From Big Zero to Big Four: Sporting Reclaimed (FM2014)

[Abe Sargent]

Today, June 1, 2020 is the darkest hour in the history in my favorite football club. Growing up in Lisbon as the child of a lawyer and a talent agent for modeling, my parents certainly didn’t see football as my future career. They never went to the local games of Sporting and never encouraged me to play much. Sure, if someone asked, their favorite club was Sporting, but they never showed it. I did not grow up with football.


Then, at the age of 8, I was abandoned after school when an important client delayed arrival with my father. So I decided to play football with the other kids after school. None of us really knew anything about tactics, so I just headed out and kicked the ball. And I can still remember that day, that hour, that minute, that second. I hit the ball for the first time, and something in me changed. I found myself. I found football.

I played incessantly. I was never as good as anybody else. I began a lot later than others. So I put in more hours playing, shooting the ball, and joining pickup games. I devoured the shows on TV and even drug my mother to the occasional Sporting game. That first game was magical, as I watched players whose names I barely knew playing a game I barely understood – but it was as magical to me as Middle Earth.


And I kept working. And I kept my one-track mind focused on my goal – football, professionally. And slowly, I began to catch up with my peers. It took years. But at the age of 15 I received the best news of my life. Sporting had agreed to host me and almost 100 other local Lisbon youth players for a short training session with their backroom staff, in order for them to see what they had. I was coached by someone professionally. I was managed. Tactics were real in the scrimmages that followed. I worked out on real equipment.

I vowed then that I would never let go. I stayed until the facility was closed every day. I worked harder than anyone else. My life was football. My life was Sporting.

A few months later Sporting, recognizing my drive, if not my talent, agreed to bring me onto their youth squad. It was the greatest day of my life. It still is. I was a footballer.

And in a few short weeks I learned a very important lesson.

I’m not a very good footballer. Sure, I had the drive, and the work ethic. I put in more time than anyone else, guaranteed. I was eager. But I suspected I was there more to give the good players the right ideas on dedication to the game and push them. My technique was poor. My skills were worse. The only skill I was on even footing with the best of the class was speed. I could pace the best of them.

After all, Sporting was a major team. The best of Portugal were here. I was never the biggest frog in my small pond, and now the pond had gotten a lot bigger.

A few months in, I was picking up tactics and positioning quite well. The mental part of the game came to me quickly under professional tutelage. I was handed my first mentor, with the hope that I would learn better technique from him. He wasn’t even a senior quad starter, just a backup middle - Wilson Bruno Naval da Costa Eduardo.

But to me, Wilson was the best opportunity for me to show myself to everyone. Again, I think they hoped my speed, work ethic, and mental acuity would translate into better skills. But despite the extra training and oversight from Wilson Eduardo, it wasn’t to be.

I was never offered a professional contract when I turned 17. And my youth contract was allowed to expire. I was not the person I wanted to be.

A few teams brought me in for trials, and I played in a few trial games. Belenenses kicked my tires by signing me to a six month deal. So I headed out and joined them as a professional footballer on a decent young player concept.

And again, no one put in the hours I did. I learned the game more and more. But my technical skills would not improve – I never was better than I was when I was 16. I couldn’t shoot better, pass better, or anything. Now, due to my enhanced knowledge of the ball I could find better positions on the pitch to intercept the ball or tackle, but I’d swing just as much as hit.

The writing was on the wall. Football was not to be my future.

One of the scouts who had worked at Belenenses had been hired for Celta de Vigo, a Spanish club often in La Liga just north of Portugal. However, Celta de Vigo had just been relegated to the Secunda Division. They were hemorrhaging talent as staff and players jumped ship. So I was brought in as a interesting prospect.

And I found a home. A nest. At first I was sent to the B squad in the Tercera Division. I quickly established myself as the captain of a team that needed a presence on the field. I was always the worst player on the pitch, but as a middie, I gave them strong leadership and work and helped my fellow teammates. Sure, it wasn’t Sporting, but it was football. It counted!

As I aged I was ineligible for the team and moved back to the club for the reserves. I continued to develop in savvy, but again, even here, my skills just weren’t at the snuff to play in the main team. Still, I spent many years in Celta de Vigo as a strong youth player, and quickly took up the mantle of helping other youth players. And at the age of 23, I was hired as a youth coach.

That was my destiny. Not to play. But to teach. To lead.

I spent years there, and the team was promoted again, and I got a pay raise. Then a disappointing season arose and Manager Paco Herrera was fired. I was let go when Abel Resino arrived and wanted his own staff even on the youth team.

I developed enough of a reputation that I received a few job offers in Portugal and Spain. After considering them, I decided to head home to Portugal and arrived at Estoril, but their manager was also fired at the end of the year, and again, I was let go.

It was June 2015, and I received a phone call from a new manager at Nacional out in Madeira, which had just finished 4th in La Liga. I was invited to apply for a job in his expanding youth squad. He had some great youth prospects coming out of his ranks and wanted to expand the youth couches significantly to handle them.


I accepted, and began to help train a youth intake that included defender Hernani Costa. Soon my training would include more and more major names. Other U19 coaches included Titus Bramble, Ruud van Nisterrooij (who would be moved to the senior squad later), Rudimar and Dario. I was the token Portuguese coach, helping locals understand the roles Essex had for them.

The successes that our team were responsible for – Jorge Agra, Rodrigues, Costa, Joaquim Sousa, Jose Moreira, and many more were massive. There were times when half of the U19 squad of Portugal came from our team. And that was an awesome feeling, let me tell you.

And history will be talking about Essex for a long time. He pushed Portugal. He became the Big Four and took over the top of the charts year after year. He turned down job offers in Spain a few times to keep his people in line. He forced other teams to adapt and strengthen or wither and die. Porto and Benfica took up the clarion call, and Porto won the Champions League in 2019 and made it to the Semis the next year to lose to Benfica, who lost to Nacional. We crushed Benfica 5-0.

A few days ago, after being inducted into the Portuguese Hall of Fame in Lisbon and leaving for Bayern Munchen, the board of Nacional began a job search. Several names (Mario Rondon, Ruud Van Nistelrooij, Dario Veron, Rodolfo Bodipo and other staff were suggested as potential replacements in order to keep some consistency).

And while Nacional tries to figure out who should replace the best Manager of all time in Portuguese Football History, the opposite has happened to Sporting.


They refused to make the changes necessary. And each year, they fell a little bit more on the charts, thinking they could continue. Last year they finished 10th, but that was not the wake up call it should have been. And this year the unthinkable happened. Sporting, a team that has never been relegated hit 15th, and was relegated officially a month ago.


In Portugal, we had three teams that were like marble. You could rely on them. Sporting, Porto, and Benfica. No other team had won the league, other than flash-in-the-pan-fall-from-grace-like-Leeds-did-Boavista and once, back int eh 1940s, Belenenses. (Which trust me, they never let you forget . Other teams rarely cracked the top three spots in the league. Sporting won, did some damage in Europe, and were a Big Three team. Never relegated from the top flight.

Now sure, they were always the junior partner in that relationship. Sporting had fewer league titles and European cups. But hey, they were a Três Grandes. And that all changed.

Sporting has fallen.

There is a great deal of justice, irony, and perhaps poetry in the fact that as Nacional rose in Portuguese football and European play that Sporting fell. In the year that Nacional won the Champions league, Sporting was finally relegated.

Sporting has fallen.


And their Manager resigned a few days ago – their fourth one in 20 months Not seeing managerial consistency as perhaps a factor in returning to the glory days, the board refused to accept the fault as their own and change and push Nacional. In a division that was strengthening on all sides, from Gil Vicente and Tondela to Vitoria Guimaraes, Sporting was sluggish. And now they have fallen.

Sporting is manager poison. Their board has unfair demands, they are expected to bounce back by the media. And yet they have serious financial issues having not gotten the sweet European cash for quite some time, losing sponsors, and now getting sent down. Most of the senior squad was loaned, demanding a transfer, or gone.

Good manages are heading elsewhere.

But Sporting has improved in one key way. They now understand that to succeed, they need to alter their way of doing things, and embrace some of the way that Essex did things.

And that’s why I’ve been appointed the new Manager of Sporting.

- No one else wanted it
- The situation is rough
- I was a long time staff member under Essex
- I know Sporting. Lisbon is my home. I came up through this team. I know Sporting.



Marquin Sousa, Portuguese/Spanish, 31, favorite club - Sporting, from Lisbon

[Abe Sargent]

Game Stuff:

What is this dynasty?

It is a sequel, sort of, to events in my recent FM2014 Dynasty where I took over Clube Desportivo Nacional da Madeira and took them to the top of the Liga in Portugal. Meanwhile, Sporting was relegated.


I finished that dynasty officially a few weeks ago.



Reading it is certainly not required to read this one. I put the highlights in Marquin Sousa's bio.

But why not?

From Madeira With Love (FM2014 Dynasty) Finished!!! Check out stats and final stuff!! - Front Office Football Central


Some game stuff


That dynasty ended with some fluff about Mario Rondon taking over and which players were sold and what happened the next season. Obviously, that was just a fun plotline. Now, we'll continue the game. I would expect much (all) of that stuff to change. Just happens.

[britrock88]

Excellent start.

[Abe Sargent]

Thanks thanks!

[bbgunn]

A sequel! A nice surprise and something to enjoy my coffee with on this Saturday morning (Japan time).

[Abe Sargent]

Thanks for your kind comments!

I hope to please!

[Abe Sargent]

Here's how bad the squad is...


Here is a look at our current senior squad:


On loan, returning soon:

Marco Calabretta
Alpha Sane
Paolo Luminoso
Antonello Braglia
Giorgio Baldo
Paolo Verdi
Vincent Gay
Giuseppe Marrazzo
Alessandro Trotta
Fernando Coletti
Maurizio Defilippi
Tsvetelin Georgiev
Stefano Primavera

Most of these come from AC Milan, our Parent Club.


These players demanded transfers. We have already sold:

Jeferson, 21 year old Brazilian who plays MC and DMC for 300k
Luiz Henrique, to 21 year old Brazilians who plays MC, DMC and ML, for 875k to Tondela
Maicon, 18 year old Brazilian, who plays DR and WB R. Sold to Internacional for 700k
Alexander Vagher, 19 year old Italian ST and AMR. Sold for 350k to Cremonense.
Bruno Wilson, 23 year old Portuguese DC and ST solid for 675k to FC Vaslui.

These two players are being brought in on youth contracts in 2021,

GK Jorge Alberto Meza, currently 17, for 155k, Colombian
GK Sandro, currently 17, for 150k, from Figueirense


The following players are unhappy, and have been transfer listed by request:

GK Vladimir Stojkovic, Serbia, 23, leaving on a free transfer here shortly
DR Bernardo Carlos, 24, Portuguese
AMR, ST, Valentin Viola, 28, Argentina, has been with us for years and years, star of the club
MC Americo Ferreira, 20, Portugese
DC Ruben Semedo, 26, Cape Verde
MC/DMC Zezinho, 27., Guinea-Bissau
DMC, MC William Carvalho, 28, Portuguese
ST Fredy Monterio 32, Colombian
DC/SW/DR Wallace, 32, Brazilian


These people are not unhappy or transfer listed:


GK Marcelo Boeck, 35, Brazilian


And that’s it!

[Brian Swartz]

Piece of cake :P

[Abe Sargent]

As you can see, that’s a lot of problems.

Right now, before everyone leaves, here is our budget:


166k/weekly

We are spending that after I moved some transfer budget to cover.

That’s a problem. You know, players like Viola are making 18k a week. That can’t fly.

Now there is a core here. If I could manage to keep Viola, Carvalho and Semedo, I could have a strong nucleus to build around.

As I am sure you can imagine, none of them want to enter into new negotiations right now.

We were good to barter in some reductions in wages for a drop in league. But still…

I pull all of my transfer money off to give myself another 8k in budget room. Let’s see if we can grab someone prior to the end of the month, when things start happening.


I fire a few coaches today too, such as a U19 GK coach making 3k a year. I also let go of some overly expensive scouts. And an extra physio goes too.

I look for some new scouts.


I make offers to:

Argentine, Dario Salomon, 375/week
Italian Swann Velli, 300/week
Brazilian Ze Roberto, 700/week
Uruguayan Robert Flores, 575/week


All four sign.

We are scouting Eastern, Southern, Central Europe, Scandinavia and South America. I kept one on our roster, Paulo Menezes. So we have 5 scouts.

[Abe Sargent]

Steve Komphela was named the new Manager of South Africa. He was a capped player., is now 52, and done well managing national teams.

Tel-Aviv made an offer of 1.3 Mill for Americo Ferreira. This is a personal offer to me. Americo Fereira came though our youth ranks in Nacional and we let him go, not realizing the potential he had. Sporting did and signed him. We dicker them up to 1.7m. I’d like to keep him, but…

FC Utrecht made a bid for Viola. We agree to sell him for 2.4 mill.


Making a boring decision, Nacional have hired the Braga manager, Domingos Paciencia for the role. Roberto Mancini was a finalist too.


South Africa defeated Comoros 3-0.

We have sold Viola.

[Abe Sargent]

Lots of teams are sniffing the panties of Carvalho, Semedi and others.

The coach of Tel-Aviv, Paulo Sousa, took over at Braga, but the Americo transfer still goes through.

Our initial budget next year?

100k/week and 100k transfer…

Ugh

Our new sponsor deals come through, much lowered. For example, one fell from 210k a year to 65k.

We are still at 142k budget. Still have to cut a lot of players before I can sign cheap ones.
 
I accept offers for Zezinho and Carvalho.

We sell Zezinho for 100k

Carvalho for 675k

Nacional poached one of our coaches and we made 35k.

Budget is down to 125k

Wilson leaves (its the 15th of June)

Hernani Costa is now considering an offer by Man City and Man Utd

OGC Nice made an offer for Ruben Semedo but its much lower than his value. Hmmm. We get them to 1.9 mill, just 100k less than his value of 2 mill.

[Abe Sargent]

The new manager screwed up negotiations with Stefan Strandberg to retain him at Nacional. Idiot.

Jeferson heads out (June 20th)

South Africa defeated Benin 4-0 and are 7-0 in two games in World Cup Qualifying.

We sell ST Fredy Montero to AELK in Greece. For nothing. He was worth little, we needed to clear out salary.

The first of the major players for Nacional leaves as Man City completes the 43.5 Mill offer to Nacional. Something that should never have happened for that price….in the opinion of the guy who helped coach him up!

Ruben Semedo heads out.

Now our salary had dropped to 90k. We have 536k in the kitty. Time to make an offer to an unusual, maybe player.

I make an offer to unsigned ST Joaquim Sousa. Yes, that Sousa.

The same Sousa that came through our Nacional youth ranks in the 2013 era. Capped 5 times for the senior squad and 25 for the youth one, he never really hit it big, but this is an opportunity for redemption. For both of us.


He agrees to sign with us for 6.5k per week through 2022.

I get a presser. Sousa introduces Sousa. Our first official signing!



Now we're ready for what's ahead...

[Abe Sargent]

Nacional also screw over Marcio Sousa’s deal for them.


Because we are Sporting, we have some quality youth. Perhaps we’ll be forced to turn to them.


Who strikes my curiosity?

AMC/MC Paulo Simoes, 16 years old, not good now, but perhaps some potential later on for us.
AML/ML Pedro Quaresma, 16 too, Strong now. I move him to our senior squad.
AMR/MR Marco Silva, 15, good potential we think 3.5 star scout potential. Not good now though.

Our head physio retired


Alright, welcome to June 29

Our minimum expectation this year is to win the Second league.


We get 88.73k in tv stuff this season.

After contract clauses hit, our salary dropped to 88k.

I want to pull DC Cleison off the transfer list, he’s 19 and hits my various needs. But I can’t, stupid requested transfer list junk!

[Abe Sargent]

The 30th is here

Our loans are up and since we were paying for some, our salary drops to just 49.4k. And we’ll lose some tomorrow when several players are sold and move on.

Time to look for some shopping opportunities.

I basically don’t even have a team. I have just a ST, ML, and GK. And it’s not like he’s a quality GK.

This is the most important time of the year. Can I craft a winning squad? I have the cash, perhaps.


I do something…desperate. I call up James Essex to talk shop. Any ideas? Any thoughts? Obviously, I need a formation, but if I can sign great players, I’ll fit the formation to the first few folks.

He sends me one name. One recommendation. A young 19 year old South African youth player capped for the youth team, DMC, playing for FC Twente right here in Europe.


Mandla Khumalo, DMC


I order a scouting. But he does look to have some value. Could we sign him?

Essex mentioned that Khumalo was on their short list as a potential starter down the road for South Africa in a Hojbjerg-esque manner like he was for Denmark, but not as good Essex says. But that’s the only favor he’ll send our way. That’s it. He’s done with Portugal.

Our scouts think he’d be really interested in joining us. Can we sign him? He’s worth 200k.

Essex kept a giant printed red folder in the office that included a detailed scout report done by his staff on over a thousand players. Every time he had a new report filed, he read it, talked with the scout at length, and added it to the folder. It’s extensive. I’m sure it went to Bayern with him.

I send out an enquiry on Khumalo. We’ll just see, I suppose.

[Abe Sargent]

Meanwhile, who else entrances me?

So, before that…

What tactics do I want to consider?

We were previously employing a 4-5-1, and my board wants good quality defensive football. We could certainly run that. Perhaps the only luxury I have in this setting is that I can sign players to fit the right tactic, rather than finding the right tactic for my players. I explore some of our competition in the 2nd league. Here are the guesses as to what teams will be playing based either on what they played last year, or changes and personnel and managers.

4-4-1-1
4-5-1
4-4-2 Diamond
3-4-2-1
4-5-1
4-5-1
4-4-2
4-5-1
4-4-2 Diamond
4-5-1
4-5-1
3-5-2
4-5-1
4-5-1
4-4-2 Diamond
4-5-1
4-5-1
4-5-1
4-5-1
4-4-2 Diamond

So, it’s important to understand that in a division with 22 teams there are a lot of 4-5-1 formations.

What works against a 4-5-1?

4-1-4-1 (4-4-2 with a DMC instead of a STC) is pretty useful
4-3-3 has had some success.

I think perhaps a 4-1-3-1-1 might be nice (not a real tactic, obviously). It’s just a 4-1-4-1 with a central middie put into an AMC role. You could also run a solid 4-5-1 yourself. Fire fights fire.

There were a lot of 4-5-1s in the Liga too, and Essex broke them with his 4-4-2 Diamond. No surprise that more teams have copied that here. So you can break the bank with lots of formations.

I don’t want a formation so defensive that we don’t win enough games to win the division. I’d rather win 3-2 than 1-0.

I could do the V version of the 4-5-1 with a DMC or the W Version with an AMC. Joaquim Sousa is a good, well rounded ST. He can be a decent target guy for us in the attacking 4-5-1 spot.

But at the same time, I really want that DMC playmaker.

I could do this…

4, 1, 2, 2, 1 (or 1-2 at the end). That’s with a full 4 in the back, a DMC, two MR/L, 2 AMC and a ST< sort of like a 4-4-2 Diamond with a ST pulled into a 2nd AMC.

I could pull fullbacks completely and run a 3 back set. The problem that has against so many 4-5-1s is that most 4-5-1s run AML/Rs that attack down the sides. However, there are fewer attackers to cross into, so that weapon is easier to shut down with the extra Defender.

So we could do this:

3-1-3-1-2. I like it. But you have just one pair wide. Need to play narrower. Like the 4-4-2 Diamond it concedes part of the field to dominate the other (sides). I don’t think we can find the midfielders with enough quality to play the sides by themselves.

So, for now, this season, we’ll be 4-1 something.

Hmmm…

Alright, 4-1-3-1-1 it is. I think we can do that. But, let’s leave open other possibilities in case I come across an amazing player for us that breaks that concept.

Playez!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

Alright, 4-1-3-1-1 it is.

Okay, teach me something here if you please.

I'm a 4-4-2 Diamond guy (or at least by preference) until it stops working.

While 442D is a handy shorthand for it, my limited understanding of it is that it could also be called a 4-1-2-1-2 (except perhaps with a bit more fluidity in roles as a 4-4-2?)

Your chosen formation is then, basically, the 4-4-2 Diamond but with a one striker replaced by a CM?

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Okay, teach me something here if you please.

I'm a 4-4-2 Diamond guy (or at least by preference) until it stops working.

While 442D is a handy shorthand for it, my limited understanding of it is that it could also be called a 4-1-2-1-2 (except perhaps with a bit more fluidity in roles as a 4-4-2?)

Your chosen formation is then, basically, the 4-4-2 Diamond but with a one striker replaced by a CM?

Precisely.

[Abe Sargent]

Let me tell you the story of 22 year old Vinny Cutchey. This powerful midfielder on the left side was one of England’s bright new stars, coming through the Chelsea ranks. He had 33 youth caps for England, and even 1 senior squad cap. He’s a future star for them. But then, more than 24 months ago, he had a severe career-altering injury. He was out for 11 months with a damaged, fractured skull. This injury appeared to prevent him from playing football again.

Cutchey was let go by Chelsea at the end of his contract, and finished up getting healthy personally. Then after a few months of working out, he got himself into playing condition again. Now, his skills have dropped in some areas, and he has not been on a team for 11 months. He has considered retirement, since no one wants to take a chance on him.

But I do. This could be the signing of signings. This could be the guy who puts us over the top. The stud. The one person willing to come to a newly relegated Sporting that would otherwise skip us.

Now, our scout report was that he’s injury prone. No duh. But he is worth the risk.


I make him an offer. He’s my #1 target. No one else is chasing him.

I send out a lot of scouts and move ahead a day.

[Abe Sargent]

Because they spent 250k to sign him, FC Twente force me to pay 425k to purchase him, so they make some money off the deal. But, they agree, and we get to a deal with him. We have some extra transfer money from the deals we’ve been doing.

We sign our guy. Thank’s James Essex!

We’ll look at him later. But we have a ST, DMC, and ML of quality in each spot. Now to some of that scouting we just ran.

Top targets I like –

DR Mario Noguera, 22, Colombian/Argentine
AML, MLR Filip Kostic, 27. Croatian
AMR/STC Javier Cabrera, 28, Uruguay
D RC Ruben Romero, 24, Argentine
DC Francesco Procentese, 22, Italy

I scout lots more. If I could bring in just one or two of that five though, I’d be really happy.

[Abe Sargent]

I have a GK issue. What to do with that?

I have a few possibilities, but we’re screwed here for the nonce. This is a need we have to address.

GK Ruben Mino doesn’t want to sign with us (31, Spanish)


I offer a backup, youth prospect guy a deal for 2k/week. And then another. Both attackers that are young. Hopefully we can bring in both as rotation and youth options along with Joaquim Sousa.




Since I’m familiar with them, I make a few loan offers. We’ll see if any of the three players on our targeted list come in for the year…

I dispatch more and more scouts.


I use the rest of the transfer income to massage my salary up to 120k.

Let’s see who I can bring in from that big five.

I make some offers.

I also arrange some friendlies.

I agree to head to Trial Day for some Portuguese players.

I eventually unlock a youth guy recommended to me from Paraguay, and I agree to a 29k offer for him from San Lorenzo.

[Abe Sargent]

So I have offers to some loanees from Nacional da Madeira, three youth players of value, and my 5 major targets.

What else? Who else?

I make an offer to another scout – I can have up to 6, and I’m currently rocking 5.

I make an offer to Nigerian scout Karimu Shuaibu, for 600/week, 35 years old.


GK Merab Totladze, Georgian 19 year old of Nacional renown is rejected to loan with us, they want him to play with better players. Grrr… That was my ace in the hole! I know him, and helped to develop him!

Any other good GKs for loan anywhere? I make three offers for folks I really like.

I also had a loan offer for Mozambique youther Sergio da Sousa Ines, from Nacional, rejected.


The first of my youth offers has agreed to deal with us,

Sergio Correa, ST, AMLC, MC, Argeninian, 3.5 star report. We’ll look at all of our singings at once laters.

Our second youther joins our ranks on July 3. Meet 21 year old Ignacio Raul Salinas, USA, ST, AML,

Vinny Cutchey also arrives. This is a big risk, and a big reward.


Four of my top five targets have signed elsewhere just TWO days after offering them deals. The only one still mulling our offer is the 28 year old Uruguayan. The rest all are off the market.


Not as easy to restock the cupboard as I had hoped….

Getting loans and offers rejected all over the place.

[Abe Sargent]

Our latest scout joins us and I send him to western Africa, land of many opportunities. I hope.

He has a bunch of Nigerians on his shortlist that I scout out to get full reports.

In fact, after scouting one, I make an offer to an unsigned one. Come play for me, Francis Williams! With your 5 star scouting report! He could lock up our AMC spot.


One of the star GKs I offered a loan came back requiring a 10% of wages, and I agre.e The others were rejected.


Our bid to loan Rolf Worthington from Nacional was rejected. I expected that a lot, he’s one of the stars of the team. Teams fighting for the young Irishman for loan include Man City.


We have officially signed Javier Cabrera, the Uruguayan attacker. That will basically seal up our attacking, with the youthers, middies, and such. If we bring in Francis Williams, that’s not a bad result.

Meanwhile, we have’t signed any defense minded folks Time to get that on…

After a lot of failure, I finally find a guy who can suffice, 30 year old Carlos Rodriguez, of Uruguay at the DC spot. But I need a lot more!


I make a couple more loan offers for folks.

Trial Game time.

I make offers to two youthers who played in the general Portugal trial game.


One came through our youth ranks in Nacional a long time ago, Domingos Cunha.

I do sign Arturo Villasanti from Paraguay, he’ll arrive next year when he turns 18. Cost me just 29k. He’ll be worth it.

[Abe Sargent]

My GK loanee eventually refused to head here, and I still need a GK dude. A few faxes come in on players around the globe offered for loans (happens regularly) and I grab a few to look them over. I scout a few that look decent. One catches my eye and I make another loan offer, a younger Bulgarian playing in Greece.


On the 6th, Sporting announce that they have extended the credit facilities to ensure the club’s future.

Today, we are worth 36.5Mill and have 17 mill in debt.

Francis Williams has joined us!

I hold my team meeting and then decide to keep the pitch dimensions.


Cunha signs with us, another youther/rotaition guy, and this time at fullback. The other youth/rotation FB arrives. Neither of these guys are that sterling.

Carlos Rodrigues will be a decent guy for me for now at the DC and brings me some experience.



I pull Wallace off the transfer list. He plays DC and DR. We need the depth.

I also pull a player off Sporting B just as he is about to get offers from clubs ,so that we’ll get the money….

[Abe Sargent]

More scouts, and more and more and more! It feels like we are scouting the whole world. This last group, about 12 players currently unsigned – none were interested.

I’m trying to find that needle in the haystack.


More loanee options decline or fall through.

It’s now the 11th of July.

I start browsing the AC Milan lists. Maybe I can find a good loanee on their team for me

I make a few offers.

I also found my GK. Finally.

But he’s Romanian. I make him an offer, Silviu Lung Jr. I should look for another Romanian to help out. He showed up in our search online and then we scouted him all out. Offer is made!


I look for other Romanians. Found my guy. He’s perfect. 19 year old Claudio Neacsu, a Romanian/Portuguese guy. I offer him a hot prospect deal.


Uh oh. My final GK offer, which I thought was rejected by AS Monaco was in fact accepted, so I can accept a GK loan if I want. USA guy, 20 years old, hot prospect, Ben Johnson. Nah, I’d rather have the guy on my team for two years. I delay it to make sure that Lung signs. When he does, then I’ll cancel this deal.

[Abe Sargent]

We are 1-5 favorites to advance.

We finally sell Bernardo Carlos for 195k to P. Ferreira. He spent his whole career here, and it’s sad to see him leave under these circumstances. I would have been happy to have kept him.

Spain just defeated Wales to win the 2-2- European Championship. Yup. Wales.

I take a look at the Welsh team. There are some unsigned folks who just went deep on this roster, who started. Like DC Joel Lynch. Or, whoa, Jon Williams is unsigned. He’s go perfectly in my MC spot too. Too bad he’s way out of my price range and Leicester is chasing him too.

Lung Jr has agreed. I sign him for 6k/week and let go of the loan.

Now I’ve got my GK. We are getting closer to a first 11.


After our latest signing, here on July 15th, we have spent 80k. There’s a lot left in the till.

[Abe Sargent]

Our first friendly is on the 18th, vs Sporting B

Somebody just offered to loan Marcelo Boeck, my 35 year old GK, for the season and they’ll pay his wages. Um….okay?


We are in Group B of the first Phase of the Taca da Liga.


Athletico CP
Fatima
Trofense
Olieveirense
Sporting




Neascu signs with us.

I offer a hot prospect deal to one of my youthers who turned 17.

My player, Mandla Khumalo is on the South African Olympics squad, along with players like Cyril Mzizi, Lucas Khosa, and others.

I scout a few players on their team that are not currently with squads. Maybe there’ll be another Mzizi/Khumalo on here!


ST Tokelo Rantie is unsigned! But he won’t touch us.


Nacional made their first major move – signing 24 year old DC Antonio Marin from Barcelona for 6.75 mill. Just Costa has left, no one else has moved away. Only unhappy guy is Omar Montesi, DLC who wants an improved contract. Give it to him! Montesi is a stud!

Boeck’s move is confirmed.

[Abe Sargent]

I need a backup/younger rotational type GK. I make an offer to 24 year old Portuguese guy Joao Costa to be our backup guy.


And we can use the GK for Sporting B as our 3rd backup in times of crisis. Barring a good youth prospect, I don’t need to pay for three.

Speaking of which…

I remember our look over the best Portugese recruits this past year. There was a solid GK one out playing for Estrela Amadora, in a lower league. I order my scouts to check out Rogerio Herlein. Nacional had a bunch extra, perhaps they’d part with the worst of the lot, Rui Ressureicao, for us?


To fight the friendly, I have a bunch of youth players on the squad. Impress me! Quick summary, goal from Williams to Sousa, 25th. Cabrera to Sousa to Cutchey for a score in the 48th. Williams to Salinas in the 66th. Gomes with a deep ball to Salinas for a score in the 74th. We win 4-0. Good job! MOM is Salinas

The loanees I wanted from AC Milan decided to head elsewhere

Nacional accepted an offer, 3.7m to purchase Sergio de Sousa Ines by Siena. I remember when Essex signed him just to develop him with loyalty to his fellow countryman from Mozambique. He told me, develop him the best way you know how - and now look at him!


We negotiate the offer with GK Herlein and hope to hear back in a day or two.

[Abe Sargent]

Rui Res is not interested in all in coming here.

A lot of our matches are getting picked for TV and that is upping the money we are making from them.

It’s 65k. To cover the deal I drop our salary a bit.

Time to add some more staff.


I make on offer to Romanian Costin Curelea, a 36 year old Fitness Coach with a cap for Romania.

English coach Paul Foster


French coach Dorian Andrieux, U19 coach

Mali coach Mohamed Fall, U19 Coach


We begin the season with the four games in the Group of the Taca da Liga and I’m using them as our friendlies. Our first is on the 26th. We have another on the 29th.

The schedule back here in the 2nd Liga is grueling. 42 games. Then add in Taca games, and we could easily have 50 games in a season. I need more depth than I have.

I have some good set piece takers. In particular, Javier Cabrera has a 14 in corners, 17 free kicks, 17 long throws, with 12 pass, and 13 cross. Vinny Cutchey, on the left side, has a 17 corners with an 18 cross and 13 pass. Good stuff there.

Cleison, 19 year old defender, and D C/R Wallace are the only guys on my team that were with Sporting last year on the Senior Squad.

I take a look at all of the Olympics squads to see if someone jumps out at us.

I send out a few scouts to check and see on players with Australia, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, to see if these unsigned guys are any good.


Joao Costa agrees to be my backup/rotation GK.

We finalize the deal for GK Herlein to be our 3rd guy, developmental GK.

[Abe Sargent]

I make Wallace our Captain and GK Lung Jr our vice. I have 11 people happy with those choices – they were not the recommended ones. Our coaches suggested DR Cunha and Wallace, and had Lung as the 4th best option behind DL Diogo. But Cunha and Diogo are just bodies right now for me.

We still need a strong DL option. Diogo is very weak. In fact, he seems like more like a DC but was never trained there. A mistake I seek to rectify. But he has like 2 jumping reach, 5 cross, stuff like that that makes me wince.

So I make an offer to a guy to come in and do a lot better. Another Uruguayan, 28 year old Maximiliano Olivera. He’s a better DL option by far.

Cleison has requested that he be pulled off the transfer list. I agree.

Some of my managerial targets arrive.

Coach Curelea heads elsewhere and does not sign with us.

Nacional and Mozambique Sergio De Sousa Ines agreed to the deal with Siena, but then the deal fell through – they can only sign two non-EU folks a year. Meanwhile, a German club made an offer of 12.5 mill to Nacional for GK Henry Castellon, their backup GK from Honduras. In other Nacional news, they spent 9.75 Mill for 21 year old Galego, from Santos. He’s worth a lot more both major singings have been of players worth more than the asking fee.

Signing people is not about making money. It’s about fit. Now, Galego is good, he’s on the Brazilian Olympic squad. I’d spit in my water for a guy like him. But I couldn’t even tell you what role they expect him to play.

I make an offer to Joep van den Ouweland to be our Fitness Coach instead. 34 year old Dutch guy,

GK Herlein arrives and I have Wallace welcome him to everyone.

The guy I moved over from Sporting B has just signed with PSV for 400k. Good luck!

I’ll take some of that cash, too…

[Abe Sargent]

Welcome Olivera to Sporting Clube de Portugal in Lisbon!

Our Dutch coach arrives as well.

Our youth training is actually better than our senior squad, so I hop a few folks over there from the senior squad.

All three of our Uruguayan signings – Olivera, DC Carlos Rodriguez, Javier Cabrera, have never left Uruguay and played all of their football in their home nation. So this is a nice change for all three to come together on our team. Welcome to Portugal!

Here’s my current ideal starting 11:

GK Silvio Lung Jr
DC Wallace
DC Carlos Rodriguez
DL Maximiliano Olivera
DR Domingos Cunha
DM Mandla Khumalo
MR Javier Cabrera
ML Vinny Cutchey
MC ???
AMC Francis Williams
ST Joaquim Sousa

Now that squad has a lot of flexibility in some places. I could run Cabrera in the ST spot (although he’s weak in finishing). Of that list, I think ML Cutchey is a super star for this league, and Lung, Cabrera and Sousa are high quality. Meanwhile, I’m excited at the opportunity the two young Africans can bring – Williams and Khumalo. We have high expectations for both.

On our bench, we have:

MC/DM/ML Marcos Molina, 17 year old I promoted from the youth squad. Started the friendly in the DM spot.
MC Vasco Gomes, 17 year old promoted as well. Started in the MC spot for the friendly.
ST, AMRL Ignacio Raul Salinas, 21
ST, AMLC, MC Sergio Correa, 20
ML, AML Pedro Quaresma, 16
DL Fernando Diogo, 20
AM LC, M LC Claudio Neacsu, 19
GK Joao Costa, 24
D RLC Cleison, 19

Now, ideally, I need another DC backup guy and I could use a stud MC.

So I sort of see Correra as a sub for either Williams or Sousa, Salinas for Sousa, Quaresma for Cutchey, Molina for Cutchey, MC role, or Khumalo, and so forth. Now, I do think that Molina is the best MC I have, so once Khumalo returns from the Olympics in a month or so, he’d move there.

Place of worry – DR, MC.

Wallace agrees to mentor Cleison.

Cleison is a youth/rotational guy already. He’s not ready to be pushed into a starting role in case of injury or tiredness. Does anyone else jump out at me?

What about someone who can play both DC and DR respectfully? A few more scouting reports are demanded.

There are some I like that aren’t interested, like 30 year old Chilean international Sebastian Toro.

[Abe Sargent]

Meanwhile, we move to begin the match vs Oliveirense. We are here at home. Pick up where you left off!!! A Cabrera Sousa goal is called offsides. It was badly. We have some chances, but no score at the half. I’m far from pleased! Our next game is in a few days, so I pull out Williams early for Sergio Correra and ML Quaresma heads in for Cutchey. Correra is pushed early on just outside the box and slides the ball to Cabrera and heads in and Cabrera hits it back to him for a score in the 66th minute. Cleison subs in for Rodriguez late. Then they score a late goal in the 88th to tie it up and we tie 1-1. We should have won that match!!! MOM was Javier Cabrera.


I make an offer to an MC. One of the unsigned Ivorians I liked should be a nice guy for us. We need a bit more. A bit more grace, and power, and skill. So I made an offer to 20 year old Kouassi Diallo, who I think can help.


There’s another unsigned Ivorian that tickled my fancy, but he’s a Striker, the one place I am safely content. Otherwise I would have made a play. The last one was a DR that didn’t come back nice. If he was a DRC and better, I might have made him an offer too.

Anyway, still looking for that D RC. The best of those I’ve looked at is also an Ivorian, 29 though, named Kevin Boli. I’m looking and scouting to see if I can find younger/better. If not, he works. There’s also a 4th Uruguayan option named Nicholas Rodriguez, but he can’t play DC very well. I really like D/WB/M/AM R Andy Najar, a Honduran international, 27 years old. But he won’t touch me.


I like Rodrigues better. But he’s not as versatile as Boli. It would be nice to give us another Ivorian, in case Diallo signs for us for the midfield. That way he has a buddy. Two clubs have Boli on their radar. One has Rodriguez.

I’ll wait a bit and see what Diallo does. No sense bringing in Boli if that doesn’t work out.

[Abe Sargent]

Diallo signs. Now he is away for a while. Won’t play for a bit since he’s with the Olympics.

Today we head to face Athletico CP. for the next game in the Group for the Taca. I start out countering. We are looking sexy early on. Cutchey slides the ball to Sousa for a score in the 28th after it was in the box a bit. Williams is looking up for it – he stole the ball and found Cabrera for a nice shot buth it wouldn’t sink. Half. You aren’t sucking! We force a corner in the 49th of Athletico and then head it away to stall an attack. Cutchey is banged up – in heads Quaresma. I also sub in Fernando Diogo at DL for Olivera. Corner kick by Cabrera finds Wallace for a score in the 70th minute and our DC Captain scores. I sub out a tired Williams for Corera. We win 2-0. MOM is Wallace. Good win.

I hand out some rests to prepare for the next game in a few days on the 2nd of August.

Meanwhile, I need to make a DR vs DRC decision. The better DR or the DRC?

The better one. His stats are just so much better in areas that I care about. I make Rodriguez an offer, and he agrees in principle to a cheap one for us. He’s thousands cheaper than Boli too!

He would be the last piece of the puzzle, I think. From here, it’s finding backups or young talent.

[Abe Sargent]

I make some enquiries to my first youth targets.

We made an offer to a stud DC prospect who doesn’t want to come to us, 16 year old Scottish guy. Liverpool had made an offer, it was leaked to the press, and that put him on our radar. But not to be.

Anyone else?


I scout some folks out. I don’t know how, but a lesser French team – Havre, just signed a huge GK talent from Malaysia. How they even knew about him is beyond me.

One of the smart things Manager Essex did a Nacional was to collect major youth talent, much like big name clubs do – your Real Madrid or Juventus or Bayern. It worked – lower level teams can seek the advantage that way.

So I am trying that now. I can grow our studs and stars, or earn a lot of dollars. And I have a B team, Sporting B, to move them too to give them staring spots if I want.

[Abe Sargent]

August, 2020

2nd – Home vs Trofense, Taca da Liga
5th – Away vs Fatima, Taca da Liga
9th –Home vs Penafiel
16th – Away vs Espinho
19th – Home vs Fatima
23rd –Away vs Varzim

17 year old Marcos Molina was good in training, but Sousa and Quaresma weren’t.

The club is now required to make monthly payments of 50k each month to pay for the 12.75M Director loan taken out earlier.

I make an offer to bring in Adolfo Serron, a Uruguayan middie, but it would take the rest of my transfer kitty. I make an offer of 125k for Michael Frimpong of Ghana.

Nicholas Rodriguez signs with us. That gives us 3 Uruguayans in defense, and another in attack.

Frimpong agrees in deal to the contract we offered.

We have sold 30k season tickets this year, a drop from the 37k last year.

I bring DC Wallace and DC Claison together for a mentor/mentee matchup. Also, Javier Cabrera with Pedro Quaresma, GK Lung Jr with GK Herlein, DC Maximiliano Olivera with DL Diogo, DR Carlos Rodriguez with DR Cunha.

[Brian Swartz]

I dream of the day where I have to worry about my season tickets declining to 30k. I'm looking forward to seeing how this first year goes, quite the shakeup and I'm wondering how long it'll take to form chemistry in the squad.

[Abe Sargent]

I think the good thing is that we are so far above the talent level of the league that we'll blow people out of the water quickly enough to get chemistry automatically, if that makes sense. Plus I have a lot of groups - 4 Uruguayans, people from Nacional that played there together, the young African stars in the middle, all roughly the same age, playing in the Olympics. Even the Romanian duo. I think we'll be fine. But one bad apple, eh?

I tried to steer clear of any players with bad personalities or scouting reports for things like being problems with the squad or professionalism or red cards and such. The one exception is the injury problems of Vinny Cutchey.

For example, my worst starter, DC Wallace, who I inherited and made captain, is still better than most DCs in the Seconda Liga. My Uruguayan defenders are solid, and could be there for my team in the next level up and be a bot better than the Belenenses or Vitoria Setubal like teams. And I have players with upsides that resemble Lucas Castro coming in next year (that Paraguyan is sexy, you'll love him) or great contributors. Cutchey is as good now as Marin Komorski was for me (er...Essex...) with Nacional - although Komorski had room to grow. And my three middle Africans all have strong room to grow - I'm particularly excited to see Khumalo develop at the DM role. Diallo and Williams both offer nice stuff.

Because of the talent level being so much higher (we were rejected by tons of players, but I still found enough with our reputation and, to be fair, our wallet - we spend more on salary than anyone else in this league by far) we're dangerious.


And I think that will lead to being successful immediately, which int run will keep everyone happy.

[Abe Sargent]

I just looked it up and we are spending roughly FOUR TIMES as much on salary as the next team, Olhanense.

We are spending roughly FIFTEEN TIMES as much as the salary of the lowest team, Real.

[Abe Sargent]

Now it’s time to look at my (final?) squad!


I spent days to assemble this. Here are my results:


GK Silviu Lung Jr, 31, Ambitious, Romania, 5 caps, speaks Romanian, French, Hungarian, English. Played for a lot of clubs in his day, mostly in Romania, save for a two year stint in Austria. Signed for 2 years, at 6k/month, worth 325k. Vice-captain. He is a very strong GK For this level.

Some of his key stats include 14 aerial, 20 command of area, 15 communication, 14 reflexes and 13 one on ones. His ball distribution is adequate – 11 kick, 14 throw, with a 8 eccentricity, 13 handling, and such. Good technical GK skills.

And for physical, about as good as you’d expect for the age. 9, 14, 11, 17, 15, 10, 11, 17 Keys there are a very high jumping reach and strength, plus a solid agility.

Mental?? 16 anticipation, 15 decisions, 14 leadership, composure, 13 concentration, teamwork, etc.

Silviu Lung Jr is a good, solid, reliable GK, who I can take with me up to the next level if needed, without any regret.

Welcome to Lisbon!!!

[Abe Sargent]

GK Joao Costa, 24, Portugal, Balanced, speaks Portuguese, Spanish. Came through Porto’s youth ranks. Then placed for Gil Vicente as a backup, youth guy. Never left Portugal, not even on a loan, and he still won’t! Signed for two years, rotation, 1.2k, worth 29k. Decent enough backup for us.


Some of his key GK stats include 15 Command and Communication, 12 Reflexes, Aeriel, 10 one one ones, and 14 handling throwing. Just a 5 eccentricity. Worst stat on GK side of things? 10 1:1s.

For physical, he’s 10, 14, 12, 14, 12, 5, 5, 11. Yup, just a 4 in pace and stamina. Not that important here though. 14 Agi and J Reach are solid enough though.

Mentals are poor. 13 brave, 12 position, determination, 11 concentration, and everything else is in the single digits!

You can so a nice job just by being an emergency dinghy, pulled only when absolutely necessary.

[Abe Sargent]

D RC Carlos Rodriguez, 30, Balanced, Uruguay, Speaks Spanish. 2.6k/week, for 2 years, 61k value, key player. Came through the Danubio ranks in Uruguay, and then spent 10 seasons at Miramar Misiones there, and was just allowed to leave. Uruguay’s loss is our gain!

Technical? How about a 17 heading, 12 mark, 11 tack and 11 pass? That’s with a 12 technique, and 17 first touch. 9 cross if I want to slide him there. Not too bad.

Physical? 9, 15, 17, 14, 14, 13, 8, 11. So he has a 14 jump and a 9/13 speed (acceleration/pace). That’s with an 11 strength, which is a bit light for me.

Mental? That’s good. 17 aggression, 14 anticipation, and then a bunch of 13s and 12s. 11 is off the Ball, Decisions, and that’s in in stats that matter (I assume Flair, for example, does not matter – it’s a 7 if you care…).

So he‘s learned from the game, and has great heading capability. The rest is suitable for this level. He’ll drop off quickly, and he’s really just a short team answer for me.

The Uruguayan Invasion has Begun!

[Abe Sargent]

D R (CL a bit too) Nicolas Rodriguez, 28, Determined, Uruguay, Speaks Spanish. Came through the Wanderers club in Uruguay and moved to Cerro Largo FC where he’s been ever since as well. 3.7k/week, 165k value, 2 year deal, key player.


Here’s why I like Nick. Let’s do the technical attributes, in order, from corners to technique:

13, 14, 14, 11, 14, 15, 18, 13, 15, 12, 13, 11, 12, 14 – This includes a 14 cross and a 13 pass, an 18 heading, 12 mark and 12 tackle. That’s pretty well rounded technically!

Mental?

13, 12, 11, 11, 12, 13, 13, 18, 12, 3, 14, 13, 13, 12 – The 3 is in leadership. Everything else is at least an 11. Good solid stuff.

Physical?

12, 14, 12, 11, 15, 14, 14, 12

Again, not that bad. 12/14 speed, 11 jump reach, and so forth. There’s a lot here to recommend – he has no weak spots at all. Just one skill, leadership, is below an 11.

I think you can see why I decided to grab him. He is very consistent. If needed, I can keep him longer, and I can also upend him too, based on what happens if we get promoted. I’m already beginning training for the DC role.

Join your fellow Rodriguez!

[Abe Sargent]

D LC Maximiliano Olivera, 28, Uruguay, Ambitious, Speaks Spanish. 7.25k/week, key player. 2 years, 185k. Played for Wanderers his whole life. He came through that club in the 2008-2009 season, and Nicholas Rodriguez came through a season later in 2009-2010. They were on the youth squad together! Welcome back to Lisbon!

Technique – 15, 13, 14, 8, 14, 12, 14, 11, 13, 14, 14, 7, 13, 15 – Low ratings in finishing and set pieces. Strong elsewhere.

Mental -- 14, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 13, 15, 13, 13, 14, 14, 15, 13 – Everything at 12+ - I’m a fan!

Physical – 13, 14, 14, 13, 5, 14, 15, 13 – Just a 5 fitness, but 13 everywhere include and a 13/14 speed.


Again, we have a solid, well rounded guy securing the fullback spot for me, and can slide over to DC if needed. He could also prove solid if needed in the next level, but is not so good that I have to p;lay him – I’m not wedded to him one way or the other.


Join your countrymen!

[Abe Sargent]

DR Domingos Cunha. 19, Portugal, Speaks Portuguese, Spanish, basic Romanian, , Fairly Professional. Hot prospect, 2 years, 1.7k/week, 35.5k value. Came through 2014-2015 class at Nacional da Madeira. We let him go, and he traveled all around, including a spell in Romania. We picked him up at the trial day. That was the same class as Joao Luis Rodrigues came through, a guy who is now the best player in Europe. When your competition is the best player in Europe, and is also a fullback, it’s hard to shine. It’s no surprise that Cunha didn’t flag us there. This is an opportunity to help out, and I trained him a lot, so we know each other. He’s just a youth guy, just a sub guy, but he’s my guy.

The good stuff? 13 marking, 14 tackling, 12/14 speed, 16 stamina, work rate, and leadership, 14 anticipation, 13 position.

Now, the many bad things? 7 cross, 7 pass. 9 heading. 7 jumping reach. 7 dribbling. 9 technique. 6 determination. So, he’s very hot and cold, well, rather warm and cold. But, he gives us depth and someone I know.

So let’s give you another spell!



DL Fernando Diogo, 20, Portugal, Balanced, Speaks Portuguese. 1.1k/week, 2 years, 42k, hot prospect. Was a player here at Sporting for a while, and is from Lisbon. He was allowed to leave a month ago from the Sporting B team, played in the trial day, and I liked him enough to sign him under me. So he’s been with us forever.

Now, he’s not a very good player. In fact, he’s worse than Cunha. Here I’ll show you.

Strengths? 14 tack, 12 mark, 11 head, 13 anticipation, determination, 12 position, 11 work rate, and every physical state is a 10, 12, 13 or 14, save for jumping at 2.

Weaknesses? 5 cross. 9 pass. 7 decisions. 5 dribble. 7 technique.

So yeah, not a good player. But when in need…


Rejoin us!

[Abe Sargent]

DM , MC Mandla Khumalo, 19, South Africa, Fairly Professional, Speaks English. We purchased him for 425k from FC Twente. Worth 725k, 7k/week, for two years. He was originally in the Jomo Cosmos club in South Africa, then signed by the Dutch team, who loaned him to Siena, when James Essex gave me this tip, and said the South African side thought he might be a starter in a few years.

You’ll see why he impressed here in a moment…

Technique –

10, 11, 9, 9, 15, 7, 13, 9, 5, 12, 13, 11, 14, 16 – So that’s a nice 16 technique and 15 first touch. 13 pass with 13 head, 14 tack, and 12 mark. Good stuff for a guy this young.


Mental –

14, 14, 6, 9, 12, 9, 14, 13, 5, 11, 11, 13, 10, 13 – Again, not that bad at all, and with a lot of room to grow.


Physical – 14, 16, 16, 11, 12, 15, 16, 12 – 16 stamina is useful for this role, and the rest is strong. 14/15 speed is great here.


With room to grow, Khumalo clocks in with a 4.5 star review. This player has the best chance to be with us five years from now hitting the top of the Liga each year, at least of those signed.

[Abe Sargent]

AMC/ MC Francis Williams, 20, Ambitious, Nigeria, Speaks English. 1.6k/week, first team, 2 years, 65k. Spent whole career at Kwara United, then allowed to leave.

Technique – 13, 12, 15, 13, 14, 12, 11, 14, 8, 9, 13, 12, 6, 16 – The low numbers are defensive ones. 13 pass, 16 technique, 15 dribble, 13 finish, 14 long shots, 14 1st touch, and so forth.

Mental – 13, 9, 8, 12, 13, 8, 10, 16, 14, 14, 10, 14 – 16 determination, 14 in goods like flair, work rate, off the ball and positioning,


Physical – 17, 16, 11, 12, 11, 16, 12, 15 – Yes, that’s a 17/16 speed, baby!

With his speed, agility, strength, and technical skills and mental acuity, this could be a really great AMC
for us, even at the next level as he grows. He’s good now though! My staff recommend a shadow striker role.

[Abe Sargent]

MC, AMC Kouassi Diallo, 20, Ivory Coast, Fairly Ambitious, Speaks French, English. 7.25k/week, 2 years, 210k value, 2 caps at senior level. Played at Stade d’Abidjan and then Aalesund in Norway found him and brought him in two years ago. They let his contract expire. I brought him in after scouting players on Olympic rosters that were unsigned. He’s good quality stuff with an amazing stat.

Tech?

14, 11, 12, 11, 16, 10, 13, 11, 5, 12, 18, 14, 12, 16 – That is not a typo – 18 passing. 16 first touch and technique too. Good stuff for the middle guy.


Mental?

5, 13, 13, 14, 14, 14, 12, 13, 13, 12, 10, 12, 15 – Yup, that’s a 5 aggression, but it’s all uphill from there.

Physical –

13, 14, 15, 8, 11, 13, 16, 12 – 8 jumping,other than that, he’s fine.

So, in summation, we have another strong player, and someone with a 4 star scout rating that already is in a good place. My staff suggest a box-to-box role or a deep lying role, but they think an advanced playmaker is the best.

[Abe Sargent]

ML, AML – Vinny Cutchey, 22, England, Driven, Speaks English. 1 cap. Get ready to hold onto your butts. 8k/week, for two years, key player, currently worth, 11.5 MILLION EUROs. Not a typo. This was my dues ex Cutchey, if, he stays healthy. If. Get ready.


Technical?

17, 19, 18, 7, 14, 11, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 10, 8, 17 – Oh baby! 19 crossing? 18 dribbling? 14 passing? 14 first touch? 17 technique? This guy is zounds crazy! He could start on any squad in Portugal and you’d be happy with him.

Mental?

8, 13, 10, 15, 11, 14, 13, 20, 14, 3, 14, 13, 10, 17 – And here is the sheer work ethic and determination of a guy who played his way back into football after th severe skull injury he sustained. 15 composure, 14 flair, creativity, off the ball, yada yada.

Physical?

18, 15, 13, 2, 16, 16, 13, 11 – 18/16 speed? 16 fitness? 15 agility? Good stuff!


The only holes he has is his relative lack of defensive (although not bad for an attacker), and that fearsome injury bug. If he doesn’t get injured? Holy crap!

Two major long terms questions. Can we keep him? If he stays injury free, I’m sure someone will swoop down and grab him for a ton of money. We just have him for 2 years – I didn’t want to commit more to a guy with a injury history like his. Huge fan of Chelsea and was with them his whole career until let go almost a year ago, and has been away from football since.

He has a 5 star ranking. Can he up his game another level?

[Abe Sargent]

M R, AM RL, ST Javier Cabrera, 28, Uruguay, Fairly Ambitious, Speaks Spanish. 6.5k/week, key player, 2 years, 325k value. Played his whole career for Wanderers too, and also in the 2008-2009 class! So two guys in the same class are with me now, and a third was on their team a year later. Lots of irony there!

I began the campaign with 5 players on my radar. True star potential folks. Only Cabrera signed with me, I lost out on all of the others.

Let’s see why I liked him as an early grab.

Tech – 14, 13, 14, 9, 14, 17, 15, 15, 17, 10, 13, 11, 16, 15

Mental – 10, 16, 9, 9, 9, 11, 11, 12, 13, 4, 15, 15, 13, 11

Physical – 17, 16, 7, 8, 17, 14, 15, 8


Fast, great agility and fitness and stamina. Includes strong technical skills with good defensive ones too (16 tackling, 10 mark), good to great set pieces, 13/13 cross/pass is fine on the wing, and so forth. Now, he can finish well (just a 9) and his mental stats aren’t perfect, but he’s a strong contender.


Join the ex-Wanderer party right here in Lisbon.

[Abe Sargent]

I’m getting tired of these write ups (about 6-10 minutes each one – takes a long time) so I;’m skipping players already on my team I was expecting to do too – Wallace, Cleison, Vasco Gomes, Pedro Quaresma, and Marcos Molina.


ST Joaquim Sousa, 23, Portugal, Speaks basic English, Greek, Portuguese, Fairly Professional. 6.5k/week, first team, 2 years, 475k value. 5 caps.

In 2013-2014, Joaquim Sousa was a youth player who joined the Nacional ranks under then Manager Essex who signed him soon after to a professional deal. He was in the same class as DC Hernani Costa, one of the stud players we had there. I coached him then extensively, and Essex gave him some early games, at the age of 15. After two years with us, he was sold for 1 mill to Olympiakos, where he played for several years, and was loaned out to clubs in Cyprus. Last summer, Sousa’s contract elapsed, and no one picked him up, and for 11 months he’s been free and unsigned. That was wrong. So I signed him.

Now, he’s totally developed. Sousa is as good as it gets. So get ready for the fully developed player I saw very raw, long long ago.


Phys – 17, 16, 16, 13, 14, 16, 11, 15

Mental – 12, 16, 4, 12, 12, 10, 11, 14, 13, 3, 13, 8, 10, 14

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

Fast – 17/16, decently smart, good in front of goal (15) and with some strong skills elsewhere. He;’s not brilliant, blows your eyes out good. But he’s good enough.


Welcome back to Portugal, baby!

[Abe Sargent]

ST / AM RL Ignacio Raul Salinas, 21, USA, Resolute, Speaks English, Spanish. 1.8k/year, rotation, 1 year, 85k. Played his whole life for Columbus in USA, and then was let go. We signed him for a year, and can extend it if needed.


Tech – 6, 9, 13, 12, 12, 5, 13, 10, 7, 3, 8, 4, 6, 12

Mental – 9, 10, 8, 12, 8, 11, 10, 16, 14, 3, 13, 6, 8, 12

Physical – 14, 14, 15, 6, 16, 15,10, 9


Very one dimensional, and needs some development. He’ll have a chanc eot do here ot reach his 4 star potential.



ST / AM LC Sergio Correa, 20, Argentina, Jovial, Speaks Spanish. Signed for rotation, 2k/week, 1 year, 30k value. Played for Nueva Chicago and then was purchased but Estudiantes, and then loaned around Argentina and finally let go, to us. Never played outside of his native country.


Technical – 8, 10, 12, 13, 10, 8, 5, 7, 8, 2, 9, 5, 4, 8

Mental – 14, 8, 8, 8, 6, 10, 8, 15, 11, 12, 8, ,3, 15, 13

Physical – 15, 12, 10, 7, 12, 12, , 8


So, umm…..not amazing or anything. Very, very raw. But this is a level with a lot of games and a lot of chances to play in the Senior Squad. Perhaps Correra can unlock, like a leaf! I have him work on MC, since he can play it, just competently.



And those are our major signings!