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

[Abe Sargent]

We begin in front of the league because of the huge GD in the first game.

10 of our players were in the Team of the week. Rosano was the only starter not in it.

We sold out all of our season tickets


The Arouca match arrives. Driussi to Stepinski in the 5th. Komorski to Driussi in the 7th. Rodrigues to Rocker in the 26th. Rodrigues cross to Rocker turns into a PK for Mariusz who sinks it in the 28th. Rosano injured 0 in heads Teikeu. Anotehr lethal Teikeu throw in leads to a Montesi goal. Driussi Corner finds Strandberg after a few bounces in the 50th. 2nd sub is Rui for Driussi. I slide to counter and retain possession. JI send out Worthington for Schaap. He ends up with a pair of shots on target pushed away in the late 80s. ThenThe Rock hits Steppinwolf for a late goal in the 89th. We win 7-0. MOM is Stepinski and his hattrick.

Rosano will be out for a week to 10 days with a twisted ankle. I’ll start Oscar Cardona until he returns.

We have 7 players in the Team of the Week this time

[Abe Sargent]

We made 8.5 mill for Group Stage cash


We’ve been seeded 2nd for the Group Stage. I guess Porto was given a free route since they won last year, since they didn’t qualify via the league. All of us were seeded 2nd after Benfica fought their way into the Group Stage. Here are all of the Champion Groups for ya:


2019 Champions Group Stage

Group A

Real Madrid
Napoli
Ajax
Basel


Group B

Paris St-G
CSKA Moscow
Metalist
Sparta Prague


Group C

Liverpool
Clube Desportivo Nacional
Stuttgart
Club Brugge


Group D

Manchester United
Dortmund
AC Milan
Fenerbahce


Group E

FC Bayern Munchen
Benfica
Olympiakos
Elfsborg


Group F

Tottenham
Atletico
Inter
Zenit

Group G

Juventus
Manchester City
OM
Dinamo

Group H

Barcelona
Porto
AS St-Etienne
H. Tel-Aviv


So all three Portuguese clubs have a chance to get out. Sure, Benfica has Bayern, but they have the easiest 3 and 4 clubs. Porto has Barcelona, but also Hapeol and French club that is not Paris. We have Liverpool, sure, but Club Brugge and Stuttgart make it more difficult that the other Portuguese clubs, but we usually win against German clubs not named Bayern.

The only time we lost to Stuttgart was way back in 2014/2015 when we were knocked out of the 2nd Knockout Round of the EURO Cup to them. We lost to them away 1-3 and beat them at home 3-2 and lost on aggregate by a goal. So we didn’t even get swept from them back in 2015, and now we are a much better team. The next year we were swept by Bayern in the Group Stage. Then we made it to the quarterfinal of the Champions Cup the following year and tied Dortmund twice and lost on away goals. The following year we came in 4th in our Group and never met a German. Then last year we had Dortmund in our Group and went one tie and one loss to them. The we hammered Leverkusen in the Knockout with two wins.

So overall, our matches against Germany, including FC Bayern are:

4 losses
3 ties
3 win

Not including Bayern, that is a 3 wins, 3 ties 2 losses, for a slight winning record against them. Now we have Stuttgart, which was an overachiever last year and got 2nd in the league, but was predicted 6th and Club Brugge, who didn’t even win in Belgium.

[Abe Sargent]

Aug 30 – Bruno Marques turned professional today as he turns 17 and signed a deal with it.


I sign a new deal with my club for more money.


29 of my players are called up for international duty


I have signed another African youth player, 17 year old Mozambique player Manuel Vulande, just to develop him for the national side. Nothing else. He plays MR, AMR or ST and is just another youth guy.. I just paid 20k for him, and he’ll arrive in January after he turns 18.

By the end of August, I have 30 loans done, 5 of which are injured right now.

[Abe Sargent]

September

1st – Home vs Gil Vicente
14th – Away vs Rio Ave
17th – Away vs Stuttgart, Group Stage, Champions
22nd – Home vs Braga
28th – Away vs Porto

South Africa:

Friendly, Home vs Ecuador, 6th
Friendly, Home vs Scotland, 10th

Costa, Junior Barrios, Driussi – good training; Rosana bad


Stepinski won Player of the Month; Rocker and Driussi were 2nd and 3rd

Komorski has 2nd Place Goal of the Month

I won Manager of the Month

I force Man Utd off Rocker when they come in with a 38M offer.



Oscar Cardona starts at DMC today against Gil Vicente. Pick up where you left off! Komorski in the 12th from Montesi. WHOA! Rodrigues intercepted the ball on the edge, dribbled it in and scored himself. Nicely done! Driussi to Komorski for another goal in the 44th. Half. Sub 1 – Pflugler for Komorski. 2 is Vitor Barreto for Driussi. Rui P in for Schaap. They get a goal late in the match in the 88th minute. We win 3-1. MOM is Komorski. Cardona had a pretty solid debut too – 7.2 on the day.

[Abe Sargent]

The game ends and I get four offers for my players:

49M for Andreas Rocker from Paris St-G
25M for Costa, from Juventus
38.5M for Rodrigues, from Man Utd
21M for Driussi, from AS Monaco


I could just accept them all and double or triple our value overnight. Is Driussi a luxury with Rui Pereira and Pfluger?

We have a long term issue later. When Rui P is all developed and likely better than Driussi, what do I do? I could just move him now, clear up that space, and make Rui P my starter.

I’m leaning to no.

[Abe Sargent]

Ecuador scores first in the first half, and its 0-1 at thehalf. I get upset and ST Nazeer Arendse gets me two goals in the 50s. I make some subs, put in a new uncapped guy I called up at DC Tchoutou grabs a goal later 78th after spelling Rantie. More subs ensue. Khune stops an amazing shot in the 88th. I’m shocked he did, I barely saw it it was flying so quickly. We win 3-1 and Nazeer Arendse, with two goals and an assist is MOM. Brilliantly to come back!

Arendse is growing swiftly on me. I know its early days, but still, the 20 year old is not playing himself off the team. Now let’s see what he can do against the better competition of Scotland, ranked 24th. MR Thulani Serero was injured in training, so I move Bhongolwethu Jayiya to it. That’s the only change for today’s game.

I begin countering here against Scotland, just to get a feel. Even playing defensively, they score in the 11th minute. But that’s alright, we aren’t in a big match, so Rantie will probably explode on them. Nevermind, it was waved offsides. Then Arendse gets a pass from Jayiya and scores in the 16th. Then they score off a corner in the 39th. 1-1 at the half. Vilakazi jumpstarts a counter attack that Rantie falls on and drives up the length of the field into the box deep and passes to Parker for the score. Let’s muscle Scotland around a bit. I sub out an enyellowed DC for another. Then I have to begin pulling tired but playing well folks. More subs follows. We injure two Scottish folks late. Lower Tempo! Retain Possession! We win 2-1. MOM is again Arendse. I’ll take that win.

Once again, Nazeer man. 4 caps and 4 goals starting across from Rantie.

[Abe Sargent]

David Rosano is back at DMC for the Rio Ave match. Stepinskia to Strandberg on a Corner by Driussi that hit Steppy. Rocker to Stepinski – 51st. Driussi in the 65th. In heads Davit Kurdadze for Costa. They strike one back in the 77th. Luis Carlos for Komorski. Rui P to Rocker in the 87th. We win 4-1. Rocker is MOM.

[Abe Sargent]

I hand out rests to prepare for the away game in Germany. This game will make a statement about how we’ll do in the Group Stage this year . Honestly, we could get clocked twice by Liverpool, lose here today away, and not even survive the group stage. We begin defensively. They foul Rodrigues in the box. PK by Stepinski is….good in the 2nd minute. Huge flowing move to get Rocker a score in the 3rd. Ruiz handed it to Costa, to Rodrigues to Rosano to Driussi to Stepinski to Rocker in just a few seconds and Rocker scored. 2-0 in the first 3 minutes. Driussi hits Rocker for a goal in the 6:13 mark. Set up by Schaap. Komorski is injured and we have to pull him in the 21st. I send in Pflugler. Half. Keep it up! Sub 2 – Driussi was tired with a few hits, so I send out Rui Pereira. Final sub – Teikeu in for Costa. We win 3-0. MOM is the Rock. That was really special!!!

Blast. Komorski tore his hamstring and is out for two-three months.

For now, Pfluger will start there. Maybe this’ll jumpstart him a bit.


Porto and Benfica also won their opening matches and Portugal begins 3-0 in Champion Group Stage play.

[Abe Sargent]

South Africa rose to 9th in World Rankings

Now we host Braga. Always a big game. Stepinski misses another PK in the 2ndminute but then hits hay in the 23rd. 1-0 half. Keep it up! Braga hit a corner kick early, but then We do to and Strandberg equalizes. I send out Junior Barrios to get some experience. We win 2-1. MOM is Schaap. Bit of a let off!!!



Next up is the away game at Porto. Both of us are undefeated, so this is an important match. And Schaap gives away a PK in the 8th they hit and then they score in the 35th. We are down 0-2 at the half. SHOW ME SOMETHING ELSE!!! I move to tackling, faster tempo, everything I can think of. After shot shots on goal are deflcted, the thirs is scored by Schaap so he scores in the 65th. I pull an underperforming David Rosano for Teikeu. That’s a chance back in I suppose. Then in the 71st, Rodrigues, passed, crosses viciously to Pfluger across the field and Sebastian puts it in. We have tied them at the 70:49 mark. Now its’ a game again! Rodrigues grabs a booking Sub #2 is Agra for Stepinski to give my attack some fresh legs. Then Porto fouls Driussi with a two legged tackle and gets a red card at the 80:27 mark. Can we pull this one out? I put in Rui P for Driussi. He was a bit dinged up in the tackle. I make my red card changes. Rocker almost broke away in the 83:33 spot. Then they fire a long shot off a break in the 84th and sink it and now they are up 3-2. Move to attacking. And that’s game. We lose 3-2. We were just unlucky!

That ends our winning streak.

We won’t go undefeated this season.

[Abe Sargent]

October

2nd - Home vs Liverpool, Champions Group stage
7th – Home vs Aves
20th 0 Home vs Feirense, Taca da Portugal
23rd – Away vs Club Brugge, Champions Group Stage
27th – Away vs Belenenses

South Africa:

Friendly at Cyprus, 11th
Friendly at Romania, 15


Agra, Pfluger, Totladze with good training, Ruiz and Hunter Torres with bas ones..




Can we survive Liverpool today, here in Madeira? I’ll begin countering. They score in the 12th minute off a DFK, but we hold on and its 0-1 at the half. Not a surprise, Unlucky so far! That seems to relax them. I start making adjustments to try and get a goal to tie things up in the late 50s and early 60s. Soon enough they have an increased temp and such. Then Ruiz drops a goal kick right into Rocker, who has broken their Trap and scores in the 74th. Nice! I do not use this as a chance to sit back and grab a tie. I attack. I move to control, very high tempo, sub in Rui P and Teikeu, Rodrigues already was pulled for a yellow card for Bruno Marques. We push more and more, and began to steal control of the game form Liverpool. Then, at the 89:07 mark, Rui is given a deep ball by Schaap. He passes back in front of goal to an attacking DMC David Rosano, who heads it away deep in the right side. Now it’s 2-1. Now I pull back to protect the goal. Defensive, lower tempo. Stepinski missed a great chance in penalty time. We hold to some pressure in the last minute and win 2-1. MOM is David Rosano.


Nicely done.

[Abe Sargent]

For the Aves match I’m starting Luis Carlos, Bruno Marques and Jorge Agra. Driussi, Driussi, Rocker with goals in the first 15 minutes. Luis Carlos with a header goal. Agra picks up a knock and I sub in Junior Barrios. Half. Keep it up. Teikeu in for Rosano, who’s tired. Worthington for Schaap. Game, we win 4-0. MOM is Driussi.



Inter’s manager job is open, and they have offered me an interview. I head out to talk with them.

[Abe Sargent]

Portugal is having difficulties in their Euro Qualifying Group. Today, Poland defeated Lithuania an Portugal Azerbaijan. Here’s the Group with one game remaining for everyone but Poland


1st – Poland, 8 games, 17 points, +15 GD
2nd – Czech, 7 games, 16 points, +5 GD
3rd - Portugal , 7 games, 16 points, +15 GD
4th – Lithuania, 7, 1, and -17
5th – Azerbaijan, 7, 1, and -20

Okay, here’s the problem. The final game is between Portugal and the Czech Republic. Portugal already lost to the Czech team earlier. So in four days, if the Czech team sweeps them or ties, then Portugal is out and has to get in via the 3rd Place Teams table.



Friendly vs Cyprus – 0-0 draw. MOM was DC Eric Mathoho – odd.


David Rosano just got his first cap for Spain! Congrats!

Inter hires someone else.


Tchoutou gets a Thulani Serero cross for a score as the Romanian match opens. They score back in the 37th minute. We can still win tonight folks. They score again in the 70s and we can’t match, so we lose. 2-1.

After our loss in Romania, Portugal were thumped by Czech 3-0. Ironically, they how have to fight against Romania in November to make it in.

We dropped to 14th in Rankings.

[Abe Sargent]

We have mostly subs and young folks for today’s Taca match. We begin controlling. Barrios to Agra. They score back. Agra to Teikeu, Corner. Barrios tackled the ball and scored. Half. They score again. Rui P finds Agra in 78th Marcio Sousa hits Teikeu on IFK. We win 5-2. MOM is Agra. Good win!


Sporting was taken out in the 3rd round. I’m done with Kurdadze. That was three goals he’s not fought against on crosses right by his guy in two games he’s played for me. I offer him for a loan.

[Abe Sargent]

With Portugal a full 6-0-0 in the Group Stage, we have some tough matches matches today, including Porto vs Barcelona and Benfica vs FC Bayern. Benfica just lose on the road 3-2 but Porto hammer Barcelona 5-0 at home. Dang!

Now, can we win away at here in Belgium? Our youth beat theirs 7-3 this afternoon. Ill start defensive, just to get a feel for stuff. After a Schaap cross to Stepinski hits the GK and rebounds, Pflugler is there to pt it away at the 0:56 mark. I’ll stay with defense them. Rodrigues crosses into the box and it’s a penalty on Schaap. Stepinski hits the PK at the 34th minute. Half. Keep it up! Omar Montesi collects a booking in the 56th. I sub in Marques for him 10 minutes later. I put in Worthington for a bruised Schaap. Agra in for Rocker. We hold on and win 2-0. MOM is Pflugler.

And now Portugal is 8 wins and 1 loss in the first half of the Group Stage.

[Abe Sargent]

After getting thumped 4-0 by Gil Vicente, Sporting sacked their manager, who had only been with them 11 months.


Porto defeated Benfica in the league match 3-0 in their place. That gives us an opening to move into 2nd with the Belenenses game today. Pfluger to Driussi, score. Pflugler to Montesi on corner kick. Half. Pflugler gets a booking. I send in Luis Carlos. Rocker to Stepinski, goal in the 68th. We win 3-0. MOM is Montesi.


Teikeu get a virus and I send him home.

[Abe Sargent]

November

2nd – Home vs Benfica
5th – Home vs Club Brugge, Champions Group Stage
9th – Away vs Vizela, Taca da Portugal
23rd – Away at Olhanense
27th – Home vs Stuttgart


South Africa:

Friendly vs Honduras, 19th

Train? GK Helder Almieda, DMC Oscar Cardona, ST Hunter Torres.



We need to win today’s match vs Benfica. Rosano to Pfluger last in the first half and it’s a1-0 at the half. Quiet. I decide to sit back since both teams are playing strong. I slide to counter, retain, etc. Lots of pressure both ways in the first 10 minutes of the next half too, but neither team breaks. Driussi gets a booking so I toss in Rui P for him. Schaap is playing very poorly so I pull him for Worthington. Costa gets a yellow late so I sub in Marques for him. And we protect that lead and win 1-0 against Benfica. That’s good stuff.

[Abe Sargent]

Did you know that some of the best of the young invasion of great American talent is playing in Portugal right now? It’s true!

GK Fabian Ruiz, hasn’t allowed a goal in 405 minutes, just collected his 10th appearance, Nacional

DC Eric Shorey, 22, starts for Benfica, just got the MOM against us for great defensive work, 14 caps, just a bit worse than Hernani Costa, worth 7.25 Mill

DL Nigel Weale, 22,16 caps, just signed for 7.5 mill by Porto (and that was a steal) he’s worth 15.5 already. They have already begun calling him the American Rodrigues in Portugal because of how similar him and Nigel are in ability and play style. Just brought in over the summer and (would have been a great Canela replacement for us I wish I would have known he could have been gotten that cheaply).



Any idea that American players don’t get respect is over and done. Here is where the hot American players are playing right now”

20 year old DC Jimmy Gregory, with 6 caps, plays in Austria with Salzburg

19 year old GK, which a scout report says could be at Ruiz levels later on is in Mexico with America.

22 year olf Marc Phillips with 42 caps and 2 goals and studly styles, plays for Olympique Lyonnais.

20 year old ST Jon Tarr, with a cap, plays for Houston – the only great Senior-squaded youth in the USA.

DMC/MC Luis Felipe, 23, starts for 4th place Ponte Preta in Brazil’s First.

24 year old ST Colin Wheeler, 13 caps and a goal, plays for Pumas in Mexico, which is 3rd in their league this year and 2nd last year.

Sub 24 year old Julian Green with 34 caps and 5 goals, AML, ML, AMRC, STC, MR, starts for FC Bayern.

The other clubs for the USA senior squad are Ajax, Atalanta, America again, Chivas, Frankfurt, Monterrey, QPR, Toronto FC, Valencia, Vasco, and Xolos Tijuana.

Just in case you were wondering.


Others not on the senior squad but really strong include:

8.75 mill Bobby Almageur, 23, 38 apps, 7 goal., plays for AS Monaco
22 year old, 1.15 mill, ML AML Kevin Rosas, Chivas.
ST Joel Robles, Chivas USA, 17
DC Sean Carrillo, 22, 3 mill, 1 cap, LA
ST Andrea Vailati, Fiorentina
ST Hunter Torres, Nacional da Madeira
ST Jake Constable, Philadelphia

[Abe Sargent]

Can we continue our winning streak against Club Brugge today here in Funchal? Our goal in the 4th is waved offside. Rocker gets a booking early. Then he finds Steppinwolf for a goal in the 18th. Another similar attack by them a few minutes later is just pushed away by the GK. Alright that’s it. That’s like the 3rd or 4th time since he’s started that Pfluglers passes were lazy, resulting in a interception that had led to a goal. I pull him out for Luis Carlos in the 28th with the score 1-1. Schaap intercepts the balls and scores in the 29th. Rocker with a score in the 33rd. Ruiz hit him on a GK that broke the Trap. Then a Driussi corner to Costa who heads to Strandberg who scores in the 43rd. Half time – 4-1. They score in the 63rd. Then I sub in Agra and Barrios for tired strikers. Driussi hits Steppy just before he leaves for a score. And we win 5-2. MOM is Stepinski.

We have qualified from the Group with 2 games to go.




Today, Porto was away in Barcelona and Benfica hosted FC Bayern. Result? Benfica defeated Bayern 1-0 and Porto lost 4-0 on the road. They were down 1-0 late, then had a red card send off and Barcelona got 3 scores after wards.

So right now Portugal is 10 wins and 2 losses in Group Play.

[Abe Sargent]

Our last match before the international fun begins is the Taca match up. Worthington is injured early on and I sub in Marcio Sousa. Rui P hits goal twice, twice off Carlos assist. Worthington nailed an assist on an OG and its 3-0 at the half. Agra nails goal with a Rui P assist. Rui P hs picked up a knock, so I send in Vitor Barreto. I sub in Hunter Torres last. We win 4-0. MOM is Rui Pereira.



Worthington was injured late and will be out for 2 weeks. But Rui P was not. I rest him for a couple of days before he heads off to the Senior Squad, where he has not been capped yet, but been called up to.

Teikeu comes back from his virus

We get Maritimo in the 5th round

[Abe Sargent]

Romania hosted Portugal on the 15th and edged them in a late victory 2-1. Come on Portugal!


I call and congratulate Hernani Costa for notching his first international goal.


Joao Luis Rodrigues comes to me asking for a new deal. I agree. I offer him one immediately.




We have a lot of chances, but we have not been able to score on Castellon early until the 43rd minute when Lebese gets us that first goal. Nazeer Arendse scores in the 73rd. MOM is Arendse and we win 2-0. We had 20 shots and 12 on target, and Henry Castellon stopped 10. Nothing to be embarrassed about.


Did you know that? Cyril Mzizi has been my starter for RSA ever since Anele’s huge injury, and I’ve never gone back? I don’t even call up Anele any more – he’s 33 and the injury slowed him down.


Romania blew up Portugal 3-1 away and Portugal is out of the competition. Sweden made it in.

[Abe Sargent]

Our World Cup Qualifier Group:


Group 9:

Benin
Comoros
South Africa
Zimbabwe


I can sleep walk and win that Group

There are some tough groups. Take this one:


Group 7:

Ethiopia
Ghana
Kenya
Morocco

Now, Kenya is a thumper team, but that’s not easy.

Egypt, South Africa, Algeria, Nigeria and Senegal seem like the only teams to have a group that they should have no problems with. The others are more difficult:

Group 5:

Burkina Faso
Cape Verde
Sierra Leone
Tunisia

No powerhouses in there. Could be anyones!


Group 4:

Angola
Congo
Zambia
Equatorial Guinea

Angola and Zambia are likely favorites, but not heavies, and that’s not an obvious Group either.

And Cameroon?

Group 2:

Cameroon
DR Congo
Guinea-Bissau
Mali

Mali is not an automatic win, and DRC is a very good team. It would be even better if ST Lukalu would not have played for Belgium, giving them both the best Gk and one of the best ST in the game.

[Abe Sargent]

Stepinski scores in the 6th minute against Olhanense. Rodrigues sets up a lovely Schaap score from range in the 9th. Then Driussi hits Schaap for another score at the 10:01 mark. Luis Carlos crosses from his side to Schaap overlooking the defense and as they move, Schaap finds a newly opened up Driussi and hits him for a score in the 29th. Omar Montesi intercepts the ball and begins a counter than ends with Rosano finding Schaap for his hat-trick in the 30th minute. I sub in Rui Pereira for him. Rodrigues finds Driussi for a score off a nice cross in the 45th. 6-0 half. Keep it going!! Driussi grabs a booking. They score in the 47th. Stepinski finds Luis Carlos for a score in the 62nd Agra heads in for Steps. I also sub in Marcio Sousa for Driussi since he’s yellowed, and swap him and Rui on the pitch. Rosano hits Luis again for a score in the 86th. We win 8-1. MOM is Schaap.



I was considering something major, and this match solidified it for me. I’m moving Pfluger. It was an attempt to bring in someone to develop a as a future star and current Javi Espinosa like player. That has never worked. Rui P has developed underneath him, and he has never had the results on the pitch that I would expect. So Pfluger is not the player I was hoping he would be. I place him on the transfer list, and offer him for 15 million.

[Abe Sargent]

Rodrigues has signed his new deal. 41.5k/week through 2023.


Porto beats Tel-Aviv, and Benfica tie Olympiakos this week. Benfica have qualified with 10 points in 5 games, and are in front by 2 over Olympiakos and 3 over Bayern. Porto and Barcelona each have 12 points and +7 GD and have qualified. Who is in what space will wait.

In our group, both us and Liverpool already qualified. So now we are just playing for the 1 million kitty each time we win game. Today is Stuttgart here in Funchal, Madeira. Rodrigues tries to cross, hits the back of the GK and bounces into the goal. Technically counts as an OG. They score back in the 39th. Half. They score in the 57th. I move my folks ahead, tackling, marking, higher tempo, made some subs, control, etc. Finally, Luis Carlos on the left side drives down the line and crosses to Stepinski who scores in the 78th. It’s back to 2-2. I keep on the pedal, but that was it. We tie 2-2. Unlucky!

Liverpool also tied Club Brugge. Ties all around – no wins, no losses, just peace in our time!




We have sold Pflugler to Man City for 15 million, and that’ll go through on January 1st.

[Abe Sargent]

December

1st – Away vs Vit. Guimaraes.
4th – Away vs Sporting
7th – Home vs P. Fereira
10th – Away vs Liverpool
15th – Home vs Vit. Setubal.
21st – Away at Tondela
29th – Unknown at Taca da Liga


Barreto, Sousa, and Castellon were good at training!

Omar Montesi was 2nd place Player of the Mont

Non-domestic shirt sales this year so far are more than half of our sales!


Worthington is back from his injury.

Today I start Teikeu for Costa, Barrios for Rocker, and that should give me a chance to rest some folks prior to a very cluttered December schedule. They score first in the 8th. Then Carlos hits Steppinwolf for a score in the 11th. Omar Montesi scores from a corner that was intercepted from hitting Teikeu and instead fell to Montesi. I slide to counter, they are playing pretty well. On another corner, they push aside Strandberg to get to the ball, and foul him, but the ball is pushed into their own goal and they score for us. So I guess the refs didn’t call a PK since the play got us a score anyway? I sub in Cardona in the 60th. Then Rui P for Luis Carlos. They grab a goal in the 72nd. Driussi gets a yellow. Since when did he become a yellow card magnet? Then these idiots score again, two minutes later. Its 3-3. Alright. We’re done with this crap. Attacking, higher high tempo. Then Junior Barrios intercepts a pass for a defender, and scores 1:1 Against the GK. That guy has potential. Slide back to counter, yadda yadda. I pull the booked Driussi for Sousa. We hold them off and win 4-3. That was a relief. That was a real Jekyll and Hyde performance!

[Abe Sargent]

Marin Komorski is back from injury. Now my goal is not to rush him back. I will ease him in some backup roles, and hope to target him as a starter again for the Liverpool match.

The Euro Group Stages are drawn. The one Romania is in would have been rough for Portugal – Romania, Spain, Holland, Czech. Since Czech just swept them in qualifiers, and Spain and Holland are heavies, that would not have been easy.



Teikeu will start for Strandberg in today’s match at Sporting. And he scores in the 5th minute! Schaaps header on a corner was deflected and Teikeu finished it. Then he gets a yellow card. Driussi puts the ball dangerous for Rocker, before he can get there in the box, he is tripped by a defender, both fall to the ground, but no penalty is called. Luis Carlos hits the ball in for goal in the 17th minute. Stepinski finds Rocker for a score in the 34th. I pull Teikeu for Bruno Marques and switch him with Omar Montesi. Half. Keep it going! Rocker to Stepinski for a score. Agra heads in for Steppinwolf. Costa collects a card. I sub in Komorski for him, swap him with Marques, and then swap with Rodrigues. We win 4-0. MOM is Luis Carlos.

[Abe Sargent]

Carlos, despite not being as good as Pfluger in skillset, just outplays him on the pitch. That was always the case Remember a few years ago I made that remark about Carlos playing better than he seemed? Well, he’s done well here, no question.


I’ll bench Driussi today for Rui P, and Rodrigues for Marques. They score first in the 16th minute. Then late, Schaap hits David Rosano for a corner kick score and its half. Show me something else! I sub in Komorski just as the second half begins. Then Stepinski crosses out left to Komorski in the 55th and he scores, showing that Komorski is officially back baby! Schaap is banged around a bit so I sub in Worthington. My final sub is Teikeu for Costa. I slide ot counter as PF are just coming at us hard in the last 10 minutes. And we survive a much more difficult PF match than expected 2-1. MOM was Schaap. Bit of a let off!

[Abe Sargent]

I move Komorski back to start. Go punch Liverpool in the face!Our defensive strategy has kept a relatively quiet half until Komorski crosses to Stepinksi for a goal in the 43rd. Half. Keep it up! Liverpool answers in the 49th. Rodrigues and Komorski both are booked. I sub in Teikeu. I need to get someone on my front 11 with long throws like this guy has. They are great- lots of fun to watch. They score a long shot in the 82nd. I send in Luis Carlos and Agra. I move to Control and very high tempo. Agra gets free but his shot is just pushed aside for a corner. Two more corners ensue, but no goals follow. We lose 2-1. Ah well. Just unlucky there!


We still won the group, although tied with Liverpool on points, with a +2 GD. Nope that’s second, sorry, we won because we had the better result with Liverpool.

Benfica defeaed Elfsborg 3-0, Porto over St-Etienne 3-1, and Olympaikos over Bayern 1-0. So Bayern is out. And Portugal won all three Group Stages. Which we think is pretty nifty keen cool.

[Abe Sargent]

Vit Setubal match – Goals by Rocker, Stepinski, Costa, OG forced by Komorski, Stepinski, Strandberg, backup and subbed in Oscar Cardona, and we win 7-0. MOM is Stepinski.

I had subbed in Vitor Barreto, and he was injured for a few weeks.



Ten players in Team of Week.


Champions Cup 1st Knockout Round:

Liverpool vs Porto
CSKA Moscow vs Man Utd
Dortmund vs Tottenham
Olympiakos vs Juventus
Man City vs Benfica
Inter vs Real Madrid
Napoli vs Nacional
Barcelona vs Paris S-G

So, there are a few opportunities here to pare down some quality, like Barcelona-Paris, Inter vs Real Madrid and Moscow-Man Utd. I can still remember when CSKA Moscow just eviscerated us in these knockout rounds earlier, I’d be happy to see them out. Napoli is not a bad draw. There could have been a lot worse, but there were some better level 2 matchups.

Despite winning their Groups, Porto and Benfica didn’t exactly come out singing. Benfica has the very rough Man City matchup and Porto has Liverpool. Sure, we handled them and came out with 4 points in our two matches against them, but can Porto?


I guess we’ll see!

[Abe Sargent]

I start Marques for the Tondela match. Goals by Driussi; Driussi; Stepinski; Rocker: Them; We win 4-.1. MOM is Driussi.

Costa is injured for a week to 10 days.

Mzizi returnas from his loan.

Taca da Liga Group D:

Gil Vecente
Us
Arouca
Tondela


Not everyone has played all 15 games, Porto had two games with Arouca and Portimonense moved into 2020. So currently we are in the lead wth 42 points from 15 games, and just a loss there to Porto. However, Porto has not dropped any points, and is currently a perfect 13 for 13. Assuming they win the two games in hand, they are still 3 in front.




Castellon learned a lot from Ruiz’s mentorship.

[Abe Sargent]

Our first Taca game is today away at Gil Vicente. I begin countering because Gil Vicente are the giant slayers. Just one of three teams to tie us last year. Steppinwolf hits them in the 0:42 mark. Then the Rock hits Driussi for a score in the 13th. I go ahead and move to retain possession this early in the game. Rosano is injured and I send in Mzizi and swap him with Strandberg as per usual. Steppinwolf nails Driiussi’s attack run as he snakes between some defenders for a score in the 39th. Half. Keep it going! Sub 2 – Agra for Stepinski. Sub 3 – Barrios in for Rocker. Barrios takes a shot, rifles back off the crossbar to Agra behind the GK who puts it away. Agra and Barrios play 1 2 back and forth on a break until Agra finishes in injury time. We win 5-0. MOM is Driussi

Rosano will be out for 2 weeks.

[Abe Sargent]

I begin to look over other players that have expiring contracts in 6 months time. I don’t know that my squad has any holes – We have DMC, AMC, MR, ML, DC, DC, DL, DR, ST, ST and GK all covered well. Is this the first year I may not push and add more talent?

But at the same time, adding high quality free talent is how I’ve pushed myself to this level. I have won this dynasty on December 29-30-31. Players I’ve scouted and signed for free include Lucas Castro, Stepinski, Rocker, Komorski, Lansbury, Schaap, Hojbjerg, and many more. I have actively signed some folks for free later, like Fabian Ruiz, and I have purchased players like David Rosano and gotten guys like Agra, Rodrigues and Costa via youth recruiting.

Now, the only place where there is a “hole” is DL/DC. Strandberg leaves us at the end of 2021, next year. At that point, Montesi moves over . Will Bruno Marques be good enough to step in permanently? Marques has not been developing as I’d like. He’s growing in other areas, but he’s not growing in things like crossing or passing like I need him too. I’m not sure that he’s going to be my Canela like I’d hoped. At most, he might be Aurelio on the left side. That’d be nice, but it seems like he’s more a Paulo Franco than a Canela.

And at this level, I need a Canela.

So I could sign one for next year, and then move Montesi over a year early, or let the person split time or whatever.

Nah – nothing at DL. Oh, wait a second, let me check DR too. Hold on. Not really either. Hmm.


Aaaahhhhhh. A German GK who on my shortlist because he was in the same class that FC Bayern Munchen had with Rocker/Pflugler,20 years old, is open. He’s going to be better than Ruiz by a lot. I might have had the opportunity to chase GK Tobias Schlosser if I hadn’t re-upped Ruiz. Ah well, I can’t look too harshly at that. I might not have signed him at all.

I send out scouts for fullbacks that are young, just to see if I can unearth someone that we can transfer in.

[Abe Sargent]

I offer new deals to Worthington, Rui P, and GK Helder Almeida and Castellon.

My first choice is a 16 year old DL for Sweden. I agree to 750k for him.

Pair ST-Germain basically wants my team. They just made an offer for Rocker and Rodrigues and Driussi.

Through the first half of the season, Driussi leads the league with a 8.11 rating, 10 goals and 9 assists in 14 games.

Rodrigues – 49 Mill
Driussi -30 Mill
Rocker – 49 mill

I could accept and then swim in cash.

Luckily our club are now in a place that they don’t need to automatically accept these huge offers.

Here is a picture of my pride and joy.


(Why won’t printscreen work with FM2014 and Windows 8? Odd. NM)


Do you sell him? Even if he’s “just a fullback?” I never run fullbacks, I’m much comfortable with a 3-something set up. I ran them this time because I started with solid talent there. And then Rodrigues fell into my lap. I’ll think about it. But I doubt it.


The End of 2019

[Abe Sargent]

January, 2020

5th – Home vs Maritimo, Taca de Portugal
12th – Home vs Arouca
15th – Home vs Tondela, Taca da Liga
19th – Away vs Portimonense
25th – Home vs Arouca, Taca da Liga


Training Report – Good – Rodrigues, Oscar Cardona, Hunter Torres. Bad? Just Marcio Sousa.



Awards for the year include, and get ready, because one of mine is about to be named to something:


Messi won World Golden Ball Winner
Neymar grabbed World Player of the Year
Allan Nyom won African Football of the Year
Man Citys Tariq Saeed won the European Golden Boy
Neymar Named Best Europe Based Brazilian Player
Neymar Name Brazilian Footballer of the Year

Ready?


Sebastian Driussi named the Argentinian World Player of the Year

Now that’s something! Hey, it’s not super amazing award, sure. But note who did not win. Fellow Argentine Messi. Now that’s something.

I congratulate him and he said, “I appreciate the support, but next year needs to be better!”

That’s my guy.





That right, Wave to the fans!

Of all of the people on my roster right now, Driussi is probably the one best suited to win Best XI at a World Cup.

[Abe Sargent]

I won Manager of the Month

For Africa, these folks won awards:

2nd Player African Midflieder of the Year – Andile Jali
1st Place Striker of the Year – Tokelo Rantie

According to GK.com, GK Khune, of South Africa, is the 13th best GK in the world. Just as an FYI. Ruiz is 19th. Germany has 4 in the Top 20. Courtois is still #1.

On the Up and Coming list they have, (Tobias Schlosser from Bayern) is #2. Jack Thorniley of Man Utd is #1. None of our players are on the top Ten, but on the ones to watch, GK Almeida and Totladze make the list.


GK Almeida reups his deal with us


Welcome fellow Mozambique player ST AMR, MR Manuel Vulande. He’s not anything other than a youth guy. I offer him for a loan. I just want to develop him here with our good programs and such for the benefit of my home nation.

Good bye Pfluger! I made 15 mill, double your value in the sale to Man City. Maybe they can figure you out.


Well, I wanted Mzizi to get first team experience. In the 6 months he was in Brazil, he started or subbed in for 26 games for Palmeiras. I’ll take it.

[Abe Sargent]

We have completed the signing of Joacim Petersson, from Sweden.

Alex Paul, the Aruban we signed before, has turned 17 and signed his first professional contract.


Rui Pereira’s new dealis for 28k/week and through 2024. Worthington reups with us too.


DL Joacim Petersson – 16, signed through 2023, Swedish, Speaks English, Swedish, basic Danish,basic Norweigan, Balanced, bought for 650k.

Physical – 15, 13, 14, 11, 16, 14, 13, 9
Mental – 11, 9, 9, 9, 7, 8, 11, 16, 12, 8, 6, 9, 11, 14
Tech – 5, 9, 6, 4, 11, 3, 10, 5, 9, 9, 13, 3, 11, 13

Not a bad place to begin with the lad. We hope he’ll be better than Marques in all of the areas that matter, and arrives with a 4 star scout rating. Hopefully my Swedish contacts were right about the kid.

[Abe Sargent]

So this is the stadium up on the hill that oversees Funchal, so you can see it from a distance:





Here's the stadium from the far side, with the ,mountain in the background that overlooks Funchal

[Abe Sargent]

David Rosano’s injury keeps him from today’s match against Maritimo. Cardona will start instead. We injure a Maritimo player in the first few minutes and force him off. Goals by Strandberg and Stepinski aid us in the half time. I send in Teikeu when Costa picks up a knock. Strandberg picks up another goal. Theye give an OG too. I send in Barrios and Pereira. Game, we win 4-0. Strandberg MOM.


Costa is out for 3 to 4 weeks with a pulled hammy. Teikeu/Mzizi will start for him

Henry Castellon re-signs for us too.



Luis Carlos has approached me to get first team play on a loan. I agree.

David Rosano should be back from his injury for the Arouca match.


In the Taca Quarter Finals we drew Rio Ave.

Driussi is disappointed that I didn’t let him talk to Paris. I got a second offer for 40 and countered for 60 mill but they withdrew. That’s not unreasonable for the guy.

I decide to accept some loan offers to Worthington for 1st team play.

I offer to loan out Bruno Marques and move Petersson to the squad to dress for the Arouca game. Goals by Driussi, Driussi, Rocker, Driussi, Rocker, Rodrigues, Rocker. We win 7-0. MOM was Driussi. Petersson, subbing in the 63rd, got an assist.

[Abe Sargent]

I think it’s time to admit that it looks like Driussi has found another plateau. He has leveled up to a Level 9 Goalmaker. I make him a new offer.

About 22 teams have made offers for Marques on a loan. I try to find the good ones.

Ten players in Team of Week

Worthington heads to OM


For the Tondela match in the Taca da Liga, I started Teikeu, Mzizi, Petersson, Cardona. Agra, Barrios, Rui P, Castellon, Sousa, and Vitor Barreto. Goals by Barreto and Pereira. We win 2-0. MOM is Vitor Barreto.



Marques heads to Siena for the loan

Agra benefited from the link up with Stepinski

[Abe Sargent]

The Portimonense game was more difficult than expected. They scored early. Then Stepinski hit goal in the 63rd. Again in the 85th off a PK, and then Rocker finished it in the 89th. But it was tied almost until the end. We won 3-1. MOM was Stepinski.


Sebastian Driussi has reupped with us. 52k/week, through 2024. The 23 year old is in.

They say he has piqued. He’s at the right place to do it. Him, Rocker and Stepinski are a Triangle of Terror offensively.



Arouca scores in the 4th, but then both Schaap and Agra get back momentum by the half 2-1. Mzizi scores off a Schaap corner. Sousa grabs a goal late. They give a PK in the 88th and then Mzizi hits again on a corner in injury time. We win 5-2, and Mzizi is MOM. We have qualified.



Hernani Costa has resumed training post-injury and can play for me starting in February.

Porto have Braga and we get Benfica in the Semis of the Taca da Liga

[Abe Sargent]

Jan 31st has arrived and I have my real, official first offer for a person. 78 mill, right now, all cash, for Rocker.

That’s a lot of cash. I’m need to think about this. I can probably dicker them up. Who knows ,maybe 85 or 90 mill?

I think the best way to consider what to do with Rocker is simple. How much money would I sell him for? If a team offered me 500Million Euros, right now for Rocker, would I do it? Probably. Is 80 million enough? My transfer kitty was more than 40 this year. So, yay I suppose? Finding a replacement for Rocker who could play at his level while not costing that much money would be difficult – especially if they didn’t really want to come play here.

So I have my scouts do a little digging.

The top ten strikers, not based on value, not future, but right now, playing in Europe.

1. Neymar, Brazil/Spain
2. Messi, Argentina/Spain
3. Federico Urso Russo, a 21 year old Italian stud
4. Andreas Rocker, Germany
5. Mario Gotze, Germany
6. Domenico Berardi, Italy
7. Sergio Aguero, Argentina/Spain
8. Jese, Spain
9. Luis Suarez, Uruguay, England
10. Osiris Maurer, 20 year old stud, Mexico


Now, what are the ten most expensive Strikers in Europe right now, based on value:

1. Neymar
2. Alvaro, 22 year old Spain
3. Domenico Berardi
4. Osiris Maurer
5. Stephan El Shaarawy
6. Mario Gotze
7. David Gallagher
8. Fred
9. Gabriel Barbosa
10. Lucas Moura

So I take a look at the cheapest of the lot, Moura.

He’s worth 36.5 mill, 27 years old, plays for Paris St.-Germain.

A good comparison is Federico Urso Russo

21 years old, so just one year older, worth 31m, plays for Man Utd, started this year, has 7.25 rating off 24 apps, was purchased from Basel for 8.75 mill – that’s it. Basel picked him up from AC Milan for 3.4 mill. He’s another of the powerful Italian youth movement.

Rocker right now is 20, worth 25Mill, and is a nasty bit of work. Like Stepinski, Driussi, and others, he has basically hit his zenith and has little room left for growth. He’s a stud.

Why would I let go the 4th best Striker currently playing in Europe? For anyone? For any amount of money?

Now, super secretly, I could be tempted by Stepinski. He plays well on the pitch surrounded by Rocker and Schaap and Driussi and Komorski, and before them Lansbury. But Stepinski is replaceable, trust me. Now maybe I can build his replacement via Barrios or Torres. Perhaps I can sign him. But I could sell Steppinwolf for the right amount of money.

But not Rocker.

Next is Rodrigues. Again, rejected. I move to automatically reject all offers for Rodrigues and Rocker. I’ll look over others. They are not for sale. Not even for 500 million.

[Abe Sargent]

February

2nd – Away vs Gil Vicente
5th – Away vs Rio Ave, Taca da Portugal
9th – Home vs Rio Ave
12th – Away vs Benfica, Taca da Liga
16th – Away vs Braga
21st – Home vs Porto
25th – Away vs Napoli, Knockout Leg 1


Stepinski, Driussi, Hunter Torres looked good in training.


Sebastian Driussi won Player of the Month. Stepinski and Rocker came in 2nd and 3rd.

I won Manager of the Month




Since it’s away at Gil Vicente, I begin countering, and I take the full crew. No trap game! For example, one of Benfica's 2 losses is to Gil Vicente. They score against us off a DFK and that’s it – 1-0 at the half. Oh no you don’t!!! We Driussi hit Costa for a score in the 54th off a corner. I sub in Mzizi for a battered Costa and Rui P for an underperforming Schaap. Then in the 77th, Driussi hits Mzizi on a corner. We hold on an win 2-1. That was a bit of a trap, we had to score two set piece to win. MOM is Driussi for his double assists off corners.



For the Taca da Portugal match, we get goals by Komorski, Stepinski, half. I sub in Oscar Cardona, Petersson, goal by Rocker, Barrios heads in, MOM is Stepinski, we win 3-0.

In penalties, Tondela took down Benfica.

[Abe Sargent]

Now we have Rio Ave again, this time in our place . Driussi hits Omar Montesi on a corner for goal in the 17th. Then Komorski finds Driussi for a score in the 20th. We have injured a Rio Ave defender. Costa picks up a knock and I sub in Teikeu. Rocker sores in the 37th from a Stepinski pass. Then again from a Driussi pass. Half. Keep it going! I sub in Petersson for Rodrigues and swap him and Omar Montesi. Driussi gets a Komorski assist. I sub in Barrios for Rocker. Stepinski scores from a Driussi pass. They grab a goal late that is supposedly offsides but was not called. Even the commentators are joining my players in their frustration. Driussi smashes a goal from a crazy angle on the wings late. I don’t even know how he sunk that thing. We win 7-1. MOM is Driussi, with 3 goals and 3 assists.


I hand out some rests in preparation for today’s Benfica Semi Final of the Taca da Liga in their place.

We get Vit G in the Taca de Portugal Semis. Porto on the other side has Tondela.



South Africa have dropped to 26th.

[Brian Swartz]

Next is Rodrigues. Again, rejected. I move to automatically reject all offers for Rodrigues and Rocker. I’ll look over others. They are not for sale. Not even for 500 million.

Really good stuff here, espescially this post about how you evaluated the transfer offer.

Personally, for a high enough bid I'd probably take it anyway, since you could buy a replacement and have enough left over to improve the squad in other places. But that'd be closer to 500 than 78 .

[Abe Sargent]

I begin defensively at Benfica in the Semi Final match. Schaap crosses to Stepinski and he scores in the 13th. Fabian Ruiz found Komorski with a great goal kick deep but he couldn’t sink it. On an IFK, Driussi lifts it to Schaap who scores in the 30th. We have a great attack turned aside late in the half, but then Driussi find Rocker on a corner from the turned away attack and hits paydirt. Schaap is fouled and Stepinski misses the PK. Half. Keep it going! I sub in Agra for Steppy, Rocker then picks up a knock, and I sub in Barrios for him. Benfica have several strong attacks that ensue. I put in Oscar Cardona for a tired David Rosano. Finally, in the 86th, Benfica’s strong attacks puncture our defense. We win 3-1 here. MOM is Driussi. Congrats to making it to the final!!!


Braga defeats Porto on penalty kicks and we will face them in the final.


Manager Jorge Jesus, who has managed Benfica for more than 10 years, has announced his retirement at the end of the season. He and I are friends now, after being in the league so long together, and are always complementary to each other in the media.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

Really good stuff here, espescially this post about how you evaluated the transfer offer.

Personally, for a high enough bid I'd probably take it anyway, since you could buy a replacement and have enough left over to improve the squad in other places. But that'd be closer to 500 than 78 .

True true. But still. He's my guy too, offically!

[Abe Sargent]

We begin countering against Braga. They score in the 6th. I move to hassling and marking more. Then Rocker hits back in the 19th. I ebb to defensive after I see some more great Braga moves in the 20s. Schaap gets a yellow. Half. Get that one goal! Rui P heads in for Schaap. Rui finds Rocker for a goal in the 73rd. Teikeu heads in for Strandberg, who’s not playing well (6.2). Their counter attack goal in the 77th is called offsides. We win 2-1. MOM is The Rock.


Both of the Champions League Portuguese teams are away against their English foes to begin their Knockout Round. Porto defeated Liverpool 3-2, and Benfica tied Man City 0-0.

Other games – Moscow hosts and defeats Man Utd 1-0. Inter does the same with Real Madrid by the same score.

[Abe Sargent]

Today is the single most important league game of the year. We have Porto here. They have not lost or tied. In 19 games, they have all 57 points. In 20 games, we also have 57 points, because we lost to Porto and that’s it. We lost to Porto there, but it required a lot. We scored 2 to their 3, but they had a PK and an OG to give them the game. Now we host them. We are the team in the best position to break them. They lost to Tondela, in the Cup Semis, they can lose to us.


So let’s get this game started. I begin countering. Yes I know, it’s in our place, but I want to begin slow. Costa hits the ball deep to Rocker who grabs a goal on a break at the 3:22 mark. They score in the 13th but its called off because they fouled Strandberg to do it. Then they hit the hay in the 18th without a foul and its 1-1. Let’s start muscling them around and see what happens. See if we can’t knock them off their game. A few minutes later, Rodrigues get a foul, but a few minutes more one of their stars Niel Weale is taken off the pitch with an injury and forced to be subbed out. That injury was delivered by, of all people, Schaap. He often seems a bit delicate. Komorski jumpstarts a breakaway down the edge after being fed the ball by Ruiz, he drives past a defender to the left and hits Driussi for a score in the 44th minute. Half, and we are up 2-1. Suitably fine. They are turning away attack after attack of outs. I sub in Rui P and Agra after their targets get battered around. They just keep answering crosses or dangerous passes into the box. Then Rui Pereira sets up Stepinski for a goal in the 69th. Oscar Cardona heads in. And we hold them off and win 3-1. MOM is Stepinski but Costa was really it with great defense.


We broke Nigel Weale’s ribs and he’ll be out for a month.

[Abe Sargent]

Here’s why that win was really good.

Here are the teams we still have to play in the Liga, in order:

Aves
Belenenses
Benfica
Olhanense
Vit. G
P Ferreira
Vit Setubal
Sporting
Tondela



The only match left against one of the threatening teams in away at Benfica. But teams we struggle with – Gil Vicente, Braga, Porto, Benfica are basically all gone save for one. And we just defeated Benfica in Benfica 3-1 in a Taca match.

Porto and us are tied on points, and we have a much better GD. Here is Porto’s remaining schedule:

Aves
Olhanense
Benfica
P Ferreira
Vit G
Sporting
Vit S
Portimonense
Tondela
Arouca


Both of us have Benfica away.


Lots of times my lesser folks get injuries and I don’t mentin it – loanees, youth players, etc. For example, H8unter Torres was just injured in training for 2 weeks,

But we’ve been bit a lot by the bug this year. Lots of longer injuries. Four sports hernias, yadda yadda.

Rocker comes to me concerned about wanting to move to a bigger club. I have the same sort of talk I had with Rodrigues – I want to win the Champions Cup and that’s our ambition. He said we have different concepts, and I assert that I am in charge, and he agrees to back off.

In the Liga right now, the top scorers are Driussi with 17 goals, Stepinski with 17 goals, and Rocker with 17 goals. That’s just so funny to me!

I get a couple of random offers to loan out Cardona for a few months, and after consideration, I accept. He heads out for 1st team ball.

I now have 46 players on loan.

[Abe Sargent]

Today we head out to Napoli. All of the three teams were away. Porto won, Benfica tied, and both set themselves up for potential home games that can win on aggregate. Can we do the same today in Napoli? Let’s find out!!! I begin defensively. We’ve gone out and smacked people around in Europe a bunch in the European competition. I hope we can continue today. Rocker is injured early and I sub in Agra. They foul Schaap in the box in the 43rd and Stepinski sinks the PK. Agra finds Driussi on an attacking run and he sinks It a minute later, and boom, just like that 2-0 us at the half. Keep it up! In the next half let’s look to retain possession and such. Rosano picks up a yellow and I sub in Teikeu and swap him with Strandberg. Komorski to Agra is a goal, but waved offisdes in the 65th, Montesi gets a booking in the 69th. Schaap picks up a knock. Who should I sub Schaap or Montesi? Then Driussi picks up a booking too. Hmm. I pull Schaap for Rui. I pull back and we hold off a Napoli counter assault late to win 2-0. MOM is Omar Montesi. Nicely done in Italy!

Unfortunately, Dortmund lost to Tottenham despite hosting them. Paris tied Barcelona on the raod 1-1 and Juventus beat Olympiakos on the road 2-1.

[Abe Sargent]

March

2nd – Away at Aves
8th – Home vs Belenenses
15th – Away at Braga
18th – Home vs Napoli, Champions
21st – Home vs Olhanense
24th – Home vs Vit G, Taca de Portugal


South Africa:

27th – Friendly vs Macedonia


Rui P, Castellon and Montesi brought back good scouting reports, but Ruiz, Driussi and Petersson disappointed.

Rocker got 3rd for Player of the Month

I won Manager of the Month




I start Petersson today at Aves. Goals – Rocker, Strandberg, Driussi, Schaap, Costa (OG), Stepinski. We win 5-1. MOM is Driussi.


Wolfsburg offered me a job interview. I take it.


The Porto vs Benfica match is about to begin….Porto wins 2-0 on the road.

The board approaches me and I agree to stay on.

I didn’t really want Wolfsburg anyway. Yuck.

Why would I leave here and head to somewhere that I couldn’t immediately hire Rodrigues, Rocker and some of the others at?