, due to a busy week, but it was delayed gratification Another month unbeaten, giving us two important things. A cup final against Fola Esch, with a nice reminder of what we can do in a 5-1 game to prepare them, and notification that we managed to avoid defeat That puts us at a total of 51 games unbeaten (two seasons minus one game), but still some way off the record of 92. All is well in the individual games with the goals starting to fly in as we celebrated the title before we even faced Fola Esch as Dudelange failed to secure a win on the Saturday. The final game against Racing (LUX) came after the opening of the transfer window, and attached squad registration window, so I was able to hand debuts to the two standouts of the intake, (30c) Pleimling and (30d) Dias, with (30d) Dias picking up the MotM and picking up two goals. The win against Kaerjeng sets us up for the final, where will will look to pick up our first double of the save. The final result against Racing (LUX) consigned them to the relegation playoff as two teams managed to leapfrog them on the final day. Progres had a good final month to finish fourth and await the result of the cup final to see if they can sneak into Europe. There is something nice about two teams who we struggled against possibly hitting issues due to us, although losing to Fola Esch in the cup just to spite Progres seems a bit extreme Dudelange managed to bottle the title chase meaning we were able to spend the three games celebrating, but the push to go unbeaten kept the focus with us only dropping 10 points in the season, still a way off the record of 76 (Differdange 24/25), which can only be bettered with a perfect season Una Strassen dropped off massively in the second half of the season after being in the European battle early, while Swift Hesperange turned their points against Dudelange into a decent run to pull themselves up the table The only thing left this season is the quest for the double, and then a review of the season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 June 2030 Short and sweet month Another step on the quest to dominate the lowlands Closer than it should have been, but (30d) Dias scored again, and was mentioned in the news listing who the national boss was watching - possible debut at 16? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 Season Review - 2029-2030 A double winning season shows we have the quality to beat the best Luxembourg has to offer, along with being unbeaten means that of the original aims we are getting close to becoming a dominant force domestically, which in my head I am seeing as winning at least 5 titles back to back (it would take forever to overtake the highest number of titles in each nation [Jeunesse Esch with 28 in Luxembourg]) I am not sure how the team of the year is compiled, but I am not sure about a couple of these selections, mainly Maes (19j) and (25f) Costa. (26m) Huss is turning into an interesting story that I want to explore further at some point Looking at the squad that won the double there is a nice range of players (3od) Dias misses the list based on screen size, but he is the only other player to get a game in the season. The main core of the team is set, with there being some rotation to try to keep players happy, or to get round injuries and suspensions. We are not yet at the level of having two quality options for every position, or even two decent to solid options, but we can get away with minor rotations in the domestic game. There is still a gap on the European stage, but if we avoid drawing one of the big teams in the pot (Brondby most recently), and get someone more equal to ourselves then we may even be able to pick up some of the cash we desperately need. Sorting by average rating is slightly skewed by the two most recent intake players who performed very well in their small sample size. (26m) Huss showed his growing quality, and Maes (19j) continues to perform despite dropping down the pecking order and not being rated by my assistant. At the other end of the spectrum we have two backup DCs in Sousa and Silva, then two of our striking options which shows where the weakness in the team is Speaking of which, when the highest goalscorer in a season is a Box to Box MC then there is a dearth up front. 17 goals from the three strikers who played this year is not a great return when it can be matched by a MC and the two GKs (admittedly on penalty duty, but still). And in late breaking news, after filling out 81% of the stadium the board have decided to splash the cash Bearing in mind that we are roughly £400k in the red, and will look to be putting another £400k on this, two things may be happening. Firstly we may end up with our star players being hunted from abroad and the board going above me (if any other teams bother to watch football in Luxembourg), and secondly, I will be desperate for a good draw in the Champions League (all I want is to win a round or two, then get a decent gate in the Europa qualifying stage Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 The growth of a player - (26m) Loris Huss Our star performer this season, who gained recognition for these performances But as the 13th best potential player in an intake? Either something has gone badly wrong with some other players, there has been an amazing growth in this player, or the assistant manager was way off originally This is the original intake screen, and shows a couple of key points in this development. Firstly we have a 5* CA player, basically resetting the star ratings for the whole squad. Secondly (26m) Huss as a 4.5* PA player has the room to develop, allied with 16 determination, although is unambitious personality may be detrimental. Thirdly it is worth noting (26h) Bossi who came in at 3.5* CA and was the second star of the intake which has become the bedrock of the development in the squad This makes the changes that have taken place interesting (and I am in no way qualified to explain the reasons for it, but want to highlight it) This is the squad ranked by CA at the end of the 2029-2030 season, with the intake happening in 2025-2026 (four seasons ago). While (26a) Payal is still the measuring stick for quality the top of the list is dominated by the 2026 intake, with our two 2030 stars being surprisingly high So clearly the 2026 intake was a true 'golden generation' the fact that (26m) Huss has gone from 1* to 4.5*s, along with the growth of (26f) Holtz (1.5-4*) is a real positive. There is also a fairly steep drop in quality after the first 5-6 names, and ideally we can boost some of the younger options to the 3.5-4* range soon Looking by PA the top two stay the same, which means we have the potential to have a squad at the same level as (26a) Payal and (26m) Huss, which I think we need to be able to compete in Europe. There is also an interesting question from this list where (30b) Joachim has a higher potential than (30d) Dias, and is more determined but isn't as good at the minute. Ideally I would be able to loan him out as soon as possible to get game time, or to rotate him in the main squad, but that would risk some of the squad harmony, where foresee some issues developing. That brings us to the actual player Obviously the improvement arrows only show recent changes, as the determination has dropped from 16 to 13 over the past four years, but most of the quality is rooted in the Physical side, with some good Mental attributes. Clearly game time has had an effect on his growth with the level of performances increasing each season. Hopefully he continues to grow, and that we can replicate this with a couple of players from the 2028, 2029 and 2030 intakes over the next couple of seasons to leave a really strong team Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 Squad Review and cull (again) It feels like this is the fourth or fifth cull, but having had the homegrown reminder for Europe and been told I have 66 eligible players, and a quick count of all players under contract including those out on loan totalling 77 players it is needed. This is only really a problem as there is only access to two teams, the main squad and the U19s, with a handful of players being able to subsist on loan. So the plan is to look at each position to find a minimum of four player depth across the two squads with a balanced view of success now and in the future. This means that after a starting player, if there is a decision between players for the backup role, or the U19s squad I will look for a younger player if my assistant rates them similarly, and also aim to boost determination levels across the board. Positions with 4 players - GK, DR, DL, DM, AMR, AML, ST (28 players in total) Positions with at least 6 players - DC, MC - (minimum of 12 players) This rough outline will give us a total squad of at least 40 players. There are a couple of caveats though. If there are too many good options for a position I may carry 5, and look to use the loan market. There are number of versatile players, mainly down the DC/DM/MC route, which may muddy the waters a little in that area All screenshots will be sorted by PA as ranked as the season ticked over into 2030-2031 I will also need to consider the squad dynamics as there is a good atmosphere around currently Maes (19j), (25a) Bozic, and (26h) Bossi will provide difficult conversations I think Goalkeepers This has been an area of strength in intakes, with there usually being a 4-5* potential option. The challenge is allowing these players to develop, with me not putting a GK on the short 5 man bench Three players who could be great, with a fourth is close. This is a position where I will look to keep an extra option and loan them out to develop things (27e) Goncalves is the leader in the clubhouse, although his determination may hold him back. (25g) Loureiro complained about his game time and was given 13 games last season after being on loan but is not very determined, and both he and (25i) Bettmer have seen their PA drop, and I am going to look to release or sell them due to their determination. (26i) Kettenmeyer and (29e) Krecke will be given the chance to back him up with (30e) Silva taking the lead in the U19s. (28g) Leweck will be kept as a backup for the U19s in case of injury, with the loser of the battle between (26i) and (29e) going back out on loan. Defenders There is a need to consider position here as (28e) Weis is more of a DC, although he filled in admirably last season with injuries. (27d) Winckel was the first choice last season, but is drawing attention from our rivals. Dudelange offered up to £10k, but withdrew as I tried to push a little higher and add in resale value. If they come back I may be more willing to let him go as despite his determination he may not improve massively. (28d) Corral is next in line to play although would ideally be more determined and due to ages tutoring may be a challenge. (30f) Chanot will be blooded, possibly in the cup games, with the aim of usurping (28d) Corral by next season. (29a) Hess will helm up the U19s with (27c) Lopes being moved on, along with the two on loan Loos (18h) is one of our team leaders, and has held down the starting spot for quite a while. (27l) Turpel will get the chance to back him up, with (29d) Albuquerque spending the year in the U19s or our on loan. Out of the other three players the final one to be kept will probably be (27b) Feller as he can go into the U19s, as can (30h) Muller, but there is a gap in quality Here we face the difficulty of positional versatility. (28e) Weis and (26f) Holtz are my starting pairing. (25h) Turpel has rotated in moving back from MC and DM when required as there is not a lot of quality elsewhere. (29b) Cardoni and (27j) Silva will fill out the main squad, with (30k) Silva being registered, but probably spending time in the U19s in the first instance. (25k) Ataide, (26k) Todorovic, (26o) Vaz and (24g) Dervisevic will be moved on as they are hitting the age where they are unlikely to improve and are too old for the U19s. (28h) Vieira, (29l) Winckel, (27g) Sousa will go into the U19s but be shipped out on loan, with (28k) Minelli sitting in the U19s to provide some positive determination Midfielders I am going to focus on the central midfield positions that fit the current formation at this point (26a) Payal is still the cream of the crop with (30c) Pleimling being another option although he needs training to fit the Half Back role and made his debut at MC. (25h) Turpel is a wildcard positionally so won't count here, and I will look to keep (29c) Winckel and (30g) Sacras due to potential and high determination. All others will be moved on (26m) Huss is one of the first names on the team sheet. (30c) Pleimling will be in the main squad along with (25h) Turpel. (25a) Bozic and Maes (19j) will most likely be in the main squad too but are close to being edged out. (30a) Lourenco, (29i) Delaporte, (29n) Feltes will stick into the U19s There are two positions we don't use, MR and ML, so I will look to see if there are any high potential and high determination players it is worth retraining, otherwise they will be released (29g) Silva and (28i) Bozic will be reviewed with the AMs. No other players have the balance of potential and professionalism to make it worth keeping them. Attackers (30b) Joachim will start in the U19s, but may get a chance in the cup. (30d) Dias and (26g) Hall will fill the main squad, and I will look to loan out (26h) Bossi. (29m) Peters will be kept in the U19s due to determination levels (29g) Silva will spend more time in the U19s, with (26c) Borner and (25b) Flick filling the main squad. There is not a huge about left that I want to keep, but I will keep (29h) Delaporte for depth in the U19s (29f) Bohnert, (26b) Dervisevic and (25f) Costa will be rotating round the starting slot. (29i) Delaporte may be sticking around or leaving, so (28p) Azevedo will sit in the U19s to provide them a striker. As with every squad review over the years, this is the weak area of the team 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 European Adventures 2030-2031 (Part 1) I thought the groups made a difference, but from the actual draw we managed to draw a team from the other group listed. Not sure how, or why, but it happened. The lowest coefficient is Lincoln (GIB) at 9.300, with the hardest draw being Partizan at 36.000 We are not the worst team in the draw, but we are the 2nd worst with a 2.400 coefficient. With the cut off being roughly 9, we have a way to go to be seeded in the draw, although our coefficient should get a boost with us reaching Europe more frequently The first two years are just the nation coefficient, with us playing in Europe from 27-28 (EL), 28-29 (CL/EL), 29-30 (EL) and picking up points. To be seeded next year we would need to claim at least seven points this year, which is unlikely, but having lost every game so far we will get roughly 1.125 again giving us a total of roughly 3.7 for the next season. The result of the draw... Not the worst draw, but close (third strongest based on coefficient). It looks like we won't get the money we need, unless we get a good draw in the Europa League Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 30, 2019 Author Share Posted March 30, 2019 Champions League 2030-2031 Short and sweet visit to the top table In positive news we managed to register some shots in the home leg, although conceding more goals than we had shots is not a good sign. We also earned about £300k for the humiliation, and get to try again in the Europa League For the draw we are still unseeded, but the gap is much closer this time. The news report tells us we will only face teams from the group three pot If we could face Trencin, Videoton or Cliftonville we may have a chance as they are less that three time our coefficient.... Northern Ireland it is. Hopefully we keep a clean sheet at home, and then everything will be possible Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 30, 2019 Author Share Posted March 30, 2019 Season Preview 2030-2031 (with added European exploits) Having won the league twice in the last three seasons, the challenge is consistency, with the board looking for us to qualify for Europe (top 3), and not caring about the cup although we have already failed in the expectations for the Champions League The media see Dudelange as 'clear' favourites, with ourselves and Differdange nearly inseperable, although at least we have representation in the dream team This is matched by the two key players from each team, where the value of our players is in the upper reaches of the league, and if it is used as a gauge of quality puts us in a good position When it comes to fixtures, we do at least have an easier start than in recent years The first really challenging game will be Progres in mid September, with the other big games spread through the months. Dudelange will be the penultimate game of the season which could be a title decider, or could be a damp squib. Having games against newly promoted Mertzig and then Union Mertert to open the season will be quite nice, as we will have a midweek distraction in season for the first time After the first leg, I thought the tie was gone, but being able to bring in our first choice GK and STC after missing the home game with knocks gave the team a boost, with (26b) Dervisevic finding the back of the net. Holding on for 50 minutes with Cliftonville needing two due to away goals shows that there is some strength defensively We are the worst of the teams in our pot by some way, with Videoton who were seeded in the last round dropping to unseeded to show the change in quality. Ideally Maccabi Tel-Aviv or TNS would be the best draws based on quality and to give us the chance to snatch a win, although this is the furthest the club has managed in Europe, so even a rough draw would help boost the coefficient to give us a nicer draw next time round But instead we get Slavia Prague, one of the two toughest games. Hopefully we can keep the scoreline respectable, and get a good crowd in the home leg at the national stadium Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 August 2030 A good month overall, as we dealt with the fixture congestion well When we hit the crunch part of the season, with the cup games midweek occasionally there is three games close together but never with the same quality of opposition. With two midweek games in a row this was our first challenge, where it was possible that we could have thrown away the season early, but we overcame it No away goals, and we kept the tie very respectable. With (26a) Payal suspended for the 2nd leg, and a couple of injuries that we had picked up, holding them to a draw is a real positive. With the money the board have agreed to upgrade the training facilities, with the aim that if more players hit their potentials, we will get further and earn more. Unfortunately the work doesn't begin until the end of the season, so I am not sure the money will be there when the time comes. Three fairly easy games to begin the season, and three wins as expected. Oddly in the away game we took more fans to Union Mertert (1260) than we get at home. Hopefully with the new stadium we will be able to have more of our loyal travelling fans in attendance at home September brings four games, with Fola Esch being undefeated so far, and then Progres who are the best of the rest, which will be our first test of the season. We should really be looking for maximum points, although the Progres game is away which adds an extra challenge, as is the Kaerjeng game who always seem to perform well against us Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted April 3, 2019 Author Share Posted April 3, 2019 September 2030 All good things come to an end The draw against Progres was not a good performance, and really we should have picked up all the points, but the game against Kaerjeng was just awful We still dominated on shots, but we did allow Kaerjeng to hit the target with all of their shots, and allowed 80% of those in. Based on the heat map we were teasing them with the ball in their half, but couldn't manage to hold them off when they attacked. The key thing missing is possession in the box in relation to attack, which may be the next tactical tweaks So after our first loss for over two seasons we now look to rebound And we do that in one of the toughest games we can fact, although as the month goes on the games do ease off Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 As a quick note, I have decided not to show every match summary, as the original intention was to see if we were controlling games or not, and over the last season or so we are controlling pretty much every game. As hinted at above, the next quest is to work on formation and shot quality, while not sacrificing our ability to defend well Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted April 5, 2019 Author Share Posted April 5, 2019 October 2030 Not a brilliant month, but that is down to tactical tweaks being trialled For the Koeppchen game I decided to try and boost our scoring and the location of our shots by making a couple of tactical changes. I have moved the DL to Attack from support, and then switched the MCs from a BBM and CM to be a Carrilero and an AP. The aim here is to keep the defensive side solid with the two DCs and DR being defensively minded, along with the DM. The DL should then move up into the space left by the AML who is the IF. The MCL can cover across if we get caught on the break, and should help snuff out the opposition play on the wings where we have struggled a bit. The MCR should then be able to push on to make a 4 man attacking unit, and provide challenges for defences to match up. We played with this formation for the final two games of the month, and while dropping points to Koeppchen is disappointing, hopefully the pay off will be us picking up points more readily elsewhere Being three points behind Dudelange is not the end of the world right now, and we are well positioned to improve over the later stages of the season. Differdange have lost four games already this season, meaning we may be looking at the league being a two way battle each season, with them slipping into the next group with Progres, Fola Esch, Kaerjeng and Jeunesse Esch who seem to battle out for the final European space November could be all important in the title race. A loss to Dudelange could leave us six points behind as we reach halfway, which would be a challenge to overcome. We should be able to win easily in the cup as Schieren are a lower division side. I will look to play some fringe players in this game Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
yipster1986 Posted April 6, 2019 Share Posted April 6, 2019 Slow day at work and just read this topic from top to bottom. I love your dedication to this! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted April 6, 2019 Author Share Posted April 6, 2019 1 hour ago, yipster1986 said: Slow day at work and just read this topic from top to bottom. I love your dedication to this! Thanks @yipster1986 In my head as I started, it would take 5-8 years to rule each country easily, having read many a thread where people progress rapidly. It turns out in reality that the quality of young players in Luxembourg takes a little longer, as we are now into season 13 of the save, and the tenth full season at Rosport and have only just begun to consistently challenge for the title. Hopefully by 2035 we will be winning the league fairly easily and make more progess in Europe (hopefully a Europa group stage is not too far fetched) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted April 6, 2019 Author Share Posted April 6, 2019 November 2030 We hit the halfway point of the season as we finish the month The cup win with a heavily rotated team was fairly easy, and it was nice to see (29f) Bohnert and (29b) Cardoni get on the scoresheet as they are rotational options who were given a chance to start. The draw against Jeunesse Esch had me questioning the tactical changes I had made, but the same tactics and players then earned a win away at the best team in the league We are getting lots of possession centrally in the opposition half, but not a huge amount in the box. While the changes are making some difference, it would be nice to see some slight positional advancement, especially of 16 (STC), 27 (AML), and 29 (MCR), with the possibility of 3 (DL) moving up a little although that may require a chance to be a WB instead The dropped points meant we couldn't catch Dudelange when we played them, but we were able to cut the gap down Usually I would consider this a good start to the season (9-3-1) but we are only three points clear of fifth, with a gap down to 6th. This could be the tightest title race for a while, or we could see another false dawn as teams regress after the break December brings two should win games in the league followed by a game I would expect to win in the cup, although we did labour to a draw in the league recently. While the board see the cup as not being important, a poor showing and an exit before the turn of the year won't go down well, so we will be looking to play well here. In reality, anything less than three wins is a failure this month Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted April 6, 2019 Author Share Posted April 6, 2019 December 2030 We ended the year well, and it seems the tactical tweaks have had a chance to bed in, with us becoming more prolific in front of goal, without giving up any defensive solidarity Not the toughest fixtures, but we were able to score three each time which is a real positive, and the goals are shared around, although only one comes from STC, with the AMR and AML combining for six of the nine. That keeps us second in the league, with Progres still on our heels, although Kaerjeng and Fola Esch are starting to fall away. The cup is kind to us with a draw against Union 05, who are mid table in the Promotion division, so we should progress to the semi finals. Differdange went out in the third round (their first game) for the second year in a row, and Dudelange have already fallen by the wayside, so the path is clearing up for us to repeat as cup winners After the break there is only the one game in February, but the run of Fola Esch, Progres, Kaerjeng and Differdange in four of five games to start the second half is a challenge. That is the teams in 3rd-6th pretty much consecutively, where we will need to be sharp, so I will look to arrange some tough friendlies to put us under pressure, as well as making sure we are fit and ready to go for what could be a make or break section of the season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted April 7, 2019 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 Youth Intake 2031 This year the intake arrived early the day before we restarted league play, although it was after the squad registration deadline Six players who could match our best player in (26a) Payal which is a real positive, especially with five of those having determination levels at 9 or above. A bit of a shame that two of those are at the same position, as quality depth is important, but we need to be able to give them opportunities to play We are not in need of immediate impact, which is a good thing as all of these players are currently outside of the main squad in terms of CA. It also means there is a bigger gap between where they are now, and their possible ceiling which means it becomes harder to reach that potential Our positional balance shows some improvement here, as we are not overloaded with DMs, but we do have some repetitions that don't really add too much. Two high PA DRs is welcome but could be better spread between different positions. The two players who are better suited at MR or ML will be trained further forward with the hope that (31a) Fellerich will be able to step up with a mix of his PA and Determination to be our first choice in a couple of years. We got through three players who can play AMR, but are destined to back up the stars of last years intake, and then finally three STCs which is a rarity, although or quest for a high quality striker goes on. If (31h) de Graca's PA could merge with (31o) Deville's Determination we might be able to get close to what I want, but with the players coming in, those with the best chance of reaching their PA will only match the players currently at the club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted April 7, 2019 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 Spring 2031 The tougher winter break worked wonders for us, with games chosen against foreign teams of similar or larger reputations to ourselves and managing to win each of them. A perfect month, it what has to be the most difficult run of five games we will face this season. As we only drew against Progres and lost to Kaerjeng previously, being able to pick up all three points was key. The Kaerjeng was particularly interesting with the home side winning 4-3 in both fixtures this season We nearly let a comfortable lead slip, especially with them only managing to get three shots on target and scoring on all of them in the most recent game These are the heat maps for the games away to Swift Hesperange (black), and home to Kaerjeng (red). The attacking role of the DL is showing more in these games, although our cover isn't great the Kaerjeng heat map took advantage of the space left behind with a nice red blob of possession down their right flank in our half. While this hasn't damaged us in any of the other games, it could be problematic against Dudelange or in Europe. Unfortunately for us Dudelange were also perfect this month, so we stick in 2nd, although our win against Progres managed to open up an eight point gap between them and us, with there being 13 points between us and falling out of the European places with only 18 points left on the table. April will bring us the chance to cement our European place, in a run of three games we should be winning, although I will avoid too much rotation after our draw against Koeppchen in the first half of the season. There will be more rotation for the cup game, with me looking to blood a few more youngsters Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted April 7, 2019 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 Facilities Update During the last season the board decided they wanted to expand the stadium, which we had been filling out, and took out a loan to do so. We now have more space, although will continue in the national stadium for European games due to capacity. I also managed to persuade the board to upgrade the training facilities when we were flush with cash, although the work won't start until the end of the season that makes me nervous Depending on the timescale to start building, it looks likely that we are going to be in the red and that the improvements will be cancelled, and we won't be able to improve the facilities for a few more seasons Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted April 8, 2019 Author Share Posted April 8, 2019 April 2031 The calm between the storms of March and May, where we should be successful across the board, and set us up for the showdown against Dudelange We kept up our end of the bargain, with a rotated team against Norden and Union 05 showing that they want to play more often, although we were limited defensively. The cup win saw us drawn against Kaerjeng, and after two seven goal thrillers in the league this was a bit of a damp squid, but we were able to progress through to the final again The cup will see Fola Esch face us at the end of the season, in a run that has seen most of the other big teams fall by the wayside early, with the Kaerjeng semi-final draw possibly being the hardest on offer to us Dudelange continue to match our results, and preserve their two point lead at the top of the table, with their only being three games to go I would expect them to get the points against Una Strassen, and most probably against Progres as they are at home for the final game of the season. That means we have to win in our match with them, and be perfect in the remaining games to win the title. Even with us being two points down, it is in our hands for the double. Kaerjeng and Differdange are fighting it out to support us in the cup final hoping to claim the final European spot, while Fola Esch have had a poor run in the league while they concentrate on the cup. With three games to go the fight to avoid the drop is still being fought by all of the teams, with no team consigned to the Promotion division yet. Based on the lack of points through 23 games, I can't see Koeppchen being caught in 10th, leaving four teams fighting for the one remaining secure spot in the league. We face four more games, with games we should win against Jeunesse Esch and Mertzig, along with what is in reality a title decider. Win and the league is ours, anything else and we are consigned to second, before we get the chance to claim the cup again to open June and close the season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted April 8, 2019 Author Share Posted April 8, 2019 Battle for the title (literally) I have just finished the match with Dudelange (no spoilers for the end of month report). The game was played on Saturday 17th May 2031 We lost (30c) Pleimling the day before the game, which was a blow as he has developed to be a 4*CA player and one of our mainstays in his first full season. In the game, (26m) Huss came off with five minutes to go, with all the other players picking up knocks they reported at the end of the game. This is what the result of the game is for the team, with me losing my first choice DC, DM (suspension for yellow card accumulation), MC (the 2nd going the day before), AMR, and STC. It could make the final two games of the season a bit of a challenge as we try to overcome the raft of injuries to the spine of the team and some of our best players, as the squad view sorted by CA shows This is the main squad, sorted by CA, with only those above 2.5* shown. There are more missing the end of the season than available, meaning we are going to be massively weak for the run in Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted April 8, 2019 Author Share Posted April 8, 2019 (edited) May 2031 (End of Season) It is tough to win the league in Luxembourg. We go into the month having dropped points in four games, and yet are still second in the table We come out of the month, having dropped points in four games, and finish first in the table The players who came in due to the injuries did their job, with (29f) Bohnert bagging three goals over the final two games to secure the double. That gives us our second consecutive title, and Dudelange managed to throw away their final game of the season after the demoralising loss to us, meaning the final gap of four points looks fairly comfortable. Kaerjeng hold off the challenge of Differdange to claim the final European spot, while at the bottom of the table Union Mertert beat Una Strassen on the final day to consign them to the relegation playoff While he wasn't consider the best prospect in the intake, he was one of two ready to step into the starting 11, and in his first season in the league claims the best player. There is no interest in him at the minute, but if he can perform like this over the next couple of seasons, especially in Europe then we could see some bigger teams from abroad come sniffing around This is the main squad over the season, although there were a handful of games played by members of the U19s due to injuries or rotation in the cup who are not shown. There seems to be a clear gap appearing in quality between those of 2* and those of 4*, with the two players from the 2030 intake already reaching up to 3.5-4* after one season. This gives us a solid spine of the team, and the aim will be to flesh it out a little more over the next couple of seasons to allow us to dominate domestically, although that will require Dudelange to drop away without our direct intervention, and I am not sure how likely that is (30d) Dias rules the stats, and unsurprisingly the best player in the country is judged by the fans as being our best player of the season. Edited April 8, 2019 by scousevasey Additional information Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted April 10, 2019 Author Share Posted April 10, 2019 European Draw 2031-2032 The draw for the Champions League is upon us again We lost to BATE last season (8-0 on aggregate), and they are the hardest team we can face based on coefficients, with the easier teams being the bottom three of Group 1. We are no longer the worst team in the draw, with six teams ranked below us. The seventh lowest ranked seeded team is Qarabag at 11.725, which would be a long trip, and cost us a lot to get there. The third highest coefficient, so it will be another difficult tie, and we will be looking for a nice draw in the Europa League to help boost our number and eventually get seeded for a draw Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousevasey Posted April 12, 2019 Author Share Posted April 12, 2019 Champions League Qualification An exepected loss but we are making progress in our endeavours The goals against are dropping, and we actually scored this season which is a real positive. One thing that is noticable is that the previous escapades were hosted at the Stade Josy Barthel, which is an 8000 capacity ground home to the national team, but against Rosenborg we were back at Um Camping, our own ground that due to last seasons expansion can fit 3100 in it, but there are only 1621 seats which we filled for the tie. We don't have the money to expand again (there is the option with the board so there is still space), but when we can fit more fans in for a league game than a European game we may run into problems. It must have been something about the expansion that triggered the change in home ground, possibly going over a minimum seated capacity, but I would prefer the income from a gate of 8000 naturally. The result sees us drop into the Europa League, where we managed to pick up a win in the 2nd Qualification round last time round, and we will be looking to do the same again this time The introduction said we would face one of five teams, the draw keeping the groups together. We are the best of the unseeded teams, and based on last seasons I would expect to beat Cliftonville and Buducnost, with the other three ties being more difficult And we get the toughest draw we could, making the trip to Iceland. Last season they beat BATE in the final qualifying round for the Europa League and made it to the group stage, and have made it to the third qualification round of the Europa League for the past 4 seasons. Our chances are going to be slim based on the results they have managed previously, so my aim will be to get a draw or a win at home, and not to be outclassed away, looking to keep it to a two goal loss. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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