How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

[texasbum06]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

I'll be streaming the CM on Twitch tomorrow and I'll be showing all the tactical stuff I'll pm my Twitch to whoever wants to watch tomorrow at 1pm CST/2pm EST

go ahead and send it my way, I actually have off work tomorrow so I might check it out and see how you play with this formation,

[sportsfreak96]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Sassuolo season 1




Transfers:


Out: Claud Adjapong-2 year loan


In:





Danilo Cataldi
CM 22 yr old Italy 5’11
From Lazio





Mattia Destro
ST 25 yrs old Italy 5’10
From Bologna


August Fixtures:


Palermo vs Sassuolo
28’ Mattia Destro
86’ Mattia Destro


2-0 Win


Destro gets MotM with a 10 rating




Sassuolo vs Pescara


40’ Berardi (Pen)
46’ Berardi


2-0


Berardi Gets MotM with a 9.5

[texasbum06]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Season 2

The Mariners

August 2017



Chesterfield FC 2 - 1 Grimsby Town
Lopes 38', O'Shea 43'
GRI - Banton 45'

It's a new season, a new league, and a new look for the team. The step up in competition was evident and Chesterfield proved to be too much for us in this one. Lopes took advantage early and caught our young keeper sleeping with a long shot to take the lead. O'Shea scored just minutes later and the hosts were firmly in charge at that point. We were able to pull one back though just before the whistle after Banton got around the defense and finished low past the keeper. The second half saw the action reduced and the score line stood at the final whistle with Chesterfield taking all of the points.



EFL Cup
Birmingham City 1 - 2 Grimsby Town
BIR - Donaldson 21'
GRI - Fenton 69', Banton 90'
MOTM: Al Kuwaykibi

It looked like we were in for an early exit from the cup when Donaldson was able to control a lucky rebound off the crossbar and direct it into the net. We hung around though and in the second half Fenton was able to rise up on a corner and head in the equalizer. Some late subs proved to be the difference as Banton came in and used his fresh legs to lead a counter and finish calmly around the keeper for the winner.



Grimsby Town 1 - 1 Sheffield United
GRI - Chambers 53'
SHU - Lavery 3'
MOTM: Fenton

This was one of those matches... Sheffield managed just a single shot on goal and it went in. After the 3rd minute they failed to make our keeper do anything for the rest of the match. On the other end we kept our pressure going at them and it wasn't until the second half that the efforts paid off. Fenton got down the right side and drilled a ball across the box where Chambers was able to gather it and then fire it into the net. We probably should have gotten more from this one, but we will gladly take our first point from this new league.



Mansfield Town 0 - 1 Grimsby Town
GRI - Taylor 90' (PEN)
MOTM: Taylor

And now we have our first win in the books for this season. Mansfield put up a good challenge and their keeper looked like a superhero at times. Al Kuwaykibi drew a penalty in the first half and Taylor saw his attempt saved despite being placed well into the corner. The rest of the way we continued to test their keeper but it was nothing going until we were awarded another penalty late in the game and Taylor powered this one into the top corner just past the keeper's reach.



EFL Cup
Chesterfield 1 - 3 Grimsby Town
CHF - Dimaio 72'
GRI - Sinclair 29', Bolarinwa 101', Bogle 105'
MOTM: Bolarinwa

On we go once again. We met Chesterfield for the second time in this short season, this time as part of the EFL Cup. A perfectly placed cross from Banton met Sinclair on the back post for the opening goal, but that was canceled out int he second half when Dimaio smashed in a long range shot to send it to extra time. After that it was all us though and Bolarinwa came on as a sub and scored to take the lead and then set up Bogle for another to cement the win for us.



Grimsby Town 2 - 0 Barnsley FC
GRI - Fenton 11', Chambers 41'
MOTM: Al Kuwaykibi

We did our damage early in this one and should have added at least one more in the second half. The first one came when Al Kuwaykibi's corner fell right at Fenton's feet and he slotted it home for the lead. The second came with Al Kuwaykibi perfectly threading a ball through for Chambers who only had to beat the keeper to double the lead. After that we were able to coast the rest of the way for an easy victory.



Checkatrade Trophy
AFC Wimbledon 0 - 2 Grimsby Town
GRI - Sinclair 6', Berrett 21' (PEN)
MOTM: Sinclair

Sinclair got this one started for us with a long range effort in just the 6th minute. That set the tone and it wasn't much longer before Banton drew a penalty for us in the box and Berrett tucked it away after sending the keeper the wrong direction.

League Table



Youth Academy



Board Objectives

Youth
-Sign at least 2 players younger than 20 years old, with potential greater than the average overall rating of players currently in the same position.
-Sign 1 youth player to the senior team in the same season they were scouted. Play them in 5 matches either as part of the starting 11 or coming on as a sub.

Brand Exposure
-Within 3 seasons, increase season ticket holders with at least 10% of the stadiums capacity. (Remaining seasons: 2)

Financial
-Finish the season with a profit margin of £8,500,000.

Domestic Success
-EFL League One: Avoid Relegation.
-The Emirates FA Cup: Reach the Round of 32 Stage.

[texasbum06]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Season 2

The Mariners

September 2017



Northampton Town 0 - 2 Grimsby Town
GRI - Banton 55', 84'
MOTM: Banton

Banton was the man of the hour in this one, but credit has to be given to our defense as well after they put in a stout performance all day. We kept Northampton off of the score sheet to cement our third straight clean sheet. Banton took care of business on the other end bagging a double and what should have possibly been a hat trick if not for him hitting the woodwork on another shot.



Grimsby Town 2 - 2 Portsmouth FC
GRI - Banton 61', Sinclair 74'
POR - Whatmough 49', Evans 90'
MOTM: Evans

After our defense put in 3 straight dominating performances, they completely fell apart in this one. We dominated every aspect of this one, but the final score didn't reflect that. We held the ball 57% of the time, more than doubled their shot attempts, and put all 10 of our shots on target. They took the lead after Whatmough headed in a corner, but Banton answered back continuing his impressive debut season. Sinclair then gave us the lead with a good finish off of a cross and all we had to do was see out the match. In the closing minutes Evans lost his man and headed a cross into the back of the net while somehow being inexplicably unmarked in the middle of the box. This was a terrible performance in the back and it shows how important Boyce is back there for us.



Coventry City 2 - 2 Grimsby Town
COV - Watkins 75', Rose 80'
GRI - Ricketts 11' (OG), Daniel 40'
MOTM: Berrett

Another late defensive collapse cost us once again. We started it off an a gaffe by the other team taht resulted in a goal for us. Daniel added a second to make up for the undeserved opening goal, but then Coventry caught fire and took it straight at us the rest of the way. Our defense left some giant holes and Watkins took advantage to bring one back and then Rose added the second on a corner late into the game forcing us to settle for a draw.



Grimsby Town 2 - 0 Huddersfield
GRI - Banton 20', 90'
MOTM: Banton

The defense finally got things back under control and we allowed just a single shot that troubled our keeper all day. On the other end Banton kept up his outstanding form and got us ahead in the first half with a great run past the back line and a low finish to the opposite corner. He then added a second late after Bogle's pressure forced the keeper to botch his handling of a ball and Banton was there to clean it up.



EFL Cup
Grimsby Town 1 - 0 Port Vale
GRI - Taylor 45'
MOTM: Taylor

We weren't particularly impressive in this one, but we were better than the other side at least. We had a few misses, but none of the chances were all that good anyway. In the end all it took was one good chance and Taylor took it well holding off his defender and finishing past the keeper. We kept Port Vale at bay after that and got ourselves the win to move on to the next round.



Bristol Rovers 0 - 1 Grimsby Town
GRI - Arthur 76'
MOTM: Sinclair

Bristol came out firing and we were lucky not to concede early in this one. Trueman built himself a wall in goal and at halftime we had to regroup ourselves and get our attack going. Finally we were able to get the chance we wanted after a corner was cleared away we were able to keep possession and pass it around until Sinclair found Arthur with an open window in front of him and he tucked the shot away to decide the match.



Grimsby Town 1 - 0 Notts County
GRI - Banton 12'
MOTM: Taylor

We were able to get on the score sheet early in this one with Taylor beating his man down the right side and sending in a perfect cross for Banton to power past the keeper. We found chances hard to come by after that but it was all we needed. Notts failed to register a single shot on target in this one as our defense completely shut them down all night.

League Table



Youth Academy



Board Objectives

Youth
-Sign at least 2 players younger than 20 years old, with potential greater than the average overall rating of players currently in the same position.
-Sign 1 youth player to the senior team in the same season they were scouted. Play them in 5 matches either as part of the starting 11 or coming on as a sub.

Brand Exposure
-Within 3 seasons, increase season ticket holders with at least 10% of the stadiums capacity. (Remaining seasons: 2)

Financial
-Finish the season with a profit margin of £8,500,000.

Domestic Success
-EFL League One: Avoid Relegation.
-The Emirates FA Cup: Reach the Round of 32 Stage.

[Simppu12]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Merry Christmas, boys!

[vrabbit]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Newport County A.F.C.

'20-'21 January Update

Spoiler

The Roster

Spoiler

Spoiler

GK:Jasper Cillessen (85 OVR)
GK: Hayato Matsuki (70 OVR)*
GK: Eiichi Suzuki (69 OVR)*

RB: Yasir Al Shahrani (80 OVR)
RB: Moses Odubajo (73 OVR)
RB: Atsushi Nagatsuka (68 OVR)*
RB: Willem Van Hout (68 OVR)*
RB: Johan Sheriff (65 OVR)*
RB: Márcio Souza (65 OVR)*
RB: Miguel De Mesquites (61 OVR)*
CB: Kurt Zouma (86 OVR)
CB: Ron Vlaar (78 OVR)
CB: Sebastián Vegas (77 OVR)
CB: Bondz Lapslie (71 OVR)*
CB: Tafari Hunt (69 OVR)*
CB: Tom Maguire (64 OVR)* (on loan at Morecambe)
LB: Jordan Amavi (78 OVR)
LB: Elmir Nabiullin (76 OVR)
LB: Jeff Cohen (64 OVR)*

CDM: Rohan Ince (77 OVR)
CDM: Cristiano Dall'Oglio (72 OVR)*
CDM: Doke Boëtius (72 OVR)*
CDM: Daniel Amaral (63 OVR)*
CM: Paul Pogba (90 OVR)
CM: Clark Gordon (80 OVR)*
CM: Joe Allen (79 OVR)*
CM: Gary Woods (71 OVR)*
CM: Daniel Seager (70 OVR)*
RM: David Fox (73 OVR)*
LM: Raphaël Guerreiro (80 OVR)
LM: Ben Potter (74 OVR)*
CAM: Jefferson Farfán (78 OVR)
CAM: Andrea De Girolamo (73 OVR)* (on loan at Wolves)
CAM: Daniele Martella (72 OVR)*
CAM: Eduard Cardenas (60 OVR)*

RW: Jack Giles (72 OVR)*
LW: Bondz Moore (77 OVR)*
ST: Breel Donald Embolo (82 OVR)
ST: Kjetil Ringdal Støvland (77 OVR)*
ST: Nicolas Gersbeck (75 OVR)
ST: Aaron Leya Iseka (72 OVR)
ST: Liam Taylor (65 OVR)*
ST: Sean Hugill (61 OVR)*
ST: Mikael Weilid (58 OVR)*
* Academy Graduate.

Starting XI (4-4-2 Diamond Wide)

Cillessen (85)

Al Shahrani (80)/Zouma (86)/Vlaar (78)/Amavi (78)

Pogba (90)

Farfán (C, 78) ------------------ Guerreiro (80)

Gordon (80)

Ambrose (80) ------- Ringdal Støvland (77)
______________________________________

Paul Pogba was named Player of the Month for December.

Transfer News

• Bondz Lapslie (CB, 71 OVR) returned from short-term loan at Dagenham. He's now considered a prospect showing great potential.
• Gary Woods (CM, 71 OVR) returned from short-term loan at Blackburn Rovers. Woods is no longer considered a prospect showing great potential and would be an option at CAM in the diamond midfield. With plenty of competition for this position on the roster, Woods is being listed for transfer by the club.
• Daniel Seager (CM, 70 OVR) returned from short-term loan at Exeter City. Seager is showing great potential and is a fit at CDM in the diamond midfield which currently makes him the 5th option in the pecking order. He'll be re-listed for short-loan.

______________________________________

F.A. Cup - 3rd Round
Newport County - Reading (1-1)
Joselu 15'
Giles 90+2' (Potter)

Jack Giles scored on a shot from just outside the box off a corner kick from Ben Potter in the second minute of extra time to give The Exiles' B-squad an agonizing draw at Rodney Parade. In fairness to the lineup that's mostly made of the club's academy-graduates they actually battled throughout the game and played the visitors from the Championship evenly, they just weren't able to reflect it on the scoreboard until what was practically the last play of the game.

League Match 21
Newport County - Watford (3-1)
Ringdal Støvland 38'
Pogba 45+1' (Guerreiro)
Pogba 61' (Gersbeck)
Oulare 68'
Ringdal Støvland 41' (sprained ankle, out 3 weeks)

Kjetil Ringdal Støvland snapped out of his scoring drought then proceeded to be subbed out due to injury but The Exiles were able to build on the lead he provided to get back on the winning track. Nicolas Gersbeck, who provided an assist of the bench in place of RS, will get to start while the youngster recovers from his injury.

League Match 22
Newport County - Chelsea (1-1)
William 49'
Gordon 68' (Gersbeck)

William scored on a controversial play early in the second half and Clark Gordon equalized things midway through the same half as The Exiles and The Blues played out a 1-1 draw. Marccelino became irate following William's goal, arguing that Loïc Rémy was offsides on the play and in the vicinity of the ball's trajectory as William caught up to it. Replays confirmed this but the referees had no comment on the issue after the game. Tottenham, which unseated Newport County as league leaders last month, had beaten Chelsea the previous week and benefited even more from this controversial result.

F.A. Cup - 3rd Round replay
Reading - Newport County (1-4)
Leya Iseka 2' (Allen)
Moore 9' (Leya Iseka)
Joselu 26'
Potter 61' (Leya Iseka)
Allen 84' (Leya Iseka)

Aaron Leya Iseka scored just two minutes into the game and then proceeded to assist his teammates three times to lead The Exiles B-squad to a comfortable victory against Reading in their second try against the Championship side. The hosts actually controlled possession (55%) while taking 10 shots (6 on goal) but were unable to be as effective as the visitors with their chances as Newport County was able to establish the difference on the same amount of shots on target.

League Match 23
Hull City - Newport County (0-2)
Gersbeck 7' (Guerreiro)
Gersbeck 39' (Pogba)

Gersbeck stepped up in RS' absence to lead The Exiles to another victory as they look to keep up with The Spurs who can't stop losing. Hull City had former Exiles' GK Bill Hamid on the bench as they continue to ride the hot hand of Roberto Jiménez Gago, who was their best player in spite of the loss.
______________________________________

Transfer News

• Yoshi Ishinomori (CM, 63 OVR) sold to FC Bayern for €550K.

______________________________________

F.A. Cup - 4th Round
Newport County - West Brom (2-2)
Augusto 45+'1
Farfán 72' (Ambrose)
Castillo 77'
Vlaar 90+3' (Guerreiro)

The Exiles lived to fight another day with yet another F.A. Cup last minute goal. Marccelino's squad had spent just enough part of the game outplaying the visiting Baggies but Nico Castillo's goal in the 77th minute looked like it would hand Newport County an early exit from the competition. To their credit The Exiles didn't stop fighting till the very end and in the third minute of stoppage time Ron Vlaar beat everyone to the ball at its highest point to head in the equalizer and give his side another chance to move on to the next round.
______________________________________

Transfer News

• Gregorio Miranda (LB, 73 OVR) sold to Arsenal for €7 million.
• Breel Donald Embolo (ST, 82 OVR) acquired from FC Basel for €12 million + Thierry Ambrose (ST, 80 OVR).

______________________________________

League Match 24
Newport County - Arsenal (0-0)

The Exiles and The Gunners played out an entertaining yet scoreless draw at Rodney Parade. Arsenal was unable to take advantage of a first half in which they were clearly the superior team. Newport County must have received a strong pep talk from Marccelino at the half because they turned the tables on the visitors and played a dominant second half but they also came up just short in the scoring department despite 9 shots (5 on target).
______________________________________

Transfer News

• Tom Maguire (CB, 64 OVR) loaned on short-term to Morecambe.

______________________________________




Barclays PL
Top Scorers
T1. Rooney (Manchester Utd) - 13
T12. Lewandowski (Chelsea) - 13
T1. Wilson (Norwich) - 13

Assists
T1. Farfán (Newport County) - 6
T1. Deulofeu (Everton) - 6
T1. Kane (Spurs) - 6
T1. Tadić (Southampton) - 6
T1. Pritchard (Spurs) - 6

Clean Sheets
1. Cillessen (Newport County) - 9
2. Schmeichel (Leicester City) - 8
T3. Lloris (Spurs) - 7
T3. Krul (Newcastle Utd) - 7

Analysis: The Exiles started the second half of the season on a strong note, wrapping up another undefeated month to extend the undefeated streak that started in the beginning of December. However, their form hasn't been good enough to keep up with Tottenham which won every league game they played in January to increase their lead at the top of the table to six points. Newport County remains entrenched in second place but they can't afford to fall behind much more in this race if they want to remain in contention for a league title by the time they face off against the Spurs towards the end of the season. In the F.A. Cup the coach doubled down on his choice to have his B-squad face Reading and was rewarded with a solid victory on the replay of the 3rd round after barely surviving in the first game. Marccelino's main squad will have to repeat that feat on the replay at The Hawthorns after staying alive with Vlaar's last minute goal.

The winter transfer window played out about as expected for The Exiles as there wasn't much anticipation that the club would be heavily active despite having a solid budget. The surprise move, of course, was the club's acquisition of Embolo and by the same transaction the departure of Ambrose. Ambrose had been a prolific scorer for the club (75 goals in 112 appearances over his first 2 1/2 seasons) before going into a real funk this half season in which he was only able to muster 3 goals while starting in the vast majority of the club's games. He wasn't going to agree to just any move but seemed pleased to go play for the Swiss champs. Embolo brings a lot of the same traits Ambrose had and is overall a better striker at this point in time. Nevertheless, he arrives with mounting pressure to aid in the scoring department right away so it'll remain to be seen how he deals with that. The Exiles also shored up their roster with the return of three academy graduates from different loans, with Lapslie being the most likely to immediately contribute as he's expected to step into a starting role with the B-squad. The only other surprise move was Miranda's sale which reportedly was a result of Arsenal willing to pay nearly double his value and Newport County placing a lot of trust in another academy graduate, Johan Sheriff, to fill that void (Miranda was played at RB due to being right-footed).

The Academy
(listed by their ranking in it)

LW - Marcos Andrade (66 OVR, 89-94 POT): 16-year old GEM from Portugal, a physically-gifted player with a balanced game who is entrenched as the top prospect in the academy and one of the best overall prospects on the roster.

CDM - Pierre Tägtström (54 OVR, 83-89): Now a 16-year old from Sweden who is next in a great lineup of defensive midfielders developed by the club since Marccelino's arrival. Described as physically strong, Tägtström's exciting potential is undeniable and he displays excellent aggressiveness (84) towards the ball. At his age and with the club's depth at the position he should be able to spend time developing in the academy without any rush.

LW - Andre Domingues (53 OVR, 77-83): 15-year old from Portugal who is raw but exhibits great potential. His top attribute at this time is his pace (75acc/69spd).

CF - Jordan Davies (56 OVR, 73-79): This local prospect recently turned 17 years old as he nears a two-year service in the academy. Described as physically strong, Davies checks in at 6'0", 169lbs and thoug he may not be more than a backup in the future he flashes a natural ability to play in the air (81 jumping) and fight for the ball (77 aggression) to go with very good stamina (76) and pace (75acc/75spd).
* Recent addition

February Schedule
2/3: at West Brom (F.A. Cup)
2/7: at Newcastle Utd
2/10: vs Leicester City
2/18: at Lech Poznań (Euro League)
2/21: at Everton
2/25: vs Lech Poznań (Euro League)

It's time for The Exiles' to clamp down as they head into the nitty-gritty part of the season. They're not doing themselves any favors in the schedule with the F.A. Cup replays and the road game against West Brom will be an early test before difficult games against top-10 contending teams Newcastle and Leicester. Newport County will hope to fare well in those games before a tricky match-up at Goodison Park is sandwiched by the a couple of UEL Round of 32 games against Lech Poznań

Can Marccelino and his squad prove they have what it takes to be a real contender in multiple top competitions? Stay tuned

^^^ previous update

Newport County A.F.C.

'20-'21 February Update

The Roster

Spoiler

GK:Jasper Cillessen (85 OVR)
GK: Hayato Matsuki (70 OVR)*
GK: Eiichi Suzuki (70 OVR)*

RB: Yasir Al Shahrani (81 OVR)
RB: Moses Odubajo (73 OVR)
RB: Atsushi Nagatsuka (69 OVR)*
RB: Willem Van Hout (68 OVR)*
RB: Johan Sheriff (66 OVR)*
RB: Márcio Souza (65 OVR)*
RB: Miguel De Mesquites (61 OVR)*
CB: Kurt Zouma (86 OVR)
CB: Ron Vlaar (78 OVR)
CB: Sebastián Vegas (77 OVR)
CB: Bondz Lapslie (71 OVR)*
CB: Tafari Hunt (69 OVR)*
CB: Tom Maguire (65 OVR)* (on loan at Morecambe)
LB: Jordan Amavi (78 OVR)
LB: Elmir Nabiullin (76 OVR)
LB: Jeff Cohen (65 OVR)*

CDM: Rohan Ince (77 OVR)
CDM: Doke Boëtius (73 OVR)*
CDM: Cristiano Dall'Oglio (72 OVR)*
CDM: Daniel Amaral (63 OVR)*
CM: Paul Pogba (90 OVR)
CM: Clark Gordon (80 OVR)*
CM: Joe Allen (80 OVR)*
CM: Gary Woods (71 OVR)*
CM: Daniel Seager (70 OVR)*
RM: David Fox (73 OVR)*
LM: Raphaël Guerreiro (80 OVR)
LM: Ben Potter (75 OVR)*
CAM: Jefferson Farfán (78 OVR)
CAM: Andrea De Girolamo (73 OVR)* (on loan at Wolves)
CAM: Daniele Martella (72 OVR)*
CAM: Eduard Cardenas (60 OVR)*

RW: Jack Giles (72 OVR)*
LW: Bondz Moore (77 OVR)*
ST: Breel Donald Embolo (82 OVR)
ST: Kjetil Ringdal Støvland (77 OVR)*
ST: Nicolas Gersbeck (75 OVR)
ST: Aaron Leya Iseka (72 OVR)
ST: Liam Taylor (66 OVR)*
ST: Sean Hugill (61 OVR)*
ST: Mikael Weilid (58 OVR)*
* Academy Graduate.

Starting XI (4-4-2 Diamond Wide)

Cillessen (85)

Al Shahrani (81)/Zouma (86)/Vlaar (78)/Amavi (78)

Pogba (90)

Farfán (C, 78) ------------------ Guerreiro (80)

Gordon (80)

Ringdal Støvland (77) ------- Embolo (82)
______________________________________

F.A. Cup - 4th Round replay
West Brom - Newport County (2-3)
Anichebe 11'
Gersbeck 16'
Gersbeck 51'
Leya Iseka 86' (Odubajo)
Riou 90'
Ince 55' (sprained ankle, out 4 weeks)

The Exiles B-squad did what the main squad wasn't able to do a couple of weeks earlier, defeating The Baggies at The Hawthorns. Nicolas Gersbeck followed up on his recent brace against Hull City with another one against West Brom, who put up a good fight but couldn't match up with a Newport County attack that didn't miss the target once in their 10 shots. The highlights of the game were a Giovanni Augusto penalty kick that was saved by Hayato Matsuki and a stoppage time goal by Baggies' GK Rémy Riou that gave West Brom fans one last smile before their exit from the F.A. Cup.


Matsuki made good use of his 6'7" frame stop this PK.


Riou was up in The Exiles' box for corner kick and found the ball at his feet in this spot - he wasn't going to miss from there.

League Match 25
Newcastle Utd - Newport County (3-2)
Guerreiro 33' (Amavi)
Aarons 37'
Pogba 50' (Ringdal Støvland)
Thauvin 63'
Aarons 85'

Rolando Aarons completed a brace in the 85th minute to help Newcastle to an upset victory against Newport County who have finally cracked after flirting with defeat many times in the last couple of months. Aarons and Florian Thauvin wrecked havoc on the wings for the home side.

League Match 26
Newport County - Leicester City (0-0)

Marccelino's squad was unable to fully bounce back from the loss a few days earlier and failed to impress their home fans in a goalless draw that didn't lack shots (17 combined, 12 on target) but was mostly highlighted by oustanding performances from Jasper Cillessen and Kasper Schmeichel, the top two goalkeepers in clean sheets in the PL.

F.A. Cup - Round of 16
Manchester Utd - Newport County (2-1)
Herrera 12'
Depay 45+1'
Farfán 54' (pen)

No second chances for The Exiles this time around as Memphis Depay's first half stoppage time goal made all the different needed against a Newport County squad that continues to struggle in the scoring department. Breel Donald Embolo's arrival replacing Thierry Ambrose doesn't seem to have changed the fortunes of the striker position for Marccelino's squad, which is now also witnessing struggles from their young star Kjetil Ringdal Støvland.

Euro League - Round of 32, 1st Leg
Lech Poznań - Newport County (1-3)
Amavi 7' (Gordon)
Pogba 11'
Embolo 43' (Ringdal Støvland)
Gajos 74'

It would had been alarming if The Exiles had struggled against the Polish club, even on the road, so Newport County fans must have been pleased to see Marccelino's squad comfortably win this game to take a solid lead into the second leg a week later with three away goals as insurance. The 5,000 Exiles' fans who made the trip east were particularly cheerful when Embolo scored his first goal with the club (it took him five games to accomplish this which isn't too bad).

League Match 27
Everton - Newport County (0-2)
Embolo 23' (Ringdal Støvland)
Embolo 83' (Al Shahrani)
Embolo 65' (sprained ankle, out 3 weeks)

Embolo followed up his first goal with The Exiles with a brace to help Newport County earn a key road victory at Goodison Park but unfortunately he'll be out of action for three weeks after suffering a sprained ankle (which makes his goal nearly 20 minutes after the injury even more impressive).

Euro League - Round of 32, 2nd Leg
Newport County - Lech Poznań (3-0, 6-1 agg)
Gersbeck 29' (Ringdal Støvland)
Pogba 47' (Ringdal Støvland)
Gersbeck 83'
Kownacki 20'

Lech Poznań needed about a perfect outing to pull off the upset and any hopes of a performance like that went out the window after a late tackle from behind by Dawid Kownacki left the Polish club with just 10 men on the pitch with 70+ minutes to play. Gersbeck showed he continues to be in good form with a brace, and he'll need to continue to perform that way in Embolo's absence.






Barclays PL
Top Scorers
1. Lewandowski (Chelsea) - 16
T2. Rooney (Manchester Utd) - 14
T2. Kane (Spurs) - 14

Assists
1. Teixeira (Manchester City) - 8
2. Pritchard (Spurs) - 7
T3. Farfán (Newport County) - 6
(4 others with 6 also)

Clean Sheets
1. Cillessen (Newport County) - 11
2. Schmeichel (Leicester City) - 10
T3. Lloris (Spurs) - 8
T3. Krul (Newcastle Utd) - 8
T3. Begović (Chelsea) - 8

Euro League
Top Scorers
1. Slimani (1899 Hoffenheim) - 7
T2. Rooney (Manchester Utd) - 6
T1. Bacca (Milan) - 6
(3 others with 6 also)

Assists
1. Ringdal Støvland (Newport County) - 9
T2. Moutinho (AS Monaco) - 5
T3. Kruse (VfL Wolfsburg) - 5

Clean Sheets
1. Benaglio (VfL Wolfsburg) - 5
T2. Berisha (Lazio) - 4
T2. Arrizabalaga (Athletic Bilbao) - 4
(4 others with 4 also)

Analysis: The way The Exiles had been performing over the last two months it was just a matter of time until they finally succumbed and lost a few games and that's what started to happen in February. Newport County had a tough second week of the month, losing late at St. James' Park then playing a goalless draw at home against Leicester before getting bounced out of the F.A. Cup by Manchester United, a game in which the only goal they were able to get came from the penalty strike. Fortunately for Marccelino the club seems to have awoken from their nightmares thanks to a couple of games against Lech Poznań. The question is: were those performances an allusion deriving from facing a significantly inferior opponent or have The Exiles truly shaken off their rust? Embolo's breakout was a positive sign but with the Swiss striker sidelined for another 10 days the rest of the squad will need to make up for his absence (something that Gersbeck did nicely in the second leg against Lech Poznań).

Luckily for Newport County they remain in second place in the standings but the Manchester clubs behind them as well as Chelsea are now dangerously lurking. Meanwhile, Tottenham continue an undefeated run in the BPL that's helping them run away in the race for the league title. The Exiles will need to prove that they're back as contenders, even if a league title seems impossible at this point, as they must surely want to qualify for Champions' League next season. If they're able to accomplish that feat they'll be able to say they're battle-tested going into the top club competition in Europe as they'll get a tough preview when they face FC Bayern in the Round of 16 of the UEL.

The Academy
(listed by their ranking in it)

LW - Marcos Andrade (67 OVR, 89-94 POT): 16-year old GEM from Portugal, a physically-gifted player with a balanced game who is entrenched as the top prospect in the academy and one of the best overall prospects on the roster. His curve (79) is far advanced for a teenager.

ST - Billel Cissé (53 OVR, 81-94)*: The newest addition to the academy is this 17-year old striker from France. Standing at 5'9" and 147lbs, Cissé's top attribute is his pace (73 acc, 71 spd) which should come in handy for his size. The club will work on developing his striker skills.

CDM - Pierre Tägtström (55 OVR, 83-89): Now a 16-year old from Sweden who is next in a great lineup of defensive midfielders developed by the club since Marccelino's arrival. Described as physically strong, Tägtström's exciting potential is undeniable and he displays excellent aggressiveness (85) towards the ball. At his age and with the club's depth at the position he should be able to spend time developing in the academy without any rush.

LW - Andre Domingues (54 OVR, 77-83): Now a 16-year old from Portugal who is still raw but exhibits great potential. His top attribute at this time is his pace (75acc/69spd).

CF - Jordan Davies (56 OVR, 73-79): This local prospect recently turned 17 years old as he nears a two-year service in the academy. Described as physically strong, Davies checks in at 6'0", 169lbs and though he may not be more than a backup in the future he flashes a natural ability to play in the air (81 jumping) and fight for the ball (78 aggression) to go with very good stamina (76) and pace (75acc/spd).
* Recent addition

March Schedule
3/4: at Manchester Utd
3/6: vs Manchester City
3/11: vs FC Bayern (Euro League)
3/14: vs Burnley
3/18: at FC Bayern (Euro League)
3/20: vs Liverpool

We will find out fairly quickly whether Newport County can hold off the Manchester clubs from overtaking them in the standings as they face off against both squads within three days in early March. The match-up against Man U was supposed to take place a day earlier but was pushed back due to The Red Devils' appearance in the Capital One Cup final (which they won). The Exiles will then have to be composed to net let a historic tie (for them) against Bayern Munich in the UEL distract them from sneaky-difficult games against two teams in the bottom half of the table trying to work their way up.

Thanks for reading!

[vrabbit]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

The Globetrotter CM

FC Twente
'20-'21 February Update

Spoiler

The Roster

Spoiler

Spoiler

GK: Agustín Marchesín (78 OVR)
GK: Bruno Varela (73 OVR)

RB: Kevin Diks (78 OVR)
RB: Felix Passlack (71 OVR)
CB: Lisandro López (81 OVR)
CB: Joachim Andersen (78 OVR)
CB: Peet Bijen (72 OVR)
CB: Phillipp Kübler (71 OVR)*
CB: Abdou Diallo (67 OVR)
CB: Manuel Kratz (66 OVR)*
CB: Marcel Engels (61 OVR)*
LB: Nathan Aké (76 OVR)
LB: Joe Gomez (72 OVR)
LB: Timo Behrens (66 OVR)*

CDM: José Gómez Solà (73 OVR)
CDM: Daniel Yabo (64 OVR)*
CM: Kyle Ebecilio (79 OVR)
CM: Renato Tapia (76 OVR)
RM: Derlis González (79 OVR)
RM: Issa Drost (66 OVR)* (on loan at N.E.C.)
RM: Mohamed Mühren (61 OVR)*
LM: Lenny Nangis (81 OVR)
CAM: Wesley Sneijder (84 OVR)
CAM: Juan Pablo (Juanpi) Añor (78 OVR)
CAM: Jeroen Claes (70 OVR)*

RW: Luciano Wildschut (71 OVR)*
LW: Alessio Da Cruz (73 OVR)
ST: Lars Veldwijk (79 OVR)
ST: Richairo Živković (79 OVR)
ST: Petter Karlsson (75 OVR) (on loan from Olym. Lyonnais)
ST: Andreas Cornelius (72 OVR)
* Academy Graduate.

Starting XI (4-1-2-1-2)

Marchesín (78)

Diks (78)/Andersen (78)/López (81)/Aké (76)

Ebecilio (79)

Nangis (81) --------------- González (79)

Sneijder (C, 84)

Veldwijk (79) ------- Živković (79)
______________________________________

KNVB Cup - Quarter Final
SC Heerenveen - FC Twente (0-3)
Živković 4' (Veldwijk)
Ebecilio 32'
Živković 83' (González)
López 45+1' (bruised elbow, out 8 days)

Richairo Živković opened up the scoring early and sealed the deal late and a goal from Kyle Ebecilio in-between gave us a comfortable win on what, on paper, seemed like it would be a difficult match-up. After all Heerenveen have put together an impressive season in which they would be contending for the league title if we weren't having such a dominant season. We avoided tragedy with López' injury as it turned out to be a minor issue, although annoying enough to keep him out of our next game against a tough opponent.

League Match 22
FC Twente - PSV (1-1)
Veldwijk 57' (Sneijder)
Martins 71'
Andersen 70' (bruised elbow, out 5 days)

There was no controversy this time around but PSV once again managed to hold us to a draw as they continue to fight for a spot into the Champions League next season. We really should had scored more than just once with 10 shots, 8 on target.

League Match 23
Roda JC - FC Twente (3-3)
Paulissen 5'
Sneijder 24' (Ebecilio)
Veldwijk 43' (Ebecilio)
Sotirio 55'
Smeets 70'
Živković 79' (Karlsson)

Roda, the only team to beat us this season (back in week 2 against our B-squad), proved to be a pest for us yet again and nearly pulled off the upset if it wasn't for Živković showcasing his skills to break through their defense. I have no reasonable explanation as to why we have had such a difficult time with that club this season, but I'm certainly happy I won't see them again until next season.

League Match 24
FC Twente - Heracles Almelo (3-1)
Živković 13' (Veldwijk)
Veldwijk 20' (Sneijder)
Bel Hassani 86'
Da Cruz 90+2' (Ebecilio)

With this win I'm now 4-0 in Twentse Derbies since my arrival to the club, although for the first time in those four meetings Heracles actually scored. If you're noticing, Živković seems very comfortable within our offense right away which is a most welcomed sign!

League Match 25
FC Utrecht - FC Twente (2-2)
Valdivia 51'
Jurić 69'
Živković 72' (Diks)
Veldwijk 86' (Nangis)

Utrecht gave us a very strong effort in the first half and an even stronger one in the second half to get a two-goal lead with 20 minutes to go, but luckily for us Živković quickly responded to their second goal and our top goal scorer came through in the clutch to help us salvage a point on the road and maintain our undefeated streak in the Eredivisie.

Champions League - Round of 16, 1st Leg
Napoli - FC Twente (2-3)
Hysaj 13' (OG)
Allan 21'
Sneijder 26' (González)
Higuaín 43'
González 55' (Sneijder)

Wesley Sneijder once again was the catalyst for a massive result in our favor as he scored once and assisted on Derlis González's game-winning goal to help us take an edge with us to the second leg of this match-up next month. Having a lead is always ideal but scoring three away goals was also a big feat for us and Sneijder played a big part in that.


Sneider scoring his CL-leading 8th goal.

League Match 26
FC Twente - FC Groningen (4-0)
Sneijder 11' (pen)
Sneijder 40' (pen)
Sneijder 56'
González 67' (Ebecilio)
Gomez 90'
Živković 76' (hyper extended knee, out 3 weeks)

I've finally beaten Groningen and it felt awesome! Sneijder, of course, once again was in the center of it all, putting a bow on his hat-trick with this exquisite free kick:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GRO62ZjAjxU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The defense also did its part by pitching a shoutout, keeping Nico Castillo (who's been a pest against us) quiet.


______________________________________







Eredivisie
Top Scorers
1. Veldwijk (FC Twente) - 17
T2. Santos (N.E.C.) - 11
T2. Araujo (Feyenoord) - 11
T3. Sneijder (FC Twente) - 10
T3. Castillo (FC Groningen) - 10

Assists
1. Sneijder (FC Twente) - 12
2. Rusnák (Ajax) - 8
3. Ebecilio (FC Twente) - 7

Clean Sheets
1. Kritciuk (SC Heerenveen) - 9
2. Alisson (PSV) - 7
T3. Marchesín (FC Twente) - 6
T3. Padt (FC Groningen) - 6

Champions League
Top Scorers
T1. Sneijder (FC Twente) - 8
T1. Sturridge (Liverpool) - 8
T2. De Bruyne (PSG) - 7
T2. Hazard (Chelsea) - 7

Assists
1. Veldwijk (FC Twente) - 5
T2. Pelkas (PAOK) - 4
T2. Boufal (Manchester City) - 4
(3 others with 4 also)

Clean Sheets
T1. Neuer (FC Bayern) - 4
T1. Courtois (Chelsea) - 4
T1. De Gea (Manchester Utd) - 4
T1. Hart (Manchester City) - 4
T1. Demirel (Fenerbahçe) - 4

Review: Winning just two out of five league games wasn't an ideal outcome but I find a silver lining in avoiding L's in a couple of close calls, which when combined with our strong win in the Oranje Beker and the result we got in the first leg of the Round of 16 in the CL I think add up to a strong month for us. Yes our lead in the Eredivisie shrunk by a couple of points but we still own a solid 8-point lead with just 8 games left to play. So long as we can avoid a serious letdown in our form in the league I think we'll be fine and obtain the title.

Individually I was very pleased with how quickly Živković has been able to adapt to our club as his 5 goals in 7 games this month clearly show. It's a shame he'll be shelved about 3 weeks with that knee injury and I hope the time off won't cause him to lose his rhythm. I'm also undeniably infatuated with Sneijder and can't believe he's set to retire. He makes us so much better and I'm already stressing about how we can replicate this kind of success next season without him. He's just a legend, an adjective any less valuable would be inappropriate.

The Academy
(listed by their ranking in it)

LW - Roy Verrips (61 OVR, 82-88): 17-year old attacking winger from the Netherlands flashing pace (78acc/77spd) and agility (78). He checks in at 5'11" and 158lbs and is the top prospect in the academy. However, he could benefit from a stay in the academy until the summer.

CM - Vasco Granero (56 OVR, 81-87): Now an 18-year old from Venezuela described as a playmaker who has more potential than we initially thought. He possesses good agility (79) and has shown enough progress in the academy that he's likely to be promoted to the senior roster now that he's an adult.

CM - Miguel Varela (51 OVR, 81-87): Now an 18-year old from Venezuela described as defensive minded. Despite his age he's still a very raw prospect, although his stamina (74) and agility (74) are noticeable. However, in our scouts' opinions his promise is undeniable, including his 6'2", 169lbs frame.

LB - Odisseas Ludwig (62 OVR, 80-86): 16-year old from Germany described as physically strong who possesses great potential according to the final assessment from our youth scouts. The jumping (79), strength (79), aggression (78), and pace (75spd/74acc) are noticeable and well advanced for his age so our youth scouts are working on developing his defensive game.

RW - Mauro Pröpper (60 OVR, 80-86): 16-year old from the Netherlands who is displaying very good agility (76) at a very young age to go with promising pace (73acc/67spd). Already labeled by our scouts as someone showing great potential.

RW - Rick El Makrini (59 OVR, 80-86): 16-year old from the Netherlands with notable pace (79spd/74acc) and balance (75) who shows a lot of promise early on.

CB - Agustin Benitez (59 OVR, 80-86): 15-year old from Venezuela showing a lot of promise. Described as physically strong, Benitez displays excellent aggression (79) and jumping (72) for his age.

GK - Olivier Ofori (60 OVR, 79-85): Our top goalkeeper prospect recently turned 17 years and the Belgian now stands at 6'5" and 165lbs, excellent for his position. He has been progressing well and steadily in the academy and if he can remain there for the rest of the season he could become our third GK as soon as next season.

CB - Rico Kehrer (65 OVR, 78-84): This German prospect, part of a pipeline of centre backs from that country in our academy/roster, recently turned 17 years old and check is at 6'0" and 167lbs. Considered physically strong, Kehrer is an aggressive (90) defender who has developed well in the academy and will likely be promoted to the senior squad somewhere between now and the summer.

RM - Jens Schuermans (62 OVR, 76-82): 16-year old from Belgium described as a playmaker. He's only 4'11" and 123lbs at the moment but he's crazy agile (76) for someone his age. He flashes some nice potential.

CF - Gustavo Jimenez (48 OVR, 76-82): 17-year old from Venezuela signed to the squad in big part due to the position that he plays. He becomes the first striker/centre-forward to join the academy so he has that going for him, to go along with noticeable size (6'4", 176lbs), strength (80), speed (77), and jumping (76). He has the tools to be come a useful scorer for us in the future.

GK - Nill Oulare (60 OVR, 74-80): 16-year old from Belgium currently standing at 5'9" and 158lbs. He has been developing well in his time in the academy although he projects as more of backup GK since scouts have concluded he doesn't have starting potential.
* Recent addition

March schedule
3/3: vs FC Utrecht (KNVB Cup)
3/7: at AZ
3/14: vs SC Cambuur
3/17: vs Napoli (Champions League)
3/20: vs PEC Zwolle
3/23: at Brazil (WC Qualifying)
3/26: at Bolivia (WC Qualifying)

As I already mentioned there isn't a whole lot of season left in the Eredivisie and after March there could be a very clear picture of whether we'll be able to clinch the league title ahead of the end of the season. Before we get to that we'll have to face off against Utrecht again and this time a draw will not be a possible outcome so we'll need to up our game if we want to keep hopes of a local double alive. Then there's the second leg of the tie against Napoli where I hope we can finish what we started and be able to call ourselves one of the top eight teams in Europe. And if that isn't enough to deal with I'll have to get back to trying to bring my beloved Venezuela back into a World Cup - we're really close to accomplishing that but these final few games won't be easy.

Stay tuned!

^^^ previous update

The Globetrotter CM


FC Twente
'20-'21 March Update

The Roster

Spoiler

GK: Agustín Marchesín (78 OVR)
GK: Bruno Varela (73 OVR)

RB: Kevin Diks (78 OVR)
RB: Felix Passlack (71 OVR)
CB: Lisandro López (82 OVR)
CB: Joachim Andersen (78 OVR)
CB: Phillipp Kübler (72 OVR)*
CB: Peet Bijen (72 OVR)
CB: Abdou Diallo (67 OVR)
CB: Manuel Kratz (66 OVR)*
CB: Marcel Engels (61 OVR)*
LB: Nathan Aké (77 OVR)
LB: Joe Gomez (72 OVR)
LB: Timo Behrens (66 OVR)*
LB: Odisseas Ludwig (63 OVR)*

CDM: José Gómez Solà (73 OVR)
CDM: Daniel Yabo (64 OVR)*
CM: Kyle Ebecilio (79 OVR)
CM: Renato Tapia (76 OVR)
CM: Vasco Granero (57 OVR)*
RM: Derlis González (80 OVR)
RM: Issa Drost (66 OVR)* (on loan at N.E.C.)
RM: Mohamed Mühren (62 OVR)*
LM: Lenny Nangis (81 OVR)
CAM: Wesley Sneijder (84 OVR)
CAM: Juan Pablo (Juanpi) Añor (78 OVR)
CAM: Jeroen Claes (71 OVR)*

RW: Luciano Wildschut (71 OVR)*
LW: Alessio Da Cruz (73 OVR)
ST: Lars Veldwijk (79 OVR)
ST: Richairo Živković (79 OVR)
ST: Petter Karlsson (75 OVR) (on loan from Olym. Lyonnais)
ST: Andreas Cornelius (72 OVR)
CF: Gustavo Jimenez (49 OVR)
* Academy Graduate.

Starting XI (4-1-2-1-2)

Marchesín (78)

Diks (78)/Andersen (78)/López (82)/Aké (77)

Ebecilio (79)

Nangis (81) --------------- González (80)

Sneijder (C, 84)

Veldwijk (79) ------- Živković (79)
______________________________________

Wesley Sneijder was named Player of the Month for February.
______________________________________

KNVB Cup - Semi Final
FC Twente - FC Utrecht (3-0)
Nangis 62' (Sneijder)
Alex 80' (OG)
Karlsson 90+2' (Juanpi)

Utrecht tried to replicate their effort from last month against us, when we had to score late go escape with a draw, but our defense shut down their attack this time around and we finally were able to break through their defense in the last third of the game. The match was practically over once Alex, their GK, had an awful blunder on a pass back to him by a defender and whiffed on receiving the ball, knocking it backwards instead for an own goal with just over 10 minutes left. The possibility of a local double is very real for us now.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rE3SS5U8z3Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

League Match 27
AZ - FC Twente (4-2)
Vaarnold 8'
Rienstra 16'
Hupperts 51'
Wildschut 76' (Passlack)
Henriksen 80'
Da Cruz 86'

I guess we had to lose a game eventually. AZ jumped on us early in both halves and the game was pretty much over at 3-0. Even in a dark spot such as this loss, our first since week two of the season against Roda, we had a bright moment when our young star Luciano Wildschut scored his first goal as a pro in the 76th minute. Any hopes of a late comeback were quickly put to rest by Markus Henriksen who scored for AZ just four minutes later to put the dagger in us. André-Pierre Gignac had a great game for AZ, netting two assists to go with being an annoying pest all game long.


Wildschut scored his first goal as a pro at 16 years old.

League Match 28
FC Twente - SC Cambuur (3-2)
Karlsson 2' (Tapia)
Rincon 8'
van de Streek 21'
Wildschut 57' (Da Cruz)
Karlsson 90+2' (Tapia)

The B-squad came through for us in this one to put us back in the winning column and in no danger of letting anyone catch up to us. Wildschut liked scoring so much he did it again this time but it was Petter Karlsson's brace that sealed the win for us, the last of his goals coming in stoppage time as our guys never stopped pushing for the win.



Alessio Da Cruz assisted Wildschut for the youngster's second goal in as many games.

Champions League - Round of 16, 2nd Leg
FC Twente - Napoli (3-1, 6-3 agg)
Živković 36' (Sneijder)
Insigne 44'
Sneijder 63' (Nangis)
Sneijder 90+'1 (pen)

Sneijder's veteran leadership was reflected throughout this game and he had a hand in each of our goals as we disposed of Napoli for a bit of personal revenge on my end. Napoli needed to win this game by at least two goals but Sneijder's feed to Richairo Živković late in the first half helped increased our lead in the aggregate score so Insigne's goal in the 44th minute only felt like a dent. We did a really good job of edging them in possession (56%) and holding them to just five shots (three on goal) and Sneijder pretty much put them out of their misery in the 63rd minute before a handball in his own box by Elseid Hysaj resulted in the PK that helped our captain cement his lead as the leading scorer in this competition.

League Match 29
FC Twente - PEC Zwolle (2-1)
Veldwijk 54' (Živković)
Bulut 63'
Veldwijk 76' (Juanpi)

The league's leading scorer got back on the board after a dry spell that lasted about a month and we needed every bit of his brace as one of the worst teams in the league gave us a hell of a fight. In the end we were able to get three more points to bring us much closer to the league title.







Eredivisie
Top Scorers
1. Veldwijk (FC Twente) - 19
2. Araujo (Feyenoord) - 12
T3. Santos (N.E.C.) - 11
T3. Gignac (AZ) - 11
...
T4. Sneijder (FC Twente) - 10

Assists
1. Sneijder (FC Twente) - 12
T2. Gignac (AZ) - 8
T2. Rusnák (Ajax) - 8
T2. Linssen (Heracles Almelo) - 8
T2. Rodríguez (Vitesse) - 8

Clean Sheets
1. Kritciuk (SC Heerenveen) - 9
2. Alisson (PSV) - 8
T3. Marchesín (FC Twente) - 6
(3 others with 6 also)

Champions League
Top Scorers
1. Sneijder (FC Twente) - 10
T2. Sturridge (Liverpool) - 8
T2. De Bruyne (PSG) - 8
T2. Cavani (PSG) - 8

Assists
1. Veldwijk (FC Twente) - 5
T2. Nangis (FC Twente) - 4
T2. Müller (FC Barcelona) - 4
(5 others with 4 also)

Clean Sheets
T1. Neuer (FC Bayern) - 4
T1. Courtois (Chelsea) - 4
T1. De Gea (Manchester Utd) - 4
(4 others with 4 also)

Review: A dream season in the Eredivisie continues! Who cares that we lost to AZ? We have a nine-point lead in the league with 15 points left to play for, which means we could clinch this league title well in advance of the end of the season if we maintain our form. Pair that with a trip to the KNVB Cup final and we're on the verge of a local double. A bit of history here: FC Twente nearly accomplished this feat back in the 2010-2011 season after coming down from an 0-2 deficit in the Dutch Cup to defeat Ajax 3-2. As destiny would have it both teams would meet in the final game of the Eredivisie that season with Twente holding a one point lead over Ajax but having to go to Amsterdam Arena to seal the deal. They failed as Ajax won 3–1 in an instant classic. A local double hasn't been done hasn't been done by a Dutch club since PSV accomplished it 16 seasons ago in the 2004-2005 season. That season was magical for PSV as they also made it all the way to the semi-finals of the Champions League in which they lost to Milan on aggregate score (away goals). We possibly have a chance to exceed their performance this season as we remain alive in the CL thanks to a strong couple of wins over Napoli. Bayern of course will be a difficult opponent but at this point I have a lot of confidence on this roster so we're definitely looking forward to that.

The Academy
(listed by their ranking in it)

LW - Roy Verrips (61 OVR, 82-88): 17-year old attacking winger from the Netherlands flashing pace (79acc/77spd) and agility (79). He checks in at 5'11" and 158lbs and is the top prospect in the academy. However, he could benefit from a stay in the academy until the summer.

CM - Miguel Varela (51 OVR, 81-87): Now an 18-year old from Venezuela described as defensive minded. Despite his age he's still a very raw prospect, although his stamina (75) and agility (74) are noticeable. However, in our scouts' opinions his promise is undeniable, including his 6'2", 169lbs frame.

RW - Mauro Pröpper (60 OVR, 80-86): 16-year old from the Netherlands who is displaying very good agility (76) at a very young age to go with promising pace (73acc/67spd). Already labeled by our scouts as someone showing great potential.

RW - Rick El Makrini (59 OVR, 80-86): 16-year old from the Netherlands with notable pace (79spd/74acc) and balance (75) who shows a lot of promise early on.

CB - Agustin Benitez (59 OVR, 80-86): Now a 16-year old from Venezuela showing a lot of promise. Described as physically strong, Benitez displays excellent aggression (79) and jumping (72) for his age, although we're a bit concerned he may not grow tall enough for this position.

GK - Olivier Ofori (60 OVR, 79-85): Our top goalkeeper prospect recently turned 17 years and the Belgian now stands at 6'5" and 165lbs, excellent for his position. He has been progressing well and steadily in the academy and if he can remain there for the rest of the season he could become our third GK as soon as next season.

CB - Rico Kehrer (66 OVR, 78-84): This German prospect, part of a pipeline of centre backs from that country in our academy/roster, recently turned 17 years old and checks in at 6'0" and 167lbs. Considered physically strong, Kehrer is an aggressive (90) defender who has developed well in the academy and will likely be promoted to the senior squad somewhere between now and the summer.

GK - Nill Oulare (60 OVR, 74-80): 16-year old from Belgium currently standing at 5'9" and 158lbs. He has been developing well in his time in the academy although he projects as more of backup GK since scouts have concluded he doesn't have starting potential.
* Recent addition

Vasco Granero (CM, 57 OVR) was promoted to the senior squad following his 18th birthday while Odisseas Ludwig (LB, 63 OVR) and and Gustavo Jimenez (CF, 49 OVR) were also promoted at their requests. Jens Schuermans on the other hand decided to leave the academy and we wish him the best.

2022 WC - CONMEBOL Qualifying

WC Qualifying - Match 13
Brazil - Venezuela (1-3)
Teixeira 6'
Rondón 68' (Juanpi)
Martinez 84' (Otero)
Signorelli 90+2' (Rosales)

It surely looked like it wouldn't be our day when Teixeira put Brazil ahead at home six minutes in but our guys clamped down and didn't let the Verde-Amarela run away with the game, then put together a hell of a comeback to help us take a HUGE step towards a return to the World Cup. Signorelli's goal was a thing of beauty ...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u4UHhg3Z3Do" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

WC Qualifying - Match 14
Bolivia - Venezuela (0-5)
Martinez 10' (Juanpi)
Martinez 21' (Otero)
Rondón 33' (Juanpi)
Ramírez 75' (Martinez)
Peñaranda 90+1' (pen)

There are still four more games to play but do you know how I know we're going to succeed in qualifying for the World Cup? Because WC-teams take care of business in these kind of games the way we took care of Bolivia on the road. Just a dominant win to solidify ourselves as one of the best teams in CONMEBOL.


______________________________________

April schedule
4/4: vs Excelsior
4/7: at FC Bayern (Champions League)
4/10: at N.E.C.
4/13: vs FC Bayern (Champions League)
4/18: vs SC Heerenveen
4/25: vs Feyenoord (KNVB Cup)

Can't ask for much more than to have an opportunity to clinch a league and cup title in the same month. Excelsior is the worst team in the league and so I plan to play the B-squad against them to have our main guys ready to face Bayern. If the B-squad gets the job done against Excelsior I may also give them a run against N.E.C. though that's a tougher decision to make since they have always been a tough opponent. We're gonna leave it all on the line against Bayern so stay tuned for that as well as the Oranje Beker final!

[vrabbit]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

highlights of the Ajax-Twente game I referenced from 2011

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a72o4-k7Xq0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[JHedges2]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Arsenal Football Club | August 2016 Update




14 August - Premier League (#1)
Liverpool at Arsenal (2-3)

20 August - Premier League (#2)
Arsenal at Leicester (3-2)

23 August - EFL Cup (Rd?)
Arsenal at Birmingham (3-1)

27 August - Premier Leauge (#3)
Arsenal at Watford (2-1)

[JHedges2]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Arsenal Football Club | September 2016 Update



10 September - Premier League (#4)
Southampton at Arsenal (0-2)

14 September - Champions League (#1)
FC Basel at Arsenal (0-3)

17 September - Premier League (#5)
Arsenal at Hull City (2-1)

21 September - EFL Cup (Rd?)
Hull City at Arsenal (1-2) (ELIMINATED)

24 September - Premier League (#6)
Chelsea at Arsenal (2-0)

[southernmetalhead]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Going to try and get an Anzhi update and much belated career comments in before the new year. Also decided that instead of Chamois, I'll be going with Mansfield Town for my other CM.

[vrabbit]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Newport County A.F.C.

'20-'21 February Update

Spoiler

The Roster

Spoiler

Spoiler

GK:Jasper Cillessen (85 OVR)
GK: Hayato Matsuki (70 OVR)*
GK: Eiichi Suzuki (70 OVR)*

RB: Yasir Al Shahrani (81 OVR)
RB: Moses Odubajo (73 OVR)
RB: Atsushi Nagatsuka (69 OVR)*
RB: Willem Van Hout (68 OVR)*
RB: Johan Sheriff (66 OVR)*
RB: Márcio Souza (65 OVR)*
RB: Miguel De Mesquites (61 OVR)*
CB: Kurt Zouma (86 OVR)
CB: Ron Vlaar (78 OVR)
CB: Sebastián Vegas (77 OVR)
CB: Bondz Lapslie (71 OVR)*
CB: Tafari Hunt (69 OVR)*
CB: Tom Maguire (65 OVR)* (on loan at Morecambe)
LB: Jordan Amavi (78 OVR)
LB: Elmir Nabiullin (76 OVR)
LB: Jeff Cohen (65 OVR)*

CDM: Rohan Ince (77 OVR)
CDM: Doke Boëtius (73 OVR)*
CDM: Cristiano Dall'Oglio (72 OVR)*
CDM: Daniel Amaral (63 OVR)*
CM: Paul Pogba (90 OVR)
CM: Clark Gordon (80 OVR)*
CM: Joe Allen (80 OVR)*
CM: Gary Woods (71 OVR)*
CM: Daniel Seager (70 OVR)*
RM: David Fox (73 OVR)*
LM: Raphaël Guerreiro (80 OVR)
LM: Ben Potter (75 OVR)*
CAM: Jefferson Farfán (78 OVR)
CAM: Andrea De Girolamo (73 OVR)* (on loan at Wolves)
CAM: Daniele Martella (72 OVR)*
CAM: Eduard Cardenas (60 OVR)*

RW: Jack Giles (72 OVR)*
LW: Bondz Moore (77 OVR)*
ST: Breel Donald Embolo (82 OVR)
ST: Kjetil Ringdal Støvland (77 OVR)*
ST: Nicolas Gersbeck (75 OVR)
ST: Aaron Leya Iseka (72 OVR)
ST: Liam Taylor (66 OVR)*
ST: Sean Hugill (61 OVR)*
ST: Mikael Weilid (58 OVR)*
* Academy Graduate.

Starting XI (4-4-2 Diamond Wide)

Cillessen (85)

Al Shahrani (81)/Zouma (86)/Vlaar (78)/Amavi (78)

Pogba (90)

Farfán (C, 78) ------------------ Guerreiro (80)

Gordon (80)

Ringdal Støvland (77) ------- Embolo (82)
______________________________________

F.A. Cup - 4th Round replay
West Brom - Newport County (2-3)
Anichebe 11'
Gersbeck 16'
Gersbeck 51'
Leya Iseka 86' (Odubajo)
Riou 90'
Ince 55' (sprained ankle, out 4 weeks)

The Exiles B-squad did what the main squad wasn't able to do a couple of weeks earlier, defeating The Baggies at The Hawthorns. Nicolas Gersbeck followed up on his recent brace against Hull City with another one against West Brom, who put up a good fight but couldn't match up with a Newport County attack that didn't miss the target once in their 10 shots. The highlights of the game were a Giovanni Augusto penalty kick that was saved by Hayato Matsuki and a stoppage time goal by Baggies' GK Rémy Riou that gave West Brom fans one last smile before their exit from the F.A. Cup.


Matsuki made good use of his 6'7" frame stop this PK.


Riou was up in The Exiles' box for corner kick and found the ball at his feet in this spot - he wasn't going to miss from there.

League Match 25
Newcastle Utd - Newport County (3-2)
Guerreiro 33' (Amavi)
Aarons 37'
Pogba 50' (Ringdal Støvland)
Thauvin 63'
Aarons 85'

Rolando Aarons completed a brace in the 85th minute to help Newcastle to an upset victory against Newport County who have finally cracked after flirting with defeat many times in the last couple of months. Aarons and Florian Thauvin wrecked havoc on the wings for the home side.

League Match 26
Newport County - Leicester City (0-0)

Marccelino's squad was unable to fully bounce back from the loss a few days earlier and failed to impress their home fans in a goalless draw that didn't lack shots (17 combined, 12 on target) but was mostly highlighted by oustanding performances from Jasper Cillessen and Kasper Schmeichel, the top two goalkeepers in clean sheets in the PL.

F.A. Cup - Round of 16
Manchester Utd - Newport County (2-1)
Herrera 12'
Depay 45+1'
Farfán 54' (pen)

No second chances for The Exiles this time around as Memphis Depay's first half stoppage time goal made all the different needed against a Newport County squad that continues to struggle in the scoring department. Breel Donald Embolo's arrival replacing Thierry Ambrose doesn't seem to have changed the fortunes of the striker position for Marccelino's squad, which is now also witnessing struggles from their young star Kjetil Ringdal Støvland.

Euro League - Round of 32, 1st Leg
Lech Poznań - Newport County (1-3)
Amavi 7' (Gordon)
Pogba 11'
Embolo 43' (Ringdal Støvland)
Gajos 74'

It would had been alarming if The Exiles had struggled against the Polish club, even on the road, so Newport County fans must have been pleased to see Marccelino's squad comfortably win this game to take a solid lead into the second leg a week later with three away goals as insurance. The 5,000 Exiles' fans who made the trip east were particularly cheerful when Embolo scored his first goal with the club (it took him five games to accomplish this which isn't too bad).

League Match 27
Everton - Newport County (0-2)
Embolo 23' (Ringdal Støvland)
Embolo 83' (Al Shahrani)
Embolo 65' (sprained ankle, out 3 weeks)

Embolo followed up his first goal with The Exiles with a brace to help Newport County earn a key road victory at Goodison Park but unfortunately he'll be out of action for three weeks after suffering a sprained ankle (which makes his goal nearly 20 minutes after the injury even more impressive).

Euro League - Round of 32, 2nd Leg
Newport County - Lech Poznań (3-0, 6-1 agg)
Gersbeck 29' (Ringdal Støvland)
Pogba 47' (Ringdal Støvland)
Gersbeck 83'
Kownacki 20'

Lech Poznań needed about a perfect outing to pull off the upset and any hopes of a performance like that went out the window after a late tackle from behind by Dawid Kownacki left the Polish club with just 10 men on the pitch with 70+ minutes to play. Gersbeck showed he continues to be in good form with a brace, and he'll need to continue to perform that way in Embolo's absence.






Barclays PL
Top Scorers
1. Lewandowski (Chelsea) - 16
T2. Rooney (Manchester Utd) - 14
T2. Kane (Spurs) - 14

Assists
1. Teixeira (Manchester City) - 8
2. Pritchard (Spurs) - 7
T3. Farfán (Newport County) - 6
(4 others with 6 also)

Clean Sheets
1. Cillessen (Newport County) - 11
2. Schmeichel (Leicester City) - 10
T3. Lloris (Spurs) - 8
T3. Krul (Newcastle Utd) - 8
T3. Begović (Chelsea) - 8

Euro League
Top Scorers
1. Slimani (1899 Hoffenheim) - 7
T2. Rooney (Manchester Utd) - 6
T1. Bacca (Milan) - 6
(3 others with 6 also)

Assists
1. Ringdal Støvland (Newport County) - 9
T2. Moutinho (AS Monaco) - 5
T3. Kruse (VfL Wolfsburg) - 5

Clean Sheets
1. Benaglio (VfL Wolfsburg) - 5
T2. Berisha (Lazio) - 4
T2. Arrizabalaga (Athletic Bilbao) - 4
(4 others with 4 also)

Analysis: The way The Exiles had been performing over the last two months it was just a matter of time until they finally succumbed and lost a few games and that's what started to happen in February. Newport County had a tough second week of the month, losing late at St. James' Park then playing a goalless draw at home against Leicester before getting bounced out of the F.A. Cup by Manchester United, a game in which the only goal they were able to get came from the penalty strike. Fortunately for Marccelino the club seems to have awoken from their nightmares thanks to a couple of games against Lech Poznań. The question is: were those performances an allusion deriving from facing a significantly inferior opponent or have The Exiles truly shaken off their rust? Embolo's breakout was a positive sign but with the Swiss striker sidelined for another 10 days the rest of the squad will need to make up for his absence (something that Gersbeck did nicely in the second leg against Lech Poznań).

Luckily for Newport County they remain in second place in the standings but the Manchester clubs behind them as well as Chelsea are now dangerously lurking. Meanwhile, Tottenham continue an undefeated run in the BPL that's helping them run away in the race for the league title. The Exiles will need to prove that they're back as contenders, even if a league title seems impossible at this point, as they must surely want to qualify for Champions' League next season. If they're able to accomplish that feat they'll be able to say they're battle-tested going into the top club competition in Europe as they'll get a tough preview when they face FC Bayern in the Round of 16 of the UEL.

The Academy
(listed by their ranking in it)

LW - Marcos Andrade (67 OVR, 89-94 POT): 16-year old GEM from Portugal, a physically-gifted player with a balanced game who is entrenched as the top prospect in the academy and one of the best overall prospects on the roster. His curve (79) is far advanced for a teenager.

ST - Billel Cissé (53 OVR, 81-94)*: The newest addition to the academy is this 17-year old striker from France. Standing at 5'9" and 147lbs, Cissé's top attribute is his pace (73 acc, 71 spd) which should come in handy for his size. The club will work on developing his striker skills.

CDM - Pierre Tägtström (55 OVR, 83-89): Now a 16-year old from Sweden who is next in a great lineup of defensive midfielders developed by the club since Marccelino's arrival. Described as physically strong, Tägtström's exciting potential is undeniable and he displays excellent aggressiveness (85) towards the ball. At his age and with the club's depth at the position he should be able to spend time developing in the academy without any rush.

LW - Andre Domingues (54 OVR, 77-83): Now a 16-year old from Portugal who is still raw but exhibits great potential. His top attribute at this time is his pace (75acc/69spd).

CF - Jordan Davies (56 OVR, 73-79): This local prospect recently turned 17 years old as he nears a two-year service in the academy. Described as physically strong, Davies checks in at 6'0", 169lbs and though he may not be more than a backup in the future he flashes a natural ability to play in the air (81 jumping) and fight for the ball (78 aggression) to go with very good stamina (76) and pace (75acc/spd).
* Recent addition

March Schedule
3/4: at Manchester Utd
3/6: vs Manchester City
3/11: vs FC Bayern (Euro League)
3/14: vs Burnley
3/18: at FC Bayern (Euro League)
3/20: vs Liverpool

We will find out fairly quickly whether Newport County can hold off the Manchester clubs from overtaking them in the standings as they face off against both squads within three days in early March. The match-up against Man U was supposed to take place a day earlier but was pushed back due to The Red Devils' appearance in the Capital One Cup final (which they won). The Exiles will then have to be composed to net let a historic tie (for them) against Bayern Munich in the UEL distract them from sneaky-difficult games against two teams in the bottom half of the table trying to work their way up.

Thanks for reading!

^^^ previous update

Newport County A.F.C.

'20-'21 March Update

The Roster

Spoiler

GK:Jasper Cillessen (85 OVR)
GK: Hayato Matsuki (70 OVR)*
GK: Eiichi Suzuki (70 OVR)*

RB: Yasir Al Shahrani (81 OVR)
RB: Moses Odubajo (73 OVR)
RB: Atsushi Nagatsuka (69 OVR)*
RB: Willem Van Hout (69 OVR)*
RB: Johan Sheriff (66 OVR)*
RB: Márcio Souza (66 OVR)*
RB: Miguel De Mesquites (61 OVR)*
CB: Kurt Zouma (86 OVR)
CB: Ron Vlaar (78 OVR)
CB: Sebastián Vegas (77 OVR)
CB: Bondz Lapslie (71 OVR)*
CB: Tafari Hunt (70 OVR)*
CB: Tom Maguire (65 OVR)* (on loan at Morecambe)
LB: Jordan Amavi (78 OVR)
LB: Elmir Nabiullin (76 OVR)
LB: Jeff Cohen (65 OVR)*

CDM: Rohan Ince (77 OVR)
CDM: Doke Boëtius (73 OVR)*
CDM: Cristiano Dall'Oglio (72 OVR)*
CDM: Daniel Amaral (63 OVR)*
CM: Paul Pogba (90 OVR)
CM: Clark Gordon (80 OVR)*
CM: Joe Allen (80 OVR)*
CM: Gary Woods (71 OVR)*
CM: Daniel Seager (70 OVR)*
RM: David Fox (73 OVR)*
LM: Raphaël Guerreiro (80 OVR)
LM: Ben Potter (75 OVR)*
CAM: Jefferson Farfán (78 OVR)
CAM: Andrea De Girolamo (73 OVR)* (on loan at Wolves)
CAM: Daniele Martella (72 OVR)*
CAM: Eduard Cardenas (61 OVR)*

RW: Jack Giles (72 OVR)*
LW: Bondz Moore (77 OVR)*
ST: Breel Donald Embolo (82 OVR)
ST: Kjetil Ringdal Støvland (77 OVR)*
ST: Nicolas Gersbeck (75 OVR)
ST: Aaron Leya Iseka (72 OVR)
ST: Liam Taylor (66 OVR)*
ST: Sean Hugill (61 OVR)*
ST: Mikael Weilid (59 OVR)*
* Academy Graduate.

Starting XI (4-4-2 Diamond Wide)

Cillessen (85)

Al Shahrani (81)/Zouma (86)/Vlaar (78)/Amavi (78)

Pogba (90)

Farfán (C, 78) ------------------ Guerreiro (80)

Gordon (80)

Ringdal Støvland (77) ------- Embolo (82)
______________________________________

League Match 28
Manchester Utd - Newport County (1-0)
Blind 70'

Both goalkeepers were outstanding in this game and it took a breakdown by The Exiles defense for Daley Blind to score on a backdoor header to give the Red Devils the three points. André Campos Moreira should get a bonus based on this game alone as he collected six saves (several of the eye-popping kind) to earn an 8.0 game rating and MOM honors.

League Match 29
Newport County - Manchester City (1-1)
Farfán 50' (Ringdal Støvland)
Aubameyang 67'

Marccelino played his main guys for a second time in three days, clearly looking for the three points, but their exhaustion was noticeable in the last third of the game and The Exiles were only able to get a point against City which at least allowed Newport County to remain ahead in the standings.

Euro League - Round of 16, 1st Leg
Newport County - FC Bayern (0-0)
Allen 74'

The Exiles somewhat succeeded in their first showdown against the German powerhouse as they played out a goalless draw to avoid giving up any away goals. Bayern took nine shots, five on target, but Jasper Cillessen was up to the task all game long while Newport County took seven shots, five on target, but fell victim to a MOM performance from Manuel Neuer who collected 10 saves.

League Match 30
Newport County - Burnley (0-1)
van Wolfswinkel 8'
Gersbeck 73' (bruised shoulder, out 9 days)

Is this rock bottom for The Exiles? I guess we'll see. There's no way they're not frustrated after failing to score at all on 11 shots (8 on target) while Ricky van Wolfswinkel was able to beat Cillessen in the 8th minute with a perfect crossing shot from the left-top of the box in through the top corner. It has to be driving Marccelino crazy that his squad's form hasn't really dropped significantly but that they're not obtaining the results they deserve.

Euro League - Round of 16, 2nd Leg
FC Bayern - Newport County (0-1)
Ringdal Støvland 71' (Al Shahrani)

It took a perfect pass from Yasir Al Shahrani and flawless finishing by Kjetil Ringdal Støvland to finally beat Neuer:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/weijsFAvXc0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>



Meanwhile on the other side of the pitch The Exiles defense shut down Bayern's attack once again to put a bow on a very disappointing run in European competitions for the German champs this season.

League Match 31
Newport County - Liverpool (0-3)
Marković 22'
Lovren 40'
Milner 79'

Turns out the loss against Burnley wasn't rock bottom for The Exiles. Newport County lost for a second consecutive time, both times at Rodney Parade, against a Liverpool squad that thoroughly outplayed them from beginning to end. Marccelino's squad didn't even hit the target all game long and were only able to take three shots. What was once looking like a magical season has quickly turned into a rescue mission as The Exiles continue to fall in the standings.






Barclays PL
Top Scorers
T1. Lewandowski (Chelsea) - 17
T1. Rooney (Manchester Utd) - 17
T1. Kane (Spurs) - 17

Assists
1. Teixeira (Manchester City) - 9
2. Pritchard (Spurs) - 7
T3. Farfán (Newport County) - 6
(4 others with 6 also)

Clean Sheets
1. Cillessen (Newport County) - 11
T1. Schmeichel (Leicester City) - 11
T2. Lloris (Spurs) - 9
T2. Begović (Chelsea) - 9

Euro League
Top Scorers
1. Slimani (1899 Hoffenheim) - 7
T1. Bacca (Milan) - 7
T2. Rooney (Manchester Utd) - 6
(4 others with 6 also)

Assists
1. Ringdal Støvland (Newport County) - 9
T2. Moutinho (AS Monaco) - 6
T3. Kruse (VfL Wolfsburg) - 6

Clean Sheets
1. Benaglio (VfL Wolfsburg) - 5
T1. López (Milan) - 5
T1. Sommer (Bor. M'gladbach) - 5
T1. Rico (Sevilla FC) - 5

Analysis: Is this a matter of the season evening out for The Exiles or should this be considered a failure by Newport County and Giovanni Marccelino? After finishing December in second place, just two points behind Tottenham, The Exiles have gone 3-4-4 in BPL play so far in 2021 and now find themselves in danger of falling out of qualification for European competitions altogether. Were they really ever title contenders? Or is a top-5 finish still a remarkable accomplishment for a squad that is only spending their second season ever in the top flight of the English Football League? A fair conclusion might be the realization that The Exiles are starting to get a clear picture of how difficult it is to compete in the BPL while trying to remain a factor in other competitions like the C.O.C. and F.A. Cups. But just so that we don't forget about their potential, Newport County added another page to their history by beating Bayern Munich in the Round of 16 of the Euro League to enter into the top-8 teams in the tournament for a second consecutive season. Even more impressive was the fact that they held such an offensive juggernaut scoreless over two games. It was a remarkable accomplishment for Marccelino's squad even if the German champs are going through a bit of a rough patch.

The Academy
(listed by their ranking in it)

LW - Marcos Andrade (67 OVR, 89-94 POT): This true GEM from Portugal has recently turned 17 and checks in at 5'8", 156lbs. Andrade is a physically-gifted player with a balanced game who is entrenched as the top prospect in the academy and one of the best overall prospects on the roster. His curve (80) is far advanced for a teenager and he displays good agility (71), ball control (71) and long shots (71) as well.

RM - Tobias Perez (61 OVR, 81-94)*: 16-year old from France who quickly becomes a prospect to watch for. He possesses outstanding pace (78acc/73spd) for his age to with excellent balance (73) and curve (74) on the ball.

CDM - Pierre Tägtström (55 OVR, 83-89): Now a 16-year old from Sweden who is next in a great lineup of defensive midfielders developed by the club since Marccelino's arrival. Described as physically strong, Tägtström's exciting potential is undeniable and he displays excellent aggressiveness (85) towards the ball. At his age and with the club's depth at the position he should be able to spend time developing in the academy without any rush.

ST - Billel Cissé (54 OVR, 79-93): One of the newest additions to the academy is this 17-year old striker from France. Standing at 5'9" and 147lbs, Cissé's top attribute is his pace (73 acc, 71 spd) which should come in handy for his size. The club will work on developing his striker skills.

LW - Andre Domingues (54 OVR, 77-83): Now a 16-year old from Portugal who is still raw but exhibits great potential. His top attribute at this time is his pace (75acc/70spd).

CDM - Andy Tandia (47 OVR, 72-88)*: Yet another defensive midfielder prospect, Tandia currently projects as more of a future backup for the club.

CF - Jordan Davies (57 OVR, 73-79): This local prospect recently turned 17 years old as he nears a two-year service in the academy. Described as physically strong, Davies checks in at 6'0", 169lbs and though he may not be more than a backup in the future he flashes a natural ability to play in the air (81 jumping) and fight for the ball (78 aggression) to go with very good stamina (76) and pace (75acc/spd).
* Recent addition

2022 WC - UEFA Qualifying

Group Match 7
Ireland - Hungary (1-1)
Mason 17'
Szalai 53' (Stieber)
Pekár 84'

Zoltán Stieber made up for a penalty kick saved by Darren Randolph by executing a beautiful corner kick on the ensuing play to assist Ádám Szalai and help Hungary remain in contention for a spot into the World Cup next year. Ádám Bogdán and the defense also had a really good game as they held Ireland to just one goal on 12 shots (6 on target).

Group Match 8
Italy - Hungary (1-3)
Kleinheisler 26' (Stieber)
Kleinheisler 33' (Elek)
Candreva 75'
Stieber 85' (Korcsmár)

László Kleinheisler scored a first half brace and Marccelino's 5-3-2 once again baffled Italy as Hungary took a BIG step towards securing a WC berth. Italy's offense was stifled throughout the game, managing just two shots on target and four shots in total. Hungary was far from an attacking force but did manage to get all six of their shots on target.

April Schedule
4/3: vs Sunderland
4/8: vs VfL Wolfsburg (Euro League)
4/11: at Spurs
4/15: at VfL Wolfsburg (Euro League)
4/25: vs Derby County

The Exiles were probably biting on more than what they could chew on earlier in the season but they proved last season that they can be a top-5 team in the league and they'll surely be out to prove last season's finish was not a fluke. Newport County still has a legitimate shot at qualifying for the Champions' League next season and a spacious calendar in April should allow Marccelino to play his main squad down the stretch. That three game stretch against Wolfsburg (twice) and Tottenham will be interesting to follow. Can Newport County ride their good form in the UEL and reach the semi finals? And will they be able to remain in the top-5 of the BPL standings?

Say tuned

[JHedges2]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Alexis 3 - PSG 2

<p>LONDON &ndash; The two giants of Group A in Arsenal and PSG would face off in North London on Matchday 3 of the Champions League Group Stage. The scoring would begin in the 22&rsquo; with a goal from <strong>Alexis S&aacute;nchez</strong>. It would take him just 4 more minutes before he found the back of the net again, putting the Gunners up 2-0, just 26 minutes into the match.</p>
<p>PSG increased their attacking intensity at the close of the first half, with <strong>Edinson Cavani</strong> firing a rocket past <strong>Petr Cech</strong>, to bring the Parisians back to just one goal down, 2-1 at the break. Arsenal midfielder <strong>Francis Coquelin</strong> was in superb form in the first half, completing 12 tackles&mdash;as he was all over the pitch making tackles and intercepting passes.</p>
<center><img src="http://i67.tinypic.com/in4y75.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" /></center>
<p>The 2nd half was tightly contested, with both teams barely missing goals at both ends, but <strong>S&aacute;nchez</strong> finally broke through in the 77th minute with a brilliant header from <strong>Gabriel</strong>, which appeared to put the game on ice&mdash;with the hosts up 3-1. However, a mere 2 minutes later, Italy International <strong>Marco Veratti</strong> sliced through the Arsenal defense to bring it back to 3-2. The closing moments were shaky at The Emirates, but The Gunners were able to hold on to earn the highly valuable 3 points.</p>
<center><img src="http://i63.tinypic.com/4janic.jpg" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" border="0" />

<iframe width="800" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tYju7D8dQfA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

***LONDON IS RED***</center>

[Simppu12]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Last update

We Try. We Fail. We Win.


October 2018



Sevilla FC 1 - 2 Hertha BSC
Vazquez 23'
Kalou 13' pen, Seferovic 78'

We did very well in our second Champions League match against a strong Sevilla side. Salomon Kalou put us ahead from the penalty spot early on, but soon Sevilla's Franco Vazquez equalised with a first-time shot from outside the box. Late into the game our impact sub Haris Seferovic got us the winning goal with a shot into the bottom right corner of the net.



Eintracht Frankfurt 0 - 4 Hertha BSC
Ibisevic 31', 55', 77', 89'

Our skipper Vedad Ibisevic just came back from his injury, and what a comeback show did he put up! Ibisevic single-handedly sank Frankfurt as the 34-year-old netted four goals into their net.



Hertha BSC 1 - 0 Mainz 05
Darida 53'

Vladimir Darida was slightly offside in his winning goal of the game.



Hertha BSC 1 - 0 Sporting Lisbon
Weiser 24'

After three games in the Champions League we are still unbeaten. Pretty good, eh? However, Sporting were the better side in this game and the only reason we didn't lose was Oliver Baumann and his 7 saves.



Bayer Leverkusen 0 - 0 Hertha BSC

There were only five shots in this forgettable game. Leverkusen should refund the tickets of their fans.



Round of 32
Eintracht Braunschweig 0 - 1 Hertha BSC
Platte 53'

Our summer signing Felix Platte scored his first goal for the club in this tough cup game against Eintracht Braunschweig. Next up: Schalke.


November 2018



Hertha BSC 1 - 0 FC Schalke 04
Esswein 90'

As always, Schalke's strong defence was hard to break. Luckily we managed to do that in the dying moments of the match when Alexander Esswein shot the ball into the goal with a first-time shot into the bottom left corner of the net.



Hertha BSC 0 - 3 Sevilla FC
Vazquez 15', Cristoforo 41', Williams 78'

This loss was a reality check: nothing is certain in the Champions League. Sevilla destroyed us, crushed us, and tore us apart in front of our home fans. We didn't stand a chance against the Spaniards, failing to get a single shot off.



Hertha BSC 0 - 0 VfL Wolfsburg

Mitchell Weiser broke his toe and will be out for 2 months.



Hertha BSC 2 - 1 Manchester United
Ibisevic 58', Esswein 82'
Kane 90'

We're back on track! After that God-awful loss to Sevilla, we did a great job to bounce back against Man United. Vedad Ibisevic put us ahead by reaching a cross with his foot right before the hour mark, and Alex Esswein shot the ball into the top left corner of the net in the 82nd minute. Harry Kane of the Red Devils pulled one back in stoppage time, but it wasn't enough for them.


December 2018



Borussia Mönchengladbach 0 - 1 Hertha BSC
Ibisevic 61'

Vedad Ibisevic and Alex Esswein continued their fine form as the latter assisted the former to win us this match. Esswein whipped a cross in from the right, and Ibisevic headed the ball into the back of the net.



Hertha BSC 1 - 0 RB Leipzig
Kalou 37'



Sporting Lisbon 1 - 2 Hertha BSC
Semedo 24'
Esswein 8', Seferovic 15'

In the last group stage game, we secured our place at the top of the group. Two very fast goals in the first 15 minutes of the game were enough to secure our place in the round of 16! Next up: AS Roma.

Genki Haraguchi broke his ankle and will be injured for 3 months.



Eintracht Braunschweig 2 - 1 Hertha BSC
Nyman 9', 25'
Ibisevic 90' pen

Embarrassing. I have no clue what happened, but somehow the recently promoted side Braunschweig were able to beat us. Not only beat us, but humiliate us with their very strong defensive display. It took us 90 minutes and a friendly referee to score against them.



Round of 16
FC Schalke 04 1 - 2 Hertha BSC
Embolo 88'
Ibisevic 40', Coke OG 80'

Not our best performance ever, but we won and that's all that matters. Our skipper Ibisevic headed us into the lead before the break, and Schalke's right back Coke put his head in the wrong place at the wrong time, heading the ball into his own net and securing us the win. Late on Breel Embolo pulled one back with an accurate shot, but it didn't stop us from beating Schalke for the second time this season. Next up: Stuttgart.



Hertha BSC 1 - 0 FC Augsburg
Kalou 80'



Werder Bremen 2 - 1 Hertha BSC
Bauer 41', Rose 53'
Kalou 16' pen

Talk about inconsistency and a way to wrap the year up. Salomon Kalou put us ahead from the spot, but two goals by Bremen defenders turned the score around. Also, Bremen were dead-bottom before this game. We need to be more consistent in the second half of the season.


Bundesliga Table

1. Bayer Leverkusen, 38 pts
2. Hertha BSC, 32 pts
3. RB Leipzig, 31 pts
4. Mainz 05, 31 pts
5. Borussia Dortmund, 30 pts
6. FC Schalke 04, 26 pts
---------------------------------------------
16. Hamburger SV, 12 pts
17. Werder Bremen, 11 pts
18. Eintracht Frankfurt, 10 pts


Champions League Group

1. Hertha BSC, 13 pts
2. Sevilla FC, 10 pts
----------------------------------
3. Manchester United, 8 pts
4. Sporting Lisbon, 2 pts


My Thoughts

Hinrunde - The first half of the season is over, and now it's time for a well-earned winter break. We finished the first half of the season in second with good 32 points. Leverkusen have a solid lead over us, but frankly, I don't care as I'm not aiming for the league title. Yet. It's also important to notice that only six points separate us and Schalke in sixth. Every point is important.
Some time ago Cruzerr (I think) asked where Bayern are. They are having a horrible season, and currently they are 11th in the table.

Champions League - What can I say, top of the group! We had an upset against Sevilla, but other than that we performed on a very high level which earned us that first place in the group.
Roma, our opponent in the round of 16, are a solid side, but I think we can beat them.

Players - Ibisevic has been in good form, scoring 7 in the league and being second in the score charts. Meanwhile Rune Jarstein has continued to hoard clean sheets, and he has kept 10 of them in the league. Furthermore, Mitchell Weiser is leading the league in assists with 5. Unfortunately he's currently out injured, and I'm hoping that doesn't affect his great form too much.

January Transfer Window - I'm not looking to buy or sell any players in this window. I might be interested in signing a replacement for Kalou or Ibisevic on a Bosman deal, but that's not something that important.
Spoiler alert: Things did not go according to my plans at all. I'm currently in mid-February, and I was forced to sell a top player. Who was it? You'll find out in the next update (which I might start typing up after this one).



Thank you for reading this post! I hope you have enjoyed it! Any feedback or suggestions will be appreciated!

[Simppu12]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

We Try. We Fail. We Win.


Transfers Out



John Anthony Brooks

84 Ovr, Centre Back, 26 Years Old, USA

€23,000,000 to Liverpool FC

We got bloody robbed. Midway through the transfer window Brooks dropped a bomb on us: he wanted to leave. I did my best to force our most important defender to stay at the club, but the stupid board sold him to Liverpool for way under his value of €27.5M. Needless to say, I'm both furious and heart-broken. Brooks is a Hertha academy project, and he was our best and most important defender.


Haris Seferovic, Striker, 26 years old, 80 ovr, €33,000,000 to Leicester City

This offer was simply too good to pass on. Leicester were willing to pay 33M for a player whose actual value was 17.5M. Seferovic did well for us and scored some very important goals, but he was never able to become a crucial part of the team. Besides, we got a huge amount of money for him.

***

Transfers In



Mamadou Doucoure

70 Ovr, Centre Back, 20 Years Old, France

Short-term Loan

I made a big decision regarding Brooks' replacement; a decision which may backfire instantly. I decided not to buy a replacement for him this season. Instead our Niklas Stark will be moved to a starting spot.
What does this have to do Doucoure? We only have three centre backs left in the squad, and we needed someone to be the fourth-choice CB for a few months. Doucoure won't get to play unless something very bad happens to our other defenders. The old French U18 captain is in Berlin only for depth.




Admir Mehmedi

79 Ovr, Left Midfielder, 27 Years Old, Switzerland

Bosman Transfer

Admir Mehmedi is a similar player to Salomon Kalou: both are good finishers and good dribblers on the ball, and both can play on the wing and up front. That's why I decided to replace the retiring Kalou with the 27-year-old Leverkusen winger Admir Mehmedi whose contract is running out in six months. We got Mehmedi on a free deal, and he'll be joining us in the summer.




Ademilson

79 Ovr, Striker, 25 Years Old, Brazil

€15,000,000

The only player we had to pay a transfer fee for was Ademilson Braga Bispo Junior, or simply Ademilson. The 25-year-old Brazilian was bought from Ajax Amsterdam to replace the departed Haris Seferovic on the bench as our second-choice striker. Ademilson's pace and dribbling abilities make him a dangerous attacker, and he can also play on the wing. This makes him a good replacement option for Kalou if Mehmedi doesn't deliver next season.




Niklas Süle

84 Ovr, Centre Back, 23 Years Old, Germany

Bosman Transfer

Remember that decision I mentioned under Doucoure's section? This is that decision. Instead of signing a defender to replace Brooks, I decided to get Niklas Süle on a Bosman deal from 1899 Hoffenheim. This means that we won't have a world class centre back in the squad until the summer, which is when the 6'5'' tower known as Süle will join us. Hopefully my gamble pays off.

***

January 2019



Hertha BSC 3 - 0 Bayern München
Ibisevic 70' pen, Darida 85' pen, 90'
Coutinho s/o 82'

What was an even battle in the first half turned into a farce in the last 20 minutes. A penalty was rewarded to us for handballing, and Vedad Ibisevic put it in. 12 minutes later Bayern's Philippe Coutinho got sent off, and 3 minutes after that another handball call was made inside the box. This time Vladimir Darida stepped up to net it past Adrian in the Bayern goal (since Neuer had been sold to Man United). In the 90th minute, Darida got a brace from a counter attack.


Bundesliga Table

1. Bayer Leverkusen, 38 pts
2. Hertha BSC, 35 pts
3. Borussia Dortmund, 33 pts
4. RB Leipzig, 31 pts
5. Mainz 05, 31 pts
6. FC Schalke 04, 29 pts
-------------------------------------
16. Werder Bremen, 12 pts
17. Hamburger SV, 12 pts
18. Eintracht Frankfurt, 10 pts


The Squad

Spoiler

Spoiler

Goalkeepers

Oliver Baumann #12, 28 years old, Germany, 81 ovr
Rune Jarstein #22, 33 years old, Norway, 77 ovr
Thomas Kraft #1, 30 years old, Germany, 76 ovr (loaned out to Sheffield Wednesday)
Nils-Jonathan Körber #29, 20 years old, Germany, 61 ovr

Right Backs

Mitchell Weiser #23, 24 years old, Germany, 83 ovr
Felix Passlack, #4, 20 years old, Germany, 78 ovr
Peter Pekarik #2, 32 years old, Slovakia, 74 ovr

Left Backs

Marvin Plattenhardt #21, 27 years old, Germany, 80 ovr
Maximilian Mittelstädt #34, 21 years old, Germany, 76 ovr

Centre Backs

Niklas Stark, #5, 23 years old, Germany, 79 ovr
Sebastian Langkamp #15, 31 years old, Germany, 78 ovr
Çağlar Söyüncü #27, 22 years old, Turkey, 77 ovr
Mamadou Doucoure, 20 years old, France, 70 ovr

Defensive Midfielders

Salif Sané #13, 27 years old, Senegal, 80 ovr
Per Ciljan Skjelbred #3, 31 years old, Norway, 78 ovr
Fabian Lustenberger #28, 30 years old, Switzerland, 76 ovr
Max Christiansen #17, 22 years old, Germany, 76 ovr
Niels Albrecht #36, 18 years old, Germany, 70 ovr* (exciting prospect)

Central Midfielders

Vladimir Darida #6, 27 years old, Czech Republic, 81 ovr
Allan Souza #20, 22 years old, Brazil, 77 ovr

Attacking Midfielders

Valentin Stocker #14, 29 years old, Switzerland, 77 ovr
Ondrej Duda #10, 23 years old, Slovakia, 79 ovr (loaned out to HSV)

Right Wingers

Alexander Esswein #7, 28 years old, Germany, 75 ovr

Left Wingers

Genki Haraguchi #24, 27 years old, Japan, 78 ovr
Salomon Kalou #8, 33 years old, Ivory Coast, 75 ovr
Sinan Kurt #18, 22 years old, Germany, 75 ovr
Tom Lang #30, 18 years old, Germany, 74 ovr* (potential to be special) Samuel Montandon #35, 19 years old, Switzerland, 73 ovr* (exciting prospect) (loaned out to Mainz 05)


Strikers

Ademilson #10, 25 years old, Brazil, 79 ovr
Vedad Ibisevic #19, 33 years old, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 76 ovr (C)
Felix Platte #9, 22 years old, Germany, 76 ovr

Starting XI




My Thoughts

Departures - As I mentioned above, Seferovic was sold because Leicester were willing to match our very high demands. Brooks on the other hand forced his way out of the club and the board decided to sell him for barely anything. I'm still gutted about that.

Arrivals - Doucoure was loaned in to act as cover during the busy part of the season. Ademilson will either be used as a second-choice striker or on the wing in the place of Kalou, I haven't decided yet. He is more suited for the wings, but his pace also gives us another option up front, especially in the latter stages of the game.
Mehmedi was someone I had had my eye on for quite some time, and I finally decided to get him. He's a good squad player who doesn't really excel at anything, but he might turn out to be a useful replacement for Kalou next season. Only time will tell.
Finally, we have Niklas Süle, the big replacement for John Anthony Brooks. I am taking a huge risk by not signing anyone to replace Brooks right now, and I hope that risk pays off. Otherwise we are going to have a chaotic spring in Berlin.



Thank you for reading this post! I hope you have enjoyed it! Any feedback or suggestions will be appreciated!