FM19 - Returning Everton to Glory

[Joey Numbaz]

It is always great to receive recognition, but I could not have done it without my players. You know, the ones I bought and brought here.

That's my second in 3 seasons!

[psychonaut]

Shame about the league. Nice cup win, and good luck for the European final.

[Joey Numbaz]

Dang, Wednesday in training, Pietro Pellegri bruised a shin. He's only out for 1-2 days, but that is going to hurt his sharpness. I had him training as a Winger-Attack this week, was hoping it would bump his role familiarity. Bummer.

Also Wednesday, Chelsea end up in the Champions League after all. After a scoreless draw over 120 minutes, outshooting Marseille 20-3, in a match that featured 39 fouls and 9 yellow cards (6 in the first half). Chelsea wins 4-3 on penalties. Marseille were in the Champions League already, so everyone wins I suppose.

Looks like Chelsea might be willing to sell Raphael Verane, who would be great. But it's like £64M-£90M and he's 28. That's too old.

On to the Champions League Final

So Porto is the slight favorite. I guess I can see that. They were 46-5 with 8 draws in all competitions. +48 goal differential in Liga NOS.

But we are no slouches. 40-7 with 10 draws, +41 goal differential in the EPL. We faced much tougher competition.

Fernandinho is going to retire ... but on October 13? What's up with that? He's going to hang around for the first two months of next season then quit? Is that a bug?

The press conference is over and we've moved on to game day. 71 US degrees and sunny in Amsterdam.

[Joey Numbaz]

One nice thing about the Champions League Final - 12 named subs!

Since I only have 21 players (not counting the 3rd goalie) on the senior team, that means two kids get to come up. Unfortunately, most of my best kids are already away for international duty.

Our 23. We are healthy, other than Pellegri experiencing some minor condition/sharpness issues from his bruised shin.

It's game time!

Passionately, I tell them, "Go out there and prove to everyone that you are winners!"

Pickford, Keane, Digne, Tousart, Ajer, Pellegri, and Dolberg seem motivated. Touré listens passionately. Aouar, Tonali, and Richarlison listen keenly. I tell those four I have faith in them, get out there and make a difference. Now everyone seems motivated. The players are looking inspired and ready for the match ahead.

Porto's lineup.

They aren't nearly as fit. Maybe that will come into play late. I forgot to mention, Porto is great on set pieces. Both attacking and defending.

In the tunnel a devious, but respectful reporter asks about it maybe being Fernandinho's last game for Everton. Really? That's what you are worried about? I mean I couldn't speak more highly of the guy, regardless of what happens during the match he's a wonderful player and I'm lucky to have worked with him, but still. Come on dude.

Three minutes into the game Tousart passes to Ajer, playing out from the back. 

Batshuayi presses him, Ajer fumbles it and a clean finish has Porto up 1-0. Really? This is how it's going to be? Ugh.

At 12:14 Touré hits the crossbar with a header off of a great Dolberg wide free kick. We've had the ball 64%. So frustrating.

20 minutes in I demand more. Everyone is focused. Keane so focused he gets a yellow card ... He's told to ease off tackles. Not good. By 29' Aouar is furious, but the rest of the team is fired up, composed, and motivated.

31' Dolberg with a great free kick, Diogo Costa knocks it away, Ajer gets the rebound for a nice chance but it's blocked and cleared way out of bounds.

All four of our 'good' key highlights have started with a Dolberg free kick.

That block leads to a throw in.

Digne hits Dolberg down the sideline with the throw in. A great cross to Pellegri in the box!

What a volley from the Italian wonderkid!

It's in the net, we are all equal in Amsterdam!

Aouar is anxious now. I demand more of everyone.

Disaster nearly strikes at 38' - an errant cross is run down by Porto left winger Noah Okafor, and Pellegri drops back instead of staying with him. Okafor races down the sideline, launches a deep cross for running Batshuayi outside the box and Digne completely misplays the header. A point blank half chance is deflected away by Pickford for a corner. Nice job of Pickford coming out to close down the shot. The corner rebounds a little dangerously, but gets cleared. Whew.

We've hit halftime, 1-1. I think we've played a little better, but they are dangerous and the stats are even. They are fouling more (12-5) maybe they'll get a red card somewhere. Striker Vincent Aboubaker has a yellow for Porto.

This is anyone's game.

Assistant Manager Sidnei Lobo says we should challenge them to prove a point.

I guess he was right. I tell them passionately that it's time for everyone to dig in and give everything you've got left tonight, we deserve to win this match, let's go and do it. Ajer, who has a 6.2 rating due to his mistake is motivated. Aouar gains confidence. Dolberg nods in agreement and ther listen keenly (Tousart passionately). I was expecting a better response.

Keane is told to play it calm and avoid another card. Digne and Tousart (who also has a 6.2 - I guess he and Ajer both got blamed for the mistake) are assertively told I am not happy with their performance today. They are fired up and motivated now. The rest get the you weren't that bad but you can still improve, I have faith in you line. Now everyone is happy and motivated and confident. They are ready to walk through walls!

No subs or tactical changes at halftime.

At 50' I demand more.

At 62' Sérgio Oliveira the MCL gets a yellow card. Our play down the middle right must be working with the STL and MCL both having cards. Everyone on our team is at 80-85%, Oliveira is at 73%, a few others at 78% for Porto. They are tiring more than we are.

Still no second half highlights. We have the only 2 shots of the half.

No highlights at 70' where Felipe the DCL gets a card. Tonali, Pellegri and Touré are too much to handle on the right. I really don't know what I should do to adjust though. We've added 2 more shots. This is nerve-wracking. Stay the course. If this gets to penalties Fernandinho with his 15 penalty attribute will have to be on the field. Same for Juan Hernández. But that's all I really know right now. Ajer is probably going to have to come out. At 77% he's the most tired and his rating is still 6.2.

76'. Still neither team has subbed. This is very unusual for me. Still no 2nd half highlights. No additional shots either.

My first sub. Yerry Mina for Michael Keane. A fresh DC is a good thing I think. Keane is on a yellow too.

85' still no highlights this half. Still 12-7 on shots. Our possession is up to 57%, but we cannot break through. They have not subbed yet.

Ajer is up to 6.4, but is tired. In comes Fernandinho.

89' This is the start of the first highlight of the 2nd half. I am just a little nervous after that 4th minute disaster:

Pickford out to Digne. To Richarlison who dribbles backwards, then across midfield before his out of control dribble is stolen by Oliveira. He passes it back to Danilo Pereira the MCR. Aouar and Richarlison press him. Digne is racing back because Batshuayi is in the channel and Mina is not.

Danilo plays it over to Ristovski, the DR. Richarlison maintains pursuit. Ristovski plays a pass to Otávio, who hits the running Batshuayi, oh crap (to be continued, out of megs ...)

[Joey Numbaz]

This is where we left off. Oh crap!

But Pickford saves the first clear cut chance of the day. Whew.

This is crazy!

The save went out for a corner. Don't forget Porto is really good at corners. There will be at least 2 minutes of added time.

The corner is cleared. We get a counter even. How about that!

Richarlison's initial ball forward is headed away by Ristovski, but not in a good way.

It goes right to Richarlison. And he's on the run. He's cutting inside and dribbling through acres of space!

He crosses it!

Is anyone there?

Yes, Pietro Pellegri is!

I am once again out of megs ...

 

[Joey Numbaz]

It's in the net! It's in the net! At 89:54 it's in the net!

The offsides flag is down. 3 minutes later we are celebrating. Champions League Champions!!! We did it by the skin our arses, with 3 ET wins (including the natural hat trick of away goals, outright win, and penalties!) and a 90' goal in the final but we did it!!

Congratulations lads, I'm happy with your performances out there. Enjoy your success, these are the moments you will remember when you hang up your boots.

The European Golden Boy, Pietro Pellegri with his two goals, just 2 /12 months after his 20th birthday was the man of the match. I guess that bruised shin didn't matter after all!

That's a bug. Or a crappy reporter. We won the Europa League last year. Not the Champions League.

Who is this maroon?

I'm glad to see this is what the press took from the interviews though.

Also funny. Porto coach Sérgio Conceição said we got lucky. I responded he should quit his moaning we were the better team. So he's not my biggest fan right now. C'est the V.

Our record in Finals so far:

2019 Carabou Cup - Win 1-0 v. Arsenal
2019 FA Cup - Win 4-0 v. Bournemouth
2020 Europa League - Win 4-0 v. AC Milan
2021 FA Cup - Win 3-0 v. Watford
2021 Champions League - Win 2-1 v. Porto

5-0 and the only goal we've allowed was that mistake against Porto. This team comes to play in the big games. Outscored opponents 14-1 in the 5 games.

Of course we split two Community Shields and won the Super Cup, but no one cares about those.

 

[Joey Numbaz]

I am untouchable apparently. Time to go negotiate a new contract.

I guess showing the post-game analysis may help someone:

That's a nice passing diagram. It doesn't always look like that. So pretty. The tactic is nominally a W-M, but it really plays like a 1342 with a slight tilt towards the left. The DC is basically a ball playing sweeper. I suppose you could see a 1441 there too, with the left side pushed further up.

And the Champions League Dream Team:

 

[Joey Numbaz]

Well the dust has settled on the season. We have £108.5M in the bank now. Wow! I can spend the entire £73M transfer budget and still have cash on hand.

Transfer revenue retained has been bumped from 30% to 100%. £83.56M in profits over the last year, so we get hit with an £18.25M tax bill.

We picked up a 4-year deal for £133M in sponsorship with a telecommunications company, wow!

Our most popular shirts:

Here's something interesting. We sold out every game. 39,572 per. The board has decided to expand the stadium expansion. Originally we were getting 4,000 new seats for £15M.

Now we are going all the way to 50,000 seats. At a cost of £37,840,800. And we are going to be finished in 5 months! 11/23/2021. Interesting.

[Joey Numbaz]

A final 2020-21 competition summary for the archives:

And the U18s had quite the year too a couple of runner-ups. Lost the UEFA Youth League Final on penalties to Benfica.

[Joey Numbaz]

Boom. Someone has a new top transfer target I think. I mean that's at least the low bar now.

[psychonaut]

Well done on the Champions League win! CWC next

[Joey Numbaz]

On 19/06/2019 at 18:33, psychonaut said:

Well done on the Champions League win! CWC next

Thanks!

Our reputation has skyrocketed! We are now the #3 team in the world (up from #23), behind only Liverpool and Real Madrid. I guess winning the Champions League will do that!

This will help with signings, I shouldn't have to overpay to beat out the big dogs anymore. We are a big dog!

It should also help with keeping our guys.

*****

I was on real life vacation for about a week and a half, but now I am back. We are pushing towards mid-July 2021 and getting ready for friendlies. No tactic change this year, a first! While traveling I've been re-reading the chapter from Inverting the Pyramid on Herbert Chapman's WM, then the follow up chapters on Austria and Hungary. Great reading while playing this tactic.

There have been some comings and goings. Had to deal with some staff changes. It is easy to forget I manage 94 non-players too!

Bernard and Mina are gone. It was a little tough, with Bernard turning down his first transfer offer, but I managed to sell him to Spartak Moscow for £31M up front, £7.25M after he plays 50 games, £3.4M in a July 2022 installment and a July 2023 installment for the same. I'll also get £3.7M if he somehow gets 10 more caps for Brazil. I'm not holding my breath there. I have to pay him £18K per week this year; that's £936K.

Mina went to FC Red Bull Salzburg for a flat £32.5M. Which was a bit of a bummer as he was worth £54M. Oh well.

But that allowed me to bring in Dayot Upamecano, pictured two posts above this one. I really like him. £44M. I was able to defer £10.5M in 3 installments for July 2022, 2023, and 2024. And another £3.5M of it won't be due until he plays 50 league games. So it only cost £30M up front.

I also signed Gil Gabay, an Israeli who turns 19 at the end of August. He's going to be working out as a complete forward at least in the beginning. He's 6'5" which is like 700 meters tall. Jumping reach of 19! Heading of 11 though, he'll need to work on that. He's just a physical monster, who also has 15 decisions, 14 vision, 13 composure, 13 first touch, 15 technique. He could be a superstar.

And he only cost £3.9M!! He's already valued at £15.5M. With the new Brexit rules, I still have room on the 17 foreign players so it's easy for now. I don't have to register U23 players who are homegrown in nation either anymore (used to be U21). In the short-term Brexit is making it easier to sign young foreigners, as long as I pay the £8K per week I can even play them on the senior team.

Alessio Riccardi finally joined. His potential went from 4-5 stars to 2.5-3.5 after signing. Ouch.

He's still a decent player, but without the high potential I'm kind of disappointed. I signed him in the winter, but he didn't join until now. Might have wasted £7.25M.

After the sales of Bernard and Mina, even with buying Upamecano, I still have £85M in the transfer budget, £237K per week of payroll room, and £100M in the bank now. I think our cash flow issues are over.

Unfortunately Sergej Milinkovic-Savic sold from Barcelona to PSG for £96M before I could get the money together. That's a bummer.

So I don't think I'll be adding any other stars, I like all of my players, and we just won the Champions League. I will go hard after wonderkids and buy some more depth.

I really like Ronaldo Vieira from Sampdoria:

He's English. He's very good. He turns 23 in August. He can play anywhere on the field, works hard, makes great decision, etc. He's still got some room to get better. He's relatively cheap, £15.75-£21.5M.

I'm still finishing up the scouting, want to get from 86 -> 100% before I pull the trigger. With Fernandinho retiring in October, I'll need some depth. In my mind, he's already a Toffee.

A bid has already been made for Igor Kasunic, a 17 year old Croatian winger. He's 92 rated by my scouts. "Sign him at any price." Hajduk agreed £4M was enough. Only issue is City can match it. But I offered him £8K per week so he can play if I want to get him some time, despite his only asking for £3.5K. The only issue is he can't join until next July.

I also want Romain Leveque, but not 100% sure on him yet. Villarreal were willing to sell him for £6-12M, but now they don't want to sell him. Also, I just signed Gladrow, and Leveque wouldn't be able to join until January. So for now we'll wait.

Here is what the senior squad looks like right now, assuming I add Vieira

One injury so far in what has been a pretty tough boot camp preseason for the first two weeks, the brittle Kasper Dolberg twisted his ankle, which will keep him out for a couple of weeks (4 days so far).

That is not a great resume. I am kind of on the fence with Dolberg. He's good. But he's fragile and worth £57M. If I can sell him for a lot, like say Bayern come and offer me £100M or something - and use the money plus the money in the bank to do something crazy like go get Mbappé I will do it. But that's at least a year away. I'll be surprised if Dolberg plays 10-12 years for us is all I'm saying.

The first friendly is in two days. Let the games, begin!

[Joey Numbaz]

I have been playing this game since FM10 ... and Richarlison just got me my first perfect hat trick, in the preseason opener against AS Sain-Étienne. He scored all three goals in a 15 minute window early in the 2nd half. I don't think I got credit for the achievement since it was a friendly, bummer. A solid 4-0 win where we outshot them 21-5. It's nice to have players already knowing the system for the most part. However the Three Musketeers, my French stars Aouar, Tousart and Upamecano were unavailable due to their leading France to the Confederations Cup final against Spain. They lost 0-0 on penalties, after Mbappé and Lemar missed. They'll be back tomorrow. Upamecano needs to learn the system.

I received offers for Nikola Vlasic, £11.25M from Augsburg and £11M from Brighton. Celtic offered £6.75M first, glad I didn't take that one. He's value at £11.75M. He's a nice player, and did really well at Guimarães last year, 7.34 average rating in 24 games, with 8 assists. But we don't really need him. Those offers give me 30% and 20% on future profit too. We wish him well, and will be really annoyed if he rejects both offers.

I almost forgot earlier too, I signed what I hope will eventually be a star DC. 17 year old Simplice Kiaku, another Frenchman:

He was not cheap. £12.5M for a 17 year old DC is kind of nuts. But this guy looks like the real deal. I've been looking for a good youth DC since I took this team over 3 years ago. He's by far the best I've seen that I've actually had a chance to sign. He played first team football at Auxerre in Ligue 1 last season, 33 games with a 6.83 rating and he was 16 when the season started.

He won't be allowed to join until January 1, looking forward to that day.

Gotta run, but at some point I'll post an update with where the U23 and U18 squads are at. There is a lot of talent at Finch Farm, but here's a glimpse, everyone with at least 4 star potential (including first teamers).

[Joey Numbaz]

You guys might not remember him, but I signed an Italian DL from Chievo, Ivan Michelotti for £2.5M last summer. He even got into one senior game this past season.

But he really hasn't been developing. He's only 20, and I received a few offers for him, so I sold him to Aston Villa. £4M up front, two £525K installments, and another £1.1M if he plays 50 games for the Villans. I also get 40% of any future profit AND if he turns into a star, I can buy him back between July 8, 2022 and July 9, 2024 for £15M. That seems like kind of a no brainer in terms of business. He's at best my #3 DL after Digne and Gladrow.

Always nice that after you sell a player you see his number grade and he's only a 48. I guess I'll pat myself on the back for making a few million on him!

Of course this raises concerns with the media and fanbase. Went with the response, "Nobody likes to see a highly rated prospect leave their club but we have confidence in a number of our young players and with a little patience, maybe they will develop into top footballers."

Trust me fan base. The kid just isn't that good.

[Joey Numbaz]

This is not so good.

The team is not deep. Maybe I am working them too hard this preseason. Last year we had 64% fewer injuries than expected.

I'm giving them the day off before the Mother Noblett's Cup weekend.

[Joey Numbaz]

I know it's only preseason, but this was fun to watch. We invited the City of Liverpool squad for the 3rd annual Mother Noblett's Cup. I like having a local team in it. 18,046 showed up, making it the best attended game in the 3 years of the cup as well.

We drew them for the semi-final, so I played the kids, since the final will be the next day. I'd say it went pretty well:

We won 13-0. Outshot them 55-0. They couldn't even get a single cross off.

I did read somewhere once that if your tactic is good, you should be able to do things like this to very weak teams. So yay us. I'd also add that last year we played FC Metz in the first round of this cup and needed penalties to win.

In the final, which drew 22,338 to Goodison, we played most of the first team squad. Outshot VfL Bochum 35-2, but only scored one goal, yikes. It was a beautiful goal, Tonali was on the right side after a clearance was headed his way. He launched a deep cross to Richarlison running at the left goal post and the Brazilian volleyed it from about 6 yards out, right into the goal. So we dominated against a newly promoted Bundesliga side, but that was a little too close for comfort!

[Joey Numbaz]

As we push to late July, we are getting ready to pay tribute to Seamus Coleman, when we play Blackpool (Sligo Rovers wouldn't make that long of a trip) in a specially arranged testimonial Friday July 23, 2021. The match will be a fitting tribute to an Everton stalwart.

Ex-Everton players Shane Duffy, Idrissa Gueye, Theo Walcott, Cenk Tosun and Gylfi Sigurðsson have agreed to make an appearance at the testimonial.

I absolutely love Coleman, he is my favorite player since Tim Cahill left. In an earlier version of FM, I used a great system that was very wing back reliant and Coleman became the EPL Player of the Year and dedicated the award to me.

So let's all lift a pint of Guinness for Seamus Coleman. His contract is up at the end of the season and he turns 33 in October. Spending £600 of the £115,000,000 we have in the bank, I have sent him on a coaching course, maybe he can join Tim Cahill on the staff at the end of the year. Phil Jagielka used his coaching gig with us to land the Sheffield United job, after all. Coleman might not be ready to retire though. I'd love to see him go play a couple of more year in MLS or something.

It was a fun game, Theo Walcott scored early with an assist from Pellegri. From 37' to 45' I took each of the guests off one at a time so they could get a nice ovation from the crowd.

At 54' Coleman hooked up with Cucho Hernández, getting an assist on a nice header, to make it 2-0.

Remember 18-year old Jayden Hewitt, the free kick (16) monster? He scored another one at 84'.

At 87' I pulled Coleman to a standing ovation from the crowd of 18,019. I mean really, we can't sell the place out for a Seamus Coleman testimonial?

90+1' Davies scores. So a solid 4-0 win, we outshot Blackpool (who are back in League Two) 41-2. We've outshot our opponents 131-4 in the last 3 games. They are bad opponents, but at least we are killing the hell out of them.

*********

Preseason is quickly wrapping up. July 27 we play a friendly at PSG, then August 1 is the Community Shield against Liverpool. The real games start August 7, when Brighton, Hove and Albion all come to Goodison.

Odd to win the title:

[Joey Numbaz]

And Vieira is in.

£20M fee. £3.5M signing bonus. This is a steal, in my not so humble opinion.

He's getting £75K p/w, £95K if he can get 5 international appearances. 5 year deal and we get an optional one year extension.

I am very happy with this deal. My 3rd DC if Upamecano and Keane can't go is Ajer, and that would make the midfield options thin once Fernandinho retires. In October. Which once again is a really dumb time for him to retire. I hadn't mentioned, but he's here long enough now that his Model Citizen personality is "significant" when mentoring. I'd love to convince him to stay for the whole season, but no luck so far.

Also, we have half of the top six Young Player of the Year contenders:

Tonali 7-1
Pellegri 8-1
Upamecano 9-1

Pellegri just won the European Golden Boy and was the star of the Champions League final, so Tonali having better odds than him says a lot.

On to the PSG friendly!

Dolberg is back at training, he ended up out for 3 weeks. He's still only good for 45 minutes. Upamecano is also ready! Not quite fully fit and should be monitored. I'll give him the second half in his native France as well.

2 minutes in, Aouar makes a beautiful sliding tackle on Neymar in the center circle. The ball goes to Vieira and he bombs it deep for Pellegri racing down the wing! Pellegri floats a cross from the byline and Richarlison heads it into the net!

Kind of a great debut for Vieira who signed earlier that day!

Mbappé evened it up with a professional finish at 34' and that was all the scoring. We played well, on the road against possibly the best team on earth.

That's unreal.

[Joey Numbaz]

So my #3 keeper asked for a transfer, because he never plays. Francisco Bardi has been a good servant of the club. I agreed to sell him, accepted two £1M offers.

What happens the next day?

Yeah they both got hurt. This wasn't even a day where we did keeper training.

They are both out for 1-3 days. Pickford a groin, Cillessen a calf. I know which one I'd pick out of those injuries.

But yeah, I need to find a new #3 keeper.

[Joey Numbaz]

The Community Shield was fun. Game ended 2-2, and we lost on penalties 3-0 - all three of our attempts were saved by Allison. Dayot Upamecano was given a "rousing ovation by the supporters". I am a little concerned that he was "anxious" for a lot of the time he was in (he played the 2nd half, he's still not fully recovered from his injury). That being said he reacted well when I said his performance was disappointing, so that was good. Another trophy would have been nice, but c'est the v.

The goals were fun. Richarlison got on the end of another deep right to far post cross. Dolberg took advantage of a mix up between Alexander-Arnold and Allison on a deep clearance from our keeper. Lemar scored on a free-kick and a counter where Liverpool had the numbers. We outplayed them and lost the coin flip. Glad it was in a game that doesn't matter.

 

[Joey Numbaz]

The 2021-22 season begins!

Lucas Tousart has taken over the captaincy from Seamus Coleman. Since we signed Almamy Touré, Coleman and Touré have essential split time. I just played whoever was in better condition each game. But now, Touré is noticeably better than the aging Coleman. I want my captain on the field most of the time. Tousart is 17 leadership and 18 teamwork. Resolute personality and he plays nearly every minute of every game. He's the one. Ajer (16/16) remains the vice-captain.

Those are some pretty heavy expectations, in terms of the Champions League and FA Cup. Tournaments can be hit and miss. The Premier League expectations are entirely reasonable.

We open up with Brighton - recently sold Nikola Vlasic makes his homecoming.

Are Liverpool still good? They did this in a 2-0 win v. Spurs at Anfield:

United and City were also very impressive in victories opening weekend.

We completely dominated Brighton in the opener. They played a 4-1-4-1, and we tough to break down, but we managed to outshoot them 21-2 and two of them went in. Both longish shots, one from Houssem Aouar and the other from Sandro Tonali. 65% possession too. Not a single shot on target for Brighton.

Unfortunately, disaster struck in the 72nd minute, when Tonali went down after a hard tackle. He's going to be out 3-4 weeks with strained ankle ligaments. The midfield depth is going to be tested early. We have a very easy early schedule which will help here at least.

[Joey Numbaz]

Barcelona just offered me £69M + 30% of future profit for Tonali. We paid £7.75M for him 2 years ago, not too shabby.

Thanks but no thanks, we are keeping him. But, he wants a new contract. His existing contract doesn't expire for 4 years. He wants a bump from £62K p/w to £170K p/w. That's a bit much.

He'll take £145K p/w and £4.3M bonus as opposed to £170K/£5.25M. That's not too bad. He's worth it.

 

[Joey Numbaz]

Just awful, midweek game #2 at Crystal Palace. Outshot them 29-3, with 13 on target, 67% possession, but ended up with a scoreless draw. I may need to tweak the tactic to draw out some of these teams that are parking the bus on us. Or just stay the course and realize that we are also incredibly tough to score on right now. But dropping points to a team that just won promotion, even away just kills me. Those two points will be huge at the end of the season.