abulezz Posted May 8, 2021 Author Share Posted May 8, 2021 Tough group. We faced Roma with relative success last season in the Group Stages, but Bayern Munich put a real hurting to us in our first CL campaign a few years back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 9, 2021 Author Share Posted May 9, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 10, 2021 Author Share Posted May 10, 2021 YOUTH INTAKE 2046 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 10, 2021 Author Share Posted May 10, 2021 (edited) CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2046 - Quarter-Finals Having been knocked out in the Group Stages by Roma and Bayern Munich, this was the first Champions League Sophara United had qualified for that did not end in the Knockout Stages. While Bayern Munich got a good draw against Hajduk Split and made the most of it, Roma was not so lucky as they were knocked out in the Second Round by juggernauts and defending La Liga champions Real Madrid. The defending Champions League champions Leipzig were knocked out by Serie A team AC Milan, who are looking to get back into the Semi-Finals like 2 seasons ago. They are going to meet Eredivisie champions Ajax Amsterdam in the Quarter-Finals, while Real Madrid are going to face off against Benfica, who caused a huge shock by beating Paris Saint-Germain 5-0 on aggregate. Bayern Munich will be involved in the tie of the round as they line up against 2044 CL title winners Manchester United, while both Barcelona - who beat Arsenal in a big Second Round matchup - and Atletico Madrid - who dominated French side Lorient 8-1 across both ties - will meet in an all-Spanish Quarter-Finals matchup. For the first time in a number of years, the Premier League is being represented by only one team in the Quarter-Finals. Edited May 10, 2021 by abulezz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 11, 2021 Author Share Posted May 11, 2021 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2046 - Semi-Finals For the first time in 25 years (since this save started), there will be no Premier League representative in the Semi-Finals as Bayern Munich defeated the last standing English team in Manchester United, the same team they fell to during their last trip to the CL Semi-Finals in 2042/43. The 2040 CL champions will face off against the most successful team in the history of the competition in Real Madrid, who defeated surprising Benfica to set up the showdown between themselves and between the 4-time defending Bundesliga champions. Atletico Madrid is the only repeat Semi-Finalists after defeating fellow La Liga team Barcelona, making it their 3rd Semi-Finals in a row but they have yet to make it to the Finals during that run. They will face off against an aspirational AC Milan team that has eyes on winning its first CL title since 2007. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 12, 2021 Author Share Posted May 12, 2021 SOPHARA UNITED SEASON REVIEW 2045/2046 TEAM REVIEW This was an inconsistent and frustrating season for Sophara United despite qualifying to their 5th consecutive Champions League tournament next year. To point out the obvious, the defense took a significant step back in the wrong direction this season, finishing as the worst defensive team in the Premier League despite their Top Four finish. For the first time since getting promoted to the PL, however, the club found itself in a lesser place than the previous season as it dropped from 3rd Place in 2044/45 to 4th Place. The reason for their continued success again lay with the offense – in fact, both Niall Bayliss and Ben Gibson recorded 27 Goals, with the PL’s Top Goalscorer award going to the former as he had played less games than the England superstar. The 72 Goals Conceded a big drop from last season’s 58 Goals Conceded – it looked like the team was starting to figure it out last season defensively, but Hastings move to the midfield apparently left a much bigger void at the back than expected. The team’s offense improved from 86 Goals Scored last season to 100 Goals Scored this year – not their best ever, but good enough to finish as the league’s most potent offensive force. The star of the squad this season, however, was Welsh international GK Chris Davies, who won the 2046 PL Footballer of the Year, the Players’ Player of the Year, and PL Young Player of the Year awards despite sitting behind the leakiest defense in the league. Gibson won the Europa League Top Goalscorer award after scoring 8 Goals in 6 Appearances – after failing to qualify out of the Champions League Group Stages, Sophara United defeated Czech champions Jablonec and Ukrainian champion Obolon Kyiv before falling to PSV in the Quarter-Finals. The club sold two players this season – Xavier Maddison, star prospect of the ’38 Youth Class along with Eoin Hastings, was let go for £3M to German side VFL Bochum, and young midfielder Gareth Ryder was sold to Blackburn for £87K. Maddison in particular has had a disappointing career thus far, failing to live up to heavy expectations coming out of the Sophara Youth Academy before the manager finally gave up on him in order to open up playing time for other prospects. The board approved new investments in the club’s Training Facilities at the end of the season to the tune of £2.45M, with the completion date scheduled to be around October. The expansion of the Sophara United Stadium will also be done in time of the 2046/47 season, as well, with the expected new attendance figure estimated to be around 51K people. PREMIER LEAGUE REVIEW For the first time since 2033, a team other than Arsenal (2nd) won back-to-back titles as Manchester United (1st) continued to their trek to dismantle Arsenal’s all-time great team and put a permanent end to it. It was Man United’s first time winning 2 consecutive titles since they won 3 in a row from 2006 to 2009 as manager Alassane N’Diaye has now led the club to titles in the 2 seasons he has been in charge. Sophara United (4th), whose GK Chris Davies won the Footballer of the Year award and whose striker Niall Bayliss won the Top Goalscorer award, actually dropped one spot with Chelsea (3rd) earning a Champions League spot after climbing up from 6th Place last season. Tottenham (10th) qualified for the Europa League but fell 4 Places from 4th last season, while Aston Villa (8th) missed out on Europe all together after finishing in 5th Place last season. Nottingham Forest (5th) finally forced themselves into a European spot, while Liverpool (6th) improved one spot while claiming a second straight Europa League spot. Grabbing the last spot was Burnley (7th), who made a huge improvement from 17th Place last season under new manager Huseyin Dogan, the 52 year old Dutch national who had previously spent 5 years with Rangers, leading them to 3 Scottish Premier League titles during that stretch. All 3 newly promoted teams were sent back down to the Championship – Watford (18th), Derby (19th), and Leicester (20th) all had a bad time at it this year in the Premier League. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REVIEW After Leipzig became the first team outside of the English Premier League to win the Champions League title in 5 years last season, the PL teams suffered another setback this season as it became the first one in at least 25 years without a PL representative at the Semi-Finals stage. Bayern Munich, who have carried the reputation of being the best team outside of England for the past few years, won their 3rd title in the past 10 years (previously won it in 2038 and 2040) and their 9th title overall, equaling Liverpool for second most behind Real Madrid’s 14 titles. They defeated Atletico Madrid in the Finals in Dortmund after a tense affair was separated by penalties – the Spanish team’s last trip to the Finals was in 2037, where they defeated Arsenal in Kiev, Ukraine. This was Bayern Munich’s 16th Finals appearance and it was Atletico Madrid’s 7th Finals appearance, having won it twice in 2033 and 2037. The Germans prevented an all-Madrid Finals as they defeated now four-time La Liga champions Real Madrid in the Semi-Finals, while Atletico Madrid took a tough win over newly crowned Serie A champion AC Milan. Last year’s champions, Leipzig, fell in the Second Round to Milan, who were one of the most exciting teams in the competition this year after winning Leipzig 4-3 and then defeating Eredivisie champions Ajax Amsterdam 7-3 in the Quarter-Finals before falling to Atletico Madrid. The only team to represent the Premier League at the Quarter-Finals stage was defending PL champions Man United, who fell to the eventual champions Bayern Munich at that stage. Highlight on RYAN DUFFUS (Atletico Madrid): The Jamaican striker has long been one of the top footballers in the world – his lists of accolades can rival anyone. The 2040 World Footballer of the Year and 2042 World Golden Ball and World Player of the Year, Duffus has been at Atletico Madrid for the past 8 years after making the move from Burnley for £89M in 2038. Duffus, who was born in village of Dromilly southeast of Montego Bay in Jamaica, came up through local club Falmouth United’s youth academy before being snapped up by Bristol City in 2030. That same year, he made his debut for Jamaica, becoming their youngest ever player and scorer while helping Bristol City win promotion to the Championship. In the 3 years after that, Duffus would score a total of 65 League Goals before leading his team to the Premier League in 2034, an incredible feat in which he was the catalyst. Burnley bought the striker for £44.5M in 2035, he would spent 3 years with Premier League club before moving to Atletico Madrid for £89M, which is where his career truly took off. His move to Spain in 2038 also coincided with Duffus setting a new record for Jamaica for Most Goals Scored with his 50th Goal at the tender age of 24. Since joining Atletico Madrid, he has won every individual award – both at a domestic and international level – that is available to him, some of them multiple times. He has set countless club and country records, including scoring a club record 37 Goals during the 2044/45 season, following up that feat by scoring 30 Goals this past season. The La Liga and Champions League titles continue to elude him, but the former World Player of the Year has registered at least 10 PoMs in 4 of his last 5 seasons. Now 32 years and starting to approach the tail-end of his career (557 League Games, 330 League Goals, 7.42 AR), he has inspired countless of footballers who are coming up in the next generation as his technique and ability with the ball is second to none. A true legend for his club, his country, and one of the greatest footballers of his generation. GOALKEEPERS This season, Chris Davies (’40 – Wales: 40 Caps) became the 4th Sophara United player and – incredibly – the 3rd Sophara United GK to capture the Premier League Footballer of the Year award. To put that into perspective, before Mark Connor won the award back-to-back in 2036/37 and 2037/38, no GK had ever captured it prior. Since then, Carl Jones and now Davies have added their name to the list – in short, every GK that has ever won the award has been a Sophara United GK. What is more incredible is that he won the award as his club finished as the worst defensive team in the league – just how bad would it have been if Davies wasn’t around? He’s only 21 years old but is already classified as a ‘World-Class GK’ and is considered a star player for Wales, as well. With no prospect worthy of playing time behind him, he played in all 38 Games, registering 1.87 Con/90, 6 Clean Sheets, 7 PoMs, and a team-leading 7.52 AR, the highest of any GK in the league. With a value now north of £50M and subject to bids that have reached £80M, Davies might be the hottest GK commodity in the world right now, something that the club recognizes. They rewarded him last summer with a contract that pays him £240K per week, and with a career that his just getting started, who knows at what level he will be in 10 years. FULLBACKS The defensive line in general was problematic this season but the fullback positions were back to mediocre levels of form that the club had not seen in a number of years. Chris Parry (’39 – Wales: 13 Caps) did not earn a single Cap for Wales this season and his club form was the reason why – in 33 Games, he registered 4 Assists, 3.71 TpG, and 6.79 AR, a very minor improvement over the 6.78 AR he registered last season. His development has stagnated in the last couple of years and he is pretty much the same playerat the age of 23 as he was at the age of 20. A lot of facets of his game need work but the most urgent need is for him to get his defensive abilities and instincts up another level. If he can do that, then he could begin proving himself to be capable of playing at a Premier League level and dishing out good performances while he is at it. Pablo Cobo (’38) had one of his worst seasons as a pro – his 6.71 AR was his lowest mark in 5 years and his second lowest since his sophomore season. The Spanish LB is generally considered the least talented member of Sophara United’s first eleven, a conclusion that the manager has seemed to embrace as he has openly said he will try his options at the position next season. Experts around the league have suggested that the defensive line will remain limited as long as Cobo – whose talents are more suited for the League One – remains a big piece of it. He has a good attitude and has shown commitment in training to improve, but at the age of 24, his capabilities are well-known and he won’t be getting any better from here on out. CENTRAL DEFENDERS Many questions have been asked as to what went wrong with the defensive line this year, and a lot of them point to one thing – moving Eoin Hastings away from the CD position and further up the pitch into a more CM-centric position. This left Wayne Breen (’33 – Ireland: 79 Caps/3 Goals) exposed at the back as he had been playing alongside Hastings for the past few years. Nevertheless, the 28 year old Irish CD performed at about the same level as last season (6.81 AR compared to 6.80 AR this year) as the Vice-Captain of the squad learned to play alongside Wilkins for the full season. Breen is one of the club’s most important players on and off the pitch – although there have been doubts about his ability with the ball at his feet, no one can doubt the positive atmosphere and great leadership that he brings to the locker-room. The team’s most impressive (a very relative term in this circumstance) defensive player this season was young Lionel Wilkins (’42), who was entrusted with the starting CD position alongside Breen after Hastings was shifted to CM. After a disappointing sophomore season, he turned it around and ended this year classified as Sophara United’s latest ‘Wonderkid’ having played in a career-high 30 Games and registered a career-high 6.88 AR. Born in Corby, east of Birmingham and Leicester, Wilkins the prized prospect of the ’42 Youth Class – his 4/5 PA was the highest of any player that is part of that class. He has since shown immense improvement and the latest scouting report on him states that currently a PL-level CD with a high probability of improving substantially in the next few years. In an otherwise turbulent and foggy future around the entire defensive line, Wilkins seems to be the one positive and is in line to be one of the better CDs in the PL going forward if his development keeps pace. The only other relevant CD on the team is young Nikos Dimosthenous (’44), the 17 year old who continues to fascinate both the Sophara United staff and others around the league. He was given ample playing time, appearing in 15 Games (12 Starts), registering 2.20 TpG and 6.67 AR. He wasn’t great and it was obvious he was overwhelmed at times, but he was also played in 3 different positions (LB, CD, CM) showcasing his versatility, a trait that is much sought after by his manager. His dedication in training and his desire to improve has also been well documented, with many experts claiming he has a ceiling of world-class potential in him. CENTRAL/ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS For the 2nd consecutive time, Anthony Wise (’43 – Northern Ireland: 21 Caps/7 Goals) won the World NxGn award, becoming the first player since Valter Delgado of Luxembourg did it in 2029 and 2030. He also again bettered himself – his 8 Goals, 8 Assists, 1 PoM, and 6.85 AR were all career-highs, doing so in 33 Appearances. He will be 20 in October but has carried the ‘Wonderkid’ tag since he exploded on to the scene as a rookie. He has become Northern Ireland’s darling as most valuable player as his value approaches £40M. He actually started the season as one of the PL’s best players before cooling down and tailing off in the last couple of months. Nevertheless, he is one of the most exciting talents and young players in the league, one with determination to get better. His Passing abilities were one of his weaknesses (3 Points on Vision) coming out of the Sophara United Youth Academy, but he is considered to be one of the better passers in the PL now. His progression from raw talent into star has been phenomenal – he is already a great player as it is, but what is exciting is if his development keeps up at the same pace over the next few years. Sophara United could have a real gem on their hands. Playing behind Wise and in a new role then he has been used to over the past few years, Eoin Hastings (’38 – England: 2 Caps) impressed enough to earn himself his first call-up to the English national team. The 23 year old registered career-highs of 4 Goals and 4.10 TpG to go along with 6.87 AR in 32 Appearances. It appears that the manager has selected Hastings as the successor to Arinze Mbah in that all-important defensive CM position that he calls the cog of the lineup. He also showed tremendous growth over the past year in his abilities, figuring things out that have turned him into a much better footballer. In fact, Ben Gibson and Hastings were the only players to be called up to England’s World Cup squad at Japan 2046, highlighting his growing importance and influence for both club and country. It was unclear when he first came out of the Youth Academy where he would fit, but he has done a wonderful job of accepting every challenge his manager has thrown at him and made it work. Hastings has replaced 33 year old Nigeria and Sophara United legend Arinze Mbah (’28 – Nigeria: 95 Caps/5 Goals) in the starting lineup this season, although Mbah still played in 26 Games (11 Starts), registering 5.91 TpG and 6.74 AR. The ultimate team player, Mbah is approaching 550 Leagues Games (currently at 543) and 19 seasons with the club, both numbers he should take care of next season. The manager said he will remain active in the rotation but it looks like his international career might be done. His legacy with the Nigerian team will be 2 African Nations Cup Finals, although he never got to taste victory as both appearances ended up being losses. The other CM off the bench is 18 year old Chavez Straker (’44), who like his teammate Dimonthenous continues to intrigue people as they try to get a reading on his potential. The England U20 international has been dubbed potentially the ‘Next Paul Gascoigne’ – high praise for the youngster. He played in 17 Games (1 Start), registering 2.80 TpG, 77% Pass Completion, and 6.64 AR, a big improvement over the 6.47 AR he registered during his rookie year. WINGERS For most of the season, it seemed like Tyler Craig (’36 – England: 30 Caps/10 Goals) was going to have a career season, but two injuries in March made the last 2 months of the season miserable for him. Nonetheless, he still delivered a good one – in 30 Appearances, he registered a career-high 14 Goals, 12 Assists, 2 PoMs, and 7.11 AR, a nice improvement over the 6.97 AR from last season. He was overlooked and not selected to the England World Cup squad which upset him greatly but the 25 year old has attracted interest this summer from the likes of Real Madrid and Dortmund. What he will not be devastated about is his new contract which he signed at the end of the season, one that will pay him £300K per week for the next 5 years. He has surpassed 100 Assists for his career (102), and he is also approaching 100 League Goals (84) – he has now played in 329 League Games for the club. The 30 Games he played in this season was his lowest amount since the 2042/43 season and the 2nd lowest in the past 8 years, but there should be no lingering effects and he should be ready to go at the start of next season. Long-time Real Madrid target Kurtis Thompson (’35 – Wales: 59 Caps/33 Goals) had a bit of a down season, predictably mostly because injuries chipped away at his season. This was actually the first season in the six that he failed to register at least 7.00 AR – his 6.93 AR was actually lowest he had recorded in 8 seasons. He played in 28 Games, registering 7 Goals, 10 Assists (his 5th consecutive season of at least 10 Assists), and 0.83 DpG, relatively low for a winger who has full freedom to operate as he wishes down the left flank. He is, without a doubt, deserving of his ‘Elite Winger’ moniker and is Wales’ most valuable player, but as he starts heading into his late 20s (he is 27 now) and his physical traits start to inevitably diminish, it has yet to be seen how he will adjust his game to continue to stay relevant. An essential part of the First Golden Generation (Thompson, Craig, Gibson, Christie, Mbah, Bayliss, Breen, and Jones), there is always this nagging feeling that if he had not been so injury-prone throughout his career, he might have had the talent to become the world’s best left winger at one point. Backing up Craig down the right wing continues to be impact sub Tosin Okoye (’36), who had another strong season playing in 31 Games (8 Starts) while registering 3 Goals, 5 Assists, and 6.87 AR. He improved from last season (6.79 AR), and the 26 year old recently stated how he loved being at the club despite not playing as a starter. Regardless, he gets plenty of playing time and the manager has a lot of trust in him as he is known to be brought on when the team wants to amp up the pressure on the opposing defense. Backing up Thompson and earning a good amount of playing time this season is young prospect Hugo Good (’44), who played in 22 Games (15 Starts) during his second season with the club. The 17 year old winger/striker impressed, registering 2 Goals, 7 Assists, 83% Pass Completion, and 6.87 AR, up from 6.80 AR last season. The debate about whether he has the speed to play down the wing or whether he is more suited to play up front is irrelevant right now as he has backed up both positions and done so well. The hype around him when he came out of the Sophara United Youth Academy was loud and although Wise has overtaken him as the most exciting young prospect on the team, Good has the potential to really shine and become a world-class player if he develops right. FORWARDS This was the first season in his career that Ben Gibson (’34 – England: 86 Caps/71 Goals) played in all 38 Games and it was also the 2nd season out of the last 8 that he failed to score at least 30 Goals. His 27 Goals were good enough for 2nd in the PL (his teammate took the Top Goalscorer award), and he complimented it with 11 Assists (his 3rd straight season with at least 10 Assists), 4 PoMs, and 7.27 AR, a noticeable drop from 7.47 AR last season. Just 4 Goals away from scoring 300 League Goals in his career, the England megastar completed his 12th season with the club and will be one of two players representing England (and Sophara United) at the upcoming World Cup in Japan. Undisputedly the most talented player the Sophara United Youth Academy has ever graduated, he came in 3rd Place in the World Footballer of the Year award for 2045 but won the Europa League Golden Boot and was named in the Europa League Squad of the Season this year. Named the Best Player in Europe for the 3rd time in 4 years, he also won the Goal 50 award for the 2nd time in his career, adding to the long list of individual accolades he has accumulated over the years. One of the world’s highest valued players at £80M, he is also one of the top goalscorers of his generation as he enters the prime of his career. Niall Bayliss (’37 – England: 2 Caps) won the 2046 PL Top Goalscorer award despite scoring the same amount as Gibson (27 Goals) but given he had played a few games less (35 Games), he won it on that basis. The 25 year old striker also earned his first Cap for England this season, although he was not called up to the World Cup squad despite being one of the most prolific strikers in the PL this decade. He was named in the Premier League Select for the 2nd time in his career, having also registered a career-high 12 Assists, 7 PoMs, and 7.19 AR to go along with his league-leading 27 Goals. Having fully replaced Kieran Christie in the starting lineup 3 seasons ago, Bayliss is considered one of the fastest players in the Premier League and has a knack of scoring hat-tricks when he is on during any given match. The youngest member of the First Golden Generation, his contributions over the past few seasons have been vital in Sophara United maintaining their status quo as a Champions League participant. Whether he becomes a regular for England remains to be seen, but one would be hard-pressed to find a more potent striker in front of the goal than Bayliss in the PL these days. Having just turned 30, Kieran Christie (’32) is the squad’s second oldest player and very much a foundational member of the First Golden Generation. His 5 Goals were a record low and his 6.82 AR was the lowest since his rookie season but he still played in 28 Games (6 Starts) as he remained an important part of the rotation up front. No longer in contention to get a call-up to the Scottish national team, it is very likely that Christie spends the last few years of his career with the club as the manager has public stated that he did not want to see the experienced striker be let go. His current contract ends in 2049 and is paying him £165K per week, a just reward for all the spectacular years of service he gave the club in the 2030s and early 2040s. END OF SEASON REVIEW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deez0r Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 Another solid season. Although just 5pts off the top, makes you think that if you managed to concede even 10 goals less what could have been! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 13, 2021 Author Share Posted May 13, 2021 19 hours ago, deez0r said: Another solid season. Although just 5pts off the top, makes you think that if you managed to concede even 10 goals less what could have been! My defense is killing me. I'm trying to make the best out of a bad situation but the talent is just not there. We are soooo leaky. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 13, 2021 Author Share Posted May 13, 2021 JAPAN 2046 – WORLD CUP INTRO/GROUP STAGES After having 8 Sophara United players at Russia 2042, only 2 made the trip to Japan 2046 in Ben Gibson and Eoin Hastings, both with England. This was Gibson’s 3rd World Cup and Hastings first, having earned his first Cap for his nation only a few months ago. England made short work of Group C, defeating the USA and Qatar convincingly to take maximum points. Gibson was the star for his nation through the Group Stages, scoring 3 Goals in 2 Appearances and registering 8.20 AR. Hastings, however, failed to make an appearance in either game. Elsewhere in the Group Stages, Sweden marked their stamp on the tournament in their first match by defeating favorites to win it all Brazil 6-2. The high-scoring trend was evident throughout the Group Stages, especially against El Salvador, who fell to Argentina 8-0 and Croatia an incredible 12-0. The defending champions Portugal also took maximum points from their Group N against Syria and Morocco. SECOND ROUND France, who were one of the pre-tournament favorites, continued their hot scoring ways as the defeated the USA with a strong 4-1 win – this was their first goal conceded and going into the Third Round, they had scored 10 Goals from their first 3 matches. Russia righted their ship and re-took the dark horse moniker with a big 4-1 victory over 2040 European Championship winners Greece. Ivory Coast, who lost to eventual champions Portugal in the Quarter-Finals at Russia 2042, continued their impressive tournament thus far with a 2-1 victory over the hosts Japan. England struggled against a strong Algerian side but eventually came out 1-0 victors as they headed to the Third Round with Ben Gibson and Eoin Hastings – the latter making his first World Cup appearance – playing in the match. Italy took a strong 3-1 victory over Scotland, turning things around after falling to Chile in their final game during the Group Stages. As for Chile, they continued to play strong, defensive football that worked, defeating Cameroon 1-0, continuing their streak of not conceding a single goal so far at Japan 2046. They weren’t the only team impressing with their defense, however – Serbia also continued to keep a clean sheet at the tournament with a strong 3-0 win over New Zealand. Ukraine, who were Quarter-Finalists both at Russia 2042 World Cup and Greece 2044 Euros tournament, destroyed Colombia 5-0 as they continued their own trend of winning all their matches thus far. Bouncing back from their humiliating 6-2 loss to Sweden, Brazil had a very strong showing against a tough Croatia side, defeating them 4-0 with 3 of the goals coming in the first half. Sweden, for their part, continued to show they were the real deal after defeating heavily favored Argentina on penalties after the match ended in a 2-2 draw. Germany joined their historical heavyweights partner in getting knocked out after Russia 2042 defeated Finalists Uruguay won in the most dramatic of ways – down 2-0 until the final minute, the South Americans scored 2 extra-time goals to equalize the match and then took the Germans to penalties, where luck shone in their favor. Also going into extra-time was Turkey against Senegal, with the former equalizing the match in dying second of regulation time before scoring 2 extra-time goals on the way to a 3-1 victory. China pulled off a mini-upset as they knocked out Denmark, winning 2-1 despite having a player sent off. In an all-African matchup, Morocco put the hurting on Nigeria, defeating them 4-0, the same result that defending champions Portugal pulled off against South Korea. Despite impressing in the Group Stages, Ghana went limp against a much stronger Spain side, who knocked out the African nation with a strong 4-0 win, going into the Third Round with 12 Goals Scored and 0 Goals Conceded. THIRD ROUND It took everything France had to knock out a strong Russian side, waiting until the 107th minute before the first goal of the match was scored giving France the 1-0 victory. It also took extra-time for the Ivory Coast to book their 2nd straight Quarter-Finals appearance, doing so at the expense of a disappointing English team that started the tournament strong but fizzled out early. Both Gibson and Hastings played in the match, but both were unimpressive as England disappointed a nation. Chile advanced to the Quarter-Finals for the first time since 1962, defeating what had been an impressive Serbian side 2-1 with yet another last minute goal, something that seemed to be happening a lot this tournament. Italy had a tough match-up against a Ukrainian side that believed it was on the path to accomplishing something great, finally winning the match 1-0 despite heavy pressure from their eastern European counterparts. Despite their 6-2 beat down at the hands of Sweden in their first match, Brazil continued their impressive recouperation, defeating Russia 2042 Finalists Uruguay 3-0 in convincing fashion – the record 7 time winners were actually beaten by their South American rivals in Russia 2042 having previously made two consecutive Finals prior, winning South Korea 2034 before falling to Germany at South Africa 2038. Sweden found Turkey difficult to beat, but they pulled it off at the end and kept the cinderella story alive by winning on penalties after a 2-2 draw. Spain made sure that a new champion would be crowned at Japan 2046 by defeating defending champions Portugal 3-1, continuing their streak and winning their 4th straight game at the tournament with the goal conceded being their only one. The final Third Round matchup was between two teams who had never reached the Quarter-Finals stage, and it was Morocco who would experience that sweet taste after knocking out China 2-0 to set up their match with the most decorated team in the history of the World Cup, Brazil. QUARTER-FINALS ITALY vs. IVORY COAST: This is was Ivory Coast’s 2nd consecutive Quarter-Finals appearances having lost to eventual champions Portugal at Russia 2042, while Italy were hoping to repeat last World Cup’s advancement to the Semi-Finals before taking the bronze medal by defeating France. Despite the African nation carrying hopes of an upset going into this match, the Italians proved to me too much in terms of talent and experience, defeating Ivory Coast 5-0 as new Roma signing (he left Man United on Free) Nicolo Farabegoli scored a hat-trick. The 34 year old midfielder brought is goal tally up to 6 so far in the tournament with 7.90 AR, emerging as the Italians best player thus far going into the Semi-Finals. RESULT: Italy 5 – 0 Ivory Coast FRANCE vs. CHILE: One of the favorites of the tournament faced off against Chilean team that was impressing everyone, winning all their matches (including against Italy and Serbia) and conceding just one goal in the process. That winning streak continued in a huge way against France as the South Americans recorded one of the most famous wins in their history, knocking out the much heavily favored French team after keeping yet another clean sheet and winning 1-0. This meant that Chile advanced to the Semi-Finals of the World Cup for the first time since in 1962, where they eventually won the bronze medal after defeating Yugoslavia. RESULT: Chile 1 – 0 France BRAZIL vs. MOROCCO: The most accomplished team in the history of the competition faced off against a first time Quarter-Finalists. The Brazilians had turned things around since their shocking 6-2 defeat in their first game to Sweden, conceding 0 Goals since then, scoring 10 Goals, and convincingly beating good teams such as Croatia and Uruguay. The Moroccans also suffer an embarrassing loss in their first match (4-0 to Portugal), but had also won their next 3 matches, albeit against much less opponents on paper than the Brazilians. A brace from 34 year old Brazil defensive legend and Real Madrid CD Adenilson Rufino (121 Caps/10 Goals) was enough to end the Northern African nation’s dream of making the Semi-Finals despite playing down the wire. RESULT: Brazil 2 – 1 Morocco SWEDEN vs. SPAIN: Spain’s journey at Japan 2046 had been exceptional thus far – the single goal in 4 matches they had conceded was against defending champions Portugal in the Third Round as they knocked them out. The South Africa 2010 winners had now put the embarrassment of the Group Stages exit at Russia 2042 behind them and were looking to advance to their 3rd Semi-Finals in the past 4 World Cups. Sweden rocked the footballing world when they defeated Brazil 6-2 in their first match, setting the tone for the rest of their tournament thus far. They beat both Argentina and Turkey on penalties after 2-2 draws in the previous knockout rounds, and were hoping they would be able to do the job against another heavyweight team. It was not to be, however, as history won out again, albeit it not easily. Spain defeated Sweden 1-0 as Juventus’ 30 year old world-class striker Markel played hero for his nation (as he has done countless times before) and scored the game’s only goal as Spain would advance at the expense of the exciting Swedish team. RESULT: Spain 1 – 0 Sweden SEMI-FINALS & FINALS CHILE vs. BRAZIL: RESULT: The two South American teams would face off against one another as the two European teams would meet in the other Semi-Finals. Chile were hoping to advance to their first ever World Cup Finals while Brazil were looking to advance to their 3rd Finals in 4 tries and add to their record 7 titles. Led by Arsenal legendary attacker Waldemar Leocovick, the Brazilians handed Chile their first defeat of the tournament. The 31 year old scored a brace to solidify his status as his nation’s top player in the tournament heading into the Finals in Tokyo, having scored a team-high 4 Goals in his 6 Appearances to go with his 7.64 AR, also a team-high. RESULT: Brazil 2 – 1 Chile ITALY vs. SPAIN: A rematch of the Euro 2044 Finals in Greece in which Spain defeated Italy was on the cards as the two rivals were both hoping to add on to their World Cup title collection. With two of the stingiest defenses in the tournament thus far (Italy had conceded 2 Goals, Spain only 1 Goal), it is no surprise that the match needed penalties after ending in a 0-0 draw. This time, it was the Italians that won over the Spanish side, taking revenge on the Greece 2044 Finals and making their first appearance in the World Cup Finals since 2026 against their old South American rivals, ready to avenge the USA 1994 loss. RESULT: Italy 0 – 0 Spain (Italy Won on Penalties) BRAZIL vs. ITALY: In the conclusion match of the highly entertaining Japan 2046 World Cup tournament in Tokyo, this was a rematch of the 1994 Finals that ended up going to Brazil after Roberto Baggio shot his penalty high and wide. Despite going up 3-1 in the first half, it was the Italians that took the title after finishing the match 4-3 and winning their 6th title overall – second only to the beaten Finalists’ 7 titles. It was one of the most entertaining Finals matchups in recent memory, with the Italians going full blaze ahead in the 2nd half and netting 3 Goals in the last 45 minutes. Having won 6 of their 7 matches (their only loss came to Chile in the Group Stages), Italy were convincing champions and fully deserved the title. Also fully deserving of his 2046 World Cup Best Player was the 34 year old Roma midfielder Nicolo Fabaregoli, whose 6 Goals, 2 Assists, and 7.70 AR in his 6 Appearances as well as leading his nation to the title as their best player were amongst the best performances at the tournament in recent memory. RESULT: Italy 4 -3 Brazil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 13, 2021 Author Share Posted May 13, 2021 LOOKING BACK - YOUTH CLASS 2031 One of the weakest Intakes that the Sophara United Youth Academy ever graduated, the ’31 Youth Class failed to net out a single player that became a long-time starter for the club. Incidentally, at the time, the ’31 Youth Class had delivered perhaps the most exciting rookie in the club’s history to date with Andre Hayles, a player that took the League One by storm when he scored 18 Goals in his rookie year. He never repeated that feat nor came close to the form he delivered his first season, however, and while he would remain a part of the rotation for the club throughout the 2030s, by the time the club got into the Premier League in 2036, he was no longer a starter. The only other player that earned time in the rotation at Sophara United was Turkish CD Kenan Akbulut, who actually was one of the club’s starters at the CD position during their three years in the Championship. The other star prospect coming out of the Youth Academy was Sammie Godbold, but he failed to make his debut for the club and gave up on football after that. ANDRE HAYLES – PORT VALE ALSO PLAYED FOR: Sophara United, Birmingham, West Bromwich CAREER OVERVIEW One of the most exciting rookies in the history of the club, Andre Hayles looked set to become a star for Sophara United after scoring 18 Goals in 32 Appearances during his first season. He was a starter on both the League One title winning side of 2033 and the Championship title winning side of 2036 which saw them promoted to the Premier League. He would play 5 extra seasons with the club in the PL (he would spend a total of 10 seasons with the club), before finally moving on Free Transfer to Championship club Birmingham in the summer of 2041 after playing only 5 Games during the 2040/41 season. In the 2 years he spent with his second club, he would play decent and would then be sold to West Brom (also in the Championship) for £170K, spending 3 years there but only playing in 28 League Games throughout. Last season, he joined Port Vale in the League Two and would deliver perhaps his finest season since the mid-2030s when he was with Sophara United, playing in 40 Games and registering 7 Goals, 7 Assists, and 6.87 AR. The game is littered with young prospects who were immediately made up to be up and coming stars only to not live up to expectations, but Hayles has gone on to have a long career in football if not a spectacular one. OTHER NOTABLE PLAYERS Kenan Akbulut is the second most note-worthy player from this otherwise weak Intake. Currently playing with Adana in the Turkish Super League, he spent the first 8 seasons of his career with Sophara United, even playing as starter for 3 years during their time in the Championship. He was bought by Besiktas in 2039 for £475K, then shifted around the Turkish league for a few years before finding a home with Adana. Nathan Rodgers spent a couple of his teenage years with the club playing in a total of 50 League Games before moving on to Premier League outfit Nottingham Forest for £4M in 2034, a sum that was widely regarded as a large sum for the player. He didn’t work out with his new club was then sold to Ipswich in the Championship for £400K in 2037 before moving on Free Transfer to Milwall in 2041. He is currently at Coventry after they bought him for £400K in 2043. The other two players to make an appearance for Sophara United from the ’31 Youth Class were Cathel Doherty and Mark Bowers – the former left the club in 2037 and has been at his current club of Crusaders in Northern Ireland for the past 6 years, playing very well for them. The latter made only 10 Appearances for Sophara United over the course of the first 4 years of his career, and since then bounced around the Vanarama National and League Two, League One, and Championship, playing for a total of 9 clubs (including loans) in his 16 years in football. The only other two players still in football from the ’31 Youth Class are Camron Bricknell and Steve Fisher, both players that never made their debut for Sophara United. Bricknell, who plays as CM, is currently teammates with Hayles at Port Vale although he has yet to make his debut for them since joining last year. Prior to that, he spent a few years in Australia with Perth Glory although he didn’t really accomplish much there. Fisher, who is a GK, left the club in 2034, joining Cambridge after one year in 2035 and spending 11 years there as a back-up. He joined Barnsley in the League One on Free Transfer this summer and has 34 League Appearances in his career with all clubs. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 14, 2021 Author Share Posted May 14, 2021 Another tough group - we failed to get out of the Group Stages last year and this one looks similarly challenging. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Wow, good luck with that group! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 14, 2021 Author Share Posted May 14, 2021 1 hour ago, deltablue said: Wow, good luck with that group! We've started off strong - huge 5-1 win at home against PSG and a 4-2 win away in Denmark from our first two. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 14, 2021 Author Share Posted May 14, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 15, 2021 Author Share Posted May 15, 2021 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2047 - Second Round After lighting up the Group Stages, led by Ben Gibson, and topping theirs which included PSG and Milan, Sophara United were rewarded with a tough draw against Bayern Munich - the defending champions. Paris Saint-German against Real Madrid were the biggest name draw matchup along with Juventus vs. Arsenal, although all were known - for now, at least - as fallen giants with the exception of the La Liga champions. The French Ligue 1 champions, Lorient, had yet to make an impression on the CL in the past couple of years and were looking to do so against Roma. Both Hajduk Split and Portuguese Premier League champions Benfica were happy with their draw as one of them were going to advance to the Quarter-Finals stage, an overachievement for both teams. Last season's beaten Finalists Atletico Madrid also had a favorable draw against popular Belgian champions AA Gent, while 2044 winners Manchester United were also pleased with their draw against Eredivisie side PSV. The last matchup of the Second Round was an intriguing one, pitting Barcelona against Shalke 04. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 16, 2021 Author Share Posted May 16, 2021 (edited) CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2047 - Quarter-Finals Bayern Munich continued down the road of their title defense at the expense of youth English Premier League club Sophara United, being the better team over both legs and winning 6-3 overall. They earned a match-up with falling (but not yet down) juggernaut Arsenal, the team that made a record 8 Finals in a row from 2036 to 2043, winning 4 of them. With the Finals being held at the Olimpico Stadium this year, Roma were looking to play in their first ever Finals in front of their home fans. Using that as motivation, they convincingly beat French Ligue 1 champions Lorient, who continue to find advancement past the Second Round impossible. The Italians would not have it easy in the Quarter-Finals, however, as they were drawn up against Barcelona, who easily pushed aside Bundesliga team Shalke 04 in the Second Round. PSV caused the shock of the previous round by knocking out one of the favorites to win it all in PL champions Man United, and were rewarded with a matchup against La Liga champions Real Madrid, who made short work of PSG. Benfica were the victors against Hajduk Split in the neutral's favorite Second Round matchup, setting up a draw against Atletico Madrid, a team who was one of the most experienced CL teams around and who made it look easy against Belgian champions AA Gent. Edited May 16, 2021 by abulezz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 16, 2021 Author Share Posted May 16, 2021 Going down to the wire. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 16, 2021 Author Share Posted May 16, 2021 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2047 - Semi-Finals There would be no back-to-back titles for Bayern Munich as Arsenal, on their quest to recapture their former glory, defeated the Bundesliga champions convincingly 6-2 on aggregate over both ties. That set them up with a Semi-Finals matchup against Barcelona, who ended Roma's dream of playing their first ever Finals in front of their home crowd at the Olimpico Stadium. The La Liga champions Real Madrid made it 2 representatives from Spain in the Semi-Finals as they knocked out PSV, who had defeated Man United in the previous round. That would set up a showdown with Benfica, who defeated Atletico Madrid to make their first Semi-Finals appearance in a very, very long time. Incidentally, this was a rematch of last year's Quarter-Finals match up where Real Madrid took a 3-1 aggregate win over 2 legs against the Portuguese champions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 17, 2021 Author Share Posted May 17, 2021 SOPHARA UNITED SEASON REVIEW 2046/2047 TEAM REVIEW Proving that last season’s defensive woes were merely bump in the road as opposed to a complete diversion of direction, Sophara United improved from worst to 8th best defensive team in the Premier League this season. Improving from 72 Goals Conceded to just 60 Goals Conceded, the defense has begun showing poise and stability in the back that they haven’t shown before. For the first time in Sophara’s history, it can be said that the defense played just as an important role in the club’s success this season as the offense. Speaking of the PL’s best offense, their 108 Goals equaled a club PL record and was led by the play of the wing, namely Tyler Craig and his PL record-tying 21 Assists. Niall Bayliss won the Top Goalscorer award with 33 Goals – this was his 2nd consecutive capture of the award and also the 2nd time in his career he registered a 30+ Goal season. Chris Davies captured his 2nd straight Young Player of the Year award after capturing both that and the Footballer of the Year award last season. The team was locked in a battle all season long at the top, with Man City, Man United, and Liverpool all vying for the title. The club had to settle for 3rd after a tie with Man City during the last Matchday ruled out any chance of winning the title, but they improved one spot to 3rd Place and were only 5 Points off the top. That equaled their record high, set 2 years ago, while also registering a club record high of 76 Points. In the Champions League, Sophara United topped their group – which included PSG, AC Milan, and FC Kobenhavn – only to fall to defending champions Bayern Munich in the 2nd Round. They advanced to the Quarter-Finals of the FA Cup but fell disappointingly at home to West Ham. PREMIER LEAGUE REVIEW The trend in the Premier League continues to change – after 13 years of either Arsenal (8th) or Manchester United (4th) winning the title, Liverpool (1st) took it for their first time since 2026. The last time neither Arsenal nor Man United finished in the Top Two was 2034, the first of Arsenal’s record 5 consecutive titles. Manchester City (2nd) finished Runners-Up, their highest position since 2040 when they finished 2nd to Arsenal. Sophara United (3rd) improved one spot behind the exploits of 2046 and 2047 Top Goalscorer Niall Bayliss, GK Chris Davies (who also won his 2nd consecutive Young Player of the Yeard award), and right-winger Tyler Craig, who equaled the Premier League’s record of 21 Assists in a Season. The 2047 Footballer of the Year, which went to Chris Davies last season, was Man United’s Juan Cardenas, who led the PL with 7.59 AR to go along with 21 Goals, 12 Assists, and 7 PoMs in 32 Appearances. Aston Villa (5th) improved 3 Places and grabbed a Europa League spot, joining Arsenal and West Ham (12th) in the competition. Arsenal’s gall has been foreseen but few thought they would sink to the depths of the mid-table, which is exactly what happened. Chelsea (6th) and Tottenham (7th) finished outside of the Top Five and missed out on Europe all together, with Wolves (9th) and Brighton (10th) rounding up the Top Ten, both of whom improved significantly from last season. Nottingham Forest’s (18th) fall from grace as been staggering, getting relegated just one season after finishing in 5th Place. They were joined by newly promoted – and now heading back down to the Championship – West Brom (19th) and Crystal Palace (20th), with Everton (15th) being the only new promoted team to survive the drop after a one year sabbatical from the PL in the Championship. Highlight on JUAN CARDENAS (Manchester United): The attacking left winger’s 5th season with Manchester United was his best yet – in 32 Appearances, he registered a career-high 21 Goals, 12 Assists, 7 PoMs, and a league-leading 7.59 AR, his highest with the club yet. Despite his team finishing in 4th Place, he was so impressive that he was really the obvious choice for the 2047 PL Footballer of the Year award, receiving it for the first time in his career. Also for the 4th time in his 5 years in England, he was named to the Premier League Select, solidifying himself as possibly the greatest left-winger of the decade in the league. This was the 4th season in a row he captures the Man United Player of the Year, as the 29 year old Spanish winger continued to be one of the greatest coup of all-time for the club, having grabbed him on Free Transfer after he left Atletico Madrid in 2042. Born in Madrid in the Leganes suburb of the city, he was product of the Atletico Madrid Youth Academy and while with the club, he was part of the Spain team that lifted the 2037 U20 World Cup. A European Championship winner (Greece 2044), he is also a 2-time Premier League champion with Man United (2045, ’46) and the 2044 World Golden Ball and World Footballer of the Year recipient. One of the world’s global superstars, the Man United legend has now played in 152 League Games for his club, scoring 69 Goals. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REVIEW It had been 5 years since Arsenal last won the CL title, the last of their 8 consecutive Finals. They made it title number 6 this year, defeating Real Madrid in Rome with a 2-0 victory that ensured their participation next season having finished in 8th Place in the Premier League. Desperately grappling on to avoid the complete collapse of their all-time great 2030s, early 2040s team, their road to the title sent them through a who’s who of giant teams – Juventus in the Second Round, defending champions Bayern Munich in the Quarter-Finals, and Barcelona in the Semi-Finals. Real Madrid, on paper, had an easier time, defeating Paris Saint-German, PSV, and Benfica on the road to Rome. Sophara United’s Ben Gibson hit a remarkable 13 Goals while registering 8.08 AR despite the club exiting out in the Second Round to Bayern Munich, tied for the highest mark (Dan Pugh it while with Man City in 2043/44) since Robert Lewandowski hit 15 for Bayern Munich in 2019/20. The best player throughout the tournament was Real Madrid and Germany legend Samuel Grant, with the 31 year old registering 6 Goals and 7.65 AR in his 13 Games for the only repeat Semi-Finalists from last year. Highlight on SAMUEL GRANT (Real Madrid): When he exploded unto the football scene in the mid-2030s with Hamburger SV – the club he came up through – Grant was considered to potentially be the next big thing in terms of generational talent. Born in Ingham, Australia, a small farming town in the north of the country, he came up through the Hamburger youth system after being scouted and snapped up by the club in 2028. During his time with the German club, he won the European U21 Championship (2035), was appointed Captain of the club at the age of 20, won the Euros on home soil (Germany 2036) while getting crowned the tournament’s Best Player and Top Goalscorer and then went on to win the Olympic Games with Germany the same summer. He was then acquired by Real Madrid in 2037 for £81M, leading Germany to the World Cup title at South Africa 2038 by scoring an incredible 12 Goals in just 6 Appearances. Still only 22, at this point Grant looked like he had the world in the palms of his hands. At Real Madrid, he has become an ‘Icon’, having been part of 5 La Liga title winning teams in the 10 years he has spent in the Spanish capital, playing in 324 League Games thus far and scoring 178 Goals for the club. However, although he was and remains on the world’s greatest stars, he never truly become that 1A Tier star, instead settling for 1B Tier. The way his career started it looked like he would be considered the world’s greatest player for a years to come, and while he remains an unbelievably talented player, it did not happen quite like that. Nevertheless, the 31 year old striker hit a career high this season with 7.93 AR to go along with 19 Goals, 7 Assists, and 10 PoMs in the La Liga and was generally considered the talisman that took Real Madrid to their first Finals since 2029. GOALKEEPERS For the 2nd year in a row, Chris Davies (’40 – Wales: 48 Caps) captured the PL Young Player of the Year award, although the 22 year old failed to recapture the PL Footballer of the Year after losing out to Juan Cardenas of Man United. Also for the 2nd straight season, he played in all 38 Games as he further embraced his new role as Sophara United’s absolute starter at the No.1 position. He was rewarded with a new 5 year contract that will pay him £300K per week at the end of the season as his 7.45 AR was good enough for 2nd in the Premier League. His 1.58 Con/90 was much improved and his 10 Clean Sheets were a career-high as he was given the title ‘World-Class GK’ by the media. At this stage of his career, there are a lot of questions as to whether he belongs with one of the historical giants of club football but signing the new contract will subside those talks for now. There might not be a more in demand young GK in the world today as his value continues to shoot up, reaching £55M over the past year. Talent-wise, he might be the best out of all the great GKs the Sophara Youth Academy has graduated, including Mark Connor and Carl Jones. Given that he has almost 50 Caps for his country already, a number like 150 Caps before his career is over is certainly in the realm of possibility. FULLBACKS At the age of 24, Chris Parry (’39 – Wales: 13 Caps) delivered what was his finest season for Sophara United yet, registering 3.45 TpG, 58 Interceptions, and a career-high 6.88 AR in 35 Appearances. This was his 8th season with the club (he spent his rookie year on loan at Preston) and was a big part of the defensive revival project the club took on this season to help get better at that end of the pitch. Although he hasn’t been called up to the Wales national team over the past year, there have been calls for him to re-enter the lineup after his form improvement with his club. The coaching staff do still believe he can improve for there, especially if he works on his defensive instincts and skills. As for now, he is classified as a ‘Decent PL defender’ who was able to do relatively well this season. His speed helps as he has good pace, but he was able to find a level of consistency that he didn’t have before. One of those player that enjoys the big matches and the pressure, he is a driven individual he is playing a crucial role in the mentoring of several young players. On the opposite side down the left flank, Pablo Cobo (’38) also had a much better season with his 6.87 AR a new career-high and a big jump over the 6.71 AR from last year. The 25 year old Spanish left-back is limited in more ways than one but it also says something that he has been the club’s starter at the position since his rookie season in 2038/39 – he has now played 302 League Games for the club although he has widely been considered by experts as not good enough to be playing in the PL. He performed around average in all key statistical categories for the LB position, with his weak point being his 0.09 DpG while his strength being how well he takes care of the ball when he has it. Technically, he remains very poor but makes up for it with strong defensive skills, which he uses well as he always seems to come up with big and important tackles. He registered 3.14 TpG – 5th best on the team – and also delivered 3 Assists as he looks to build upon this season and improve. Mitch Summerfield (’45) made his debut this season and played in 4 Games backing up Parry at RB, delivering an Assist, 4.49 TpG, and 6.57 AR. Named the potential best player of what appears to be a weak ’45 Youth Class, he still carries the same 3.5/5 PA as he did on the day of his graduation. He is considered a smart player who has a high work rate although he is considered unambitious and not looking to push himself to reach higher levels of football. His progress will be monitored over the course of the next 2 seasons. CENTRAL DEFENDERS The transition from role player to starter is now complete for Lionel Wilkins (’42), who delivered his finest season yet at the age of 21. The powerful CD played in 35 Games, registering 1.77 TpG and a career-high 6.95 AR in his second year as a full-time starter for the club – he now carries 3/5 CA and remains at a 5/5 PA. Although, like almost all other Sophara United CDs, his technique is poor, his defensive skills are getting to an elite level and he has the mentality and will to continue improving. He was amongst the league leaders in Blocked Shots and Clearances, although he performed below average in the air and as a tackler. He signed a new contract that will pay him £52K per week for the next 5 years towards the end of the season and now his value is hovering around the £30M mark. The English U21 international is starting to make some noise around the country about getting a full England call-up. He is one of the most exciting defensive prospects the club has had in a while and his development has been noticed by nearly everyone in the know around the league. His partner and long-time club Vice-Captain remained Wayne Breen (’33 – Ireland: 83 Caps/3 Goals), who is fast becoming a club and country legend. He has now exceeded 400 League Games for the club (403) after playing in 36 Games this season, his most since the 2042/43 season, also registering 3 Assists, 1.37 TpG, and 6.83 AR, his highest in 3 years. Like Wilkins, he was amongst the league leaders in Blocked Shots and Clearances and also like his partner in the defensive line, he remains poor technically. As he approaches 30 years of age (he will turn 30 in July), Breen remains an instrumental member of the team and for his country, as well – he was inducted into Ireland’s Best Eleven Overall this past season, getting named one of their most prominent CDs this century. The only other CD of note remains young Nikos Dimosthenous (’44), despite having a poor season relative the expectations. The 18 year old showed little progress in his abilities despite playing in 18 Games (10 Starts) backing up both the CD and LB positions. He still has a high PA (4.5/5) but he remains a tough player to figure out. If he can continue to show improvement in his abilities – especially his defensive ones – then he has the look of a star, but it is too early to tell. CENTRAL/ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS The ‘Wonderkid’ who has been a starter for the club since his rookie season, Anthony Wise (’43 – Northern Ireland: 28 Caps/ 7 Goals) improved for the 4th consecutive season, again setting a new career-high with 7.05 AR. His 37 Appearances, 12 Goals, and 11 Assists were all also career-highs as he performed above the PL average for all key statistical categories at his position. Amongst the best players in the world with the ball at his feet (20 for Technique), his Passing abilities and football IQ are also of an elite level. He does not carry a glaring weakness and has thrived in his role as a Shadow Striker behind the two forwards. Now 20, Wise was given the NxGn award for 2 consecutive seasons in 2045 and 2046 as his reputation around the continent continued to bolster thanks to his strong performance in the Champions League. He is – so far – everything Jishua Tyrell had the potential but couldn’t be and remains one of the most talked about and analyzed young prospects in the Premier League. Behind him, Eoin Hastings (’38 – England: 10 Caps) has made the Ball-Winning Midfielder position his own, switching from CD to a more natural CM role that has also brought out some positivity in terms of his form. After earning his first England Cap last season, he became one of only 2 players to go to Japan 2046 (the other was Ben Gibson), where England disappointingly crashed out in the Third Round. Still, Hastings has now become a regular for his nation and one of the most important players for his club – in 30 Appearances, he registered 1 Goal, 3 Assists, 5.47 TpG, 86% Pass Completion, and 6.93 AR which was just 0.01 off his career-high. He is now considering a ‘Leading Premier League player’ by the pundits with the 24 year old considered one of the smartest players in the game today. He doesn’t offer much in terms of attacking ability but more than makes up for it in almost every other aspect of the game, earning himself a new contract that will pay him £145K per week for the next 5 years. Club legend Arinze Mbah (’28 – Nigeria: 95 Caps/5 Goals), who is the oldest player to ever play for Sophara at 35, finally saw his playing time start to dwindle as Hastings took over the starting position. From 26 Games last season, he only played in 9 Games (5 Starts) this year, registering 4.96 TpG and 6.66 AR. He crossed the 550 League Games mark for the club (552) and will complete his 20th season next year. He has been an unbelievable servant for the club – and for his home nation of Nigeria – and one of the greatest players in club history. Also backing up both midfield positions was ‘Wonderkid’ Chavez Straker (’44), who played in a career-high 25 Games (4 Starts) while registering 1 Assist and 6.61 AR. His performances on the pitch have not yet shown what many presume his potential to be as he is considered one of the most talented prospects in the Premier League currently. With Mbah shifting towards the end of is career and retirement, this upcoming season could be Straker’s time to shine. WINGERS Tying the Premier League record with 21 Assists, Tyler Craig (’36 – England: 36 Caps/11 Goals) had his finest season to date. In 37 Games, he registered only 4 Goals but his 21 Assists more than made up for it, also recording 2 PoMs, a career-high 7.18 AR, and 78% Pass Completion. He also earned his way back into the England line-up, with the media openly praising the decision and saying he fully deserves his place in the national setup. The Sophara United Assists record was also broken by Tyler, who delivered 26 Total Assists over the course of the season. The 26 year old right winger now has 123 League Assists to his name in 366 League Appearances, and if he keeps it up he will soon belong to the famed 300/100/100 club as he has now also scored 88 League Goals. One of the manager’s favorite players due to his professionalism and versatility, his value has maintained at around £55M over the past couple of years. Well-liked and respected both internally and around the league, he has had only one sub-7.00 AR season over the last 8 years, coming during the 2044/45 campaign when he registered 6.97 AR. While he isn’t known as a great dribbler of the ball, his creativity – especially with his passing – is up there amongst the best. He is a master of delivering a long ball right to the feet of the attacker, building up a sort of long ball-counter attack that has had devastating consequences of opponents with Gibson and Bayliss up front. An essential part of the First Golden Generation, the manager recently stated that he is excited to see where Craig’s career will head over the next few years as he enters his prime. Although he didn’t have an injury-free season (he never does), Kurtis Thompson (’35 – Wales: 67 Caps/36 Goals) his best season since the 2041/42 campaign – in 35 Appearances (he played through most of his injuries), he registered 14 Goals (tying his career-high), 12 Assists, 3 PoMs, and 7.16 AR, his 2nd highest mark of his career. Now 28, the Welsh elite left winger has also surpassed 100 career Assists (106) and is now at 91 League Goals for his career, as well. The combination of Thompson and Craig has been an essential foundation of the success the club has been experiencing over the past few years and is easily the best left winger that has ever played for Sophara United. If he can keep the injuries under control over the next few seasons – something the medical staff have been prioritizing with the coaching staff – he will prove to all why Real Madrid has chased after him for so long, attempting to tantalize Sophara United with offers north of £80M. Craig’s fantastic season meant that Tosin Okoye (’36) had to play a bit of a backseat – he played in 28 Games, but only had a single Start. The 27 year old English/Nigerian right winger continues to play his role to perfection – always ready when called upon and always capable of the incredible. He has had some magical runs down the right flank and has also been called up to back up the left wing at times. Generally the first name off the bench around the 55th-60th minute mark, Okoye recently proclaimed his joy at being part of the setup at Sophara United. He only registered 1 Goal and 3 Assists with 6.78 AR (down from 6.87 AR) this season, but he has a career-average of 6.97 AR over 264 Games. On the other side, the continued emergence and development of hyped prospect Hugo Good (’44) continues to take shape, as the 18 year old registered 6 Goals and 6.96 AR (both career-highs) in 21 Appearances (6 Starts) this year. His speed will never be where it needs to be to be a true top-tier conventional winger, but he might not have to worry about that as it seems the manager has become more inclined to play him up front alongside Gibson or Bayliss. He lacks defensive abilities, but his height (1.88 meters) means he is a strong threat in the air, especially from corner kicks and set pieces. The focus has been on getting him to be quicker and stronger, something which will hopefully start showing dividends next season. FORWARDS For the 2nd consecutive season, Niall Bayliss (’37 – England: 2 Caps) led the Premier League with 33 Goals, winning the Top Goalscorer award for the second time in his career. He also registered 10 Assists, the 3rd straight season where he had at least 10 Assists to his name, and recorded 8 PoMs (2nd highest of his career) and 7.34 AR. Bayliss, while somehow he remains on the fringes of the England national team, has become one of the most feared strikers in the world. The Slough-born 26 year old has had the media trumpeting for his call-up as they have now named him an ‘Elite Striker’ with him surpassing 150 League Goals (151) over the course of his 10 year career. He has built a great repertoire and partnership with Gibson up front and is always up to pleasing the fans with his exhilarating runs and dribbling. The star of the squad, however, remains without a doubt Ben Gibson (’34 – 98 Caps/81 Goals), who not only is the greatest player in Sophara United history but is also England’s most prolific goalscorer of all-time. This was the first time since 2038 in which he failed to score at least 30 Goals in back-to-back seasons, but the 28 year old captured his 6th Sophara United Player of the Year – now second only to Mark Connor’s 9 – and was an absolute beast in the Champions League, winning the competition’s Golden Boot with 13 Goals and being named the CL Forward of the Season for the 3rd time (previously won in 2043 and 2045), equaling Cristiano Ronaldo (2017, ’18, 21) and Arsenal’s Santos (2032, ’33, ’35) record of 3 awards a piece. He was also named in the CL Dream Team for the 3rd and the PL Select for the 5th time while winning his 3rd consecutive Best Player in Europe award, his 4th overall. His numbers this season – 36 Apps, 29 Goals, 10 Assists, 4 PoMs, 7.41 AR – were spectacular again and he has already become known as a ‘Legendary Striker’ who is amongst the world’s most valuable players. The only blemish on his career thus far was his underwhelming performance with England at Japan 2046 – many experts thought that this would be Ben Gibson’s tournament, but although he started strong in the Group Stages he did not contribute much else going forward as England exited the tournament in the Third Round. His dream would be to lead Sophara United to a Premier League and Champions League title before his career is done as he has 4 years remaining on his contract, pretty much summing up the fact that he will probably spend his entire career with the club. Kieran Christie (’32) scored a career-low 4 Goals this season as the 31 year old Scottish striker saw his playing time dwindle further. He played in 18 Games (4 Starts), registering 6.83 AR as his career goals went up 240 in 503 League appearances. Feeling he still has a couple of good years in him, he has requested for the manager let him go so that he can take on a new challenge that will allow him to play more. The manager has declared he will try to find the club legend a new home this summer but what a career Christie has had for the club. A fantastic player in his heyday, the 2036 Championship title should have his name engraved on it as he nearly single-handedly delivered it to the club. END OF SEASON REVIEW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deez0r Posted May 18, 2021 Share Posted May 18, 2021 Another solid season. If you could get a partner to Wilkins then you have a chance! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 19, 2021 Author Share Posted May 19, 2021 LOOKING BACK - YOUTH CLASS 2032 This would have been the weakest Youth Intake since the inception of the club in 2020 had it not been for one name – Kieran Christie. The Scottish striker became a club legend and is credited with carrying Sophara United to the 2036 Championship title and their promotion to the Premier League with one of the most outstanding seasons ever delivered by a player in the Championship league. His legendary status with the club is beyond debate – at a club that has had a number of star strikers (Danny Marriott, Ross McDonald, Niall Bayliss, Ben Gibson), none of them had the effect on a single season that Christie did in 2036. Unfortunately, outside of Christie, the rest of the prospects were disappointments. Initially, the ’32 Youth Class looked to be brimming with potential but players like Jordan O’Hare failed to develop and Stuart Coker – who had Premier League potential and talent at one point – couldn’t focus on football and found himself in trouble off the pitch on more than one occasion. Christie was the obvious gem here, not just in this Intake, but for any Intake in the 2030s. KIERAN CHRISTIE – SOPHARA UNITED ALSO PLAYED FOR: N/A CAREER OVERVIEW There were a couple of strikers that came before Christie that went on to become club legends but none did it for as long or as high a level as him. Danny Marriott was the club’s first fan favorite, scoring an incredible 140 Goals in just 163 Appearances during the club’s first 4 years of existence, including an incredible 49 Games during the 2021/22 season, Sophara United’s first in the Vanarama National. Then came Ross McDonald, who played alongside Christie throughout the early and mid-2030s but whose peak seasons came in the 2020s during the club’s rise through the lower leagues. He scored an 354 Goals in 604 Appearances, including 42 Goals during the 2026/27 season where the club earned its promotion to the League Two and had 5 consecutive seasons of scoring 30+ from 2026/27 to 2030/31 across 3 league tiers. Both were exceptional and both are total club legends, but Christie was a star for the team during their Championship and Premier League years, something neither Marriott nor McDonald can claim. His 2036 season where he led the team to the Championship title and promotion to the Premier League will always be stuff of legend and perhaps the greatest season ever delivered by any Championship player. It was obvious from his rookie season that Christie was going to be special, scoring 13 Goals in 36 Games and helping the team claim the League One title. The 3 years that Christie would spend in the Championship with Sophara United would culminate during the 2035/36 season at the age of 20, where he would introduce himself to the world with possibly the finest season any player had ever turned out in the Championship. Leading the club to the title, he registered an incredible 39 Goals, 16 Assists, 12 PoMs, and 7.43 AR as he won the league’s Top Goalscorer, Footballer of the Year, and Young Player of the Year. He was so impressive that he ended up winning the 2036 World U21 Player of the Year and the 2036 European Golden Boy awards, as well, creating a huge buzz around himself as the team advanced to the Premier League. In his first season in the Premier League, he would come in 3rd in the goalscoring charts after netting 22 Goals and would go on to produce at a similar level throughout the late 2030s. During the 2039/40, however, Christie would face 2 major injuries, first tearing his hamstring and then breaking his foot. This would limit him to 21 Games, scoring only 10 Goals, and it would take him 2 years to truly recover from his devastating injuries. He would get back to 100%, however, and took the Premier League by storm during the 2041/42 season, setting a then-Premier League record of 35 Goals and winning the 2042 PL Top Goalscorer and European Golden Shoe awards. In November of 2042, he would unfortunately reinjure his hamstring and also his knee ligaments, and this time he would not recover fully. Since those injuries, Christie lost a step and with the emergence of Ben Gibson and Niall Bayliss, he found himself relegated to first choice off the bench. He continued to play a big role in the rotation, but the days of Christie being the club’s go-to striker were over. Having played a record-low 18 Games for the club this past season, Christie submitted to his manager a formal request for a transfer in order to continue playing first team football. The manager accepted out of respect for the 31 year old striker, whose status as a legend of the club will never be diminished. From the early 2030s to the early 2040s, Christie was one of the club’s shining stars and proved himself capable of dominating at the highest level of football thanks to his 2041/42 season. While many will debate that Ross McDonald’s influence on the club was larger than Christie’s, the latter did things at a level of football that McDonald could and did not ever accomplish. The general consensus is that Ben Gibson is the club’s greatest ever striker (and player) with Christie being a common choice for 2nd best ahead of McDonald. OTHER NOTABLE PLAYERS Only 3 other players remain in football from the shallow ’32 Youth Class, the most prominent being Jordan O’Hare. He was one of the 3 prospects which had a 4.5/5 PA coming out of the Youth Academy, spending 7 years with Sophara United as a fringe rotational player and making a total of 24 Appearances. He left on Free to Burton in the Vanarama National from the Premier League club in 2039, spending 3 successful years there before being sold to League Two side Cambridge for £145K in 2042. Since then he has also played with Flyde and Linfield before joining Crusaders in Northern Ireland this year. He made an incredible 41 U21 appearances for his country but never earned a full call-up. He now has 317 League Appearances under his belt, but he did not turn out the way many predicted. Timmy O’Sullivan never made an appearance for Sophara United and left the club to join Waterford in the Irish Premier League in 2037, spending 7 years there before joining Cork City in 2044. He is now at Droghada United in the Irish First Division, where he has been a starter over the last 2 years and playing well. The last player still playing football is Barbadian international Bernard Browne (Barbados: 48 Caps/2 Goals), who also never made his debut for Sophara United and has been with a few Vanarama and League Two sides, most recently with Wycombe. He has played 289 League Games over the course of his career so he actually ended up doing pretty well for himself. The only other notable player from the ’32 Youth Class is now retired Stuart Coker, who the 3rd prospect with 4.5/5 PA coming out of the Academy and at one time was touted as a potential Premier League winger. He was part of the rotation at Sophara United for several years in the 2030s, but his off the pitch antics and drama led to his sale to Sunderland for £6.5M in 2041. He played 3 seasons with Sunderland before moving on to Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premier League, retiring last year at the age of 31. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 19, 2021 Author Share Posted May 19, 2021 On 18/05/2021 at 10:33, deez0r said: Another solid season. If you could get a partner to Wilkins then you have a chance! I'd love to get a quality CB to partner Wilkins, who is turning out to be quite good! Breen is approaching 30 and while he has been incredibly loyal and filled a void, we need better to compete at a higher level. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 19, 2021 Author Share Posted May 19, 2021 Not a bad draw, especially concerning we have been successful against PSG recently. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 21, 2021 Author Share Posted May 21, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 21, 2021 Author Share Posted May 21, 2021 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2048 The Group Stages this season featured quite a few tough groups that led to the some big teams surprisingly failing to qualify for the Second Round. The casualties by name were Real Madrid, who came in last in Group G with only 3 Points in a group that featured Leipzig and Man City, and Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich, both casualties of Group C which saw Juventus and Salzburg qualify. Defending champions Arsenal were perhaps the most shocking failure, coming in 3rd behind Barcelona and Porto in Group B, while 2046 champions Liverpool came in last in Group F that saw Benfica and Shakhtar go through. Sophara United, on paper, got a favorable draw having been matched up with Portuguese side FC Porto, and while there were no real heavyweight matchups in the Second Round, Man City vs. Roma and AC Milan vs. Leipzig were both considered big ties. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deez0r Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 A potential centre back 😱 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 21, 2021 Author Share Posted May 21, 2021 4 minutes ago, deez0r said: A potential centre back 😱 Yep! The Intake itself doesn't seem so encouraging (although the preview seems to be wrong a lot of the time), but if we can get a quality CD from it, it would be a success to me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 21, 2021 Author Share Posted May 21, 2021 We got to our first major Finals but Tottenham taught us a lesson in the first half. I was genuinely excited for my players to potentially lift a major trophy, but it was not to be. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 22, 2021 Author Share Posted May 22, 2021 YOUTH INTAKE 2048 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 22, 2021 Author Share Posted May 22, 2021 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2048 - Quarter-Finals With the defending champions Arsenal knocked out in the Group Stages, all 16 competitors in the Second Round were vying to be the team to lift the Champions League trophy come the beginning of summer. Led by the ridiculous 22 year old German striker Dietmar Mayer - who has become the most valued player on the planet - Leipzig, the 2045 winners, defeated Serie A champions AC Milan to set up a tantalizing tie with Manchester City, who confidently disposed of another Serie A opponent in Roma. Portuguese champions Benfica, who were Semi-Finalists last year, obliterated favored Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 over two legs, setting up their own exciting matchup with Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, who won an entertaining tie 6-4 against Austrian side Salzburg. Sophara United made the Quarter-Finals again after defeating Porto 6-3 and were rewarded with a matchup against La Liga heavyweight Barcelona, who defeated Lazio 3-0 and were now looking to make it back to the Semi-Finals for the first time since 2040. Juventus easily cast aside Ukrainian side Shakhtar to set up one for the nostalgic against Man United, the 2044 winners, who on their part defeated Schalke 04. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 22, 2021 Author Share Posted May 22, 2021 (edited) Probably the biggest win in my career thus far this save, and Ben Gibson is an absolute legend. Edited May 22, 2021 by abulezz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 22, 2021 Author Share Posted May 22, 2021 What a start to his career! Not only is he the youngest ever CL scorer, he is also the youngest CL player ever. AND he scored the goal that sent us through (sort of.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 22, 2021 Author Share Posted May 22, 2021 I think we might have a legend in the making - PoM on his debut and the goal that sealed our advancement to our first ever Semi-Finals. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 22, 2021 Author Share Posted May 22, 2021 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2048 - Semi-Finals For the first time in club history, Sophara United advanced to the Semi-Finals of the competition, doing so at the expense of heavily favored Barcelona. Two new records were set - one for Youngest Player ever and one for Youngest Goalscorer ever - as Sophara's fresh Senegalese youth academy graduate Papa Gueye, who had just turned 16 three weeks ago, scored the goal the confirmed the English club's advancement to the next level. There they will face Premier League rivals - and Champions League juggernauts - Manchester United, who defeated Juventus in a hotly contested tie to set up the all-English matchup with Sophara. The other Semi-Finals will feature an all-German matchup after Leipzig, who have now become favorites to win it all after a 5-1 destruction of Manchester City, led by the tandem of 29 year old Croatian striker Bozo Kalinic and 22 year old German superstar Dietmar Mayer set up a date with Bundesliga rival Borussia Dortmund. Benfica were a popular pick as a darkhorse to make the Finals, but Dortmund - who are 2nd in the Bundesliga while Leipzig is 1st - put an end to that and are now looking to advance to their first Finals appearance since 2013. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assist4nt Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 You doing good now. Congrats on UCL semi advance. Good luck. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 31 minutes ago, Assist4nt said: You doing good now. Congrats on UCL semi advance. Good luck. Thanks! Yes, the team is taking shape, although this current crop which I'm calling the First Golden Generation seems to be more talented overall than the one coming after it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 A total of 7 Sophara United players are headed to France 2048 European Championship. Tyler Craig was not looked over this time, but his teammate Niall Bayliss will feel hard done not to be called up. Anthony Wise will be taking his team's talisman, while Breen will be participating in what feels like his 100th international tournament. Wales will be looking to make some noise behind their world-class players of GK Chris Davies and left winger Kurtis Thompson. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 Good luck against Man Utd. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 24, 2021 Author Share Posted May 24, 2021 8 minutes ago, deltablue said: Good luck against Man Utd. Did not go well unfortunately, lol. They humbled us and taught us a lesson. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 SOPHARA UNITED SEASON REVIEW 2047/2048 TEAM REVIEW Two Points away from the title – that’s how close Sophara United came to winning the Premier League. The club still set a record high, finishing in 2nd Place as they beat out Burnley in the last matchday. The offense was, again, close to sublime as the finishes best in the league with 105 Goals, although for the first time in 4 years the Top Goalscorer will not go to a Sophara player. Ben Gibson and Niall Bayliss both scored 24 Goals while Tyler Craig again equaled the PL Assists record by dishing out 21 of them. Many are starting to whisper that Craig is turning out to be perhaps the greatest passer in the league history. The second generation of attackers like Anthony Wise and Hugo Good also contributed this year, with the former becoming a golden boy of sorts. The defense did not do bad, either – they conceded 64 Goals this year, a slight dip from the 60 Goals Conceded last season – ranking 13th best defense in the league. GK Chris Davies continued to be a star between the sticks, but the development of players like Lionel Wilkins has the staff optimistic about the defense’s future. Of course, the real talk of the season was the club’s rise to Champions League Semi-Finalists, defeating the likes of Barcelona and PSG along the way. They finally fell to Manchester United – who taught them a lesson in CL football – but it was a terribly exciting run with Ben Gibson nailing a hat-trick at the Nou Camp in Barcelona and youth academy graduate Papa Gueye hitting the goal that sealed the advancement for the club to the Semi-Finals. The team did face disappointment, however – after advancing to the Carabao Cup Finals for the first time in their history, they didn’t show up versus Tottenham and lost out on winning their first major title. They were also disappointing in the FA Cup, losing to Portsmouth in the 5th Round. Overall though, the season was a great one to be a Sophara United fan, as the club has started putting its stamp on both domestic and European football. The club sold a record 4 players this season, all at their own request. Richard Warden, who had been Chris Davies backup the last few years, made a move to Shabab Al-Ahli in Dubai in the UAE for what could go up to £12M, and he was joined a few months later by fan favorite (and one of the manager’s favorites) Tosin Okoye, the supersub right winger who had been an important part of the rotation. Okoye joined Shabab Al-Ahli for £7.5M while Welsh midfielder Jason Anderson joined Southampton for £5M. The final move was Lithuanian international Audrius Cinikas, who was sold to New York for £300K. This was the first time the club had some to an MLS club in its history, and its being said that manager is keenly following Cinikas’ career. PREMIER LEAGUE REVIEW An exciting season that went down to the final few matchdays, it was the defending champions Manchester United (1st) who took it at the end. They beat out Sophara United (2nd), whose 2nd Place finish was their best ever, and a surprising Burnley (3rd) squad led by their young South American attackers, 22 year old Gil from Brazil – who led the league with 7.52 AR - and 23 year old Claudio Ramirez from Argentina, and 24 year old Ukrainian CD Olexandr Kudymov. Tottenham (4th) grabbed the final Champions League spot ahead of Man City (5th) and Wolves (6th), who were led by the Premier League’s Top Goalscorer Antonio Sequeira, with the 26 year old Portuguese scoring 28 Goals. Arsenal (7th) finished disappointingly low, but their legendary Swiss midfielder Andrea De Carolis was crowned the PL’s Footballer of the Year for a 3rd time. Chelsea (8th), Liverpool (9th), and Aston Villa (10th) were in competition for a European spot all season long but ended up missing out. Aston Villa won the 2048 Europa League title, defeating Arsenal in the Finals in Holland. It was an especially disappointing season for Liverpool, who were PL champions as recently as 2047. Leicester (19th) were the only newly promoted team not to get relegated, and they were joined by Southampton (18th) and Bristol City (20th), both of whom struggled last season and couldn’t pick it up this year. Reading (12th) and Derby (13th) survived their first season back in the PL comfortably, finishing the mid-table and never really getting into a relegation zone fight throughout the season. Highlight on IBRAHIM SARFO (Manchester United – GHANA: 123 Caps/48 Goals): The description used by the media about 32 year old Ghanaian Ibrahim Sarfo is accurate – legendary midfielder. That best describes Sarfo, a player who is the greatest his country has turned out and a player who has proven himself a winner at every level of the game. Born in Ho in the Volta Region of Ghana in 2015, he joined the West Ham youth system in 2027 at the age of 12. He made his debut for the club in 2033 at the age of 18 after winning his first Cap for Ghana at the age of 17. During the 5 years in the West Ham youth teams, Sarfo won an U23 Premier League championship and twice led his teams to 2nd Place in the U23 Premier League Cup. His debut season saw him become an immediate starter and in 2035 he would be one of the team’s most important players as West Ham won the Championship title and promotion to the Premier League. That season, he was named in the 2035 Championship Select and started to get worldwide recognition. After two good years in the Premier League, West Ham got an offer from Brighton they could not refuse - £66M for the 22 year old midfielder. He joined Brighton but for the first time in his career, Sarfo experienced the bitter taste of defeat as his new club got relegated. Atletico Madrid would come calling and for £59M, Brighton sold him to the Spanish La Liga side in 2038. That is where his career truly took off as manager Diego Simeone quickly identified how to get the best out of what was obviously prodigal talent and potential. In the 4 years he spent with Spanish club, he would play in 136 League Games, registering 48 Goals, 44 Assists, 19 PoMs, with his lowest AR being 7.46 during his first year and the rest all above 7.75 AR. He would lead Ghana to the African Nations Cup title in 2041, winning the Club World Championship with his club the same year. The year before, he was named to the 2040 World Team of the Year, the first of the 6 times he was named (3 as a Starter, 3 on the bench) and his club were Runners-Up in the Europa League that same year. After winning the ANC the Club World Championship the following year, he was named the latter’s Best Player and broke his club’s record with 20 total Assists. At the end of 2041, he was finally given what he had coming, winning the most prestigious individual prizes in world football – the 2041 World Golden Ball, World Footballer of the Year, and World Player of the Year, as well as his first African Footballer of the Year. He was finally sold in the summer of 2042 to Manchester United for a staggering £146M, becoming the most expensive African player of all-time. With Manchester United, as hard as it is to fathom, Sarfo took his game to yet another level of excellence. Joining the club at the age of 26, he won his 2nd straight African Footballer of the Year, no mean feat considering legendary Ivory Coast midfielder Patrick Dago (who has won the award a record 6 times) was also in his prime. During his first year with his new club, he also led his nation to their 2nd consecutive African Nations Cup title, winning the tournament’s Golden Boot after scoring 7 Goals. That same year, he was named in the 2043 PL Select and the CL Dream Team after Man United reached the Finals of the Champions League, only to fall to rivals Arsenal at the Nou Camp in Barcelona. Since joining Man United in 2042 six years ago, Sarfo has won the Premier League title 3 times (2045, ’46, and ’48), the World Club Championship again (2045), the Champions League (2045), the ANC titles (2043), the FA Cup (2044), and the Carabao Cup (2044, ’45). He has won the Champions League Midfielder of the Season (2044, ’48), was appointed Man United captain in 2046, and won the African Footballer of the Year for a 3rd time in 2047. Most recently, he led Man United to the Premier League title this season and to the Finals of the Champions League, losing out to Leipzig on Penalties in Budapest, Hungary. One of the legends of the late 2030s and 2040s, Sarfo is widely considered one of the finest players to grace the footballing world this century and the African continent. A global superstar, his reputation as a winner and a leader has been earned throughout the years, matched only by his amazing exploits on the pitch. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REVIEW Manchester United made have made it interesting during the Finals in Budapest, Hungary, take Leipzig all the way to penalties, but it was the now two-time Bundesliga defending champions that lived up to the expectations and ended up lifting the Champions League title for the 2nd time in 4 years and the 3rd time in their history. Man United, who last won the title in 2044, but the strike force of Dietmar Mayer and Bozo Kalinic, both of whom scored 12 Goals in the competition, was too much to handle. It was one of the most entertaining Finals in recent memory, with the match ending 4-4 before penalties decided in the German team’s favor. They were free-scoring throughout the tournament – 12 Goals in the Group Stages, 5 Goals against Serie A champions AC Milan in the Second Round, 5 against Man City in the Quarter-Finals, and a staggering 8 Goals against Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund in the Semi-Finals before hitting 4 in the Finals. Man United hit 8 of their own in the Semi-Finals against Premier League rivals Sophara United, who were participating at this stage of the competition for the first time in their history and who came 2nd to Man United in the PL. Before that, the beaten Finalists had taken care of Schalke 04 and Juventus in the previous rounds. The surprise of the tournament were Sophara United, however, who took a huge 3-2 victory away at the Nou Camp with Ben Gibson scoring a hat-trick that will be spoken about for years to come. There was no repeat Semi-Finalists from last year’s crop, and the word as the tournament wrapped up was that Leipzig had the potential to become the tournament’s latest dynasty after Arsenal in the 2030s and early 2040s and Man City in the late 2020s and early 2030s. Highlight on BOZO KALINIC (RB Leipzig – CROATIA: 92 Caps/60 Goals): While the future of the club – and perhaps football itself – is in the hands of Dietmar Mayer, this season belonged to 29 year old Croatian striker Bozo Kalinic, who scored 12 Goals (tied for best in CL) to go along with his tournament-leading 8.06 AR. Most importantly, he lifted the CL title for the 2nd time in his career and the Bundesliga for the 3rd time. Born in 2019 in the northern Croatian farming village of Novigrad Podravski southeast of Koprivnica, where he joined club Slaven Belupo at the age of 12 in 2031. Catching the eye of a St. Pauli scout, he was snapped up and put through the St. Pauli youth program in 2035, making his debut the club’s B team the following year. He would make his official debut for the first team in 2036/37 and would then earn his first Cap for Croatia at the age of 20 in 2039. After 6 seasons with St. Pauli, they cashed in and sold him to Leipzig for £64M during the summer of 2040 at the age of 21, and from there he has become one the world’s best players of this decade. He has made 249 League Appearances thus far for his club, scoring 129 League Goals in the process while winning the Bundesliga 3 times (2041, ’47, ’48) and Champions League twice (’45, ’48) in the 8 years he has been with the club. The current Croatian Player of the Year has won the award 4 times (2041, ’44, ’45, ’47) scored a World Cup record of 6 Goals in a single match against El Salvador at Japan 2046 but has not had much success with his country at the international level. He’s won the 2045 Bundesliga Top Goalscorer award (23 Goals in 2044/45) and the 2046 German Footballer of the Year award, but his ultimate individual prize was winning the 2045 World Golden Ball, World Footballer of the Year, and the World Player of the Year after leading Leipzig to their 2045 Champions League title. While not the most prolific of strikers (he has scored over 20 Goals only once in his career), the best comparison to him would be former Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp except with more speed and power. He is a legend for both club and country. GOALKEEPERS The 23 year old Welsh international Chris Davies (’40 – Wales: 58 Caps), who will be headed to France 2048 European Championship alongside teammate Kurtis Thompson this summer, continued his strong play, living up to his title of ‘World-Class Goalkeeper’ while played in every game for the 3rd straight season. Although he registered his lowest AR since becoming a starter (7.30 AR), the only other GK that is considered better than him in the Premier League is Man United’s Ximo. He was named to his 2nd Premier League Select, having first been given the award in 2046, and has already been inducted to the Sophara United Overall Best Eleven as the first backup behind legend Mark Connor. Known worldwide as one of the hottest young GKs on the planet, it is rumored he is the highest paid player at his position in the game today. Where he will rank amongst the all-time greats of Sophara United remains to be seen as he has had some influential players come before him in Carl Jones and Mark Connor. FULLBACKS Despite a slight dip in form from last season, Chris Parry (’39 – Wales: 13 Caps) still delivered one of the top seasons of his career thus far although he did miss out on going to France 2048 with his nation. Now 25, the right-back will complete his 10th season with the club next year and his 5th as the starter at his position. In 31 Appearances, he registered 4 Assists, 2.72 TpG, and 6.82 AR (down for 6.88 AR), missing a few games after he was ruled out for a month in January thanks to a groin strain injury. While he is one of the faster players in the Premier League today, his official report has him listed as a ‘Championship level defender’ even though he is attracting interest from clubs such as AS Monaco. He played decent in the Champions League (10 Apps, 5.01 TpG, 6.88 AR) and has proven himself to be reliable enough to not be a liability for the team as they finished in 2nd Place in the PL and were also Semi-Finalists in the CL. His technical skills are on the weak side and at this point of his career he is playing at his full potential, with his manager talking about having the player challenge himself to hit the 7.00 AR mark in his upcoming seasons as he enters his prime. At the left-back position, the manager instilled a rotation this past season as Pablo Cobo (’38) lost playing time to Dimosthenous and injuries and played in only 22 Games. Incidentally, this was also the 26 year old Spanish defender’s finest form to date – he registered a career-high 6.94 AR to go with 2 Assists, 3.15 TpG, and 89% Pass Completion. He did play in 10 Games in the CL but with less than impressive results, averaging 6.61 AR while generally looking like the stage was one step too high for him. It has long been known that the team was looking for alternatives at the left-back position with Cobo being more of a care-keeper at the position rather than its long-term starter but given that he has now played 324 Games for the club it goes without saying he has been a big part of the set up since becoming a starter during his rookie season. He has a tendency to come up with big tackles and his defensive abilities are actually not bad but he is not as strong or as quick as the team would like their starting LB to be. Still, he has turned out quite the career for himself thus far with – as the experts claim – what has been limited talent and looks to remain a big part of the rotation going forward over the next few seasons. Although Cobo is still listed as the official starter at the LB position, 19 year old Nikos Dimosthenous (’44) played in a career high 32 Games this season, starting in 21 of them. While he wasn’t terribly impressive (2 Assists, 2.66 TpG, 6.76 AR), he did have the best season of his young career thus far with the Sophara staff thinking he could yet reach a Premier League level of talent. His development was more stagnant than they would have hoped this year however, and while is defensive abilities continue to get better there has not been much improvement in the other aspects of his game. His versatility continues to be an important part of his game as the manager has not been afraid to use him at both the LB and CD positions, but it will be crucial for him to continue to improve his overall game as he exits his teenage years. The Sophara staff are excited about another young talent in Simon Richardson (’46), who made his debut this season and played in 9 Games, registering 3.28 TpG, 85% Pass Completion, and 6.82 AR. The RB, who is comfortable playing at CD as well, is a similar player to Dimosthenous but the talk from the training ground is that 18 year old’s potential ceiling might be higher than his teammate’s own. He showed fantastic improvement over the course of the season and was capped by the English U20 team after making his debut against Manchester United this year. The coaching staff has been working on getting him faster and stronger as his lack of natural fitness seems to be one of his main weaknesses currently, but he is also still very young and will naturally see it get better. He has replaced Mitch Summerfield as first choice RB off the bench after Summerfield failed to progress in the needed manner. CENTRAL DEFENDERS The squad’s best defender this season, Lionel Wilkins (’42), now 22, continued to impress in his 3rd season as the club’s starter at the CD position. Playing in a career-high 36 Games, he also registered career-highs with 1.84 TpG and 6.96 AR while earning his first PoM award. While his ball handling and technical abilities leave much to be desired, the same cannot be said for his defensive skills and instincts as he is now considered a ‘Powerful CD’ of Premier League standard by the experts and media. Most believe that he has the potential to be one of the leading CDs in the league in a couple of years and given that he is still showing signs of noticeable improvement, it is not a stretch for it to happen. He is a smart player and knows what his strengths are, something which he has been worked on with the staff at the club as they seek to avoid opponents exposing his lack of ball control ability. He reminds a lot of people of John Terry, the legendary Chelsea CD who was part of the London club’s most successful run in the early part of the century. Wayne Breen (’33 – Ireland: 90 Caps/3 Goals) completed his 15th season with the club and it was his finest in the last 5 years. In 33 Appearances, he registered 1.37 TpG, 84% Pass Completion, and 6.88 AR – the last time he hit that number was in 2043/44 when he recorded his career-high of 6.94 AR. The Vice-Captain, who has held that title since 2040, has now played 436 League Games for the club, more than any other defender in its history. He has a career average of 6.82 AR and has been with the club since its last season in the League One, although he only became a starter during the club’s first season in the Premier League. He will be 31 by the time next season starts and he is undoubtedly a legend for both club and country at this point. He’s never been the strongest or the fastest defender but he has always been one of the smartest on the pitch while his professionalism knows no bounds. He is the type of player that you know would make an great coach someday if he decided to go down that route – for now, however, he remains an important member of the first team and a crucial foundation of the First Golden Generation. CENTRAL/ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS Anthony Wise (’43 – Northern Ireland: 37 Caps/13 Goals) made the transition from ‘Wonderkid’ to ‘Elite Attacking Midfielder’ this season, taking his position as one of the most talented midfielders in the Premier League. The 21 year old’s value is now north of £50M and his Northern Ireland’s most famous player as they head to France 2048, a tournament where Wise will be counted on to lead. He equaled his career high of 12 Goals this season, registering 9 Assists, 82% Pass Completion, and a career-high 7.15 AR in 33 Appearances. He had to deal with a couple of nagging injuries that hindered his form and progress towards the end of the season but he started it scorching hot. The former two-time NxGn award winner has now averaged 7.00 AR over the past 2 consecutive seasons, a rare feat for a Sophara CM/AM, breaking a bad cycle and proving that the system can work for a central midfielder with the right talent and mentality in place, something which could not and did not happen with former player Jishua Tyrell. He will be looking to make a lot of noise at France 2048, which will actually be the 2nd time he experiences the European Championship having first done so as a 17 year old at Greece 2044, scoring twice in 3 Games. Part of the 3 Sophara United players joining the English squad at France 2048 is Eoin Hastings (’38 – England: 14 Caps), who had another strong-ish season with his club despite setting a new record with 17 Yellow Cards. Undeniably one of the most important players on the squad, there is literally no one else who can do what he does and he has become the natural replacement for Arinze Mbah. Equally comfortable playing in the middle of the pitch or as a CD at the back, the 24 year old has become one of those players where the importance of his intangibles far exceed that of his numbers and statistics. Considered a ‘Leading Premier League Player’ by the media, there are no qualms about his place in the England national set-up as the general consensus is that he deserves his place on the team. He played in 30 Games this season, registering 2 Goals, 2 Assists, 3.96 TpG, 88% Pass Completion, and 6.88 AR, the 3rd highest of his career but a slight drop from last year’s 6.93 AR. If he can get his yellow card situation under control, he could continue to develop into one of the world’s premier ball-winning midfielders. Starting to show signs of living up to his potential, Chavez Straker (’44) – who is now 20 – continues to carry the tag of ‘Wonderkid’ and continues to show signs of great improvement. His 29 Appearances (16 Starts) were the most of his career so far, scoring the first goal of his career to go along with 4 Assists, 3.47 TpG, 87% Pass Completion, and 6.80 AR, which was a career-high. The strength and natural fitness needs some work, but his football skills and abilities – especially his ball control and passing – are fantastic. He has won 15 U21 Caps for England, and although he has a laid back and reserved personality, he is a professional on the pitch and in training. His extra playing time has come at the expense of Nigeria and Sophara legend Arinze Mbah (’28 – Nigeria: 95 Caps/5 Goals), who completed his 21st season with the club and broke his own record for oldest player to ever play for Sophara United. Now 36, his 16 Appearances (5 Starts) were actually more than the 9 he played in last season, but unfortunately it has not been enough to convince him to stay. He has his heart set on seeing out his career somewhere else that can guarantee him more playing time, despite the manager’s best efforts to keep him in London. One of the greatest players in Sophara United history – and perhaps the greatest CM in its history – he has played in 568 League Games, registering 11 Goals, 42 Assists, and 6.80 AR. He will not be replaced easily and his imprint on the club will live long after he has retired. WINGERS Last season, Tyler Craig (’36 – England: 44 Caps/12 Goals) tied the Premier League record with 21 Assists. This season, he became the only player in Premier League history to record back-to-back 20+ Assists seasons, again tying the record with 21 Assists. Not only has he earned his way into the England national team setup but he is now a vital member of it – he will be part of the 3 Sophara United players representing the club at France 2048. No one has worked harder over the past few years to better themselves on the pitch and it has paid off, with the media finally giving him the credit he deserves. He is now labeled an ‘Elite Attacking Midfielder’ thanks to his many talents, the most prominent of which is his remarkable passing ability. He had the best season of his career this year – in 35 Appearances, he registered 11 Goals, 21 Assists, 2 PoMs, and a career-high 7.21 AR. His career stats now stand at 401 Appearances, 101 Goals, 144 Assists, 18 PoMs, and 7.02 AR – yes, he is now part of the rare 100 Goals/100 Assists club, and the way things are going, he might be the first player in the history of the Premier League to hit 200 Assists in his career. He is now 27 and about to enter the prime of his career as an essential part of the First Golden Generation and just as important as any player on the team. His passing is directly responsible for the success of the offense, one that has been one of the best – if not THE best – in the Premier League over the past few years. Although he is no longer officially considered an ‘Elite Winger’, Kurtis Thompson (’35 – Wales: 76 Caps/41 Goals) remains one of the finest left wingers on the planet. The 29 year old, who has had to deal with injuries all his career that have sadly had their effect on him, played in 27 Games this season, registering 12 Goals, 9 Assists, and 7.16 AR, which was tied for the 2nd highest of his career after the 7.50 AR he registered during the 2041/42 season. He will be heading to France 2048 along with his teammate GK Chris Davies as part of the Welsh national team, one that he has been the golden boy of for the past several years. There is always talk about how great he would have been had he not suffered so many injuries but that is a conversation for the hypotheticals – as it stands, Thompson remains one of the most dangerous players in the world with ball at his feet barreling down the left wing. He joined the 100 Goals/100 Assists club with Craig this season, as well – he now has 103 Goals and 115 Assists from 376 Appearances over the course of his career thus far. Surprisingly enough, although he has come 2nd and 3rd several times, he has yet to capture the Welsh Footballer of the Year award. Nevertheless, his quality and talents are undeniable and he will be looking to continue his impressive form over the next few years as one of the league’s top wingers. The departure of Tosin Okoye left a void on the bench backing up the two wing positions, and it will be up to the likes of Boubacar Bangoura (’46) and Foster Dave (’47). The problem is the former is 18 and the latter is 16, so they are barely of an age where they can be expected to contribute significantly and consistently. Okoye was insistent on finding a new club as soon as possible despite getting heavy minutes throughout the season and given how loyal he had been to the club all these years, the manager obliged. Both players made their Sophara United debut this season and both were reasonably impressive despite their young age. Bangoura needs to work on his attacking skills but he already has good pace and good technical ability, while Dave needs to get stronger and quicker before he can be effective. Both have potential through the roof so it will be interesting to see how they turn out in the next couple of years, especially considering there is no competition for playing time behind the starters right now. FORWARDS When the conversation is about Sophara United – or England, for that matter – the first name to come up is almost certainly that of Ben Gibson (’34 – England: 109 Caps/86 Goals), whose track record with his club and his country has made him a legend for both. Now 29, he has earned the tag ‘Legendary Striker’ by the media, although his 24 Goals were his 2nd lowest total in the past 10 years. He played in only 30 Games, however, which was the lowest of his career after he had to start the season on the injured list with a torn groin muscle. He also contributed 8 Assists – his first time in 5 seasons where he failed to register at least 10 Assists – 7 PoMs and 7.39 AR, winning the 2047 Goal 50 award for the 3rd time in his career. For the 6th time in his career, he was named in the Premier League Select and he won the Sophara United Player of the Year for the 7th time – he is now only 2 more awards away from equaling Mark Connor’s record of 9 awards. He was fantastic in the Champions League once again – in 11 Appearances, he scored 9 Goals and registered 7.33 AR. He has now played in 495 Games, scoring an incredible 349 Goals and also registering 131 Assists, 73 PoMs, and 7.27 AR – if he keeps up at this pace, he could be the first player in the history of the Premier League to be part of the 400 Goals/150 Assists/100 PoMs club, an incredible feat that speaks to just how great Gibson has been over the past decade and before. His partner in crime up front, Niall Bayliss (’37 – England: 2 Caps), remained possibly the most underrated player on the team. In 35 Appearances, he registered 24 Goals (same as Gibson), a career-high 13 Assists, 8 PoMs, and 7.34 AR, tied for the 2nd highest in his career. For whatever reason, he was not called up to the England squad that is going to France 2048, despite being one of the top strikers in the Premier League. He scored 33 Goals last season (the 2nd time in his career he does so) and this is his 4th straight season of getting 10 or more Assists. The youngest member of Sophara’s First Golden Generation, he has proven to be its most lethal finisher over the course of the last two years, and this includes Ben Gibson as he has scored 57 League Goals in that stretch. There is no doubt that the attention Gibson receives opens up the field significantly for Bayliss, but he has also had a number of magical runs down the right flank where he picks the ball up from midfield and barrels at the opposing defense like an unstoppable arrow. He combines well with Craig as Bayliss tends to keep to the right side of the field but his understanding with Gibson has become almost telepathic. They have been the most potent attack force in the Premier League for a number of years now and as both players enter the prime of their career, it will hopefully continue to be the same over the course of the next few seasons. Behind them and making his permanent shift to forward as opposed to the left wing was Hugo Good (’44), who played in a career high 34 Games (24 Starts), registering career-highs of 10 Goals, 7 Assists, 2 PoMs, and 7.00 AR. While the Sophara staff have quietly started to cool on Good’s ceiling as a player – as opposed to when he first came out of the Youth Academy and was proclaimed to potentially be the most talented player of his generation – he remains a tantalizing prospect who continues to get better. The 19 year old is phenomenal in the air which is a big part of the reason the manager has moved him to the forward position and although he isn’t the quickest player around, he has gotten better at controlling his acceleration. He is a hardworking and smart player with a high football IQ whose value is now north of £30M and if he continues to show good improvement over the next few years, he could potentially be a star for the team. Club legend Kieran Christie (’32), the club’s second oldest player at 32 after Mbah, again played in a record low number of games, featuring in only 13 Games this season and scoring only 2 Goals. His 6.86 AR was his highest of the last 4 years but he has scored a total of 11 Goals over the last 3 years. He has now played 516 League Games and scored 242 Goals, as well as 112 Assists and 40 PoMs while registering 7.00 AR over the course of his career. The club has produced 5 strikers that have been stars for it since its inception in 2020 – Danny Marriott, Ross McDonald, Niall Bayliss, Ben Gibson, and Kieran Christie. With the exception of Marriott, Christie has played with them all, having been a huge part of the team’s success in the 2030s and early 2040s. His contract is up next summer and thus far he has not indicated his willingness to sign a new one, but regardless of the outcome, Christie will always be a legend for Sophara United. END OF SEASON REVIEW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assist4nt Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 Congrats mate. 2nd place this season, next season the trophy on your cabinet. BTW, great achievement, your team keep improving every season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deez0r Posted May 25, 2021 Share Posted May 25, 2021 Foster Dave is one of the best names I have seen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 25, 2021 Author Share Posted May 25, 2021 3 hours ago, Assist4nt said: Congrats mate. 2nd place this season, next season the trophy on your cabinet. BTW, great achievement, your team keep improving every season. Thanks! Hoping we can get our defense good enough to grab a title! 3 hours ago, deez0r said: Foster Dave is one of the best names I have seen. I thought the same thing! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 26, 2021 Author Share Posted May 26, 2021 FRANCE 2048 – Euro Championship INTRO/GROUP STAGES This time around, 7 Sophara United players were called up to their respective national squads, representing England (Ben Gibson, Tyler Craig, Eoin Hastings), Wales (Kurtis Thompson, Chris Davies), Ireland (Wayne Breen), and Northern Ireland (Anthony Wise) – it was almost the same group as 4 years ago with the addition of Hastings and without Jones and Bayliss. The defending champions Italy were one of the favorites going into the tournament, along with the hosts France, the defeated Finalists from Greece 2044 Spain, and the offensive powerhouse of Germany. Ironically enough, the first 3 teams named were all in Group A along with Austria, the ultimate ‘Group of Death’ of the tournament. England sealed their qualification from Group F after 2 straight victories over Norway (who ended up qualifying to the Second Round after finishing 2nd in the group) and Hungary, with Hastings scoring a sublime hat-trick in their 4-1 win over the latter before drawing with the Czech Republic. In Group A (Group of Death), all 3 of the big names qualified, although defending champions Italy lost to both Spain and France and placed in 3rd behind them. Wales surprised everyone and topped Group B, qualifying to the Second Round alongside Holland and Ireland. Romania and former World Champions Portugal qualified out of Group C at the expense of Russia and Northern Ireland (Wise played in all 3 Games but failed to score), while Ukraine, Switzerland, and Poland all finished with 6 Points and moved on to the Second Round from Group D. Over in Group E, Belgium finished ahead of Germany, and they were joined by Scotland in the Second Round at the expense of Slovakia. SECOND ROUND Four-time Finalists – most recently in 2040 – and former World Champions Portugal received a footballing lesson from three-time European Champions France, who defeated the Portuguese 4-0 in dominant fashion. Greece 2044 Finalists Spain were defeated by Holland 2-0 in a surprise result, while defending champions Italy got the job done against Wales with a 1-0 victory. The 2 Sophara players representing Wales – Kurtis Thompson (4 Apps, 2 Assists, 7.03 AR) and GK Chris Davies (4 Apps, 6.78 AR) – both had decent tournaments but were underwhelming in comparison to their worldwide reputation and talent. Their Sophara United teammates Ben Gibson, Tyler Craig, Eoin Hastings, and Wayne Breen all played in England’s 3-2 victory of Ireland, with Gibson scoring the winning goal in extra-time and sending his nation to the Quarter-Finals. Germany made no mistakes against the former world champions Switzerland (they won World Cup trophy at England 2030), defeating their southern neighbors 2-0, while Scotland continued their impressive run with a big 2-0 win over Romania. After exiting out in the Second Round the past 2 tournaments, Belgium finally got over the hump, defeating Poland 3-2 in an entertaining match. Ukraine, who were dark horse choice of a lot of experts after impressing at the last couple of World Cup and European Championship tournaments, surprisingly lost to Norway 1-0 in the last match of the Second Round. QUARTER-FINALS GERMANY vs. ENGLAND: Other than 2-1 loss to Belgium in the Group Stages, Germany had won all 3 of their other games and conceded 0 Goals on their way to the Quarter-Finals, while England were amongst the highest-scoring team so far in the tournament after 11 Goals in their 4 games thus far. The Germans had lost at this stage to eventual Finalists Spain at Greece 2044 and were looking to better their performance and add to their record 5 titles (last won back to back in 2032 and 2036). As for England, the last time they had made the Semi-Finals of the Euros was in 1996, where they lost to Germany, ironically. The run would finally come to an end, however, as the English defeated an uninspired German team 2-0 despite the former champions being heavily favored to win the match. Led by a balanced attack and a tight defense, England advanced to the Semi-Finals for only the 3rd time in their history at the Euros. RESULT: England 2 – 0 Germany ITALY vs. FRANCE: In a rematch of the Group A match which France won 2-1, the defending champions were looking to do much better this time around. The Italians had made a total of 6 Finals at the European Championship and were looking to make it 4 titles in total. France, who had also won the title 3 times, were last crowned champions at Germany 2024, almost 25 years ago. They had been knocked out in the Second Round the past 2 tournaments in disappointing losses to Denmark and Scotland, having last reached the Semi-Finals at Scotland/Wales 2032. The Italians would take their revenge when it mattered, however, putting the French offense in its place and winning the match 1-0 in typical Italian fashion. This would set up an exciting match against England in the Semi-Finals as the Italians moved on in their quest to win two consecutive titles. RESULT: Italy 1 – 0 France SCOTLAND vs. HOLLAND: The last time Scotland played in the European Championship was 8 years ago, getting knocked out by Portugal at the Quarter-Finals stage. In fact, they had never been to the Semi-Finals of the competition in their history while the Dutch were just one goal away from reaching the Finals last time around, falling to eventual champions Italy in extra-time. While the Dutch were heavily favored to take the match, it was Scotland who would come out as victors, defeating Holland 2-0 after scoring both goals in the first 10 minutes of the match. Facing either Belgium or Norway in the Semi-Finals, Scotland were now looking like a team with an outside chance of taking the title at France 2048. RESULT: Scotland 2 – 0 Holland BELGIUM vs. NORWAY: Twice Runners-Up and but never winners (most recently in 2032), Belgium was looking to return to the Semi-Finals for the first time since Scotland/Wales 2032, where the fell to eventual champions Germany on penalties. The last two tournaments have not been good for them, however, as they exited in the Second Round in both. Norway, by contrast, last played in the Quarter-Finals at Germany 2024 and had never advanced to the Semi-Finals before. They did so in grand fashion, defeating the Belgians 3-0 as 19 year old Porto ‘Wonderkid’ and left winger Endre Resell scored a brace in the second half to send the Scandinavian nation to the next round where they would meet another surprising team in Scotland. RESULT: Norway 3 – 0 Belgium SEMI-FINALS ITALY vs. ENGLAND: This was England’s first trip to the Semi-Finals since 1996, an incredible 52 years since they have seen this stage of the Euros. They had been impressive thus far – they defeated fellow Semi-Finalists Norway 4-0 in the Group Stages and had a big victory against Germany in the Quarter-Finals. The defending champions started the tournament very slow, but they tightened up at the back after coming in 3rd in a tough Group A, defeating Wales and France both 1-0 on their way to yet another Semi-Finals having been the most successful nation in Europe this century along with Germany. Bucking an unfortunate trend, England actually won a knockout round matchup on penalties this time around, defeating the defending champions of a wild game that saw 2 extra-time goals and that ended 2-2 before being decided on penalties. This was the first time in their history that England advance to the Finals of the European Championship, doing so without any standout performers and instead relying on the magic of teamwork. RESULT: England 2 – 2 Italy (England won on Penalties) SCOTLAND vs. NORWAY: Regardless of who won this matchup, France 2048 was going to feature two teams that had never reached the Finals before. England was awaiting the winner of this matchup and going into it, both had been impressive in their run up to the Semi-Finals. It was the Scottish team that finally ended up winning it, setting up an all-United Kingdom matchup with England in Paris (of all places) after an extra-time victory. Scotland scored 2 goals in extra-time to win the match 3-1 and while both teams would have been proud of reaching the Semi-Finals, Scotland now had a chance of becoming an even more surprising team than Greece to lift the European Championship. RESULT: Scotland 3 – 1 Norway FINALS SCOTLAND vs. ENGLAND: This was as bitter a rivalry as it gets – England facing off against Scotland in the European Championship Finals. To add to the drama, it was the first time that either team had made the Finals, and with Paris playing host to what promised to be a very tense affair it was the Scottish who were the big underdogs going into this matchup. Neither team had a star performer and neither team had any player who had scored over 3 Goals throughout the course of the tournament, so both were reliant on the teamwork of the entire squad to try and lift the trophy for the first time. While the neutral’s favorite might have been Scotland, it was England that would end up winning the tournament for the first time behind manager Kevin Hofland, who had taken over the job a year ago in 2047. The Best Player award went to France’s Malik Dumas, the Young Player prize went to Germany’s Dietmar Mayer, and the Top Goalscorer award went to Italy’s Leandro Belotti. England's best player was Juventus winger Jack Pamment, who registered 2 Goals, 3 Assists, 2 PoMs, and 7.62 AR. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 28, 2021 Author Share Posted May 28, 2021 (edited) LOOKING BACK - YOUTH CLASS 2033 After dealing with a shallow class that netted one legend (Kieran Christie) and not much else in 2032, the ’33 Youth Class was everything its predecessor was not – not only did it produce 2 players that are both amongst the best at their respective positions in club history, it also produced a number of international players as well as players that have had long careers in the game. The two names that define the ’33 class are Wayne Breen and Jishua Tyrell, as both players have had magnificent careers both at a club and an international level, with the former still at the club and considered to be its finest CD of all-time. Three different players from different Caribbean nations have gone on to become a big part of their national setups (Sherwin Laing with Jamaica, Anthony Edwards with Trinidad and Tobago, and Asquith Harewood with Barbados) while also doing well at the club level. Tyrell was the gem of the class coming out of the Youth Academy, and although he developed significantly and lived up to his potential in terms of ability, he never truly figured it out on the pitch and left both Sophara United and his current club Manchester United a bit underwhelmed. Wayne Breen, who was also considered a good prospect coming out of the Youth Academy, has overachieved in his career as he has become a vital part of the club’s First Golden Generation and possibly the ’33 Youth Class’ best player. WAYNE BREEN (Ireland: 95 Caps/3 Goals) – SOPHARA UNITED ALSO PLAYED FOR: N/A CAREER OVERVIEW As for as defenders go, the general consensus is that Wayne Breen is the greatest in Sophara United’s history. While he made his debut during his rookie season in 2033/34, his breakout season came 2 years later when the club won the Championship title and earned their promotion to the Premier League. It was the same year that he became a fully-fledged international for Ireland, making his debut for his nation at the tender age of 18. It was already clear at that point that Breen was a highly intelligent player who was a natural leader, and since then he has represented his earned 95 Caps and participated in 4 European Championships and 1 World Cup tournament with Ireland. Breen was born in July of 2017 in the town of Bandon, Ireland, southwest of Cork and surrounded by idyllic farmland. At the time, the club did not have any scouts stationed in Ireland but sent two of them to watch the youngster in action for his school, Bandon Bridge National School. They were enamored immediately, and he was flown out to London at the age of 12 to become part of the Sophara United Youth Academy. His club career took off during Sophara’s first season in the PL, which was also Breen’s first season as a starter. It took him about a year to adjust but during the 2037/38 season, he played in all 38 Games and recorded a then career-high of 6.82 AR. A durable player, the next season was tough on him as he broke his leg and was ruled out for almost half a year – during the 2038/39 season, he only managed to play in 21 Games. He bounced back strong, however, and was rewarded with being named the club’s Vice-Captain in 2040, an honor he has kept since. Breen is not a player who has collected many individual awards or accolades through his career, but if one was to ask him manager who his most important players have been in the 2040s, he would surely be amongst the top names on that list. He remains a big part of the Irish national set-up as well, having most recently played every game for his nation at France 2048 European Championship. His poise, leadership, and football IQ have been his core foundation as a player and his professionalism is unmatched. Durable, reliable, and rarely committing mistakes, Breen has always reminded experts of a throwback CD who, while not great with the ball at his feet, handles his position and responsibilities at the back naturally and gracefully. JISHUA TYRELL (England: 85 Caps/15 Goals) – MANCHESTER UNITED ALSO PLAYED FOR: Sophara United CAREER OVERVIEW Tyrell is a player that has perplexed pundits and experts alike – while his actual talent is undeniable, many feel he simply has not lived up to his potential despite being one of England’s main CMs in the 2040s as he was also part of the team that grabbed England’s first major trophy of the century at France 2048. While he has been in better form for Manchester United as compared to his time with Sophara, the fact that he has only had one 7.00+ AR season in his entire career speaks volumes on his consistency and reliability for both clubs he has played over the course of the last 16 seasons. Born in the neighborhood of Somerset Village in Hamilton the capital of Bermuda in 2017, he was scouted by Sophara and was snapped up to be part of their youth set-up in 2029. Coming out of the Sophara Youth Academy in 2033, Tyrell was one of the most hyped prospects the Academy had graduated, at that time or since. His talents from day one were obvious, and he was immediately thrown into the first team without second thought. In his rookie year he became the Championship’s youngest player to score in a match, but despite setting a new record, he struggled immensely, registering 6.44 AR. The 2036 Championship title that the club won was also Tyrell’s best season for the club, hitting a career-high 12 Assists and 6.80 AR in 42 Games. He would become an England international at the age of 21 two years later in 2038 and was part of the English national team that came in as Runners-Up of the European International League in 2041. The 7 years he spent with Sophara United in the Premier League were uneventful and underwhelming – for example, during the 2040/41 season, as a full-time starter he registered 6.59 AR. After agreeing with the manager that his career might need a change of scenery, he was sold to Manchester United in 2043 for a club record of £59M. Things definitely got better for him with his new club – in his first season with Man United, he won the Champions League title, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup while registering a career high 7.03 AR to go with his 8 Assists in 30 Games. Since then, he has completed 4 more seasons with the club, winning the Premier League 3 times and advancing to the Champions League Finals once more, only to be beaten by Leipzig. Of course, we won the Euros with England over this past summer, defeating Scotland in the Finals. Tyrell will never be the player who will hit the heights that world-class players do despite having enough talent to have been, and he will always be remembered by Sophara fans as the ‘one that didn’t work out’, but he has won major titles and his career, comparatively to most players, has been long and played at the highest level. OTHER NOTABLE PLAYERS Other than Breen and Tyrell, the ’33 Youth Class developed 3 other international players who ended up being stars for their home nations. Sherwin Laing (Jamaica – 58 Caps/7 Goals), now 30 and playing in Cyprus with Apoel Nicosia, is the current Jamaican vice-captain and won the A-League title in 2044 with Western Sydney Wanderers during the one season he spent there. Anthony Edwards (Trinidad and Tobago – 106 Caps/5 Goals) has crossed the century mark for his nation after winning his first Cap at the age of 20. He was also Ebbsfleet’s Player of the Year this past season before they decided to go their separate ways. Asquith Harewood (Barbados – 108 Caps/7 Goals) has also played in over 100 games for his nation while spending the last 12 years in between the Vanarama leagues and League Two. Outside of those three, GK Richard Gayle was once considered a potential Premier League talent, but after spending several years going on loan with different clubs while at Sophara, he joined Blackburn on Free in 2043. He has been sold 3 times since, most recently to Coventry from Hull in 2047 for £425K. Spencer Porter turns out for Cork City having been at the club for the past 3 years, but his best years were with Havant & Waterlooville, where he spent 5 seasons in the Vanarama National between 2039 and 2044 and had 4 straight seasons of at least 10 Goals. Sean Kelly recently joined Porter at Cork City after spending 6 years with Dundalk – prior to that, he was with Tranmere for 8 seasons, having played a total of 359 League Games so far in his career. In the Scottish lower leagues plays Liam Elliott, who is about to start his 4th season with Linlithgow Rose. In Wales, Shaun Davis turns out on a part-time basis for Penybont, where he has been a starter for the last 7 seasons at the back. Edited May 28, 2021 by abulezz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 28, 2021 Author Share Posted May 28, 2021 Tough group - Leipzig are defending champions and have probably the best forward in the game today in Dietmar Mayer, while Inter Milan are among the Top 3 teams in the Serie A. Definitely no cakewalks here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 29, 2021 Author Share Posted May 29, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 30, 2021 Author Share Posted May 30, 2021 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2049 - Second Round Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 30, 2021 Author Share Posted May 30, 2021 YOUTH INTAKE 2049 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted May 30, 2021 Author Share Posted May 30, 2021 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2049 - Second Round Results The Champions League was thrown into disarray in the Second Round this season as a number of traditionally strong teams were eliminated by underdogs. Bayern Munich were defeated by Aston Villa, who were back in the tournament after an absence of over 40 years although they have won it before in 1982. They would set up an all-English affair in the Quarter-Finals after Burnley defeated perennial Second Rounders Salzburg, with this being the first time in their history Burnley has participated in the tournament. Tottenham would join them in the Quarter-Finals after making short work of Real Sociedad, and they will meet Borussia Dortmund, who defeated Serie A champions AC Milan. Juventus would be the only historical heavyweight who make it to this stage, defeating Real Madrid in an epic 7-1 thrashing over two legs. They will be meeting Russian side Zenit, who took care of business against Sophara United. The defending champions Leipzig, who are also favorites to repeat, defeated Porto 4-0 and set up a Quarter-Finals matchup with Roma, who won on away goals against Manchester United. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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