Project - ESTUDIANTES De La Plata.

[_neallyons_]

ESTUDIANTES De La Plata 

For a long while now i have been itching to start a save in a league and surroundings i am not very privy to, i wanted a team where i could develop youth and have some creative freedom.

The south american leagues have always interested me but i have never taken a vested interest in their league systems or how they work, I have always been aware of the better known south american brazilian/argentinian sides but thought it would be to obvious to choose a side like Boca/River from argentina or Flamengo/Sao Paulo etc from brazil. 

This lead me to a bit of research eventually deciding upon Estudiantes, we dont have a huge budget - but we do have a good infrastructure in place..

5* training facilities & 4* youth facilities,

a modern (2003) built 53k capacity stadium,

a continental reputation and a rich history winning the copa libertadores in 1968,1969,1970 and 2009 - winning the Argentine top division 5 times and runners up 4 times.. the club is currently enduring a 7 year barren spell having not won a competition since 2010. 

This season we have continental football in the form of the "Copa Sudamericana" which we will be attempting to win in the first season in charge. 

The Squad

The Reserves

The Under 20's 

As a whole i dont think we have a terrible squad, there are areas i feel we can improve and i have made some additions with a limited budget i feel will bring something to the team. 

I will be looking at clearing a lot of the reserve team out, some are headed for mid 20's while there are also some players past their best now which take up valuable wage budget and wont be bringing anything to the team anytime soon. 

We have some decent prospects in the under 20's that i will be paying particular attention to and pairing up with established pro's to give them the best possible chance of development. 

Some of the more promising youth prospects...

Tactics

Using  Ö-zil to the Arsenal! Johan Cruyff's total football Ajax project as inspiration i have decided to go for a 3-5-1-1 with a standard mentality and fluid shape, which will adapt and evolve as the season goes on. 

Fixtures

We started off with a win, away against Peruvian side "Club Sport Rosario"

Considering we was the away side, we dominated possession having 58% of the ball - had 17 shots to their 10 (only 4 of which where long shots) - created 4 clear cut chances and 4 half chances - ran 122km and had an average rating of 7.43.

We get the new signings on the on the 1st July in the game (currently 27th june) and wont have our next game until the 26th july which is the return leg against Club Sport Rosario in the Copa Sudamericana for a place in the 3rd round, four friendlys and then the league starts. Plenty of time to bed the tactics and signings in and get prepared for the season ahead.