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Old 04-29-2014, 03:06 PM   #101
Abe Sargent
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Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Catonsville, MD
World Cup 2014:

France crushes Russia 5-1
England brushes aside Sweden 3-1

Setting up a France vs England Final





We have our first friendly today, on the 10th. I move GK Baptista to the starting role. We are hosting Unao Madeira, in the 2nd league. I barely watch it. Adriano hits Rondon for a score in the 63rd. Final score. Rondon MOM.

Jota had been loaned to Vit. Setubal for the season.

Gottardi has officially left the club – he wants to play in the Champions League.

Nuno Campos is loaned to Beira-Mar.

Normal Win Bonuses. We are 40-1 odds to win. 4-6 for Porto, 4-6 for Benfica, Even for Sporting, 2-1 for Braga.
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Old 04-29-2014, 03:07 PM   #102
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Sweden loses 0-1 to Russia and comes in 4th. Who wins?




After a 1-1 game, England defeat France in penalty kicks to win their 1st World Cup since the 60s.


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Old 04-29-2014, 06:44 PM   #103
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Our target has turned down two Italian clubs in Serie B to join us.

Welcome our last, unexpected, player to join us


GK Sebastian Peratta, 7.25k, contract for a year, with a 15game deal to extend it by a year. 37 years young. Argentina and Italy. Speaks Spanish, Italian. Started in the Argentinian Premier Division for three squads for 10 years off and on, mostly on. He knows football. He’s won the division twice for two different clubs.

Okay, let’s do comparison. Which GK, Peratta, or Gottardi is better?

Same in Shot Stopping, Distribution. Peratta is better at physical, Speed, mental, slightly worse in aerial, and worse in eccentricity and communication.

Where is Peratta best? Obviously mental – that’s why he’s here, right?

17 Determin; 16 – Composure, Leadership, Anticipation; 15 – Bravery, Positioning; 14 Work Rate, Concentration; 13 Teamwork, Decisions; 12 Aggression (8 flair, 3 OTB, 4 creativity)

Obviously, that’s why I brought him. I’m handing him the captain’s 4 pips.

Physical? 11/10 speed, 15 – fitness, 14 – Jump, Balance, 13 – Agi, 12 – Stam, 11 Str

Adequate for his age, and he’s better here than our 28year old guy was

GK – 15 – Reflexes, 14 – 1:1, 13 – Kick, Punch, Penalty, 12 – Handling, Free Kick; 11 – Aerial, Communication, Eccentricity; 10 – Command, Rush, 8 Throw, 9 First Touch

So, his technical attributes are his weakness. This has probably eroded overtime, but for us, he’s worth it. And he’ll be helping us establish dominance in Europe and Portugal. He is also the 2nd player on my squad who is older than me!

Welcome Peratta!

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Old 04-29-2014, 07:41 PM   #104
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Join Date: Dec 2001
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And you are joining:

Mario Rondon:




Mexer:




Daniel Candeais:




Joao Aurelio:




Dejan Skolnik:




Djaniny:




And even Rafa:

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Old 04-29-2014, 08:02 PM   #105
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Alright, I’m feeling really excited with my new additions.

Let’s see what we can do tactically

We are turning the AMC role into an Advanced Playmaker one, with Defederico in the role initially, and Javi can slide over as needed. Our coaches recommend we play Andrei Marc in an Anchor Man role as the DM. However, he seems fine as a typical DMC too. I’m a leave him at that, just like Rafa played last year. He’s got 16 stamina, so that shouldn’t be as much of an issue as it was last year with a tired or yellow Rafa. Rondon remains in a target man attack role, and the other is the advanced forward. I am going to try out something different this year – I’m giving Freire a Stopper duty and Mexer a Cover one.

I am naming Peratta the Captian. Skolnik remains the vice. I make some alterations to our set pieces as well, because a lot of my new folks are just better than my current establishment.


Rafa comes to find me, apparently I have a lot of angry players who feel I made the change too soon. I don’t think I handled Rafa very well. He’s not at all happy with how I handled the conversation. He can just deal with it from the bench.



I move Carlos Mariano to squad rotation. I offer ST Joaquim Sousa a new contract. His ends in 2015. Sousa is better than Jardel, who’s like 4th-ish in my roster right now. So I suspect I’ll be playing Sousa more this year.

We have another friendly today on the 17th verse the Maritimo B squad. Mexer gives away a PK which they get, then Skolnik scores in the 10th minute. Defederico in the 14th. Rondon in the 34th. Rondon in 66th. We win 4-1. Rondon MOM

I send 3 players to affiliate clubs. J Sousa has penned a new deal.
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Old 04-29-2014, 09:10 PM   #106
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Today we have an away game vs Malaga, and we’ll make 75k for it. I begin countering. I like having a few challenging friendlies like this one – it can’t be all pancakes and butterflies. After banging on the door a lot, they finally knock one down in the 43rd minute. Mexer just gave away another penalty in the box in the 47th minute. That’s a problem. Reginaldo feeds Djaniny for a score in the 72nd. They fire off a nasty long shot for a goal in the 85th minute. That’s game. We lost 3-1.


Pitch stays at minimum size.


After beating on the net all half long, Adriano finally scores against Santana in the 44th minute. Defederico scores a minute later. 2-0 half time. They get header off corner. Freire does the same in the 73rd minute. Jardel scores in the 82nd. We win 4-1. MOM was Freire.
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Old 04-29-2014, 10:07 PM   #107
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Join Date: Dec 2001
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August, 2014


4th – Friendly, Away at Freamunde
9th – Friendly, Away at Camacha
16th – Home vs Porto
24th – Away vs Portimonense


We really liked Miguel Rodrigues, Jose Morreira and Joaquim Sousa in training. But bad Carlos Mariano, bad!


A Romanian squad has made an offer for fellow Mozambique player Zainadine Junior. He’s just a backup. I’m inclined to agree. I also agree to a loan offer from a 2nd division squad, Beira-Mar for Jardel, for the first team.

On the 4th, Djaniny has gained Portuguese citizenship. He is now an EU National. Our friendly arrives. We crush 8-2 over Freamunde, and Adriano had 5 goals.

I offer Rafa for free on transfer, no one is interested, so we mutually terminate for 45k. I didn’t want him to leave that way, but I don’t mind that he’s gone.

We loaned out JP Cardoso to Uniao Madeira.

The Chair, Rui Alves was initially dis-satisifed when I said we needed a new Feeder club, but I was able to convince him to get a new one. I’d like one abroad. Or at least on the mainland.

I make an offer to a nice young player on the U20 squad for Mozambique. Jardel’s loan is official.
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Old 04-30-2014, 02:32 PM   #108
Abe Sargent
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Join Date: Dec 2001
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Our final friendly has arrived. We win 3-0 on the road. Yay us. This included a virtually perfect DFK score by Javi Espinosa, right off the top corner bar and into the top right corner.He was MOM.

We have signed hot prospect Simao Cordeiro, the Mozambique player. He’s an 18 year old DC we have signed for two years at a cheap 120/week. Our scouts thought he was just adequate, but he’s cheap, and a decent guy to work on.

His stats:

Phy – 11/9 speed, 18 Str, 14 jump, 11 Bal, Fit, Stam, 10 Agi
Mental – 17 Aggression, 15 Deter, 14 Work Rate, 10 Team work, everything else single digits
Tech – 11 Head, 10 Mark, Tack, everything else single digits.

Not amazing or anything. I offer to teach him the DR spot. I rejected a loan offer by Freamunde for Simao Cordeiro since they just wanted him to be a backup. Camacha offers to start him in a loan, so I agree.

The Preseason Presser Was held. Now it’s time to get ready to host Porto.

Our starting 11:

GK – Sebastian Peratta
DR – Joao Aurelio
DC – Mexer, Freire
DL – Luis Martins
MR – Daniel Candeais
ML – Dejan Skolnik
DMC – Andrei Marc
AMC – Matias Defederico
ST – Mario Rondon, Adriano

Bench:

Djaniny, Joaquim Sousa
Hernani Costa, Miguel Rodrigues
Carlos Mariano, Javi Espinosa, Sequeira
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Old 04-30-2014, 02:51 PM   #109
Abe Sargent
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I begin against Porto Standard. The first 12 minutes neither side seems to be dominating – each Is adding something and making moves. That continues on for a while. Neither side has major chances – each are seeming to reach a bit. 0-0 at the half. Rigght now, they’ve had 9 shots, 4 on target, we’ve had 7 and 3. We’ve each had it 50% of the time, won more than 75% of our tackles, and 66% of our headers and 65% of theirs. Pretty even. The next half is underway. One of their DCs collects a yellow card. Porto are picking up steam in the 2nd half and controlling it a lot more. I move to counter. I pull Adriano for Djaniny. Sub 2 – Skolnik out for Sequeira. I pull Andrei Marc for Miguel Rodrigues in the 87th minute. Rondon turns over the ball stupidly and they get a break and score in the 88th minute. It ws a really horrible pass, after I said, keep possession 20 minutes ago. I’m very disappointed in that. They finished with 27 and 12 shots, and we just were about to get a clean sheet until we gave them one too many opportunities at goal.

I am very complementary to Porto in our Conference. After all, their manager was also born in Mozambique, and I am kind to my fellow countryman. He was one of the people who suggested the league in the first place to me!
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Old 04-30-2014, 06:50 PM   #110
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I agree to get some people to mentor others. I get Adriano to mentor Joaquim Sousa, which should help, since our staff think that he is a similar type of player to Adriano. I have Daniel Candeais working with Jose Goncalves, and now I want to try Mexer and Hernani Costa, but Mexer isn’t old enough (25).

We have a shortlist of five potential feeder clubs. They are:

Fortuna Sittard – Jupiler League, Holland
Catanzaro – Serie C1/C, Italy
Foggia – Serie CI/C, Italy
U Cluj – 2nd Division in Romania.
Paganese, Serie C1, C, Italy

I actually like U Cluj first and Fortuna Sittard 2nd.

They are our new feeder team.

For our next match, we are traveling to newly promoted Portimonense. I will be starting Javi Espinosa today at the ML slot. We’ll begin our road game on the road. They get a DFK off the crossbar in the 6th minute and we are already down! Uh oh. Luckily for us, Defederico hits Rondon for a score in a few minutes later. Adriano drives hard for about 35 yards down the left side of the pitch to the box, then finds Espinosa, who passes to Rondon who shoots, the ball is blocked, but finds the rebound and puts it away in the 13th minute. Andrei Marc injures one of their players and they half to go off in the 24th. Their GK misses a pass after a GK and had come way out of the box. Marc finds the ball and heads it up long, Rondon runs under it and into the box, but is fouled by a desperate DC wanting to keep him from his hatrick in the 25th minute. So now he’s taking a PK instead. In. Daniel Candeais gets the ball, shoots, it rebounds off the left post and back into play right into Javi Espinosa’s legs, who puts it away and we are up 4-1 in the 31st minute. He scored in his debut for us! Rondon finds Candeais who finds Defederico for a goal in the 33rd minute. 5-1. These guys are nasty together. A long throw by Peratta after a major offensive jump starts a Daniel Candeais counter attack and he crosses to Adriano who scores in the 40th minute. Espinosa feeds Adriano on the wing who runs into the box and scores in extra time of the first half. 7-1 at the half. I don’t even think I know what to say on a half like this…don’t get complacent? Pull off the GK cause they won’t get 6 on shot targets in the next half? Candeais feeds Defederico who dribbles into the right corner, hoofs it to Rondon, who gets his 4th score in the 47th minute. At this rate, we might score 15 points. Two of their players, frustrated, just collected yellows. I’m still Standard in tactics – haven’t made any changes there. Desperate, they fire a long shot and its on target, 8-2 in the 50th minute. 1st sub – Sequeira for Aurelio. 2nd sub – Rodrigues for Marc. 3rd sub – Adriano out for J Sousa. Game. MOM is obviously Rondon.

This was Aurelio’s 125th game for us. This is the biggest for us in league play ever. It’s the most goals scored in the game in recent memory in the league. NINE of our players were selected in the Team of the Week. We had the GK, all 4 defenders, 3 middles, and a striker. Only Adriano and Marc were not included.
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Old 04-30-2014, 08:01 PM   #111
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After damaging his heel, Freire will be out for two weeks. I’ll rotate in our young dynamite guy, Hernani Costa.

The final game of August is our away game against Benfica. Can we channel the previous away game into it? I make no changes to my starting 11, wanting to capture the moment. We’ll start with a Counter set up. Carry on where you left off! I also have a retain possession instruction immediately. They foul Adriano in the penalty box early, and he;’s injured. I replace him with Dj and Rondon scores. Then they score twice in the next three minutes and I order my folks to close down more and such. No more scores, we get to the half down 2-1. And we have a very quiet second half where little happens and finish that way.

Simao Cordeiro is MOM against Ghana’s U20 squad in the African Champ Quals.

I reject a loan offer for Miguel Rodrigues. I accept a few for some other folks though.

As the transfer window closes, we currently have 14 people on loan.
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Old 04-30-2014, 08:33 PM   #112
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Join Date: Dec 2001
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September

14th – Home vs Sporting
21st - Home vs Arouca
28th – Away vs Perreira

Yes, I begin the season with the Big Three in my first FOUR games. But then, I won’t have any for months.


Good Trainings – Mexer, Luis Martins, J Sousa

I terminate three loans so I can have enough homegrown folks for the Euro Cup Rules.

We are in a difficult Group – Group H

AS PAOK Salonika (Greece)
Racing (Belgium)
Tottenham


We got 1.3 m for making the group stage. So basically, for getting 4th in the League, you get another 1.3 just for participating in the Euro.

Our fixtures:

Sept 18, Away vs PAOK
Oct 2, Home vs Tottenham
Oct 23, Home vs Genk
Nov 6, Away vs Genk
Nov 27, Home vs PAOK
Dec 11, Away vs Tottenham

Not an easy way to end things if we need points late…
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Old 04-30-2014, 09:35 PM   #113
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Lots of our players are internationaling it up!

For our home match today, we are keeping the same squad as before, with Hernani Costa in the Mexer DC spot because he’s tired from international play, and Freire is back from injury. I want to focus on the Euro match in 4 days.

They score in the 9th minute – yuck. Espinosa scores. On a lovely break Daniel Candeais is fed the ball deep by Aurelio, lines up for a cross to Rondon, and Rondon has his 6th goal of the season, and its tied in the 23rd. They get a yellow card ,and I move to Counter. Adriano was tackled running into the box, the ball fell to an unmarked Espinosa who finished in the 39thminute. Half 2-1. Possession is key in the 2nd half, and I keep at Counter for a bit. Martins has been key in his area, with interceptions and control. Freire has a foul dangerously close to a penalty kick place, and luckily they miss the DFK. Back to Standard. A goal by Daniel C was called offsides in the 58th. Tired Costa is subbed for Mexer. I’ll sub him in, just not start. I want to secure this win if I can. A DFK by Defederico sinks in the 69th minute puts us up 3-1. Next sub is Adriano out for Djaniny. Back to Counter. They’ve had some great attacks pushed aside by our defense. Final sub – Rodrigues in for Marc. Game, we win 3-1. We defeated Porto by a PK here in our place last year, so it’s nice to beat them with normal football. Defederico is MOM. In this game, we had 11 shots, 6 on target. They had 14 and 9 on target, so we did a good job an stopping their shots. Perratta finished with a good strong score too.
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Old 04-30-2014, 10:39 PM   #114
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Another come from behind victory. We like seeing our folks have these sorts of games. Makes me happy. This is a huge win. I was hoping to emerge from this four game stretch with 4 or 5 points, and instead, I have 6. Not bad at all folks! GK Peratta and Defederico were in Team of the Week.

Diogo Coelho has a virus and I send him home

Apparently, we are favorites heading into this away match against PAOK. They have injuries to two key players and another rotation guy. Mexer is back in the lineup. We will begin defensive. They score in the 10th minute. Then Daniel C feeds the ball to Defederico and back to Daniel for a score 10 minutes later. One of their guys drops Adriano in the box and Rondon, of course, sinks the PK in the 24th minute and we are up 2-1. I have us on retain possession, work ball, hassle, use tighter mark, and drill crosses. Hope that can work with defensive to keep up the pressure as Rondon feeds a pass he got from Adriano to Defederico who scores in the 32nd minute. Luis Martins injures one of their players. Half time. Keep it up lads! Don’t get complacent. We have historically allowed too many comebacks since I’ve been here. Including a certain game we won 5-4 but allowed them back in after being up 3-0 and 4-1. They injure Adriano so I pull him for Djaniny. I add waste time to our instructions. Next sub is Skolnik for Javi. Then I change my Wingers to support roles from attacking. I want to keep them back more. We hold on to win 3-1. Awesome! MOM is Rondon. That was special lads! Another come from behind win

And we get 200k for the win. Better yet, Tottenham and Genk tied. So we are up after the first game. Won’t last at all but it’s a nice start.
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Old 04-30-2014, 11:21 PM   #115
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Arouca game is here. We haven’t beaten them yet in 3 tries, but this team is good. I swap in Djaniny and Skolnik into the lineups. I begin controlling. They give us some pressure early, but off a corner kick, Freire heads in a score in the 24th minute. After that, it’s really quiet and we hit the half. Don’t get complacent. I sub in J Sousa, Reginaldo and Hernani Costa for tired folks. Sousa gets a score in the 63rd minute. We back off control to counter and just hold off their attack. Very little comes, and we win the game, quietly, 2-0. Freire, with a good performance, was MOM. Skolnik and Defederico had assists. Well, at least we got the Arouca monkey off our collective backs. That was Sousa’s first league goal.

We have been drawn against Leca in round 3 of the Taca. We are at home vs the National Champ – A team.

Mexer is now 26, so I approach him about tutoring Hernani Costa. Nah, still won’t let me. Ah well.
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Old 04-30-2014, 11:46 PM   #116
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Our final match of September is against Ferreira, a very respectable team. This is an away match against a rough team. Someone has mentioned they are chasing Adriano in the Presser. I have given him a tag of 800k – you offer that to me, and I’ll go find another striker, He’s worth 400 or 500k right now for us. Our most expensive players are:

725k Daniel Candeais
625k Mario Rondon
625k Djaniny
575k Joao Aurelio
500k Mexer
450k Matias Defederico
400k Adriano
350k Dejan Skolnik
325k Luis Martins
325k Javi Espinosa


Everyone else is below 250k

I sign Hernani Costa to a deal when he turns 17, but that’ll be for months down the road. This works for him – he grew up in the town, and we are his favorite club, and everyone loves him. He is gold. We were gifted him by the football gods, and I have no intention of letting him go.


Ferreira – we’ll begin defensive. We beat PAOK with a defensive set 3-1. Let’s see if we can duplicate that. I also tell them to work the ball, keep possession, tighter mark. I want to be ornery first, and then dial things back as needed. They score early on, so I keep it up. Then Daniel and Rondon play the ball to each other and Daniel gets a nice pass and scores in the 22nd minute – 1-1. I stay where we are. Daniel is then injured and I put in Reginaldo. I slide to counter. Then Matias comes out for an injury – in goes Javi. Half time. Rondon gets a pass from Reginaldo in the corner, runs into tight space and is heavily marked, passed to Espinosa for a score. 2-1 us in the 51st. They score right back in the 54th, Martins was beat on the side. Skolnik’s cross finds Espinosa for another score in the 62nd. We are back up by a goal. I order my team to head back to Defensive. Andrei Marc collects a yellow. I pull him in the 79th. In goes Rodrigues. They have MOUNDS of pressure in the 80s. Getting loads of shots off. Can we keep them from scoring? Game. We win 3-2. I thought we might give that one away late, but we held on. MOM was Espinosa. They had 16 shots and 9 on target. I was happy to keep them to 2 goals on that. We had 13, but just 3 on target. Every one sunk though. We just used them better. Once again, we won after being down early.

Matias Defederico is out for 10 days with a twisted knee, and Daniel Candeais out for a few days with a damages wrist.

Joao Aurelio approaches me. He wants an improved contract. I actually agree. I like him, he’s just being paid 1.6k, so he has some legit concerns. I make him an offer. Hernani Costa approached ,e and he’ll sign the deal we offer in March when he turns 17. Javi was in the Team of the Week

Aurelio agrees to his new deal. He’s played for us for years – and the right side of Aurelio/Candeais/Rondon is golden, I’m not touching that. He is making 5.25k/week – a little more than I wanted and was hoping for, but we have him secured.
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Old 05-01-2014, 12:37 AM   #117
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Join Date: Dec 2001
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October


2nd – Home vs Tottenham, EURO
5th – Away vs Aves
19th – Home vs Leca, Taca
23rd - Home vs Genk, EURO
26th – Home vs Vit Guimaraes


We liked Dejan, Carlos and Joaquim in training last month.

Goal of the Month belongs to Matias Defederico

Daniel should be ready by the Tottenham game. We don’t think Defederico will be though

We’ll start Javi in his spot with Skolnik on the left side.

I begin Standard against Tottenham. You are playing in our place ‘Ham! We have an even early game – each team has some time with the ball. Then Espinosa hits Rondon for a score. I move to Counter. We both get some decent chances. One of theirs collects a yellow. Half time. I decide to hit defensive. I don’t want any cheap goals, we just almost lost it on a great break away by them that Perrata pushed away. I tell them to keep it up. In the 55th minute, Rondon gets a nice pass by Espinosa, and strikes, on target, deflected, falls to Adriano, who puts it away, and we are up 2-0. I order us to keep possession and slow the game down. They get another yellow booking. Espinosa finds Rondon in the box, and he feeds Daniel C on the right and Daniel puts it away, and we are up 3-0 at the 62nd minute. I still think ‘Ham have a shot. They have 16 shots, 5 on target, as of right now. We have 11 and 8. They are missing shots, but if they get another 3 or 4 on target, and those sink, we’re out. I need to make subs with my best people, not folks like Sousa or Costa for experience. One again, in the 65th, they have a great attack, but its offsides and stopped by Perrata anyway. Skolnik is very tired. I pull him for Sequeira. They fire a long shot in the 67th and it sinks. 3-1. They get a 3rd booking. My next sub in the 75th is no one – everyone is at 7.0 level or higher – and no ons ie below 73%. Well, never mind. I pull Martins. I drop Sequeira to his spot, I swap Espinosa to the ML spot, and I put in Reginaldo in the AMC spot. They rocket in another shot in the 82nd minute. Can we hold on? I order my players ot play nasty, with hard tackles and marking. I pull Marc for Rodrigues. Freire gets a yellow – which is fine, I want them to muscle Tottenham off the ball. And we do. We win 3-2. MOM was Espinosa.

We win another 200k
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Old 05-01-2014, 06:44 PM   #118
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Aves, newly, promoted ,has 6 straight defeats, and is laying in 16th. We are in 5th. Everyone is expecting us to steamrole them. Defederico’s injury keeps him out for this match too. I swap Djaniny for Adriano. We’ll begin controlling. We expect many goals.

Goal 1 – Candeais to Rondon, 18th minute.
Goal 2 – Candeais to Djaniny, 48th minute.
Goal 3 – By them, 49th minute, 2-1 score
Goal 4 – Peratta Goal Kick, collected by Djaniny, scored, 67th minute
Goal 5 – Rondon, PK, 75th minute
Goal 6 – By them, 81st minute
Goal 7 – By them, 87th minute
Goal 8 – By them , 89th minute


MOM was Djaniny, as we have an epic collapse.

Peratta and Djaniny were in Team of Week
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Old 05-01-2014, 08:26 PM   #119
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I’ll toss in some backups for this game against Leca. Once again goals are expected, so let’s stick with just that:

Goal 1 – Espinosa to Reginaldo, 5th minute
Goal 2- Mariano, score off a Mariano shot blocked and rebounded, 30th minute
Goal 3 – Goal by Them, 37th minute
Goal 4 – Djaniny to Rondon, 49th minute
Goal 5 – Reginaldo to J Sousa, 58th minute
Goal 6 – Djaniny, PK, 80th minute
Goal 7 – There is no goal 7. We win 5-1. MOM is Reginaldo.



I started Baptista too, in the GK spot.

Our next Taca match will be at home against Academica


Our next match is the Genk Euro at home. We have our best first team. Genk has just 1 point in two games. Could we win our first three matches? Let’s start Standard. Too many wasted opportunities early due to picks, so I order us to retain possession more. We’ve also been caught in an Offsides Trap twice, They get a yellow in the 37th minute. Genk scores in the 45th minute. Half time. You can do better in the second half! Plus, we’ve come from behind to win loads of times. Attacking! Candeais to Rondon to score in the 74th. Standard! Candeais scores two minutes later. Counter. Subs. Game – We win 2-1. MOM is Candeais. Brilliant comeback!! Another 200k for the bank
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Old 05-01-2014, 10:36 PM   #120
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The 26th has arrived, and with it, today’s match at home vs Vit Guimaraes. I initiate the attack by beginning with a controlling philosophy. I started Javi today at ML. Rondon gets caught in an Offside Trap early on, and then Adriano does too. I pull back to Standard. We’ve had a lot of pressure in the mid teens and early 20s, and I hope we can score soon – we’ve played like it. I move to very high tempo and attacking for a few minute to change things up. We lose a chance ot score, Adriano had an open net, but the ball bounced back from hitting the crossbar. Half. I aggressively tell them they need to knock this crap off. Adriano out for Djaniny. They score a goal and I make some changes – it was a header off a corner. And we finish the game, having been gob-smacked at home by Vit., Guimaraes.
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Old 05-01-2014, 10:41 PM   #121
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Old 05-01-2014, 11:53 PM   #122
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November

2nd – Home vs Maritimo
6th – Away vs Genk, EURO
9th – Home vs Academica, Taca da Portugal
23rd – Away at Olhanense
27th – Home vs PAOK, EURO


Good job in training Joao, Andrei Marc and Hernani Costa!

Djaniny was named Player of the Month – he also led with the top goal.

We will start Djaniny in the next game. I come out swinging in the press after their manager gets upset because I complemented his club’s performance, so I told them I can’t wait to bash in his little club.

I have to rest Mexer a bit, he’s not starting – Rodrigues is. Alright, I open things up attacking, very high tempo, and tackling hard. I want to push them around, and see if they fall. Quiet first 12, so I pull them back and counter, since they are driving the offense. Aurelio feeds Candeais on the wing who drives home a goal in the 32nd minute. Next, Djaniny finds Rondon just behind the defense for a counter attack score in the 38th. Half time. Keep it up lads! Andrei Marc collects a yellow. I pull him and Rodrigues. Lower Tempo! Sousa in for Djaniny. Game. MOM is Freire. Well done lads!
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Old 05-02-2014, 12:16 AM   #123
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In their presser, their coach admits that I played successful mind games on him and he needs to work on doing better with the pressure. Now we need to get ready for the real game against Genk. We are seen as strong favorites for the match vs Genk. I’ll be moving back Mexer, Skolnik, and Adriano into the starting roster.

If we win today, we make it out with two games to go. They have lousy morale, we’ve beat them before, and three key injuries. We can win this. Counter worked last time, so I start with it this time – we are in the road after all. We have a nice drive early that ends with a great GK move by our foes. After knocking on the door all day, Rondon puts it away in the 39th after a corner kick goes wrong and is knocked back, a header from Defederico in the back of the box sets him up. Half time, 1-0 us. I move to defensive in the 67th. I sub in Javi and Reginaldo for Defederico and Candeais. I tell my guys to start tackling hard and tighter marking. Skolnik feeds Adriano for a goal in the 80th, but its called offsides. My team thinks it was onsides, but them’s the brakes. Regilando scores from a Rondon assist off a break in the 83rd instead. And that’s it! We win 2-0, MOM is Rondon with a goal and an assist.

We have been to European play three times previously. Twice, we were knocked out prior to the group stage. Today, we went 4-0 in the first four games in our stage, and have been qualified with two games to go. We won another 200k. How many other teams went 4-0 in their first four games?

Everton
Nacional da Madeira


That’s it.
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Old 05-02-2014, 02:28 PM   #124
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We have 6 players called up for duty.


Pick up where you left off in today’s match against Academica in the Taca da Portugal! They are pushing forwarding and dominating the match, so I take the slow plan, and pull back to counter. Halftime. They come back and keep pushing. That’s alright. Maintain possession, slow things down, play the long game. Be patient. That patience pays off in the 70th when Marc feeds Rondon a ball, who makes the extra pass to Djaniny who finishes it. Defederico=, off a Djaniny pass, hits paydirt 5 minutes later. I was saving my subs, in case of extra time, so I throw in two folks now. We won with the patient view, and won well. MOM Is Djaniny. It’s been 289 minutes since Peratta last conceded a goal.


We draw the next match – against Belenenses on the road.


Reginaldo just notched his first international goal. Good job buddy!

Our away match vs Olhanese is underway. I also begin countering too – it’s a strategy that has worked for us. Aurelio hits Freire for a header off a corner for a score in the 15th minute. I move to retain possession. They have a couple of long range shots – nothing that looks good. Then they have two good drive,s but we stall them and its half time after a nice Rondon shot is blocked and held to end a break away. Room for improvement! They notch a pair of yellows within a minute of each other. Defederico finds Rondon who shoots a nice shot, blocked, and Djaniny pounces on the rebound and puts it away. 2-0 in the 53rd.Mexer is hit a few times, and I yank him for Hernani Costa. Next is Sousa for Djaniny. Sous gets the ball from Marc, fires it from range, it rebounds off the top crossbar he collects, drives, and shoots and puts it away. I tell my guys to tackle hard and mark closer. Rondon scores but it’s called offsides. Game, we win 3-0 on the road. MPOM is Freire.
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Old 05-02-2014, 03:46 PM   #125
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That was a good match. I pull Mexer from the squad, he’s getting a little jaded. I had one of my loaners not playing much, so I talked with the manager who agreed to give him some more time.

At the end of ten games a piece, we’re currently in 6th place. We are tied with 5th place Benfica with 19 points, and we have a +13 GD to their +10, but we lost to them.


Hernani Costa will start for Mexer. We begin the PAOK match in counter again, and in a corner kick the ball bounce around a bunch until Freire sinks it and we are up in the 5th minute. Then Djaniny intercepts a back pass, rushes goal, defeats the keeper, and gets a great 1:1 goal. That’s in the 17th minute. I slide ot defensive and retain possession. Then Rondon adds a score of his own in the 23rd minute when Aurelio launches a great deep pass to him. We clamp down a few of their attacks and it’s the half. Keep it up! I’d love to see another 3-0 victory. We’ve let teams in too many times in the 2nd half to just be comfortable sitting back and letting them go. I sub in Javi for Matias. They finally score in the 66th minute off a third shot. I toss in Carlos Mariano. Then Adriano heads in. They score again in the 87th minute. We hold on to win it and that’s game. We got another 200k.
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Old 05-02-2014, 06:44 PM   #126
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December

3rd – Home vs Braga
8th – Home vs Academica
11th – Away vs Tottenham
14th – Away vs Rio Ave
20th – Away vs Vit Setubal



Training yays – Jose Moreira, Joaquim Sousa – boos – Joao Aurelio.



Let’s get revenge! They score in the first five minutes. Again, be patient with the counter ideas, but I’m moving to control. He’s getting knocked around, so I pull Defedreico early for Javi. Late, Adriano is given a nice little shot, takes it, and it’’s half. I move back to counter from control. In the 46th minute, Adriano finds Rondon with a great pass to set him up nicely for that score that puts us up 2-1. Skolnik was injured in the 69th I have to put in Sequeira. I tell my folks to do very low tempo – my team is dog tired. I just hope we can hold on. We do, and win against Braga in our place 2-1. Again, we got a win after begin behind. Adriano is the MOM.

Javi is starting at ML for a bit while Skolnik heals a bit. I give some of my folks some rest. That win over Braga helped, we now are three points above them in the standings. After 12 games, we’re in 4th – behind Porto, Sporting, and Benfica – in that order. The Big Three.
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Old 05-02-2014, 07:03 PM   #127
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Alright, our Academican match is here. Let’s go. I begin Standard against these folks, rather than my usual Counter/defensive stuff, which has been very effective as of late. Javi drives deep on the side, kicks it out ro Marc who sees Candeais, finds him and Daniel scores in the 6th minute. We’re losing a lot of headers, so I tell them to retain possession and work the ball into the box. We scored that goal with working. Freire almost sinks a corner twice. They have been doing almost nothing but trying to keep us from scoring for the next 20 minutes or so. They launch a bullet in the 27th to even things up. It was struck with verve. Half. I come out attacking. I want to surprise them, knock off their guard a bit. We miss some shots. Aurelio to Freire gets another corner kick score. Back to countering. Friere gets ANOTHER corner kick to sink for a goal in the 63rd minute. I make my subs – in come Carlos Mariano, J Sousa and H Costa. MOM was Freire.

This was Rondon’s 100 game for us. I hand out more resting to prepare for our Tottenham game.

Friere named in Team of Week
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Old 05-02-2014, 09:48 PM   #128
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We are expected to suffer at the feet of Tottenham. We have won, they got second, nothing can happen today to change that. (We have 15 they have 9 points, the other clubs have 3 and 1).

Alright, woodshed time! I will play defensive for basically the whole match. Expecting mnay opposition goals, let’s do the same thing I did with other games but in reverse.

Goal 1 – Marion Rondon, 23rd
Goal 2 – Them, 34th
Goal 3 – Luis Martins finds Daniel Cardeais after gettng the ball on an IFK from Espinosa. 59th
Goal 4 – Them, 62nd
Goal 5 – Them, 73rdOffsides
Goal 6 – Them, 77th
Goal 7 – There is none – they win, 3-2.

Well, I was expecting more of a blow out. Not bad at all. We were unlucky folks

We get 400k for netting 1st place.
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Old 05-02-2014, 10:15 PM   #129
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Away at Rio Ave. Daniel C is a winded, as is Marc and Espinosa. Skolnik is back and will start at ML. I move Joao to MR for Daniel, and start Hernani Costa and Rodrigues. I begin countering again. We get a Rondon goal called off. Then there’s a lot of quiet noise before Rondon actually scores off an Aurelio cross in the 29th. Nicely done in the rain. They begin to move forward to come forward. I move to defensive to stall them, but they manage to score anyway and even it up six minutes later. After a run by Defederico is tackled in the box, Rondon pounces on the ball, shoots, and scores again in the 42nd, just before half time. Keep it up folks! I head back to counter. Rondon almost had his hat trick in the 68th, just pushed aside. I put in Marc and Cadeais as subs. I move to defensive. I pull Djaniny when he gets a yellow. We are enduring huge pressure at the end of the game. They bring out their GK for a set piece. We survive the onslaught and win 2-1 on the road. MOM is Rondon. They had 22 shots, 11 on target, and just 1 goal.


Rondon in Team of the Week.

We drew against Zenit (Russia) for the EURO Knockout. It’ll be played in a couple of months.

The winner of our match plays the winner of the Stuttgart or AS Saint-Etienne match.

Many players are back to their original places for the match today against Vit. Setubal. Adriano gets a lovely dangerous ball by Candeais and scores. We have a quiet half, but a quick score by them late. Half time. We can still emerge with a victory! They score again off a corner. I up the tempo and slide into control. Then attacking. Then game. We lose, 2-1. I’m tired of losing these dumb matches, We can go 5-1 in the EURO but we lose to both Vits. Annoying. I get angry and they show being lit up. Our first loss in a while.

This was Daniel C’s 100th game for the club.
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Old 05-02-2014, 11:35 PM   #130
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League Cup was drawn, and we are in a group with Maritimo, Portimonense and Ferreira. Benfica and Sporting re in the same group – at least one Big Three club will be out. Braga and Porto have groups to themselves. Porto has a laughingly easy group. We can win, but Fereirra is 9th and Maritomo 3rd right now, with Portimonense a respectable 9th. That’s not bad at all.

The first game, Maritimo, was added to our schedule for the 28th. We are away for it.

I’ve gotten the press to believe that I got under the new Maritimo manager’s skin last time, so I push it again this time. This is our final match in 2014. I start defensive. I want to see what’s up. I’ll show you the table next. They get a yellow in the first minute of play. The Maritimo League Cup match in last December was the crazy 5-4 game. I take nothing for granted this time around. Candeais hits Rondon for a score in the 4th minute. But we can’t relax at all. Rondon crosses to Adriano, who is blocked by a defender, who scores an OG in the 2th. Two minutes later, Luis Martins is injured and I replace him with Carlos Mariano. Lots of minor stuff from both sides ensues, with a few corners and IFKs that amount to little. Rondon is injured too, in heads Djaniny Half time. You can do even better! They score a goal in the 59th. They collect a pair of yellows next. I want to keep my last sub in case of another injury. Adriano with a critical miss at the 80th mark. Daniel C puts this away five minutes later. I put in Sousa. We win 3-1. MOM is Daniel Candeais. Nicley done! We won, dominatinglt, on the roa,d in a defensive formation.
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Old 05-03-2014, 12:01 AM   #131
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Table after 15 games are played:

1st – Porto, 37 points, +28
2nd – Sporting, 30 points, +20
3rd – Maritimo , 30 points, +5
4th – Nacional da Medeira, 29 points, +16
5th – Benfica, 28 points, +12
6th – Braga, 27, +10
7th – Vit. Guimareas, 24, +3
8th – P. Ferreira, 22, +7
9th – Rio Ave, 21, +7
10th - Portimonese , 20, -14
11th – Academica, 18
12th – Olhanese, 15
13th – Arouca, 15
14th – Vit. Setubal, 11
15th – Estoril. 10
16th – Aves, 2

So, if we had won against the 14th team in the league, We would have 32 points and be in second place at the halfway mark. Instead, we are still in 4th place – which has been our home for a long time. Sporting has sort of redeemed themselves so far after a disappointing year last year, and Benfica are now not looking so hot.

Our first 5 league games are home vs Portimonese, Away at Porto, home vs Benfica, away vs Sporting and home vs Ferreira. That is a rough trilogy of terror in games 2, 3, 4. Our last five are Estoril, Braga, Rio Ave, Vit Setubal and Academica, which positions us nicely for a final run of form.

For injuries, Luis Martins is fine. Just 3-4 days with a dead leg. But Rondon, is not. He’ll be out for a few weeks with a twisted knee. We’ll start Adriano and Djaniny while he’s out. We have made an offer to Rondon to extend his deal by two years and increase his pay, which was bugging him a bit. He’s someone I don’t want to mess with. I move over most of the transfer money to make up the difference.

I have really unsteadied the Maritimo boss - he just said that I got under his players’ skin and disappointed the fans. He is publicly chastising his own players. Got ya!
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Old 05-03-2014, 12:13 AM   #132
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In 6 months, these contracts expire:

Miguel Rodrigues
Sequeira
Jose Moeira
Dejan Skolnik
Douglas jardel
Nuno Campis
David Crespo
Edgar Abreu
Diogo Coelho
Carlos Mariano

Most of those are minor players. I make an offer to extend Moreira immediately. He may be our GK of the future. And if not, he’ll be a good one – he’s our third GK on the roster right now. I like Jardel, but I feel like we’ve been paying him just a tad too much (1.1k this year weekly), and he’s just a tad worse than the younger Joaquim Sousa. But he’s solid. I extend him an offer for another 2 years, to see where he is there.

I don’t feel I’ve gotten the quality play on the pitch I expected from Skolnik. I’m comfortable with Sequeira, Rodrigues, and Mariano leaving and finding youth or other players to rock those spots. Friere was destined to head away from our club – last year he had a 6.83 rating from 30 apps. So far this year, in 14, he has a 7.4 and 4 MOM spots. That’s pretty sexy. He has more goals in 14 games this year off set pieces than he did he did entire year last season. So, we may look to extend him too. Right now, he’s making just 2k a week and is with us through 2017. If he continues, I may bump him, but he’s still vulnerable, to my mind, with his 9 passing, just an 11/11 speed, and so forth.

Jardel signs his new agreement. Alright, December the 30th has arrived, time to scout around and see who I may be bringing in next year. We are winning this year largely on players that I signed last December/January. This is the time to win next year’s season.

I dispatch some scouts!

Rondon and Meriera also extend their deals. Rondon is now paid 6.5k a week through 2017
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Old 05-03-2014, 02:11 AM   #133
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After some scouting, I make an offer to a Porto youth player they let get to this stage. He’s not great – like Jardel level middie, buts some useful depth. I also have a target that seems like he would suit my club – Nurnberg’s Martin Angha, 29 years old. He can play DLRC all well and would be a good spot starter/sub for my team. He’s willing to sign for a rotation contract, but he wants more that rotation money. More like 7-8k cash, which is key player level of money. So that might be the sticking point here. But I like him, he Swiss/DR Congo guy fits my team. He feels right. Not so good he forces out Aurelio or Martins, but good enough to start for a month or two without any questions, unlike my other folks.

In all of my career in FM, I have never had someone play the ML spot for me as well or consistently as Adam Hlousek. I had him for years in my Slavia Prague dynasty, and even as my team around him improved and improved, he still was just as good. His contract runs out in 2015. I approach him for a deal, and he is willing to sign a key player term, but he wants more like 11-12k rather than the 9k, which is my top budget. Ah well, once again, money.

Javi hasn’t been amazing at the ML, but he’s great as a AMC. I’m training him to improve at the slot. Meanwhile, I have Skolnik whose never played more than adequately. Perhaps as a result of his injury with the ligament? Skolnik is 25, not improving, and has just a 6.81 rating in his 9 games so far and a 6.91 from the 15 last year. He’s had a decent number of assists (8) and goals (3) from the spot in those 24 appearances, but he’s not the next level, like I want. 1 assist every 3rd game would be fine. If he started 30 games and had 10 assists, that would be fine by me, but he also needs a bigger presence, and Skolnik doesn’t have it, so I’m letting him go. He should be better with great mentals, and a 15 pass, 14/cross. But he just doesn’t produce on the pitch like he should. So the ML spot is up for grabs. Actually, ideally I could slide Candeias over and then move Aurelio up to MR. But neither would have that work very well. Still, I order Aurelio to learn it, maybe he’ll be a future ML of some sort. He is pretty sexy in many ways. He still remains of the best players at my club. But if I can sign a good ML, who would I look for?

Another player who always played well for my team, year after year, dynasty after dynasty, was Sebastien Renouard, who is also available (and old, at 30 years). I haven’t made a play for him in a long time, but it would be nice to be reunited, for the first time, with one of my regular reliable, underrated folk. And he’d be willing to come over for 8k on a key player deal. I could even run him on the ML. Ah…
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Old 05-03-2014, 02:56 AM   #134
Abe Sargent
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Portugal has talent in lots of places, but not as much here. I know Portugese football really well, and I’m having difficulty unlocking anybody with any value for the club. I found an amazing guy from my area- Sweden, Alexander Kacaniklic, 23 years old, willing to come, but needs much much more than I can through at him. He already has 26 caps and 2 goals. I pump up the deal with my max 9k, but to increase it massively each year, and I get an acceptance. I did not expect that. Wow. We’ll see if he decides to sign with us.

My West African scout overturns a pair of nice youth Ghanian folks. They want too much to head to our club for now, but I want to wait and see what happens soon with the budget stuff.

We made an offer for another young African youth I was tracking to head over. Moussa Diallo, 18, from the Ivory Coast will arrive on a hot prospect deal.

The Swedish transfer offer has been leaked (prolly by the agent). Several clubs have offered him. Wealthy clubs we won’t beat at all. I withdraw my offer so I can concentrate elsewhere. Who else can be my ML? I’m not finding a great youth player, so what about someone a bit older?

Maybe Ivan Bella, Argentinian, 25. Let me scout him. We like him, but again, money. Ah money.

What about Diego, a 26 year old Brazilian. He seems pretty sexy too. Not enough money for him either though. I scout a few others too. Hopefully, one will come through. Let’s fast forward a day and see what the scouting looks like. Most of them come back with a big negative.

I can’t make an offer to any ML who is obviously better. And I don’t want to lose Skolnik, who’s adequate, simply because I needed to bring in a new face. Let me take a closer look at a few youthers.

Hmmm…what about Jerome Roussillon. Doesn’t have the stats I normally like with passing (12/11 cross/pass) and dribbling 10. Fast as all get out (17/17) and our scouts have a great report on him. His natural spot is actually the DL, but he can play every left position and ST, and WBR, DR unconvincingly. He’s just 21, and has room to grow, hopefully,, and solid physical/mental stuff going on. This might be the guy.

I make him an offer which he accepts. This might work out.

Let’s end the year.
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Old 05-03-2014, 10:28 AM   #135
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Nice read, and England win the world Cup, on penalties, against France? Jeez if only that were to happen this Summer.
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Old 05-03-2014, 12:07 PM   #136
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrtourette View Post
Nice read, and England win the world Cup, on penalties, against France? Jeez if only that were to happen this Summer.

It could arguably be one of the five greatest games in English football history - defeating a rival in the WC on penalties? Good stuff! And thanks for your nice comments too.
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Old 05-03-2014, 04:31 PM   #137
Abe Sargent
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January, 2015

4th – Away vs Belenenses, Taca
11th – Home vs Portimonense
15th - Home vs Portimonense, League Cup
18th – Away vs Porto
24th – Home vs P Ferreira, League Cup
31st – Home vs Benfica

Otherwise known as a ton of games.


Who trained well in December? Marc, Costa, and Peratta. Mexer and Mariano disappointed though.

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

Paul Pogba won European Golden Boy

Djaniny comes in 2nd place for African Striker of the Year.

I accept some loan offers for players.

Moussa Diallo has joined us. This 18 year older from the Ivory Coast is a nice hot prospect for us, uncovered by our African scout. He plays AMC. Coming in, we’ll begin teaching him quickness and the MR role. And we’ll loan him out for 1st team ball.

Alexander Kacaniklic signed with Cagliari, in Italy’s Serie A for 30k a week – we could never have touched that.
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Old 05-03-2014, 07:34 PM   #138
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The away match for the Taca da Portugal is here. I put Moussa Diallo on the reserves, with the possibility of bringing him in at some point. I begin countering. After some early bumps, Defederico hits Daniel Candeais for a score in the 22nd minute. That’s good, we need goals, and we have no Rondon. They get in a cross and a header for a goal in just a few seconds, also in the 22nd minute. Defederico returns the favor by finding Djaniny for a goal in the 24th. A very back and forth thing, I suppose. About 10 minutes later I slide to defensive strategy. Half. Keep it up! Marc sets up Defederico right down the gully, who scores in the 46th minute. I swap a tired Matias for Diallo, and put in Sousa for Adriano. Aurelio for Costa late. And we win, 3-1 in the Taca. MOM is Defederico.

The 6th round of the Taca has arrived. 8 teams left. Braga draws Sporting, Maritimo draws Benfica, Porto draws Ferreira, and we get lucky with Athletico CP, a 2nd division club. Roussillon re-ups with his club for more money than we were offering him. Almost twice as much.

Sigh.
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Old 05-03-2014, 08:11 PM   #139
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I head back to give things one more look before resigning myself to resigning Skolnik. Alright, I think I found my guy. For real this time, I hope. So he has agreed two days later, but I’m beginning to have buyer’s remorse. His name is Lucas Castro, of Argentina. Let’s do the comparison with Skolnik.

Castro is better than Skolnik at: Physical, Speed, a bit better at Aerial, Attacking
Same in: Technical, Creativity
Skolnik is better at: Mental, Defending

So, it looks like Castro is unqualifiedly better right?

His passing is 12/12. He’s 25, he really has no room to grow, and Skolnik is a better passer, and crosser. Castro has started for a Serie A club, Catania, for three years. Last year and this one, his numbers are in the mid 6s (6.74, 6.69). In 43 appearances, he has 4 goals and no assists. Is this a guy I can rely on to upend Skolnik? He plays all MC, MR, ML, AMC, AMR, AML and ST spots solidly, so he’s flexible. But, Rondon didn’t have the stats until last year, when he exploded. The right system can hone and perfect you. He still has four stars. But I’d be paying him a crap-ton of money. Is it worth it? Is Castro the right piece of the puzzle? I’m not as sold on him as others, he’s like my 6th or 8th best option. I could just head back, offer Skolnik, and move on. I do like his flexibility, and some defensive stats too. He can actually jump, head, mark, and so forth. Alright, I agree. He’ll arrive next season.



Despite beginning controlling, we had little effort in the first half They scored off a long shot that was well on target, with molassas. Half time – you have to do better folks! We had difficulty with scoring, until a Defederico DFK recoils off the crossbar, right to Adriano, who sinks it in the 73rd minute. A Espinosa to Candeais score follows a few minutes later. MOM is Daniel C. That was a bit of a let off lads! We’re having trouble scoring without Rondon. Once again, a win from behind.
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Old 05-03-2014, 09:49 PM   #140
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Can we have the exact same result against the same team for the League Cup? I guess we find out today. This should be the last match Rondon misses. I begin controlling. Again. We score early this time, off a Javi Espinosa score in the 15th minute. I move back, and the game is tired – very quickly zooms by. Half. They score just outside of the half, and I begin swapping people. J Sousa is injured and I pull him. Then, on a corner kick by Skolnik, Hernani Costa gets a header in the 77th minute. I pull back to counter. They score elate off a corner too, and I move to Overload. We had a good shot but Adriano hit the ball at the GK right in front instead of doing anything tricky with it. Tie. Annoying. Not good enough! Sousa is just out for a few days.



Woodshed time – away at Porto! Arouca beat Braga, which is nice to see. Welcome back Rondon.


Expecting many goals, despite our defensive attempts, let’s count the goals. I like it, and it breaks up the monotony og game after game after game. Get us revenge! Hassle foes, mark more tightly! Maybe we can muscle them around?


Goal 1 – By them, 7th minute
Goal 2 – By them, 20th – Offsides
Half – Show Me Something Else!
Goal 3 – By them, 51st
Goal 4 – By them, 65th
Goal 5 – By them., 77th


The whole point of playing defensive is to keep the score close, give you a chance. We did not do that.
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Old 05-03-2014, 10:09 PM   #141
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Whoa! I had set 1mill as the bid for Joaquim Sousa, just to keep away folks. Olympiakos came in today and made that 1mill offer. That’s a lot of cash. I accept their offer, plus a 40% of next sale.


The morning of the final League Cup match, Sousa accepts the offer. I wish him well! I need a striker to replace him. We got him for free a long time ago, and churned him for a huge profit. But now I need a 4th Striker option, so let’s dig in and see what I can unearth.


I have a ton of money to go transfer shopping now. And we have an open window on the 24th before our game. There’s a player I like from Rio Ave, right here in the division. I scout him out. Let’s play the game. If we win, we win the Group and make it to the Semi-Final of the League Cup. You need to improve your game! Quiet start to the game, I pull from defensive to standard. They get a yellow, and then Marc injures a winger. Finally, Djaniny is fed a ball form Rondon, in his game back to score in the 41st minute. But that’s not all! A lovely ball from Defederico deep (fed by Skolnik) hits Rondon for his own score in the extra time. Half. Don’t get complacent! We let too many folks back in. Which happens two minutes into the second half off a corner kick. Idiots. I have to pull Defenderio when he gets injured. Candeais finds Djaniny, who heads the ball over the attacking Gk and into an open goal. Nicely done in the 86th to finish this. They get another yellow before the game ends with us up 3-1. MOM is Djaniny.

Yay we qualified! We made 124k.
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Old 05-03-2014, 10:46 PM   #142
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Alright, let’s chase my Sousa replacement. My enquiry into my ideal guy, currently loaned to Rio Ave from a Brazilian club was dismissed. Ah well. I look for a bit, and I can’t find one that thrills me. I could loan someone instead, and look later…

Wait, what? I went looking for a loanee, and I might have found a guy. He’s transfer listed, and 23, so a bit older than I was looking for. Go go scouts! Got the report back. Hmm. 23 years old, has a sixteen finishing, 12/14 speed ,12/13 jump/head. Worth 1.1 mill, not a super great scot report – about at the max ability now, not great passing/crossing – just a 9/9. Transfer listed for 275k, his contract ends in a few months and I can just sign him for next year if I want him then. But, he’s Turkish/German, and a bit outside of my normal range of signees. Cenk Tosun. Shoot, I might be able to loan him now, and sign him in a bit if he works out. That’s not bad. No one else is chasing him. And I’m thinking of letting Adriano go, and this guy could step into the 3 spot behind Djaniny and Rondon quite nicely if that happened.

Anyone else? I could loan Spanish striker Cristian Herrera. He looks sexy. I make an offer to loan Cenk Tosun. Reginaldo asked to speak with me, and requested to be transferred. I agreed. I sent out a request list.


We get an away game vs Braga for the League Cup Semi-Final, Benfica will travel to Porto for the other leg.

I sign 43 year old Faryd Mondragon, a Colombian with more than 40 caps, who played for a lot of teams in his past as our other GK coach. He also speaks Turkish. The board did not accept my request to add more scouts to the roster. Sad face.
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Old 05-03-2014, 11:27 PM   #143
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Cenk Tosun has arrived. He’s match fit, so I’ll toss him on the bench for the match on the 31st. If he works out, then yay! If not, I can go elsewhere, it’s risk free.

Can we do anything in today’s home match vs Benfica? I begin defensive. Keep up where you left off! They have some early pressure, but it ebbs a bit, so I move to counter in the 9th. Skolnik finds an intercepted pass in a busy penalty area, slides the ball to Rondon who scores in the 15th minute. They score off a corner in the 24th to take us back. Then on a break away, Skolnik cross heavily to Candeais who drove and scores. We are back up 2-1 in the 33rd. Looking good folks! I order us to defensive again, but it doesn’t keep Benfica from scoring of a nasty rifled shot from just outside the box by their striker. Half time sees it all knotted up I tell them that they want revenge – it seems to really fire them up. Candeais makes an ugly cross in the 59th minute, one that is actually a shot on target, and the GK pushes it away, it is headed out of the box by a defender right to Skolnik, who puts it in from a tight angle. We are up 3-2. Matias has not been playing well, and neither Djaniny. I pull Matias for Javi and DJ for Cenk Tosun in the 63rd. A Candeais goal in the 64th is called offsides. I order harder tackling. They change to a 4-1-2-1-2. Daniel C is injured and I pull him off for Hernani Costa, whom I move ot DR and move Aurelio up. They get two yellows in the mid-70s, looking a bit off. I’ve been on counter for most of the game, but I slide back to defensive on the 85th. We must protect this house. Skolnik picked up a knock in extra time, but I have no subs left to yank him with. Can we hold on for a win against Benfica? Yes we can! Close. MOM is Skolnik.


Skolnik is out for two weeks with a damaged elbow. Daniel is fine though. We beat Benfica. This is a major game. We beat Sporting earlier. And then we turned around and got clocked by Porto 0-4.

I sign a youther who can speak German. He’s not that great.
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Old 05-03-2014, 11:42 PM   #144
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February

3rd – Away vs Atletico CP, Taca
8th – Away vs Sporting
12th – Away vs Braga, League Cup
15th – Home vs P. Ferreira
19th – Away vs Zenit, EURO
22nd – Home vs Aves
26th – Home vs Zenit, EURO

So, this month, the shortest of the year, we’ll be playing an incredible 7 matches. These matches include a lot of games we care about. Our win against Benfica has moved us to 3rd, with Maritimo moving up to 2nd. We care a lot about these league games. Sporting is 4th, if we lose against them, they’ll jump past us on the table. Important stuff. I also want to advance in both Cups and European football.

We loved Rondon, Aurelio, and Jose Moreira in training this month. Meanwhile our oldies, Mariano and Peratta, disappointed.

I came in 2nd behind Porto’s Manager this month. Porto are so far in front, they have basically won barring an epic collapse. Our merchandise income each month tends to be things like 13k. Really small stuff. We currently have 18 players out for loan, including Reginaldo. Skolnik made Team of the Week
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Old 05-04-2014, 01:03 AM   #145
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In order to keep my folks ready, I will be resting some players in the match against Atletico CP. So for today’s match, I put in GK Ricardo Baptista, DC Hernani Costa, ST Cenk Tosun, Adriano, Nuno Campos for Joao Aurelio, Sequeira for Luis Martins, Carlos Mariano, Javi Espinosa for Defederico, and Rodrigues for Marc. That leaves just Freire and Daniel Candeais as my normal starters. I go in countering. Keep the run going! I begin with some pressure, and I make a few changes as the pressure moves o them. Like tighter marking and play out of defense. And standard. We’ve had a lot of shots on target that’d been blocked or stymied, and its ultimately Daniel Candeais, obviously, who brings us home in the 30th. Mariano fed him. Javi gets the ball and rushes it in for a score off a header by Cenk Tosun. Half time. Keep it up! Daniel is again injured in the game and I pull him for Edgar Abreu. I swap him and Javi on the pitch. Espinosa sinks a deadly looking DFK for a score in the 53rd. He almost duplicates it four minutes later. Sub 2 – Marc in for Rodrigues. Back to defensive. Game over, we win 3-0. Good win! MOM is Javi. Cenk had a pair of assists.

This could have been Adriano’s shining hour. Come on in, slam home some goals against a chump team, and re-establish yourself. And you sucked again! I think it’s time to move on, and see if Cenk is the next guy. If not, I need to find that guy.

Maritimo took out Benfica in the Taca. We are in the semis.

Carlos Mariano has announced he will retire at the end of the season.
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Old 05-04-2014, 03:06 AM   #146
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Until further notice, Djaniny is starting for us. Everybody is back in our starting areas. Can we get points on the road against Sporting? I begin defensive. We have been undergoing a huge onslaught of goals, and I’m said that we are finally cracked by a stupid DFK and not the offensive in the 32nd minute. Half – unlucky boys! They score off their offense – suspicions of offsides, but they score. 2-0 in the 51st. They score off a set piece but they were offside this time for sure. Defederico with a lovely counter break but it stopped by a good GK move. They foul Daniel C, and for the third game, he is injured. Then Aurelio gets a yellow. I pull them for Sequeira and Costa. They pick up a 3rd yellow card. Freire gives away a pentaly right on the edge of the box and they score on the PK. Annoying. Then Freire gtes a yellow later. In goes Rodrigues. And we lose 0-3, the second time we’ve been blanked like that on the raod vs a Big Three team.

A few African sides became vacant that I might be interested in – DR Congo, Mali, Nigeria. But they are goods ones, and I haven’t made my name yet. Maybe after this season.


Well, bad news. The draw for the Taca Semis came in:

Porto hosts Maritimo
Sporting hosts Nacional da Madeira

So, looks like we are not making it in.

Skolnik is back for the away game vs Braga in the League Cup Semis.

It’s not just us. Porto just hammered Benfica 4-0 at home in a league match.
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Old 05-04-2014, 10:33 AM   #147
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We begin defending, with Skolnik back in the lineup. We’ve been getting some early pressure, with a Candeais attempt off and a nice offense end in a missed header by Djaniny. But that doesn’t stop them from scoring in the 21st. We’ve come back from early goals down to come back lots of times. But maybe not tonight – we just let another goal through 1 minute later. Once again, we let another opportunity go begging when a Candeais pass is broken up, but bounces around a bit in the box before being kicked out. They net another goal in the 31st. We were doing so well with defensive and counter formations early on, and now, its crap. Half time. Show me something else! I swap in Cenk as my first sub. They get a 4th score in the 56th minute. And we badly lose. Once again, not pleased.

We are out of the League Cup. We won 206k for making it that far though.

I hand out some days off. We need rest.
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Old 05-04-2014, 11:52 AM   #148
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We need to go out there and get a dominating win at home vs Ferreira as we have our Euro match next. Here we go. Much better performance! Five minutes in I move us to attacking. Then to control 10 minutes later. Now they have been pushing forward lots. Back to standard. They notch a pair of bookings, and then half time. Keep working passionately! And they score off a Skolnik corner kick to Freire in the 49th. They hammer Luis Martins and I sub in Sequeira. Skolnik crosses to Defederico and we score in the 71st. I pull some tired folk. Djaniny intercepts a pass, but was called offsides before he can shoot on a naked goal. Game. We win 2-0. Well done lads. Freire is MOM.

Give some folks a day of rest. Freire in Team of Week.
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Old 05-04-2014, 12:17 PM   #149
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We are heading to Russia to face Zenit in the first leg of our match. Alright, here we go. I begin defensive. Pick up where you left off! We begin pushing the match in our favor. Skolnik crosses to Defederico on a break away and we score in the first 10 minutes. Then they push back hard and come after us. We survive an onslaught for another 20 minutes or so before things die down and its half time. Keep it up! As the 2nd half gets underway, again, Zenit has a major push. But then Rondon finds Djaniny on a nice pass and DJ grabs us a goal in the 59th minute. We are up 2-0. At this point, about 60 minute is, they have 16 shots, just 7 on target, we have 7 shots, 6 on target, so we’ve been careful with 50% fewer shots, but made them count. I tell my guys to begin tackling and marking hard. I want ot push them off the ball. Marc intercepts a pass, beginning an offensive move, gets the ball and feeds Defederico in a dangerous position. Matias runs at goal, but has two defenders in his face, and slides it to Rondon who scores in the 64th minute. Because we’ve been playing defensive ball all game, no one is tired. But they are. They have a striker named Rondon too, so it’s been a bit confusing. I still expect this game to end something like 3-2. Until Luis Martins intercepts the ball on the left has, finds Skolnik, who runs into the corner, crosses, finds Matias again for another score. I make a pair of subs – in go Costa and Rodrigues. Daniel C grabs a yellow. I slide back from my harder tackling. I don’t think they’ll score 4 goals in 14 minutes. Although Maritimo almost did. I pull him out for Javi Espinosa. They score in the 80th. As expected. They were banging all night long. We win, MOM is Matias Defederico, obviously. We got that win. That was really special lads! That was the sort of game that restores my faith in this team!
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Old 05-04-2014, 02:57 PM   #150
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Djaniny and Skolnik are both injured early, so I toss in Javu and Cenk.

Goals –

1 – Djaniny, 4tyh minute
2 – Them, 10th minute
3 – Skolnik, 14th
4 – Defederico, 31st
5 – Rondon, 36th
6 – Them, 53rd
7 – Them,71st
8 – Cenk Tosun, 75th
9 – Rondon, 88th

6-3, MOM was Defederico. Marc and Freire had yellows. Not a bad win, since it will push us to the final Zenit match

Skolnik will miss the Zenit match. Rondon and Defederico were in Tem of the Week stuff.

Can we make it through to the next round? A 3-1 result away really helps to propel us to victory in today’s Zenit match. Javi is starting for Skolnik. After a lot of football, this is our final February match. I have a couple of lesser known folks on the bench, activates for this – Nuno Campos and Sergio Duarte. I may end up bringing them in, give them some experience.e Pick up where we left off! I start countering, and we score in lightning fashion. Espinosa finds Djaniny, who slides it to Defederico for a score at the 0:31 mark. Then we have no scores for a long time. It’s the 35th minute before Zenit scores off a nasty pass that carves our defense and leads the way for a score. Mexer collects a yellow card. Candeais finds Rondon for a score in the 39th minute. That’s the old gang coming alive. A Candeais shot rifles at goal, but it pushed away at the last moment for a corner, which devolves into a morass of muddy balls here in the rain. They also easily handle a Rondon break away. I pull Mexer for Hernani Costa. Marc, Espinosa and Martins triangle the ball up the left side but a nice attack is brought to naught as they dispossess the ball. Corner. And it misses. Half tme. We are up 2-3 here, and 5-2 aggregate. Keep it up! A nasty Defenderico IFK hits Rondon;s leg but is pushed aside at the last moment. Then they march down the field and tie it up at the 54th minute. We’ve had a lot of quality shots go all blanks. They get an amazing break opportunity and shoot but Perrata stops it. Rondon does the same one minute later, is on target, they stop it, but Djaniny is there to finish things off in the 67th minute. I put in Sequeira for a tired Martins. Mario Rondon leads another charge and they dispossess him, and again, Djaniny pounces on the loose ball and finishes it. 4-2 at the 74th minute. Final sub – Campos in for a tired Aurelio. I move to defensive. We have three youth/backups out there, in D after all. Sequeira is playing well though, good tackles, interceptions, and more. Game. We win 4-2 today and 7-3 on aggregate. Nicely done! Mom is Djaniny

Stuttgart won, so we will be playing them next. We won 200k. Again.

I flip Cenk Tosun to the starting spot Djaniny holds for a few game,s see what he can do with Rondon.
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