Operation Sports Forums - View Single Post - The Eagles Shall Rise ~ Crystal Palace (FIFA 18 Dynasty)

Number999 · 02-19-2018, 07:10 PM

LeClair makes sweeping changes in July/August 2017!

It did not take very long for Lucien LeClair to put his stamp on his new tenure as the manager at Crystal Palace. Before the Eagles could even play their opening preseason matchup against Ajax, rumors were already swirling around potential transactions that could be made with him at the helm. One of the most notable rumors was the fact LeClair believed strongly that the talent seen at Crystal Palace in it's youth is far stronger than many believe. He believes Wilfried Zaha can be a cornerstone of the club for the next decade if he so chooses, and the two monster strikers up front in Christian Benteke and Alexander Sørloth could provide a terrorizing threat given their size in the Premier League. He also views Jaïro Riedewald as a key asset that can become the anchor in defense backing up Mamadou Sakho. Whether all of these dreams are mere fantasy or actually plausible will come down to the individuals and LeClair putting them in the best position to succeed.

In terms of opening matches, the preseason tournament did not go too amazingly for Crystal Palace. In their opening match playing against Ajax in a tournament for a 8M pool prize taking place in Portugal, the sides drew 2-2 which is impressive considering Patrick van Aanholt got himself a red card in around the 50th minute. In their following match, the Eagles lost in heart-breaking fashion to Chievo Verona. Manuel Pucciarelli scored the game-winning goal in the 83rd minute as Palace were shutout 0-1. To make matters worse, Ajax was victorious over Spartak Moscow which meant the points were separated 6, 4, 1, and 0 leaving Crystal Palace in 3rd place needing a win plus some help. Against Spartak Moscow, the club achieved their first victory under LeClair defeating the Russian side 2-1 courtesy of a key 87th minute rebond goal by Sørloth! Still, the win was difficult to get excited about since Zaha missed numerous close chances and Sørloth himself was shutdown much of the match with many of his shots getting blocked. Andros Townsend was the other one who scored, and a Quincy Promes banger in the 67th minute was the reason it was tied in the first place. Regardless, Ajax beat Chievo Verona 3-1 which meant Crystal Palace were eliminated prematurely. In the knockout stages, both Ajax and Chievo Verona lost to CD Leganes and Galatasaray, and Galatasaray would go on to beat CD Leganes 2-1 to take the prize money!

So while that may not have gone as planned, it's preseason. There would be far more focus on these dealings!

Crystal Palace Early Transfers(Selling):
76 OVR CM James McArthur sold to Leicester City for $7,500,000
74 OVR ST Connor Wickham sold to Leeds United for $7,200,000
74 OVR CB Martin Kelly sold to Fulham for $7,200,000
74 OVR RB Joel Ward sold to West Brom for $5,100,000

You have read correctly... LeClair was not kidding around when he said he would be taking action as soon as he took over. Before signing any players, he had already sold off 4 of the former core at Crystal Palace. His reasoning? He believes that these players simply will not contribute in the long-term. McArthur is 29 years old and would only be taking time away from players such as Milivojevic and Riedewald. Wickham is basically a worse version of a big striker without much pace, and that's redundant with Sørloth and Benteke. Kelly is stuck behind Tomkins and Dann, while Ward is in the final 11 months of his contract and with Timothy Fosu-Mensah on loan here from Manchester United, he's expendable for this season and next year the Eagles can find a replacement. LeClair decided that picking up these funds would be far more beneficial going to the academy and his own players that he's scouting rather than keeping these 27+ year olds on the team to take time away from youth.

So there you have it. That's the big talk surrounding Crystal Palace at the moment, but it isn't all "bad" news. Rumors swirled that Wilfried Zaha was seriously approached by Roma on a 41M+ bid, and LeClair rejected the offer stating quite simply that Zaha was not for sale. This isn't about profit, but rather the direction that LeClair wants the club to go on. Oh and another thing to mention, there have been some minor rumors about players that Crystal Palace are interested in. Yves Bissouma is one of them from LOSC Lille, and the sides agreed on a transfer price but negotiations broke down badly during contracts supposedly. Could be te end of that or not. LeClair was also intrigued by Achraf Hakimi who's a 18-year old fullback currently with Real Madrid who has a boatload of potential, but Palace weren't willing to pay the 10M+ fee required. Finally there are also some minor names such as Peter Etebo and Alvaro Odriozola being thrown around but both those players are on loan and thus cannot be acquired at this current time. Maybe in the future though.

But now it's time for opening matchday! Yup! Can't believe it's here either. Crystal Palace have not made any signings but there are still plenty of players available and given the sizable mediocre depth of the team, the yet to be purchased players shouldn't be hurting too badly. Let's look at the starting lineup for the 2017/2018 Premier League Season. Please though keep in mind this will vary greatly with transfers + injuries + development.

Crystal Palace 2017/2018 Lineup:
Formation: 4-4-2 Flat
ST: 72 OVR Alexander Sørloth
ST: 80 OVR Christian Benteke
LM: 78 OVR Andros Townsend
RM: 82 OVR Wilfried Zaha
CM: 77 OVR Luka Milivojevic
CM: 78 OVR Yohan Cabaye
LB: 74 OVR Patrick van Aaanholt
CB: 81 OVR Mamadou Sakho
CB: 77 OVR James Tomkins
RB: 75 OVR Timothy Fosu-Mensah
GK: 72 OVR Wayne Hennessey

Substitutes: 76 OVR CB Scott Dann, 75 OVR CDM Jaïro Riedewald, 75 OVR CAM Ruben Loftus-Cheek, 73 OVR CM Jason Puncheon, 72 OVR LM Bakary Sako, 70 OVR CAM Lee Chung Yong, 72 OVR GK Julian Speroni

Reserves: 72 OVR LB Jeffrey Schlupp, 71 OVR LB Papa Souare, 71 OVR CM Erdal Rakip, 69 OVR CB Damien Delaney, 69 OVR CM Jordon Mutch, 67 OVR CB Jaroslaw Jach, 59 OVR CM Luke Dreher, 58 OVR CAM Nya Kirby, 56 OVR RM Jason Lokilo, 55 OVR LM Levi Lumeka, 53 OVR GK Dion-Curtis Henry

Opening at home vs Huddersfield! Next recap should involve tons of transfers + matches in August!

02-19-2018, 07:10 PM	#2
Number999 MVP OVR: 0 Join Date: Mar 2013	Re: The Eagles Shall Rise ~ Crystal Palace (FIFA 18 Dynasty) LeClair makes sweeping changes in July/August 2017! It did not take very long for Lucien LeClair to put his stamp on his new tenure as the manager at Crystal Palace. Before the Eagles could even play their opening preseason matchup against Ajax, rumors were already swirling around potential transactions that could be made with him at the helm. One of the most notable rumors was the fact LeClair believed strongly that the talent seen at Crystal Palace in it's youth is far stronger than many believe. He believes Wilfried Zaha can be a cornerstone of the club for the next decade if he so chooses, and the two monster strikers up front in Christian Benteke and Alexander Sørloth could provide a terrorizing threat given their size in the Premier League. He also views Jaïro Riedewald as a key asset that can become the anchor in defense backing up Mamadou Sakho. Whether all of these dreams are mere fantasy or actually plausible will come down to the individuals and LeClair putting them in the best position to succeed. In terms of opening matches, the preseason tournament did not go too amazingly for Crystal Palace. In their opening match playing against Ajax in a tournament for a 8M pool prize taking place in Portugal, the sides drew 2-2 which is impressive considering Patrick van Aanholt got himself a red card in around the 50th minute. In their following match, the Eagles lost in heart-breaking fashion to Chievo Verona. Manuel Pucciarelli scored the game-winning goal in the 83rd minute as Palace were shutout 0-1. To make matters worse, Ajax was victorious over Spartak Moscow which meant the points were separated 6, 4, 1, and 0 leaving Crystal Palace in 3rd place needing a win plus some help. Against Spartak Moscow, the club achieved their first victory under LeClair defeating the Russian side 2-1 courtesy of a key 87th minute rebond goal by Sørloth! Still, the win was difficult to get excited about since Zaha missed numerous close chances and Sørloth himself was shutdown much of the match with many of his shots getting blocked. Andros Townsend was the other one who scored, and a Quincy Promes banger in the 67th minute was the reason it was tied in the first place. Regardless, Ajax beat Chievo Verona 3-1 which meant Crystal Palace were eliminated prematurely. In the knockout stages, both Ajax and Chievo Verona lost to CD Leganes and Galatasaray, and Galatasaray would go on to beat CD Leganes 2-1 to take the prize money! So while that may not have gone as planned, it's preseason. There would be far more focus on these dealings! Crystal Palace Early Transfers(Selling): 76 OVR CM James McArthur sold to Leicester City for $7,500,000 74 OVR ST Connor Wickham sold to Leeds United for $7,200,000 74 OVR CB Martin Kelly sold to Fulham for $7,200,000 74 OVR RB Joel Ward sold to West Brom for $5,100,000 You have read correctly... LeClair was not kidding around when he said he would be taking action as soon as he took over. Before signing any players, he had already sold off 4 of the former core at Crystal Palace. His reasoning? He believes that these players simply will not contribute in the long-term. McArthur is 29 years old and would only be taking time away from players such as Milivojevic and Riedewald. Wickham is basically a worse version of a big striker without much pace, and that's redundant with Sørloth and Benteke. Kelly is stuck behind Tomkins and Dann, while Ward is in the final 11 months of his contract and with Timothy Fosu-Mensah on loan here from Manchester United, he's expendable for this season and next year the Eagles can find a replacement. LeClair decided that picking up these funds would be far more beneficial going to the academy and his own players that he's scouting rather than keeping these 27+ year olds on the team to take time away from youth. So there you have it. That's the big talk surrounding Crystal Palace at the moment, but it isn't all "bad" news. Rumors swirled that Wilfried Zaha was seriously approached by Roma on a 41M+ bid, and LeClair rejected the offer stating quite simply that Zaha was not for sale. This isn't about profit, but rather the direction that LeClair wants the club to go on. Oh and another thing to mention, there have been some minor rumors about players that Crystal Palace are interested in. Yves Bissouma is one of them from LOSC Lille, and the sides agreed on a transfer price but negotiations broke down badly during contracts supposedly. Could be te end of that or not. LeClair was also intrigued by Achraf Hakimi who's a 18-year old fullback currently with Real Madrid who has a boatload of potential, but Palace weren't willing to pay the 10M+ fee required. Finally there are also some minor names such as Peter Etebo and Alvaro Odriozola being thrown around but both those players are on loan and thus cannot be acquired at this current time. Maybe in the future though. But now it's time for opening matchday! Yup! Can't believe it's here either. Crystal Palace have not made any signings but there are still plenty of players available and given the sizable mediocre depth of the team, the yet to be purchased players shouldn't be hurting too badly. Let's look at the starting lineup for the 2017/2018 Premier League Season. Please though keep in mind this will vary greatly with transfers + injuries + development. Crystal Palace 2017/2018 Lineup: Formation: 4-4-2 Flat ST: 72 OVR Alexander Sørloth ST: 80 OVR Christian Benteke LM: 78 OVR Andros Townsend RM: 82 OVR Wilfried Zaha CM: 77 OVR Luka Milivojevic CM: 78 OVR Yohan Cabaye LB: 74 OVR Patrick van Aaanholt CB: 81 OVR Mamadou Sakho CB: 77 OVR James Tomkins RB: 75 OVR Timothy Fosu-Mensah GK: 72 OVR Wayne Hennessey Substitutes: 76 OVR CB Scott Dann, 75 OVR CDM Jaïro Riedewald, 75 OVR CAM Ruben Loftus-Cheek, 73 OVR CM Jason Puncheon, 72 OVR LM Bakary Sako, 70 OVR CAM Lee Chung Yong, 72 OVR GK Julian Speroni Reserves: 72 OVR LB Jeffrey Schlupp, 71 OVR LB Papa Souare, 71 OVR CM Erdal Rakip, 69 OVR CB Damien Delaney, 69 OVR CM Jordon Mutch, 67 OVR CB Jaroslaw Jach, 59 OVR CM Luke Dreher, 58 OVR CAM Nya Kirby, 56 OVR RM Jason Lokilo, 55 OVR LM Levi Lumeka, 53 OVR GK Dion-Curtis Henry Opening at home vs Huddersfield! Next recap should involve tons of transfers + matches in August! __________________ NFL - Miami Dolphins NBA - Miami Heat MLB - Miami Marlins NHL - Florida Panthers Soccer - Real Madrid Crystal Palace ~ FIFA 18 Dynasty! Last edited by Number999; 03-06-2018 at 10:19 AM.