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

[Abe Sargent]

August




4th – Olympics, vs Uruguay
7th – Olympics, vs Qatar
10th – Olympic, vs New Zealand
13th – Olympics Quarter Final
16th – Olympics Semi Final
19th – Olympics Final

6th – vs Porto, Supertaca
14th – Away vs Braga
21st – Home vs Sporting
28th – Home vs Belenenses

So, if we go all the way, we’ll be done by the 19th.

Agra, Paula Franco and Lansbury were good in training this month but Paula Sergio was not.



The first match vs Uruguay is here! Im keeping my squad, I like them. We are favored for the match. Do this for the fans! We’ll begin with a Standard establishment. It’s raining, and we are technically playing at a neutral site, but the Olympics are in Brazil, so its not like it’s that neutral. Vitinho gets a nice movement up the middle, slides the ball over to Otavio n the other side, and he scores in the 22nd minute. 7 minutes later they score on a break away. We’ve had some good opportunities but can’t manage to sink it. Otavio is given an amazing onsides ball deep from DC Doria and is one on one with the GK and sinks it lethally from range. Half. Don’t get complacent! Oscar hits Otavio again in the 54th and that’s his hat trick! The woodwork denies his fourth goal moments later. I start pulling tired folk. That’s the final score, and Otavio is obviously MOM. Well done!

That was the only difficult match in Group C. Just Qatar and New Zealand as expected and we’re good to advance.

[Abe Sargent]

Supertaca!

Pick up where you left off! Countering! We score in the first two minutes when Rat on an IFK hits Costa for a score. We have Baptista starting, so it may be difficult to keep them from goal. But he have to do what we have to do. Baptista kicks the ball right to their attacker, behind the line, and they score in the 16th. Defensive now. Rondon gets us back in front in the 17th. He found the ball between two defenders after a nice Aurelio pass. Mark tighter, hassle. Porto scores off a corner in the 40th. They score again on a corner Half time, we are behind 2-3. Unlucky! Rodrigues heads in for Aurelio. Lucas Castro for Javi Espinosa. Hojbjerg right after he gets a yellow, sets up Henri Lansbury to sink it in the 88th! Extra Time! Just one goal! Final sub – Djaniny for Franny Castro. I want to get more spring in my attack. I pull off hassle. No reds please. They score in the 108. It was a lovely little break. Increase our tempo. Move to counter. They get another score off a break away in the 111. And that’s it. We lose 5-3 in extra time. Far from pleased at the let down there.

I appoint Mario Rondon our captain.

[Abe Sargent]

Qatar! A long but ultimately boring first half with no goals. They have turtled up and I am finding it difficult to crack their shell. I am disappointed in that! Finally Otavio hits the net after being fed by Neymar in the 52nd. Neymar is a bit banged up now, so I pull him. They’ve handed out two bookings to my lads, I’m not even hassling. I pull both later on. Otavio is fed a nice ball, gives it to Gilberto, my addition to the pool and the squad, who puts it away for a score in the 85th. They foul in the penalty box. Otavio sinks it. And we win 3-0. Otavio is MOM.

Good win! We have qualified.

We already won. We have 6 points, New Zealand have 2 the others 1 each. I’ll rest some folks.


New Zealand! Kenedy starts for Neymar, Marquinhos for Canela, Afonso for Bica, Caio for Doria, Nathan for Oscar, Evangelista for Gilberto. Standard! Show me what you can do! Otavio scores in the 4th minute off a Evangelista assist. Igor Juliao collects a yellow early. Nathan feeds Otavio who scores in the 19th. Kenedy crosses to Vitinho who heads it in just before half. 3-0. Keep it going! I pull en-yellowed Juliao for Doria. Kenedy shoots, it rejected and Evangelista scores after grabbing the rebound. Stand off opponents, keep possession. Alonso feeds Otavio, buts its waved off. Mom is Evangelista and we win 4-0. Very pleased!

[Abe Sargent]

Olympics Quarters:

Argentina vs USA
Algeria vs Brazil
Japan vs Spain
Germany vs Uruguay


We are ready for the Quarters! My normal squad is back. Keep our run going! Standard will be the thing. Quiet early. We’ve had three major attacks in the first 17 minute turned aside. Nothing of note on set pieces either. They’ve had little too. GK Rafael stops a 1:1 break away. Malron Bica finds Vininho ona run and he slides it into the far bottom right corner. Neymar feeds Otavio at the edge, he runs in past a defender and scores. We are up 2-0 at the break. Keep it going! On a break, Gilberto finds Otavio with his cross and he scores in the 52nd. I sub in two folks for tired people in the 60th Ill hold onto the last for injury or yellow or something. Lower tempo. Retain possession. They score off a cross on a break away in the 71st. They foul us on a corner kick and Otavio sinks the PK. That’s his hattrick. I pull him to give him some rest for the next match. Nathan scores off a Kenedy IFK to him. We win 5-1. MOM is Otavio. Very pleased!


Japan beat Span 2-2 in PKs. USA beats Argentina 1-0, and Germany upends Uruguay in Extra Time 1-0.

We have USA in the Semi Finals, and Germany has Japan

[Abe Sargent]

Now, before we do that, let’s do the season opener for the Liga vs Braga. Due to the Olympics, I go on holiday for this match and allow our Ass. Manager to run it. We lose 1-0.



Semi-Final vs USA (and Fabian Ruiz starting in GK). I make no changes to the lineup for today’s matchup vs America. Keep the run going! We start standard-ly. On a nice long shot in the far corner of the box they score in the 4th, but two penalties in the box put us up 2-1 in the half. I have to[pull Neymar after he is banged around a lot at the half. In went Kenedy. I make another sub 1 minutes later when Canela picks up a knocl. An Otavio goal is waved offsides. It’s an ugly win, but I’ll take it. We got away with that!

Germany upend Japan 2-0.

In the Bronze Medal game., Japan win 2-0 over USA.

[Abe Sargent]

The Olympics Final is here:


No changes to the lineup. Don’t let down the fans! Begin countering. Then I slide to standard in the 14th. Oscar seeds the ball to Vitinho after Bica got a interception in the midfield and we score in the 17th. They barely miss a loooooonnnng shot to bring it back to even a few seconds later. Not a lot of offensive since then. It’s not until the 31st that Germany has a good offense, turned aside by our Gk, into a corner which results in their first score in the 32nd. Hassle, tighter marking. Let’s out-muscle Germany. Half, all knotted at 1-1. You can still win this! After corner/header barely misses by them in the 51st. Heavy pressure, so I slide back to counter. Work the ball into the box. They collect a booking. I am holding onto my subs in case of ET. I sub in Evangelista for Bica after he is tired and not playing too well in the latter half. Extra time. One more goal! We are just gassed and playing like it too. I pull a tired and underperforming Oscar for Nathan.

Penalties!

They step up and…Score. For us its Otavio. He hits it – 1-1
Next they make it and we have Kenedy. …hits it. 2-2.
They sink the 3rd goal. Nathan is here and its in. 3-3.
They sink #4. Evangelista does to – 4-4.
#5 for Germany…misses. Now I put my best PK Neymar in 5th. Can he make it? He does. We win the Olympics!

Say hello to the Gold Medal boys!





What a comeback!

We were the 2nd best U23 club in the world, so that’s not a surprise. Otavio was the Top Goalscorer with 11 goals.

Otavio won Best Player for the Olympics with a average rating of 8.37, and Golden Boot Winner with 11 goals. No one else had more than 4. One of his strikes was 3rd place in Goal of the Tournament. Rafael won GK of the Tournament.

8 of the 11 players in the Dream Team were from Brazil:

Otavio, Neymar, Rafael, Marlon, Vitinho, Lucas Evangelista, Doria, Gilberto

[Abe Sargent]

Let’s host Sporting! Ruiz is starting from here on out. We begin countering. We have a quiet first beginning. I head to Standard. And then it falls apart. We score quickly in the 23rd minute as Lucas hits Francisco in the Castro Pour Hour. Then Costa hits a Corner from Skolnik 4 minutes later. Half time. Keep it going lads! Retain possession! 1st sub – Marc for Hojbjerg. Rodrigues for Lansbury, sub for Aurelio. After a quiet game, they finally score in the 80th off a header from a corner. Counter! Agra for Rondon. Lucas Castro finds Rondon for a score just before he comes off MOM is Lucas, and well done!


We have sold 700 more season tickets this year than last.

I have been removed from the U23 post, since no more competitive football is in the future.

Costa and Castro are in Team of Week

[Abe Sargent]

We made 8.6 mill for making it to the Champions Group Stage baby!


We are drawn in the Group Stage:


Group G:

Manchester United
Basel
Dinamo
Nacional da Madeira


Sort of a good news, bad news set up. We beat Basel 4-1 in aggregate last year. Dinamo, a Croatian squad, is beatable. So if we scrub out to Man Utd, but manage to others, we could get the 2 spot reliably.

15 of our people were called up for duty in early September.

For today’s home match vs Belenenses we are starting Djaniny and Rodrigues for Rat and Castro (the Francisco sort). Pick up where we left off! I will begin with a standard mindset hopping to move to something more controlling soon. Earlyon they have a bit of pressure, but then it ebbs. We almost connect with a corner. I slide to Control as expected and in the 43rd, Lansbury is driving, crosses to another diving player Lucas Castro, who puts it away, and we have scored on a break. Half time. Keep it up! Both Strandberg and Hojbjerg pick up bookings early in the 2nd half, and that’s not what I want to see. I sub in Freire early for Strandberg. Heavy pressure in the 48-51 range by us, but we can’t break their shell again. I pull a tired Castro for Javi Espinosa. Then Marc for Hojbjerg. They get a second yellow in the 83rd minute. I’d love to squeeze out another goal or two. They gave out 6 yellows today. I push ahead and our offense does not get another goal but we keep the ball in their half for the rest o the game. We won 1-0. Bit of a let-off!

We sell Ali.


By the end of deadline day, we have many loanees out there. I rejected a few, like Luis Carlos, who I want to develop a bit myself. According to my quick math count, we are running more than 20 loaners.

[Abe Sargent]

September

11th – Away vs Vit Setubal
14th – Away vs Man Utd, Champion
18th – Home vs Aves
24th – Away vs Porto
27th – Home vs Basel, Champion

We liked Rodrigues, Carlos, and Ruiz this month in training, Paulo Sergio, Baptista, and Rat not so much.


Our training facilities have improved. I register my European squad.

Djaniny scored both goals against Burkina Faso for Cape Verde. Hojbjerg scored for the Danish squad. Agra scored for the U19 Portuguese squad. Former player of ours Joaquim Sousa had a hatrick for the U21 Portuguese squad.


For today’s away match vs V S, we’ll be resetting my starting squad save for Javi who’ll be at the ML spot for Skolnik. I’ll stay at counter for now. They score early on a nice flowing move, and I have to stick with it. But Rondon is driving, finds Franny for a score just a few minutes later at the 19th, and its even again. They collect a yellow when they tackle Lansbury. Possibly in revenge, he’ll hit Lucas Castro for a score in the 33rd. And it’s 201 us at the break, and I’ll stick with counter. You played well, but there’s room for improvement! We injure one of their players but he stays on. They have some more nice attacking moves early on in the half.. I tell my gys to retain possession, we’re being intercepted overly much. Rondon finds Lansbury when too many defenders are on him and Henri scores in the 56th. Now its 3-1 us. Lansbury crosses to Franny who strikes, Rondon pounces on the rebound for a score in the 67th. Subs – Luis Carlos, Rodrigues in. Espinosa and Rat out. They score from long range in the 71st to make things interesting again. We thump one of their playes and force them to leave the pitch and get replaced by a backup. They collect a booking after fouling Aurelio just outside the box. They push aside Hojbjerg’s on target DFK. Final sub – Franny out for Agra. We win 4-2. A good win! MOM is Rondon.

[Abe Sargent]

Our U19 club beat Man U’s U21 club today 1-0 here in Old Trafford. Yay! Let’s try and duplicate that success when we play very defensively against Manchester United. Ideally the other two folks (Basel and Dinimo) will tie today and we’ll lose, giving us a chance t pull into 2nd place next game with a win. I order my team to also hassle, mark tighter, and keep possession. Other than a yellow early for Hojbjerg, we’ve been really tight, and as late as the 32nd minute, it’s been a very quiet game on both halves of the pitch. Half time, 0-0. I would adore it if we could steal a 0-0 tie in another half of football. I still think this’ll be a 2-0 game in their favor, but let’s keep it close folks! We injured Van Persie in the 48th and he gets pulled. As of the 60th, They have 17 shots, 6 on target, and we are 3 and 0. Work the ball into the box! My first sub is Freire in for Hojbjerg, who swipes with Strandberg. I tell Srandberg to play it as a defensive minded DMC, rather than a deep lying playmaker. They finally break through in the 74th minute. Rondon, on a counter, tries to loop the ball over the exposed GK for a goal and its on target, but eh GK is good, and closes and leaps and keeps it from scoring. Lucas Castro out, Javi in. They injure Costa a bit and I have to consider pulling him. His condition is down to 42%. I swap Strandberg back, move over Lansbury, and then put in Rodrigues and switch him with Aurelio. (Lots of changes I know). And that’s game, we lost 1-0. Respectable. Good effort lads!

Unfortunately, Basel beat Dinamo, so we have to win against them coming up to push into 2nd. We beat them before, we can do it again. I hand out a few rests too.

[Abe Sargent]

For today’s game vs Aves, I will start Andrei Marc, Rodrigues, Agra, and Espinosa. In the 7th minute Lucas Castro’s pass to Jorge Agra was intercepted by a DC, which Castro fell on and sprung into goal. I move back to Standard from Control. We dominate the pitch for a while but its not until Agra sinks a Lucas Castro pass in the 28th that we do well with it. Lansbury picks up a knock. I put in Luis Carlos, and then swap him with Castro and Javi, so Javi is AMC, Carlos on the ML and Espinosa in the AMC spot. Half. Keep it going! Our former player Miguel Rodrigues fouls Javi hard just outside the box and collects the game’s first booking. I then put in Dj for Agra. MOM is Castro, well done folks!

[Abe Sargent]

We are drawn against Fafe in the Taca da Portugal, and then Lucas Castro is named in the Team of the Week. I reject an offer ot but a piece of Luis Carlos by an agent. I get an interesting loan offer for Luis Carlos from Sparta Prague for first team. That’s not a bad place to play. But they have an AML who very good. I say no.


Porto Match is here. I am going to start doing quicker match reviews. It’s getting a little ponderous here in the 4th season for me to write. 0-0 half. We owe Porto! We hold off and tie 0-0 on the road against them. MOM was Strandberg. Rondon has had some weak games.

I hand out rests and then the Basel match arrives. We beat them 3-0 last year here. This team is playing Luis Martins against us. Heya laddie! Rondon feeds Franny for a score in the 28th after a long attack was not strong. Aurelio to Rondon late for a score. We win 2-0. MOM is Aurelio. Good win!

We made 1 mill. Man U beat Dinamo.

[Abe Sargent]

October



2nd – Home vs Beira-Mar
15th – Away vs Fafe, Taca da Portugal
18th – Away vs Dinamo, Champion
23rd – Away vs Gil Vicente
30th – Home vs Academica



Lucas Castro, Paulo Franco, and Laranjeira were good training. Dj, Paula, and Rat were not so much


Espinosa hits Rondon for a 28th minute score vs Beira-Mar. They score back and the Lansbury sinks it. Rondon crosses to Skolnik in the 40th. 3-1 at the half. End of game. MOM was Rondon, back in form’



Lansbury is in the Team of the Week. My Paulo Franco was MOM in the game where the U19 squad saw him score a PK.



Sevilla have offered me a job interview, but I turn them down. Lisbon is a finalist for the 2024 Olympics.


I start an entire different lineup today against Fafe.


Scores –


Goal 1 - Dj to Javi,2nd
Goal 2 – Javi to Freire, 11th
Goal 3 – Marc to Freire , 88th

We win 3-0 – MOM is Freire. Now I can have a clean slate for the away game vs Dinamo, one of the crucial games to have people fresh and ready for. Our next match in the Taca will be vs Oliveira Hospital

[Abe Sargent]

We’ll begin the Dinamo match countering and with hassling and tight marking. After Lansbury crosses to Rondon in the 7th, we are the first to score. Rondon intercepts a GK pass in the 24th and is unable to finish it, the GK pushes it away. After a corner is passed around a bit, Lucas Castro finds Strandberg for a score in the 33rd. We are up 2-0 now. I pull off hassle – no yellows. Half time. AS the next opens, Lansbury again crosses to Rondon for a score. Retain possession. They get a score in the 79th. Game. MOM was Rondon. Good win! Basel defeated Man Utd in Switzerland 1-0. That’s actually bad. I don’t want to get into a three way fight.


I connect Agra and Franny Castro.


We start the Gil Vicente game well. Lucas Castro hits two goals and we’re up 2-0 at the half. Then they score to open things up, but in the 63rd, they get a red. We keep possession for a while, with several drives that don’t hit home, and its not until Hojbjerg finds sub Luis Carlos on the side for a score in the 79th that everything seems normal. We win 3-1. MOM is Lucas Castro, obviously. Good win, well done and all that!

[Abe Sargent]

[Abe Sargent]

If I did not have a stud DMC… Xabi Alonso is willing to sign for us for 30k a year on a key player contract.

Lucas Castro in Team of Week.


For the Academica match, we are starting our normal folks but Djaniny instead of Franny. Keep our run going! Skolnik scores on a odd cross that was on target for a goal but off target for Aurelio. He scores again in the 57th after Djaniny finds him. I pull Costa for Marc, and Carlos for Lansbury. In the 69, Skolnik scores his hat trick, but its waved offside. I toss out Agra for Dj. Skolnik hits Strandberg for a lovely header off a corner and we win 3-0. MOM was Skolnik. Well done!

[bbgunn]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

That stadium is freakin fantastic.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by bbgunn

That stadium is freakin fantastic.

That's our home stadium!

[Abe Sargent]

November

2nd – Home vs Dinamo, Champions
5th – Away vs Oliviera Hospital, Taca da Portugal
19th – Away vs Vit. Guimaraes
22nd – Home vs Manchester United, Champion
27th – Home vs Benfica
30th – Away vs Basel, Champion

We’ll know if we make it out of the group stage by the end of the month.


Dj, Carlos, and Ruiz all impressed in training.

Strandberg and Skolnik in Tema of Week


For today’s ,match, Franny is back in the driver’s seat. Mario Rondon gets a nice little long pass by Hojbjerg into space and scores in the 5th minute. Then Lucas Castro drives down the middle, forces the ball out to Skolnik, and he puts it away in the 8th. We are up 2-0 that quickly. Then Henri Lansbury finds Franny on a nice cross and he scores in the 13th. Stand off folks and keep possession. Nevertheless, Castro the Lucas is injured and I sub in Javi. Keep it up in the 2nd half! Rodrigues in for Rat. Luis Carlos in for Skolnik late. They got five yellows. We got the goals. MOM is Skolnik. Well done.

[Abe Sargent]

Man Utd tied Basel on the road. That’s even worse. But better too. Let’s see…



Group H:

1 – Nacional da Madeira, 9 points, +6 GD
2 – Basel, 7, +1
3 – Man Utd, 7, +2
4 - Dinamo, 0, -9

If we beat Basel, and lose to Man Utd, we finish with 12 points, and it would be impossible for Basel to overcome us. If we tie Basel, they would beat Dinamo and we lose to Man Utd and we could lose out.

So we have to go on the road and beat them. Or take points from Man Utd here. Or hope that Dinamo shows up for a game against Basel.

I have another borderline matchup today against O. Hospital. Early on, Lansbury hits Freire for a score in the 11th from a corner kick. Then Lansbury hits Agra for a score in the 18th. Luis Carlos hits Agra for a score in the 31st. They foul Lansbury in the box and Agra sinks a PK in the 68th. We win 4-0. MOM is Agra.


Several major clubs were knocked out of the Taca early – Braga in the 3rd round took out Porto while Gil Vicente blasted Sporting. Then Gil Vicente took out Benfica and P Ferreira took down Braga this week. That leaves just us and Maritimo from the “Big Six” still in. We drew Sp. Covilha in the 5th round of the Taca.

Did you know?

Yesterday, we had 10 players on either the Portuga lU19 or U21 Teams?

U19:

Paulo Franco, Jose Pedro Cardoso, Nelio Fidalgo, Sergio Laranjeira

U21:

Joaquim Pereira, Joao Luis Rodrigues, Hernani Costa, Jose Goncalves, Jorge Agra, Luis Carlos

And it has former players Jose Moreira, Joaquim Sousa

By a score of 2-1, our youth club defeats the Man U one again!

Henri Lansbury came back training to improve himself on the right wing. Yay!

[Abe Sargent]

I enjoy that some of our former folks like Defederico or Adriano are now the ones speaking to the media before games.

We are about to play Vit G. If we win, let;’s look at the very tough league we are in after 10 games. A Lansbury-Franny score in the 6tjh is waved off. Which makes me sad. Franny proves himself worth it when rat hits Lucas on an attacking run, who slides the ball to Franny, and then the ball is intercepted poorly and Francisco Castro grabs it and sinks it. Hojbjerg hits Skolnik who rushes to the box and scores. Half. Going well, but you can even do better! They hit paydirt in the 84th. Then again in the 88th. GRRRRR. I tell my guys to head to attacking, super high tempo and such. Then we start pushing them around, and late, Andrei Marc finds Javi Espinosa for a score in the 92nd minute!!! MOM is Francisco Castro. Whew!


After 10 games, with 1/3rd of the season gone, here is the top part of the league:

1 – Porto, 26 points, +22 GD
2 – Nacional da Madeira, 25 points, +14 GD
3 – Sporting, 25 points, +19 GD
4 – Benfica – 23 points, +10 GD
5 – Braga, 17, +4
6 – Rio Ave, 14, +2
7 – Belenenses, 13, -4
8 – Academica, 13, -2
9 – Maritimo, 13, -3
10 – Aves, 12, -3

Right now there seems like a Big Four stratification. Based on GD and such, the top of the table has been very busy. Porto has not lost a game. It’s very competitive right now. Our slow start has hurt, but we’ve been going strong since.

Castro, Francisco was in Team of the Week

[Abe Sargent]

I hand out some rests is preparation for today’s match vs Manchester United. We need to win one of the last two games. Our path is clear : home vs Man U, the other is away vs Basel. I begin countering. If we can win today, we can probably end up winning the Group, which be weird. We won that EURO group before with Tottenham. We are suffering some huge pressure early. After 20 minutes, I move to hassling and marking more. A Rondon counter attack is waved offsides. We’ve had a few attacks drowned out before they could make a lot of noise. There went another in the 33rd minute, started by Razvan Rat. They have 3 bookings too. Half time. Go out there and get revenge!!! Skolnik is being very indecisive with the ball right now, and that’s hurting us. Yet there he is jumpstarting another attack. It’s not all bad for the lad. They hit us on a nasty counter and Ruiz was just able to turn aside a 1:1 strike by Van Persie. They yield paydirt in the 65th. Then Lansbury hits Franny on the counter and we are back to even 1-1 in the 68th. Rodrigues heads in for Rat. Djaniny for Rondon (he’s my worst performing player at 6.1 right now). Lansbury just missed a strike in the 81st. Skolnik crosses to Djaniny who scores in the 87th minute! We are up 2-1. I modify my positions to have MC instead of AMC. And that is it, we have stolen a victory from Man U!

Dinamo tied Basel, so we have won the Group, we are four above Basel and 5 about Man Utd. Great time for Djaniny to break his goal drought!!!

[Abe Sargent]

I offer a deal for Fabian Ruiz, who has been officially labeled the next Tim Howard, for key player and 10.75k a week through 2020. He has proven himself already, and I am content to have him remain in my squad for years to come.

Hojbjerg is now content with long-range passes and Espinosa of dictating tempo. Gil Vicente just tied Porto on the road, so they continue to have a nice disruptive presence on the Big three this year.

Hopefully that trend will continue in today’s home match vs Benfica, as we try to keep pace with the Big Three at the top of the table. I keep our folks Standard in our own stadium, and made no changes to our roster. I can give some folks rests for the Basel match (we will still try to win it, I need the cool 1 mill). They come in and score very quickly, but we manage to stop that. But I can’t manage to get any sort of offense going and we are down 1-0 at the half. Moving in to the next half, I make a few changes to try and get us in front of the goal. Nothing doing. I put in newer players. Nothing. Control, counte,r standard, attacking. In the last ten minutes I up the tempo massively, and Costa gets a yellow. I don’t want to tire them out for Basel, but I don’t want to drop too many points here either. It doesn’t matter. I can’t score at all. We lose, 1-0. Not good enough today!


Porto lost Group C coming in dead last with just 4 points. They have Sparta Prague, Shakhtar and Barcelona. I begin countering against Basel – keep our run going! They score once, but we don’t and we are down 1-0. Hojbjerg with a booking. Lansbury does too. I pull them both. Then Lucas Castro gets a nice assist by Rondon in the 77th and scores, tying the game. Much higher tempo, let’s push this thang! Game. We tie them 1-1. That’s what w e did last year here. Good job! Man Utd won.

So we won the Group with 13 points. We made an extra 500k.

[Abe Sargent]

December

4th – Away vs P Ferreira
12th – Awayat Rio Ave
18 – Home vs Maritimo
31st – Home vs Sp. Covilha, Taca da Portugal

There could also be a Champions game and Taca da Liga game in too.

Good training – Franco, Rodrigues, Laranjeira. Bad? Lucas Castro, Ruiz, Dj.

Franny’s goal against Vit. Guimaraes was 2nd best.

Our non-domestic sales are up and up. Maritimo beat Sporting here in Madeira. After not finding a permanent squad, former loanee and potential replacement in my squad Cenk Tosun has retired at the age of 25. Our Adriano was just transfer listed.


I’m starting Dj and Rodrigues today against Ferreira. They score in the 6th, and then Lucas Castro returns for score in the 18th. Then Rondon and Castro are marching =down the field playing it back and forth and Rondon finishes in the 28th. Just before half they steal another goal. Then Rondon scores, not once, but twice in the first five minutes of the 2nd half. Suddenly its 4-2. And Rondon has a hat trick. They squeeze in another goal in the 57th. 4-3. Then they score again! I move to Control and very high tempo. Lansbury scores from the edge in the 88th. We win 5-4. We made that harder than it needed to be. Rondon was MOM.

[Abe Sargent]

That was his 83rd league goal for the club. He became the club’s all time leading scorer! Lucas and Rondon is Team of the Week. Djaniny is out for 2 weeks with an injury sustained in training.

Benfica beats Porto.

Today’s game vs Rio Ave is very quiet and scoreless until the 75th minute when Rondon breaks the bank, and then two minutes later when Marc hits Franny Castro for another score. Expecting pressure, I pull back to counter. We hold on and win 2-0 and MOM is Strandberg.


We have drawn Sparta Prague in the First Knockout Round of the Champion Competition.


League Up Group D:

Academica
Nacional da Madeira
Sporting
Santa Clara


Now we have the home match vs Maritimo. Pick up where you left off! I started Freire last game, so I am shifting to Costa today. Aurelio hits Strandberg for a score off an IFK early on and then they equalize just before the half. In the 58th, Rondon fits paydirt. We have a lot of pressure against them later. Even though we don’t score off it, it keeps the ball from coming our way, and we win 2-1 against our rival. Good win!

[Abe Sargent]

After 14 games, we are currently 2nd behind Benfica.


Now that its mid-December I need to begin to make some roster decisions. Once again, here are the players, of note, currently slated to leave us at the end of the year:

Razvan Rat
Paulo Sergio
Ricardo Baptista
Freire
Douglas Jardel
Mario Rondon
Joao Aurelio
Javi Espinosa
Jose Goncalves

Sure, Jardel and Gonclaves are youth players that never amazed us, and Rat and Sergio were signed as temporary mentors and Baptista is just my backup GK< and Freire has slowly moved down the list from starter to rotation man. Nevertheless, we have some major names here.

And they start with Rondon. Two clubs want Rondon, probably to make him an offer in a week or two. Rondon is 30, and will turn 31 in March. He has not begun to degrade. But it’ll happen soon. When it does, what happens? Rondon won the Golden Boot with us for Europe’s most prolific striker. He has scored 85 league goals for us, including 8 this year on 14 league starts, and a 7.17 rating for us in those game (a reduction from previous ratings of 7.35, 7.25, and 7.26 in years 1-3 with me). He has started to have bad games sitting at 6.1, 6.3, or 6.0 ratings in addition to the hat trick game. He’s more streaky now, which was what I had gotten from the Jardel/Adriano/Djaniny/Agra/Sousa/Castro person, rather than him.

If I let Rondon go, I need a plan. He’s been a good Target Man for us, so I need someone with a similar profile (cough ,Agra, Cough). Would it be possible to re-sign Rondon for a one or two year deal, and then move Agra behind him when he leaves? That’s not a bad idea.

I begin negotiations with Rondon. The wage is fine, the key player is obvious. But they want to extend his deal through 2020. I can’t accept that. I can’t dicker him down to two years. Let’s table Rondon.

What about Aurelio. The plan was to let him go and slide Rodrigues into his spot. How does that look? Right now:

Rodrigues is better at – Defending, Speed, Physcial
They are the same at Technical, Creativity
Aurelio is better at – Mental, Aerial, Attacking


That’s not a bad comparison for a FB. Faster, better at defending, and physical.

I adore Aurelio and what he has done. He’s had 15 assists for me in league games, but how many of those are set pieces? His ratings are solid – 6.98, 6.97, 6.93, and 6.92 this year so far. Could I sign him to be a swinging backup for Rodrigues and Lansbury, much like I use Javi to spell Skolnik and Lucas Castro?

We do. I make him a first team offer, a downgrade from his key player one, and his agent agrees to look it over. So we may be keeping him around.

Now, what about Javi?

Javi is young and talented, clocking in at 24. He wants a ton of money to start out with. So I decide to drop him for now from any future plans. Let’s see who I can sign/pull in a few weeks.

Aurelio has agreed to a new deal: 12k/week through 2019, first team

He is 28 and this will keep him through 30, and be a nice bit of continuity for us.

Djaniny is back from his injury

We’re having a bit of a virus outbreak.

[Abe Sargent]

I start a few backups and youth players in today’s League Cup match against Santa Clara. Rondon scores in the 6th. They are laying us pretty well for 15, 20, 25 minutes. Let’s lay back a bit. Retain possession and wait for chances. We have a few decent shots, but nothing else. Half. Marc forces through an on goal in the 68th. They score back, but Dj gets an Aurelio assist for a goal in the 83rd. We won 3-1. MOM is Marc.

[Abe Sargent]

Welcome to December 30. Today we lay the foundation for next year. I already have a huge talent coming in from Brazil.

Here’s my current roster for next year:

ST Unknown, ST Franny Castro et all
AMC Lucas Castro
ML Skolnik
MR Lansbury
DMC Hojbjerg
DR Rodrigues
DL Canela
DC Costa, Strandberg
GK Ruiz

So Striker is an obvious place to excel. I could also bring in a new Javi Espinosa instead of him. I need:

Backup GK
Stud Striker
Backup DC
Backup Middie

I scout some stud Strikers that appear. Can I find a good one to offer?

Alright, I think I found a new Javi. I also have two potential Rondons. I make an offer to my new Javi, another player from FC Bayern Munchen that we are stealing folks from. 17 year old Sebastian Pflugler, who has been named by the media the new Gunter Netzer. He actually plays Espinosa’s spots – AMC, AML, MC and ML.

The fans feel that Lansbury has been a revelation since signing for the club and adore him.

We win the Taca match 3-0 with Rondon as MOM with a nice Lansbury cross to him. Skolnik had an odd goal too.


Welcome to 2017

[Abe Sargent]

January, 2017

8th – Away vs Arouca
11th – Away vs Academica, Taca da Liga
15th – Away vs Sporting
21st – Home vs Sporting, Taca da Liga
29 – Home vs Braga


Good training? Costa, Carlos, Goncalves. Bad? Franny C, Rat, Sergio


Messi wins World Golden Ball, and World Player of the Year


Dorin Rotariu won the European Golden Boy

Our young guy Neymar on the Olympics Squad won the Brazilian Best Europe-based Player Award and the BOC Footballer of the Year

I want to change my season expectations to a Title Challenge to unlock a bit more cash. But if I drop, that’s bad. We’ll stay where we are instead.

I dispatch more scouts to generate repots on various young options.

Our first ST option signed with his old club, Arsenal and turned us down. I make my 2nd choice an offer too.

We did manage to bring in our new Javi from FC Bayern Munchen. So that one we got.

Brazilian club SC Internacional has offered me a chance to interview for their Manager position. It’s one of the best clubs in Brazil, and expected to finish 2nd in the upcoming season. I could come in and slam home a win.

[Abe Sargent]

In the Taca da Portugal, we get Maritimo for the quarter finals. So if we knock them out, here are the teams that would potentially be left:

Chaves
Uniao Madeira
Vit Setubal
Rio Ave
Gil Vicente
Belenenses

Note the lack of major clubs. This round might be our Finals.

We signed our future Rondon – Poland’s 21 year old Mariusz Stepinski from Racing Club de Lens.

There’s another studly youther with a 5 star rating getting down at FC Bayern, and he’s also a German guy, Andreas Rocker. He plays ST or AMR. I make him an offer to join his buddy with us. What I’m thinking of doing is dropping this guy to the 2-3 spot across from Stepinski and Franny Castro.

Many of our links really helped folks. In particular, we liked Luis Carlos with Skolnik and Paulo Franco with Freire.

I next link up Luis Carlos with Strandberg

We get news that our other youth star from Bayern is coming here too. That team must be really pissed off at us now!

Now we have the 15th league game for the year against Arouca, and Djaniny is starting in Franny’s spot. Freire is starting for Costa. They foul Lansbury in the Box and Rondon sinks the PK in the 15th. Then in the 31st, Rondon sinks a pass from Hojbjerg to spring him open. Half. Not bad lads. But then we have no more scores and we win 2-0. MOM is Rondon.

Benfica recorded an 8-0 demolition over Beira-Mar.

[Abe Sargent]

Rondon is Team of Week

Next we have the away match vs Academica for the Taca da Liga. We score early off a Rondon screamer, but not more for the half. Rondon scores again as the 2nd half fully get underway and I make some youthful subs, like Agra and Rodrigues. Then they claw back in the 81st. They are pushing forward massively, but Lucas Castro’s score puts the game out of reach and we win 3-1. Rondon is MOM.


I am offering Sergio Laranjeira out to loan and getting tons of offers back. I don’t have enough reps this year to develop him. He is heading out to Sampdoria.


Pick up where you left off when you counter at Sporting today for the Liga game! Sporting cruise by us twice for early scores, and then beat on our defense to no reward. Aurelio has a yellow so I pull him at the half for Rodrigues. Nothing early, and then a Lansbury hits Strandberg for a score off a corner kick in the 64th. They score back in the 78th. We lose 3-1. Sporting are still a threat. We can’t dismiss other Big Three clubs.

Paulo Sergio has announced that he will retire at the end of the season.

[Abe Sargent]

Get revenge against Sporting for smacking us around in their place last game and advance in the Cup! Skolnik finds Marc for a score on a corner and that’s the only score in the first half, but I’ll take it. Marc started for Costa today across from Strandberg. Room for improvement! They have a goal waved off. I move to counter to protect this house. We do, and win 1-0. MOM is Marc. We won qualifications. I had to pull Rondon with a 5.9 performance.


In the Semi Finals of the Taca da Liga, we have Benfica. In their place. Yuck. The other half has Braga and Porto. No surprises for qualification there.

Rodrigues gained some from Rat.


Can we sandblast Braga today? I hope so! We owe them! Rondon finds Franny for a score in the 13th. Then Lucas Castro picks up a knock so in heads Javi Espinosa. The Skolnik-Marc connection again yields fruit on a corner kick in the 34th. And its halftime! Keep doing better and better! They score back in the 47th on a break away. I move to countering. They score again when our guys tackle the ball and it rolls to another attacker. I try to get another score by going to attacking and very high tempo but to no avail and they tie us 2-2 in our place. Very disappointing folks. MOM is Marc.

I wasn’t expecting to, but a nice loan offer came in for Luis Carlos form Vit Guimaraes as a key player in the ML spot, so I agreed to give him a half a year with them.

[Abe Sargent]

February


1st – Home vs Maritimo, Taca da Portugal
5th – Away vs Belenenses
8th – Away vs Benfica, Taca da Liga
11th – Home vs Vit Setubal
14th – Away vs Sparta Prague, Champions
19th – Away vs Aves
26th – Away vs Beira-Mar


Good training was done by Agra, Castro (Fran) and Ruiz. Bad by Sergio



The Taca da Portugal match is here! Rondon is away at an international match, as is Ruiz. So I am starting Baptisita and Djaniny. Rat finds Skolnik for a score in the 10th minute on the left side. I slide to counter to protect Baptisita a bit and help fight against the inevitable onslaught, especially after Lucas Castro sinks a Francicso Castro pass for a score win the 19th minute. Half is 2-0 us. They hit us for a score in the 48th, but its waved offsides. Lucas sinks another score off a Dj pass n the 57th. Skolnik is injured. Hojbjerg sinks a DFK in the 77th. Game, we crushed
Skolnik is out for a month with a strained knee. I’ll have Javi at the AMC spot and Lucas down to the ML spot. I hand out a few rests to prepare for the Belenenses game. Espinosa slides the round ball thing over to Franny for a score in the 2nd minute to start us off right as rain. Two minutes later they even things annoyingly. Henri hits paydirt a few minutes later (8th minute) and then they again reciprocate (15th) and then Lansbury crosses to Rondon for a header score in the 18th minute. We hold up against a lot of pressure to keep up at the half. Not bad, but room for Improving out there folks! Lucas Castro hits another goal in the 58th to pull us away two, and I move to counter and retain possession. I put in Rodrigues and Marc. Lansbury crosses to Rondon, who heads it to Franny instead of goal as expected and keeps the defense out of alignment and Franny scores in the 69th. All of the sudden a close game is 5-2 heading into the 70s. I toss out Goncalves for Espinosa. Lansbury strikes from range and hits goal in the 83rd. Game. We win 6-2. MOM is Lansbury with 2 assists and 2 goals.


That game was Aurelio’s 200th for the club!

[Abe Sargent]

We get good news. Uniao Madeira are one of our lesser rivals, but we rarely get a chance to play them outside of the friendly I used to schedule. That changes in the Taca da Portugal, where we will be facing the club in the Semi finals!

Ruiz, Lansbury, and both Castros are in Team of the Weak

The big question is whether or not we can defeat Benfica, on the road, in the Taca da Liga Semi Final match today. The only change I made to my roster is to move out Costa for Marc. Lucas Castro with an early booking, but then hits Rondon for a score in the 31st. A few minutes later, they reciprocate, and its 1-1. A Rondon goal is called offsides and its tied at the half. Grab that one goal! Aurelio lifts up a marvelous corner kick ,finds Strandberg’s head, which finds the net in the 58th. He usually towers over everyone else with his huge hops. I slide in Rodrigues for en-yellowed Lucas Castro, and replace him with Lansbury, and then him with Aurelio. They notch two bookings. Then another. Then they score off a header from a corner kick in the 79th to equalize the score again. Espinosa finds Franny Castro on the right side and he powers past a defender and scores in the 89th minute., I send in some subs. Can we hold on to win? We do! We win 3-2 to emerge victorious and knock Benfica out of the Cup and put us into the Final.MOM is Espinosa.

[Abe Sargent]

I hand out rests to every player who started the game. It should help for today’s home match against Vit Setubal, which sees Costa and Rodrigues in the starting zone. Lucas finds an attacking Javi for a score in the 23rd. After Hojbjerg hit an attacking Espinosa who was forced left, Javi swings back to Hojbjerg right in front of the net and he scores. Half time. Keep it up! Rondon picks up a knock so I put in Djaniny. Lansbury crosses deeply and it turns into an OG as a DC tries to intervene before Franny could get there. They score in the 59th. And that’s full time and we win 3-1. Javi was MOM.

[Abe Sargent]

Cameroon just won their second African Nations Cup in a row. Three major African sides are now open after disappointing in the Cup – South Africa, Algeria, and Nigeria.

Would I like to apply to manage one? I would be a leading candidate to take any of them over. I like South Africa and Nigeria, because both are currently leading their respective World Cup groups for qualification. They scrubbed hard in the African Nations (Tied Zambia, Gabon and lost to Cote d’Ivoire).

So if I’m going for someone, its South Africa.

As a former African international player, I’m not a bad choice, and I speak English. The real question is whether or not South Africa is “slumming it” and I don’t think so. Let’s get them into the World Cup and see what sort of damage I can do!

Marc is back in for our Champions game vs Sparta Prague, the nemesis of one of my previous dynasties here as Slavia Prague. I begin defensive. Lucas Castro hits the back of the goal in the driving rain in the 18th minute after the ball bounces free from a corner kick. Hojbjerg grabs a booking soon after. They net two. Then they score just before the half. Rondon passes to Franny and Franny shoots, gets the rebound, and puts that away in the 74th. I slide in Costa for Rondon and move to a 5-4-1And that’s game. We won 2-1, Lucas is MOM. We just need to hold on and win the next leg in our place.

Hojbjerg is banned for the Sparta Prague match for too many yellows.

[Abe Sargent]

I have accepted the South Africa post. They want to easily qualify for the Final of the World Cup Qualifiers




I start Costa and Djaniny for today’s away match vs Aves. They foul Rondon in the box. He steps up and puts away his PK in the 7th minute. Rat finds Lucas on the side who has an angle but unselfishly swings it over to Djaniny, who has a better one, and Dj scores in the 20th. They again foul Rondon in the box in the 32nd and he again sinks the PK, like a PK machine. Of Goals. I tell my guys to stand off opponents, I don’t want to give away any penalties. I slide to counter. Half. We win 3-0 after a quiet second half. MOM is Rondon.


Rat, Strandberg, and Rondon are in the Team of the Week

I have my first presser with South Africa. The problem is that the old Manager kept calling up these average older folks. We need younger folks. We have a good squad of younger folks in their mid 20s and that needs to be the core of the team. I add some quality younger folks to the team.

[Abe Sargent]

We’ll be playing Porto in the Final of the Taca da Liga. We were both in the finals last year, and we walked away victorious.

It’s driving rain in the away match today against Beira-Mar. Lucas Castro scores off a Javi pass in the 6th. I have Dj and Rodrigues in starting slots. Lansbury crosses to Djaniny who scores in the 9th. Lansbury again crosses to Djaniny for a score in the 16th. Dj finds Rondon for a score in the 28th. I pull back to counter. I have another game in a few days, let’s lay back. Javi hits Djaniny for his hat trick and I pull him for Agra afterwards now that he’s gotten that notch in his belt. Lansbury finds Agra for a score in the 78th minute. We hold up and win 6-0. Djaniny is MOM.


A Romanian club have made an offer to sign Jose Goncalves. We signed him, developed him, but I gain nothing by standing in his way. Good luck buddy!

Adriano talked to the press and asked for me to sign him and get him away from Sport.

TEN of my players were named in the Team of the Week. The only one who was not? Hojbjerg.

[Abe Sargent]

March

1st – Home vs Porto
5th – Home vs Gil Vicente
8th – Home vs Sparta Prague
12th – Away vs Academica
17th – Away vs Benfica
21st – Away vs Uniao Maderia, Taca da Portugal, Semis First Leg


South Africa:

18th – Away at Uganda, World Cup Qualifiers
21st – Home vs Madagascar, World Cup Qual
24th – Away vs Mexico, Friendly




Good training reports? Rondon, Agra, Rodrigues.

Henri Lansbury and Lucas Castro came in 2nd and 3rd in Player of the Month.

I won Manager of the Month

And now I host Porto. They begin with a powerful attack and I slide back ot defensive for a bit to weather the storm. I emerge 15 minute later back to standard with no scores. Half time. We can still win! They foul Lansbury in the box and Rondon sinks PK to put us up, but they score back in the 53.rd. Then Javi gets a goal to push us ahead again. I pull a booked Aurelio. Game, we held on to win and emerge victorious 2-1.


That’s an important win that helps up to keep up with the top of the table while knocking someone else down.

[Abe Sargent]

I offer Rodrigues a new contract. Skolnik is back from injury but he’ll miss the next game.

At the 00:41 mark, Rondon scores against Gil Vicente in our home match. They hit the hay in the 9th. Lucas Casto hits a Hojbjerg score and we are up 2-1 at the half. Rondon grabs another goal in the 63rd. We win 3-1. MOM is Rondon.



Rodrigues signed his new deal. Ruiz and Rondon were in Team of the Week.



Can we finish off Sparta Prague today? Rondon intercepts the ball in the box and scores in the 5th minute. That’s a nice statement. We must protect this house! Skolnik intercepts a pass deep, feeds Rondon who finds Franny who finds goal in the 16th minute. They hit the post twice and then goal after a crazy set of bounces! Franny nails it again in the 38th. Keep it up in the second half! I pull back to counter. Skolnik crosses to Rondon for another score. They get a professional foul in the 82nd for stopping a Franny Castro counter attack. They manage to sink a long shot in the 88th. Andrei Marc gets a yellow late. Idiot. We win 4-2 today and 6-3 on aggregate. MOM is Rondon.

We have made it to the Champions Quarter Final! We brought in 3.5 Mill for the victory.

We broke records on gate receipts and attendance for our home game vs the Prague.


The Team Left in the Quarters:

Arsenal
FC Bayern
Man Utd
Nacional da Madeira
Real Madrid
Dortmund
Benfica
Juventus

I’d love to see both us and Benfica advance.

Well, the dream has died for Portugal. We get Dortmund and they get Juventus.

[Abe Sargent]

Benfica fell the last two games, tie to Braga and loss to Arouca. We have just snaked into first place in the league as a result.

I call up my first S Africa squad and get a ton of flak. We’ll get more before it’s all said and done.

Our match against ACademica is here. Skolnik is injured early and I sub in Javi, which is good, because he scores off a Hojbjerg set up in the 16th minute. They get a red card for a nasty foul on Lansbury in the 32nd. I make my normal changes. Rondon sets up Javi for another score in the 39th. Javi feeds Franny for a score in the 42nd. They foul Espinosa in the box and he scores the PK. That’s his hat trick. Rondon heads the Aurelio cross to Javi and he gets his fourth goal. I swap in two new FBs. They power a score in the 76th. They power out another score two minute later. But that’s it and we win 5-2. Good win. Javi was MOM.


Rat, Javi, Rondon and Aurelio were in Team of the Week.

[Abe Sargent]

Two clubs made offers to bring in Rondon after the year – Nautico and Sport, both in Brazil.

Time to look over the new youth offering for us! The football gods have been kind, gracing us with Hernani Costa, Joao Luis Rodrigues and even Jorge Agra. We had nothing last year though, all barren.

We do have someone we like this year, MC, AMC Marcio Sousa. Maybe not at the level of Rodrigues or Costa (who were 5 star scout ratings) but at the level of Agra (who has 4.5 star like this guy). Any others? Nope, no one else has more than a 2 star scout rating. He’s pretty sexy, we like him immediately.

I hold my RSA team meeting and here we go. We notch our first goal in the 30th. They smash us back. Then we strike back. Then we give up a PK. 2-2 at the half. We score on a break in the 68th. We win 3-2. MOM was Tokelo Rantie, ST, with 2 goals and an assist. That was a bit of a let off

I hand Marcio Sousa to Lucas Castro for mentoring.


Now the first South African game of my career has arrived! We hit our first score against Madagascar in the 20th. They get a score right after the half but we hit again in the 58th. We hit a corner/header at the 64th for a score. And again in the 77th. Once more in the 81st. MOM was ML George Lebese with a score and an assist. That’s what we’re looking for!!!



The match vs Uniao is today too. I begin countering, since we are without Ruiz, or Rondon (or international duty). Rat finds Hojbjerg for a score off an IFK in the 26th. They score one back. Half. They get a red card for a nasty foul on Lucas in the 59th. I push forward. Hjobjerg grabs a yellow. Aurelio hits a corner, it bounces around and back to Lucas, who heads it to Costa who heads it in. That’s it, off two set pieces, we emerge victorious and Hojbjerg is MOM. A bit of a let down!

[Abe Sargent]

These 12 wins is a record number of wins for Nacional da Madeira.

We lose 2-0 to Mexico in the friendly match.

With 6 games to go, we are in front of Benfica by 4 points. If we lose to them today, that gap closes to just 1. They score early, but I move to counter and some other stuff and keep them out of the net. We are down by 1 at half. Do you even want to win this match? Apparently not, and we lose 1-0.


That was Skolniks 125th game for us.

[Abe Sargent]

April

1st – Home vs Vit Guimaraes
4th – Home vs Dortmund, Champions
8th – Home vs P Ferreira
12th – Away vs Dortmund, Champions
15th – Away vs Maritimo
19th – Home vs Uniao Madeira, Taca da Portugal Semi
22nd – Neutral, against Porto, Taca da Liga Final

Costa, Rodrigues and Franco did well in training, but Skolnik, Sergio and Strandberg did not.

Mario Rondon and Javi Espinosa came in 2nd and 3rd for Player of the Month


I slide in Rodrigues, Marc, Espinosa, and Djaniny in my starting spots for today’s Vit. G. match-up. Lansbury hits Javi for the halfs only score. Then Rondon feeds Dj early in the next half to make it a two score game. A Lansbury to Strandberg connection on a corner kick makes it 3 goals. With 2 assists, Lansbury is MOM. Well done!

[Abe Sargent]

It’s all hands on deck for the Dortmund game. Of course, I expect to lose. But what if I don’t? I begin countering. Pick up where you left off! A lot of folks have predicted us to win. It starts with scoring, and Aurelio’s corner kick that bounces, Rondon shoots, and then a DC heads it away into goal for us in the 215th is a good way to begin the series! They cross, score in the 24th. We get some pressure later. A Rondon shot is turned aside for a corner, which Aurelio converts into a score off Strandberg. We are up 2-1 at the half based on set piece play. Keep it up! I put in Djaniny for an injured Francisco Castro. I sub in Marc and turn him into a defensively minded DMC. They score off a break away late. Game. We tie, 2-2. Unlucky!

Benfica tied Juventus in Italy. That means if they win here in Portugal, they’ll make the Semis. Good stuff for Portugal!

[Abe Sargent]

We have Javi, Rodrigues and Agra starting today’s game against Ferreira, currently 15th in the league. Aurelio finds Rondon early. They score and it’s the half. Then Lansbury crosses to Rondon for another score, and again, they answer, this time off a break away. They foul Rondon in the box. He sinks the goal and secures a hattrick. Finally, Lansbury scores himself. We win 4-2. MOM was Mario.


Rondon is Team of the Week.

Benfica defeated Juventus 1-0! We aren;’t the only Portuguese club that can sometimes punch above our level apparently.

Marc starts in today’s Dortmund match for Costa. I begin defensive. Massive rain here in Germany today. We’ve had good opportunities go begging. Then they foul Lansbury on the edge of the box and Rondon………buries it in the 19th minute. He’s never missed for us in four years. Even still, all of our scores are on set pieces. And then we give up a beautifully passed ball in the 39th. Half time, 1-1. I slide to counter. Strandberg gets a yellow. Then control late. I try hard to get a goal. But it’s not to arrive. We tie them 1-1 here and lose on away goals. Can’t fault you for effort!

We got another 3.9 mill though!

Benfica lost last week, so with 3 games to go, we are 4 points in front of them.

[Abe Sargent]

We start out countering in today’s away match vs Maritimo. Skolnik crosses to Rondon in the 8th and he scores., and then Skolnik does the same 25 minutes later for another Rondon score and its halftime. I pull a wounded Skolnik a the half for Javi and swap his spot with Lucas Castro’s. Javi finds Franny for a score in the 51st. Maritimo power a shot through in the 55th. Franny is injured and I sub in Agra. Lucas Castro hits paydirt from a bouncing ball in the 69th. They score off a corner kick in the 89th. We win 4-2 in their place. MOM is Rondon.

The bad news is the Franny is out for a few weeks, and will miss some vital games.

We gained 200k because Adriano was sold.

The 35 goals Rondon scored breaks his previous record of 33 in 2014.


For today’s Semi-Final 2nd Leg vs Uniao Madeira, Djaniny and Rodrigues are starting. Lansbury and Rondon have a pair of goals at the half. Strandberg scores in the 64th. We win 3-0 and 5-1 aggregate . MOM was Strandberg. Congrats on making it to the finals, where we have Vit Setubal.

[Abe Sargent]

All month long I’ve been handing out rests. Man Utd defeat Benfica in Old Trafford 1-0.

Agra learned a lot from Franny C in tutelage. Mario Rondon has agreed to move to Sport after his tenure with us ends. Goncalves learned a lot from Aurelio.



For the League Cup Finals, this is my 200th game in Management. A bit auspicious, wouldn’t you say? Can we get that win? Play like you did last game! I begin defensive against Porto. Lansbury to Djaniny ins a score in the 21st. Half. Keep it up! Then Djaniny is injured and leaves the pitch. In heads Agra. Javi heads in for a winded Castro. Then Freire slides in. And we hold on and win 1-0. We have won the Taca da Liga again!!!

Enjoy your success!


This was a tough match up, we beat both Benfica and Porto in the tournament.

[Abe Sargent]

Can we win the Taca and the league too? The Taca is an easier matchup and the league we are four points in front of Benfica with two games to go. Those are both very possible.

The 21 assists by Lansbury is the most in a season in our history, beating the 20 Defederico had in 2014.


Andrei Marc won a minor award for the most MOM in the Taca da Liga.

If Benfica can astonish Man Utd today here in Portugal, either with a 1-0 win to set it to penalties or with a 2 goal win, then they will make it to the Finals. That would be awesome for us. Unfortunately, Man Utd won 3-1 and made it to the Finals instead. Real Madrid took out Dortmund so it’s a battle between Real Madrid and Man Utd.

P Ferreira and Beira-Mar have been relegated.


If we win today’s away game against Arouca, then we win the Liga. Let’s get started! Rondon finds Dj late for a score in the 37th. They respond the next minute. Then Aurelio’s corner turns into an OG just before half. Don’t get complacent out there! We have a game to win and a league to secure. I sub in Agra and both Paulos. Hojbjerg hits Lucas Castro on a hugely long IFK from around the midway line for a score. We hold on and win, 3-1. MOM was Castro. Enjoy your success!

I have entered the Portuguese Hall of Fame.

[Abe Sargent]

May

7th – Home vs Rio Ave
21st – Neutral vs Vit. Setubal for Taca da Portugal Final


Aurelio, Espinosa and Costa were good in training this month.

I win Manager of the Month

Rondon came in 2nd in Player of the Month

Strandberg in Team of the Week.

I sign Hernani Costa to a new deal for 6k a week, key player, until 2021.

I’m locking up my youth peops.

Hojbjerg now knows how to do killer through balls.

The final game of the season is here. We will be starting Rat, Freire, Strandberg, Aurelio, Hojbjerg, Ruiz, Lansbury, Skolnik, Lucas Castro, Rondon, and Francisco Castro, back from his injury. Control – Pick up where you left off!

Goal 1 – Them, 3rd minute
Goal 2 – Rondon, 9th
Goal 3 – Lucas Castro, 14th
Goal 4 – Aurelio, 28th
Goal 5 – Them, 44th, waved offsides
Half – We are up 3-1
Goal 6 – Lucas Castro, 51st
Goal 7 – Them, 81st

MOM was Lucas Castro, and that was Well Done, 4-2.


Today we are worth 41M.