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

[bbgunn]

Congrats on another league title! Good luck with Bafana Bafana in the World Cup!

[Abe Sargent]

Thanks!

[Abe Sargent]

All Things South Africa and World Cup


Alright, its time to name my preliminary squad:


Can I keep the 3-5-2 thing? I think so. I have three friend lies prior to the tournament beginning, and I have really bad fullbacks. I remove my fullbacks, Mavimbela, Punch M. I also pull MC Dean Furman for another middle who can play DC if needed. Alright, squad is ready.


Whoa, the Portuguese squad has a lot of youth, including Joaquim Sousa, as well as Jose Moreira, Hernani Costa, Rodrigues. Fabian Ruiz is in the USA Squad, as expected. He’s the starter for them as Guzan is retiring in a few months.

Hojbjerg is in the Denmark team, Rocker for Germany and Franny Castro for Chile

Uh oh, bad news for Portugual, Ronaldo is out with an injury for the next two months. A dislocated shoulder in practice for the World Cup. Dang.

Joao Aurelio is called up though. That’s….awesome!!!!!!!!!

He’s never been capped.



Final Cut Time:

I confirm my final squad.

I have friendies against Denmark, New Zealand and Slovakia.

[Abe Sargent]

June


1st – Friendly vs Slovakia
6th – Friendly vs New Zealand
9th – Friendly vs Denmark

World Cup Begins

17th – Australia
22nd – Serbia
27th – France



We get ready for today’s friendly match. Let’s get out there and score some goals! And we do! One by DC Xulu in the corner piece and the other late by a sub Striker. MOM is our GK. I just want to quickly get through these without too much writing to get to the good stuff.

So the 3-5-2 worked there.

[Abe Sargent]

I mod the roster a bit, because my sub was Katlego Mphela, he is retiring after the World Cup, and while not as good stat’s wise as my other option, he has been playing better. Hot leg and all that, right? We’ll see against New Zealand. Go out there and win! What did we get? A boring 0-0 draw.

[Abe Sargent]

What about the last friendly? This is the hardest (and New Zealand was supposed to be the easiest…) I begin countering. They have Hojbjerg out there against us. Serero hits Mphela for a score in the 2nd minute. Nicely done! We are up for it today, we have had several attacks pushed aside only just by Denmark. Half. Not bad folks, not bad at all. I make my subs. And we win 1-0. That’s good stuff. MOM is Thulani Serero, the guy I get flack for including in my squad. Good win!


Denmark are ranked 20th, so they are no slouch. And they are in the WC, so that’s a nice win to hopefully catapult us into success in our group. It’s a little rough to have France last, because that should be a loss, so I can’t go into my last game needing points to advance.

Our 3rd string GK picked up a minor injury and will be out for 2 weeks.

[Abe Sargent]

Alright, the friendlies are over, and it's time.





Alright, its June 15, and the World Cup in Russia, 2018 has officially begun. I will bring you results from every single match up, every day, through the Cup.


The World Cup, Group Stage, Round One


Group A:

Russia beats Sweden 2-1
Uruguay defeats Japan 3-2



Group B:

Germany crush Cameroon 3-0
South Korea upset Denmark 3-2


Group C:

France edges Serbia 1-0 – Man that would have almost been awesome.

[Abe Sargent]

Today, Group C, we are proud to present the Republic of South Africa





vs.

Australia





And our World Cup Campaign kicks off!



We are playing against Australia. We are all set and ready to rock. The world is watching us! Bafana Bafana! The world is watching us! Africa is watching us! Our motherland is watching us! Our ancestors are watching us! So I begin attacking. The opposite of what people will expect. We get the ball into the box in the first 20 seconds and net a corner, but nothing ensues. I pull back to counter in the 15th. Half time, very quiet. The stats favor us, so I move to Standard. Grab that one goal!!! Mphela is given the ball by Rantie in a dangerous place, finds Thulani Serero on the right side attacking, and feed shim the ball. Serero hits it in the 56th minute and we score. Back to counter. I trade MCs with a less dinged up one. We continue to push forward on the field., and We fail to score. Australia let a great chance go begging in the 82nd. I make my final sub. And that’s it, we hold on to defeat Australia 1-0. Once again, the MOM is Thulani Serero. He is redeeming me after I defending his attackers in the press.


This was MC Jali’s 50th cap for us.

[Abe Sargent]

Group D:

Italy over Ukraine 2-0
Saudi Arabia over Chile 1-0



Group E:

Belgium over USA 5-0
Brazil over Senegal 3-1


Group F:

Mexico over Greece 3-0
Argentina over Algeria 3-1


Group G:

Austria over Iran 3-0
Spain over Nigeria 2-0


Group H:

England over Portugal 3-0
Colombia over Canada 2-1

And the first round is done.


Analysis?

We are the only African side to win in the first round off games. However, we had the weakest opponent in our group. Losing to Spain, Argentina, Germany and Brazil doesn’t mean a whole lot for African sides that tended to be against the hardest club in the Group. A few surprises – Belgium thromped USA, Saudi Arabia with a nice win, and Sweden, who made it to the Final Four last World Cup were defeated by Russia (who also made it there, by the way).

[Abe Sargent]

Time to get ready for Round 2


Group A:

Japan over Sweden, dang, 3-2
Russia over Uruguay 1-0

Group B:

Germany over South Korea, 3-1
Denmark over Cameroon, 2-0

[Abe Sargent]

Today, Group C, we are proud to present the Republic of South Africa





vs.

Serbia






Don't make the mistake of assuming that just because teams like Serbia, Ukraine, Austria or Russia are just Eastern European Teams that they can be easily handled. These teams are quiet giants. Russia made the Final Four in 2014 and all of these teams are ranked very highly. In fact, a quick look at some of them shows more depth and talent than many traditional western European powers.


Today is our Serbia game. If we can beat them, we should be in. France and us would both have 6 points, the others none. We have a win-and- in game, and if you told me before the WC that we would have a win-and-in game against any team other than France, I would have taken that in a second. If we tie, we will be second (assuming France wins) and we still have an odd shot laters. It’s time to play our game, here against Serbia. I begin controlling this time. It’s a lot of rain. Holy crap! Vilakazi, an MC for me, got the ball, passed to Mphela, and he scored at the 00:16 mark. Dang! Go l’Afrique! Serbia start marching forward, so I move to counter. Whoa. They score a fabulous strike from range in the 6th. 1-1. WHOA! Vilakazi lifts an IFK at goal from behind the half mark (by about a yard) and lifts it with a ton of zing into the box and Rantie heads it in. Goal in the 14th minute. That thing had pop! Half. Keep it up! One more half of this, and we qualify. I remain countering. Dang. They score. All tied again in the 48th minute. I move to higher tempos, subs, and soon to standard. Win and in, let’s push. They foul one of my wingers in the box in the 89th minute!!! MC Jali sinks it!!! I pull back to counter. And we win!!!!! 3-2. We don’t even have he MOM, but we won the game. That was a good win!

South Africa have made it to the WC 5 times before and always been knocked out of the Group stage, this is the first time, ever, that we’ve qualified.

[Abe Sargent]

Group C:

France over Australia, 1-0


Group D:

Italy over Chile, 3-0
Ukraine over Saudi Arabia, 4-1


Group E:

Belgium over Senegal 4-1
Brazil tied USA 0-0


Group F:

Argentina over Mexico 4-2
Greece over Algeria 2-1


Group G:


Spain over Iran 2-1
Austria over Nigeria, 3-0


Group H:

Portugal over Canadia, 1-0
England over Colombia, 1-0



Analysis of 2nd Round.

Again, we are the only African side to win. The Great Black Hope, Cameroon, fell. Japan ended Sweden’s empowered run. Other than that few surprises emerged.

[Abe Sargent]

Time to get ready for Round 3, and Finish the Group Stage


Group A:

Russia over Japan 4-3
Uruguay over Sweden 4-0


Group B:


Germany over Denmark, 3-1
Cameroon, too little too late, over South Korea, 3-0

[Abe Sargent]

Today, Group C, we are proud to present the Republic of South Africa





vs.

France





Today is our match vs France. I start non-tired backups. It’s basically a bye. I play defensive. I just want to keep things close. It‘d hurt morale to rest a lot of folks and then lose 6-0. Whoa. After being delivered the ball by the corner kick take MC Vilakaze, DC Mzizi slides the ball over to another of my discoveries, ST Clement Tchoutou for a score in the 17th minute of play. Set piece baby! France scores back in the 28th. France hits the hay again in the 43rd. They score again just before half. 3-1 France. Unlucky! I make some subs. No scores in the 2nd half. We lose 3-1. Can’t fault you for effort, backups!


We lose in one of the most boring and predictable campaigns in the Group.

[Abe Sargent]

Group C:


Australia and Serbia tied 1-1


Group D:


Saudi Arabia with the upset of the Groups against Italy 2-1. (But they are still out – 3 teams with 6 points and Italy and Ukraine had the GD).
Ukraine vs Chile 3-1


That saddens me, we get Italy. If Ukraine or Saudi Arabia could have edged them.

Group E:


Brazil ties Belgium 1-1
USA Beats Senegal 1-0


Group F

Argentina over Greece 2-0
Mexico over Algeria 3-1


Group G:

Nigeria over Iran 4-0
Spain over Austria 2-0


Group H:

England over Canada, 3-1
Colombia over Portugal 2-0

[Abe Sargent]

Who got out:

Russia, Uruguay
Germany, Denmark
France, South Africa
Italy, Ukraine
Belgium, Brazil
Argentina, Mexico
Spain, Austria
England, Colombia


Which brings us to the Round of 16:

Denmark vs Russia
Uruguay vs Germany
Ukraine vs France
Italy vs South Africa
Belgium vs Mexico
Argentina vs Brazil
Spain vs Colombia
England vs Austria

[Abe Sargent]

The World Cup, FIFA, and Russia are proud to present the Round of 16!


We play on July 1st



Russia upends Denmark 2-0


Germany defeats Uruguay 3-1



And then its us...

[Abe Sargent]

Today, Group C, we are proud to present the Republic of South Africa





vs.

Italy






Italy are no joke, they are a serious threat. They are not past their heydey, they instead have some great young talent they've tapped into. They are serious.


Now it’s time for the Italy game. Can we beat Italy? We’ve gotten a lot of positive press for resting our starting squad vs France from commentators and other managers. I wanted any edge I could get against them. All of the pressure is on them!!! I begin defensively. We’ve also been getting good press about not being afraid to change tactics when it was needed, and I moved to a 3-5-2 successfully. Italy scores once in the 21st and that’s it for the first half. We didn’t take a single shot though in the game. That has to change. I’m not sure how. How can I open up our offense and keep us taking shots? I move to control for a bit coming out of the break. Afte ra quiet ten minute I move back to counter. Mokotjo grabs a booking early in the second. I pull him as my firs sub. It’s getting late in the match in the mid 70s. I order us to increase our tempo. We’ have 5 shots, 2 on target in this half. If we can sink just one… Another of our players collects a yellow. Yet another Italian attack is turned aside and we get a break away opportunity, but our cross is snuffed out by their GK. I sub out Parker. My final sub is Mzizi for a tired and underplaying DC. Move to control. Late in the 89th, winger Lebese (who I subbed in for Parker) intercepts the ball and gives it to Rantie who is driving on a break away. He passes to ST Mphela, who is tackled by the defense. Ball falls to their FB, but Serero on the left side fires through and steals the ball from the FB and has just the GK to beat on a tighter corner coming into the box. He shoots…..pushed aside…corner kick. Great move by us though. And that’s it, we lose 1-0. You gave it everything you had lads!!!

And you did!


But for us, this run ends. The best the nation has ever had though!


Congrats l'Afrique, for a strong run!

[Abe Sargent]

Ukraine survives France, 1-0


Argentina, in extra time, toasts Brazil 1-0


Mexico upends Belgium 2-1


England over Austria 2-0


Spain over Colombia 1-0



Analysis: Round of 16 –

Mexico was a big upset. Belgium were thought to go far behind one of the best players in the World Cup, ST Romelu Lukulu. But the real upset is Ukraine over France. I once took Ukraine to 3rd, back when it had uber-stud ST Shevchenko, so it’s a nation I respect a lot, but it’s nice to see someone else smash face with it. Their players are really good.

[Abe Sargent]

The World Cup Cup Quarter Finals, brought to you by FIFA, have been set up.


Quarter Finals:


Germany vs Ukraine
Russia vs Italy
Argentina vs Spain
Mexico vs England




I think we’ll have a Germany, Italy, Argentina, and Mexico Semis. England is leering, and I think will fall, and Argentina is hot over a win against rival Brazil. Russia's dream will end and Germany has enough sauce to survive the Ukraine Express.


But note this, Crimea fans. If both Ukraine and Russia win, and then win again, we could see a World Cup Final that is basically a Crimea Grudge Match. Welcome to football!

[Abe Sargent]

The Quarters are Played



Ukraine thumps Germany 3-0


Italy over Russia 3-1


Spain over Argentina in penalty kicks 1-1


Mexico over England in penalty kicks 1-1



Zang!

Mexico, as I expected, had enough, but Spain just had some sauce for Argentina at the end. And while I was correct that the Italian Stallions were enough for Russia, Ukraine smashes Germany all over the map.


Leaving us with these very tasty Semis:


Semis:

Italy – Spain
Ukraine – Mexico

One team will make it further than ever before!

[Abe Sargent]

Ladies and Gentleman, get Ready for the World Cup, 2018 Semi Finals!!!


If Ukraine can win today in the land of Russia, that could be incredible for the nation. And if not, that could set up a compelling Spain-Mexico match between colony and kingdom in the finals! Who would win such a Colonial Grudge Match 2018 between these rivals? And will Italy let it happen, or will they continue to demonstrate the quality they've had all World Cup and make it to the finals? And which of the plucky teams, Ukraine or Mexico, will do something neither nation has ever done before- make it to he World Cup Finals. Both have been on dream runs this year, and for one team, one nation, one people, the dream will continue to another day and the final dance. Who will stand?

Spain or Italy?
Ukraine or Mexico?


There are so many questions!

Sit back, and get ready to get some answers, and relax as the entire world pauses just to watch some football.


No matter what happens, football wins!


Italy defeats Spain 1-0 to make the World Cup Final



Ukraine over Mexico 2-1 in extra time.




And that sets up a Ukraine-Italy Final!

[Abe Sargent]

This World Cup has brought majesty to many nations and ignominy to many others! From the success of Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Mexico and Ukraine to the falls of Sweden, Brazil, and France; this has been one to remember.


Welcome to the 2018 World Cup Finals!


The Nation of Italy





vs



The Nation of Ukraine






In the Battle of Group D!

Both Italy and Ukraine, (as well as Saudi Arabia) emerged with 6 points from the group, and Italy and Ukraine advanced on tiebreakers. The only team Ukraine lost to was 2-0 to Italy. The only game Italy dropped was 2-1 to Saudi Arabia. Both in Group D.



Will Italy win the re-match? Will Ukraine revenge themselves? Will the underdog of Ukraine emerge successful? No Eastern European nation has ever won the World Cup. For generations, people have discussed how Eastern European clubs should be taken seriously. And now Ukraine has a chance to make that permanent. To strike a blow for Dinamo Kiev and Shakhtar against Juventus and AC Milan.


Or will this match herald in a new age of Italian dominance and football. largely relegated to the sidelines in recent major competitions, a youth movement is afoot in Italy.

Italy is the 9th ranked team in the World
Ukraine is the 14th ranked team in the World


And yet, here they are. Perched on the eve of eternity. Of glory. Of permanence. Forever etched into the annals of history.



Who will win?















Italy Wins!


2-0. Identical to their match score before. And they have gotten another Cup for the mantle.











(Note that South Africa played Italy tough, lost to them barely, 1-0. Would we have won against Ukraine instead? Who knows!)






FIFA and Russia hope you enjoyed this iteration of the World Cup, which saw some remarkable sporting events played. It united nations, continents, and people of all sorts in an celebration of their achievements and potential. At the beginning, all 32 teams feel they can win. And look, none of the teams favored to be in the top where there! That proves anyone can make it, and anyone can win.

We hope to see all of you in 2022 in Qatar!

[Abe Sargent]

Lots of national clubs open up.


I feel I have a very competitive resume:

I’ve won the Portugese Liga 3x, many cups
Won Olympics with Brazil, something they’ve never done before
Got South Africa to the WC and then further than ever before by qualifying.
I have a World Class Reputation

I suspect I can get a really good national side, since I have success and experience in Cups, Olympics, World Cup, and Leagues.


I want to aim high. For Brazil. But nobody who is not Brazilian will ever make it.


Other sides open include Portugal, England, and France, Chile, Greece and Senegal. None of the others seem like good choices. So other than Portugal, I don’t think I’d have a shot at England or anything. I figured Sweden might have opened up. But nope.


But Portugal seems perfectly suited to me. I'm the 3rd best manager in Portugal of all time. No one has won the Liga more than 3 times. Plus, Renoldo is 33 and about to retire. Madeira put the current Portugal franchise on the map with him, and it's doing the same right now with others.

The national squad, in five years, could be Rui Pereira, Jorge Agra, Rodrigues, Costa, GK Jose Moreira, ST Joaquim Sousa, and others I have personally developed. I know these players, I built these players, I made them. I am Portugal

And its time these folks realized it. Madeira built the Past of Portugal, as Ronaldo's light begins to ebb. Madeira is building the Present of Portugal as players like Rodrigues and Costa star. And Madeira is building the Future of Portugal with players like Rui Peirerra and many others.

I made Madeira. Madeira is making Portugal.


And its time to move me to the next level.






South Africa rose to 19th ranked nation in the world. Yay!

[Abe Sargent]

Anyways, annoyingly, a few days later I find out that some bum, who was fired from Porto, got the job. I'm the better Manager, the better resume, and the better fit, and a person with international management experience, but I didn't get the job.

So I apply instead for the Chile job, which is open. But I don't speak Spanish, and Chile are a top ten club, and I doubt I'll have a shot. They consider me, but again, no thanks.

One national side left at that point - France. Hey, why not. France is crazy with this stuff. I apply.


And from there, we'll roll this thing back and pick up the club football in June.

[Abe Sargent]

Post World Cup:


Shirt sales last year were up!

1. Stepinski
2. Hojbjerg
3. Rocker
4. Lansbury
5. Lucas Castro

We moved to the 25th European Club!


Ah, Sebastien Renouard has retired.


38 loans finish and return to the club. . That’s right, 38 loans. Tons of loans.

Our season expectations are to challenge for the title. Okay then. We get 7.75 mill and 425k budget.

Mariusz Stepinski is our Player of the Year for the club, as elected by the fans.

We notched 2.08 Mill for TV rights for the Liga.

I check to see if any fancy players or prospects were let go. It seems like Estoril was given a couple of major youth prospects back in March.

JP Cardoso wasn’t the best rotational guy for me last year, so I need a solid 3rd/4th option behind Costa and Strandberg and young guy Mzizi. I’d love someone developed, solid, and experienced. He doesn’t have to be in a state of decline in his 30s or anything, just already there, and who has seen some stuff, and I can throw out against Chelsea or Barcelona or FC Bayern. I find a few, like Micah Richards or Chris Smalling, but they have very high opinions of themselves.

Others I scout – Wesley Lautoa, Adolphe Teikeu, and a few others here ann there, including a Georgian International. I like Teikeu a lot.

Perhaps I should also scout for a replacement for a pissed off Olexandr Bandura.

[Abe Sargent]

July 1 has arrived

After looking at scouting reports, I like a few GKs. I like USA Sean Johnson. Ther are a couple of Russian/Ukrainian folks that tweak my eye as potential tutors for my young GK potential. But there is another, more developed option that my scout suggested. 19 year old Henry Castellon, from Honduras. He’s better than a lot of others options, and has some room to grow.

I make an offer to Sean Johnson to be a backup for us for a year. I add Castellon to my shortlist.

Now, what about DC? My favorite of the lot is Wesley Lautoa, but he’s too pricey.

I make an offer to Adolphe Teikeu to by a DC (and DMC) for me.

I also make an offer to a young Mozambique youth player to bring him in and mentor him and grow him up.

Players leave and come. We’ll look at our only acquisition later.

We are now worth 73 mill

I get an offer to sell JP Cardoso to Braga, and I accept. We’ll get 400k for him.

We sign Sean Johnson, and the young Mozambique guy too. Then Teikeu joins us too.

[Abe Sargent]

Well crap. Barcelona just offered us 44 million for Hojbjerg. And our board forces us to accept. Zang.

Athletico made a bid for Rocker, buts it’s below his value and my asking price. I negotiate too high for them and they just withdraw their offer.

I need a new DMC.

Hojbjerg was unique – young, studly, our best player, and a great deep lying playmaker. And we got him from FC Bayern Munchen for free off a 6 month deal. No one is going to have that kind of player cheaply. But I’ll have some amazing cash to splash, so let’s look.

Actually, nevermind. There is an acceptable option right there on a free. Not super young, but a merc who’ll do yeoman’s work for us.

Cardoso has been signed. So has Hojbjerg.

I loan Worthington to Werder Bremen for the season.

I sign my Hojbjerg replacement. Comes in with a value of 7.5 mill. We’ll look at all of my transfers later.


I up a Valencia offer to Hernani Costa to too much and they withdraw.

[Abe Sargent]

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia have joined the EU officially.

We are 4-6 odds to win

Now we are worth 97 mill though, post Hojbjerg sale.

I look for a 4th ST.

After selling Sergio L. and Djaniny, and letting Franny walk, I have just Agra, Rocker and Stepinski.

I made an offer to a nice little ST. We’ll see what happens.

We win our friendly vs Freamunde 3-0.


I make a new contract offer to Canela.

I have too many AM/C youth prospects and not enough space to help them. I loan out Vitor Bereto again for that reason.

We sign my new guy for 1.2 mill, but I had ot loan him back as part of the deal for the year. We’ll look at him soon. He’s more of a prospect than an immediate starter anyway.

I head in a different direction for my backup/rotation striker, to bring a bit more experience to the squad.


We have the away match vs Santana. We win

[Abe Sargent]

I have accepted an invitation to play at Bolton and Carlisle as part of an English tour. I have played both Bolton and Carlisle in FM dynasties!


Welcome to Bolton (my favorite club in this dynasty)! 2-2 tie. We do beat Carlisie 6-0 though, which was nice.

Our final person signed for us, an older Striker. I consider one final person. That GK from Honduras was never approached by anyone. But I like him a lot. I offer to bring him in as a hot prospect, and he agrees. Even with GK Olexandr Bandura’s departure, it’s one too many GKs, but I can’t let him linger, that’s just bad business. If/when he signs, then I’ll show you all of my new blood.

[Abe Sargent]

As right now, Rodrigues is considered the second best Portuguese player after Ronaldo!


When I look at him. Damn! We’ll look at my youthers one year later too.

GK Henry Castellon signs with us.


Alright, I think I have the pieces assembled for a post-Hojbjerg world. Let’s begin:



GK Sean Johnson, 29, USA, 4k/week, for one year, worth 205k, he’s never played outside of Chicago professionally, so this is very new territory for him, but fellow American GK Fabian Ruiz is here for him. Plus, he’s just here for a year unless things morph into something much different. Speaks English, and is Resolute.

I like some of his Mentals – 19 team work, 18 anticipation, 17 work rate, 16 determination, 15 decisions. Has 18 jump, 19 strength, 17 agility, 10/9 speed.

Now I love a GK with great aerial, reflexes, and 1:1. He has 11/11/8. Not what I want. (For example Ruiz has 15/16/17). Admittedly, Ruiz is very good. So he’s a smart and physical GK with less technical ability. Which you probably already knew.


Welcome to the island big guy!

[Abe Sargent]

How about the next GK?


GK Henry Castellon, 18, Honduras, Resolute, Similar Type of player to Fabian Ruiz, speaks Spanish, and basic English, 15 caps for Honduras, 4.2k/week, until 2020, 43k value, hot prospect, played for Real Sociedad in Honduras. 4 star review.

Physical – 10, 12, 12, 16, 12, 9, 12, 16
Mental - 16, 12, 10, 18, 14, 5, 12, 15, 2, 12, 1, 13, 14, 13
GK - 12, 15, 13, 11, 6, 8, 14, 11, 14, 2, 11, 10, 12, 11

He’s only signed because no one else had found him. He’s our secret!

Enjoy Madeira!

[Abe Sargent]

How about attackers?


AMC/MC Sebastian Driussi, 22, Argentina, 52k/week, key player, 12.75 Mill, through 2021. 4.5 star review, Like I said, I have too many of these dorks on my roster of quality. He can play ST though some without embarrassing himself. He’s a clone of our Defederico/Lucas Castro AMC person, a nasty Argentine with a tendency to blow people out of the water (we hope). Resilient, speaks Spanish, Italian, Dutch, 7 caps, 3 goals. Because we now make money, and we have a good reputation, we are able to start fighting for these guys. I figured we’d lose him to our competition, and win the other guy, but it was the opposite. Ah well, here we are!

Physical – 17, 14, 16, 9, 13, 16, 17, 15
Mental – 12, 15, 9, 17, 12, 15, 14, 15, 14, 13, 12, 16, 18
Technical – 14, 13, 14, 15, 14, 13, 11, 17, 7, 10 16, 15, 14, 15

That’s a nasty player folks. On the level of Costa or Canela, but without spending any dough. Not at Rodrigues or Hojbjerg level though. My favorite aspects including a 16 passing, 17/16 speed, and 15 finishing with 17 long shots, and 15 dribbling. This guy is going to just unfurl on the liga. Most of my signings fill gaps, needs, and prospects. This is the only one to push us. You win the league on December 30 when you have the best chance of signing the best players for next year. That’s why I invest an hour or more scouting folks and finding the talent – Hojbjerg, Rocker, Pflugler, Defederico, Castro, Stepinski, Strandberg and now Driussi. And he was capped this summer for Argentina in their great World Cup campaign.


Come to the best place to play football in the liga!

[Abe Sargent]

What about Strikers?


ST, AM L Junior Barrios, Peru, Professional, speaks Spanish, Quechua, Aymara, paid 1.2 mill to sign him from a Mexican club – Morelia. Worth 725, paid 10k/week, hot prospect, through 2021. This is my future Agra/Stepinski/Rocker guy is things work well (and I suspect they will). On loan back to Morelia for the year. He has some unusual and attractive qualities. Let’s look.

Physical – 16, 15, 8, 8, 14, 14, 12, 13
Mental – 9, 8, 8, 5, 13, 4, 9, 13, 11, 12, 13, 8, 18, 14
Technical – 11, 13, 14, 16, 13, 11, 6, 12, 3, 9, 16, 10, 12, 11

Alright, let’s unpack him – fast – 16/14 is obvious, and 16 finishing makes sense. What else? Well, in addition to solid stuff like 16 passing, 14 dribbling, and such, note that he has an unusual 12 in tackling, 9 marking and 13 strength for a prospect still developing. If those continue to improve, we may have a very unusual defensively minded forward to experiment with.


So, welcome to the club!

[Abe Sargent]

And here is the present


ST Jan Holenda, 32, Czech, 18k/week, speaks Russian, Slovak, Czech, Fairly Professional, worth 46k, signed for two years. This pride of Sparta Prague who since left for Russia was available, with a great career that can help us. With the leaving of Franny Castro, all of my strikers were young. I felt a hand coming in to guide them would be of great help. Jan is perfectly fine as my 3rd/4th Striker, and fits what I needed perfectly.

Phys – 10, 11, 16, 13, 15, 12, 14, 15
Mental – 15, 15, 13, 14, 15, 10, 13, 14, 13, 11, 15, 13, 16, 16
Tech – 7, 7, 7, 13, 12, 5, 16, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 7, 11

So, not a technically proficient player not any more, but smart. Smart as all get out. He knows football. He’s one of the bones of experience that create a skeleton I can splice a bunch of youth onto.


So welcome!



Awww, he’s giving Madeira one big hug!

[Abe Sargent]

DC, DMC Adolphe Teikeu, 28, Cameroon, Fairly Professional, Speaks English, Russian, English, basic Ukrainian, signed for 15.25k/week, through 2021, squad rotation, 84k value. Played in the Ukrainian Premier League for years and years.

Why this guy? Excellent questions!

Physical stats? 9, 13, 9, 18, 19, 13, 16, 19. So yes, not a fast guy, but huge reach and strength.

Mental? 16, 9, 16, 19, 8, 12, 11, 13, 13, 11, 11, 9, 14, 16 – So he’s got a lot to offer there as well. Again, he knows the game.

Technical – 7, 10, 4, 14, 14, 6, 17, 14, 20, 15, 10, 11, 14, 9. Generally, I’m not a fan of a DC with such a low passing (10). I don’t like them getting intercepted by pacey STs that then get on goal. But the guy has a huge heading/jumping, and the strength to keep folks away. He has enough tackling and marking to be dangerous, and if he had better positioning and concentration, he’d be my starter. That’s his issue - slower, not great positioning, and weak passing. That’s why he can’t be a starter for a year. But he can be for a few games to spell for injury or something.



The Island welcomes you!

[Abe Sargent]

DMC, DC, MC Sergio da Sousa Ines, Mozambique, 18, Fairly professional, 3.5 star rating, speaks Portuguese. 12 caps, 1 goal. 4000 weekly, though 2021, 41k value, hot prospect. Not great. Not an amazing prospect or anything. Just a chance to help a countryman.

Best stuff? Umm…12 passing and tackling? 10 head and mark? 15 composure? 14 work rate? Not a lot of great stuff really. But we can bring him in, train him up, and keep him in professional football.



Alright, now its time. You know about all of those in one way or the other. But I never told you who I signed to be Hojbjerg’s replacement. It’s nice. Very nice. Now, it’s not some amazing player with a huge reputation in the football world, like a Philipp Lahm from Germany or someone. Nope. But I do like him. A lot. No, he’s not as good as Hojbjerg, but as panic replacement, he works quite well. I hope.

[Abe Sargent]

MC, DC Giannelli Imbula, 25, DR Congo, Belgium, France; speaks French, 7 caps, can also play the ML and DL spots competently. Fairly Determined, he was playing for OM in Ligue 1 for years. He’s been in French football all of his life. We are paying him 35k a week, through 2022, and he’s worth 7.75 mill right away. Wanna see my guy?


Physical – 17, 16, 16, 14, 15, 15, 16, 17 - Those are quite nice. He’s already strong.

Mental – 10, 15, 12, 16, 13, 14, 15, 15, 13, 10, 14, 13, 15, 15 – No complaints here at all. He’s played the game long enough to get it.

Technical – 8, 12, 15, 8, 16, 11, 13, 15, 6, 13, 17, 10, 11, 16 – Okay, where is he good? Passing of 17, technique and first touch of 16, dribb of 15. He’s a great Deep Lying Playmaker, although I’d like a bit more tackling (11), but hey, he’s not perfect. He’s patch for a hole in my 5 year plan created by Barcelona’s never-ending pocketbooks.

In my opinion, Imbula is a very strong pick up. And he was free!


Imbula, you complete us!

[Abe Sargent]

Now, let’s look at my major youth prospects one year later.


And we have to begin with Rodrigues. Holy crap!

Here he is in August 2017


Physical – 18, 14, 16, 12, 18, 17, 16, 13
Mental – 11, 11, 11, 11, 11, 13, 13, 13, 13, 11, 12, 13, 10, 15
Tech – 6, 12, 16, 7, 14, 4, 13, 11, 14, 12, 12, 10, 16, 14


And now, today in July 2018


Physical – 19, 15, 17, 12, 19, 18, 16, 14
Mental – 11, 13, 11, 12, 12, 14, 14, 13, 13, 12, 12, 15, 11, 15
Technical – 6, 12, 16, 8, 14, 4, 13, 12, 15, 13, 12, 10, 16, 14

Dang! He is the fastest mother you see on the pitch. No one is as fast as him. I currently have his asking price at an unbelievable 60 mill, and there are still 3 clubs chasing him – Man City, Man Utd and Liverpool. At the age of 19, this child of Funchal, Madeira, is the 2nd best current player for Portugal, and 11 caps to his name. Like Ronaldo, both came through our ranks, and both are from this city. He is the studliest of all studs. I have never gotten a wonderkid to grow this quickly this well. He is my crowning achievement. Joao Luis Rodrigues. His majesty.


And our first one!


Hernani Costa


Here he was last year, this time:

Physical – 13, 14, 13, 15, 9, 13, 14, 16
Mental – 3, 13, 10, 13, 14, 11, 13, 7,6, 9, 8, 14, 15, 16
Tech – 7, 6, 10, 6, 13, 6, 13, 7, 5, 17, 12, 9, 14, 9


And today, July 2018


Phys – 13, 16, 13, 15, 10, 14, 16, 16

Mental – 3, 14, 10, 13, 14, 12, 14, 18, 7, 11, 10, 16, 15, 16

Tech – 8, 7, 11, 7, 13, 7, 14, 8, 6, 18, 12, 9, 14, 9

Good news and bad news. Is the 20 year old still improving? Sure! But he’s beginning to hit that plateau, you can tell, because they are starting to slow down. Those technical stats are very similar to the ones before. Nevertheless, he has been capped at 8 times, and is the second best DC for Portugal, and has room for growth and Tottenham and Liverpool are chasing him.


Canela?

Here he was last year:

Physical – 16, 14, 12, 11, 16, 16, 13, 15 -

Mental – 9, 14, 7, 8, 9, 7, 11, 17, 9, 12, 6, 15, 12, 14 –

Technical – 8, 12, 9, 9, 14, 9, 15, 14, 12, 13, 16, 3, 18, 10 –


And now, July, 2018


Phys – 16, 14, 12, 11, 16, 17, 14, 16
Mental – 9, 15, 7, 10, 10, 8, 12, 17, 10, 13, 7, 16, 12, 14
Tech – 7, 13, 10, 14, 9, 15, 14, 12, 14, 16, 3, 18, 10

So some improvement, which is great. He’s being tutored by Lansbury, and we think they are a similar type of player, so that should prove fruitful. Not as much improvement as I hoped for, but he’s still getting better.


Get ready Ruiz it out!

Last year:

Phys – 10, 13, 15, 15, 13, 9, 11, 17, (5)
Mental – 9, 13, 9, 13, 13, 3, 14, 17, 1, 14, 13, 11, 15
GK – 15, 16, 15, 8, 7, 10, 15, 14, 15, 1, 16, 8, 9, 12


And now, July, 2018

Phys - 11, 14, 16, 15, 13, 9, 11, 17
Ment – 9, 14, 10, 13, 13, 3, 14, 17, 1, 15, 1, 14, 12, 15
Tech – 15, 17, 16, 8, 7, 10, 16, 14, 17, 1, 16, 8, 9, 14

I was working on his throwing this year in training. It went from 12 to 14. Even at 24 dude is getting better (GKs often do)


Ready to Rock this?

Andreas Rocker


Last year

Physical – 15, 13, 12, 12, 10, 15, 16, 15
Mental – 9, 15, 9, 16, 11, 10, 13, 18, 10, 12, 17, 10, 10, 14.

I forgot to jot down his technical, but he had a 17 finishign and some other fun stuff.


Rocker, July, 2018

Phys – 15, 15, 13, 13, 10, 16, 17, 16
Mental – 9, 16, 9, 17, 13, 12, 13, 18, 11, 13, 18, 12, 11, 14
Tech – 13, 12, 16, 19, 14, 11, 14, 13, 7, 9, 15, 12, 9, 14

That’s nasty.




One more…

Pflugler last year:

Physical -12, 12, 13, 7, 13, 15, 13, 13
Mental – 14, 12, 10, 13, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 8, 17, 16
Technical – 9, 10, 13, 11, 14, 10, 9, 14, 9, 9, 14, 10, 9, 14


And now today, 2018 July

Phys – 13, 14, 14, 7, 14, 16, 14, 14
Mental – 14, 13, 10, 14, 13, 14, 13, 12, 13, 13, 13, 9, 17, 16
Technical – 11, 10, 14, 12, 15, 10, 10, 15, 10, 11, 14, 11, 10, 15

Not bad improvement across the board. But as suspected, not ready to really be my AMC guy. So that’s why I signed my stud.

[Abe Sargent]

Value of my players:

Rocker, 16 mill
Strnadberg, 15.25
Driussi, 12.75
Stepinski, 12.75
Lansbury, 11.125
Canela, 9.75
Imbula, 7.75
Costa, 7.5
Rodrigues, 7.5
Ruiz, 5
Pflugler, 3.2
Komorski, 3.2
Mzizi, 2.75
Rui Periera, 1.2

Those are the ones worth a mill or more

Mentoring:

Canela with Lansbury
Mzizi with Strandberg
Pedro Pereira with Maxi P


By the way, we are the only team listed as “Rich” in Portugal.


Alright, now that we done looking at things, let’s play some football!


Tactics?

Set Pieces:

All done.

Now question – is Driussi best used as an Advanced Playmaker, Attack? My staff suggest him as a Shadow Striker. I don’t even know what that is. But I know my tactic works. I have a DMC to control the game, and an attack down five lanes of traffic, with four people behind to assist in various roles. It works.

So, until I figure out something better, I’ll stick with Advanced Playmaker – Attack for Driussi.

[bbgunn]

Nice run there with Bafana Bafana... something to hang your hat on. And I'm sure that, even without Hojbjerg Madeira will keep on keepin' on.

[Abe Sargent]

August, 2018

11th – Supertaca vs Porto
19th – Home vs Tondela
26th – Away vs Academica


Good training was Sousa, Rui P and H Costa.



South Africa were drawn in Group E of the African Cup of Nations Qualifying Group:

Equatorial Guinea
Mauritania
Sudan
South Africa


We have six South African matches set up for September – November to qualify.

Maxi P is injured for a couple of weeks with a damaged shin in training just before the Supertaca begins.

Marcio Sousa turned 17 and I offer him his first professional contract.

I get a 15 mill offer for Stepinksi from Stakhtar. Huh. I doubled it, expecting them to leave, which is what I usually do, and they accepted. Now I have to accept the offer. Dammit. I want to load the game. I don’t touch the offer, maybe it’ll go away if I don’t look at it or confirm it. (In real life, I could say, how about 35 million, and they could say, okay, and then I could say, no ,never mind, and they couldn’t say “Hey, no take backs!”)

[Abe Sargent]

I begin defensive against Porto in the Supertaca. Driussi hits Stepinski for a long shot in the 28th. Rocker scores when they tackle Stepinksi nicely, but forget all about him. 2-0 by the 33rd. Canela with an interception jump starts a counter that gotes to Rocker, Stepinksi and finally Driussi for a score in the 44th – he scored on his debut. In a Cup match! 3-0 at the half, with a defensive tactic. Keep it up! They begin the next half with a lot of pressure. But we manage. First sub is Pflugler in for a tired, not match fit, Driussi. They score in the 64th. Franco heads in for Canela. They power another goal in the 75th. Ruiz is injured and picks up a knock. They score a IFK in injury time and its 3-3 and extra time. Stepinski gets a knock, Ruiz a yellow. Ruiz clears the ball deep and Pflugler is onto it in the etackle box, but they foul him. PK in the 117th. Injured, Stepinski scores. We hold on. We win, 4-3 in ET. MOM was Stepinski.

Stepinski is out for a week with a bruised rib. Ruiz is fine.

Marcio Sousa is now a professional, with a nice deal through 2021.

I make Fabian Ruiz our captain and leave Strandberg our Vice. Everyone likes it, even Stefan.

Okay, I can reject the offer now for Stepinski -0 I don’t know what changed, but it did, and I do. Whew!



I connect Henry Castellon with Sean Johnson

[Abe Sargent]

Our first match of the season arrives against my favorite club and yours, Tondela! I kind of want to jump ship to Tondela and see what I could do. We hope for many goals. We have a controlling metric. I even like Tondela’s kit. I can’t tell you how boring it is to see a white kit with black letters all the time for us. Stepinski gets a great shot, the GK had to come out to stop it, and Komorski had the rebound and an open next and scored in the 4th minute. Driussi to Rocker in the 15th called offside. But it’s on side 2 minutes later. Driussi and Stepinski still lack match fitness, so I’ll likely pull them early for someone. Rocker to Druissi after a lovely Komorski pass found him deep. Lansbury crosses to Rocker for a score. 4-0 at the half. Keep it up! I put in Rui Pereira and Jorge Agra for the tired twins. Komorski just outpaced two defenders ran deep, crosses to Lansbury, who crossed back to a now open Agra who scores. Just nasty, nasty stuff. Final sub – Mzizi for Strandberg. Tondela have some pressure late. They almost score like 4 times. But they don’t and we win 5-0. Rocker is MOM. Good win!

[Abe Sargent]

Ladies and gentlemen. I would like to make an announcement. As of 20 Aug, 2018, Clube Desportivo Nacional da Madeira is now rocking an estimated value of 112 Mill Euros.


Porto – 245 Mill
Sporting – 44.5 mill
Benfica – 221 Mill
Braga – 14.5 Mill
Vit G – 8.5
Maritimo – 1.7
Tondela – 33.5 Mill


I get my board to approve more scouts and improvement for our youth facilities.

8 of my players in Team of the Week.

My three new scouts –

Ex-player, Tunisian Haythem Ben Salem
Ex-international, Latvian Denis Ivanovs
Ex-international, Ghana Derek Boateng

I add:

UK & Ireland
South Asia
Oceania



Out next game arrives away at Academica. I move Teikeu into the starting roster for Strandberg. Again, we hope for many goals for 2. Druissi hits a goal, sort of. He hit the ball so hard the GK had to dive to stop it, and then it rolled in – counts as an OG on the sheets. But a point for us in the 2nd minute. We are playing sloppy. Room for improvement in half 2! I ease us into counter. They are pushing ahead lots. They score off a counter in the 69th minute. I sub in Pflugler for Komorski, and then move to control and high tempo. And Rocker hits in the 73rd from a Stepinski shot, deflected to him. Rui Perreira heads in. Last sub – Strandberg for Costa. Game. MOM is not on our team. We should have won that one better. But Teikeu looked good in the game.

We have sold 1000 more season tickets this year than last. Like 4400 total tickets – that’s craz yin Portugal.

[Abe Sargent]

We made another cool 8.6 Mill for the sexy Champions money. Give it me!



We are in Group B:

Tottenham
Dortmund
Nacional da Madeira
Club Brugge

That’s not an easy group. Remember, Tottenham won the Champion and Euro twice in the last five years.

By the end of the transfer window, I have loaned out…29 people.

[Abe Sargent]

September

2nd -Home vs Sporting
15th – Away at Vit. Setubal
18th – Home vs Club Brugge, Group B
23rd – Home vs Benfica
30th – Away vs P. Ferreira


South Africa

8 - Away vs Mauritania, AN Qual
12 – Home vs Equatorial Ginea, Quals



Luis Carlos, Paulo Franco and Canela were good in training.

Andreas Rocker won Player of the Month.

[Abe Sargent]

I head back and take a look at my goals. These were the ones I set for myself after winning the liga in the 3rd year and hitting all of my 1st goals:

We need new goals!

1). Win the Liga again next year.
2). Get out of the Group Stage of the Champions Cup
3). Get the club to 100m value
4). Win all Cups in the same year
5). Get to the Finals of European play.

So let’s see. Done, Done, Done, and Done.

And the Finals is obviously a dream that I would love to make, but really, where are we, you know?


So, here’s the thing. Is it time for new goals? Do I have another season of play in me? Losing out on the Portugal National Spot was rough. I was really looking forward to it. France still hasn’t made a decision. I’ve played African sides almost constantly in FM. I don’t really want to do another African Cup of Nations Qual and Tournament.

I have taken Madeira to beyond my expectations for the club – we’ve even exceeded my second set of goals.

What else?

Reasonable goals might include:

1). Become #1 in Portuguese Hall of Fame
2). Develop Rui Pereira to Stud Level
3). Finish developing Agra
4). Make another deep Champions Run


The one good thing about having a lot of youth starting in roles is they get better and better. You can imagine how nasty Rocker will get, and Stepinski improved, as is Komorski, Costa, Rodrigues, Ruiz, Canela, and such. So yes, the loss of Hojbjerg is hard, and Skolnik is gone, but:

We are better in ST than we were last year
We are better in GK than we were last year
We are much better at DC than we were last year
We are better at DR/L than we were last year
We are better at AMC than we were last year
We are slightly worse at MR/L than we were last year
We are worse at DMC than we were last year

That’s an improved roster, right? Clearly we are better. We are going to blow people off the mountain. Sure, the occasional game against Braga or Benfica or Porto might be close, well, her, let’s find out for sure. I have Sporting in two days here at home. Let’s play against them full throttle, and see what happens.

What I suspect will happen is we will dominate them. Last year we throttled the rest of the league, but regularly mistimed against the big boys. Not always, we got 4 points from Benfica. But I think we have gotten to the point that we will rockhammer folks off the pitch. And that might be fun at first, but quickly boring.

And if I’m just playing for the European matches and such, well, that’s not really a lot. But let’s find out.

[Abe Sargent]

Sporting, here we go.

Get us revenge! Begin controlling, I do.

Goals:

Goal 1 – Komorski, 12th minute
Goal 2 – Komorski, 19th minute
Half
Goal 3 – Holenda, 67th minute


Okay, sure, it was just a game at home, and Sporting isn’t really a major threat to us anymore and it’s like they turned in their Big Three badge a couple of seasons ago.

But that’s also part of the point. If Sporting doesn’t matter, and if Maritimo doesn’t matter (and they haven’t not for a while), then who is left?

As of right now, we everyone having 3 games under their belt, we are the only club with three wins. We began in 1st, because of the huge GD in the first win, and we could have it the entire seasons. That’s boring. Want to chase meaningless records all over mary’s barn? Win more seasonal awards?

There’s nothing left to chase, except for European play, and that takes too long to get too, and is too easily to disappoint for me. Shoot, I might qualify out of our group.

I could sweep Club Brugge. Then win against Dotmund or Tottenham here in Madeira, steal a tie somewhere, finish with 10 or 11 points and get 2nd.

Or I could get mauled by Tottenham, and Dortmund – they are both better clubs. And Club Brugge might be the one stealing wins from me. And then boom, I’m last again.

So here’s what I have to look forward to – a bunch of blows outs on my side, and then anything from 2nd to 4th in the Champions league Group Stage, year after year.

Sure, I fought tooth and nail to get here, and I’m happy that we are on the mountaintop. But that’s it. I have gotten Madeira to the top. Sure, we’ll climb up a bit more. We’ll crack the Top 20 clubs in Europe like Benfica/Porto had (Benfica is still there, we’ll swap for Porto’s spot likely) and might eventually, get us to the 2 spot in Group Stages rather than the 3 spot.

We are rich, we are 25th in Europe, we are upgrading our youth facilities, we have a nasty squad, and we are now worth 118 M. For the first time, ever, we have a season ticket sold for every seat in the stadium. We have expanded our scouting, training, coaching, and staffing from every angle. Almost 50% of our merchandise sales head abroad to other nations.

[Abe Sargent]

Canela has just been added to the Brazilian Senior Squad. Costa was MOM in Portugal’s friendly vs Romania, Canela got his first cap ( I congratulate him). Strandberg got his first international goal.

I run the two South African matches. We win against Mauritania 1-0 – Vilakazi’s first goal, MOM, and I debuted someone at ST too. Then we play Equatorial Guinea and win 3-0. One of our DCs, Ramahlwe Mphahlele scored his first goal for South Africa. MOM is again Vilakazi.


Good job Ramahlwe Mphahlele!