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

Number999 · 02-19-2018, 09:22 PM

Eagles sputter to slow start in Premier League 17/18

Rome wasn't built in a day... and Lucien LeClair along with fans of Crystal Palace are learning that quickly.

(Match #1 of PL) vs Huddersfield: The minty new sense of a new season was in the air! Finally it had come after so many months away, and it was now time to kick-off the new Premier League season.... AAAAAND before you know it Tom Ince is through our entire defense and scores the first goal in the 1st minute of the season for Huddersfield! Simply.... pathetic. Do you want to talk about stupidity. Oh yeah we do, because freaking Alexander Sølorth got a bloody red card in the 23rd minute. The hell are you doing out there mate? After an equalizer by us, Alex Pritchard scored in the 73rd minute for them as it was looking to be impossible for a 10-man Eagles squad to hold on, and yet before you knew it the hero Wilfried Zaha came swooping in and with a beautiful strike, tied it back up at 2-2 in the 77th minute! Wayne Hennessey and the rest of the Palace defense would hold on to seal a 2-2 draw in the opener. 1 point in the season, considering you were at home vs a weaker side it isn't great but given the 10-men factor, not awful job lads.

Clearly knowing he'll need to make improvements to this squad, Lucien LeClair went right back to the drawing board with LOSC Lille to try and hammer out another deal after contract negotiations fell through with center midfielder Yves Bissouma. The 21-year old was insulted by their previous negotiations, and yet was willing to give it another go after Crystal Palace and LOSC Lille agreed to a $6,400,000 transfer fee. With re-newed focus, Bissouma had his agent land him a 35k per week wage along with a hefty $500,000 signing bonus. With the need to make acquisitions, LeClair agreed and the first signing in this new era was achieved! Bissouma provides a nice variety with his ability to dribble the ball but is overall an extremely well-rounded player despite his lack of shooting. He will rotate starting alongside the likes of Yohan Cabaye and Luka Milivojevic. Overall, damn good to see a deal get done for all sides.

(Match #2 of PL) @ Liverpool(PLAYED 1 of 2): This freaking game... Crystal Palace were assualting Liverpool head-on at Anfield. It was a bit of a new lineup, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek being the complimentary striker to Benteke since Sølorth had to sit with his red card. Bissouma got the start in midfield ahead of Cabaye, and some other names such as Riedewald and Schlupp also were in the starting 11. Right away you could sense Crystal Palace zeroing in, and their physicality compared to that of Liverpool was immense. They were deadly on corners, and it required elite saves by Loris Karius to prevent The Reds from conceding. But then a turning moment in the match happened. In the 48th minute, Christian Benteke was fed a pass and was through on goal against Karius... and he pushed his shot WIDE LEFT! Embarassing. From there, Liverpool were the beneficiaries of a humiliating mistake by Mamadou Sakho. Attempting to pass the ball to Schlupp, he was intercepted by Mohamed Salah who slotted the ball away to put Liverpool up 1-0. Those mistakes will kill you. The Eagles spent the rest of the match chasing, and were never able to catch back up. Bakary Sako hit a banger off the post in the 76th minute, and from there Liverpool and Roberto Firmino scored in the 87th to effectively put the match to bed. Milivojevic scored in the 90th off of a pass by Cheek but it was too late, Liverpool had won 2-1. Just 1 point through 2 matches, considering that Palace realistically outplayed Liverpool today is just downright brutal.

(Round 2 of Carabao Cup) vs Leicester City: This match was in the Carabao Cup. LeClair decided to trot out a fairly strong lineup, given the fact he was able to rest a fair amount against Liverpool with many youngsters playing. Wilfried Zaha scored in the 16th minute, but then Jamie Vardy tied it back up in the 53rd! As a substitution for Christian Benteke, Andros Townsend came on and provided an instant jolt taking the lead right back to put Crystal Palace up 2-1!... and then antics struck again. Mamadou Sakho with a downright idiotic challenge on Vardy led to him getting sent off with a red in the 68th minute. Palace would have to clench their asses for the remaining 25+ minutes or so, but they would hold on to takedown Leicester in a 2-1 victory. Sakho, you're not making a good first impression.

(Match #3 of PL) vs Swansea City(PLAYED 2 of 2): This is the classic case of a team as of right now getting unfortunate with the current tide of things. Crystal Palace managed to hit the post 3 times against Swansea, 2 of them being from Benteke who is having a rough start to the season with just 1 goal and 0 assists through his first 7 appearances. On the defensive side of things, Swansea City had one decent chance all afternoon and it came with Leroy Fer splitting the defense, getting through on goal, and sending a finesse shot wide of the net clanking off the outside barrier. Lukas Fabianski was absolutely brilliant for the Welsh side, with him making 3 distinct key saves late in the 73rd, 83rd, and 85th minutes respectively. It didn't matter if it was Sølorth or Zaha or Townsend, nothing got past Fabianski today. The match ended with a 15 shots to 4 shots disparity. The lone bright spot? Yves Bissouma was nothing short of sensational. He caused chaos all throughout the pitch and Swansea City's midfield in the likes of Leon Britton looked completely out-classed. Could Crystal Palace have found their own version of a bigger N'Golo Kante? That may be jumping the gun too early, especially after a 0-0 draw, but he looked fantastic and earned himself a 8.4 rating(highest of all players) because of it.

Those were all of the matches in August. In the Premier League, 2 draws at home and a loss away at Liverpool isn't an ideal start, but the good sign is that The Eagles are in-fact playing well, it's not like they're getting totally out-classed. Still, Lucien LeClair clearly saw the need to make some improvements to the roster depth-wise, and he noticed those glaring weaknesses right away. His first order of business was finding a young goalie who could compete and perhaps replace Wayne Hennessey come January. After scouring various countries and leagues, he stumbled upon Axel Werner, a 21-year old Argentine who is currently in the depths to Atletico Madrid. Upon liking his 6'4" frame and the fact he was under-utilized, LeClair pursued him and got him at a cheap $1,800,000 price with no sell-on clause. Contract negotiations were swift expecting sporadic playing time along with 19k wages, and whaddya know, Werner is the new keeper who will be competing with Hennessey all throughout the rest of this season in all likelihood.

Now that a goal keeper had been addressed, LeClair saw another glaring need in the fact that Crystal Palace did not have any legitimate depth up top for it's attackers. Bakary Sako was honestly the only one and he was an older left midfielder who doesn't really take over games with his speed. Thus, LeClair went to work and hammered out three different deals. The first was for Sada Thioub, a 22-year old outside midfielder who plays for Nimes Olympique. Is he a great player? No, but he's supposed to provide pace and be a different body in case of injury to Townsend or Zaha, and he fits that role beautifully. He only cost $500,000 on a transfer and his wages are under 4k a week. The next more impactful signing was that of Ben Brereton, an 18-year old from Nottingham Forest. The 6'1" Englishman isn't the most fine-tuned technically but he brings rapid pace at his striker spot and will provide a nice counter to Sølorth and Benteke's more menacing size and physical abilities. Bought him for $2,000,000 with a 5% sell-on clause as well as 22.5k per week wages. Finally, you had the biggest signing. Crystal Palace paid $4,500,000 to ESTAC Troyes for this man, and his name is Samuel Grandsir. A 21-year old right midfielder, Grandsir is a raw athletic dribbler who is an underrated player with potential to super-cede Andros Townsend should he perform well. LeClair had connections with Troyes and was able to make the deal happen on deadline day, paying him 24k a week in wages. Keep an eye on him, since you may be seeing plenty of late minute goals for him as he can change the tide of a match.

So that's all of Crystal Palace's work done... let's look at the biggest Summer Transfers before moving on!

Biggest Summer Transfers of 2017/2018:
84 OVR LM Thomas Lemar | AS Monaco ------------> FC Barcelona for $75,200,000
87 OVR CB Jerome Boateng | Bayern Munich --------> Juventus for $60,700,000
85 OVR LM Marco Reus | Borussia Dortmund ---> Arsenal for $55,900,000
83 OVR RM Quincy Promes | Spartak Moscow ------> FC Barcelona for $40,200,000
87 OVR RM Arjen Robben | Bayern Munich --------> Atletico Madrid for $39,300,000

Analysis: Those are some enormous deals! FC Barcelona decided to go all out with the spending they got on that Neymar deal it appears. Though it seems their attacking is going to get crowded considering they have Messi, Suarez, and Dembele all still there. Perhaps that means one of them could be on the way out? Bayern Munich deciding to sell two mammoth players was also a bit of a shock. I also really did not expect a club like Atletico Madrid to be such big buyers but they too were involved here. It'll be interesting to see if Bayern Munich is planning a larger play here. Perhaps they're looking into seeing how their squad fairs and if they need re-enforcements comes January they'll implement them? Regardless, great to see so much action happening. Next article will likely deal with all the happenings in September!

02-19-2018, 09:22 PM	#3
Number999 MVP OVR: 0 Join Date: Mar 2013	Re: The Eagles Shall Rise ~ Crystal Palace (FIFA 18 Dynasty) Eagles sputter to slow start in Premier League 17/18 Rome wasn't built in a day... and Lucien LeClair along with fans of Crystal Palace are learning that quickly. (Match #1 of PL) vs Huddersfield: The minty new sense of a new season was in the air! Finally it had come after so many months away, and it was now time to kick-off the new Premier League season.... AAAAAND before you know it Tom Ince is through our entire defense and scores the first goal in the 1st minute of the season for Huddersfield! Simply.... pathetic. Do you want to talk about stupidity. Oh yeah we do, because freaking Alexander Sølorth got a bloody red card in the 23rd minute. The hell are you doing out there mate? After an equalizer by us, Alex Pritchard scored in the 73rd minute for them as it was looking to be impossible for a 10-man Eagles squad to hold on, and yet before you knew it the hero Wilfried Zaha came swooping in and with a beautiful strike, tied it back up at 2-2 in the 77th minute! Wayne Hennessey and the rest of the Palace defense would hold on to seal a 2-2 draw in the opener. 1 point in the season, considering you were at home vs a weaker side it isn't great but given the 10-men factor, not awful job lads. Clearly knowing he'll need to make improvements to this squad, Lucien LeClair went right back to the drawing board with LOSC Lille to try and hammer out another deal after contract negotiations fell through with center midfielder Yves Bissouma. The 21-year old was insulted by their previous negotiations, and yet was willing to give it another go after Crystal Palace and LOSC Lille agreed to a $6,400,000 transfer fee. With re-newed focus, Bissouma had his agent land him a 35k per week wage along with a hefty $500,000 signing bonus. With the need to make acquisitions, LeClair agreed and the first signing in this new era was achieved! Bissouma provides a nice variety with his ability to dribble the ball but is overall an extremely well-rounded player despite his lack of shooting. He will rotate starting alongside the likes of Yohan Cabaye and Luka Milivojevic. Overall, damn good to see a deal get done for all sides. (Match #2 of PL) @ Liverpool(PLAYED 1 of 2): This freaking game... Crystal Palace were assualting Liverpool head-on at Anfield. It was a bit of a new lineup, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek being the complimentary striker to Benteke since Sølorth had to sit with his red card. Bissouma got the start in midfield ahead of Cabaye, and some other names such as Riedewald and Schlupp also were in the starting 11. Right away you could sense Crystal Palace zeroing in, and their physicality compared to that of Liverpool was immense. They were deadly on corners, and it required elite saves by Loris Karius to prevent The Reds from conceding. But then a turning moment in the match happened. In the 48th minute, Christian Benteke was fed a pass and was through on goal against Karius... and he pushed his shot WIDE LEFT! Embarassing. From there, Liverpool were the beneficiaries of a humiliating mistake by Mamadou Sakho. Attempting to pass the ball to Schlupp, he was intercepted by Mohamed Salah who slotted the ball away to put Liverpool up 1-0. Those mistakes will kill you. The Eagles spent the rest of the match chasing, and were never able to catch back up. Bakary Sako hit a banger off the post in the 76th minute, and from there Liverpool and Roberto Firmino scored in the 87th to effectively put the match to bed. Milivojevic scored in the 90th off of a pass by Cheek but it was too late, Liverpool had won 2-1. Just 1 point through 2 matches, considering that Palace realistically outplayed Liverpool today is just downright brutal. (Round 2 of Carabao Cup) vs Leicester City: This match was in the Carabao Cup. LeClair decided to trot out a fairly strong lineup, given the fact he was able to rest a fair amount against Liverpool with many youngsters playing. Wilfried Zaha scored in the 16th minute, but then Jamie Vardy tied it back up in the 53rd! As a substitution for Christian Benteke, Andros Townsend came on and provided an instant jolt taking the lead right back to put Crystal Palace up 2-1!... and then antics struck again. Mamadou Sakho with a downright idiotic challenge on Vardy led to him getting sent off with a red in the 68th minute. Palace would have to clench their asses for the remaining 25+ minutes or so, but they would hold on to takedown Leicester in a 2-1 victory. Sakho, you're not making a good first impression. (Match #3 of PL) vs Swansea City(PLAYED 2 of 2): This is the classic case of a team as of right now getting unfortunate with the current tide of things. Crystal Palace managed to hit the post 3 times against Swansea, 2 of them being from Benteke who is having a rough start to the season with just 1 goal and 0 assists through his first 7 appearances. On the defensive side of things, Swansea City had one decent chance all afternoon and it came with Leroy Fer splitting the defense, getting through on goal, and sending a finesse shot wide of the net clanking off the outside barrier. Lukas Fabianski was absolutely brilliant for the Welsh side, with him making 3 distinct key saves late in the 73rd, 83rd, and 85th minutes respectively. It didn't matter if it was Sølorth or Zaha or Townsend, nothing got past Fabianski today. The match ended with a 15 shots to 4 shots disparity. The lone bright spot? Yves Bissouma was nothing short of sensational. He caused chaos all throughout the pitch and Swansea City's midfield in the likes of Leon Britton looked completely out-classed. Could Crystal Palace have found their own version of a bigger N'Golo Kante? That may be jumping the gun too early, especially after a 0-0 draw, but he looked fantastic and earned himself a 8.4 rating(highest of all players) because of it. Those were all of the matches in August. In the Premier League, 2 draws at home and a loss away at Liverpool isn't an ideal start, but the good sign is that The Eagles are in-fact playing well, it's not like they're getting totally out-classed. Still, Lucien LeClair clearly saw the need to make some improvements to the roster depth-wise, and he noticed those glaring weaknesses right away. His first order of business was finding a young goalie who could compete and perhaps replace Wayne Hennessey come January. After scouring various countries and leagues, he stumbled upon Axel Werner, a 21-year old Argentine who is currently in the depths to Atletico Madrid. Upon liking his 6'4" frame and the fact he was under-utilized, LeClair pursued him and got him at a cheap $1,800,000 price with no sell-on clause. Contract negotiations were swift expecting sporadic playing time along with 19k wages, and whaddya know, Werner is the new keeper who will be competing with Hennessey all throughout the rest of this season in all likelihood. Now that a goal keeper had been addressed, LeClair saw another glaring need in the fact that Crystal Palace did not have any legitimate depth up top for it's attackers. Bakary Sako was honestly the only one and he was an older left midfielder who doesn't really take over games with his speed. Thus, LeClair went to work and hammered out three different deals. The first was for Sada Thioub, a 22-year old outside midfielder who plays for Nimes Olympique. Is he a great player? No, but he's supposed to provide pace and be a different body in case of injury to Townsend or Zaha, and he fits that role beautifully. He only cost $500,000 on a transfer and his wages are under 4k a week. The next more impactful signing was that of Ben Brereton, an 18-year old from Nottingham Forest. The 6'1" Englishman isn't the most fine-tuned technically but he brings rapid pace at his striker spot and will provide a nice counter to Sølorth and Benteke's more menacing size and physical abilities. Bought him for $2,000,000 with a 5% sell-on clause as well as 22.5k per week wages. Finally, you had the biggest signing. Crystal Palace paid $4,500,000 to ESTAC Troyes for this man, and his name is Samuel Grandsir. A 21-year old right midfielder, Grandsir is a raw athletic dribbler who is an underrated player with potential to super-cede Andros Townsend should he perform well. LeClair had connections with Troyes and was able to make the deal happen on deadline day, paying him 24k a week in wages. Keep an eye on him, since you may be seeing plenty of late minute goals for him as he can change the tide of a match. So that's all of Crystal Palace's work done... let's look at the biggest Summer Transfers before moving on! Biggest Summer Transfers of 2017/2018: 84 OVR LM Thomas Lemar \| AS Monaco ------------> FC Barcelona for $75,200,000 87 OVR CB Jerome Boateng \| Bayern Munich --------> Juventus for $60,700,000 85 OVR LM Marco Reus \| Borussia Dortmund ---> Arsenal for $55,900,000 83 OVR RM Quincy Promes \| Spartak Moscow ------> FC Barcelona for $40,200,000 87 OVR RM Arjen Robben \| Bayern Munich --------> Atletico Madrid for $39,300,000 Analysis: Those are some enormous deals! FC Barcelona decided to go all out with the spending they got on that Neymar deal it appears. Though it seems their attacking is going to get crowded considering they have Messi, Suarez, and Dembele all still there. Perhaps that means one of them could be on the way out? Bayern Munich deciding to sell two mammoth players was also a bit of a shock. I also really did not expect a club like Atletico Madrid to be such big buyers but they too were involved here. It'll be interesting to see if Bayern Munich is planning a larger play here. Perhaps they're looking into seeing how their squad fairs and if they need re-enforcements comes January they'll implement them? Regardless, great to see so much action happening. Next article will likely deal with all the happenings in September! __________________ 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.