Nobby_McDonald Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 Just make sure you have another crack at the Champions League next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 January Transfers A very busy window with a lot of our players attracting a lot of interest. Filipe was a good left back, but for a club like us to get offered £17.25M is far too good to turn down and so he was duly sold to Benfica. I didn't particularly want to sell Gabriel Sanchez, but he had a £10.25M release clause to foreign clubs in CL, which Marseille met. He was a good striker but not irreplaceable, although as you may see in the end of season update, a bit harder to replace than I at first imagined. Jose Eduardo was only a back-up player and was sold for a million or so and returned to Brazil. The big decisions came in February when Guangzhou and the Chinese market came to play. Herrera was a very good CB but at 28, to sell him for a £17M profit after 18 months was far too good to turn down even without being able to sign a replacement until the summer. Karamoko was a very talented winger and harder to replace with players in the squad as he was very dynamic down the left wing, but at 31 to get that sort of money for him was again, too good to turn down and he'd had his head turned away. I looked at it like even if we missed out on Champions League football we'd have a bigger budget by making just shy of £40M on those two guys alone anyway. Jonas Pavoni fills the void left at left back and the unwanted Man City player looks a great pick-up for the price we paid for him. Kristian Reese joins from the Danish champions to replace the outgoing Gabriel Sanchez up-front. As you will see in the End of Season update, this could quite well have been one of the worst transfers I've made in the entire save. Scandinavian scout could well be getting his P45... The South American one certainly won't be though as Fabricio Pizarro joined to add some creativity in attacking midfield. For what we paid he looks a real talent and could drive us forward for the next few years, or at the very least make us a tidy profit. Capela joins to add back-up and more or less to help our HG quota than anything else. Still a decent talent for the pittance that we paid Chaves for him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 End of Season Update Portuguese League Cup We crashed out at the Semi Final stage to Sporting Lisbon. Taca de Portugal Agustin Silva popped up from a corner to give us a big winner in the Quarters, but a rampant Sporting knocked us out again 5-2 over two legs, following a humiliating 4-0 loss in Lisbon. Europa League I was quietly confident of our chances after we smashed Villarreal over two legs, but we came up against a very good Galatasaray side who were just about the better side over two legs to knock us out. Primeira Liga A draw with Champions League place rival Braga, before beating Varzim and then two further draws with Boavista and Chaves. We then beat Aves 1-0 thanks to a solo goal from Fabricio Pizarro. Benfica thrashed us 3-0, before we went on a reasonable run and won 3 of our next 4 games, including a big win against Porto at home. A bad loss to P.Ferreira which we couldn't really afford to lose, before dropping more points in Vit.Setubal. We did beat Leixoes but then lost to Sporting yet again. We were in good form after going out of Europe and won against Maritimo and Madeira, but then drew with Feirense and got beat in a Champions League place 6 pointer on the final day at home to Braga. Not where we want to be really. If we won our last two games we would've had 4th. I have to take some blame as I think taking the big bucks and selling the two lads to China without being able to replace them was what cost us, but I'm not too worried as the cash reserves we have thanks to those sales are worth the bump out of CL for now. Benfica's 8 year run of terror is over though as Sporting won the title, which makes you feel a bit better about them beating us in everything. Over £50M in the bank which is mad when you look at the finances of the club in 2040 when I took over. Make no mistake the club is on the up and will soon be competing with the top Portuguese sides. Sporting Lisbon finished below us not that long ago and look at them now. We go again next season! As I alluded to in the mid-season update, Kristian Reese proved to be a terrible signing up-front. The guy managed 2 goals and 1 assist in 23 games ffs. Due to injuries elsewhere I couldn't even really drop him, my only option was to play him into form but it just weren't happening. If he scored 7 or 8 more goals we probably stay in the CL even with those other lads being sold. Shocking. Boban Vasiljevic probably our best player, with Roberto Avalos and Agustin Silva also worthy of a mention. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 Career History --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Club League Position Achievements/Other --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Arsenal Premier League 4th Europa League winners 2019/20 Arsenal Premier League 2nd Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Paris SG Ligue 1 1st Ligue 1 & Coupe de la Ligue winners 2021/22 Paris SG Ligue 1 1st Ligue 1, Champions League & Trophee Des Champions winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2022/23 AS Roma Serie A 3rd Italian Cup runners-up 2023/24 AS Roma Serie A 2nd Italian Cup winners 2024/25 AS Roma Serie A 1st Serie A winners 2025/26 AS Roma Serie A 2nd Italian Super Cup winners & Champions League runners-up 2026/27 AS Roma Serie A 1st Serie A, Italian Cup & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2027/28 Atletico Madrid La Liga 3rd N/A 2028/29 Atletico Madrid La Liga 2nd N/A 2029/30 Altetico Madrid La Liga 2nd Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2030/31 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 6th N/A 2031/32 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 5th Europa League winners 2032/33 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 3rd European Super Cup winners 2033/34 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 2nd N/A 2034/35 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 1st Bundesliga winners 2035/36 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 2nd German Super Cup & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2036/37 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2037/38 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2038/39 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League & Super Cup winners 2039/40 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2040/41 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Champions League & Domestic Treble winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2041/42 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 3rd N/A 2042/43 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 4th Taca de Portugal runners-up 2043/44 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 6th N/A --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trophy Cabinet Champions League x6 - 2019/20 (Arsenal), 2021/22 (Paris SG), 2026/27 (AS Roma), 2029/30 (Atletico Madrid), 2035/36 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Europa League x2 - 2018/19 (Arsenal), 2031/32 (VFL Wolfsburg) European Super Cup x1 - 2032/33 (VFL Wolfsburg) Bundesliga x1 - 2034/35 (VFL Wolfsburg) German Super Cup x1 - 2035/36 (VFL Wolfsburg) Serie A x2 - 2024/25, 2026/27 (AS Roma) Italian Cup x2 - 2023/24, 2026/27 (AS Roma) Italian Super Cup x1 - 2025/26 (AS Roma) Ligue 1 x2 - 2020/21, 2021/22 (Paris SG) Coupe de la Ligue x1 - 2020/21 (Paris SG) Trophee Des Champions x1 - 2021/22 (Paris SG) Russian Premier League x5 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2038/39, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Russian Cup x4 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Russian Super Cup x5 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2038/39, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Nations Completed 1. England - Arsenal 2. France - Paris SG 3. Italy - AS Roma 4. Spain - Atletico Madrid 5. Germany - VFL Wolfsburg 6. Russia - Zenit St Petersburg ** - Nations completed by the AI: 1. England - Manchester City 2. Germany - RB Leipzig 3. France - Olympique Marseille Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 Nations Remaining (based on coefficient ranking) Portugal Turkey Holland Scotland Austria Czech Republic Belgium Switzerland Croatia (+5) Norway (+3) Sweden (-1) Greece Poland (+3) Romania (+1) Ukraine (-4) Denmark (-7) Bulgaria (+1) Slovakia (+1) Republic of Ireland (-2) Slovenia (+1) Serbia (-1) Iceland Israel Belarus Hungary Finland Wales (+1) Northern Ireland (-1) Real lack of change at the top, but Croatia rise up quite nicely, no doubt thanks to Dinamo's exploits in the CL last year. Denmark fall off big time, with Ukraine also tumbling back down. Poland rise up a bit and Wales surprisingly go above Northern Ireland. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 Chelsea have become a real menace in the last few years and they capped that off this year by winning the Champions League, with former Barcelona and Celtic manager and club legend John Terry at the helm! Horrifying scenes that don't bare thinking about. Zenit reach the Semi as do Henry's Marseille, with Fenerbache doing very well to reach the Quarter Final. Valencia, managed by Diego Simeone, beat Barcelona to the Europa League in an all Spanish final following a shoot-out. A very strong bracket on paper showing the level of competition in the Europa League these days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 Antoine Griezmann's PSV side were champions of Holland, whilst Ajax have an absolutely shocking season and finish up in 7th. Four in a row for Fenerbache, with Gala in 2nd and the usual suspects making up the other European places, with Kasimpasa reclaiming their place in the Europa League. Dynamo Kyiv make it 3 in a row, with a poor season from Shakhtar seeing them drop out of Europe completely. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 3, 2019 Author Share Posted August 3, 2019 A very FM-like summer with lots of outgoings and lots of incomings. It was to some extent very much a case of throw a lot of **** against the wall and hope that some of it sticks. I was also put off that European market by the failure of Kristian Reese, so have primarily looked to the South American market which rarely lets me down based on the small price you pay. Agustin Silva the big departure as Porto met the release clause for the talented Argentine midfielder, with goalkeeper Enzo Morales' release clause being met by Fenerbache. Guilermo Fernandez left for Feyenoord in a £7M deal, with the other transfers seeing squad players leave the club. I couldn't find a decent keeper in South America so I got in Valencia's 2nd choice keeper, Roger Garcia, who looks a good player. Tomas Brito will go some way in filling the void we lost in the middle of the park. Nahuel Cordoba is an untested striker in Europe, but I'm hoping he fares better than Reese did last year. He had a reasonable record for Independiente in Argentina. Cristian Lopez can hopefully fill the void left by Karamoko on the left wing. He's a bit older than I'd have liked to sign but you can't go wrong for the price we got him for. The other lads were primarily signed as rotation options and should add some much needed depth to the squad to help us push on in all of the domestic competitions, as well as the Europa League. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 3, 2019 Author Share Posted August 3, 2019 Mid-Season Update League Cup We did pretty well in the group stage and only went out on goal difference to Braga. Taca de Portugal We just about got past Gil Vicente and then have played against some very weak lower league sides who we've thrashed Primeira Liga A pretty abysmal start to the league season sees us get just 4 points from 15, with 3 losses against Benfica, Academica and Porto. It was a hard start to the season tbf, but still not ideal to be dropping so many points so quickly in such a competitive league. We bounce back to win our next 4 games, but then lost once again to the champions Sporting Lisbon. We picked up a draw with Boavista and then won another 4 on the bounce, with Nahuel Cordoba in brilliant form as he finishes the calendar year as top scorer in the entire league. It's very competitive and whilst we're in 5th at the moment, we're only 4 points off of 4th (9th off 1st even) and there is 19 more games to come so a lot can still happen. Europa League I was very worried when I saw the group we had as you'd assume Napoli are a strong side, but they were probably as bad, if not worse than AA Gent. If I think about it I haven't actually seen much of Napoli in the past 10 years in the save, which most likely means they've not been in the knockout stages of the CL that much, so I guess they might not actually be that good anymore. Aside from a 1-0 loss in St Pauli we had an excellent hard fought group stage campaign though, which I'm very happy with. We faced Malmo of Sweden in the next round, who strangely enough seem to be managed by former Liverpool defender Joe Gomez. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 I like the signings especially Cordoba. Although I'm surprised that Reese was a flop. He looked really good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 3, 2019 Author Share Posted August 3, 2019 3 minutes ago, kidthekid said: I like the signings especially Cordoba. Although I'm surprised that Reese was a flop. He looked really good. He's not completely useless and was worth persisting with up-front as he can bring other players into the game with his dribbling and pace, but his end product whether cross, passing or shooting himself is horrendous. The shooting I don't get as he has 15 finishing ffs His other mental stats aren't great but they're not thaaaat bad. I've been using him out wide left sometimes this season where he's a bit more useful, but even then his poor crossing sort of ruins any good run he makes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 4, 2019 Author Share Posted August 4, 2019 January transfer window A jam packed January saw first teamers Roberto Avalos and Jasper Havekotte leave after Marseille and Barcelona matched their release clauses. We also sold John Mosquera and Boban Vasiljevic as they had 18 months left on their contract and didn't want to renew. I'm not too sure why Leonardo Vale was wanted by Man United, but they matched his release clause and he left too, albeit he was only a back-up player anyway. I signed a few squad players to replace those that left and for the first team signed Ramon Ramos Mingo from River Plate and more excitingly Renan Victor from Santos. I think that makes him my most expensive Portimonense signing and he looks well worth it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 5, 2019 Author Share Posted August 5, 2019 End of Season Update Taca de Portugal A decent run but we got found out in the Semi Final unfortunately. Primeira Liga An inconsistent start to the calendar year with a win but then 2 draws and a loss to Benfica. Braga and Academica were the kind of games we could've done with winning if we wanted Top 4. We at least beat Maritimo. A big big win against Porto, before smashing Vit.Setubal too and then wining 2 of our next 3. We dropped some more points at home to Arouca, before losing to Sporting and then beating Boavista and Varzim. We beat Rio Ave, before a nightmare run of form to end the season with just 3 points from our last 12. 10 points off Top 4 and the CL which is not where we particularly wanted to be, but as you can see it wasn't all too bad... Europa League The Swedish champions faced off against us in the 1st round and thanks to a big opening 12 minutes from Cordoba and Lopez in the away leg we were pretty much out of sight as soon as the tie kicked off. Celtic are a good side and gave us a hell of a game in Glasgow, if it wasn't for a penalty we probably would've lost there. We thankfully beat them 4-2 at home on the night, but they never gave up and gave us lots of problems. I was actually a little disappointed by Dortmund, as I thought we were going to go out to them but they just weren't that strong. The first half penalty in the first leg changed the game and from then on they never gave us too many problems. 4-2 on the night and then we had a much easier time in Dortmund than I would've expected. Can't complain and some great performances from our team! Basaksehir are a decent Turkish side, but a plucky 2-0 win away from home thanks to a Cordoba brace put one foot in the final, then when one of their lads put his foot behind the ball into his own goal it sealed their fate. Barcelona aren't what they once were, but even then I didn't think we'd have it in us to beat them. We defended well and it was two great goals from two of our South American lads who got us the win - and what a win it is! A huge trophy to win for a club like Portimonense and of course qualifying for the CL is great, but unlike when you win the Europa League with one of the bigger sides, this feels like much more than a get out of jail free route to the Champions League. Cordoba, Pizarro and Albarez the stand-outs this year, especially in the Europa League run. We'll do well to have them all still here this time next season. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 5, 2019 Author Share Posted August 5, 2019 Career History --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Club League Position Achievements/Other --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Arsenal Premier League 4th Europa League winners 2019/20 Arsenal Premier League 2nd Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Paris SG Ligue 1 1st Ligue 1 & Coupe de la Ligue winners 2021/22 Paris SG Ligue 1 1st Ligue 1, Champions League & Trophee Des Champions winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2022/23 AS Roma Serie A 3rd Italian Cup runners-up 2023/24 AS Roma Serie A 2nd Italian Cup winners 2024/25 AS Roma Serie A 1st Serie A winners 2025/26 AS Roma Serie A 2nd Italian Super Cup winners & Champions League runners-up 2026/27 AS Roma Serie A 1st Serie A, Italian Cup & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2027/28 Atletico Madrid La Liga 3rd N/A 2028/29 Atletico Madrid La Liga 2nd N/A 2029/30 Altetico Madrid La Liga 2nd Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2030/31 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 6th N/A 2031/32 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 5th Europa League winners 2032/33 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 3rd European Super Cup winners 2033/34 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 2nd N/A 2034/35 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 1st Bundesliga winners 2035/36 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 2nd German Super Cup & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2036/37 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2037/38 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2038/39 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League & Super Cup winners 2039/40 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2040/41 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Champions League & Domestic Treble winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2041/42 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 3rd N/A 2042/43 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 4th Taca de Portugal runners-up 2043/44 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 6th N/A 2044/45 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 6th Europa League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trophy Cabinet Champions League x6 - 2019/20 (Arsenal), 2021/22 (Paris SG), 2026/27 (AS Roma), 2029/30 (Atletico Madrid), 2035/36 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Europa League x3 - 2018/19 (Arsenal), 2031/32 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2044/45 (Portimonense SC) European Super Cup x1 - 2032/33 (VFL Wolfsburg) Bundesliga x1 - 2034/35 (VFL Wolfsburg) German Super Cup x1 - 2035/36 (VFL Wolfsburg) Serie A x2 - 2024/25, 2026/27 (AS Roma) Italian Cup x2 - 2023/24, 2026/27 (AS Roma) Italian Super Cup x1 - 2025/26 (AS Roma) Ligue 1 x2 - 2020/21, 2021/22 (Paris SG) Coupe de la Ligue x1 - 2020/21 (Paris SG) Trophee Des Champions x1 - 2021/22 (Paris SG) Russian Premier League x5 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2038/39, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Russian Cup x4 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Russian Super Cup x5 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2038/39, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Nations Completed: 1. England - Arsenal 2. France - Paris SG 3. Italy - AS Roma 4. Spain - Atletico Madrid 5. Germany - VFL Wolfsburg 6. Russia - Zenit St Petersburg ** - Nations completed by the AI: 1. England - Manchester City 2. Germany - RB Leipzig 3. France - Olympique Marseille Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 5, 2019 Author Share Posted August 5, 2019 Nations Remaining (based on coefficient ranking) Portugal Turkey Holland Scotland Croatia (+4) Czech Republic Austria (-2) Norway (+2) Switzerland (-1) Belgium (-3) Greece (+1) Sweden (-1) Ukraine (+2) Romania Poland (-2) Denmark Bulgaria Serbia (+3) Slovenia (+1) Republic of Ireland (-1) Slovakia (-3) Iceland Israel Belarus Hungary Finland Wales Northern Ireland Croatia and also Norway noticeably doing well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 5, 2019 Author Share Posted August 5, 2019 An all-German final saw Nagelsmann's Bayern side win the CL quite comfortably against my old Wolfsburg side. A big win for the German manager who has not done too much in recent years. Nothing too crazy happening in the Last 16 really. St Pauli making the Semi a bit surprising perhaps, but we saw their strength in the group stage. Steaua Bucharest reaching the Quarter Final should do good things for the Romanian coefficient, with Basakheshir making the Semi quite impressive considering their far from a heavyweight in Turkey. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 5, 2019 Author Share Posted August 5, 2019 Feyenoord make it 4 different winners in 5 years in Holland, with AZ getting the other CL place, which is the first time in over 10 years that neither Ajax or PSV were in the top 2. Galatasaray win their first title in 8 years, with Fener ever so close in 2nd. Basaksehir go from an incredible Europa League run to no Europe at all next year. Kyiv win their 9th title in 10 years, with Shakhtar never really in the picture. It will be a first European foray for Desna next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 5, 2019 Author Share Posted August 5, 2019 Pep Guardiola finally retired this summer at 74 years old and what a career he had! 5 Champions Leagues, 5 La Ligas, 6 Premier Leagues, 1 Serie A, 3 Bundesligas, 4 Ligue 1s and a multitude of other cup competitions along the way. Not bad going! I've actually gone above Sir Alex now which is quite nice. Thomas Tuchel will take over from Pep at Atletico so will probably clean up in Spain for a few years, whilst Nagelsmann takes over from Tuchel at Wolfsburg having just beaten them in the Champions League final! Bruno Lage will probably stagnate now as he's left PSG for Valencia, whilst Baum is still stuck winning nothing at RB Leipzig. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 Pep officially the best manager ever. Great work winning the Europa League. Gives you another crack at the Champions League. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 Fantastic job winning the Europa league. The Argentinian contingent really came through for you. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constantine Posted August 6, 2019 Share Posted August 6, 2019 Usually don't follow big clubs saves but this one is rather enjoyable... Portimonense is two or three seasons away from CL glory, i reckon. Few really good players signed in the last two windows. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 7, 2019 Author Share Posted August 7, 2019 (edited) Summer Transfer Window It was a pretty quiet window, but I like a quiet window when I already have a decent side. Carlos Pio left for Newcastle after a good few years of service, whilst we took a slight loss on Kristian Reese to get rid of him. Juan Cruz Diaz is a good LB we've nicked from Boca on the cheap, although he is on considerable wages. Arjan Ramos joins from Ajax to add some depth to our central midfield. We did have a bigger budget than we spent but a lot of it was spent on giving new contracts to our best players, which kept them happy and increased or got rid of their release clauses, many of which were much lower than I'd like. Edited August 7, 2019 by PaulHartman71 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 8, 2019 Author Share Posted August 8, 2019 Completely forgot this feature was even in the game Every little helps towards our January transfer budget though! Inflation must be crazy in the 2040's though, as £235K / 2,000 = £117.50 per shirt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 9, 2019 Author Share Posted August 9, 2019 (edited) Mid-Season update European Super Cup I'd forgotten about this tournament and certainly didn't expect to win it, but we put in a fantastic performance to pick up a 2nd ever European trophy for Portimonense! League Cup A great performance in the group stage, with 3 wins from 3 including a smashing of Porto which was nice. Taca de Portugal It took a shoot-out but we got past P.Ferreira to progress to the Quarter Final stage. Primeira Liga A decent start to the season with a draw at home to Benfica on the opening day, before beating Arouca, drawing with Feirense and two good solid 1-0 wins against Chaves and Academica. We continued our unbeaten start to the season with a win against Vit.Guimaraes and then two draws with Estoril and Madiera, before losing away to Sporting Lisbon. We beat P.Ferreira 3-0 in our next game though. A small slump followed, with just 2 points from our next 3 games, but we then smashed Braga and ended the year with a win against Moreirense. It's tight for Top 5 this season. We're not where we want to be, but we're by no means out of the picture just yet. We need to turn a few draws into wins and we can claw into the Top 4. Champions League We were 1st seeds as EL winners so got a fairly decent group, but Dinamo are a bit of a wildcard, with Lyon also a strong side and Chelsea having won the thing a few years back. 5 wins from 6 though is incredible and I wouldn't have expected it, especially the 2-0 home win against Chelsea. Of course we came back to earth a bit with the 4-0 smashing, but great performances overall. We've got Dortmund in the 1st knockout round which is interesting considering our EL games with them last season. We showed last season that we can beat them so I'm quietly confident, but they could well have strengthened in the summer. Edited August 9, 2019 by PaulHartman71 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 10, 2019 Author Share Posted August 10, 2019 January Transfers January saw a big move away for Mauro Paredes and Tomas Medina who both decided to take the money and go to China. We took the money for them reasonably. Jonas Pavoni leaving for over £10M was crazy good money for a back-up LB. A few other squad players left too, including decent Portuguese prospect Ion Livsit to PSG. We raided South America and even North America this time with their replacements. Raul and Ronald Andrade Bahia came into the first team, whilst the other two lads are back-up options. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 11, 2019 Author Share Posted August 11, 2019 End of Season Update League Cup We managed to beat Academica to make the final, but were sadly well beaten on the big stage by Benfica, who are now manage by Eddie Howe. Taca de Portugal We actually got past Benfica in the Cup, but surprisingly lost to Aves in the Semi Final to go out in a tournament we could well have won. Primeira Liga We got the new year off to a flying start with 4 straight wins against Maritimo, Rio Ave, Arouca and Feirense, before drawing away to Rio Ave. A grinded out win against Chaves, before a draw against Academica and then 3 successive wins against Vit.Guimaraes and then Estoril and Madeira, with Pizarro in fine form. A massive win in our bid for top 4 with a last gasp win against Sporting Lisbon, before a huge win against Benfica. We then won two more games, including a 6-0 smashing of Aves, which made them knocking us out in the Taca de Portugal a week later all the more baffling. We then lost to Porto away from home. We dropped a few more points at home to Vit.Setubal, but then ended the season very well with 3 strong wins from our last 3 games. Champions League football was confirmed quite comfortably in the end, with Porto well off the pace in the end despite being us in that game towards the end of the season. This is our best ever finish by 7 points and our strong form towards the end of the season meant we only finished 6 points adrift of Eddie Howe's champions. Champions League A strong first leg performance with 2 vital away goals from Nahuel Cordoba, however we got smashed 4-0 in the return leg at home. The scoreline doesn't tell the fully story, as in the 11th minute when we were just 1-0 down our defender Ramon Ramos Ringo stupidly got himself sent off for a terrible last man challenge and after that we just capitulated. At this level an individual error like that can cost you your place in the tournament and it did just that. Frustrating especially as Dortmund are a side we knew we could beat over two legs based on last year. We go again next year! Nahuel Cordoba, Renan Victor and Fabricio Pizarro undoubtedly the stars of the show. 3 fantastic forward players who we will do well to hang onto over the summer. Ramon Ramos Ringo was solid at the back save for his calamitous mistake in the CL, whilst Roger Garcia is a good keeper who is attracting a lot of interest that I'm not sure we can fend off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 11, 2019 Author Share Posted August 11, 2019 Career History --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Club League Position Achievements/Other --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Arsenal Premier League 4th Europa League winners 2019/20 Arsenal Premier League 2nd Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Paris SG Ligue 1 1st Ligue 1 & Coupe de la Ligue winners 2021/22 Paris SG Ligue 1 1st Ligue 1, Champions League & Trophee Des Champions winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2022/23 AS Roma Serie A 3rd Italian Cup runners-up 2023/24 AS Roma Serie A 2nd Italian Cup winners 2024/25 AS Roma Serie A 1st Serie A winners 2025/26 AS Roma Serie A 2nd Italian Super Cup winners & Champions League runners-up 2026/27 AS Roma Serie A 1st Serie A, Italian Cup & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2027/28 Atletico Madrid La Liga 3rd N/A 2028/29 Atletico Madrid La Liga 2nd N/A 2029/30 Altetico Madrid La Liga 2nd Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2030/31 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 6th N/A 2031/32 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 5th Europa League winners 2032/33 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 3rd European Super Cup winners 2033/34 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 2nd N/A 2034/35 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 1st Bundesliga winners 2035/36 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 2nd German Super Cup & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2036/37 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2037/38 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2038/39 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League & Super Cup winners 2039/40 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2040/41 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Champions League & Domestic Treble winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2041/42 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 3rd N/A 2042/43 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 4th Taca de Portugal runners-up 2043/44 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 6th N/A 2044/45 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 6th Europa League winners 2045/46 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 3rd European Super Cup winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trophy Cabinet Champions League x6 - 2019/20 (Arsenal), 2021/22 (Paris SG), 2026/27 (AS Roma), 2029/30 (Atletico Madrid), 2035/36 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Europa League x3 - 2018/19 (Arsenal), 2031/32 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2044/45 (Portimonense SC) European Super Cup x2 - 2032/33 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2045/46 (Portimonense SC) Bundesliga x1 - 2034/35 (VFL Wolfsburg) German Super Cup x1 - 2035/36 (VFL Wolfsburg) Serie A x2 - 2024/25, 2026/27 (AS Roma) Italian Cup x2 - 2023/24, 2026/27 (AS Roma) Italian Super Cup x1 - 2025/26 (AS Roma) Ligue 1 x2 - 2020/21, 2021/22 (Paris SG) Coupe de la Ligue x1 - 2020/21 (Paris SG) Trophee Des Champions x1 - 2021/22 (Paris SG) Russian Premier League x5 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2038/39, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Russian Cup x4 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Russian Super Cup x5 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2038/39, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Nations Completed: 1. England - Arsenal 2. France - Paris SG 3. Italy - AS Roma 4. Spain - Atletico Madrid 5. Germany - VFL Wolfsburg 6. Russia - Zenit St Petersburg ** - Nations completed by the AI: 1. England - Manchester City 2. Germany - RB Leipzig 3. France - Olympique Marseille Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 11, 2019 Author Share Posted August 11, 2019 Nations Remaining (based on coefficient ranking) Portugal Turkey Holland Scotland Belgium (+5) Ukraine (+7) Greece (+4) Norway Sweden (+3) Croatia (-5) Romania (+3) Switzerland (-3) Austria (-6) Czech Republic (-8) Denmark (+1) Serbia (+2) Poland (-2) Slovenia (+1) Bulgaria (-2) Republic of Ireland Iceland (+1) Slovakia (-1) Israel Hungary (+1) Belarus (-1) Finland Wales Northern Ireland Big rises for Belgium, Greece and especially Ukraine who may well be re-establishing themselves as one of the better nations. Not good news for Croatia, Austria or especially the Czech Republic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 11, 2019 Author Share Posted August 11, 2019 The Champions League we contested by the Spanish heavyweights of Atletico Madrid managed by Thomas Tuchel and Manchester City, who are bizarrely managed by Granit Xhaka. It was the former Arsenal man who managed his side to a win, making it a first Champions League win for the former Roma, Fenerbache, Basel, Swiss NT, Zurich and Olympiakos man. At 53 years old he could well carve a decent legacy for himself and maybe make his way onto the HOF table. One to watch. A cool all Manchester semi-final, with Braga doing well to reach the Quarter Final and no other real surprises. 4 Portuguese sides in the knockout stages show how good the league is, mind. An all-PH71 final in the Europa League, with both Roma and Wolfsburg surprisingly knocked out at the Group Stage in the CL. It was Nagelsmann who picked up another European trophy, not the one he would want to win for Wolfsburg, but a win that will get him some points on that HOF table all the same. Rangers doing well to reach the Quarter Final. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 11, 2019 Author Share Posted August 11, 2019 Vitesse, best known as a Chelsea feeder side came painstakingly close to pulling off a huge shock and winning the Eredivise. They were in the end denied on the last day, as Feyenoord picked up their 2nd consecutive title. A bad year for Ajax who miss out on Europe next season completely. Basaksehir of course had that good Europa League run last season then missed out on Europe completely this year. They turned that negative into a positive and until the last few game days they looked set to pull off an unexpected title win, but Kayserispor denied them to pick up their first title in 6 years. A bad year for Galatasaray who drop out of Europe completely. A good year for Shakhtar as they pick up their first Ukrainian crown for half a decade. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 11, 2019 Author Share Posted August 11, 2019 He's worked his socks off in the last few years but Eddie Howe finally has his place in the Hall of Fame board. He's 68 now so won't have too many years left, but titles for Ajax, Bayern, Steaua Bucharest, Man United, Zenit and most recently Benfica have earned him his spot. The well travelled Tuchel is slowly moving up, but at 72 he's surely only got 1 or 2 seasons max left in him, if he doesn't retire this summer. Lage at 70 hasn't added to his haul since moving to Valencia, whilst the 66 year old Baum is still stagnating at Leipzig. Nagelsmann making a slow rise and at 58 still has age on his side. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 11, 2019 Author Share Posted August 11, 2019 A historical result for Scottish football as Celtic pull off a huge surprise in the Champions League Best Placed Playoff round and knock out my former side Roma on penalties. With the champions Rangers having already qualified for the Group Stage by finishing top of the SPL, this marks the first time in 42 years that two Scottish sides have made the Group Stage (2004 the last time). This is also great news for us as Roma not qualifying meant that we scraped in as 2nd seeds rather than 3rd seeds Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted August 12, 2019 Share Posted August 12, 2019 On 08/08/2019 at 07:40, PaulHartman71 said: Completely forgot this feature was even in the game Every little helps towards our January transfer budget though! Inflation must be crazy in the 2040's though, as £235K / 2,000 = £117.50 per shirt It says total commercial revenue, not total shirt sales. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 12, 2019 Author Share Posted August 12, 2019 That makes a lot more sense Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 13, 2019 Author Share Posted August 13, 2019 Summer Transfer window I knew a lot of big clubs were after our keeper Roger Garcia, but I didn't expect to get the sort of money that we ended up getting for him. PSG put in a bid for around £25M which I would've taken, but I negotiated higher thinking we'd meet in the middle for £30M, but they just accepted what I wanted, so that was nice. Tomas Brito was a good midfielder, but Atletico turned his head and I let him go for a decent price. We also sold Cristian Lopez to CSKA Moscow, as he was getting a bit older at 28, not really playing that much and the money was decent. We put our seeming monopoly on the South American market to good use again this summer, as we splashed out on Erick, a very very exciting young winger and Ricardo Vega who comes in to be our new first choice keeper. They're both players that I was surprised were dicking about at South American clubs and not attracting too much interest elsewhere. Tbf Erick did have interest from Atletico and Bayern, but we matched his release clause and nobody else came in for him. Resul Eris is a good young Turkish player who will slot into our central midfield, with all of the other player signed as rotation/back-up options to flesh out our squad as it was a bit thin which cost us at times last season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tajerio Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 A goalkeeper with 19 vision and 15 passing? Playing with an SK never seemed tastier. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 14, 2019 Author Share Posted August 14, 2019 A pretty cool thing I just noticed is that the Brazilian goalkeeper who bossed it for so many years at Zenit for me, Thierry, never ended up getting capped for Brazil so eventually took Russian citizenship and now plays for the Russian NT: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 15, 2019 Author Share Posted August 15, 2019 Mid-Season update League Cup A bit disappointed to go out in a tournament we could possibly win, but it wasn't like we lost a game or anything. Not the end of the world. Taca de Portugal Doing well so far in the cup, with Cordoba bagging a double hat-trick in the first game. Primeira Liga A strong start to the season as we won 4 of our first 5, which also included a solid away point in Benfica. We sadly lost to Porto, then dropped more points in Arouca, before beating Madeira and Chaves. Braga picked up a point against us at home. The end of the calendar year saw us in good form, with 4 wins from 4 including a confident away win in Lisbon. It's really tight at the top, but we're in a good position for Top 4 and maybe even a go at the title itself. Champions League We actually ended up facing Celtic who knocked out Roma in the Playoffs, so they were a side I was wary of and of course we know how good Atletico are. Malmo were not a side I was too worried about, which backfired massively when I rotated slightly in the home game and Joe Gomez's well drilled side beat us 1-0. Thankfully we beat them comfortably in the return leg and also picked up a huge win against Atletico at home thanks to a wonderful hat-trick from Cordoba. Can't complain too much with that overall. As 2nd seeds we've managed to get Real Madrid in the 1st knockout round. It should be a good game. Such is their name value I still get worried when I see the Real Madrid name, although it is worth noting they've won just 1 of the last 15 La Liga seasons and haven't made it past the 1st knockout round in 7 years, 3 of the 7 times not even getting out of the Group Stage, so they're certainly not what they once were. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 15, 2019 Author Share Posted August 15, 2019 January Window The main departure was Raul Bertolini who had his head turned by my old side Wolfsburg. A very talented RB and especially in the January market not someone I could replace with an equal, but that's silly money for a right back and we make £15M profit on 18 months or so of playing time, can't go wrong. We also let Paulo Wilson go to Sparta Prague who somehow had £8M kicking about, with Finarolli, Naglic and Denis also leaving. Kind of annoying to sell this many in January as you can only have 3 CL replacements, but it is what it is. Nahuel Cordoba attracted a £35M bid from China, think it was Guangzhou, and he did at first really want to leave, however when I offered him a bumper new contract he was happy to stay so that was a relief. I'm usually happy to sell for the right price but I wouldn't want to replace him in January as it's too risky. I sold a back-up LB and when looking for a new LB I ended up signing Mariano Abraham who is better than the left back we already have We had the money to get him so I just thought sod it. I bought two RBs, of the two I paid less for the lad from Real Madrid, but he's probably better than Troncosco who I paid £4.2M for. Ortiz is an average CB who I signed for HG purposes, with £8.5M being spent on a rotation CAM option who was signed from Man United also mainly for HG purposes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 17, 2019 Author Share Posted August 17, 2019 End of Season Update Taca de Portugal A fairly early exit as we bowed out to Benfica in January. Primeira Liga We were in very strong form defensively going into the new year, with 5 clean sheets in a row which included 3 wins from 5. We let in 2 against Aves but that didn't matter as we absolutely hammered them and put 6 past them. We then smashed Feirense before losing to Benfica and Porto in two disappointing defeats, but then beat Arouca. We picked up another loss, this time to Braga, but a strong month other than that with some good wins against Estoril and Boavista. The season was ended in great form, with 5 wins from 5 including a good win against Sporting Lisbon. 8 points off of the title in the end, which isn't as good as last season, but we at least ensured Top 4 and kept ourselves in the Champions League. Champions League The first leg at home felt like we really announced ourselves on the European stage, with a brilliant performance and a great win that ensured a place in the Quarter Final barring a Madrid miracle. That miracle very nearly materialised as we were well beaten in Spain, but Cordoba's 1st minute strike meant we went through on away goals. Zenit are still a great side and were only in the final last year, so it was great to test ourselves against my old team. It was two very close games and ultimately Zenit were the stronger side and deserved to go through on away goals. Fabricio Pizarro missed the first few months of the season, but he was an absolute revelation when he did finally get fit. What a player. He's got a lot of interest in him from big big sides and it will be hard to hold onto him now. Arjan Ramos did well in the middle of the park, with Renan Victor probably the other most noteworthy performer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 17, 2019 Author Share Posted August 17, 2019 Career History --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Club League Position Achievements/Other --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2018/19 Arsenal Premier League 4th Europa League winners 2019/20 Arsenal Premier League 2nd Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Paris SG Ligue 1 1st Ligue 1 & Coupe de la Ligue winners 2021/22 Paris SG Ligue 1 1st Ligue 1, Champions League & Trophee Des Champions winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2022/23 AS Roma Serie A 3rd Italian Cup runners-up 2023/24 AS Roma Serie A 2nd Italian Cup winners 2024/25 AS Roma Serie A 1st Serie A winners 2025/26 AS Roma Serie A 2nd Italian Super Cup winners & Champions League runners-up 2026/27 AS Roma Serie A 1st Serie A, Italian Cup & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2027/28 Atletico Madrid La Liga 3rd N/A 2028/29 Atletico Madrid La Liga 2nd N/A 2029/30 Altetico Madrid La Liga 2nd Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2030/31 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 6th N/A 2031/32 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 5th Europa League winners 2032/33 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 3rd European Super Cup winners 2033/34 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 2nd N/A 2034/35 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 1st Bundesliga winners 2035/36 VFL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 2nd German Super Cup & Champions League winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2036/37 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2037/38 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2038/39 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League & Super Cup winners 2039/40 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Russian Premier League, Russian Cup & Super Cup winners 2040/41 Zenit St Petersburg Russian PL 1st Champions League & Domestic Treble winners --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2041/42 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 3rd N/A 2042/43 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 4th Taca de Portugal runners-up 2043/44 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 6th N/A 2044/45 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 6th Europa League winners 2045/46 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 3rd European Super Cup winners 2046/47 Portimonense SC Primeira Liga 4th N/A --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trophy Cabinet Champions League x6 - 2019/20 (Arsenal), 2021/22 (Paris SG), 2026/27 (AS Roma), 2029/30 (Atletico Madrid), 2035/36 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Europa League x3 - 2018/19 (Arsenal), 2031/32 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2044/45 (Portimonense SC) European Super Cup x2 - 2032/33 (VFL Wolfsburg), 2045/46 (Portimonense SC) Bundesliga x1 - 2034/35 (VFL Wolfsburg) German Super Cup x1 - 2035/36 (VFL Wolfsburg) Serie A x2 - 2024/25, 2026/27 (AS Roma) Italian Cup x2 - 2023/24, 2026/27 (AS Roma) Italian Super Cup x1 - 2025/26 (AS Roma) Ligue 1 x2 - 2020/21, 2021/22 (Paris SG) Coupe de la Ligue x1 - 2020/21 (Paris SG) Trophee Des Champions x1 - 2021/22 (Paris SG) Russian Premier League x5 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2038/39, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Russian Cup x4 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Russian Super Cup x5 - 2036/37, 2037/38, 2038/39, 2039/40, 2040/41 (Zenit St Petersburg) Nations Completed 1. England - Arsenal 2. France - Paris SG 3. Italy - AS Roma 4. Spain - Atletico Madrid 5. Germany - VFL Wolfsburg 6. Russia - Zenit St Petersburg ** - Nations completed by the AI: 1. England - Manchester City 2. Germany - RB Leipzig 3. France - Olympique Marseille Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 17, 2019 Author Share Posted August 17, 2019 Nations Remaining (based on coefficient ranking) Portugal Turkey Holland Scotland Belgium Ukraine Romania (+4) Denmark (+7) Greece (-2) Norway (-2) Austria (+2) Croatia (-2) Switzerland (-1) Sweden (-5) Serbia (+1) Czech Republic (-2) Poland Bulgaria (+1) Slovenia (-1) Republic of Ireland Iceland Slovakia Israel Belarus (+1) Hungary (-1) Northern Ireland (+2) Finland (-1) Wales (-1) Denmark shoot up, with Romania also rising a fair bit. Northern Ireland get themselves off of the bottom of the pile. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 17, 2019 Author Share Posted August 17, 2019 Granit Xhaka's Man City side managed to retain the CL as they beat my old side Zenit in the final. Braga reach the Quarter Final, with Feyenoord and Rangers doing well to make the knockout stage. A strong looking Europa League sees Man United beat Valencia in the final. Rapid Vienna perhaps surprisingly reaching the last 16. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 17, 2019 Author Share Posted August 17, 2019 Feyenoord make it 3 in a row, but it's another strong season for Vitesse who have really emerged as a threat in Dutch football. The rest of the usual suspects will be in Europa League action next season. Galatasaray top the table, with Fenerbache a bit behind them in 2nd place. No other real surprises. Chornomorets ran Shakhtar close and are rewarded with a spot in the CL for their efforts. A season to forget for Dynamo Kyiv. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constantine Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 I have a good feeling for the next season. Loving some of the players you brought in and surely, with one or two more additions, title is in the cards. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 18, 2019 Author Share Posted August 18, 2019 Yeah hoping to be more consistent in the league next season. To be fair the Portuguese PL is the strongest it’s ever been, which is fortunate in a sense as I’ve been here when getting Top 4 guarantees CL, but unfortunate in that it’s so competive to win the title! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 18, 2019 Author Share Posted August 18, 2019 Summer Transfer Window Fabricio Pizarro was a real talent and not someone I wanted to sell, but PSG, Man City and a host of other big sides came in big for him and he had his head turned. On the bright side we got some mega money from it so can't complain too much. Ramon Ramos Mingo wanted to leave for Schalke so I sold him for a good price and Juan Cruz Diaz, now effectively our 2nd choice left back went to Man United for £27.5M. We broke our transfer record to sign Furgil Dilrosun from AZ to replace Pizarro. He's a young Dutch talent that has a lot of potential and has been doing good things for AZ in the last few years. Some may remember that we actually sold Fernandez to Feyenoord for £7M about 4 years ago after he outgrew the club. Well the tables have turned now and after Feyenoord have kindly furthered his development we have now poached him back I wasn't massively convinced by our first choice RB so I went back to the South American market and matched Augosto's £22M release clause to bring him to the club. We needed a couple of CBs so I bought these two guys. Langerman especially at 29 does not fit the profile of players we've been typically signing, but there weren't too many decent affordable CBs kicking about so I had to compromise. Basic is actually very good and a steal for £1.5M, we benefited massively from what looks like City's typical AI shotgun transfer market tactics. Thiago Mansilla joins as a back-up left back and isn't all that worth showing really. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 18, 2019 Author Share Posted August 18, 2019 Mid-Season Update League Cup 3 wins from 3 as we go through to the Semi Final. Taca de Portugal We're through in the main cup too after some decent wins after an early scare against Arouca. Primeira Liga A great start with 4 wins from 3, but our streak was swiftly ended by a strong Sporting Lisbon side. We beat Boavista before a disappointing loss to P.Ferreira, beating Chaves and then another shocking loss to Feirense. We then beat Vit. Setubal. We ended the year strong with good wins against Benfica and Porto, but dropped points at Tondela. We're in a good position, but our inconsistent form probably puts the title out of our reach again this season. Champions League Getting drawn into the same group as Man City, who have won the last 2 tournaments was not what I wanted, but we didn't do too badly against them. A point at home meant that our poor loss in Monaco wasn't the end of the world - and luckily we beat them 4-0 in our final game to ensure we went through. We face PSG in the 1st Knockout Round... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulHartman71 Posted August 19, 2019 Author Share Posted August 19, 2019 An extremely quiet January. Some dross/back-up players were sold, with just a back-up CB signed for emergency cover and HG purposes arriving. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 Keep knocking on the door. It will eventually open. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now