From Madeira With Love (FM2014 Dynasty) Finished!!! Check out stats and final stuff!!
 

Let me step back and explain how I came upon this idea for my next FM dynasty. I picked up a copy after a discount from vex (thanks again!). Then I downloaded and got it all ready to play, but as who?

My favorite genre of music is electronic music. Seriously, my five favorite artists are Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Echoing Green, Schiller and DJ Roger Shah. Of the countless sub-genres of electronic music, one of my favorites is Balearic Beat, which comes from the island of Ibiza. It’s a more laid back version of club music, often with acoustic instruments tossed in. From Solar Stone’s Seven Cities to Roger Shah and Zara’s Lost, I adore this group of music.

Now, I don’t know a lick about Spanish football. If you put a gun to my testicles and promised to blow them off unless I could to name 10 Spanish clubs, odds are I’d be singing soprano. So, is there a club from Ibiza? Because that’d be really cool. Playing a club from the Balearic Isles in Spanish Football, and taking it up to the big leagues.

So I looked. Nope, no Ibiza club in the first three levels of Spanish football. Ah well. But there are some other clubs from the Balearic Isles, such as 2nd Division Mallorca, and 2B Division clubs Constància and Atlético Baleares. So I looked, and Atlético Baleares looked like a nice shot. It’s not in too bad of a position, and just two levels from the Real Madrids of Spanish football.

But the promotion system is wonky. See, there are 80 clubs in the 2B level, and each has 20 teams. And the top team isn’t even promoted – there are playoffs. So there’s just a one in four chance that you’ll make it to the next level if you finish in a top spot. Just one team is promoted out of each of these four leagues – but three or four are related from each one. Lots of teams finish in the top four over a few seasons and never make it out because of the playoffs. That would be quite frustrating, since there’s just one ticket out and it comes via playoffs.

What about Mallorca, which is already out of this labyrinthine setup? That’s fine. I really liked the idea of playing from an island against the mainland. I also looked at fellow folks from the Canary Islands – Tenerife and Las Palmas from the same division. I wasn’t sure though, so I moved to the Portuguese area.

We have a team from the Azores in the 2nd division - C.D. Santa Clara, from the Azores, is currently in the Segunda Liga, with a value of $0 and insecure finances! Predicted 14th – tough place to begin a dynasty due to financial situation.

And I found my team shortly thereafter.

Clube Desportivo Nacional de Madeira



In the Premier League, expected to finish 8th, with 11.5 million value, and superb facilities. Okay finances. Very small stadium. But it’s in balmy Madeira.

Why did this club hit me all of the sudden?

Well, I’ve done two types of games in every FM game I’ve ever played. I’ve either taken a lesser known club in a smaller European top flight (Slavia Prague, Kaiserslautern, Metalurh Donetsk, Cercle Brugge, and others.) and tried to turn it into a major power, or I’ve taken a lesser known British club and promoted it up through the system as far as I can get before I get tired (Crewe, Carlisle, Wrexham, Yeovil, etc). So this gives me the chance to be another minor team in a major conference.

Here’s the problem with Portugal.

They have a Big Three consisting of Sporting, FC Porto, and SL Benfica. These three clubs have won the league every single year of its existence since the 30s. Except for 45-46 season (Beleneses) and 2000-01 season (Boavista). Boavista fell hard and are back in the National Championship C – the third level of football. Meanwhile, after a few years in the second level, Beleneses was just promoted back to the top flight. So there’s no competition for the Big Three from those two clubs. In every season, you tend to see the Big Three locking up the top three spots.

In the last ten years, 6 of the seasons the Big Three held all three spots. In the other 4, just one team came in. So of the 30 places in the top three over that time, the Big Three held 26 of those spots. Braga finished second and third once each, Ferreira was 3rd last year, and Vitória de Guimarães was 3rd back in the 2007-08 season. Note that all four times, it was Sporting that failed to hit the top three, so Porto and Benfica have hit Top Three every season for the last ten years.

In its entire history, Madeira has finished 4th twice, and never cracked the top three. It finished 5th once.

Note that there is another Premier League opponent right here in Madeira – Maritimo. Our rival. Maritimo was the first of the clubs to reach European Competition, but Madeira have had some nice successes in the 2000s in European play. Promoted in 2002, we’ve been as low as 12th and as high as 4th. Our last three seasons were 6th, 7th, and then 8th.

What the team needs is consistency. Here are my goals for Madeira.

1). Secure ourselves and our future in the league by acquiring and improving our talent.
2). Qualify for European Play by getting in the top 6.
3). Do well in the European Leagues (the best we ever did before was making it to the group stage of Europa League)
4). Crack the Top Three of the League and Finish in Champions Qualification
5). Win the League

Good luck.

I have no idea how far we’ll get in the plan. Here are the values of the top three clubs:

FC Porto – 127m Euros
SL Benfica – 266m Euros
Sporting – 111m Euros

Us? 11.5m Euros

Anyone else of worth?

Braga – 16.25m
Vit. Guimaraes – 11.5m


Everybody else is lower than 10 mill

So this would not be a major shock to the sporting world if we managed to gain consistency and move up. Even cracking the top three would be great, but not the biggest news item in football. Edging out Sporting has happened four times in the last ten years. It could happen right here in Funchal Madeira. Now, if we had a higher place than either Benfica or Porto, that’d be interesting. Porto has won 8 of the last 10 seasons, and Benfica the other two.

Thanks!!!

Now, let’s talk a bit more about the club:

Our stadium is just 5142 strong, and was built in ‘98. We have nothing special – no underheating or roof, just a grass pitch. Not like you need it here in the balmy island.

We have superb training and youth facilities. We are known as developing and finding a lot of young talent. For example, we are the club that developed Cristiano Renaldo. No surprise here, we call the youth stadium and junior coaching program the Cristiano Renaldo Campus Futebol. We have good junior coaching and above average recruitment.

We are affiliated with Camacha, Freamunde, and Santana, all Portuguese clubs. These are just loan clubs, nothing major. Camacha and Freamunde are in the National Championship (level 3) and Santana is lower.

Born in the city of Xai-Xai, in the lower part of Mozambique, James Essex was the son of a missionary pastor who married a local woman. Biracial technically, his dark composure is often darker than most pure Africans he grew up with. After eleven years of living in Xai-Xai, James Essex and his love for sports, including local football played in the tight streets, went back to his native father’s England. He spent a few years playing ball there before being spotted by a Swedish scout. At the age of 16, James Essex was signed by Osters IF for their youth squad, and he traveled there. For the next seven years, James moved to two other clubs in Sweden and grew up there, gaining Sweden as his second nationality.

Meanwhile, Mozambique came calling, and at the age of 20, Essex agreed to play for their national club and was capped for the senior squad. Over the next ten years, Essex would play 26 games for the squad at his natural central defender position. He would leave Sweden at the age of 24 for England, where he played for two clubs over the next four years. Finally, he returned to Sweden and finished his career there at the age of 31, when he broke his back in the brutally cold game and was wheelchair bound for two years until he recovered.

He used his time to develop skills with the local coaching staff in Sweden, and became more of a mentor and coach for the other players. By the time his injury was finished, he was promoted to a role as Assistant Manager to a club in the Allsvenskan. After assisting the team reach higher than expected, his name was circulated as getting his first manager position, but none came in Sweden.

So he reached out to see if he could find another fit. And he did – in Portugal. As a native of Mozambique, he speaks very good Portuguese. He also knows English, Swedish and Norwegian. He was tapped by Madeira to come in and stir things up and get them to the next level. It hoped that his experience getting a club to outperform expectations in the Allsvenskan as an Assistant Manager will help here in Portugal as well. Plus, the senior squad has three fellow Mozambiquean players – Zainadine Junior, Reginaldo, and Marcio Madeira.

Good background story.

I appreciate it!

It’s the 26th of June, 2013, and Rui Alves, chairman, escorts Essex into the room for a quick meeting.

I just have a one year contract, for 5250 a week.

Director of Football Bruno Patacas will handle our transfer activity I send him.

I agree to take a full report on the club’s history, They want a comfortable mid-table finish (There are 16 clubs, so our previous positions of 7 and 8 would fit.) I agree. We get 55k in budget and 150k in transfer. The club has no philosophies, but I ask for a meeting in a few days time to discuss them. I agree to a press conference.

In walks our Assist Man, Basilio Marques. I agree to an intra-squad friendly tomorrow, I take a report of all of the players, arrange a meeting with the staff, and agree for biweekly reports from him.


We are currently spending 46k a week on budgets.

I meet with our players. I begin by calmly introducing myself, then assertively saying we can finish in the top-half, which gets mixed results. One is passionately and agrees (Rondon) and another (Djaniny) calmly things its too ambitious. How do I handle Djaniny? He’s disagreeing with me five seconds into our first team meeting? I don’t back down, but calmly disagree with him. Another, Bruno Maura, cautiously agrees with my expectations. I affirm his reaction.

Eighteen players reacted well, Four not at all, and three worsened – Freire, Djaniny, and Kayke.

Freire, in particular, was bad.

I look at my staff first.

I move myself in charge of negotiations for our youth players. I also set assignments for scouts now.

We have:

Director of Football – Bruno Patacas
Manager - Me
Ass Man – Basilo Marques
Head of Youth Development – Ricardo Vieira
GK Coach – Emidio Junior
Coach - Jose Augusto
Head Physio – Rui Bettencourt
Physio – Joao Luis Alves
Physio – Filipe Mendes
Chief Scout – Antonio Pinto

And that’s it.


Basilo is not too bad, he’s not a target right now.

Vieira has a 2 out of 20 in working with youngsters. That seems just uncannily off.

Our GK coach is adequate

Jose doesn’t suck

But we have just one scout.

So I need to hire some folks here.

(By the way, these leagues are active – Brazil, Sweden, Spain, Argentina and Portugal)

I terminate Mendes immediately – he was the priciest of the lot.

Scout First:

We have a good understanding of Portugal, Brazil, Sweden, Mozambique and Greece (via our Ass Man).


So I look for scouts with other areas of interest, I am searching for non-Portuguese unemployed scouts. Who looks good? I like Romerito, from Paraguay (a former international with 66 caps). He has good judging abilities. We come to a deal.


I also like Rustu Recber, a Turkish international with 120 caps who knows Spain decently too. But he’s not interested. I’m also turned down by Danish scout Soren Lerby and German scout Norbert Ziegler

I go for quality and sign a great scout, Ayres Morais de Albuquerque who is Brazilian.

Next up other staff:

I sign Junior Fontoura to be our fitness coach. I also offer to Marcus Vinicius Tondato and Sergio Araujo – all Brazilians.

I begin to review our senior squad. I start with the report that Marques sent me.


According to my Ass Man:

4 Stars – Dejan Skolnik (ML), Mario Rondon (ST)
3.5 Stars – Mexer (DC), Freire (DC) Claudemir (DR), Daniel Candeias (AMR),
3 Stars – Eduardo Gottardi (GK), Zaunadine Junior (DR), Marcal (DL), Diego Barcelos (AMC), Joao Aurelio (AMR), Djaniny (ST)
2.5 Stars – Ricardo Baptista (GK), Kayke (ST), Rafa (DM)
2 Stars – Sequeira (DL), Jota (MC), Reginaldo (AMR), Nuno Campos (DR)
1.5 Stars – Miguel Rodrigues (DC), Bruno Moura (WBR),Saleh Gomaa (DM) , Dejan Skolnik (AML)
1 Star – Joao Barreto (MR), Ali (DC)
0 Stars – Rui Silva (GK)


That’s all 26 senior squad folks!

Let’s begin by looking at my two four star players:

Mario Rondon, 27, Venezuelan, 14 fin, 13/13 speed, 15 head, every physical stat is between 12 and 14, every mental stat is between 10 and 14 (save leadership at 8), drib 12, 1st touch 12, long shots, 12, pass 11, techni 12, penalty 13. Not a bad player at all. Currently on 2.6k weekly contract for three years. Last two years for us had 4 goals in 28 games and 10 in 29 the year before, with 0 assists. Not the goal machine I would hope for.


Dejan Skolnik, injured for 7 to 9 months with torn cruciate ligaments. 24, Croatian, we have for two years, at 2k weekly. We’ll look at him more closely when he returns from injury. So basically, due to the injury, he’s not on my team as far as I’m concerned.

Our current tactics are a 4-5-1. We played a dmc, 2 middles, and an AMR and AML to assist Rondon.

I don’t see Rondon as pulling that off well. We have a weak center midfield. But Diego Barcelos, a natural AMC, is at a position we don’t even run. He’s just competent at the AMR. Meanwhile, Daniel Candalais is our best midfielder, and also suited for the AMR role (and just competent at AML). So if we run it, we run Daniel and Diego in positions that are not natural fits. A bit awkward. The same is true of Joao Aurelio.

So we have some good attacking midfielders. Daniel had 6 goals for us last year and Diego Barcelos had 4. Joao Aurelio is a new signing. I’m confident in the AM battleplan – more than I usually am. So this team has that going for it.

Where I am concerned is at MC and defense. Rafa is not too terribly bad at DM. As a new signee, he’ll suffice for a year until I can get a better feel for him. Loanee Saleh Gomaa, an Egyptian from ENPPI is not good at all. I don’t want to start him at either MC or DM. Everybody else I have that can play MC (Jota) does not inspire either. We have a poor number of MCs (and one on loan).

So I need some center midfielders. Badly.

Then for defense, we have two players – Nuno Campos and Zainadine Junior that can only play right fullback. They cannot play DC, they are unconvincing at DL, and awkward at WBR. Junior’s not a bad player, he’s starting caliber, but there’s not a not of flexibility. And then Claudemir, and Bruno Moura (on loan from Angra dos Reis) can just play WBR or DR. That’s a weak amount of flexibility in the roster – four players can just play one position on the pitch. Joao Aurelio is accomplished back there, although an AMR. Then for DL, I have just two players who can play it – Marcal and Sequeira , Marcal is fast (16/15) and adequate skills. He is unconvincing anywhere other than WBL. Sequeira can play AML and DL and WBL all easily, but has more backup like stats.

As for DC, I have five players who can run it – Mexer, Freire, Ali, Miguel Rodrigues and Diogo Coelho. Diogo would be horrible at it, Ali does not inspire confidence, Mexer is fine, and Freire isn’t that hot either. His technical attributes are not where I would like for a DC.

What should I do for my tactics? I agree my team is currently not built for a 2 ST system, but I could easily sign another and be fine. Meanwhile, perhaps what my team really wants is to move to wingbacks. They are not my style, but they fit this roster. Would a 5-3-2 work? Although I don’t have good DCs to run 3. Could I just do 4 at the back but move them from FB to WB? Would I need a DMC at that point? Could I run 3 MC, 2 WB, 2 DC, 2 AML/R, and 1 ST? Or could I just do a 4-4-2 with both FB and MR/L pushed forward?

So, I’m playing around with formations. One is a 2 DC, 1 DMC, 2 WB, a MC, 2 AM, 2 ST. That’s odd. Or I could drop the DMC to DC, but then I have just one person in the middle, and that’s weak. I like having two STc. But I could pull one for another MC, which gives me 2 WB, 3 DC, 2 MC, 2 AM, and 1 ST. Basically that just takes our current formation, drops the DMC to DC and raises the DR/L to WBR/L. That’s not bad, although I like the lack of ST options, and I have two groups that attack down flanks – is that odd? Would it perhaps not be better to move those to two AMC roles? That would give me a 5-2-2-1 formation. (Or I could move one AM to ST and another to AMC, giving me a 5-2-1-2 formation – similar to the 3-2-3-2 in the game except move the SW to general DC)

Nothing works. So forget it. I’m building a team around a formation I like and am comfortable with, like 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 Diamond. For right now, let’s just sign some folks, and I can worry about tactics later.

So, I’d really like to target at least one major DC and at least two major MCs. I also want some more sauce for the pitch, perhaps a nice ST.

Let’s go shopping

I send out a bunch of scouts from locals to Brazilians, we’re doing a ton of scouting.

I offer a few trials to some unsigned youthers.

I also make offers to a variety of youthers, including a few hot ones.

We’ll see what happens with my scouting, trial offers and major offers.

Our current youthers aren’t very good at all. So I need an injection of quality. We only have four under contract right now – ugh.

There’s a ST out there I really like who I can swing for a year or so at the age of 36, for about 5500 or so a week, but that’s most of my extra salary, and I’m about to bring in more staff, so nope.

Alright, I fast forward a bit in time.

One day passes.

Press Conference Time –

No major issues. Whew!

Sergio Araujo joins us – Junior Fontoura as well. I massage some of their assignments for training.

We sign de Albuquerque. He comes with a scouting report already compiled. I take a look and find a few intriguing folks. I add them to my shortlist. He has a great scouting knowledge of Argentina and Mexico too. He knows of a guy named Gonzalo Pineda, a 30 year old DM and MC from Mexico who’s pretty good and currently off a contract. He want sot be a kye player for 6000 in his initial stuff, so I just add him to my short list for now.


Friendly Scrimmage between our teams time. 2-1 at the half us. We score again and win 3-1.

Romerito joins us and we get his scouting report, which includes the US, Chile, Paraguay, Mexico. Yay!

He has a few nice players too. It includes a great, currently unattached Brazilian 29 year old Gk named Fernando Henrique. He also knows of an unattached middle named Hugo, 32.

One of my staff offers was rejected by the board. Stupid board. Our first trialist arrives – a 14 year old GK. He’s not good enough to keep. Another Trialist, 16 year old Portugese middle is good enough to sign. 2 more trial folks arrive. I sign both. Even more show up (the 29th of June) and I sign another.

As of today, the 29th, we have signed many youth players. Now its time to look at other players.

I offer three tirals to older folks to see what they have too. All can play the MC role.

One of my hot prospect guys signed on the 30th. 15 year old Jose Carneiro, a Portuguese guy, for 300 weekly. He’ll be one with my eyes on.


Time for our philosophy talk with the chairman.

They have agreed to my new philosophy of signing your players who will play a role in the 1st team squad and grow.

Later on I sign another hot prospect for 475 weekly – Striker,16, Portuguese named Joaquim Sousa with fast (15/14), good finishing (13), and decent work rate (11), has . One more comes through for 925 weekly but comes in later August.

Welcome to July 1


I ask for a Trial Day, they initially balk, but I stress its importance, and Rui Alves relents and grants it.


I begin to look at some of our new signees all youth folks.


Alright, time to look for folks for my team more seriously.

I finalize a deal with Juan Antonio Zamora, an Argentinean.


Our first older trailist has arrived, Botti, who’s 32 and plays middie. I like and might move for him later.

July 2 has arrived and a 27 year old guy, Costinha, arrived with his trial. I like Botti better. Although this guy is available for a cheap backup role.

Trial Day will be tomorrow. 34 players have signed up!

I decline to extend Trial Offer for a nice Swedish player after he arrives. He came back not as good as I had hoped. We brought in a 25 year old Brazilian striker – Adriano on a trial. I like him. He’s just 3.5 stars by my scouts, but he’s fast, (16/16), and has good technical skills, but not good at heading or jumping, sort of a fast


After the Trial Match, I look at every player:

I make offers to nine youth players.

I make a backup offer to Costinha for just 200/week. Another older Middie trialist, 30 year old Marco Pidocha came in, but he’s way too slow for me. Great passing – 15.

Our first friendly arrives, home against Wolfsburg on the 6th of July.

I decide to make that offer for Adriano. I want to run two strikers, and I like him enough to do it.

Not really that concerned about the friendly, only half watching it. Replaced an injury early. It’s 0-0 at the half but they go up 0-3 later on.


Costinha signs the next day. Not great. 11/10 speed, 12 passing, stamina, a handful of other low double digits. But a backup at the MC spot is vital for this time. So welcome our first, admittedly small, signing of a non-youth player:


Costinha:

Our final major trialee arrives – Eusebio Manuwere, 27 year old MC. His physicals are good, and his mentals don’t suck. Passing is 12, tack 13, tech 13, and mark 11 but that’s it for technical attributes that are above 9. I need more. He doesn’t have it.


Botti’s trail is up on the 8th, but I still have him on a shortlist of answers for the MC.


Adriano accepts. Our second major transfer of the window arrives.


Adriano, 25, Brazilian:

16: Agility, Acc, Pace, Flair
15: Determination
14: Off the Ball, Stamina
13: Fin, Aggress, Antici, Brave
12: Technique, Long Shots, First Touch, Drib, Fitness, Penalties
11: Pass, Cross, Concentra, Creative, Decision
10: Heading, Free Kick, Composure, Teamwork, Work Rate

We liked him enough to sign him for 5.25k a week for three years.

Reginaldo busts his toe in practice and is out for 2-3 months.



I hold the typical presser and then move to change tactics. Time to move to a 2 Striker set up, which I’m more comfortable with anyway.


We are sliding to a 4-4-2 diamond for now, because I still have weak MC stuff. I don’t have a good ML, as the only person who can play that position well is my injured for months Skolnik. So I need to get one. But this formation currently starts Adriano, Rondo, BArcelos, Barreto, Sequira, Rafa, Marcal, Friere, Mexer, and Aurelio in the field.


I hold my first meeting with the staff and even get some tutoring and such going.

Our target, Sanchez Prette, went to another team and turns us down in the 11th.

So, who next? With the 4-4-2 diamond, MC isn’t as much of a need, so that plays to our strengths, but we need at least a temporary ML for the year. Right now we are at 53.875k and I moved the wage budget to 55.48k. We weren’t signing anyone.

Sounds like we could use a loanee.


Our team is placed at 50-1 to win.


Today we host Hannover, with our new tactics to unveil.

0-0 at the half. And at the end of the game too.

A loan offer for a great guy fell through at the last moment on the 17th. What else can I unearth?

I have a guy in my sights, but my folks wont let me sign him for the 700 he wants. We have the money. I make him a first team offer and dicker him down to 425 weekly (our max right now) for a year after I increased of offer in several bonuses.



The most notable players in the last year of their current deal are:

Diego Barcelos
Daniel Candeias
Joao Battero
Joao Camacho
Rui Silva
Edgar Costa, Marcio Madeira (On Loan)




The 20th arrives and we are hosting OM

After being set up by Diego B., Rondon scores in the 15th minute. Halftime, busy, but no more scores. We hold off more barrages and win 1-0.

On the 22nd, our last target signs.


Say hello to Carlos Mariano:


37, Portuguese, Plays DL, MC, ML, paying him 425 a week. He hasn’t played in the Premier League since 2004-05 with Penafiel. He’s just a body for a year, nothing major.

For example, passing? 11, crossing, 13, 10/12 speed, yadda, yadda, and I expect those to drop forthwith. He had been delegated to playing part-time football as an Amateur last year.

Well, welcome back to real football!



He’s older than me!


He’s our one-year patch while our guy heals.

I will be following along!

Ditto.

As am I!

Welcome one and all!

Alright, let’s head to training.


I can’t figure this crap out. I’d rather just have the old training where you created a few schedules, and put people in whichever schedule suited them.


The 27th of July is here, and with it a friendly hosting Werder Bremen, in what my previous manager clearly thought was a fun little trend.

Mariano will start tonight. I move to a base 442 in the halftime after we are losing it in the midfield. They score easily at the 58th minute. We are unable to fight back and lose 0-1.

I accept a loan offer for Rui Silva, GK. I keep our pitch at the normal size.


Welcome to August:


3rd – Friendly at Santana
10th – Friendly at Freamunde
13th – Friendly at Camacha
18th – League Begins – Away at Sporting
25th – Host Braga


Rough first two games to begin the season.


Stupid FM – I’ve put 8 hours into the game and haven’t even reached the regular season yet! ;)

Of the youth players I signed (many) one of my favorites is GK Jose Moreira, who played in the Trial Game, and then we signed him. Let’s take a look at this 16 year old Portuguese fella:

Physical Stats: 9 Acc, 12 Agi, 11 Bal, 15 Jum, 12 Fitness, 8 Pace, 7 Stam, 13 Str, 7 Technique
GK – 10 Aeriel, 8 Command, 7 Commun, 12 Eccen, 3 First Touch, 9 Free Kick, 10 Handling, 7 Kick, 10 1:1. 1 Penalty, 12 Reflexes, 17 Rushing Out, 14 Tend to Punch, 9 Throw
Mental – 11 Agg, 6 Anti, 10 Brav, 10 Compos, 8 Concentration, 5 Creative, 9 Decision, 13 Deter, 2 Flair, 5 Leader, 2 OTB, 10 Position, 8 Teamwork, 14 Work Rate

We think he’s good solid 4-star potential, according to my scout.

Except for Communication and Distribution, he’s better than Rui Silva. (Better at Shot Stopping, Aerial – same in physical, speed, mental).

Expect to see Moreira

I register my squad today and I add Moreira, Mariano, Costinha, and Adriano to the squad. I also hand out numbers:

Jose Moreira, 99
Carlos Mariano, 30
Freire, 25
Saleh Gomaa, 37
Costinha, 32
Adriano, 18
Kayke, 24


On the 2nd I get a call from a local report – Mexer is a transfer target for Vit. Guimaraes. I say I’m not discussing transfer stories today.

I also have a lot of hope for Douglas Jardel, the 17 ST joining us in a couple of weeks. He’s a hot prospect too.


The only other youther we have anywhere near high hopes for is 3.5 star hopeful Jose Pedro Cardoso, 16 year old Portuguese man who plays DC/DL:

Physical – 9, 9, 11, 14, 5, 8, 12, 12
Mental – 17, 6, 16, 6, 6, 4, 6, 12, 3, 7, 7, 10, 14, 16
Technical – 2 Corners, 2 Crossing, 2 Drib, 2, Fin, 6, First Touch, 2 Free Kick, 12 Head, 4 Long Shot, 2, Long Throw, 10 Mark, 9 Pass, 5 Penalty, 10 Tack, 11 Technique

We’ll see. He’ll need some growth. And perhaps a spot of luck too.


We loan list him.


The 3rd arrives and I get my squad ready for today’s friendly. Most of my guys are fit. I elevate my two youther folks of interest to the first squad for today’s friendly. I start both of them. I massage other starts too to give other folks a chance to play.

We’ve had four shots on goal in the first 16, so let’s hope to continue the pressure. Mariano with a beautiful cross to Kayke who heads it in for goal at the 35th minute. Halftime. We foul a player in the penalty box in the 90th minute and they score the penalty kick to tie it 1:1.

I hand Cardoso the 40 shirt.

On the 6th Djaniny resumes training.


I get some call ups – Mario Rondon for Venezuela and Saleh Gomaa for the U20 Egypt club

Time for a little friendly with Freamunde. I move around some people for more experience. 0-0 at the half. Mariano gets a score in the 72st minute off a strong shot that was put back to him after he found Adriano who bounced it back and freed him. Marcal gets a goal in the 75th minute after I subbed him in at ML for Marciano. Rafa set him up. We win 2-0.


Time to choose the captain. The best choice is Skolnik, but he’s injured for a long time to come. I choose Rafa instead as the captain. Skolnik will remain the vice captain.


And now the 13th is here, and our final friendly, this time against Camacha, I made a few set piece changes to get ready for the season.

I move José Moreira back to the U19 squad. I have about 4 or 5 people who think they were better options than Rafa. They are not happy right now. They can deal. I move several players into normal starting positions, and only Rondon is out (international) and I’m leaving in my youther for today too.




In the 3rd minute, Joao Barreto at the MR crosses the ball from deep, is off target, but manages to be on target for the goal and scores. In the 18th, Barreto has a shot on target with fierceness. He’s up. Kayke scores in the 25th minute on a set piece. He was taking a free kick and shot for target. I moved him to Free Kick and it worked. At in 27th minute, Rafa, taking a corner (whom I also moved up) sets up the ball, it bounces in the box, and Adriano finishes it. Adriano is fed the by by Kayke and runs in, and scores from outside, but is injured. I sub in Djaniny. Kayke has another DFK on target but collected by the GK in the 46th minute. Halftime. I pull anybody tired at all – we have a real game in four days against Sporting. They score off a corner in the 47th minute. Djaniny scores in the 61st. I move to a 451 and pull Kayke. Then Djaniny gets another score. We win 6-1.



I send DC Jose Pedro Cardoso back down to the U19 squad as we prepare for our match against Sporting.

Our starting day roster:


GK – Eduardo Gottardi
DC – Mexer, Freire
DR – Joao Aurelio
DL – Marcal
DM – Rafa
MR – Daniel Candeias
ML – Carlos Mariano
AMC – Diego Barcelos
ST – Mario Rondon, Adriano

Backups:

GK Ricardo Baptista
ST Kayke
DL/AML Sequeira
DC Miguel Rodrigues
MR Joao Barreto
DR Zainadine Junior
ST Djaniny


I look at squad statuses of these folks. Everyone listed as key player (Daniel C, Mexer, Adriano, Mario Rondon) are starting. I move Jota to squad rotation from first team.

Joao Aurelio is listed as rotation, as is Rafa. Both are starting. Sequeira, Djaniny and Zainadine are listed as first team, but on the backup list. We might have issues there later on, but not yet.

I tell the lads to continue where they left off and we begin in a counter set up away in Sporting’s house. They are pushing forward in the first ten minutes and have a couple of shots on target but easily answered by us. Flowing move by Adriano to set up Rondon, but his shot is blocked in the 19th. I make adjustments in the 20s as pressure mounts as per my Assistant Manager’s suggestions. Despite a metric tonne of pressure, we finish the half 0-0. Stats for the first half – They’ve had 12 shots, 5 on target, we’ve had 3 and 2. Adriano gets free and scores at the 53rd minute but is called offsides. I pull Mexer for Rodrigues. Rondon is injured so I pull him for Kayke. Sequeira for Mariano. Game is over we tie 0-0. Not a bad result for on the road, against Sporting. That’s something to build on. Especially with Freire being the man of the match!

In the six matches today, there were just 8 goals scored.

I offer a few players for loans, and one gets a loan offer – Nuno Campos, a DR for me. I accept the offer.

During weight lifting, Miguel Rodrigues got a back strain and is out for two months. Ali will replace him in the backups.


Despite being at home against Braga, we are still expected to lose.

We have sold 900 season tickets.

We are ready to host Braga – we expect 3200 seats to be sold for today’s match.

We’ve had a pair of close calls by the 21st minute that almost went in. We’ve been controlling much of the tempo early on. I move from Standard to Control. After a quick 16 minutes of that, I go back to Standard. We get a header on target by Aurelio off a set piece but their GK stops it. Then they push forward off a counter and almost get a shot off before Mexer tackles the ball. Half. I tell them to keep it up and we can win tonight. We stop another counter, on target, by by GK. We make our first sub – Carlos, a bit banged up, for Sequeira. I then pull an injured Marcal for Zainadine Junior and I order us into more Controlling again. Our final sub is Kayke for Adriano. After a set up, Kayke has a beautiful shot on goal from about two yards out but the GK just manages to push it aside at the 82nd minute. Kayke pushes another shot on target for a corner in the 87th minute. We do nothing with it and end up as a draw. We should have won that one, we were dominant for much of the game. Ah well, MOM is Joao Aurelio.

I head back to the tactics a bit and try to tweak things some. I’m moving Rondon to a Target Man, Attack. Adriano is an Advanced Forward. I thought about pushing him to Poacher, but I don’t have a lot of experience with that. I move Daniel Candeias to a Winger, and pu Mariano on a Wide but automatic duty. I move Rafa to support from defend, since we have no one in the center.

SL Benfica just had their biggest win ever – 8-1 at home in the Premier League.

Campos was loaned away.

The 30th arrives and our final major acquisition of the season arrives:

One of my junior players, Joaquim Sousa, ST, was called up for the U21 Portugal Squad. Hmmm… He wasn’t on my list of hot prospects that we signed. I thought he was just a bum. Maybe I need to take a closer look at him later. I signed him because he had great physical stats, finishing and work rate, but little else. Maybe there’s something under the hood here.

Adriano has twisted his knee in the training session

I register Joaquim, another youther Cardoso, and our recent Jardel. I hand 42 to Jardel and 51 to Sousa.


Douglas Jardel, our final acquisition –

Hot Prospect, 925/weekly euros. 18, Striker, Brazil

His best skills are: 13 – Acceleration, Dribble, Finishing, First Touch, Long Shots, Work Rate; 12 – Pace, Agility, Head, and so forth. His weaknesses are in some physical stats (like stamina, strength) as well as many lower mental stats (Off the Ball, for example, is just a 7).


Douglas Jardel:



So, for example, he comes in and he is immediately compared to Djaniny by me. Who is better?

Jardel is better at…nothing. They are the same in aeriel, technical, speed. In others, Djaniny is better. So Jardel is not going to immediately be my 4th guy.

5 call-ups for internationals arrive:

Saleh Gomaa – Egypt U 20
Djaniny – Cape Verde
Mozambique – Mexer, Zainadine Junior
Mario Rondon – Venezuela

Three people come in on the 31st with loan offers for Jardel, but he’s not even listed for a loan. Let me see. Do I like Jardel enough as a 5th option, especially with Adriano injured and both Rondon and Djaniny prone to international call ups? I do actually. I decline the offers. Then I get an offer to cover 90% of his wages from a local team – Uniao Madeira, in the 2nd league. Because of the financial assistance, that I’ll take.

I get a last minute offer to loan Barreto. He isn’t listed for a loan and he’s currently on my squad, but he’s not a high caliber guy and will be moved later on. For now, I keep him.

September:


1st – At Arouca
15th – Host Estoril
22nd – Host Maritmo – RIVALRY GAME
29th – At Vit. Guimaraes


We think Rafa, Jose Pedro Cardoso and Joaquim Sousa really impressed in training last month. Yay!


Game Time!

I have both my young DC and ST in the subs. Remember we have injuries to ST and DC right now. Soon, our internationals will head away, but we don’t have a game during that period.

I start with a counter set up. Just to get things warmed up. Diego B wastes a noffensive opportunity with a long, poorly off target shot at the 8th minute. I slide back to Standard at the 2st minute. Another wasted offense at the 25th minute by us. Rondon’s header at the 27th is off target barely. Half time. I encourage them. We’ve had chances. They score strongly in the 46th minute as a player passes into a full box. Freire is pulled for JP Cardoso. I pull Kayke for Sousa. And then Rafa for Sequeiera. I move to attacking at the 86th minute. We lose and I express my disappointment.


Reginaldo is resumed training after his long injury. Because what I need for more fullbacks for my roster.

Since we’re not doing anything, I order my scouts to scout like 20 young unattached Portuguese players. You never know. None come back looking good.

Barretto had an injury that’ll knock him out for 10 days.

Portugal is pissed. Northern Ireland held them to a draw in the Group stage after Luxembourg beat them 1-0 a few days ago. This knocks Portugal down to 3rd place, and N Ireland is 2nd in the Group behind Russia. Russia Is now 7 points in front of Portugal, meaning it can’t be caught in the last two games of the Group by us.

I had posted a Scout job a while back, and the results are in. I like Jose Reis. He’s a bit expensive though. Instead I make an offer for 350/week to Andre Marques


We are favored for the home match vs. Estoril.


Alright, let‘s get our game on!

I begin controlling. They have a pair of DFKs early in the first 10 but nothing comes of it. They take a shot that is turned into a corner in the 11th, and I back off into standard. Kayke picks up a smaller knock but I’ll keep him out there. In the first -20 minutes, they’ve had 7 shots and 4 on target, we’ve had just one, so I pull back into Counter. We push back and have had a couple of good offensive efforts. 0-0 half. On the counter attack, Candeis hoofs the ball past the defense to an onside Rondon who rushes the ball in a 1:1 Vs their GK and scores. We are up 1-0. That’s also our first score in 4 games. Rondon missed another shot givien too him – really nice one – at the 54th minute. Mariano hoofs the ball from the left side to the right and finds Candeias, who pushes it right past a defender to Rondon, who scores again in the 55th minute. I make our first sub at the 61st – Sousa for Kayke. Diego has a lovely on shot target blocked. Rafa picks up a yellow and I pull him for Diogo Coelho.Final sub is JP Cardosa for Mexer. Coelho is injured in the 85th minute and I move my formation around to compensate for having one fewer person on the pitch. Then they get a score off a corner kick in the 87th minute. Drama Late!!! But that’s it, and we hold off a late surge for a win – 2-1. Mario Rondon was the MOM


Our latest Scout signs. I send him to Central Europe

Mexer named in Team of the Week for the Premier League

Adriano begins to return from his injury, and Rodrigues a few days later.

Today we host our rivals, Maritimo. Changes to the top 11 – Adriano back in starting role (J Sousa is back to the Junior Squad). Cardosa joins him. We massage our subs a bit and get ready for the fun to begin.

I begin controlling. I back off into standard after 12 minutes. I slide to counter at 25. At 26th, Rafa misses a DFK. Adriano can’t finish a cross by Daniel C. Maritimo scores on offside goal and we head into the half. I slide back to standard. I pull Mariano at the 52nd due to injury. Sequeira heads in. I pull Adriano for Kayke in the 68th. I sub and move to attacking in the 80th minute. I pull Rafa for Coelho. Nice shot by Daniel C at the 809th minute but stopped. Draw. We had 9 and 3 on target, they had 6 and 2. MOM was Mexer.

The good news is that through 6 games, we have 4 clean sheets and have allowed just two goals. The bad news is that we’ve only scored two as well. I can’t find a goal with a flashlight and a compass.


We draw Academica in the Taca de Portugal 3rd Round. We are playing in their place – a rough 3rd round match against a fellow Premier league team.

The final match of September is here. We are faced with Guimaraes.

Several of my players liked my pre-game stuff. Allons-y! I open in a Standard set up, here on the road. We push forward early. Adriano feeds Ronton outside the box who takes a long shot and scores at the 9th minute to open up the lead. Then two minutes later, Aurelio intercepts the ball on the right wing and our DR dribbles way down and shoots, the bar recoils off the crossbar and Adriano is there to finish it. We are up 2-0 and Adriano has his first score of the season. We have another offensive drive stopped by their GK just a few minutes later. At the 29th minute, Aurelio knocks a corner to Freire, who heads it in for our third score. Adriano leads a break four minutes later, but feeds Marcal who shoots far and off target. 3-0 at the half. Rafa gets a yellow. I don’t want to be down a man. I yank him for Coelho. Another flowing move into a missed opportunity for us, They foul Adriano in their tackle box and give us a penalty. They get a yellow and Adriano is injured. Rondon sinks the P Kick. I sub in Reginaldo for Diego and then swap him and Daniel Candeias on the pitch. They get in a score at the 64th minute from a few passes to a guy who slips past Mexer. Adriano is tired, so I pull him for Djaniny. They have some nice pressure in the last 70s early 80s that results in a goal at the82nd minute off a corner kick. 4-2 is the end of the game, and we win. I remind them that was a bit of jeckyl and hyde game. MOM is Mario Rondon. Candeias is put for 3-4 weeks with a groin strain. We had two goals off set pieces this game, without them, this is a tie game.

October:

6th – Away at Ferreira
20th – Away at Academica, Taca de Potugal Match
27th – Away at SL Benfica

And that’s it. Not a busy month here in Portugal.

Marcal, Diogo Coelho and Carlos Mariano impresses in training and Rafa disappointed.

Joao Aurelio was in League Team of the Week,

Mario Rondon though, won Player of the Month for the league. Yeah! He also had the 2nd goal of the month too.

I speak to him to congratulate him. Remember Rondon? He played in 28 games for us last year and had just 4 goals. He had 10 the season before for us in 29 appearances. He already has 4 in 6.

We have more WC matches this week. Joao Aurelio has a sports hernia and will out for 6ish weeks.

Sousa is called up for the U21 squad again

Rondon was left out of the Venezuela squad and it made the news. Those called up are the normal suspects, plus Reginaldo for Mozambique.

We are favored to win in our clash against P Ferreira. Their boss praises Rondon in public. Porto have not been doing well (we have three points more than them) and their manager is coming under fire. Currently the manager of Ferreira and myself have been going back and forth in the media about how much w like each over. Ferreira has been high-flying at 5th, and I complimented their quick passing playstyle. Then the manager was happy since he admires me to hear my positive comments – etc.

Porto just beat Academica before our game starts on the 6th. So they got their win in. For our roster, due to injuries, we are starting Zainadine Junior at the DR and Reginaldo at the MR spot.

We begin countering. We fail to convert a corner early. They have a lovely shot on goal but our GK pushes it aside in the 8th. Mariano is getting schooled out there. Rondon is given the ball on the far right side dribbles down while Diego Barcelos makes and attack run. Rondon feeds him and he scores at the 18th minute. Counter is working so far. Rafa gets another yellow card – his third on the season in 7 games. That may be a problem. It’s just the 26th minute. He misses a DFK two minutes later. Reginaldo with an attack run finds Rondon in the break and he scores. 30th minute. Mexer injuries one of their players and they have to sub him out. They get in a score at the 35th minute off an extra pass by an unselfish forward who had a good shot, but passed to get an even better one. We have another good offensive run, and it’s the half. I tell them to keep it up. They shoot a very ambitious shot from very deep and manage to sink it. 2-2 at the 47th minute. We have a great moved stopped at the 57th minute. I pull out Rafa for Costinha and Freire for Ali. They score again. I pull Mariano. That’s a disappointing loss, to be up 2-0 and lose it. I get mad in the room, and they understand.

Mexer and Z Junior both had 7+ performances for Mozambique in their 3-0 win and Portugal managed to win against Israel, wonder of wonders. Sousa is injured in a game in the youth match for Portugal and will be out like two weeks. Portugal can’t even beat Azerbaijan and just tie them 2-2. N Ireland makes it to the playoffs and Russia qualifies from Group 6 from the World Cup Qualifiers. Man – Portugal is out!


Reginaldo is out for a few weeks with a injury away in international land when playing the DRC.




Alright, Cup Match time



Joao Baretto is starting in place of the injured Reginaldo and Daniel Candeias. Time to play. I begin defensive since we are in their place. I try to pull off the pressure – we are underdogs here. Joao Barreto scores after Diego B found him off the side. He drove down the center, passes to the right and we score. 8th minute. Nicely done lad. They have a nice go of things but we stop their shots in the 17-19 minute. Freire collects a yellow at the 20 mark. They miss the DFK that follows. At 23, Freire picks up a knock, so I pull him for injury and the card for Rodrigues. Mariano injures one of their players. On a throw in, Junior swings it to Rondon deep in the right corner. He crosses it deep to Adriano, who springs past the defender and knocks it in. That defender he beat was the one Mariano injured – which just be coincidence. Or may have helped us spring Adriano for a second goal. Rondon intercepts the ball and drives for a counter and hits Diego, who dribbles nicely, but then misses the net entirely. We have put back a lot of pressure so far. Half. I remind them to not get complacent. Already we’ve squandered good opening halves in the season twice. They understand, except for our GK who looks stressed. I tell him he was fine (he was) and he’s back and happy. WHOA! Adriano gets the ball on a break, jukes and causes a defender to fall, hits Rondon, who lobs it over the GK for a goal. NICE! Why can’t we be this good in the regular season? Sub 2 – Rafa out for Joti. They knock down a corner kick in the 68th minute. 3-1. Sub 3 – Mariano for Sequeira. We almost had another goal off a break in the 86th minute. Game. Nicely done fols. MOM is Rondon.

Daniel C is coming back from injury. We were drawn against Pampilhosa in an away match for the next Round of the Taca de Portugal. They are a semi-professional team in the Championship. Not a bad draw. A win there, likely, puts us in the Quarters.


We are NOT predicted two in our away game against undefeated Benfica. I wonder why not? But if we could… If we played like we just did, who knows what the results might look like. Daniel is back too. Let’s see what happens.

I begin defensive (no really?) Can we survive the onslaught of Benfica? This is the hardest match of the year, since Benfica is usually the best team in the league, as it is this year. I’ll be happy if we just don’t make a cock-up of things. Lose 1-0? Okay. 2-1? Okay. Just not 4-1 or something. For example, We just had a lovely move set up by Daniel to give Rondon the ball, who slipped behind the defense. He juked the GK, and a sliding tackle from behind dispossessed him. That’s a goal against every other team in the league. But here? Nope. An IFK results in a goal for them at the 30th. Adriano coming in off the corner, quickly, tackled in the box efficiently. No chance at anything. Half time. I tell the guys we’ve been unlucky, and they relax. I pull Mariano for Baretto in the 50s. They score again in the 60th minute. We stopped a bunch of attacks, but they got one through. After five shots in five seconds, without clearing,we allow another score at the 68th. Game. We lose 3-0.

We did damage the CL of one of their stars. Lazar Markovic, worth 8.75 mill and just 19 years old. He’s out for 8-10 months. So hey, there’s that I suppose.

November


3rd – Home vs Porto
10th – Away vs Pampilhosa, Taca de Portugal
24th – Home vs Academica


In training, improvement by Barreto, Rodrigues and Mariano

We are not expected to win the Porto matchup either.

I start the game, and we’ll begin standard. It’s our place, and I want to see how it plays outs. Let’s make them earn this. I move to counter at the 23rd minute. They score, but its called offsides two minutes later. Massive pressure ensues. They are too fast at snuffing out our passes. We’re taking long, desperate shots too frequently . I don’t want middies taking long shots when we have a good possession. Mariano’s passes have been intercepted too frequently. Half time. Stats – They have 20 shots with 9 on target. We have 3 with 1. We are going to lose this game – it’s fairly obvious. I move moving Rafa into a defensive set. I change our passing and shots taken. Can we hold on for another 45? We had an amazing opportunity but they tackled Rondon with the ball in the box. They score off the post in the 47th minute. We knew it was happening, based on how the game was going. Offsides, they get another goal called off at the 50. After being told to shoot less often, Mariano just ended a good attacking move with a shot from just at the top of the box on the corner. I pull him. He’s out of there. In goes Barreto. I also pull the uneasy Junior for Sequeira. I pull Rondon for Kayke after an injury. I move to Standard in the last 15. Can we steal a goal late and escape with a point? Barreto now pisses me off. He had a shot in the 91st minute on target, thought it was going in, and raised his hands to celebrate instead of chasing after in case of a rebound. Of course, the GK stopped the shot. No last minute magic. Game over, we lose 1-0. They had 16 shots on target, and we stopped 15. That was a great defense. We had 4 on target and 9 shot, that’s not too bad for a team on the defensive. This could have been ours. Ah well, Rondon will be out for a bit.

We’ve tumbled to 13th out of 16 in the league. But, we also have gotten through the rough opening patch. We have played Benfica, Porto, Braga, and Sporting. We even played the 4th place Ferreira. The next 6 games are against lesser folks. For example, we have not played #15, #14, #12, #11 yet. We get them in the next 6. We also have Rio Ave and Vit. Subal at 8 and a surprising 2.

So now let’s begin the easy part of the schedule, and see where we are then, at the half point.

Aurelio is back from injury. Reginaldo is too. Time for the Taca match:

Starting for us will be Aurelio and Kayke. I also send up my two major youth prospects.

JP Cardoso will start for Freire. I won’t bore you with the details overly much. 1-1 at the end of the match so extra time. We get a red card as Coelha collects two yellows. I have to move to counter. Kayke gets a yellow. Sousa gets a goal in extra time off a Mariano pass. His first for us. And we pull out in the 117th minute of extra time. We win. I tell them we got away with that one. MOM was Carlos Mariano. That’s a first… Diogo Coelha is banned.

Who is in the 5th Round?

We get a decent’ish draw at home against Vit. Guimaraes, who is currently 16th in the league. I’ll take that. Unfortunately, Porto gets a pass against a Championship team, while Sporting does as well hosting a 2nd division squad.

I move Djanany to rotation from first team. He meets with me the following day. I promise him some football play. I’ll toss him some games for a bit, especially since Kayke is better, but just on a loan, so its not like I need to develop him, or anything.

Rafa is injured for 2 weeks in training. Rough.


For our match today against Academica, Saleh Gomaa is starting for the injured Rafa. Everyone else is starting as planned. We begin standard. They’ve been talking us well in the early part, so I move ot Control. They foul Adriano as he charges in, and give a penalty, which Rondon sinks to put us up 1-0. I head back to Standard. Half time. Good move by Candeias ultimately falls short. First sub – Barreto for Mariano. 2nd sub, Jota in for Gomaa. They get a second yellow and a guy is pulled, and I move to controlling in the 65th minute. Final sub, I pull a tired Rondon for Djanany. We hold on for a win. MOM is Freire.


Sousa turns pro and 17 on the 30th

December:

Skolnik begins light training. He should be back in a month ish.


1st – Home vs Gil Vincente
8th – Home vs Rio Ave
14th – Away vs Olhanense
21st – Away vs Vit. Setubal


Best training – Diego Barcelos, Z Junior and D Coelho.



Match vs Gil Vincente – Rafa is back. Djaniny starts for a tired Adriano.,

We begin controlling. After all, we are favored by a bit – its our home, and this is the #15 squad. Rondon’s shot at the 2:12 is turned aside for a corner, which bounces around dangerously before picked up. It almost ends up another 1-0 game we win off a PK. Until Djaniny finds Rondon for a score in the 86th minute to put us up 2-0. Then they get a late score oo to make things interesting the next minute. Despite his assist, Djaniny did not play well to my mind, too many missed passes. Game. MOM is Rondon.

With everyone having 11 games down, we have moved up to 8th with our two, narrow, penalty kick driven wins. We have 15 points, and are tied with Maritomo, who has a lower GD (-2 to our -1)

Sweden is in World Cup Stage A with South Korea, Brazil and Slovakia. That’s doable.

We are underdogs vs Rio Ave this week. They are 3rd in the league.

Adriano is back in the lineup. We begin standard to get a feel for the game. Candeias crosses to Rondon who scores in the 1:12 mark, just as we begin the game. Rafa’s deadly long shot from the 12th minute is just pushed aside. But they counter and hit us for a score. Back to even. Rafa finds Rondon for a score at the 32nd mark after a lot of give and take. Half. Keep it up! Djaniny for Adriano. Prolly should have left him in with the hot leg from last week. Rodrigues for Freire. I move to counter for the last 10 minutes. Jota in for a tired and wounded Rafa. Djaniny hits a score at the 82nd minute after Diego B lifted a corner but the GK hit it away. We win 3-1. POM is Rondon


We have won our 3rd game in a row ,and against the 3rd best team in the league right now. Good result. Djaniny requests a transfer. Odd. He started once, subbed twice in the three games since we talked. Why get pissed off now? I reject his request.


We face Olhanense and move Djaniny to the starting spot (hot leg). We begin countering. Half time. Rafa gets yellow. 0-0 score, MOM is Freire. It was a game where nothing really happened. But Diego B I s out for six weeks with a twisted ankle.

Reginaldo is starting at MR, and Daniel C is moving to the AMC spot. Very quiet first half, which just an injury. Then Djaniny hits Rondon breaks the offside Trap and scores at the 43rd minute. 1-0 half. We begin with an injury to Reginaldo, so I swap him out for Joao Barreto. Sequeiro is in next. A bit more, not a lot. Coelho is in at the 85th minute, while I remain at Counter. They move to a 4-2-4 and take a few bad shots. Even get a couple of corners. But we win, on the road, against them 1-0. MOM is Rondon.


At the end of 2013, we are in 4th place after 14 games with 22 points and a +2 CD:

1 – SL Benfica, 35 and +30
2 - Braga, 31 and +16
3 – FC Porto, 23 and +7
4 – Madeira, 22 and +2
5 – Sporting, 22 and +5 (why are they not in 4th?)
6 – Rio Ave, 22 and 0

From 13th to 4th, we moved up quickly, but we just have two more easier games before the rough stuff hits us again.

Before I leave behind 2013, I want to take a quick look to see if any folks are coming free of their team here in a short bit. Anybody coming off a roster? We have a good number to look through. Any diamonds in the rough? Any bargains worth hunting down? I send out some scouts for a few folks like Mutombo, Bruno Bergamin, Aquiles Ocanto or Leo Fernandes – young players with something to prove and give. I’m getting an ML to come off injury soon, so we don’t need someone there right now. We’re good at lots of places right now, just a little would help.


Our unbeaten six games in a row is a new record for us. To be fair, we were very lucky. Sure, we’ve won four in a row, but the first two wins were one goal victories off penalty kicks. Otherwise, we’d not be here. People would have talked about how long it had been since winning (since we had some losses before those tow ties, which led into the four wins). So, of our 22 points, we’ve gotten 14 in the last six games.

The League Cup was drawn. Group A is not that bad – Arouca, Braga ,Maritimo - we didn’t get matched up against a Big Three team. Although Braga won last year. These matches have been scheduled for..right now really.


Group A:

Madeira at home vs Maritimo – Dec 29th
Braga hosting Madeira – Jan 15th
Arouca hosting Madeira – Jan 25th


My scouting reports returned. Any bums in here worth signing?

Nah, Nah, Yes but he won’t come to us, Nah, yes but too pricey, yes plus but too pricey, Nah

Here are ones I like but too expensive – Paulinho, Very good AMC, ST, MR, ML, AML, AMR, and even MC. So flexible and awesome. Also great at set pieces (16 free kick, 15 corners, etc) – would be a great pickup up, and he’s 27/ And he’d come, but, he’s starting t 5.750 a week. Whoa – my club will let me pay up to 5500 – that’s crazy – I’m just 1800 below my cap right now. Maybe I could wait unil January, I’ll often get a notice from my board saying I’m doing better, would I like to change our goals, and give me more money if yes. I’ll hold off. But I do like him. A lot. Plus he’s cheaper than the guy I just licked Jackson, of Toronto FC.

Joao Aurelio was named Team of the Week – Skolnik is back from injury and hale, but not match fit at all.

Jardel, on loan, is out for 2 months with an injury


We will be moving Skolnik to the starting spot. But I may pull him early.


League Cup Time!

Braga and Aroulca tied before this match. So if there is a winner, they’ll have the early lead in the group. Rondon gets the ball on a break and lofts a beautiful pass down half the pitch on an onsides Djaniny, who finishes 1:1 Vs the keeper. We score before 5 minutes have passed. Rondon misses a beautiful and deep pass by Candeais. Candeias then lofts another cross to Rondon in the 19th minute, the GK gets to the ball and punches it free, and Rondon gets to it, has three defenders on him, so he passes to Djaniny who is certain to score against an open net and sinks it. 2-0 in the first 20 minutes. A cross and header at the 28th minute put Maritimo within one goal at 2-1. Mexer gets a yellow. Reginaldo and Candeais play a back and forth pass on the right side until Candeias feeds it to Reginaldo, playing the AMC spot, who then scores. 3-1 at the 37th minute. Then Rafa intercepts a pass deep into their territory and lofts it to Djaniny who plays it to Rondon who scores in the 42nd minute. 4-1. Half time. Rafa is injured badly and down to 49% in the 55th minute to I pull him for Costinha. I also pull Mexer too, I don’t want a double yellow to give them a path back in. In heads Rodrigues. Even Costinha is up for it, he makes some interceptions and such. Assuming we don’t have a collapse of epic proportions, I think we’ll have some excited fans after this victory in the Cup against our rivals. A Rondon-Djaniny goal is called offsides in the 65th minute. They score in the 69th off another cross-header. 4-2. They get a 3rd goal in just two minutes later and things have changed just like that. They get in another score two minutes later. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH. I go aggressive and make my final sub. Marcal wastes a nice offensive move with a crazy long shot. Penalty kick in the 89:35 mark on our guy. Skolnik. Rondon sinks it. I move to Counter. We win, 5-4. Once again, we live by the penalty kick.

Djaniny is MOM – this was a new record high for goals scored in a single game of the event. It is also a record number of goals scored in a match for us – we have never scored 5 in a game before.

Contract Time

I sit down with Djaniny and tell him in no uncertain terms that he needs to knock off going to the press, and he respects it. He has the hot leg, I’ll keep him in for now. I think we had to work through the whole he was first team, and then I moved him down thing. His old manager screwed him over, signing him to a five year deal for first team for a team that had someone better, and was with a tactics that used just one striker, and then loaned in Kayke, who is also better. But he’s giving me good football right now, so he’s up, and hopefully we can use him for a few years in the better rotational set up.

I look through my 6 month contract so see what I may want to do. Right now, in my opinion, my rocks to build around are Daniel C., Joao Aurelio, Mario Rondon, and maybe Skolnik and Diego B.

I have these contracts ending – Diego B, Daniel C, Edgar Costa (on loan), Marcio Madeira (on loan), Carlos Mariano (but he get another year added to his deal if he plays enough games), Joao Barreto, Rui Silva (on loan) and Joao Camacho. I have no problem letting Silva, Barreto, Camacho, Madeira, or Costa go.

I can hold off on making a decision about Diego. But Daniel has been playing very well for me. He’s 25, so he has a lot of football left. I need to keep him. Problem is we are paying him 2.3k and he wants 6k t begin. He’s worth it, for next year. But not right now, my salary is too tight. So I’ll hold off for a bit. But I will soon.

What about people coming off in 6 months on my shortlist? I take a look to see what I can see.

For example Daniel Montenegro would blow the pants of Diego B. He’s 34, but still. Guy has great speed, 14 pass, 14 cross, 15 techqnieu, 14 drib, OTB 15, this guy is a stud. And he’ll play for 4.5k. He may only give me a year or two, but he’s awesome. Matias Defederico is much younger (24) not as good, but still would outclass Diego at the AMC spot. I could get Victor Zapata, 34, from Argentina (all of these folks are) to outclass and become my new DMC.

So, who do I want more – Daniel or Matias?

37 or 24? The guy who is much better but will deteriorate, or the guy who is not as good, but may get better? Let’s compare them?

According to our handy dandy comparison tool:

They are about the same mentally, aerially (they both suck), technically. Matias is better at speed. Daniel is better at physical stuff. He is slightly better at attacking and creativity, and Matias is slightly better at technical stuff.

Well, considering that, I’m going Matias. Although I lose a good set-piece person, I get someone who may be a key player for years. And if not, he’ll retain value for transferring. We agree to a deal for 4800 a week and remove the annoying clause to match higher earner. They’ll think about it.

Are there any players of note not on my shortlist?

I scout a few folks to see.

I also have come across an interesting middie – Luigi Bruins, 26, plays for OGC Nice. Decently fast (12/12), can play every mid position, even DMC. Has some really nice stats – 16 passing, 15 drib, 16 technique, 14 in first touch and long shots, and so forth. He intrigues me. He even has 12 cross for the wings. He could be AMC, DMC (poorly), MR, ML, MC if I had it, AML or AMR, and he even plays an unconvincing bit as a Striker. He’s a nice matilda man to come in, and play anywhere he’s needed. I love his versatility. But he wants 12k to begin negotiations. Here’s another versatile man, Geert-Arend Roorda, 25, can play every central position from Striker to DC. From his 14/13 jump/head to 15 pass, 13 mark, 12 tack, 14 technique, and 13 finishing, he is even respectable in DC or ST. He would be better than Rafa at the DMC, or replace a DC or an AMC or ST. Whatever is needed. Not bad either.

Here’s another that we really like – Javi Espinosa, currently on the Barcelona B team, just 21. Worth just 250k but has a nasty good scouting report. He came back with a 5 star review for potential. And, he can play every mid-position plus Striker (although ST and DMC are not great). Plus he just has an 8 finishing, so I wouldn’t push that. He can play right, left, middle, attacking, and normal. He’s contract is up in six months, and he is not on anyone’s radar. So he’s on my radar to make an offer next year.

We finishing scouting a few others and looked at reports. There are a lot of options out there.

And that ends 2013

The Portugese League's first tiebreaker is head-to-head, not goal difference

Ah interesting. Thanks!

January 2014



I select a new expectation – Top Half Finish. I thought about taking it to EURO Cup, but that’s just 1k a week more in budget, not worth the gamble. My budget has been raised considerably.


January 3rd – Home vs Vit. Guimaraes, Taca de Portugal
January 12th – Home vs Beleneses
January 15th – Away at Braga, League Cup 3rd Phase Group A
January 19th – Home vs Sporting
January 25th – Away vs Arouca, League Cup

So three Cup matches and two league ones.

These people impressed – Freire, Marion Rondon and Joao Aurelio

Messi wins World Golden Ball, Cristiano Ronaldo is 2nd and Neymar was 3rd.

Kevin Volland, 21 years, was the Golden Boy of European Football.

An Arouca player got Player of the Month, and Mario Rondon came in second. I came in 3rd in league voting this month for Manager of the Year.

My scout in Romania added a youth player to our list and I checked him out – Andrei Marc, he’s pretty solid as a DC. Just 20 years old. His contract is up in 6 months. He might be my target for DC.

On the first we officially sign Matias Defederico. He’ll arrive next year.

The next day I make an offer to Andrej Marc, since he’ll sign for a lesser amount. I accept a transfer offer for Claudemir from Panathinaikos.

I extend my contract for a year with Madeira.

Game time!

In the first three minutes Candeais crosses to Rondon for score. We almost score again in the 20th as the ball pops lose tight but after a few bumps and fumbles its cleared out. Reginaldo gets a score in the 33rd. A pass by Rafa hits in dangerously close, and the ball is tackles but not cleanly, and he takes it and scores. Rafa, Djaniny pulled for Coelho and Adriano. Sequeira for Reginaldo was picked up a knock. Game. 2-0 win by us. Rondon is MOM.


We are through to the Quarter finals


The next day, Andrei Marc agrees to sign with us. I try to find someone who speaks his language too, maybe a cheap youther or two. He speaks French, Hungarian, and Romanian.

I had a nasty agent for Espinosa, so in order to force him away and get a better deal, I jacked up the Agent fee, and now I’ll massage my budget to increase my transfer fee to cover it, in case they agree. It’s a lot of money (7k a week) but we can manage it.

We have accepted the transfer of Claudemir, and we get 30k.

I offer a contract to Andrei Dumitrascu, a Polish/Romanian 16 year old lousy Middle, as well as 16 yer old GK Rares Rus, with the same pair.


Espinosa signed. We have loaned a few players, and in most cases, their wages are being covered. So we have our three major signings for next year.

These eight teams are in the Quarters of the Taca:

Farense
Maritimo
P. Ferreira
Sporting
Us
Porto
Benfica
Vit. Setubal

So the big three are all still there. Time to sort out who plays who:

Farense home vs Benfinca
Us home vs Setubal
Ferreira home vs Porto
Maritimo home vs Sporting


I was hoping a big Three Pair. This means that at least one Big Three makes it to the final (unless they get knocked off by a non-big three) Not to be, sadly. We have a decent draw – home against a team 9th in the league right now. We play in February

I signed a few more youth folks plus my two targets for Romanian language love.

One of my new signees was really hot – 6 clubs offered him a spot – Jose Goncalves, 16, who can play MC< AMC and ML. A guy like this with an 18 work rate and good stats already(and a high scouting rating) is pretty keen. We even beat out our rivals Maritimo for him.


Today’s home game against injury plagued Beleneses, who was just promoted, is expected to be a blowout for us. I put Adirano back in for Reginaldo, leaving in Djaniny at ST. I register Goncalves, give him 45 and select him for today’s sub squad.


Braga lost 4-1 to Porto, so this is a window to move up in the table. I started the game, and then got a call and forgot to hit pause. I came back to halftime and we are up 3-1. I tell them good job. And then I toss in Goncalves and Ali. In just a few minutes, Rondon gets what is apparently his second goal when Adriano lofts the ball deep and perfectly for his attack run. Rondon gets a hat trick off a Djaniny assist two minutes later at the 50th minute. They strike back at the 69th minute. Rafa gets a yellow and I sub him for Costinha. Rondon is MOM. 5-2 win for us. Other scores were by Djaniny and Daniel Candeias. Mexer got an Own Goal though.

Rafa is suspended due to too many Yellows

I hold a backroom meeting and it is suggested that Costinha would be amenable to a mutual termination. Ah…I offer it, but the board block it. Ah well, I’m okay with that.

Our Gk Gottardi and Rondon were Players of the Week. Diego is back from injury but I’ll rest him.


Today is our League Cup match away at Braga. I begin Countering. Rafa sinks a DFK in the 7th minute, but then they score again five minutes later off a powerful shot from just outside the box. A Rondon I make goal is called offsides two minutes later. They power a shot in off the left side after dribbling it in in the 30th minute. A second DFK by Rafa is dangerously on target but barely blocked and caught by their GK in the 44th minute. They score off a cross and header juts seconds before the half and we are down 3-1. Two Braga players get yellows after the half early on. But then they score again in the 56th minute. I make a few changes but we are getting clocked here. Our chance of getting out of the Legaue Cup is evaporating as time times off. And they score again in the 81st minute. We get a corner from Skolnik to Freire who heads it in to score in the 88th minute. Skolnik is fed the ball by Marcal and his shot is pushed aside. We lose 5-2. After just winning a game by the same score, this is rough.

Maritimo beat Arouca. So the points are thus:

Braga – 4, +3 GD
Maritimo – 3, 0 GD
Nacional da Madeira – 3, -2 GD
Arouca, 1 ,-1 GD

So there is very little chance of us winning. Martimo plays Braga. If they tie, and we win, then we get in. Otherwise, it basically won’t happen. There are just four groups, each group’s winner is in the Semis.

Stats for the 1st half of the season:

Mario Rondon has the 2nd best form (7.45). The other top five are ALL from Benfica. He leads the league in goals by 5 – 14, the next highest is at 9. He also leads with 6 MOMs, no one else has more than 3. Rafa has the 2nd most yellow cards. No one has run more than Daniel Candeais. Diego and Daniel have covered more ground per 90 minutes than anyone else either. GK Gottardi has 6 clean sheets, one less than the most at 7. Diego has 13 key passes, 5th in the league. The most goals ever scored ina season in the Primeira Liga is 46, so we won’t be duplicating that. But still, you have to be proud of how Rondon has just fired out of the cannon with all cylinders.



Now we begin the second leg of our season, and, like before, expect some difficult games, beginning with Sporting. I start loanee Saleh Gomaa in Rafa’s place. Diego B is in the AMC spot like normal, and Adriano is coming in for Djaniny. Skolnik has been hit around a bit in the first 12. I’m currently on Standard, just to see how things probgress and then Candeias scores in the 13th minute. Diego found him on the flank from a very busy center and he scores. A very long shot fired from mad range when our GK is out of position rifles off the goalpost and over the goal. Whew! They foul Skolnik in the corner box in the 23rd and we get a penalty kick which Rondon of course sinks – we are up 2-0 in the 24th minute. They launch a nasty counter attack and a vicious shot on target which our GK manages to turn aside – powerful attack move. Goal by Adriano called offices in the 36th minute. It seems contentious, and people think it shouldn’t have been called. They kick a DFK on target but we push it over for a corner. Yellow to Gomaa. And that’s the first half. I remain in Standard for the 2nd half. I sub out Gomaa for Costinha in the 60th. I don’t want a double booking to give them a way back in. Another Adriano goal is called offsides – they have set up a nice little trap. They just avoid scoring in the 64th when a ball is shot, on target, and our GK can juts deflects it, and both Mexer and one of their guys pounce on it, but we are just a little bit faster. I swap Adriano down to Diego’s spot, and put in Djaniny in the ST spot in the late 60s. We have a great drive in the 60s with two shots on target deflected. They kick another long shot from range and find target in the 76th minute. I put in Sequeira for Aurelio. Another shot by Rondon is stopped on target. I move to counter, in the last 10 minutes. We have a bunch more shots in the 80s. Costinha gets a yellow. And that’s game. Once again, we win off a corner. Candeais is MOM. Our first victory over a Big Three club.

I make offers to a few scouts – I want to increase our network. Our first scout arrived – USA’s Daniel Capecci. I add a few young folks from his scouting to my shortlist. He has one that’s not a the top of his list, but I like him – MC May Mahlangu, from South Africa, currently unsigned, 25. He can play MC, DMC, MC, ST, MR, and ML. He’s a more flexible backup than Costinha, and he’s better. I order a scout to check him out, what kind of money/deal is he looking for?

Our next scout signs – Ze Rui, from Cape Verde, capped three times as a player. I want him to scout parts of Africa for me. As a former African international myself, I know there are a lot of untapped players there. What can we uncover? He’s in Western Africa right now, while Daniel is in North America.

Today we have our difficult League Cup match vs Arouca. Win, and if there is a tie in the Maritimo-Braga game, we win this bracket on points. I move Rafa back in to start. We are favorite (they have two major players out). I order us to begin with a normal Standard set, and see how things flow. Candeais crosses, not to Rondon who is held back but to Adriano who is open, and he finds the net in the 3rd minute. One minute later Gottardi stops a similar play from happening on the other side of the pitch. Shot by Skolnik is on target, and butted away for a corner, and we are keeping up pressure through the 15th minute. We injure one of their players and they have to sub in the 25th minute. Rafa picked up a knoc, and I pull him for Miguel Rodrigues and order his role to be moved to defensive from support. Half time. We have some more nice moves, and then I order us to move to Counter. Skolnik has been injured a bit and I pull him for Carlos Mariano. Final sub – Reginaldo for Diego B. Then They hit a dramatic late equalizer in the 93rd minute and its 1-1. I tell them that wasn’t good enough. There was a tie in the other game. Had we not conceded the late goal, we’d be in the Semis. That sucks

The report returns on Mahlangu. He wants too much to join. Although , I don’t think so at first, he looks better than I thought at first. 15/14 speed. 16 stamina. 13 passing doesn’t suck. Other than a 7 in leadership, every mental stat is at least an 11. Save for jumping at 9, every physical is at least an 11 too. I know him (He played in the Swedish Premier Division for three years). He speaks Swedish and English, like me – no issues there. I’m already bringing in two new midfielders though. Do I have space for another? Enough soccer balls to go around? I don’t think so. Now, if I had a 3-5-2, then maybe.

Whoa. Someone just made an offer to transfer Mexer. Him and Aurelio are my most in form defenders. We’d get 75k now, and 22k over two years, plus 20% profit from next sale. His contract is up in 2015. I just don’t feel like I want to move my best DC right now. Plus he’s a fellow player from Mozambique. I say no thanks. I had to pay him 1000 a week more for another year, but he’s worth it. I don’t mind too much.

I’ve been fairly lucky on injuries so far, save for the one I inherited with Skolnik. Should I sign someone today (31st) in order to protect myself from injuries? Nah, I’m good. What about a loaner? Nah.

February

1st – Away against Braga
4th – Home vs Vit. Setubal, Taca
9th – Home vs Arouca
16th – Away vs Estoril
23rd – Home vs Vit. Guimaraes



Player of the Month – Daniel C came in 3rd. I came in 2nd in Manager vote.

We were pleased with Sequeira, Diogo Coelho and Dejan Skolnik In training this month.


Djaniny will start across from Rondon today. The last time we played at Braga we lost 5-2. I begin countering. I tell them to get revenge. It lights them up. Diego B hits Djaniny for a score in the 19th minute from the left side. Half time. Gottardi has pushed away a lot of balls today. So far, in the 51st minute, they have had 6 shots on target he’s had to deal with. Some were struck with real verve. They cross dangerously and score in the 58th minute. I pull Aurelio for Zainadine Junior. Another cross-header scores for them in the 61st. I pull Mexer for Rodrigues and Diego B for Adriano. Powerful DFK by Rafa is on target but pushed aside. We go attacking in the last 15. And that’s it, we’ve lost 2-1.

Our first loss in a while, actually, in league play.

Cortiba have made an offer for Marcal, my DL. They have offered 185k. That’s a lot of money for us. But Marcal is the best DL we have. He’s young, and he’s cheap (1.1k/week) and he’s signed through the end of next year. He’s also pretty good. However, I’d not sure that I want to keep the 4-4-2 diamond next year. I could sell him, move to a 3-5-2, bump Aurelio to MR or DC and be very comfortable. What I have never liked about Marcal is the lack of jumping/heading he has. However, dude is fast – the fastest of my starters at 17/16. He’s just 24. Marcal may want this – he might like heading back home to Brazil. (In real life, I could ask him. Do you want to head back home, or are you enjoying your football?) If I refuse the offer, will he demand a significantly enhanced contract I can’t pay? But I have a ton of depth at the DL/DR spot. I can sell him, and cover with Z. Junior, Sequeira, and more. His average rating is 6.77. He has appeared in 23 games – tied for the most with Mexer and Gottardi. He’s probably one of my best money/ability people on my squad, but this is a nice offer, and it’s staggered over two years. I negotiate. I negotiate it up to 205k and an additional 25k over a year.

Mexer agreed to our new deal. I move Sequeira to the starting DL slot for our Taca game today against Vit Setubal. I begin controlling. I slide back to Standard after a quiet 12 minutes. They have been controlling it bunches, so I slide to Counter in the 22nd minute. 0-0 at the half and they dominated in the first half. They have 10 shots and 6 on target to our 1/1. They score in the 69th. I make changes and go attacking. Rondon gets a pass from Candeais and ties it up in the 76th minute. I pull back to Standard. We almost score again in the 86th. Extra time. One extra goal lads, that’s it! Daniel gets a yellow at the 104 mark. They shoot and score in the 118th minute on a Mexer mistake. They win. We lose, at home, 2-1 to Vit Setubal. That sucked too.

I admitted in the PC that Vit Setubal outplayed us and deserved the win, and their manager is pleasantly pleased. They did though., they outplayed us from the 1st minute.

Marcal has agreed to the transfer. Goodbye buddy! Man, half the team is either pissed off at Mexer, or wants to help him overcome his mistake.

Next up is our league match against Arouca. Here are the games we’ve had against Arouca this year:

Away at Arouca, League, Loss, 0-1, Sept 1, 2013
Away at Arouca, League Cup, Tie, 1-1, Jan 25, 2014
Home vs Arouca, League, ???

Arouca is the 14th ranked team, out of 16, in the league. They are not exactly a heavy hitter. They are an island in the midst of a big set of games, and we need this win to stay out of the oasis and keep up with appearances.

I begin controlling. I slide to Standard after they begin about the same level of power as us. Rafa gets a yellow (surprise, surprise). They score in the 28th minute. Sequeira a yellow, and I move to attacking for the last few minutes of the half. Half time. Djaniny scores to open the second half. Rondon headed a pass from Diego to him and Djaniny ran and scored. I pull my en-yellowed folks out. I move to Control late. Our GK is stopping some nice possessions. We tie, 1-1, Djaniny is MOM, and I get pissed at them in the locker room. Man, we can’t do anything against Arouca.

Djaniny was Team of the Week.

Costinha approaches me and wants to leave. I agree to move him at the end of the season.

Time for the next game against Estoril. I begin Standard. Candeais hits Rondon with a cross which he heads into goal in the 8th minute. They call a Candeais goal in the 16th offsides. We get some pressure, but nothing else cracks in, and its half. I pull a disappointing Rafa for Coelha. Rondon with his second goal off a Djaniny pass that set him on an attack run in the 57th minute. They claw one back just a minute later after an amazing save by our GK floats right to another guy who scores. I move to countering. Sub #2 – Diego out, Adriano in. Adriano has a beautiful run and shot, blocked barely by the GK. I pull a damaged Skolnik for Carlos Mariano. Mexer collects a yellow. They collect a second yellow in the 87th minute and a player is ejected. We win 2-1 away. Rondon is MOM.

By appearing in his 15th game, Mariano got a 1 year extension. I make an offer to Daniel C. It ended up being more, because our budget improved, but he’s still playing very well.

Apparently my comments about the game and coach last time against Vit. Guimaraes manager Rui Vitoria were enough to cause him to storm out of a press conference just before our game.

For today’s game, I massage my roster a bit. I start Z Junior in the DL’s spot, Adriano for Djaniny, Reginaldo, for Diego B, and Mariano for Skolnik. I start out standard. Adriano feeds Rondon who feeds the net in the 7th minute. Another one in the 8th is called offsides. Candeais makes what might be his prettiest cross of the season to Rondon perfectly in front of the goal and at an awkward angle for the Gk and Rondon easily taps it in. 2-0 in the 16th minute. Carlos Mariano scores his first goal of the season, after a shot by Adriano rebounds and Carlos finds it and knocks it in from decent range. 3-0 in the 26th. The old man striketh. Half time. We half dropped major leads later so we cannot get complacent. And they score in the 48th minute to begin just that. Candeais knocks in another cross and its poorly defended while trying to box out Adriano and they get an old goal. I sub out Rafa and Regilando for Coelho and Sequeira. Frere comes out for Ali later. We’ve had lots of powerful possessions and shots. This could easily be 6-1. We win. MOM is Daniel Candeais.


Mexer and Daniel were in Team of Week.

7 players called – up – Jose Moreira, JP Cardoso – Portugal U 19; Joaquim Sousa, Port U21; Mexer, Junior, Reginaldo – Mozanbique; Rondon – Venezuela

March

2nd – Away at Maritimo
9th – Home vs Ferreira
15th – Away at Porto
22nd – Home vs Benfica
30th – Away at Academica

This is the last stretch of bad games. We are on the road against our rival – never easy. Before, we did poorly hereto, before picking up steam in the latter half of the first half. So, March will be officially known as Woodshed Month here in Madeira.

Impressing in training this month are Djaniny, Coelho and Mariano. Rondon wans 2nd in Playre of Month voting.

Back to normal starters for today’s game – can we defeat our rival on the road? I begin defensive. We miss a chance to score early when a great shot rebounds. I move to Standard. Late in the half, Skolnik cross to Candeais who puts it in, when the defense was expecting the two strikes in position to get the ball. Half time. Keep it up. These are our rivals at home, they won’t let up. Around the 55 mark I move to countering. I throw in Adriano for Djaniny. Out comes an injured Sequeira for Z Junior. They’ve had a lot of good opportunities. And then Freire hits a header off an Aurelio corner kick and we are up 2-0 at the 75th minute. Whew. Hopefully that buys us a cushion. I put in Reginaldo for Diego B. Adriano gest a goal in the 80th minute. He sprung on a tackled ball. They get a long shot in the 89th but its called offsides. We shut them out, on the road. Ouch! MOM is Joao Aurelio.

They sacked their manager right after the game. I liked him to, we had a nice rapport going. Five players were named in Team of the Week – Mexer, Freire, Aurelio, Candeais and Skolnik.

Maritimo’s new boss loses to Olhanense 5-3.

We are playing three nasty games in a row against the 6th, 3rd, and 1st teams. Wow. That’s not tasty.

This one is at home, and winnable, or at least tie-able I hope. Djaniny breaks free with a nice pass by Diego B. However, they foul him in the Penalty Box with a professional foul. The player is red carded, and we get a penalty kick. Rondon is on target, his shot rebounds off the GK. I make a few changes to our strategy, since they are down a man so early. (4th minute). Exploit the Flanks, Higher Tempo, that’s good for now. I also move us to control. They get a DFK into the goal in the 21st minute to tie things. We’ve had opportunities to score.. Like just there when Frere knocks into another Aurelio corner kick. I had told my lads to tackle harder, mark tighter, and press more. We’ve had a lot of shots on goal. Half time. I pull us off the hard stuff and up the tempo even more. They kick a cornerand Diego heads it away but into the goal. I yank him for Regilando. Rondon marches down with the ball, passes it to Djaniny who shoots, is on target, bounces away, and Rondon pounces on the rebound for a score in the 54th minute. Aurelio finds Djaniny for a cross and puts it in two minutes later. I sub in Z Junior for Sequira, and his goal one minute later on an IFK is called offsides. Mexer for Ali. Candeais finds Skolnik who sinks it in extra time. We win 5-2. MOM is Rondon.


We got lucky there with the early red card. Freire, Skolnik, Rondon – Team of the Week

One of the coaches talks to me about Skolnik and Djaniny’s contracts. They say both players may want to renegotiate soon. Our loanee was not getting gteh agreed upon time so I called up their manager and he agreed to give him more.

I move Adriano back into the starting lineup. His speed should help in playing the counter attack game. I tell them to get revenge for the last game. They are up for it! Skolnik scores in the 8th minute. He pounced on a rebound when Daniel C shot and his on target ball fell after deflection by their GK. We were on the counter-attack led by Diego Barcelos up the flank. They level up 8 minutes later – they just out ran my defense. Both teams have had good offensive attacks go dry at the end. They cross and connect for score in the 28th. Half. Rafa knocks down a DFK in the 53rd. And its tied. Oddly. Yank Freire for Rodrigues. Later, Sequieira for Zainadine Junior. They score in the 75th minute to head up 3-2. I pull out a tired Rafa. They get a goal called offsides in extra time. That’s game. That’s not a bad effort lads.

On March 18, we get a new set of players. Can we find the next C. Ronaldo? Whoa! We have a guy with a five star scout review. That does not happen. I guess welcome to Portugal! Hernani Costa, DC – Portugal youth Candidate. I take a look at the rest of the Youth Candidates Team. Either Portugese players tend to be massively better than other youthers (to respect history I suppose) or we just got an amazing lot of young talent.

I sign many of them – they have good work rates and lots of talent. I made offers to 11. Get this, when you look at our team page, Costa is listed as our Hot Prospect, when it used to be either ST J Sousa or the GK.

Alright, Benfica time. Get revenge – rar! Standard is fine, we’ve run the game a bit in the first 10. But then they score a few minutes later in the 16th. A pair of nice attacking moves by us are turned aside. Diego B nets a yellow. He’s not playing well either, so I yank him for Reginaldo. Adriano gets caught in a Trap. They get another score off a cross and header after half time. They also make a deep cross that winds up off target in the goal. Yuck. We need that luck. Z Junior in for Sequeira. I put in Djanany for someone and move some folks around to drop Adriano to AMC. In the 87th minute Rafa is injured and goes down and we are down a man. We lose 0-3. We had the same number of shot son target as they did – they were 12/4 and we were 10/4.

Kayke asks to terminate his loan, and I agree.

The final March game is here. No changes to the lineup. But they score in the 7th minute. That’s not what I want. After a very frustrating half, Skolnik hammers one in off a pass by Diego B ro set him up. 1-1 half time. Adriano gets the ball right after halftime, runs deep, then passes to Rondon for the score, at the 45:23 mark. 70 seconds later they return the favor and its tied again. Sequeiro out, Junior in. Adriano scores. Diego feeds him the ball and the GK has to come out, Adriano smashes it hard, the GK can just push it up but it bounces in. 3-2 in the 63rd. Rafa gives away a PK. They sink it and its 3-3. Rafa is pulled. Adriano with a score on the break. Rodrigues for Freire. We hold on and win 4-3. Yay Comebacks!

April

6th – Away at Gil Vicente
13th – Home vs Olhanese
19th – Away at Rio Ave


We loved Diego B, Rafa and Sequira for training.,

Adriano was in Team of Week

Game time! They score in 32 seconds. Candeais sinks the equalizer at the 18th minute. Back in business. Rest of the game is rather quiet, and we tie.


I need 10 points to guarantee qualification for the Euro. We have four games left. We’re in 4th, with 45 and +12. In 5th is Sporting with 42 +6 as is Ferreira as well. I’m 10 points ahead of 7th place Rio Ave. However, 3rd and 2nd are 11 points ahead. So we likely are not cracking that in four games. The focus has to be on staying in the Euro spots.

Reginaldo is injured in training and will be out for 2 months.

The Olhanese game has arrived. I begin controlling. Freire collects a yellow early. Then they foul Adriano and donate a penalty. Rondon sinks it for a goal at the 24th minute. We miss a few shots – not even on target. They have been struggling. We injure a player on their left wing and they are forced to replace him. Half time. Keep it up, don’t let up for a second. I slide back to a Standard tactic. Then they score in the 48th minute. Cross to header. Sequeira to Daniel C, who shots, collects his own rebound, shoots again and sinks it. I yank three players – Adriano, Freire, and Rafa. We hold out for the win. 2-1. MOM is Candeais

Well, now we need 7 points in 3 games. A bit more doable. Still in 4th, still one game up on Sporting.


Porto and Vit Setubal are in the Finals of the Taca.


Next game is up. Hello Rio Ave! You are looking so lovely at 7th. Away, I begin countering. They score in the 7th minute. Then Adriano answers in the 9th. Rafa nailed it off an IFK to Adriano’s leg to their goal. They score off an IFK in virtually the same way, but a heder instead of a kick, in the 24th. 2-1, them. Half time. Sequeira gets a yellow. Freire one too. Rafa notches one. I pull out Freire first and move to standard tactics. Rafa next. Diego gets injured in the 77th minute so I put in Djaniny and swap his spot with Adriano’s. They get a break away score in the 84th minute. We sink a DFK by Rafa – how is he still out there? I guess my sub order went in, and the injury one supplanted it? I swap Mariano for Skolnik instead. I go attacking. Mariano grabs a yellow. We even have a header on target by Rondon in extra time, but caught by their GK. Carlos Mariano has TWO shots on target, a shot, and the rebound, both blocked by their GK. Game. We lose 3-2. Not good.

Luckily, Sporting hosting Porto lost 0-2.

With two games to go, Benfica have won the league.

Benfica also win the league Cup against Porto 2-1. Rafa has the 2nd League Cup Goal of the year.

May

4th – Home vs Vit Setubal
11th – Away vs Belenenses

Good job Diego, Diogo, and Aurelio for training and stuff! Rafa had the 3rd best Goal of the Month.

Benfica ties Sporting today in the 2nd to last game. That gives us a window. Rio Ave won.

Here we go, all hands are on deck. Right now, with a game in hand, we are up by 2. If we win, we are in. If we tie we are likely in (we’d be up by +5 GD and 3 points heading into the last game).

I start Djaniny tonight. I have a feeling. We’ve had many opportunities to get that first goal in the first 25. It’ll crack, I have faith. They score in the 26th. Djaniny gets an assist from Rondon and equals us in the 34th. Rafa collects yet another yellow. I swap him now. Mexer gets a score off an IFK from Candeais. His first on the season – half time 2-1 us I pull Sequeira, who has a knock, for Z. Junior. They score in the 75th minute. I move to attacking. Skolnik crosses to Rondon, who heads it in the 86th minute. Back to Standard. They answer immediately in the 89th. I go overload. That’s the game. That was a letdown, 3-3 tie. I reveal my pissed-off nature and they looked fired up.

We qualified because we at least get 5th, the 6th team I not a threat. Can we keep fourth, and tie our best finish ever? Probably.

Right now, Belenenses are 15th and in the relegation zone, but just one point up is Vit Guimaraes who has been 16th most of the season but recently crawled out. Vit G has a huge GD, so Belenenses has to beat us, with a tie or defeat by Vit G to evade relegation. They are up for this.

My W African scout has uncovered a lovely little Ivory Coast gem, Moussa Diallo, 18 years old. I may try to make a play for the AMC soon.


Our game is away and afoot! I start out attacking, to see if I can push them around. Diego scores in the 6th minute off a Candeais cross. I pull back to standard. They have been moving against us a lot. They have collected two yellows already. Half time. Skolnik has been beat up so I put in Carlos Mariano. Djaniny grabs a goal in the 56th after Diego hits his attack run in stride. I sub in Adriano and Rodrigues. Game. We win 2-0.


MOM is Diego Barcelos. Good for a guy leaving us at the end of the year.

We had a major move today, I’ll show you the charts in the bit.

2013-2014 Final Standings:

1 Benfica
2 Porto
3 Braga
4 Nacional da Madeira
5 P Ferreira
6 Sporting
7 Rio Ave
8 Academica
9 Arouca
10 Estoril
11 Maritimo
12 Vit Setubal
13 Olhanese
14 Vit Guimaraes
15 Belenenses
16 Gil Vicente

A high flying first season!

What did we learn:

We are better than we thought

Benfica and Porto are crazy good, and Braga is right there with them. It will be tough to crack that egg

We have some good talent to build around, but we need to push.


We made 1.23 m for our final position. Rondon won the Most Player of the Match Award. He gets the Top Goalscorer Award too. Rondon wins Forward of the Year. Rondon also was in the Team of the Year. (7 of the players were from Benfica).

We win the Fair Play Award.

I hold the end of the season meeting. I tell everyone to return, I want to qualify again for the Euro. Why not a second time?

Yearly Training Review –

Yay to: Rafa, Sequiera, Joao Aurelia, Jota and Diogo Coelho
Boo to: Carlos Mariano

Freire and Diego B were in Team of the Week

League Stats!

Rondon rocked 24 goals. The next highest was 17. Djaniny had 7.

Daniel C was tied for 3rd most Assists with 11. Djaniny rocked 7, Adriano 6, Diego B and Aurelia 6 as well, and Dejan Skolnik and Mario Rondon 5.

Rafa was 5th in yellows with 8

Rondon’s 8 MOM was 3 more than the next person

Daniel C was 12th in dribbles per game with 3.03

Daniel Co covered more distance than anyone by 14 kilometers. Diego was 7th, Joao was 14th

Distance covered per 90 minutes? Barcelos, Skolnik and Candeais are all in the top 3. Mariano is 8th and Rafa 9th.

Gottardi had 8 clean sheets, 4th most.

Diego B was 3rd in key passes with 27, Rondon 5th with 23

Mexer was tied for 2nd with key tackles with 22. Freire had 20.

Mexer led the league in key headres with 75. Freire was 4th with 62.

Mexer led the league in interceptions with 306. The next was (272). Freire was 5th with 249. Aurelio was 11th with 211.

Rondon finished 5th with a rating of 7.35

We conceded 40 goals in 30 games, the 5th best. We scored 54, 4th best. At 3, we had one of the worst goals from corners. We were in the middle with IFK and DFK goals. Our salary is the 11th highest. We had the 14th worst attendance. If you are not the Big Three, Braga or Vit Guimaraes, you didn’t even break 5k. Those all had 13k or more.

Really good DC Hernani Costa is already starting for Portugal’s U19 squad. That’s crazy. Let’s look at him:

5 star scout report, 16, DC, born 19/3/98, born right here in Funchal, Madeira. Ambitious,

Physical: 9, 11, 10, 13, 6, 9, 11, 10
Mental: 3, 8, 10, 8, 11, 7, 10, 3, 4, 8, 5, 9, 14, 15
Technical: 6, 3, 6, 3, 11, 5, 11, 5, 2, 13, 10, 8, 12, 6

Not really that different from a lot of youth stats here in Portugal. He must have great potential. To be fair, he has good DC stuff already – 13/11 jump/head, 13 mark, 10 pass, 12 tack, and so forth. He has a lot of growth to do.

Porto crushes Vit Setubal to win the Taca.

Portugal’s season is officially over on May 18, We have officially been given our spot in the Euro. We will enter at the Group Stage, because we get the best slotting.

I came in 2nd in Manager of the Year voting – Ferreira’s manager won.

My Personal Player Assessment:

GK – Eduardo Gottardi – Adequate, contract for 2 more years. Baptista backup, Jose Moreira, youther my 3rd choice

DC – Mexer – Pretty Good, contract for 2 more years, Freire, solid, not spectacular, signed for 3 more years, new guy is Maca, we’ll look at him later. We also have Miguel Rodrigues and Ali as backups for 1 and 3 years respectively. And we have Hernani Costa and Jose Pedro Cardoso as young players with good potential.

DL/DR – Joao Aurelio – Strong DR, and is also a good AMR, AML, competent ST, MR. Signed for 2 more years, and strong player. DR Zainadine Junior is more of a backup guy, who can also spell at the DL spot. DL Sequeira is also just adequate, and was not sterling after we sold Marcal. Carlos Mariano can play DL, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Other than Aurelio, our backs and rotation folks are weak here. Do I keep a DL/DR role on my team, or move them elsewhere?

ST – Mario Rondon, have 2 more years, he’s 28. He starts. Adriano is a 26 year old guy who still has a lot of speed and potential, but never showed it overly much on the pitch. Djaniny, with his 4 years left, is a Cape Verde international at the age of just 23. He did well for us. 18 year old Douglas Jardel will be finishing up his loan soon, he’s a hot prospect and factor, as is 17 year old Joaquim Sousa. Jardel is getting better and is a legit option for #4 right now, as is Sousa for #5. I don’t see any need to bring on another ST.

Middies – We have our two new additions, which I am looking forward too. Daniel C has locked down the MR spot for us hard core. His contract is up in two more years of play. If you look at his skill set, you’d think he was just a guy, but he outplayed it. As long as he keeps doing that, he’ll have a home here. ML Dejan Skolnik is adequate, but not sterling. Despite a better skill set than Daniel, he was never in the same league on the pitch. We have him for another year, and I need to see more. Rafa pissed me off. We have him for 2 more years, but I was constantly wasting a sub on him for his yellows or stamina. Costinha is on the transfer list as per his request. Reginaldo is a decent backup, but not that good.


We have a few players that have been with us most or all of their lives, coming up from our youth ranks – Jota, Nuno Campos, Sergio Duarte, Diogo Coelho. None of these folks are good enough for my roster next year, not even as backups or rotational guys.

I need to figure out my strategy now for my roster. Do I want a formation with 4 in the back? If so, I need to find a replacement for Marcal. If not, if I am running a 3 DC defense (my preference in virtually every dynasty) then we’re good. For example, I’ve often been comfortable with a 3-5-2 or a 3-1-4-2 (with a DMC). Lots of teams runs a 1 striker offense in the league. One of the issues with the 4-4-2 diamond was I got beat in the midfield constantly. That’s just an innate issue, when you move the two MCs to DMC and AMC. Would a 3 DC set up be good against a league heavy in 1 Striker formations? I think that’s why my DL/R attacked a lot, 2 DC was enough. I don’t know though.


I’m leaning towards a 3-5-2. But here are how many people play exclusively a fullback (or wingback) spot that won’t have a place. Zainadine Junior, Nuno Campos, (Sequeira almost – I can run him in the AML role or even push him for Striker). And then these middies won’t have a place to go since I would not be running AML or AMR either. Sequeira, Reginaldo (he’s weak in the AMC, ST, or MR spot). However, I would be opening up MC spots for Costinha (on the transfer list), Jota, Sergio Duarte. Not major admissions to the party, obviously. But still, we lose a lot. And if I don’t have a DMC spot, then where is Rafa? If I don’t run an AMC spot, bad things might happen. I know the demand on a winger in that role, do I have that in Daniel? Not really. You need some defensive ability, and with a 6 tackles and marking, that’s just not going to be enough. The wingers are the single most important part about getting it right, to my mind. I ran a version of this in Ipswich with 3-1-4-2 and a DMC in there ,in order to accentuate Matthew Holland’s ability. I call it the Holland formation after him, and I still know all of the things needed to make it work. I need better jumping/heading on my DCs, for example, to deal with the crossed balls, and I don’t have it where it needs to be. So, for now, 3-5-2 is not in the cards.

Which saddens me. I was thinking about a 3-4-1-2 with an AMC role. Therefore, I will be playing some form, somehow, of 4 defensive players. So I need a DL. Time to hit the market.

Many were taken, but I do like Francisco Molinero, 28, from Murcia, who can play DR or DL and is leaving soon – I can get him for free and sign him for roughly 5k a week. He’s not a bad option. Any others I can find? Edgar Castillo wants too much. If I want to go youth, there’s Jordan Amavi at 20, or the slow stylings of 31 year old Aureliano Torres. He’d also be a set piece specialist, and with skills like 16 crossing and 14 passing, he’s has good technical skills. But he can’t head/jump, which is sad. But a set piece specialist might be worth it. Getting a guy with 14 corners and 16 cross is strong, as is 15 free kick and such. Long shots of 15, not great finish of 8, and such. I compare him with Sequeira. Torres is massively better at defending, but Sequeira is not bad at the rest comparatively, and better at speed and physical and aerial and technical. I don’t want to bring in someone to split time with Sequeira. I want someone to push him out of contention completely.

Actually, I think I might have found my guy. Hold up. Lemme scout ‘em

It’s basically this guy or Francisco Molinero. They are the class. Francisco outclasses Sequeira for a DL spot. I can get him for free, right now. Or I can try to transfer in this Portuguese guy named Luis Martins, 21 years old, started for Gil Vicente last year. He’s about as good as Sequeira is now, but our scout’s love his potential. He’s transfer listed, and would be cheaper on the salary. Martins to Sequeira is already better at defending by a lot, mental, and a bit faster. Sequeira is better at creativity, attacking, and they are equal in technical, physical. But we like Martins’s potential, and he’ cheap and just 21, I just have to pay the transfer kitty. Molinero is the obvious answer. Martins is the better answer. Plus, in one year of having half the salary, Martins will pay for the fee easily.

We sign him for 175k and everything is done. It seems like we basically swapped Marcal for him! You’ll see when he arrives, it was the right play.

I head to my board and they agree to allow me to get more coaches.

Now I want to go staff hunting.

I make an offer to a 2nd Fitness Coach, 2nd GK Coach, and another coach you might know…

I get new budgets on June 2 - 57k a week and 300k transfer kitty. Glad I paid for my transfer with last year’s money!

Jose Moreira is happy to sign his grown up contract – welcome again lad, and backup GK guy!


We have signed a new coach – Ruud van Nistelroojj. They reject my other offers – they gave me permission for just one more coach apparently. Ah well. Welcome aboard Ruud! He’ll be teaching tactics much better than our current guy, who was double booked anyway.

HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP!



Mario Rondon collected the European Gold Shoe award today, June 10. That is crazy. I have never even won that award before!

He had 48 points from 24 goals. 2nd place was Manolo Gabbiadini for Sampdoria, and Fernando Llorente of Juventus was 3rd.

Portugal slipped to 6th place in the European Nations Table, now behind France.

Alright, let’s do this World Cup thang –

I’ll keep you up on stuff I find interesting. I begin by looking at the groups. Anything jump out?

My guess for qualifiers:

A – Sweden, Brazil
B – Holland, Chile
C – France, Germany (also has Mexico and Ecuador)
D – Argentina, Belgium
E – Uruguay, USA (They have Turkey and Algeria here too)
F – Spain, England
G – Colombia, Russia (If this had a power African side, like S Africa or Ghana, I’d go with it, but Zambia won’t make it out –Ghana is in the side with Australia, Spain, England, and S Africa has to match with two powers in Group H)
H – Italy, Switzerland


Not in that order, mind you, just my predictions for whose getting out.

Whoa! Japan crushed Argentina 3-1.

No other major upsets in the first round of games.

Both Sweden and Brazil cruise in their first two match and qualify before playing the 3rd.

2nd round done, some surprises – Group B, Greece and Chile hae just 1 point while Iran is in 2nd place with 3. They could get promoted. Group C has France and Germany, but Mexico is tied with France with 3 points, but just has a lower GD right now. In Group D, Japan managed to take points from Belgium in a tie. That means Belgium, Japan each have 4, and Argentina has 3. If Japan can beat Morocco, they will make it. That means if Belgium win or tie, they are in, if Argentina wins they are in, and if Japan wins or Belgium wins, they are in. Currently, Japan even has a +2 GD to Argentina’s -1, so Japan will win if they lose, and Argentina ties, if the GD is not made up. In Group E, USA is at 6, Turkey and Uruguay are each at 3. Ghana has a win and the same points as Spain, but a better GD. They face England next, but if they do something amazing, they could knock out Spain.

Alright, let’s play the last round of games in the Group Stage.


Group B finishes, Iran tied Greece in their game, Holland knocked out Chile so they knocked Greece and Chile out. Iran made it out – nicely done Persia!

Group C saw France stave off any Mexican Miracle. In Group D, Japan and Belgium both won, so Argentina lost two stage games. They both finished with 7 points and a +5 GD. So Japan, technically won this Group according to the next TB.

In Group F, Ghana won their game, and all three teams (Spain, England, Ghana) finished with 6 points, but Ghana had the lowest GD with +1, and the others had +2.


The Round of 16:

Brazil vs Iran
Sweden vs Holland
Belgium vs Germany
Japan vs France
England vs USA
Uruguay vs Spain
Switzerland vs Russia
Colombia vs Italy


So Japan knocked out Argentina and my guess of Chile was replaced by Iran. Not bad.

Now that we are nearing the end of June, I need to head back and focus on my club for a bit. You’ll get WC results laters.


Soon we have 10 loaners returning to us, as well as several players leaving, and several staff leaving, including both physios.

We gained a bit in the Portuguese club rankings and rep. We were the biggest Overacheiver last year in the league.

Mario Rondon, no surprise, was voted Player of the Year four our club by the fans.

The Media Prediction this year is 5th. Our value has increased to 12.25 M, and we just got a ton of money for the league. I can choose the season expectations. I push my board to Euro Cup to get the extra cash. We get a lot more money and transfer bucks.

We have released 10 players and staff today, June 30. I make an offer to Mike Rayner to be our head physio for hundreds less a week than the other guy, and with better stats.

I also lost my GK coach, so I offer again to the one refused by my board, who is better.

This is a good time to see if any bargains were released. I’m not looking for anything, but I’ll go shoe shopping with the best of them! I can’t anyone though. Ah well. I’m relatively content right now. Anyway, let’s head to July and bring in my new folks!

Would a USA/Iran final be possible? Shades of 98 all over again.

Enter my five new people:


ST, AM RLC Matias Defederico, 25, Argentinian, 4.8k weekly through 2017, speaks Spanish and Portuguese, Looks like he got a little better since I signed him – nicely done. We signed him for Huracan, in the 2nd Division of Argentinian Football. He had a 7.27 rating season with 19 goals in 35 games. Guy can produce. I suspect either him or my next guy will be in the AMC spot. Stats?

Physical? 15/15 speed, 14 agility, 13 stamina, 12 fitness, 8 balance, strength, 7 jump (The classic “little guy”)

Technical? 11 Cross, Finish; 13 Pass, long shots; 15 Technique, dribb, first touch; 7 Head, 6 Tack, 5 Mark,
Set Pieces? Long Throw? 4, Corner -13, free kick – 13, Penalty 15.
Mental? 17 Flair, 16 Determination, 14 Bravery, 13 OTB, 12 Work Rate, Anti, Comp, Creativ, Decis, 11 Concent, Teamwork, 10 Leader, Aggression, 5 Position


That’s not a bad guy at all.

Welcome to the team!

It sure would be!

Next up, MC, AM LC Javi Espinosa, 21, Spanish, 7k per week through 2017, Speaks Spanish and English, can play every mid-position, and ST. Signed from Barcelona’s B Squad. 5 star scout rating for potential. Last year played in 38 games, 7.04 rating, 2 goals, 11 assists. Another classic little guy that can play on the wings, MC, or AMC as needed. We invested a lot of salary into him, but expect to bear fruit quickly. Ready? He is an incredible signing…

Physical? 13/12 speed, 15 agil, 13 stam, 11 fitness, 8 balance, 7 strength, 6 jump – Not great ready? Now hold onto your butts!

Technical? 16 Passing, Technique, 15 First Touch, 14 Drib, 12 Cross, (Corners, Free Kick), Long Shot, 11 Penalty, 10 Finish, 8 Head, 7 Tack, 6 Throw, Mark - For a 21 year old with a 5 star scout ranking? That’s a great place to currently be at for us.

Mental? 16 Flair, Creativity, 14 OTB, Teamwork, 13 Composure, Decisions, 12 Anti, Concent, 11 Work Rate, 9 Determ, 8 Brave, Position, 7 Aggression, 5 Leader

So we have a technically proficient guy with a lot of goods stats for playing as an Advanced Playmaker, Attack, or Support. For a youth guy, he’s good room for growth, but is already sterling for us.

Gracias Javi!

What about our transfer signing? Let’s look at…

DL Luis Martins, 22, Portuguese, Speaks just Portuguese, Can play DR, 3k a week, signed until the end of 2017, 4.5 star scout rating for potential, and we think he also has a lot of Potential. Plus, last year, for the 16th placed Gil Vincente in a relegation effort, he had 27 appearances and a 6.82 rating – which we think is good in that atmosphere. He came up from the Benfica ranks, and played for them for a while and then Gil Vncente loaned, and then signed him, and now we transferred him in to play for us, as a fixture for DL for a while.

Physical? 15/14 speed, 15 Stam, 13 Fitness, Agi; 10 Jump, Str; 9 Balance

Tech? 14 Tack, Mark, 13 Cross, 12 Technique, Drib, First Touch, (Throw, Penalty), 11 Pass, (Free Kick, Penalty), 10 Head, Long Shots, 8 Finish

Mental – 14 – Position, Aggress, 13 Brave, OTB, Work Rate, Teamwork, Determin, 12 Concnetration, Anti, 11 Composure, Decisions, Flair, Leader, 10 Creativity

So he comes in already very strong, and has room for growth. He is exactly what I wanted, someone who can push Sequeira to the sidelines.

Welcome young one!

And our last major signing

DC/DMC Andrei Marc, 21 years old, Romanian, Speaks Romanian, French, Basic Hungarian, can also play DR and poorly MC or MR. 2.5k week, signed until 2016, 4.5 star scout rating, has played his entire life for club Ceahlaul, in the Romanian First League. He played in 9 matches last year, for 7.12 and an assist (too young to crack the lineup I suppose). I expect to have him push Freire for a starting spot on the roster or rock the DMC position better than Rafa. He’ll do either very well.

Physical – 12/13 Speed, 16 Stam, 14, Str, Agi, Balance, 13 Jump, Fitness

Technical – 14 Head, 13 Mark, Pass, Tack; 12 Technique, First Touch, Cross, 10 Drib, Long Shots, Throwing, Penalty, 6 Free Kick, 5 Finish, 4 Corners

Mental – 15 Position, 14 Work Rate, 13 Teamwork, Brave, 10 Flair, 8 Leader, Determin, 12 Everything Else


Again, we have this strong youth candidate to growth with and improve while he can already start. I had already signed him when my great DC Hernani came through our system, but he should work for us. How will he survive in Portuguese Football away from home in Romania? No idea, but it’s time for the big leagues – European Football and a better flight by far.

These four should help us lead the way, and improve our squad over time as they grow along with the great youth we already have. I register them, a few youthers, and hand out numbers –

20 to Hernani Costa
9 to Luis Martins
5 to Matias Defederico
17 to Andrei Marc
10 to Javi Espinosa


With the enhanced budget for my Euro ambition and a reduced transfer budget dropping to 100k, I’ve increased my wage to 75k a week. I’m spending 72k a week. We’ll get in some staff in a bit that I hope will help and get us there and keep us under budget.

Our GK Coach and head Physio sign with us.

World Cup Update:




Brazil vs Iran – 3-0 Brazil
Sweden vs Holland – 2-1 Sweden
Belgium vs Germany – 0-2 Germany
Japan vs France – 1-3 France
England vs USA – 1-0 England
Uruguay vs Spain – 3-0 Spain
Switzerland vs Russia – 0-3 Russia
Colombia vs Italy – 1-3 Italy


Quarterfinals:


Brazil vs France
Sweden vs Germany
England vs Italy
Spain vs Russia

In the battle of Brazil vs Europe!

I review my tactics. Is the 4-4-2 Diamond the best we can do with this lot? If so, expect our starters to be Mario Rondon, Adriano/Djaniny, Daniel Candeais, Dejan Skolnik/Javi Espinosa, Matias Defederico, Andrei Marc/Rafa, Joao Aurelio, Luis Martins, Mexer, Freire/Andrei Marc, Eduardo Gottari.

I offer Ali out for a loan. Costinha agrees to a mutual termination. Good bye buddy. I’ll always have a soft place in my heart for ya. I get my bosses to host a Trial Day.


World Cup 2014

We had an odd Quarter Finals. Every game ended 1-1 and went to penalty kicks. Every single one. Who advanced? France, Sweden, England and Russia.


World Cup Semi Finals

France vs Russia
Sweden England

Could we have a Russia vs Sweden Finals? As someone who played in Sweden for all but four years of his professional career, I’m thrilled to see fellow teammates, foes, and players do so well!

Trial Day will be on the 7th. On the 6th,I look over everyone. We have a few thousand to spare for really nice folks.

I sign a couple of youthers, but this list is much more mature – I have a couple fo 30+ and 4 29 year olds. But there are a few that still are quite interesting. Danny’s not bad – 19 years old, can play a few wing spots.

I hold my team meeting. Everyone backs my Euro ambitions.

Our coaches feel that the 442 diamond, 4411 and 4222 are the best formations for us. I’m not a fan of the 4411. We found out that this team needs 2 in front. And I don’t like two DMCs in the back either.

So, we’ll keep the diamond I think, because it seems like it remains the best fit for us.

Ali is happy to go out on loan to Feirense. So he’s heading out for the season. He’s getting squeezed by my two youth DCs (Jose Pedro Cardoso, Hernani Costa) as well as Andrei Marc, Freire, Mexer, and backup Miguel Rodrigues. Better to be loaned out then sold, if that would even be possible.

We signed three youth players from the Trial Day.

Very entertaining dynasty Abe, thinking about picking up the game as a result.

Thanks, that's very humbling

Ok, problem. Braga have made an offer for GK Gottardi. They have offered 44k plus 165k over the next two years. So here’s the question – is this a blessing in disguise? Will this give me an excuse to sign a replacement who is better?


Let’s look around…

There’s 24 year old Venezuelan international GK Rafael Romo. He’s not bad. I order a scout report. I was kind of hoping for a grizzled vet, since my starters and squad tend to be young folks, in order to balance things. Rondon’s 28 though, so that’s alright I suspect. Someone with gravitas I can hand the captain’s band to. There are a few I like, Eduardo, who was the GK for Braga for a while, and has 33 caps for Portugal, or Gomes, who was Tottenham’s GK for a while. But they don’t think I can even match their financial stuff. Who else?

Got him!

I make an offer to my GK target, and I accept the offer for Gottardi. I make my guy an offer to be the highest paid player for my squad at 7.25k a week, using the money that;’ll be freed up plus the rest of my transfer budget. But the transfer money I get from Gottardi can be used to buff my budget to make it all work.

My target is the grizzled, 37 year old vet who will come in, nonplussed, and get things to run right on the pitch. Despite his age, he has a 4 star evaluation, fully one more than Gottardi.