[FMT19] União da Bola - Bringing champagne football to Cristiano Ronaldo Island

[noikeee]

Pre-season 2019/2020

 

8 signings to attack the new season (well 7, Inácio Miguel was already here last year on loan), plus the players that return from loan, makes for quite a big upgrade to the squad.

 
This CM was signed a few months ago in advance, tbh I could've done without him, should be backup to Bruno Loureiro as BBM.

 
Decent RW, should be a good backup to Aldair. I could've done with more pace. Has got potential to improve a bit.

 
A really versatile player that will add depth both as LB (IWB) and as LW. Can also play on the right and even on midfield.

 
Fellype Gabriel had an absolutely wonderful season as Trequartista last year, but he's starting to pick up a lot of injuries, is 33, and his attributes are sinking big time - so I needed a replacement fast. This guy on the brink of turning 31 is hardly a long term solution, but will fix the position for now and is a seriously good player.

 
This is where things get silly, Torino loaned us this epic 18yo defender who would be great as LB too but will play mostly CB for us. I've no idea why he joined us when the likes of Parma were interested. Also the simple fact I'm getting access to players like this is off, I've only just noticed I don't have any kind of attribute masking on which makes things a bit easy, but oh well...

 
Another crazy good foreign loanee that I probably shouldn't be getting my hands on. An improvement on Adul Seidi for the striker position wasn't a huge priority, but when players like this are available, you go and get them...

 
Finally, we sorted the keeper position by paying FC Porto 92K for one. He looks worth it, a clear upgrade to Gauther according to my staff.

At this level we now get to play in the League Cup and holy crap, there's some big things happening already! Beating Varzim was good, but then we got paired with island rivals Nacional... a division above us. To my shock we smashed them 4-0 and qualified for a group stage which will have another 3 teams from their division: Chaves, Feirense and... Benfica.

[noikeee]

And of course the new keeper I just praised scores an owngoal in his first match for us.

[noikeee]

August 2019

 

We still hired another 2 players after the season had already started:

 
I felt we were a little short on backups as Gonçalo Maria was 1st cover for both LB and LW, so I hired a LW on loan. He's good enough to outright challenge Lucas Sebastian for the place, but... got injured on the day he arrived.

 
A serious upgrade at CB was available for just 40K€, so why not.

 

Well that's a dream start to the new division. Only a goalless draw in the Madeira v Azores islands derby prevented a clean sweep in this month, and we're racking up clean sheet after clean sheet too. LIWB Matheus Leal has carried on last year's form, continuing to play some magical football, but new signings Ivan Michelotti (CB), Adam Idah (ST) and Zé Tiago (AMC) have all been shining a lot too.

 

Edited August 2, 2019 by noikeee

[kidthekid]

I like the signings, especially Tiago. He looks too good for this level

[deltablue]

Maybe you'll go up again

[noikeee]

On 03/08/2019 at 02:00, kidthekid said:

I like the signings, especially Tiago. He looks too good for this level

He's bizarrely good for his playing career. Aged 30, never played above this level, often in lower divisions.

On 03/08/2019 at 12:30, deltablue said:

Maybe you'll go up again

Well on early season form it looks possible! But I'm not counting on it...

[noikeee]

Okay, if the early season form hadn't been ridiculous enough so far,

 

Best thing is this was our first goal:

 

[noikeee]

This sequence began in last year's promotion playoffs.. pretty much the least likely time ever to start a record run like this.

[noikeee]

September 2019

 

 

If in the league we remain on a remarkable run, and in the League Cup we also achieved an absolutely shocking win over Benfica, it was our time to underachieve on the cup - we had built comfortable 3-0 and 4-1 leads over Covilhã, but they sensationally scored in minutes 80, 84 and 85 to tie it, then beat us in penalty kicks with Fellype Gabriel and Ivan Machado missing ours. I'm still considering this month a success, though...

 

 

Edited August 4, 2019 by noikeee

[noikeee]

... and after that wonderful goal Benfica scored for us, here's some more champagne football of the same kind:

Thankfully not every goal we've been scoring lately has been this ****, our 1st in this very same match had been a pretty sweet counter finished by the BBM running late into the box:

 

Edited August 5, 2019 by noikeee

[noikeee]

October 2019

 

This is ridiculous but it's already been 3 months of this and we now have a 9 points lead at the top of the table. In the League Cup we're also top of a group that involves 3 teams from the division above, because why the hell not.

Also it looks like now every other goal is scored by our BBM, regardless if we pick Bruno Loureiro or Ruben Nogueira for the position, which is just odd.

 

 

Edited August 5, 2019 by noikeee

[noikeee]

União star scores hat-trick on his international debut for Ireland, what a time to be alive.

 

 

[noikeee]

November 2019

We have had this annoying tendency to concede late equalisers this season, and that's what happened twice here. Still 6 points clear in first though - and still the BBMs scoring our goals.

 

[noikeee]

[noikeee]

December 2019

The unbeaten run, that started all the way back in last season, lasted for 24 matches, but is now finally over - it was fellow promotion rivals Vitória de Setúbal who broke us. Still, we retain a 4 points lead over them, firmly in 1st place at midway point: something that makes me think back-to-back promotions is possible...

In the League Cup, we went away to Feirense knowing we had to win, if we wanted to top a group with 3 teams from the top division, knocking all of them out including Benfica. And... that's what we did, qualifying for the semi-finals - a fair bit further than I ever imagined! We play my beloved FC Porto next...

 

 

[noikeee]

Fiorentina, again! Now interested in ANOTHER backup keeper. 

[noikeee]

January 2020

 

 

Whilst the season is going wonderfully well, I'm a little unhappy with the output from my forwards, so decided to improve my depth upfront by bringing in a ST and a AMC:

 
Pretty expensive striker for our level at a 145K€ fee. However he's started incredibly well, with a brace on his debut and another goal + assist against Mafra! Might just about steal Adam Idah's place upfront - the Irish kid started the season very well but his performances dropped off since.

 
With Fellype Gabriel's skills evaporating, I needed a more competitive AMC to fight for the position with Zé Tiago - so this lad comes in on loan from Boavista to do just that. Could also play on the right wing but needs to be retrained (and can cover for ST too).

Despite a bad day against Farense, we're still hanging on to 1st place. How long can we last there - the whole season, hopefully? Top 2 go up, we have a 7 points cushion over Penafiel who are 3rd.

In the League Cup semi-final, we kept Porto very honest, equalizing after they went a goal up, and staying in contention until the very end - we even missed a sitter in injury time! - despite having to substitute 3 players for "orange" injuries. I'm very proud of our performance.

 

[noikeee]

Taça de Portugal stats are bugged, João Paredes didn't play for us there so can't have had 2 goals neither a 8.70 average rating. Damn you game.

[noikeee]

February 2020

It might well be that the win over Arouca, in that crazy match, will prove to be a key moment in this season - they were starting to look dangerous as they rise to 3rd in the table, and we couldn't afford to lose it. We didn't.

Setúbal are now breathing down our neck in the fight for 1st, but I'm more concerned in remaining in the top 2 and consequently get promoted. 8 points separate us from Arouca.

 

[noikeee]

he dead

Edited August 9, 2019 by noikeee

[deltablue]

Still going strongly at the top I see. Shame about the injury, I don't think I've ever seen one for that long before. 

[sherwinriga]

On 09/08/2019 at 08:54, noikeee said:

he dead

Oh, wow! That's not good. I hope that he would still be alive at this point.

[noikeee]

2 hours ago, deltablue said:

Still going strongly at the top I see. Shame about the injury, I don't think I've ever seen one for that long before. 

 

37 minutes ago, sherwinriga said:

Oh, wow! That's not good. I hope that he would still be alive at this point.

Tbh at this point he isn't needed anymore, he's 3rd choice AMC. Still sad to see this happen to a player that was absolutely sensational last year in our promotion campaign. 

[noikeee]

March 2020

 

Uh-oh, this is starting to look a little too inconsistent. We still have 4 points over Setúbal and 5 points over Arouca, but on this form they're gonna catch us before the season is over. 7 matches remain, and we still have to play Setúbal on the very last day. Can we still hold on and perform the miracle of back-to-back promotions?

 

 

Edited August 10, 2019 by noikeee

[noikeee]

April 2020

 

This may not look like a particularly spectacular month, again with a defeat and a draw, but thanks to Arouca not doing any better, we are now a tiny step away from promotion! We need just 1 point in the remaining 3 matches. The cherry on top would be winning the title, that looks harder, Setúbal are just 3 points from us and still play us.

 

[noikeee]

  

Edited August 10, 2019 by noikeee

[noikeee]

Injured in the celebrations, perhaps? Slow it down lads, there's still 2 matches to play, a title to fight for, and Setúbal are just 1 point behind us.

[Constantine]

Everything's going according  to plan.

Except those injuries. That's some bad luck...

[Deisler26]

[noikeee]

18 hours ago, Constantine said:

Everything's going according  to plan.

Except those injuries. That's some bad luck...

Luckily the injuries are not to starting 11 players, my best 11 has kept relatively clear of injuries this season, which is quite surprising considering how intense the tactic is!

[noikeee]

May 2020

We clinched promotion with the 0-0 against Viseu, that's the big thing done and dusted, the title would just be a bonus. Well we wanted the bonus anyway. A 1-1 draw with Benfica B didn't really put it into risk as Setúbal lost that day. So we went into the final day with a 2 points lead over Setúbal, knowing all we had to do was not lose to them and we'd be champions.

It started very badly as we conceded from a long shot on minute 9. Suddenly we were bound to lose the title on the final day, after having been 1st on the league table all season long! The clock kept ticking, and despite us camping in their half, nothing happening. Fortunately on the final 20 minutes Idah showed up, finishing a nice long through ball from Zé Tiago, and then pouncing on a corner kick. Champions!

 

 

[Deisler26]

[noikeee]

Season review 2019/2020

Keeper

 

A good but not great keeper that had a good but not great season. The staff thinks he's good enough to play in the top division though, which is a rare thing in this squad that will need to be seriously upgraded for next year.

Centerbacks

 

Michelotti was easily one of the best signings of the season, the Italian teenager was too good for this club, and it is no surprise Torino want him to be loaned to a more competitive side for next season (to our disappointment). His CB partner Brendon proved rather disappointing, however.

IWBs

 

Quite a contrast in here. Whilst on the right Leandro Silva had a very "meh" season - and on hindsight I could've quite possibly have played Alhassane Sylla more here, before he got injured - on the left Matheus Leal was bonkers good, again. For the 2nd consecutive season, at different levels, the Benfica loanee was by far the highest rating player in the squad. I don't know if he'll keep up this performance for the top division, but just in case he does that, I've just signed him permanently.

Midfielders - HB and BBM 

 

Halfback was unquestionably Pathé Ciss's spot as he was our best DM by miles, although this is a role that doesn't shine much. BBM was pretty much the opposite - at one time Bruno Loureiro and Ruben Nogueira were trading blows in the fight for this position, both players scoring regular goals from midfield, but eventually Bruno won the position for me. And then stopped scoring.

Wingers

 

Both wingers won their position over the players that had shone for us last season. Argentinian loanee Bracamonte was slow to shine on the left, but eventually started doing the job and finished on 8 goals, 5 assists. But the star here was Ivan Machado on the other wing, becoming our most influential attacking player and getting 10 goals, 10 assists. A surprise as he's not even that good on paper, quite frankly.

Trequartista

 

I'm not sure whether to call this a successful season or an underwhelming one, by Zé Tiago. He clearly couldn't reach the highs Fellype Gabriel reached last season (at a lower level, and before the Brazilian veteran completely sunk his attributes due to age), and also had the weakest average ratings out of our entire starting 11. But 7 goals and 10 assists wasn't that bad.

Striker

 

Irish teenager and international Adam Idah started the season on excellent form, but the goals dried up mid-season, to the point at some stage he lost the position to January signing João Paredes. Paredes only really performed for a couple of matches, so Idah won the position back, in time to score the 2 goals that won us the title, and to finish as our top scorer on  lowly 13.

Prospects

None.

[pheelf]

Nice to see you back enjoying a save

Congrats on getting promoted to the top flight, it'll be interesting to see how your tactical style works against higher quality opposition.

All the best

[noikeee]

Uh, I'm not sure Marítimo are okay with this, but fine for us!

[noikeee]

19 hours ago, pheelf said:

Nice to see you back enjoying a save

Congrats on getting promoted to the top flight, it'll be interesting to see how your tactical style works against higher quality opposition.

All the best

Thanks. I need to hire a completely new team, we are most definitely NOT good enough to fight with the teams above us... we might've done okay in the League Cup against them but just look at our points total in the league, we barely won half the games... that doesn't really instill much confidence that we're any ready for the next level. With the back-to-back promotions we've grown a little too quickly and the squad talent still needs to catch up.

[noikeee]

Goodbye, you legend.

[noikeee]

 

When I saw this, I wasn't expecting to find a not-too-terrible player in here! He's a bit too slow, though.

[noikeee]

Pre-season 2020/2021

 

When I said I was buying a new team, I wasn't kidding. That's 14 new players + the permanent signing of Matheus Leal (finally, after he shone for us the last 2 years on loan from Benfica). I stretched my transfer/wage budgets like crazy, spent 725K and got the club into a little bit of debt, but the squad neeeded a massive upgrade.

 

 
This Japanese player picked up early in the window, can do a few different things, but the plan is to adapt him to MR.  I think I've picked up a better player for the position since, but once adapted I think he can be good. Still has loads of potential although he's getting a bit old to unlock it now.

 
Halfback wasn't a high priority position to upgrade, but this guy showed up available on a free and I think he's considerably better than Pathé Ciss. Probably gave him too high wages though.

 
One of 3 new CBs as the position needed a complete revamp. I'm not really 100% happy with any of them, but I guess he's the slightly better of them.

 
Now rated as the single best player in the whole squad, Edson is probably ideal as a traditional non-inverted right wingback, but can also play up high as winger. I'm planning to field him as a very inverted RB (although he has "run with ball down right" PPM), I think he's just so good it doesn't matter. Huge upgrade on Leandro Silva for the position.

 
New backup keeper. Amusing that both our keepers now are former Porto B players.

 
Left winger continues to seem a bit of a problem position on paper, this was the best I could get, on loan from São Paulo. I think he could just about do the job, can also play LB on a desperate situation.

 
This loanee from Sporting seems excellent cover for both LB and RB positions - depending on how Matheus Leal adapts to the top flight, he could even steal the position on the left there, although he's rightfooted and counter-intuitively I've been getting better performances from left footed players at LB (and rightfooted at RB) despite the fact the role is "inverted".

 
Another of the new CBs.

 
This hugely versatile player comes on loan from Porto and although he impressed on pre-season and is developing dramatically well, might be only a backup to the new Trequartista we just paid big cash for. I could also easily slot him on the right wing.

 
Striker remains a major problem position. João Paredes, last year's backup who only got 3 goals in 9 appearances or so, is lined up to be our starter as it stands, and this was the best alternative I could get. The reasoning for picking up this young English striker on loan from Wolves, is his huge speed - could prove a big asset in a season in which we expect teams to attack us.

 
I signed Ronaldo! Not THAT Ronaldo, but still a Ronaldo. I paid big bucks for him (for our standard) but I think he's 100% worth it, looks a superb fit for the box-to-box midfielder role, and could also do brilliantly well, at least on paper, at both halfback and right IWB.

 
The last of the 3 new CBs. They're all pretty interchangeable, good but not great squad players. It remains to be seen who'll win the position.

 
This versatile attacker on loan from PSV, looks set to be a big upgrade at right-winger. He impressed immediately upon arrival, scoring 2 goals on his first competitive start in the League Cup.

 
Our final signing was another we paid big time for. This is a player I already know well as I managed him on my short-lived alternate career with Pescara, and he was immense. In here I expect him to boss the Trequartista position and be a key player for a few years - we got a glimpse of what he's capable of in the League Cup game, in which he got a goal and a assist.

After this massive revolution, we are currently planning to line up like this:

 

Pre-season started with a huge shocker as we got smashed 5-0 by Arouca (???) but since then it's been a breeze. We handled Aves well and qualified for a League Cup group with island rivals Nacional (we are gonna have a nice few local derbies this season against them and Marítimo), national giants Sporting, and Tondela. We kick off the league season with a tricky away fixture against Braga.

[noikeee]

August 2020

 

On deadline day we let 3rd choice DM Yannick leave on a free.

A great start. We resisted Braga until minute 94 and that is fine, beat Setúbal (who got promoted together with us last year) fairly comfortably apart from a little scare with a late goal they scored, and just about snatched a valuable away win in Vila do Conde with a venomous counter-attack giving us the winner in minute 88.

 

[noikeee]

September 2020

Well I'm most definitely happy with this month! Okay we might've been smashed by Benfica, and our League Cup performance against our island rivals was poor (we played a heavily rotated side), but we're winning all the winnable league matches and that's what matters.

We spent the entire month without 1st and 2nd choice strikers João Paredes and Niall Ennis, too - although Cody Gakpo has been doing well upfront in their absence.

 

[noikeee]

October 2020

 

Holy crap, a perfect month. That includes beating rivals Marítimo in the league, and a tough as nails fixture in Sporting in the League Cup (who we're gonna have to play again in the Portuguese Cup). As it stands we're a crazy 4th in the league. Just how much further can the champagne football system keep taking us? Could even European qualification be on the cards for this season, or am I getting ahead of myself?

 

 

Edited August 13, 2019 by noikeee

[noikeee]

Get ****ed, Sergio Conceição.

[noikeee]

November 2020

Uh-oh.

Time to go firmly back down to earth, with 3 defeats for the league on a row. The Belenenses match was particularly bad as at one stage we were losing 5-1. We're still 5th in the league table which is brilliant, but we're starting to get caught by a lot of teams.

The good news from this month, is we managed an excellent away win to Sporting in the cup! We proceed to face Covilhã next who should be beatable, we also have a decent chance of proceeding in the League Cup (knocking Sporting out) in the case we beat Tondela away in December.

 

[kidthekid]

Good start to the season. Decent signings as well.

[noikeee]

On 14/08/2019 at 09:57, kidthekid said:

Good start to the season. Decent signings as well.

Don't jinx me you fraud.

 

[noikeee]

I forgot saying in November our Trequartista Zé Tiago (last season's starter, this season's 3rd choice behind Bernardo Martins and Bruno Costa), left on a free to Farense.

[noikeee]

Ungrateful *****, União doesn't even have fans so where did you come from, must've started following us now that we're fashionable you plastic idiots. #whereWereYouWhenWeWereShite

[noikeee]

December 2020

 

When we went 2-0 up against Paços it looked like finally the bad run was over, but nooooo they'd turn it round. 5 defeats in a row for the league, ouch. Thankfully we got our morale up after smashing Covilhã in the cup and then beat Tondela twice, which just about got us into the League Cup semi-finals for the 2nd year running, thanks to goal difference being the first decider instead of results between teams (we had lost to Nacional earlier).

 

 

 

 

Now as for next month's schedule...

Easy!

Edited August 17, 2019 by noikeee

[noikeee]

We "face the impossible".... 4 days after we beat them in the cup, knocking them out.