How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

[xstu78x]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Typed it on word and saved it on a flashdrive which I brought to work, opened the file here then copied and pasted onto a post here and edited it there

Great end to the season getting champions league football on the last game and winning the cup final.

[jamiec47]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

AD Alcorcon - '18-'19 Season
End of the Season Update

Spoiler

League Match 30
Barcelona CF - AD Alcorcon (2-0)
Messi ’28
Messi ’34

Recap: There was simply nothing I could had done to stop Messi’s goals, if he gets the ball inside the box he’s more likely than not going to score. Barca suffocates the ball. I was never in control of this game.

League Match 31
AD Alcorcon - RCD Mallorca (0-3)
Cristeto ‘7
Grosicki ’41
Nsue ’70

Recap: a punch straight to the gut. The Cristeto goal was like a cold shower and no matter how much we tried we never recovered. My back line continues to break down. HUGE loss.

League Match 32
Real Madrid - AD Alcorcon (2-2)
Jo ’19
C. Ronaldo ’27
Jo ’32
Di Maria ’59

Recap: An unexpected battle between our RB and Real Madrid’s LW. Jo abused Ronaldo who underestimated the Korean’s attacking mindset for not one but TWO goals that seemed to put us on a track for big upset and bounce back from a very disappointing loss against Mallorca. But Di Maria is stupid good and one-timed a beautiful shot from the right side of the box to Ulreich’s right to even it out again. GREAT back-and-forth game.

League Match 33
AD Alcorcon - Celta Vigo (3-0)
Akpom ’45
Knoll ’88
Euller ’90

Recap: Our third game in seven days meant that the B squad got the assignment and although it took them a bit to get going they got the job done and by a good margin.

League Match 34
Levante UD - AD Alcorcon (0-2)
Yamura ‘3
Farago ’82

Recap: One of those games when you get a lot of shots on goal but few get in. Funny that our very first shot and perhaps our last one were the ones to find the back of the net.

League Match 35
Sevilla FC - AD Alcorcon (0-2)
Farago ’67
Akpom ’89

Recap: This game would decide our faith regarding the Champions’ as we went into this game in 5th place, Sevilla in 4th. We dominated throughout but weren’t able to get a score in until halfway in the second half and from there on it just felt like Sevilla could ruin the party at any moment. Luckily Akpom came out fresh off the bench to seal it. We took over 4th place with Valencia only 4 points away in 3rd place.

League Match 36
AD Alcorcon - RCD Espanyol (0-1)
Berko ’81

Recap: the heartbreak. We struggled offensively but at the same time we were having a strong defensive game, but pressure towards the end by the visitors led to the one and only goal of the game.

League Match 37
CA Osasuna - AD Alcorcon (0-1)
Enwu ’49

Recap: Unexplainable. Can’t score. Just couldn’t score. Valencia locks up 3rd place.

Spoiler

... before we get into the final game of the season, let me paint you a picture.

I am in 6th place with 65 points. At this point a top-3 finish is completely out of the question with Valencia (3rd place) already at 72 points. Ahead of me are Sevilla (5th) and Real Sociedad (4th) who both have 66 points. Behind me is Athletic Bilbao who has 63 points. As faith would have it I visit Real Sociedad, and as you all know qualifying for Champions’ League is my goal, so:

• If I win I jump ahead of Real Sociedad in the standings, but
• If Sevilla (hosting 17th place Levante) also wins, then I can only finish as high as 5th place and qualify for Europa League instead.
• If I draw I lock up an Europa League spot, but
• If I risk too much and lose, and if Bilbao wins, then I could be out of both the Champions and Europa League with the Copa Del Rey final as my only chance to qualify for European competition next season.

With that in mind ...

League Match 38
Real Sociedad - AD Alcorcon (?-?)

Recap: we establish our dominance from the get-go, attacking the host’s goal early and often. However, we continue our scoring drought and go into the half tied at 0-0. You can feel the pressure mounting on our players. We look at the scoreboard and see that, at the half, Levante is up 1-0 on Sevilla. FOURTH PLACE IS RIGHT THERE FOR THE TAKING! Are we going to let another opportunity slip away? We come out in the second half with a new determination, hungrier for the win, but the scoring drought continues. Salomon Rondon, by far my highest paid striker and 4th best paid player on the team, hasn’t scored since early February after suffering a torn calf muscle while playing for Venezuela later that month. The media is all over his drought, questioning whether his acquisition was a mistake even though he was on fire right before the injury. Rondon, with incredible tenacity, fights for a ball near midfield against a defender who tries to clear the ball away, it bounces off of Rondon and heads towards the home side of the field, Rondon breaks for it catching it about 15 yards before the box, he’s ahead of all the defenders who are trying to close the distance on him, he charges towards the goal like a man possessed and as he enters the box he looks up and with his right foot he curves a shot around Fabricio, Real Sociedad’s goal keeper.

Personal scoring drought over. Team scoring drought over. It’s 1-0 Alcorcon.

It continued to be all Alcorcon from there on but they were unable to score another goal. More importantly they didn’t give up a goal and wrapped up the victory. When the game ends they look at the scoreboard:

Spoiler

Sevilla 0, Levante 1

Alcorcon clinches a spot in the Champions League!!!!

The team celebrated this accomplishment and the end of a league season where they faced many struggles but regardless of it all they were able to accomplish their goal. On the other hand, the Copa Del Rey final is in less than a week and the attention needs to be quickly turned to that. The team was able to pull out a draw against Barca in October but had most recently suffered a defeat against Luis Enrique’s squad.

Copa Del Rey - FINAL
FC Barcelona - AD Alcorcon (at Mestalla)

Recap: Surprisingly Messi does not get put on Barca’s roster for this game. Still, Barca is loaded as always and Cristian Tello is in excellent form. So it’s not a surprise that the 27-year old Spaniard opens up the scoreboard in the 14th minute. “Here we go again” thought the Alcorcon fans. We had modified our 4-4-2 diamond to play a bit more defensive against Barca’s 4-3-3 attack. Tello’s goal aside it was working but at the same time we weren’t getting to Barca’s goal effectively. Something needed to change. At times this season when down on the scoreboard in the second half we switch to a 3-4-3. We do this at the half this time around since there’s no tomorrow. It’s working, we’re getting to Barca’s goal with more consistency, but we’re still not breaking through. Our 3-men back line is holding up surprisingly well and we now control possession. Time is ticking, nothing is happening, we’re playing right into the expectations again. We’re going to lose to Barca again.

90th minute, Alessandro Farago is now the LW and he gets the ball at midfield on the left side. He turns upfield, looks up, and sees Angel Correa on the right wing breaking forward. Farago unleashes a through pass that arcs on the ground across the field forward, meeting Correa at full speed ahead of any defenders. He receives the pass and promptly kisses the #5 with his left foot, arching it around an outstretched Oier who can’t get a hand of it. Back of the net. Tied game. 1-1 and we’re going to overtime. Wow.

But no, wait, just because we think regulation time will be called doesn’t mean it is, and Barca wastes no time, gets on the attack right away, our guys frantically trying to stop them. Ticky tacka ticky tacka. Barca is putting on a clinic. Cesc Fabregas finds Iniesta entering the box right through the middle and the all-timer hits it as it comes, pockets it at the back of the net and runs toward the left corner to celebrate in ecstasy. Alcorcon is stunned. Barca’s team and fans go nuts, they’re about to win the double.

But wait, is there really more? Correa scored in the 90th minute. Iniesta at 90+. Surely this game will be called as soon as the ball is put back in play. Rondon touches it towards Farago and together they go back and forth rapidly moving forward. An approach that finds a defender 90% of the time is missing all the azulgrana players. Farago receives it at the top of the box on the right side, barely enters the box and unleashes a shot towards Oier’s right post. It gets past him, caressing the net ... IT’S A GOAL! ALCORCON SCORES! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It’s the 3rd goal scored AFTER this game reached 90 minutes. PANDEMONIUM. Mestalla has a vibe going around that it arguably has never experienced before. NOW regulation is over, extra time is about to be served and after a crazy finish to the regulation what could happen now?

Nothing. Alcorcon has all the momentum and dominates ET but is unable to score again. Barca had one opportunity that was well saved by Ulreich. This is going to penalty kicks, it seems both fair and unfair. Barca goes up first ...

Spoiler

• Fabregas: shot to his left is SAVED by Ulreich!!!
• Yamura: GOAL!
• Alexis: GOAL!
• Jo: GOAL!
• Osede Prieto: GOAL!
• Miguel: GOAL!
• Song: GOAL!
• Akpom: GOAL!
• Pedro: WIDE LEFT!!! WIDE. LEFT!

Alcorcon WINS! ALCORCON HAS WON THE COPA DEL REY!!!!! Alcorcon wins in PK’s, 4-2.










What a season!

Final Liga BBVA Standings
TEAM - W/D/L - GF/GA/GD - PTS

1. FC Barcelona - 27/7/4 - 86/26/+60 - 88pts
2. Real Madrid - 23/11/4 - 68/29/+39 - 80pts
3. Valencia CF - 22/9/7 - 67/28/+39 - 75pts
4. AD Alcorcon - 20/8/10 - 61/38/+23 - 68pts
5. Real Sociedad - 19/9/10 - 59/41/+18 - 66pts
6. Sevilla FC - 19/9/10 - 64/37/+27 - 66pts
7. Athletic Bilbao - 18/9/11 - 53/47/+6 - 63pts
8. Atletico Madrid - 17/11/10 - 59/41/+18 - 62pts
9. Villareal CF - 14/15/9 - 51/52/-1 - 57pts
10. Malaga CF - 12/14/12 - 41/45/-4 - 50pts
11. RC Deportivo - 13/11/14 - 49/49/0 - 50pts
12. RCD Mallorca - 13/11/14 - 50/53/-3 - 50pts
13. RCD Espanyol - 11/13/14 - 31/47/-16 - 46pts
14. Getafe CF - 9/12/17 - 45/62/-17 - 39pts
15. Real Zaragoza - 8/10/20 - 34/60/-26 - 34pts
16. Levante UD - 7/11/20 - 31/52/-21 - 32pts
17. Real Valladolid - 7/11/20 - 34/69/-35 - 32pts
18. CA Osasuna - 6/12/20 - 32/60/-28 - 30pts
19. Celta Vigo - 3/13/22 - 27/65/-38 - 22pts
20. Real Betis - 4/10/24 - 26/67/-41 - 22pts

Best Goalkeeper: Janis Blaswich (FC Barcelona)
Golden Boot: Paulo Dybala (Valencia CF)
Liga BBVA Starting XI
GK: Sven Ulreich (AD Alcorcon)
RB: Montoya (FC Barcelona)
CB: Hector Moreno (RCD Espanyol)
CB: Rafael Soares Martins (AD Alcorcon)
LB: Alberto Moreno (Sevilla FC)
CM: Zeshin Yamura (AD Alcorcon)
RW: Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad)
LW: Ibai Gomez (Athletic Bilbao)
CAM: Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla FC)
CF: Maximilian Beister (Malaga CF)
CF: Paulo Dybala (Valencia CF)

Champions around Europe
Liga BBVA: FC Barcelona
Copa Del Rey: AD Alcorcon
Liga Adelante: Rayo Vallecano

Copa Europa: Chelsea (3-0 over Arsenal)
Champions League: FC Bayern (1-0 over Real Madrid)
Euro League: Manchester United (2-1 over Everton)

Austria: FK Austria
Belgium: RSC Anderlecht
Denmark: FC Kobenhavn
England: Manchester United
France: PSG
Germany: Bor. Dortmund
Italy: Inter
Netherlands: Feyenoord
Norway: Molde FK
Poland: Legia Warszawa
Portugal: SL Benfica
Ireland: Limerick
Russia: Spartak Moskva
Scotland: Celtic
Sweden: Malmo FF
Switzerland: FC Basel

In other news ...

Del Barco accepts the head coaching job for the USMNT

After a surprising dismissal from the same position with the Venezuelan national team, Del Barco has accepted to lead the USMNT over offers from Spain and Cameroon. Funny how this things worked, Del Barco's first games at helm for the USMNT will be in the 2019 Copa America where they will be in Group A. Here are all three groups for the tournament.

Group A
Argentina
Chile
Venezuela
United States

Group B
Brazil
Ecuador
Peru
Mexico

Group C
Colombia
Uruguay
Paraguay
Bolivia

Funny how these things work, huh? USA's first game will be on July 6th against Chile, followed by Argentina July 10th and a juicy matchup against Venezuela on July 14th.

Here's the roster that I chose, I don't necessarily think the players available fit a 4-4-2 diamond so I may choose to roll with a 4-3-3 but I haven't decided yet.

Spoiler

Aaaaaaaaannnnnnddd that’s all for now. I told y’all this would be a LONG post. Next post for this CM is the roster review then we jump right into Copa America and next season! Looking forward to your comments!

Grats man, what an end to the season and a brilliant result in the Copa Del Rey. Those standings before that final game, I would probably have broke down and lost 3 or 4 nil.

[vrabbit]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Great end to the season getting champions league football on the last game and winning the cup final.

Thanks!

Grats man, what an end to the season and a brilliant result in the Copa Del Rey. Those standings before that final game, I would probably have broke down and lost 3 or 4 nil.

Honestly after the previous two games it sure felt like I was going to choke. That was so much fun! Thanks!

[Simppu12]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Spoiler

AD Alcorcon - '18-'19 Season
End of the Season Update

League Match 30
Barcelona CF - AD Alcorcon (2-0)
Messi ’28
Messi ’34

Recap: There was simply nothing I could had done to stop Messi’s goals, if he gets the ball inside the box he’s more likely than not going to score. Barca suffocates the ball. I was never in control of this game.

League Match 31
AD Alcorcon - RCD Mallorca (0-3)
Cristeto ‘7
Grosicki ’41
Nsue ’70

Recap: a punch straight to the gut. The Cristeto goal was like a cold shower and no matter how much we tried we never recovered. My back line continues to break down. HUGE loss.

League Match 32
Real Madrid - AD Alcorcon (2-2)
Jo ’19
C. Ronaldo ’27
Jo ’32
Di Maria ’59

Recap: An unexpected battle between our RB and Real Madrid’s LW. Jo abused Ronaldo who underestimated the Korean’s attacking mindset for not one but TWO goals that seemed to put us on a track for big upset and bounce back from a very disappointing loss against Mallorca. But Di Maria is stupid good and one-timed a beautiful shot from the right side of the box to Ulreich’s right to even it out again. GREAT back-and-forth game.

League Match 33
AD Alcorcon - Celta Vigo (3-0)
Akpom ’45
Knoll ’88
Euller ’90

Recap: Our third game in seven days meant that the B squad got the assignment and although it took them a bit to get going they got the job done and by a good margin.

League Match 34
Levante UD - AD Alcorcon (0-2)
Yamura ‘3
Farago ’82

Recap: One of those games when you get a lot of shots on goal but few get in. Funny that our very first shot and perhaps our last one were the ones to find the back of the net.

League Match 35
Sevilla FC - AD Alcorcon (0-2)
Farago ’67
Akpom ’89

Recap: This game would decide our faith regarding the Champions’ as we went into this game in 5th place, Sevilla in 4th. We dominated throughout but weren’t able to get a score in until halfway in the second half and from there on it just felt like Sevilla could ruin the party at any moment. Luckily Akpom came out fresh off the bench to seal it. We took over 4th place with Valencia only 4 points away in 3rd place.

League Match 36
AD Alcorcon - RCD Espanyol (0-1)
Berko ’81

Recap: the heartbreak. We struggled offensively but at the same time we were having a strong defensive game, but pressure towards the end by the visitors led to the one and only goal of the game.

League Match 37
CA Osasuna - AD Alcorcon (0-1)
Enwu ’49

Recap: Unexplainable. Can’t score. Just couldn’t score. Valencia locks up 3rd place.

Spoiler

... before we get into the final game of the season, let me paint you a picture.

I am in 6th place with 65 points. At this point a top-3 finish is completely out of the question with Valencia (3rd place) already at 72 points. Ahead of me are Sevilla (5th) and Real Sociedad (4th) who both have 66 points. Behind me is Athletic Bilbao who has 63 points. As faith would have it I visit Real Sociedad, and as you all know qualifying for Champions’ League is my goal, so:

• If I win I jump ahead of Real Sociedad in the standings, but
• If Sevilla (hosting 17th place Levante) also wins, then I can only finish as high as 5th place and qualify for Europa League instead.
• If I draw I lock up an Europa League spot, but
• If I risk too much and lose, and if Bilbao wins, then I could be out of both the Champions and Europa League with the Copa Del Rey final as my only chance to qualify for European competition next season.

With that in mind ...

League Match 38
Real Sociedad - AD Alcorcon (?-?)

Recap: we establish our dominance from the get-go, attacking the host’s goal early and often. However, we continue our scoring drought and go into the half tied at 0-0. You can feel the pressure mounting on our players. We look at the scoreboard and see that, at the half, Levante is up 1-0 on Sevilla. FOURTH PLACE IS RIGHT THERE FOR THE TAKING! Are we going to let another opportunity slip away? We come out in the second half with a new determination, hungrier for the win, but the scoring drought continues. Salomon Rondon, by far my highest paid striker and 4th best paid player on the team, hasn’t scored since early February after suffering a torn calf muscle while playing for Venezuela later that month. The media is all over his drought, questioning whether his acquisition was a mistake even though he was on fire right before the injury. Rondon, with incredible tenacity, fights for a ball near midfield against a defender who tries to clear the ball away, it bounces off of Rondon and heads towards the home side of the field, Rondon breaks for it catching it about 15 yards before the box, he’s ahead of all the defenders who are trying to close the distance on him, he charges towards the goal like a man possessed and as he enters the box he looks up and with his right foot he curves a shot around Fabricio, Real Sociedad’s goal keeper.

Personal scoring drought over. Team scoring drought over. It’s 1-0 Alcorcon.

It continued to be all Alcorcon from there on but they were unable to score another goal. More importantly they didn’t give up a goal and wrapped up the victory. When the game ends they look at the scoreboard:

Spoiler

Sevilla 0, Levante 1

Alcorcon clinches a spot in the Champions League!!!!

The team celebrated this accomplishment and the end of a league season where they faced many struggles but regardless of it all they were able to accomplish their goal. On the other hand, the Copa Del Rey final is in less than a week and the attention needs to be quickly turned to that. The team was able to pull out a draw against Barca in October but had most recently suffered a defeat against Luis Enrique’s squad.

Copa Del Rey - FINAL
FC Barcelona - AD Alcorcon (at Mestalla)

Recap: Surprisingly Messi does not get put on Barca’s roster for this game. Still, Barca is loaded as always and Cristian Tello is in excellent form. So it’s not a surprise that the 27-year old Spaniard opens up the scoreboard in the 14th minute. “Here we go again” thought the Alcorcon fans. We had modified our 4-4-2 diamond to play a bit more defensive against Barca’s 4-3-3 attack. Tello’s goal aside it was working but at the same time we weren’t getting to Barca’s goal effectively. Something needed to change. At times this season when down on the scoreboard in the second half we switch to a 3-4-3. We do this at the half this time around since there’s no tomorrow. It’s working, we’re getting to Barca’s goal with more consistency, but we’re still not breaking through. Our 3-men back line is holding up surprisingly well and we now control possession. Time is ticking, nothing is happening, we’re playing right into the expectations again. We’re going to lose to Barca again.

90th minute, Alessandro Farago is now the LW and he gets the ball at midfield on the left side. He turns upfield, looks up, and sees Angel Correa on the right wing breaking forward. Farago unleashes a through pass that arcs on the ground across the field forward, meeting Correa at full speed ahead of any defenders. He receives the pass and promptly kisses the #5 with his left foot, arching it around an outstretched Oier who can’t get a hand of it. Back of the net. Tied game. 1-1 and we’re going to overtime. Wow.

But no, wait, just because we think regulation time will be called doesn’t mean it is, and Barca wastes no time, gets on the attack right away, our guys frantically trying to stop them. Ticky tacka ticky tacka. Barca is putting on a clinic. Cesc Fabregas finds Iniesta entering the box right through the middle and the all-timer hits it as it comes, pockets it at the back of the net and runs toward the left corner to celebrate in ecstasy. Alcorcon is stunned. Barca’s team and fans go nuts, they’re about to win the double.

But wait, is there really more? Correa scored in the 90th minute. Iniesta at 90+. Surely this game will be called as soon as the ball is put back in play. Rondon touches it towards Farago and together they go back and forth rapidly moving forward. An approach that finds a defender 90% of the time is missing all the azulgrana players. Farago receives it at the top of the box on the right side, barely enters the box and unleashes a shot towards Oier’s right post. It gets past him, caressing the net ... IT’S A GOAL! ALCORCON SCORES! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It’s the 3rd goal scored AFTER this game reached 90 minutes. PANDEMONIUM. Mestalla has a vibe going around that it arguably has never experienced before. NOW regulation is over, extra time is about to be served and after a crazy finish to the regulation what could happen now?

Nothing. Alcorcon has all the momentum and dominates ET but is unable to score again. Barca had one opportunity that was well saved by Ulreich. This is going to penalty kicks, it seems both fair and unfair. Barca goes up first ...

Spoiler

• Fabregas: shot to his left is SAVED by Ulreich!!!
• Yamura: GOAL!
• Alexis: GOAL!
• Jo: GOAL!
• Osede Prieto: GOAL!
• Miguel: GOAL!
• Song: GOAL!
• Akpom: GOAL!
• Pedro: WIDE LEFT!!! WIDE. LEFT!

Alcorcon WINS! ALCORCON HAS WON THE COPA DEL REY!!!!! Alcorcon wins in PK’s, 4-2.










What a season!

Final Liga BBVA Standings
TEAM - W/D/L - GF/GA/GD - PTS

1. FC Barcelona - 27/7/4 - 86/26/+60 - 88pts
2. Real Madrid - 23/11/4 - 68/29/+39 - 80pts
3. Valencia CF - 22/9/7 - 67/28/+39 - 75pts
4. AD Alcorcon - 20/8/10 - 61/38/+23 - 68pts
5. Real Sociedad - 19/9/10 - 59/41/+18 - 66pts
6. Sevilla FC - 19/9/10 - 64/37/+27 - 66pts
7. Athletic Bilbao - 18/9/11 - 53/47/+6 - 63pts
8. Atletico Madrid - 17/11/10 - 59/41/+18 - 62pts
9. Villareal CF - 14/15/9 - 51/52/-1 - 57pts
10. Malaga CF - 12/14/12 - 41/45/-4 - 50pts
11. RC Deportivo - 13/11/14 - 49/49/0 - 50pts
12. RCD Mallorca - 13/11/14 - 50/53/-3 - 50pts
13. RCD Espanyol - 11/13/14 - 31/47/-16 - 46pts
14. Getafe CF - 9/12/17 - 45/62/-17 - 39pts
15. Real Zaragoza - 8/10/20 - 34/60/-26 - 34pts
16. Levante UD - 7/11/20 - 31/52/-21 - 32pts
17. Real Valladolid - 7/11/20 - 34/69/-35 - 32pts
18. CA Osasuna - 6/12/20 - 32/60/-28 - 30pts
19. Celta Vigo - 3/13/22 - 27/65/-38 - 22pts
20. Real Betis - 4/10/24 - 26/67/-41 - 22pts

Best Goalkeeper: Janis Blaswich (FC Barcelona)
Golden Boot: Paulo Dybala (Valencia CF)
Liga BBVA Starting XI
GK: Sven Ulreich (AD Alcorcon)
RB: Montoya (FC Barcelona)
CB: Hector Moreno (RCD Espanyol)
CB: Rafael Soares Martins (AD Alcorcon)
LB: Alberto Moreno (Sevilla FC)
CM: Zeshin Yamura (AD Alcorcon)
RW: Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad)
LW: Ibai Gomez (Athletic Bilbao)
CAM: Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla FC)
CF: Maximilian Beister (Malaga CF)
CF: Paulo Dybala (Valencia CF)

Champions around Europe
Liga BBVA: FC Barcelona
Copa Del Rey: AD Alcorcon
Liga Adelante: Rayo Vallecano

Copa Europa: Chelsea (3-0 over Arsenal)
Champions League: FC Bayern (1-0 over Real Madrid)
Euro League: Manchester United (2-1 over Everton)

Austria: FK Austria
Belgium: RSC Anderlecht
Denmark: FC Kobenhavn
England: Manchester United
France: PSG
Germany: Bor. Dortmund
Italy: Inter
Netherlands: Feyenoord
Norway: Molde FK
Poland: Legia Warszawa
Portugal: SL Benfica
Ireland: Limerick
Russia: Spartak Moskva
Scotland: Celtic
Sweden: Malmo FF
Switzerland: FC Basel

In other news ...

Del Barco accepts the head coaching job for the USMNT

After a surprising dismissal from the same position with the Venezuelan national team, Del Barco has accepted to lead the USMNT over offers from Spain and Cameroon. Funny how this things worked, Del Barco's first games at helm for the USMNT will be in the 2019 Copa America where they will be in Group A. Here are all three groups for the tournament.

Group A
Argentina
Chile
Venezuela
United States

Group B
Brazil
Ecuador
Peru
Mexico

Group C
Colombia
Uruguay
Paraguay
Bolivia

Funny how these things work, huh? USA's first game will be on July 6th against Chile, followed by Argentina July 10th and a juicy matchup against Venezuela on July 14th.

Here's the roster that I chose, I don't necessarily think the players available fit a 4-4-2 diamond so I may choose to roll with a 4-3-3 but I haven't decided yet.

Spoiler

Aaaaaaaaannnnnnddd that’s all for now. I told y’all this would be a LONG post. Next post for this CM is the roster review then we jump right into Copa America and next season! Looking forward to your comments!

Oh. My. God. That was... just... I'm speechless! What a way to end the season, I can't believe what you did! The games were amazing! I can't imagine how you felt after the cup final. Congratulations on the awesome end to the season! I'm really looking forward to the transfer window. Espanyol always give me a tough time, too.

I'll try to post tomorrow the August update of my Hertha career. It features a transfer of a familiar face from 14...

[texasbum06]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

AD Alcorcon - '18-'19 Season
End of the Season Update

Spoiler

League Match 30
Barcelona CF - AD Alcorcon (2-0)
Messi ’28
Messi ’34

Recap: There was simply nothing I could had done to stop Messi’s goals, if he gets the ball inside the box he’s more likely than not going to score. Barca suffocates the ball. I was never in control of this game.

League Match 31
AD Alcorcon - RCD Mallorca (0-3)
Cristeto ‘7
Grosicki ’41
Nsue ’70

Recap: a punch straight to the gut. The Cristeto goal was like a cold shower and no matter how much we tried we never recovered. My back line continues to break down. HUGE loss.

League Match 32
Real Madrid - AD Alcorcon (2-2)
Jo ’19
C. Ronaldo ’27
Jo ’32
Di Maria ’59

Recap: An unexpected battle between our RB and Real Madrid’s LW. Jo abused Ronaldo who underestimated the Korean’s attacking mindset for not one but TWO goals that seemed to put us on a track for big upset and bounce back from a very disappointing loss against Mallorca. But Di Maria is stupid good and one-timed a beautiful shot from the right side of the box to Ulreich’s right to even it out again. GREAT back-and-forth game.

League Match 33
AD Alcorcon - Celta Vigo (3-0)
Akpom ’45
Knoll ’88
Euller ’90

Recap: Our third game in seven days meant that the B squad got the assignment and although it took them a bit to get going they got the job done and by a good margin.

League Match 34
Levante UD - AD Alcorcon (0-2)
Yamura ‘3
Farago ’82

Recap: One of those games when you get a lot of shots on goal but few get in. Funny that our very first shot and perhaps our last one were the ones to find the back of the net.

League Match 35
Sevilla FC - AD Alcorcon (0-2)
Farago ’67
Akpom ’89

Recap: This game would decide our faith regarding the Champions’ as we went into this game in 5th place, Sevilla in 4th. We dominated throughout but weren’t able to get a score in until halfway in the second half and from there on it just felt like Sevilla could ruin the party at any moment. Luckily Akpom came out fresh off the bench to seal it. We took over 4th place with Valencia only 4 points away in 3rd place.

League Match 36
AD Alcorcon - RCD Espanyol (0-1)
Berko ’81

Recap: the heartbreak. We struggled offensively but at the same time we were having a strong defensive game, but pressure towards the end by the visitors led to the one and only goal of the game.

League Match 37
CA Osasuna - AD Alcorcon (0-1)
Enwu ’49

Recap: Unexplainable. Can’t score. Just couldn’t score. Valencia locks up 3rd place.

... before we get into the final game of the season, let me paint you a picture.

I am in 6th place with 65 points. At this point a top-3 finish is completely out of the question with Valencia (3rd place) already at 72 points. Ahead of me are Sevilla (5th) and Real Sociedad (4th) who both have 66 points. Behind me is Athletic Bilbao who has 63 points. As faith would have it I visit Real Sociedad, and as you all know qualifying for Champions’ League is my goal, so:

• If I win I jump ahead of Real Sociedad in the standings, but
• If Sevilla (hosting 17th place Levante) also wins, then I can only finish as high as 5th place and qualify for Europa League instead.
• If I draw I lock up an Europa League spot, but
• If I risk too much and lose, and if Bilbao wins, then I could be out of both the Champions and Europa League with the Copa Del Rey final as my only chance to qualify for European competition next season.

With that in mind ...

League Match 38
Real Sociedad - AD Alcorcon (?-?)

Recap: we establish our dominance from the get-go, attacking the host’s goal early and often. However, we continue our scoring drought and go into the half tied at 0-0. You can feel the pressure mounting on our players. We look at the scoreboard and see that, at the half, Levante is up 1-0 on Sevilla. FOURTH PLACE IS RIGHT THERE FOR THE TAKING! Are we going to let another opportunity slip away? We come out in the second half with a new determination, hungrier for the win, but the scoring drought continues. Salomon Rondon, by far my highest paid striker and 4th best paid player on the team, hasn’t scored since early February after suffering a torn calf muscle while playing for Venezuela later that month. The media is all over his drought, questioning whether his acquisition was a mistake even though he was on fire right before the injury. Rondon, with incredible tenacity, fights for a ball near midfield against a defender who tries to clear the ball away, it bounces off of Rondon and heads towards the home side of the field, Rondon breaks for it catching it about 15 yards before the box, he’s ahead of all the defenders who are trying to close the distance on him, he charges towards the goal like a man possessed and as he enters the box he looks up and with his right foot he curves a shot around Fabricio, Real Sociedad’s goal keeper.

Personal scoring drought over. Team scoring drought over. It’s 1-0 Alcorcon.

It continued to be all Alcorcon from there on but they were unable to score another goal. More importantly they didn’t give up a goal and wrapped up the victory. When the game ends they look at the scoreboard:

Spoiler

Sevilla 0, Levante 1

Spoiler

Alcorcon clinches a spot in the Champions League!!!!

The team celebrated this accomplishment and the end of a league season where they faced many struggles but regardless of it all they were able to accomplish their goal. On the other hand, the Copa Del Rey final is in less than a week and the attention needs to be quickly turned to that. The team was able to pull out a draw against Barca in October but had most recently suffered a defeat against Luis Enrique’s squad.

Copa Del Rey - FINAL
FC Barcelona - AD Alcorcon (at Mestalla)

Recap: Surprisingly Messi does not get put on Barca’s roster for this game. Still, Barca is loaded as always and Cristian Tello is in excellent form. So it’s not a surprise that the 27-year old Spaniard opens up the scoreboard in the 14th minute. “Here we go again” thought the Alcorcon fans. We had modified our 4-4-2 diamond to play a bit more defensive against Barca’s 4-3-3 attack. Tello’s goal aside it was working but at the same time we weren’t getting to Barca’s goal effectively. Something needed to change. At times this season when down on the scoreboard in the second half we switch to a 3-4-3. We do this at the half this time around since there’s no tomorrow. It’s working, we’re getting to Barca’s goal with more consistency, but we’re still not breaking through. Our 3-men back line is holding up surprisingly well and we now control possession. Time is ticking, nothing is happening, we’re playing right into the expectations again. We’re going to lose to Barca again.

90th minute, Alessandro Farago is now the LW and he gets the ball at midfield on the left side. He turns upfield, looks up, and sees Angel Correa on the right wing breaking forward. Farago unleashes a through pass that arcs on the ground across the field forward, meeting Correa at full speed ahead of any defenders. He receives the pass and promptly kisses the #5 with his left foot, arching it around an outstretched Oier who can’t get a hand of it. Back of the net. Tied game. 1-1 and we’re going to overtime. Wow.

But no, wait, just because we think regulation time will be called doesn’t mean it is, and Barca wastes no time, gets on the attack right away, our guys frantically trying to stop them. Ticky tacka ticky tacka. Barca is putting on a clinic. Cesc Fabregas finds Iniesta entering the box right through the middle and the all-timer hits it as it comes, pockets it at the back of the net and runs toward the left corner to celebrate in ecstasy. Alcorcon is stunned. Barca’s team and fans go nuts, they’re about to win the double.

But wait, is there really more? Correa scored in the 90th minute. Iniesta at 90+. Surely this game will be called as soon as the ball is put back in play. Rondon touches it towards Farago and together they go back and forth rapidly moving forward. An approach that finds a defender 90% of the time is missing all the azulgrana players. Farago receives it at the top of the box on the right side, barely enters the box and unleashes a shot towards Oier’s right post. It gets past him, caressing the net ... IT’S A GOAL! ALCORCON SCORES! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It’s the 3rd goal scored AFTER this game reached 90 minutes. PANDEMONIUM. Mestalla has a vibe going around that it arguably has never experienced before. NOW regulation is over, extra time is about to be served and after a crazy finish to the regulation what could happen now?

Nothing. Alcorcon has all the momentum and dominates ET but is unable to score again. Barca had one opportunity that was well saved by Ulreich. This is going to penalty kicks, it seems both fair and unfair. Barca goes up first ...

Spoiler

• Fabregas: shot to his left is SAVED by Ulreich!!!
• Yamura: GOAL!
• Alexis: GOAL!
• Jo: GOAL!
• Osede Prieto: GOAL!
• Miguel: GOAL!
• Song: GOAL!
• Akpom: GOAL!
• Pedro: WIDE LEFT!!! WIDE. LEFT!

Alcorcon WINS! ALCORCON HAS WON THE COPA DEL REY!!!!! Alcorcon wins in PK’s, 4-2.

What a season!

Spoiler

Final Liga BBVA Standings

TEAM - W/D/L - GF/GA/GD - PTS

1. FC Barcelona - 27/7/4 - 86/26/+60 - 88pts
2. Real Madrid - 23/11/4 - 68/29/+39 - 80pts
3. Valencia CF - 22/9/7 - 67/28/+39 - 75pts
4. AD Alcorcon - 20/8/10 - 61/38/+23 - 68pts
5. Real Sociedad - 19/9/10 - 59/41/+18 - 66pts
6. Sevilla FC - 19/9/10 - 64/37/+27 - 66pts
7. Athletic Bilbao - 18/9/11 - 53/47/+6 - 63pts
8. Atletico Madrid - 17/11/10 - 59/41/+18 - 62pts
9. Villareal CF - 14/15/9 - 51/52/-1 - 57pts
10. Malaga CF - 12/14/12 - 41/45/-4 - 50pts
11. RC Deportivo - 13/11/14 - 49/49/0 - 50pts
12. RCD Mallorca - 13/11/14 - 50/53/-3 - 50pts
13. RCD Espanyol - 11/13/14 - 31/47/-16 - 46pts
14. Getafe CF - 9/12/17 - 45/62/-17 - 39pts
15. Real Zaragoza - 8/10/20 - 34/60/-26 - 34pts
16. Levante UD - 7/11/20 - 31/52/-21 - 32pts
17. Real Valladolid - 7/11/20 - 34/69/-35 - 32pts
18. CA Osasuna - 6/12/20 - 32/60/-28 - 30pts
19. Celta Vigo - 3/13/22 - 27/65/-38 - 22pts
20. Real Betis - 4/10/24 - 26/67/-41 - 22pts

Best Goalkeeper: Janis Blaswich (FC Barcelona)
Golden Boot: Paulo Dybala (Valencia CF)
Liga BBVA Starting XI
GK: Sven Ulreich (AD Alcorcon)
RB: Montoya (FC Barcelona)
CB: Hector Moreno (RCD Espanyol)
CB: Rafael Soares Martins (AD Alcorcon)
LB: Alberto Moreno (Sevilla FC)
CM: Zeshin Yamura (AD Alcorcon)
RW: Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad)
LW: Ibai Gomez (Athletic Bilbao)
CAM: Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla FC)
CF: Maximilian Beister (Malaga CF)
CF: Paulo Dybala (Valencia CF)

Champions around Europe
Liga BBVA: FC Barcelona
Copa Del Rey: AD Alcorcon
Liga Adelante: Rayo Vallecano

Copa Europa: Chelsea (3-0 over Arsenal)
Champions League: FC Bayern (1-0 over Real Madrid)
Euro League: Manchester United (2-1 over Everton)

Austria: FK Austria
Belgium: RSC Anderlecht
Denmark: FC Kobenhavn
England: Manchester United
France: PSG
Germany: Bor. Dortmund
Italy: Inter
Netherlands: Feyenoord
Norway: Molde FK
Poland: Legia Warszawa
Portugal: SL Benfica
Ireland: Limerick
Russia: Spartak Moskva
Scotland: Celtic
Sweden: Malmo FF
Switzerland: FC Basel

In other news ...

Del Barco accepts the head coaching job for the USMNT

After a surprising dismissal from the same position with the Venezuelan national team, Del Barco has accepted to lead the USMNT over offers from Spain and Cameroon. Funny how this things worked, Del Barco's first games at helm for the USMNT will be in the 2019 Copa America where they will be in Group A. Here are all three groups for the tournament.

Group A
Argentina
Chile
Venezuela
United States

Group B
Brazil
Ecuador
Peru
Mexico

Group C
Colombia
Uruguay
Paraguay
Bolivia

Funny how these things work, huh? USA's first game will be on July 6th against Chile, followed by Argentina July 10th and a juicy matchup against Venezuela on July 14th.

Here's the roster that I chose, I don't necessarily think the players available fit a 4-4-2 diamond so I may choose to roll with a 4-3-3 but I haven't decided yet.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Aaaaaaaaannnnnnddd that’s all for now. I told y’all this would be a LONG post. Next post for this CM is the roster review then we jump right into Copa America and next season! Looking forward to your comments!

Great season! Champions League and the Copa Del Rey! I was worried as I saw you dropping points combined with tough scheduling at the end there, but it all worked out. I can't believe Sevilla lost! I almost always assume the home team will win in a match like that, you were meant to get that Champions League spot!

The Barca match in the Copa final sounded intense. It seems like all of us only win significant things on penalty shootouts haha. I did notice that your notes said it ended 4-2 in the shootout, but your picture says 4-3

[jamiec47]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Sent to Coventry
Season 1
FIFA 15

Coventry Make New Signings
Coventry have signed multiple players, losing a few in the process. They have signed Danny Swanson from Peterborough, Jim O'Brien from Barnsley, Reda Johnson from Sheffield Wednesday, Danny Pugh from Leeds, Shaun Miller and Marcus Tudgay after trials, Josh McQuoid, Ryan Allsop and Mohamed Coulibaly on loan from Bournemouth and finally Seb Hines and Frank Nouble on loan from Middlesbrough and Ipswich respectively. However with sales of star players such as Danny Seaborne and Callum Wilson, the improvements are really just replacements.

Shock a Boss Resigns
Steven Pressley, manager of Coventry and popular with fans has resigned, despite finishing in midtable in a successful season last season after a 10 point deduction. The news comes as a shock to most fans and many are worried about the ability of his replacement. 26 year old Jamie Cee becomes the youngest manager in the football league. After coaching the youth team, the controversial decision was made to make him manager.

How do you feel about becoming manager of Coventry?

I am ecstatic about it. As a boy from Coventry, it is amazing to be manager of my local team, especially with the history behind the club, with the FA Cup win against Spurs in 1987, our only major trophy, and having spent 34 years in the top flight before our relegation in 2001.

Many fans are worried about your credentials.

And I don't blame them. I am unproven, young, younger than some of the players in fact but I am sure I can do well. I will prove it to the fans on the pitch that I am the right man for the job and I have already spoke to the players, who despite some being older than me, have the utmost respect for me. Now if you will excuse me but I need to be at a meeting.

Jamie Cee makes first signings, none permanent, one sold
Harry Maguire from Hull has become Jamie Cee's first signing on loan. The 21 year old had recently signed from Sheffield United but was not facing any first team action, so he has been loaned out to gain experience. The second signing is Chuba Akpom on loan from Arsenal. Adam Barton has been sold to Ipswich for a £270,000 fee. Using this money, Cee made a triple loan swoop signing Patrick Bamford, Patrick Roberts and Jordan Obita on loan from Middlesbrough, Fulham and Reading respectively.

How do you feel about your signings?

I'm happy with them. It's unfortunate that none were permanent, but I made it specifically clear that certain players I would like to sign permanently next year. Jordan is a great full back and Bamford and Roberts both fit into the squad well. Chuba is good back up and Harry is an incredible defender with experience at this level.

Jamie Cee unveils new policy, splits the public
Jamie Cee has revealed his new policy for an all British squad. This excludes Reda Johnson, Simeon Jackson and Mohamed Coulibaly for this season.

Jamie, there have been outcry's of racism over this new policy. What do you think of that?

The word racism is tossed around far to often these days. It's hardly racist that I want to help the English national team. It's hardly racist that despite being English born and bred, I still want to help out the other home nations. The fans have been calling for it for years for the big clubs, "Less foreign imports" they cry. "More home grown players" they cry. Yet when I go and do it, it's suddenly racist. Maybe it's because we're a smaller club that is less likely to help the national, but in our team we have a few young players that could be nurtured into world class stars, but at the big clubs they wouldn't get a look in.

But what about Reda, Simeon and Mohamed?

Well I'm hardly gonna turn around and say, "Oh you were signed before a new manager implemented a new policy. You're for sale." That would be stupid. They will remain important players for our team this season.

What about next season?

We will cross that bridge when we come to it. Even with this policy, all 3 understood and respected the decision, get their head down and we still remain on good terms. There are no strained relationships.

[Jwetson]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

AD Alcorcon - '18-'19 Season
End of the Season Update

League Match 30
Barcelona CF - AD Alcorcon (2-0)
Messi ’28
Messi ’34

Recap: There was simply nothing I could had done to stop Messi’s goals, if he gets the ball inside the box he’s more likely than not going to score. Barca suffocates the ball. I was never in control of this game.

League Match 31
AD Alcorcon - RCD Mallorca (0-3)
Cristeto ‘7
Grosicki ’41
Nsue ’70

Recap: a punch straight to the gut. The Cristeto goal was like a cold shower and no matter how much we tried we never recovered. My back line continues to break down. HUGE loss.

League Match 32
Real Madrid - AD Alcorcon (2-2)
Jo ’19
C. Ronaldo ’27
Jo ’32
Di Maria ’59

Recap: An unexpected battle between our RB and Real Madrid’s LW. Jo abused Ronaldo who underestimated the Korean’s attacking mindset for not one but TWO goals that seemed to put us on a track for big upset and bounce back from a very disappointing loss against Mallorca. But Di Maria is stupid good and one-timed a beautiful shot from the right side of the box to Ulreich’s right to even it out again. GREAT back-and-forth game.

League Match 33
AD Alcorcon - Celta Vigo (3-0)
Akpom ’45
Knoll ’88
Euller ’90

Recap: Our third game in seven days meant that the B squad got the assignment and although it took them a bit to get going they got the job done and by a good margin.

League Match 34
Levante UD - AD Alcorcon (0-2)
Yamura ‘3
Farago ’82

Recap: One of those games when you get a lot of shots on goal but few get in. Funny that our very first shot and perhaps our last one were the ones to find the back of the net.

League Match 35
Sevilla FC - AD Alcorcon (0-2)
Farago ’67
Akpom ’89

Recap: This game would decide our faith regarding the Champions’ as we went into this game in 5th place, Sevilla in 4th. We dominated throughout but weren’t able to get a score in until halfway in the second half and from there on it just felt like Sevilla could ruin the party at any moment. Luckily Akpom came out fresh off the bench to seal it. We took over 4th place with Valencia only 4 points away in 3rd place.

League Match 36
AD Alcorcon - RCD Espanyol (0-1)
Berko ’81

Recap: the heartbreak. We struggled offensively but at the same time we were having a strong defensive game, but pressure towards the end by the visitors led to the one and only goal of the game.

League Match 37
CA Osasuna - AD Alcorcon (0-1)
Enwu ’49

Recap: Unexplainable. Can’t score. Just couldn’t score. Valencia locks up 3rd place.

... before we get into the final game of the season, let me paint you a picture.

I am in 6th place with 65 points. At this point a top-3 finish is completely out of the question with Valencia (3rd place) already at 72 points. Ahead of me are Sevilla (5th) and Real Sociedad (4th) who both have 66 points. Behind me is Athletic Bilbao who has 63 points. As faith would have it I visit Real Sociedad, and as you all know qualifying for Champions’ League is my goal, so:

• If I win I jump ahead of Real Sociedad in the standings, but
• If Sevilla (hosting 17th place Levante) also wins, then I can only finish as high as 5th place and qualify for Europa League instead.
• If I draw I lock up an Europa League spot, but
• If I risk too much and lose, and if Bilbao wins, then I could be out of both the Champions and Europa League with the Copa Del Rey final as my only chance to qualify for European competition next season.

With that in mind ...

League Match 38
Real Sociedad - AD Alcorcon (?-?)

Recap: we establish our dominance from the get-go, attacking the host’s goal early and often. However, we continue our scoring drought and go into the half tied at 0-0. You can feel the pressure mounting on our players. We look at the scoreboard and see that, at the half, Levante is up 1-0 on Sevilla. FOURTH PLACE IS RIGHT THERE FOR THE TAKING! Are we going to let another opportunity slip away? We come out in the second half with a new determination, hungrier for the win, but the scoring drought continues. Salomon Rondon, by far my highest paid striker and 4th best paid player on the team, hasn’t scored since early February after suffering a torn calf muscle while playing for Venezuela later that month. The media is all over his drought, questioning whether his acquisition was a mistake even though he was on fire right before the injury. Rondon, with incredible tenacity, fights for a ball near midfield against a defender who tries to clear the ball away, it bounces off of Rondon and heads towards the home side of the field, Rondon breaks for it catching it about 15 yards before the box, he’s ahead of all the defenders who are trying to close the distance on him, he charges towards the goal like a man possessed and as he enters the box he looks up and with his right foot he curves a shot around Fabricio, Real Sociedad’s goal keeper.

Personal scoring drought over. Team scoring drought over. It’s 1-0 Alcorcon.

It continued to be all Alcorcon from there on but they were unable to score another goal. More importantly they didn’t give up a goal and wrapped up the victory. When the game ends they look at the scoreboard:

Spoiler

Sevilla 0, Levante 1

Alcorcon clinches a spot in the Champions League!!!!

The team celebrated this accomplishment and the end of a league season where they faced many struggles but regardless of it all they were able to accomplish their goal. On the other hand, the Copa Del Rey final is in less than a week and the attention needs to be quickly turned to that. The team was able to pull out a draw against Barca in October but had most recently suffered a defeat against Luis Enrique’s squad.

Copa Del Rey - FINAL
FC Barcelona - AD Alcorcon (at Mestalla)

Recap: Surprisingly Messi does not get put on Barca’s roster for this game. Still, Barca is loaded as always and Cristian Tello is in excellent form. So it’s not a surprise that the 27-year old Spaniard opens up the scoreboard in the 14th minute. “Here we go again” thought the Alcorcon fans. We had modified our 4-4-2 diamond to play a bit more defensive against Barca’s 4-3-3 attack. Tello’s goal aside it was working but at the same time we weren’t getting to Barca’s goal effectively. Something needed to change. At times this season when down on the scoreboard in the second half we switch to a 3-4-3. We do this at the half this time around since there’s no tomorrow. It’s working, we’re getting to Barca’s goal with more consistency, but we’re still not breaking through. Our 3-men back line is holding up surprisingly well and we now control possession. Time is ticking, nothing is happening, we’re playing right into the expectations again. We’re going to lose to Barca again.

90th minute, Alessandro Farago is now the LW and he gets the ball at midfield on the left side. He turns upfield, looks up, and sees Angel Correa on the right wing breaking forward. Farago unleashes a through pass that arcs on the ground across the field forward, meeting Correa at full speed ahead of any defenders. He receives the pass and promptly kisses the #5 with his left foot, arching it around an outstretched Oier who can’t get a hand of it. Back of the net. Tied game. 1-1 and we’re going to overtime. Wow.

But no, wait, just because we think regulation time will be called doesn’t mean it is, and Barca wastes no time, gets on the attack right away, our guys frantically trying to stop them. Ticky tacka ticky tacka. Barca is putting on a clinic. Cesc Fabregas finds Iniesta entering the box right through the middle and the all-timer hits it as it comes, pockets it at the back of the net and runs toward the left corner to celebrate in ecstasy. Alcorcon is stunned. Barca’s team and fans go nuts, they’re about to win the double.

But wait, is there really more? Correa scored in the 90th minute. Iniesta at 90+. Surely this game will be called as soon as the ball is put back in play. Rondon touches it towards Farago and together they go back and forth rapidly moving forward. An approach that finds a defender 90% of the time is missing all the azulgrana players. Farago receives it at the top of the box on the right side, barely enters the box and unleashes a shot towards Oier’s right post. It gets past him, caressing the net ... IT’S A GOAL! ALCORCON SCORES! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It’s the 3rd goal scored AFTER this game reached 90 minutes. PANDEMONIUM. Mestalla has a vibe going around that it arguably has never experienced before. NOW regulation is over, extra time is about to be served and after a crazy finish to the regulation what could happen now?

Nothing. Alcorcon has all the momentum and dominates ET but is unable to score again. Barca had one opportunity that was well saved by Ulreich. This is going to penalty kicks, it seems both fair and unfair. Barca goes up first ...

Spoiler

• Fabregas: shot to his left is SAVED by Ulreich!!!
• Yamura: GOAL!
• Alexis: GOAL!
• Jo: GOAL!
• Osede Prieto: GOAL!
• Miguel: GOAL!
• Song: GOAL!
• Akpom: GOAL!
• Pedro: WIDE LEFT!!! WIDE. LEFT!

Alcorcon WINS! ALCORCON HAS WON THE COPA DEL REY!!!!! Alcorcon wins in PK’s, 4-2.










What a season!

Final Liga BBVA Standings
TEAM - W/D/L - GF/GA/GD - PTS

1. FC Barcelona - 27/7/4 - 86/26/+60 - 88pts
2. Real Madrid - 23/11/4 - 68/29/+39 - 80pts
3. Valencia CF - 22/9/7 - 67/28/+39 - 75pts
4. AD Alcorcon - 20/8/10 - 61/38/+23 - 68pts
5. Real Sociedad - 19/9/10 - 59/41/+18 - 66pts
6. Sevilla FC - 19/9/10 - 64/37/+27 - 66pts
7. Athletic Bilbao - 18/9/11 - 53/47/+6 - 63pts
8. Atletico Madrid - 17/11/10 - 59/41/+18 - 62pts
9. Villareal CF - 14/15/9 - 51/52/-1 - 57pts
10. Malaga CF - 12/14/12 - 41/45/-4 - 50pts
11. RC Deportivo - 13/11/14 - 49/49/0 - 50pts
12. RCD Mallorca - 13/11/14 - 50/53/-3 - 50pts
13. RCD Espanyol - 11/13/14 - 31/47/-16 - 46pts
14. Getafe CF - 9/12/17 - 45/62/-17 - 39pts
15. Real Zaragoza - 8/10/20 - 34/60/-26 - 34pts
16. Levante UD - 7/11/20 - 31/52/-21 - 32pts
17. Real Valladolid - 7/11/20 - 34/69/-35 - 32pts
18. CA Osasuna - 6/12/20 - 32/60/-28 - 30pts
19. Celta Vigo - 3/13/22 - 27/65/-38 - 22pts
20. Real Betis - 4/10/24 - 26/67/-41 - 22pts

Best Goalkeeper: Janis Blaswich (FC Barcelona)
Golden Boot: Paulo Dybala (Valencia CF)
Liga BBVA Starting XI
GK: Sven Ulreich (AD Alcorcon)
RB: Montoya (FC Barcelona)
CB: Hector Moreno (RCD Espanyol)
CB: Rafael Soares Martins (AD Alcorcon)
LB: Alberto Moreno (Sevilla FC)
CM: Zeshin Yamura (AD Alcorcon)
RW: Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad)
LW: Ibai Gomez (Athletic Bilbao)
CAM: Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla FC)
CF: Maximilian Beister (Malaga CF)
CF: Paulo Dybala (Valencia CF)

Champions around Europe
Liga BBVA: FC Barcelona
Copa Del Rey: AD Alcorcon
Liga Adelante: Rayo Vallecano

Copa Europa: Chelsea (3-0 over Arsenal)
Champions League: FC Bayern (1-0 over Real Madrid)
Euro League: Manchester United (2-1 over Everton)

Austria: FK Austria
Belgium: RSC Anderlecht
Denmark: FC Kobenhavn
England: Manchester United
France: PSG
Germany: Bor. Dortmund
Italy: Inter
Netherlands: Feyenoord
Norway: Molde FK
Poland: Legia Warszawa
Portugal: SL Benfica
Ireland: Limerick
Russia: Spartak Moskva
Scotland: Celtic
Sweden: Malmo FF
Switzerland: FC Basel

In other news ...

Del Barco accepts the head coaching job for the USMNT

After a surprising dismissal from the same position with the Venezuelan national team, Del Barco has accepted to lead the USMNT over offers from Spain and Cameroon. Funny how this things worked, Del Barco's first games at helm for the USMNT will be in the 2019 Copa America where they will be in Group A. Here are all three groups for the tournament.

Group A
Argentina
Chile
Venezuela
United States

Group B
Brazil
Ecuador
Peru
Mexico

Group C
Colombia
Uruguay
Paraguay
Bolivia

Funny how these things work, huh? USA's first game will be on July 6th against Chile, followed by Argentina July 10th and a juicy matchup against Venezuela on July 14th.

Here's the roster that I chose, I don't necessarily think the players available fit a 4-4-2 diamond so I may choose to roll with a 4-3-3 but I haven't decided yet.

Spoiler

Aaaaaaaaannnnnnddd that’s all for now. I told y’all this would be a LONG post. Next post for this CM is the roster review then we jump right into Copa America and next season! Looking forward to your comments!

Wow what an end to the season!!!! to win the cup is one thing but to complete another stage in the alcorcon preoject by achieving UCL football is incredible!! congrats dude

[Solarios]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Might do an Arsenal or Dortmund CM haven't decided.

[Goonerslg]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

AD Alcorcon - '18-'19 Season
End of the Season Update

League Match 30
Barcelona CF - AD Alcorcon (2-0)
Messi ’28
Messi ’34

Recap: There was simply nothing I could had done to stop Messi’s goals, if he gets the ball inside the box he’s more likely than not going to score. Barca suffocates the ball. I was never in control of this game.

League Match 31
AD Alcorcon - RCD Mallorca (0-3)
Cristeto ‘7
Grosicki ’41
Nsue ’70

Recap: a punch straight to the gut. The Cristeto goal was like a cold shower and no matter how much we tried we never recovered. My back line continues to break down. HUGE loss.

League Match 32
Real Madrid - AD Alcorcon (2-2)
Jo ’19
C.Ronaldo ’27
Jo ’32
Di Maria ’59

Recap: An unexpected battle between our RB and Real Madrid’s LW. Jo abused Ronaldo who underestimated the Korean’s attacking mindset for not one but TWO goals that seemed to put us on a track for big upset and bounce back from a very disappointing loss against Mallorca. But Di Maria is stupid good and one-timed a beautiful shot from the right side of the box to Ulreich’s right to even it out again. GREAT back-and-forth game.

League Match 33
AD Alcorcon - Celta Vigo (3-0)
Akpom ’45
Knoll ’88
Euller ’90

Recap: Our third game in seven days meant that the B squad got the assignment and although it took them a bit to get going they got the job done and by a good margin.

League Match 34
Levante UD - AD Alcorcon (0-2)
Yamura ‘3
Farago ’82

Recap: One of those games when you get a lot of shots on goal but few get in. Funny that our very first shot and perhaps our last one were the ones to find the back of the net.

League Match 35
Sevilla FC - AD Alcorcon (0-2)
Farago ’67
Akpom ’89

Recap: This game would decide our faith regarding the Champions’ as we went into this game in 5th place, Sevilla in 4th. We dominated throughout but weren’t able to get a score in until halfway in the second half and from there on it just felt like Sevilla could ruin the party at any moment. Luckily Akpom came out fresh off the bench to seal it. We took over 4th place with Valencia only 4 points away in 3rd place.

League Match 36
AD Alcorcon - RCD Espanyol (0-1)
Berko ’81

Recap: the heartbreak. We struggled offensively but at the same time we were having a strong defensive game, but pressure towards the end by the visitors led to the one and only goal of the game.

League Match 37
CA Osasuna - AD Alcorcon (0-1)
Enwu ’49

Recap: Unexplainable. Can’t score. Just couldn’t score. Valencia locks up 3rd place.

... before we get into the final game of the season, let me paint you a picture.

I am in 6th place with 65 points. At this point a top-3 finish is completely out of the question with Valencia (3rd place) already at 72 points. Ahead of me are Sevilla (5th) and Real Sociedad (4th) who both have 66 points. Behind me is Athletic Bilbao who has 63 points. As faith would have it I visit Real Sociedad, and as you all know qualifying for Champions’ League is my goal, so:

• If I win I jump ahead of Real Sociedad in the standings, but
• If Sevilla (hosting 17th place Levante) also wins, then I can only finish as high as 5th place and qualify for Europa League instead.
• If I draw I lock up an Europa League spot, but
• If I risk too much and lose, and if Bilbao wins, then I could be out of both the Champions and Europa League with the Copa Del Rey final as my only chance to qualify for European competition next season.

With that in mind ...

League Match 38
Real Sociedad - AD Alcorcon (?-?)

Recap: we establish our dominance from the get-go, attacking the host’s goal early and often. However, we continue our scoring drought and go into the half tied at 0-0. You can feel the pressure mounting on our players. We look at the scoreboard and see that, at the half, Levante is up 1-0 on Sevilla. FOURTH PLACE IS RIGHT THERE FOR THE TAKING! Are we going to let another opportunity slip away? We come out in the second half with a new determination, hungrier for the win, but the scoring drought continues. Salomon Rondon, by far my highest paid striker and 4th best paid player on the team, hasn’t scored since early February after suffering a torn calf muscle while playing for Venezuela later that month. The media is all over his drought, questioning whether his acquisition was a mistake even though he was on fire right before the injury. Rondon, with incredible tenacity, fights for a ball near midfield against a defender who tries to clear the ball away, it bounces off of Rondon and heads towards the home side of the field, Rondon breaks for it catching it about 15 yards before the box, he’s ahead of all the defenders who are trying to close the distance on him, he charges towards the goal like a man possessed and as he enters the box he looks up and with his right foot he curves a shot around Fabricio, Real Sociedad’s goal keeper.

Personal scoring drought over. Team scoring drought over. It’s 1-0 Alcorcon.

It continued to be all Alcorcon from there on but they were unable to score another goal. More importantly they didn’t give up a goal and wrapped up the victory. When the game ends they look at the scoreboard:

Spoiler

Sevilla 0, Levante 1

Alcorcon clinches a spot in the Champions League!!!!

The team celebrated this accomplishment and the end of a league season where they faced many struggles but regardless of it all they were able to accomplish their goal. On the other hand, the Copa Del Rey final is in less than a week and the attention needs to be quickly turned to that. The team was able to pull out a draw against Barca in October but had most recently suffered a defeat against Luis Enrique’s squad.

Copa Del Rey - FINAL
FC Barcelona - AD Alcorcon (at Mestalla)

Recap: Surprisingly Messi does not get put on Barca’s roster for this game. Still, Barca is loaded as always and Cristian Tello is in excellent form. So it’s not a surprise that the 27-year old Spaniard opens up the scoreboard in the 14th minute. “Here we go again” thought the Alcorcon fans. We had modified our 4-4-2 diamond to play a bit more defensive against Barca’s 4-3-3 attack. Tello’s goal aside it was working but at the same time we weren’t getting to Barca’s goal effectively. Something needed to change. At times this season when down on the scoreboard in the second half we switch to a 3-4-3. We do this at the half this time around since there’s no tomorrow. It’s working, we’re getting to Barca’s goal with more consistency, but we’re still not breaking through. Our 3-men back line is holding up surprisingly well and we now control possession. Time is ticking, nothing is happening, we’re playing right into the expectations again. We’re going to lose to Barca again.

90th minute, Alessandro Farago is now the LW and he gets the ball at midfield on the left side. He turns upfield, looks up, and sees Angel Correa on the right wing breaking forward. Farago unleashes a through pass that arcs on the ground across the field forward, meeting Correa at full speed ahead of any defenders. He receives the pass and promptly kisses the #5 with his left foot, arching it around an outstretched Oier who can’t get a hand of it. Back of the net. Tied game. 1-1 and we’re going to overtime. Wow.

But no, wait, just because we think regulation time will be called doesn’t mean it is, and Barca wastes no time, gets on the attack right away, our guys frantically trying to stop them. Ticky tacka ticky tacka. Barca is putting on a clinic. Cesc Fabregas finds Iniesta entering the box right through the middle and the all-timer hits it as it comes, pockets it at the back of the net and runs toward the left corner to celebrate in ecstasy. Alcorcon is stunned. Barca’s team and fans go nuts, they’re about to win the double.

But wait, is there really more? Correa scored in the 90th minute. Iniesta at 90+. Surely this game will be called as soon as the ball is put back in play. Rondon touches it towards Farago and together they go back and forth rapidly moving forward. An approach that finds a defender 90% of the time is missing all the azulgrana players. Farago receives it at the top of the box on the right side, barely enters the box and unleashes a shot towards Oier’s right post. It gets past him, caressing the net ... IT’S A GOAL! ALCORCON SCORES! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It’s the 3rd goal scored AFTER this game reached 90 minutes. PANDEMONIUM. Mestalla has a vibe going around that it arguably has never experienced before. NOW regulation is over, extra time is about to be served and after a crazy finish to the regulation what could happen now?

Nothing. Alcorcon has all the momentum and dominates ET but is unable to score again. Barca had one opportunity that was well saved by Ulreich. This is going to penalty kicks, it seems both fair and unfair. Barca goes up first ...

Spoiler

• Fabregas: shot to his left is SAVED by Ulreich!!!
• Yamura: GOAL!
• Alexis: GOAL!
• Jo: GOAL!
• Osede Prieto: GOAL!
• Miguel: GOAL!
• Song: GOAL!
• Akpom: GOAL!
• Pedro: WIDE LEFT!!! WIDE. LEFT!

Alcorcon WINS! ALCORCON HAS WON THE COPA DEL REY!!!!! Alcorcon wins in PK’s, 4-2.










What a season!

Final Liga BBVA Standings
TEAM - W/D/L - GF/GA/GD - PTS

1.FC Barcelona - 27/7/4 - 86/26/+60 - 88pts
2.Real Madrid - 23/11/4 - 68/29/+39 - 80pts
3.Valencia CF - 22/9/7 - 67/28/+39 - 75pts
4.AD Alcorcon - 20/8/10 - 61/38/+23 - 68pts
5.Real Sociedad - 19/9/10 - 59/41/+18 - 66pts
6.Sevilla FC - 19/9/10 - 64/37/+27 - 66pts
7.Athletic Bilbao - 18/9/11 - 53/47/+6 - 63pts
8.Atletico Madrid - 17/11/10 - 59/41/+18 - 62pts
9.Villareal CF - 14/15/9 - 51/52/-1 - 57pts
10. Malaga CF - 12/14/12 - 41/45/-4 - 50pts
11. RC Deportivo - 13/11/14 - 49/49/0 - 50pts
12. RCD Mallorca - 13/11/14 - 50/53/-3 - 50pts
13. RCD Espanyol - 11/13/14 - 31/47/-16 - 46pts
14. Getafe CF - 9/12/17 - 45/62/-17 - 39pts
15. Real Zaragoza - 8/10/20 - 34/60/-26 - 34pts
16. Levante UD - 7/11/20 - 31/52/-21 - 32pts
17. Real Valladolid - 7/11/20 - 34/69/-35 - 32pts
18. CA Osasuna - 6/12/20 - 32/60/-28 - 30pts
19. Celta Vigo - 3/13/22 - 27/65/-38 - 22pts
20. Real Betis - 4/10/24 - 26/67/-41 - 22pts

Best Goalkeeper: Janis Blaswich (FC Barcelona)
Golden Boot: Paulo Dybala (Valencia CF)
Liga BBVA Starting XI
GK: Sven Ulreich (AD Alcorcon)
RB: Montoya (FC Barcelona)
CB: Hector Moreno (RCD Espanyol)
CB: Rafael Soares Martins (AD Alcorcon)
LB: Alberto Moreno (Sevilla FC)
CM: Zeshin Yamura (AD Alcorcon)
RW: Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad)
LW: Ibai Gomez (Athletic Bilbao)
CAM: Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla FC)
CF: Maximilian Beister (Malaga CF)
CF: Paulo Dybala (Valencia CF)

Champions around Europe
Liga BBVA: FC Barcelona
Copa Del Rey: AD Alcorcon
Liga Adelante: Rayo Vallecano

Copa Europa: Chelsea (3-0 over Arsenal)
Champions League: FC Bayern (1-0 over Real Madrid)
Euro League: Manchester United (2-1 over Everton)

Austria: FK Austria
Belgium: RSC Anderlecht
Denmark: FC Kobenhavn
England: Manchester United
France: PSG
Germany: Bor. Dortmund
Italy: Inter
Netherlands: Feyenoord
Norway: Molde FK
Poland: Legia Warszawa
Portugal: SL Benfica
Ireland: Limerick
Russia: Spartak Moskva
Scotland: Celtic
Sweden: Malmo FF
Switzerland: FC Basel

In other news ...

Del Barco accepts the head coaching job for the USMNT

After a surprising dismissal from the same position with the Venezuelan national team, Del Barco has accepted to lead the USMNT over offers from Spain and Cameroon. Funny how this things worked, Del Barco's first games at helm for the USMNT will be in the 2019 Copa America where they will be in Group A. Here are all three groups for the tournament.

Group A
Argentina
Chile
Venezuela
United States

Group B
Brazil
Ecuador
Peru
Mexico

Group C
Colombia
Uruguay
Paraguay
Bolivia

Funny how these things work, huh? USA's first game will be on July 6th against Chile, followed by Argentina July 10th and a juicy matchup against Venezuela on July 14th.

Here's the roster that I chose, I don't necessarily think the players available fit a 4-4-2 diamond so I may choose to roll with a 4-3-3 but I haven't decided yet.

Spoiler

Aaaaaaaaannnnnnddd that’s all for now. I told y’all this would be a LONG post. Next post for this CM is the roster review then we jump right into Copa America and next season! Looking forward to your comments!

Wow. What an end to the season. Made for great reading

[jamiec47]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Sent to Coventry
Season 1
FIFA 15

Match 1

Coventry 1-0 Leyton Orient
Jackson 73

You're first match ended in a win. How was that?

Amazing, Leyton Orient are an excellent team who reached the play off final last year. Simeon proved he deserves a place in the starting 11 with that amazing curling effort into the bottom corner. I knew he had pace for our training but that was unreal.

But he's Canadian. Doesn't that go against your policy?

Oh, for God's sake. If in every interview this will get brought up, I might as well not do them. I specifically said this won't affect Reda, Simeon and Mohamed.

Capital One Cup Round 1

Preston 1-0 Coventry
Welsh 23

That wasn't the result you were looking for?

No not at all. Welsh slot in and I have to credit the guy, it was a good finish but he should have been closed down. However I will look on the bright side. Less fixtures. With the JP Trophy, FA Cup and the 46 league fixtures, we have enough matches as it is.

Match 2

Doncaster 0-2 Coventry
Johnson 70
Thomas 90

A second league win of the season and a second clean sheet. You must be delighted.

Very. Doncaster were in the Championship last season, so to come away with 3 points away from home is delightful. Reda proved he should be captain with that stunning effort, the corner wasn't the best but nor was the clearance and Reda hit that volley into the roof of the net like a world class striker. And then Conor headed in over the keeper, a lobbed header, it was perfect.

Match 3

Coventry 2-0 Bradford
Tudgay 52
Tudgay 76

You played a reserve team today. Was that a sign of disrespect toward your opponent?

Of course not, it was a sign of fatigue. It is the middle of the week, with a tough game against Peterborough at the weekend. And it paid off didn't it. Tudgay curled in twice and he really is putting in the effort to get a starting spot.

Match 4

Coventry 2-1 Peterborough
Nouble 5
Pugh 40
Mendez-Laing 78

Another brilliant win, that's 4 wins from 4 but you did concede for the first time this season.

Yes an incredible win. Nouble capitalised on the defenders mistake to chip the keeper and Pugh, up in the attack smashed in from the edge of the box. Both show the attacking work we have been putting in on the training ground. Unfortunately, a simple mistake allowed them to get one back.

J. Paint Trophy

Coventry 2-0 Colchester
Tudgay 14
Tudgay 19

Your first JP Trophy match, and another win for your reserves. Tudgay is especially standing out.

Yes I am very pleased. Of course it does mean more fixtures but it would be nice to compete for the silverware. I mean, this hopefully will be the only season we compete in it, so to win it would be great. As for Tudgay, he has been impressive and is under consideration for the first team.

Match 5

Rochdale 1-3 Coventry
Jackson 40
Jackson 45
Jackson 61
Fenlon 82

Another win. 15 points now. And Simeon Jackson grabbed himself the match ball.

Simeon was simply incredible. His first was a diving header at the far post that took bravery and awareness. His second a smashing in to the roof of the net from a low ball that was brilliant and the third another display of his unbelievable pace. Obviously I'm disappointed we couldn't get a clean sheet but Rochdale deserved a couple.

[Jordigriffin]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

AD Alcorcon - '18-'19 Season
End of the Season Update

League Match 30
Barcelona CF - AD Alcorcon (2-0)
Messi ’28
Messi ’34

Recap: There was simply nothing I could had done to stop Messi’s goals, if he gets the ball inside the box he’s more likely than not going to score. Barca suffocates the ball. I was never in control of this game.

League Match 31
AD Alcorcon - RCD Mallorca (0-3)
Cristeto ‘7
Grosicki ’41
Nsue ’70

Recap: a punch straight to the gut. The Cristeto goal was like a cold shower and no matter how much we tried we never recovered. My back line continues to break down. HUGE loss.

League Match 32
Real Madrid - AD Alcorcon (2-2)
Jo ’19
C. Ronaldo ’27
Jo ’32
Di Maria ’59

Recap: An unexpected battle between our RB and Real Madrid’s LW. Jo abused Ronaldo who underestimated the Korean’s attacking mindset for not one but TWO goals that seemed to put us on a track for big upset and bounce back from a very disappointing loss against Mallorca. But Di Maria is stupid good and one-timed a beautiful shot from the right side of the box to Ulreich’s right to even it out again. GREAT back-and-forth game.

League Match 33
AD Alcorcon - Celta Vigo (3-0)
Akpom ’45
Knoll ’88
Euller ’90

Recap: Our third game in seven days meant that the B squad got the assignment and although it took them a bit to get going they got the job done and by a good margin.

League Match 34
Levante UD - AD Alcorcon (0-2)
Yamura ‘3
Farago ’82

Recap: One of those games when you get a lot of shots on goal but few get in. Funny that our very first shot and perhaps our last one were the ones to find the back of the net.

League Match 35
Sevilla FC - AD Alcorcon (0-2)
Farago ’67
Akpom ’89

Recap: This game would decide our faith regarding the Champions’ as we went into this game in 5th place, Sevilla in 4th. We dominated throughout but weren’t able to get a score in until halfway in the second half and from there on it just felt like Sevilla could ruin the party at any moment. Luckily Akpom came out fresh off the bench to seal it. We took over 4th place with Valencia only 4 points away in 3rd place.

League Match 36
AD Alcorcon - RCD Espanyol (0-1)
Berko ’81

Recap: the heartbreak. We struggled offensively but at the same time we were having a strong defensive game, but pressure towards the end by the visitors led to the one and only goal of the game.

League Match 37
CA Osasuna - AD Alcorcon (0-1)
Enwu ’49

Recap: Unexplainable. Can’t score. Just couldn’t score. Valencia locks up 3rd place.

... before we get into the final game of the season, let me paint you a picture.

I am in 6th place with 65 points. At this point a top-3 finish is completely out of the question with Valencia (3rd place) already at 72 points. Ahead of me are Sevilla (5th) and Real Sociedad (4th) who both have 66 points. Behind me is Athletic Bilbao who has 63 points. As faith would have it I visit Real Sociedad, and as you all know qualifying for Champions’ League is my goal, so:

• If I win I jump ahead of Real Sociedad in the standings, but
• If Sevilla (hosting 17th place Levante) also wins, then I can only finish as high as 5th place and qualify for Europa League instead.
• If I draw I lock up an Europa League spot, but
• If I risk too much and lose, and if Bilbao wins, then I could be out of both the Champions and Europa League with the Copa Del Rey final as my only chance to qualify for European competition next season.

With that in mind ...

League Match 38
Real Sociedad - AD Alcorcon (?-?)

Recap: we establish our dominance from the get-go, attacking the host’s goal early and often. However, we continue our scoring drought and go into the half tied at 0-0. You can feel the pressure mounting on our players. We look at the scoreboard and see that, at the half, Levante is up 1-0 on Sevilla. FOURTH PLACE IS RIGHT THERE FOR THE TAKING! Are we going to let another opportunity slip away? We come out in the second half with a new determination, hungrier for the win, but the scoring drought continues. Salomon Rondon, by far my highest paid striker and 4th best paid player on the team, hasn’t scored since early February after suffering a torn calf muscle while playing for Venezuela later that month. The media is all over his drought, questioning whether his acquisition was a mistake even though he was on fire right before the injury. Rondon, with incredible tenacity, fights for a ball near midfield against a defender who tries to clear the ball away, it bounces off of Rondon and heads towards the home side of the field, Rondon breaks for it catching it about 15 yards before the box, he’s ahead of all the defenders who are trying to close the distance on him, he charges towards the goal like a man possessed and as he enters the box he looks up and with his right foot he curves a shot around Fabricio, Real Sociedad’s goal keeper.

Personal scoring drought over. Team scoring drought over. It’s 1-0 Alcorcon.

It continued to be all Alcorcon from there on but they were unable to score another goal. More importantly they didn’t give up a goal and wrapped up the victory. When the game ends they look at the scoreboard:

Spoiler

Sevilla 0, Levante 1

Alcorcon clinches a spot in the Champions League!!!!

The team celebrated this accomplishment and the end of a league season where they faced many struggles but regardless of it all they were able to accomplish their goal. On the other hand, the Copa Del Rey final is in less than a week and the attention needs to be quickly turned to that. The team was able to pull out a draw against Barca in October but had most recently suffered a defeat against Luis Enrique’s squad.

Copa Del Rey - FINAL
FC Barcelona - AD Alcorcon (at Mestalla)

Recap: Surprisingly Messi does not get put on Barca’s roster for this game. Still, Barca is loaded as always and Cristian Tello is in excellent form. So it’s not a surprise that the 27-year old Spaniard opens up the scoreboard in the 14th minute. “Here we go again” thought the Alcorcon fans. We had modified our 4-4-2 diamond to play a bit more defensive against Barca’s 4-3-3 attack. Tello’s goal aside it was working but at the same time we weren’t getting to Barca’s goal effectively. Something needed to change. At times this season when down on the scoreboard in the second half we switch to a 3-4-3. We do this at the half this time around since there’s no tomorrow. It’s working, we’re getting to Barca’s goal with more consistency, but we’re still not breaking through. Our 3-men back line is holding up surprisingly well and we now control possession. Time is ticking, nothing is happening, we’re playing right into the expectations again. We’re going to lose to Barca again.

90th minute, Alessandro Farago is now the LW and he gets the ball at midfield on the left side. He turns upfield, looks up, and sees Angel Correa on the right wing breaking forward. Farago unleashes a through pass that arcs on the ground across the field forward, meeting Correa at full speed ahead of any defenders. He receives the pass and promptly kisses the #5 with his left foot, arching it around an outstretched Oier who can’t get a hand of it. Back of the net. Tied game. 1-1 and we’re going to overtime. Wow.

But no, wait, just because we think regulation time will be called doesn’t mean it is, and Barca wastes no time, gets on the attack right away, our guys frantically trying to stop them. Ticky tacka ticky tacka. Barca is putting on a clinic. Cesc Fabregas finds Iniesta entering the box right through the middle and the all-timer hits it as it comes, pockets it at the back of the net and runs toward the left corner to celebrate in ecstasy. Alcorcon is stunned. Barca’s team and fans go nuts, they’re about to win the double.

But wait, is there really more? Correa scored in the 90th minute. Iniesta at 90+. Surely this game will be called as soon as the ball is put back in play. Rondon touches it towards Farago and together they go back and forth rapidly moving forward. An approach that finds a defender 90% of the time is missing all the azulgrana players. Farago receives it at the top of the box on the right side, barely enters the box and unleashes a shot towards Oier’s right post. It gets past him, caressing the net ... IT’S A GOAL! ALCORCON SCORES! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It’s the 3rd goal scored AFTER this game reached 90 minutes. PANDEMONIUM. Mestalla has a vibe going around that it arguably has never experienced before. NOW regulation is over, extra time is about to be served and after a crazy finish to the regulation what could happen now?

Nothing. Alcorcon has all the momentum and dominates ET but is unable to score again. Barca had one opportunity that was well saved by Ulreich. This is going to penalty kicks, it seems both fair and unfair. Barca goes up first ...

Spoiler

• Fabregas: shot to his left is SAVED by Ulreich!!!
• Yamura: GOAL!
• Alexis: GOAL!
• Jo: GOAL!
• Osede Prieto: GOAL!
• Miguel: GOAL!
• Song: GOAL!
• Akpom: GOAL!
• Pedro: WIDE LEFT!!! WIDE. LEFT!

Alcorcon WINS! ALCORCON HAS WON THE COPA DEL REY!!!!! Alcorcon wins in PK’s, 4-2.










What a season!

Final Liga BBVA Standings
TEAM - W/D/L - GF/GA/GD - PTS

1. FC Barcelona - 27/7/4 - 86/26/+60 - 88pts
2. Real Madrid - 23/11/4 - 68/29/+39 - 80pts
3. Valencia CF - 22/9/7 - 67/28/+39 - 75pts
4. AD Alcorcon - 20/8/10 - 61/38/+23 - 68pts
5. Real Sociedad - 19/9/10 - 59/41/+18 - 66pts
6. Sevilla FC - 19/9/10 - 64/37/+27 - 66pts
7. Athletic Bilbao - 18/9/11 - 53/47/+6 - 63pts
8. Atletico Madrid - 17/11/10 - 59/41/+18 - 62pts
9. Villareal CF - 14/15/9 - 51/52/-1 - 57pts
10. Malaga CF - 12/14/12 - 41/45/-4 - 50pts
11. RC Deportivo - 13/11/14 - 49/49/0 - 50pts
12. RCD Mallorca - 13/11/14 - 50/53/-3 - 50pts
13. RCD Espanyol - 11/13/14 - 31/47/-16 - 46pts
14. Getafe CF - 9/12/17 - 45/62/-17 - 39pts
15. Real Zaragoza - 8/10/20 - 34/60/-26 - 34pts
16. Levante UD - 7/11/20 - 31/52/-21 - 32pts
17. Real Valladolid - 7/11/20 - 34/69/-35 - 32pts
18. CA Osasuna - 6/12/20 - 32/60/-28 - 30pts
19. Celta Vigo - 3/13/22 - 27/65/-38 - 22pts
20. Real Betis - 4/10/24 - 26/67/-41 - 22pts

Best Goalkeeper: Janis Blaswich (FC Barcelona)
Golden Boot: Paulo Dybala (Valencia CF)
Liga BBVA Starting XI
GK: Sven Ulreich (AD Alcorcon)
RB: Montoya (FC Barcelona)
CB: Hector Moreno (RCD Espanyol)
CB: Rafael Soares Martins (AD Alcorcon)
LB: Alberto Moreno (Sevilla FC)
CM: Zeshin Yamura (AD Alcorcon)
RW: Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad)
LW: Ibai Gomez (Athletic Bilbao)
CAM: Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla FC)
CF: Maximilian Beister (Malaga CF)
CF: Paulo Dybala (Valencia CF)

Champions around Europe
Liga BBVA: FC Barcelona
Copa Del Rey: AD Alcorcon
Liga Adelante: Rayo Vallecano

Copa Europa: Chelsea (3-0 over Arsenal)
Champions League: FC Bayern (1-0 over Real Madrid)
Euro League: Manchester United (2-1 over Everton)

Austria: FK Austria
Belgium: RSC Anderlecht
Denmark: FC Kobenhavn
England: Manchester United
France: PSG
Germany: Bor. Dortmund
Italy: Inter
Netherlands: Feyenoord
Norway: Molde FK
Poland: Legia Warszawa
Portugal: SL Benfica
Ireland: Limerick
Russia: Spartak Moskva
Scotland: Celtic
Sweden: Malmo FF
Switzerland: FC Basel

In other news ...

Del Barco accepts the head coaching job for the USMNT

After a surprising dismissal from the same position with the Venezuelan national team, Del Barco has accepted to lead the USMNT over offers from Spain and Cameroon. Funny how this things worked, Del Barco's first games at helm for the USMNT will be in the 2019 Copa America where they will be in Group A. Here are all three groups for the tournament.

Group A
Argentina
Chile
Venezuela
United States

Group B
Brazil
Ecuador
Peru
Mexico

Group C
Colombia
Uruguay
Paraguay
Bolivia

Funny how these things work, huh? USA's first game will be on July 6th against Chile, followed by Argentina July 10th and a juicy matchup against Venezuela on July 14th.

Here's the roster that I chose, I don't necessarily think the players available fit a 4-4-2 diamond so I may choose to roll with a 4-3-3 but I haven't decided yet.

Spoiler

Aaaaaaaaannnnnnddd that’s all for now. I told y’all this would be a LONG post. Next post for this CM is the roster review then we jump right into Copa America and next season! Looking forward to your comments!

This was so worth it reading... Congratulations with Clinching that CL Spot, Im so happy you are sticking with Alcoron on fifa 14. And uhm.... FEYENOORD WON THE EREDIVISIE, I CRIED FROM JOY WHEN I READ THAT MAN!

[vrabbit]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Oh. My. God. That was... just... I'm speechless! What a way to end the season, I can't believe what you did! The games were amazing! I can't imagine how you felt after the cup final. Congratulations on the awesome end to the season! I'm really looking forward to the transfer window. Espanyol always give me a tough time, too.

I'll try to post tomorrow the August update of my Hertha career. It features a transfer of a familiar face from 14...

Thanks Simp! After the final I was, well, speechless really. Took me a while to grab my phone and get some pics of my team celebrating. Espanyol always plays me tough too. Looking forward to that Hertha update!

Great season! Champions League and the Copa Del Rey! I was worried as I saw you dropping points combined with tough scheduling at the end there, but it all worked out. I can't believe Sevilla lost! I almost always assume the home team will win in a match like that, you were meant to get that Champions League spot!

The Barca match in the Copa final sounded intense. It seems like all of us only win significant things on penalty shootouts haha. I did notice that your notes said it ended 4-2 in the shootout, but your picture says 4-3

[/CENTER]

damnit you're right, I was meant to get that CL spot. I will leave it all the field on that playoff round, I want to get to that group stage real bad. I also would love to draw PSG in the group. An ups, I guess it was 4-3, oh well.

Wow what an end to the season!!!! to win the cup is one thing but to complete another stage in the alcorcon preoject by achieving UCL football is incredible!! congrats dude

thanks!

Wow. What an end to the season. Made for great reading

Thank you, I'm really glad so many of you enjoyed reading that

This was so worth it reading... Congratulations with Clinching that CL Spot, Im so happy you are sticking with Alcoron on fifa 14. And uhm.... FEYENOORD WON THE EREDIVISIE, I CRIED FROM JOY WHEN I READ THAT MAN!

thanks a lot, I KNEW someone here was a Feyenoord fan! Glad to deliver those news!

[vrabbit]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Sent to Coventry
Season 1
FIFA 15

Spoiler

Match 1

Coventry 1-0 Leyton Orient
Jackson 73

You're first match ended in a win. How was that?

Amazing, Leyton Orient are an excellent team who reached the play off final last year. Simeon proved he deserves a place in the starting 11 with that amazing curling effort into the bottom corner. I knew he had pace for our training but that was unreal.

But he's Canadian. Doesn't that go against your policy?

Oh, for God's sake. If in every interview this will get brought up, I might as well not do them. I specifically said this won't affect Reda, Simeon and Mohamed.

Capital One Cup Round 1

Preston 1-0 Coventry
Welsh 23

That wasn't the result you were looking for?

No not at all. Welsh slot in and I have to credit the guy, it was a good finish but he should have been closed down. However I will look on the bright side. Less fixtures. With the JP Trophy, FA Cup and the 46 league fixtures, we have enough matches as it is.

Match 2

Doncaster 0-2 Coventry
Johnson 70
Thomas 90

A second league win of the season and a second clean sheet. You must be delighted.

Very. Doncaster were in the Championship last season, so to come away with 3 points away from home is delightful. Reda proved he should be captain with that stunning effort, the corner wasn't the best but nor was the clearance and Reda hit that volley into the roof of the net like a world class striker. And then Conor headed in over the keeper, a lobbed header, it was perfect.

Match 3

Coventry 2-0 Bradford
Tudgay 52
Tudgay 76

You played a reserve team today. Was that a sign of disrespect toward your opponent?

Of course not, it was a sign of fatigue. It is the middle of the week, with a tough game against Peterborough at the weekend. And it paid off didn't it. Tudgay curled in twice and he really is putting in the effort to get a starting spot.

Match 4

Coventry 2-1 Peterborough
Nouble 5
Pugh 40
Mendez-Laing 78

Another brilliant win, that's 4 wins from 4 but you did concede for the first time this season.

Yes an incredible win. Nouble capitalised on the defenders mistake to chip the keeper and Pugh, up in the attack smashed in from the edge of the box. Both show the attacking work we have been putting in on the training ground. Unfortunately, a simple mistake allowed them to get one back.

J. Paint Trophy

Coventry 2-0 Colchester
Tudgay 14
Tudgay 19

Your first JP Trophy match, and another win for your reserves. Tudgay is especially standing out.

Yes I am very pleased. Of course it does mean more fixtures but it would be nice to compete for the silverware. I mean, this hopefully will be the only season we compete in it, so to win it would be great. As for Tudgay, he has been impressive and is under consideration for the first team.

Match 5

Rochdale 1-3 Coventry
Jackson 40
Jackson 45
Jackson 61
Fenlon 82

Another win. 15 points now. And Simeon Jackson grabbed himself the match ball.

Simeon was simply incredible. His first was a diving header at the far post that took bravery and awareness. His second a smashing in to the roof of the net from a low ball that was brilliant and the third another display of his unbelievable pace. Obviously I'm disappointed we couldn't get a clean sheet but Rochdale deserved a couple.

Nice start to the season, I think I'm digging the mini-press conferences after each game. The snapping at the reporter after the first game made me LOL.

[Goonerslg]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

I

TORINO SEASON 1 2014/15
SEPTEMBER

TORINO 2 V INTER MILAN 0
nocerino 52
farnerud 81

Really pleased with this result my plan to flood the midfield and get about Inter worked perfectly. I dominated the midfield and deserved the lead when Nocerino smashed the ball into the top corner from 12 yards. Farnerud came on as a sub with 20 minutes to go for some fresh legs in the middle of the park and ended up securing all 3 points with a simple tap in.

SAMPDORIA 3 V TORINO 0
okaka chuka 8
gabbiadini 35
gabbiadini 90

A terrible result after such a big opening day win. Got off to an awful start with Okaka Chuka (awesome name ) gave the home side the lead after only 8 minutes and we never really got a foothold in the match.

PAOK 0 V TORINO 2
quagliarella 15
rafinha 67

Strong away performance to get our Europa League campaign off to a winning start. Quagliarella got his first of the season and loanee Rafinha got his first goal for the club.

TORINO 0 V HELLOS VERONA 0

Dour game. Neither team could get a hold on the game with very few chances created by either team.

CAGLIARI 0 V TORINO 2
rafinha 15
quagliarella 89

Another good away performance. Both goals coming once again coming from Rafinha and Quagliarella. After taking an early lead it was a pretty even contest. Cagliari had a couple of good chances but Padelli was brilliant between the sticks to keep the home team out. We secured all 3 points a minute from time when we caught them on the break from a corner.

TORINO 0 V FIORENTINA 1
taarabt 63

Our erratic league form continued with a disappointing home defeat. Taarabt gave the away side the lead midway through the second half of an even contest and it was enough to win the game with the help of the Fiorentina crossbar, which Quagliarella hit with 10 minutes remaining.

SERIE A

1. Roma 13
2. Lazio 12
3. Napoli 12
4. Inter 12
5. Fiorentina 12
- - - - - - - - - - - -
10. Torino 7

Europa League group E

1. Torino 3
2. Elfsborg 3
3. PAOK 0
4. Dinamo Moscow 0

A funny old month all in all. Erratic league form means I'm already 5 points from the Champions League places but we are only 5 games in. However I am pleased with the fact we have kept 5 clean sheets so far. My new signings are bedding in really well. I'm not happy with the performances of Amouri though so will probably give Barreto a chance in the near future. Once again this had been sent from my phone so apologies if it doesn't look great.

[vrabbit]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

TORINO SEASON 1
PRE SEASON

Spoiler

First of all I've had to post this from my phone as I'm having laptop issues so apologies if it doesn't look great.

Having taken charge of Torino the board have informed me they expect Champions League qualification, a round of 16 cup spot and to win the Europa league, to achieve this they have given me a £5 million transfer budget.

Looking at the squad it is pretty old, not much pace and very little creative quality. They also play a 3-2-3-2 which I don't like as a system so I've switched to a 4-4-2 narrow diamond for games where I would expect to get a result and a 4-2-2-2 for games where I consider myself the underdog.

For these systems to work I need pacey high stamina full backs as they provide my width in the absence of any wide midfielders. Sadly I only had 2 fullbacks in my entire squad, both of which don't have the necessary stats needed to fulfill the jobs I require of them. So this was the area I decided to really focus on in the summer transfer window. I also felt I needed a creative CAM as the squad was lacking any real creative spark.

I decided to sim my pre season matches to focus on transfers and scouting. After extensive scouting of Italy, England and Spain I identified my transfer targets and set to work on landing them while also clearing out some deadwood.

TRANSFERS IN

Pos Name From £'s

Rb De Sciglio AC Milan Loan
CAM Rafinha Barcelona Loan
RB Lora S.Gijon 3m
LB Nacho Vallecano 2.2m


TRANSFERS OUT

Pos Name To £'s

CB Morreti Elche 1.1m
CDM Barusso Kilmarnock 190k
CM Gazzi Parma 1.1m
LM Mino Eibar Loan
LM Masiello Terni 230k
RM Darmian Napoli 3m

All in all I was pretty happy with the transfer window. I managed to strengthen my fullback positions although my first choice was Nathaniel Clyne but he wouldn't sign a contract because he loved living in England and I wasn't going to be held to ransom over wages.

With the money left over I hired a 3*/4* youth scout and sent him out in Italy with the task of finding some promising young strikers.

I always support a fellow manager running a 4-4-2 diamond
I like how you recognized your need for solid fullbacks and love the Nacho signing. Your board gave you only £5 million? That's nothing. Hope you enjoy that challenge. I think you had a good transfer window and I love that you put some money into your youth system as well.

I

TORINO SEASON 1 2014/15
SEPTEMBER

Spoiler

TORINO 2 V INTER MILAN 0
nocerino 52
farnerud 81

Really pleased with this result my plan to flood the midfield and get about Inter worked perfectly. I dominated the midfield and deserved the lead when Nocerino smashed the ball into the top corner from 12 yards. Farnerud came on as a sub with 20 minutes to go for some fresh legs in the middle of the park and ended up securing all 3 points with a simple tap in.

SAMPDORIA 3 V TORINO 0
okaka chuka 8
gabbiadini 35
gabbiadini 90

A terrible result after such a big opening day win. Got off to an awful start with Okaka Chuka (awesome name ) gave the home side the lead after only 8 minutes and we never really got a foothold in the match.

PAOK 0 V TORINO 2
quagliarella 15
rafinha 67

Strong away performance to get our Europa League campaign off to a winning start. Quagliarella got his first of the season and loanee Rafinha got his first goal for the club.

TORINO 0 V HELLOS VERONA 0

Dour game. Neither team could get a hold on the game with very few chances created by either team.

CAGLIARI 0 V TORINO 2
rafinha 15
quagliarella 89

Another good away performance. Both goals coming once again coming from Rafinha and Quagliarella. After taking an early lead it was a pretty even contest. Cagliari had a couple of good chances but Padelli was brilliant between the sticks to keep the home team out. We secured all 3 points a minute from time when we caught them on the break from a corner.

TORINO 0 V FIORENTINA 1
taarabt 63

Our erratic league form continued with a disappointing home defeat. Taarabt gave the away side the lead midway through the second half of an even contest and it was enough to win the game with the help of the Fiorentina crossbar, which Quagliarella hit with 10 minutes remaining.

SERIE A

1. Roma 13
2. Lazio 12
3. Napoli 12
4. Inter 12
5. Fiorentina 12
- - - - - - - - - - - -
10. Torino 7

Europa League group E

1. Torino 3
2. Elfsborg 3
3. PAOK 0
4. Dinamo Moscow 0

A funny old month all in all. Erratic league form means I'm already 5 points from the Champions League places but we are only 5 games in. However I am pleased with the fact we have kept 5 clean sheets so far. My new signings are bedding in really well. I'm not happy with the performances of Amouri though so will probably give Barreto a chance in the near future. Once again this had been sent from my phone so apologies if it doesn't look great.

Definitely digging the CM, solid start with some struggles but overall pretty good. I would love to see your starting XI if you don't mind