KlaaZ Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) Hello, and welcome to my first attempt at a career journal, at least in English. As the title already gives away, I'll be managing Danish giants FC Kobenhavn in an attempt at some European success. Kobenhavn are a relatively young club, having been established only in 1992 as a result of a merge between Boldklubben 1903 and Kjobenhavns Boldklub, which was continental Europe's oldest football club. In the 28 years since the fusion, Kobenhavn has managed to win 13 league titles and 8 domestic cups, an amazing return in such a short period. In the past few years, the Danish 3F Superliga has been dominated by only two clubs, Kobenhavn itself and FC Midtjylland, who were last year's champions. At first glance, Kobenhavn and Denmark in general have lots of potential. Scandinavian football is on the way up with lots of investment in infrastructure and youth training. The best example is the rise of the Norwegian giants, with players like Haaland, Sorloth, King and Hauge up front and a midfield with Berge, Odegaard and upcoming talent of surprise champions Bodo/Glimt, Patrick Berg. Denmark can boost some nice names as well, the most known being Schmeichel, Delaney, Eriksen, Kjaer and Poulsen. Anyway, I'll not be setting myself any specific restrictions but I like to try and focus on Scandinavian talent where possible, be it through my own ranks or from other clubs, and add some South American or African spice when it's too hard to resist. To finish off, I'm already halfway through my second season so some of the player screenshots I take might be a little outdated (as I wasn't planning on doing a journal). First season recap will come soon! Edited January 1, 2021 by KlaaZ 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) First season: Board expectations: We'll naturally be expected to win both the league and the cup, and to reach the group stage of the Euro Cup. Depending on the draw, I'd like to at least reach the knockout stage of our European campaign but we'll see what happens. Transferwise, they also want me to sign high reputation players but I won't be following that (screw them!), both because I'd rather invest in young talent and because my transfer kitty of 6M is not nearly enough to sign the players they want me to. Squad assessment: Goalkeepers: Needed fresh blood because all GK's are 30+, which I got with Rönning (see below), let Johansson go afterwards. Should be fine, especially after my first youth intake (see further). Defense: I have three players who can play the LB position but only one of them is any decent (Boilesen). Central defense looks solid with young upcoming BPD Nelsson and Jorgensen on loan from Fenerbahce. Right back is a problem too, both Bartolec and Ankersen are sub-standard imo. Varela, the best RB we have, is out on loan for some reason. Midfield: No complaints here. Zeca is an amazing captain and DM with great mentals and a high natural fitness which means he can go on until 34-35. Two good playmakers with Rasmus Falk and Pep Biel, and an upcoming talent in Stamenic. Stage is a great all round backup for multiple positions. Attack: Wind is our number one man up front, probably one of the best DLF's in the game once he reaches full potential. Also no complaints with Fischer and Daramy on the wings, but the squad lacks depth in those positions. Transfers: In: Tim Rönning Age: 21 Nationality: Swedish Club: Elfsborg Position: GK Transfer price: 2M Notes: Model citizen when I got him (dropped down to spirit by now, sadly), lots of room for improvement Sivert Mannsverk Age: 18 Nationality: Norwegian Club: Sogndal Position: CM/DM Transfer price: 1.1M Notes: Fairly professional, lots of room to grow, usually one of my first signings Casper Hoyer Age: 25 Nationality: Danish Club: AGF Position: DL Transfer price: 1.2M Notes: Very all round full back, resolute personality, great set piece taker Wahid Faghir: Age: 17 Nationality: Danish Club: Vejle Position: ST Transfer price: 425k Notes: Turned into an amazing AF in my beta save, after which I sold him for almost 50M to Juve. He then moved on to PSG and I believe Man United. Mads Fagerli Halsoy: Age: 18 Nationality: Norwegian Club: Bodo/Glimt Position: CM Transfer price: 500k Notes: One of many Norwegian prospects in FM21 Isak Bergmann Johannesson: Age: 17 Nationality: Icelandic Club: IFK Norrköping Position: MC, ML Transfer price: 2.8M Notes: Expensive but looks amazing, resolute personality as well. Has five more positions in which he is accomplished, very versatile. Filip Bundgaard: Age: 16 Nationality: Danish Club: Randers FC Position: AMC, AMR, ST Transfer price: 850k Notes: Ridiculous mental and technical attributes at that age, lots of work on his physicals. Potential world beater if I can get those up high enough. Matias Arezo: Age: 18 Nationality: Uruguayan Club: River Plate de Montevideo Position: ST Transfer price: 1.6M Notes: I have a soft spot for South American talent, especially non-Brazilian/Argentine. Isak Pettersson: Age: 23 Nationality: Swedish Club: IFK Norrköping Transfer price: Free Notes: Backup for Rönning, nothing more Out: Robert Mudrazija: 3.9M to AS Roma Karl-Johan Johnsson: 1.8M to Al-Wahda Kamil Wilczek: 1M to Metz Nicolaj Thomsen: 525k to Auxerre Stephan Andersen: 88k to Reims Lots of loan Competitions: 3F Superliga: Went like a whirlwind through the competition, finishing the regular season without a single defeat and 17 points ahead of second placed Midtjylland. Struggled a teeny bit more during the Championship Group but was still crowned champions 12 points ahead of them. Sydbank Pokalen: Almost stumbled in the semifinal first leg at home against AGF, going 0-2 down but rescued a draw and beat them soundly 0-3 away. Edged a very narrow game in the cup final against, again, Mydtjylland. EURO Cup: No CL as Mydtjylland were last year's champions. We beat Craiova, Göteborg and Liberec on our way to the group stage, where we were drawn with Sparta Prague, Ferencvaros and Granada. Started with a very disappointing home draw against the Czech giants (who actually outplayed us in our two meetings), but still managed to finish first thanks to not losing a single game (3W, 3D). We then managed to pull off an upset as we knocked out Bayern Leverkusen (2-2 draw away, 2-1 win at home, 3 goals from Wind) but got disappointly knocked out by Dinamo Zagreb in the next round on away goals. Youth intake The standout player from my first youth intake is Lars Larsen, who looks like he could be the next Casper Schmeichel. Other good prospects are Kasper Stokholm (AML), Mads Moldgaard (natural CD but destined to be a striker) and Anders Jorgsensen. The last one will need a lot of tutoring though as he's an unambitious lad. Spoiler Edited January 1, 2021 by KlaaZ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 International football After the end of the 20-21 season, the job as Denmark manager was vacant when Kasper Hjulmand resigned. I applied, took the job interview and, quite surprisingly, was hired. We were in a World Cup qualifying group with Norway, Georgia, Belarus and Switzerland. Unfortunately, things didn't start off too well with a narrow 3-2 loss against our Scandinavian rivals. We bounced back with a win against Georgia and after going out against Holland in the Nations League semis, we beat Germany to third place in the loser finale. A win over Belarus kept our hopes of direct qualification for the World Cup intact but when we lost against the Swiss, it was over. Norway, who beat us again in the final group game, finished first and we were sentenced to the playoffs. In those playoffs, we got a reasonable draw with Greece in the semi finals. Unfortunately, we were already 1-0 down after 3 minutes. A 89 minute equalizer then took us into extra time, where Skov missed a penalty and some Greek who I've never heard of scored the winner in the 118th minute. As I never felt like I was really in control and even the wins against the smaller nations were difficult ones, I did the only thing I could: I resigned. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 Season 2021-2022: Summer transfer window Squad assessment The main takeaways from last season were that we needed fresh blood in the right back position and more competition on both wings. Fischer seems to disappear in games quite often but as I have no realistic backup (Daramy is playing on the right), he kept getting away with it. I'll also be looking for a replacement for Jorgensen, who will return to Fenerbahce after his loan ends. I considered trying to get him on a permanent basis but apart from the ridiculous transfer fee (probably around 8M), he wanted 100k per week in wages according to his agent. Transfers in: Alex Pinto Age: 22 Nationality: Portuguese Club: Farense Position: DR Transfer price: 825k Notes: Will compete with Varela, who returned from loan, for a first team spot. Young perfectionist with room to grow. Spoiler Aimar Sher Age: 18 Nationality: Swedish Club: Hammarby IF Position: MC, accomplished in all three AM slots Transfer price: 2.5M Notes: By default a midfielder but will play primarily on the left wing, competition for Fischer. Should have quite a bit of room to grow left. Spoiler Vilhelm Qvist Age: 16 Nationality: Swedish Club: IF Brommapojkarna Position: DC Transfer price: 450k Notes: I'm slightly worried about his height/jumping reach, but nontheless he will go straight into the first team to replace Jorgensen. Spoiler Kenny Falck Age: 16 Nationality: Norwegian Club: Tromso Position: DC Transfer price: 375k Notes; Picked him up from Tromso as they are my feeder club, which means I take a look at their intake every year. Good personality, one for the future. Spoiler Xadas Age: 23 Nationality: Portuguese Club: Braga Position: AMR/AMC, can also play MC Transfer price: 675k Notes: A player who had amazing potential in FM19 and FM20 IIRC. Belgian side Mouscron, who had him on loan, had a future fee but didn't activate it. Bargain player. Spoiler Burhan Osmani Age: 16 Nationality: Danish Club: FC Midtjylland Position: ST Transfer price: 1.9M Notes: Another one for the future, solid resolute personality and great starting attribute spread. Surprised our rivals let him go so easily. Spoiler Future transfers in: Shopping in South America means players won't join you until they turn 18 (damn laws!), but that doesn't mean you shouldn't strike early when the opportunity presents itself. Hollman Mena Age: 16 Nationality: Colombian Club: Independiente Medellin Position: DC Transfer price: 600k Notes: Will need mentoring so a bit of a gamble but will probably turn into a decent squad player at least. Spoiler Eduardo Ortiz Age: 15 Nationality: Colombian Club: Independiente Medellin Position: AMR Transfer price: 650k Notes: Future replacement for Xadas/Daramy on the wing, if he fulfills his potential. Great dribbler but really needs to work on his technique. Spoiler Militao Age: 16 Nationality: Brazilian Club: SPO Position: AMC Transfer price: 900k Notes; Touted the next Zinho, this kid turned up in my scout reports with a MUST BUY red flag. Spoiler Transfers out: Bryan Oviedo, Andreas Bjelland, Michael Santos and Michael Luftner, who were all surplus to requirement, left the club for around 1M combined. I also sold Mads Fagerli Halsoy to Brighton as his progression really stalled and he didn't impress on loan with a smaller team. We got 725k for him and 50% of the next transfer fee so if he decides to fire after all, we'll profit. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 Season 2021-2022: Winter transfer window Transfers in: None, I was actually pretty happy with the squad this year. Transfers out: With the addition of youth product Lars Larsen, Isak Petterson was redundant in goal and got fed up with his lack of playing time. Bologna offered to take him off our hands for 575k, which we accepted. Marko Stamenic had a very mediocre loan spell at Elfsborg so when Chelsea came sniffing, we made a deal to sell him for a whopping potential 8.75M + 50% on profit from his next transfer. No complaints there, off he went. The worst news is that the big clubs noticed Wind's performances and started a bidding war that lasted throughout January. About ten days before the transfer window closed, the board intervened and accepted two offers, from Dortmund and Inter, for around 18M including bonuses. I protested this and they cancelled the transfer, so I figured I was safe now. Little did I know, last day of the transfer window Inter came back and offered 18.5M, which could go up to 25.5M, and they accepted again (with an apology to me which did nothing to ease my pain, thanks a lot). Gutting as I play with a DLF(A) and he's probably one of the best players in the game for that role. It also makes me worry that the board will let other pivotal players leave for way too low transfer sums. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 (edited) Season 2021-2022: Overview 3F Superliga FC Midtjylland really gave us a run for our money this year. In the regular competition, they were leading the pack for most of the time until I beat them in our head to head game 3-2 and jumped across to first place. Contrary to previous season, we only had a four point margin at the start of the Championship group but, thanks to beating them away in the first game of the playoffs, we finally broke their backs. In the end, we were crowned champions with four games to spare and finished the game ten points ahead of them. Spoiler Sydbank Pokalen The cup run was fairly straightforward at first, beating AC Horsens, Braband IF and in the quarter final AGF over two games. The semifinal looked like a very easy one as we met with surprise outfit Nykobing FC, a second division team who somehow managed to sneak through. I played some youngsters with the idea of still comfortably beating them but made a mistake in doing so. We lost the away game 1-0 and somehow only managed a 1-1 draw at home, due to a defensive error from young central defender Banda. The only bright note was Oskarsson scoring his first senior goal at 17 years of age with a fabulous free kick. Disappointing to say the least. Spoiler Champions League The Danish champion unfortunately doesn't qualify directly for the group stage (yet, because I will try and change that). In the playoffs, we beat Swiss outfit St. Gallen with a 5-1 aggregate, the hightlight being a 4-1 away win with a hattrick from Wind. The group stage itself looked like a very rough patch, as we were drawn with Turkish champions Galatasaray, German vice champions Dortmund and Manchester United. A 3-1 away win against the Turks got us off on a good start and when we surprised Dortmund in our beloved Parken with a 1-0 win, things suddenly looked very bright. We somehow and very undeservedly nicked a point in our home game against Man United, 7/9 halfway. A narrow loss in Manchester (where we once again were outplayed for 90 minutes) set a small dent in our ambitions but thanks to a 3-0 trashing of Gala and Dortmund losing both of their games against United, we were actually qualified for the knockout stage with a game to spare. Going out in style, we again beat the germans in Westfalen Stadium, 2-4 with two goals from an outstanding Xadas. The first knockout round got us in a head to head with Italian side Inter Milan, who later during the winter transfer window stole Wind from us. After a 0-1 loss at home, we quickly went 2-0 down in Giuseppe Meazza. A brace from Johannesson brought us level and one more goal would have gotten us through but in the 93rd minute it was off course Jonas Wind who scored the winner for the Italians. Nontheless, we can be very proud of our European campaign. Spoiler Edited January 2, 2021 by KlaaZ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 Season 2021-2022: Player progress Every season, I will pick a few of my players, obviously the younger ones, and write a brief update on their progression. Isak Johannesson: As you may have read in the first update of this journal, Johannesson was my most expensive transfer, coming over for 2.8M from Swedish first division outfit IFK Norrköping. Despite being only 17, he had already contested 20 games in their first team. The reason for signing Johannesson was threefold. 1) As a young Scandinavian, he fits into the transfer vision that I laid out at the start of the game. It also means he has plenty of room to develop and that I can easily mould him into the type of player that I want him to be. 2) He's a very versatile kid. Isak is a natural in both the ML and MC position but outside of that, he's accomplished in all of the AM strata positions, as well as the left back and wing back. Players who can play multiple positions are always an asset to any squad, and it will guarantuee him plenty of playing time as he can fulfill multiple roles. 3) He has a resolute personality, which means he's professional, determined and ambitious, and in turn makes him more likely to realise his potential. Anyway, here's Isak when I first signed him. Spoiler As you can see, his versatility is impressive and he has a few interesting traits. I want to play him as an MC playmaker so the fact that he dictates the tempo is fine by me. His secondary role would be that of a Mezzala, which suits his two other traits. His more important technicals (passing, first touch, dribbling and technique aren't bad and his mentals are okay as well. Given that he's still young, his physicals don't worry me as they will improve a lot during the next few years. In his first season, Johannesson started in about half of our league games, rotating in and out of the squad for Pep Biel and Rasmus falk on both the AP and Mezzala positions. He didn't contribute much in terms of goals and assists yet but as he was still young, I reckoned this was part of his learning process and never completely glued him to the bench despite his often subpar performances. He also got 8 games in the Euro Cup. After the first season, he had progressed attribute wise to a point where he was at least on par with Pep Biel, although the latter still had a technical advantage. I made the decision to drop the Spaniard and give Isak a first team spot. He started in 24 competition games and seven CL matches and scored a total of seven goals in both combined, as well as assisting three times. This resulted in a 7.1 average rating in the league and an acceptable 6.86 in Europe. Due to his good ratings and his increased playing time, his growth accelerated to the point where, at the end of this season, he's one of the first names on the sheet and labeled as a wonderkid. Spoiler Tomorrow, it will be Bundgaard's turn to take the spotlight, and I'll post a look into our youth academy, which is filled to the brim with talent. Stay tuned! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 (edited) Season 2021-2022: A tour around the youth academy Introduction As in all my games, I try to focus on youth development as much as possible. I feel there's nothing more satisfying in the game than getting a promising youngster in your youth intake and guiding him to become an invaluable asset to your first team. Or your scouts finding a young gem at some obscure club, picking him up for peanuts and then transforming him into one of the very best. At the start of the game, FC Kobenhavn lacks quality when it comes to the setup of the youth infrastructure. With only 'good' youth recruitment and youth facilities, we're trailing all our direct competitors (FC Midtjylland, Brondby IF and FC Nordsjaelland). By the end of the 21-22 season, I already managed to correct that to some extent by upgrading our youth recruitment twice, up to exceptional. We're also in the process of building our second improvement to the youth facilities, which should go a long way. Either way, we have a lot of players who might be able to challenge for a first team spot in the (near) future, given they develop the right way. Meet the gang! Meet the players When first starting out, there are a few prospects to keep a very close eye on. The biggest talent in Kobenhavn's youth ranks is probably Silas Andersen, a young midfielder who, with the right tutoring, could become a solid first team regular. Apart from that, we have two striker prospects who are close to joining the A-team. Oskarsson was already rewarded with a few cup games and even two league starts after we clinched the title last season. Jeffrey Adjei-Broni was loaned out to second division team HB Koge last season, where he scored eight goals in 23 games and helped them win promotion to the 3F Superliga. I'm watching their progression closely because, with the departure of Wind, the striker position is very much up for grabs. Faghir has currently been promoted to first choice but he's not making the progress I was expecting of him. Spoiler On the defensive side, there was nothing special when I first took over. I had some hope for Philip Banda but if his growth doesn't accelerate soon, I don't think it's going to happen. Emil Rosberg Moller is another option given that he's only 18. Both will need to improve their personalities as well if they want to stand any chance of making it in professional football. Spoiler On youth intakes and regens I've already slightly touched on my first youth intake, where goalkeeper Lars Larsen was the obvious standout player. Our second batch of youngsters was also impressive with Jakob From as a potential first team right back and young Nigerian midfielder Joseph Antipas. That coupled with the players already at the club and a few young signings left and right (Bundgaard, Falck and Osmani being the most important ones) the future indeed looks bright. Spoiler Meet the future Finally, here's a short overview of some of the kids currently in the pipeline. Filip Bundgaard Age: 18 Nationality: Danish Position: ST/AMC/AMR Notes: Signed at the start of the game with some doubts about his physicals. He's been making good progress over the past two seasons in that regard, which means he'll get quite a few cup games next season and maybe some time off the bench in the league. If not that, I'll see if I can get him a loan so his progress doesn't stall, although I might wait until he turns 19. Getting more and more excited for this lad. Spoiler Lars Larsen Age: 17 Nationality: Danish Position: GK Notes: I keep mentioning him, and with good reason. Lars is dubbed the new Peter Schmeichel and judging by his attributes and progress, he might become even better. Played cup games last season and will probably do so again this year. If he improves enough, he'll start rotating with Rönning until he completely phases him out in a season or two. Spoiler Burhan Osmani Age: 16 Nationality: Danish/Albanian Position: ST Notes: I've talked about Oskarsson and Adjei-Broni, but this kid is probably the biggest striker prospect I have and may outshine them both soon. Given that he's only 16, I may not bring him into the first team just yet but he more and more seems to be ready. Won't be long now. Spoiler Jakob From Age: 16 Nationality: Danish Position: DR Notes: I traditionally struggle to find talented players for my full back positions so I was very, very happy when I was told of a great right back prospect in the next youth intake. Jakob needs to work on his technicals but mentally, he's in a great place. High determination and leadership make him a potential captain and dressing room leader, especially in combination with his bravery and teamwork. The only thing that worries me is his low aggression, which may become a liability as a defender. Spoiler Kenny Falck Age: 17 Nationality: Norwegian Position: DC Notes: A prospect I picked up from my feeder club Tromso. His potential rating wasn't the best when I signed him but I was optimistic because of his personality and attribute spread. I can see him become a first team regular in a few years time if he improves on his technical ability. Spoiler Vilhelm Qvist Age: 17 Nationality: Swedish Position: DC Notes: Not really youth anymore, since he's been a first team player from the day he arrived, but still worth a mention. An unpolished gem who can improve a lot, and will hopefully be a defensive rock for years to come. Spoiler Edited January 3, 2021 by KlaaZ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 It's going to be one of those seasons it seems. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 4, 2021 Author Share Posted January 4, 2021 Season 2022-2023: Wheeling and dealing Squad assessment Except for the blip in the Sydbank Pokalen, we had a very good season, winning our second title in a row and managing to qualify for the knockout stages of the CL from a tough group. That said, the second half of the season was arguably tougher once we lost Jonas Wind. Given that I have at least five strikers who can potentially challenge for a first team spot (Oskarsson, Faghir, Arezo, Bundgaard and Osmani), I won't bring in a big money replacement as I want to give some kids plenty of game time. We did get a transfer kitty of roughly 20M and the board wanted us to spend big. Transfers in: Tom Stampe Age: 17 Nationality: Danish Club: Randers FC Position: AMC Transfer price: 1.7M Notes: Retraining him as a MC with a Mezzala role, hoping that he will prove to become a regular somewhere down the line. Spoiler Odin Thiago Holm Age: 19 Nationality: Norwegian Club: Valerenga Position: MC/AMC Transfer price: 9M Notes: The board wanted me to spend big and this kid had been on my list for a while. Great personality and good attributes, should go straight into the first team. This also means that I will probably move Mannsverk to the DM role regularly to start replacing Zeca, who turns 34 in August. Spoiler Transfers out: Nothing spectacular here, which is good news. There was a lot of interest in Arezo, who started into his final contract year, but as nobody made an offer he signed a new deal that will keep him here a while longer. I'm hoping to make a healthy profit from selling him as he's not really part of my first team plans. Apart from that, Ankersen and Bartolec were both surplus to requirements, so I shipped them both to Crotone and AA Gent respectively. The total transfer sum of both together was 2.7M. Sten Grytebust left on a free to Lazio. Finally, we loaned out a few players who got to an age where they need playing time to keep growing. Bundgaard was loaned out to BK Häcken (great training facilities and Swedish first division) and is doing well so far, Emil Rosberg Moller moved to French second division team Clermont and Adjei-Broni went looking for game time at AaB. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 4, 2021 Author Share Posted January 4, 2021 Season 2022-2023: A rough first half 3F Superliga We start off well enough with two big margin away victories at HB Koge (0-3) and AGF (1-5). Xadas, playing as an IF(A) on the right, scores fives goals over the two encounters. After a narrow home loss to rivals Brondby IF (0-1) results are less predictable and we drop points again two weeks later, losing away at OB. A resounding 5-0 win at home against Vejle makes me believe we are coming back up, but in most games we struggle to finish our chances. Luckily, FC Midtjylland have not had the same rocket start they had last season and are only two points ahead. The turnaround comes in our home game against them. After a difficult 25 minutes Xadas opens the score from the penalty spot, and in the second half Mannsverk and Daramy, in the last minute of stoppage time, make it 3-0. One week later we trash HB Koge again at home 6-1, the highlight being a remarkable hattrick by central defender Qvist, still only 17 at that point. And more importantly, we're in first place at the break, five points ahead of SonderjyskE. Spoiler We have an early winter break due to the World Cup being played, which brings us some much needed rest and gives us some time to think about whether or not to get an additional striker. Both Faghir and Oskarsson have been getting plenty of game time but the first only scored one goal in five starts and the latter didn't score a single out of seven (but did contribute five assists, which I'm happy with seeing as I'm playing a DLF). The good news is that Bundgaard's loan runs out at the end of November so giving him a chance is also a possibility. Champions league In all honesty, it wasn't our finest European campaign, to put it lightly. The good news is that we had two CL slots this year, with both ourselves and Midtjylland having to go through several qualifying rounds first. We beat Ferencvaros and Astana on our way to the group stage and surprisingly, our Danish compatriots managed to qualify as well, beating Dynamo Kiev (with a 0-5 away win!), LASK and Rangers. Unfortunately, the draw was tough on both of us. Whilst they were seeded from the 4th group and got PSG, Barcelona and Lazio, I'd hoped us being seeded third would leave us with a beatable team from group 4. But alas, it wasn't to be. Spoiler The thing is, our performances weren't actually that bad. In our first game, away in Napels, things could have been very differently. But just like in the league, we were having trouble finding the back of the net. And both at home against Napoli and in Sociedad, we were the better team. But at the end of the day, the group table after six games said it all. Spoiler Defensively, nine goals conceded isn't great but it isn't terrible either. But we only scored one goal in six games, which makes it impossible to get any kind of result. We'll have to do better next year, as I want to at least get into the Europa League in the spring to maybe have an outside chance at some international silverware. FC Midtjylland didn't fare much better but they also managed to steal a point against Lazio (and scored four goals during their campaign). Sydbank Pokalen Not much to say here. We beat rivals FC Nordsjaelland, who were surpringly relegated last season, and Brondby IF on our way to the quarter final, where we'll play two legs against AC Horsens. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 6, 2021 Author Share Posted January 6, 2021 Well, it's a lot closer than the last two seasons but at least we're still ahead. Spoiler And it actually gets even better because.. Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 6, 2021 Author Share Posted January 6, 2021 (edited) Season 2022-2023: Winter transfer window Transfers in: Miltao Age: 18 Nationality: Brazilian Club: SPO Position: AMC Transfer price: 900k Notes: Already announced in one of the previous update, but Miltao finally arrives from Brazil. Will gradually be introduced to the first team. Spoiler Luis Rickards Age: 18 Nationality: American Club: Portland Position: DC Transfer price: Free Notes: I signed him on a hunch as he wasn't completely scouted, and will probably turn out to be a fluke. You win some, you lose some! Spoiler Frank Wujewitsch Age: 17 Nationality: German Club: Bayern Munich Position: MC Transfer price: 4M Notes: I had some money to burn and was very much recommended by my scouts. Great attribute spread but needs to work on his technicals. I love his bravery and aggression though. Spoiler Transfers out: There was a lot of interest for some players, especially Hoyer and Nelsson. The interest is mostly Chinese though, so I'm fairly confident to keep them aboard. I also got a monster bid of 25M for Daramy, which I rejected because he's still only 21 and Danish. The good news is that, contrary to last year, the board didn't intervene to accept because the offer was too good to turn down, possibly thanks to the financial improvement which the CL has brought us. Almost forgot, with the return of Bundgaard I had three young strikers compete for one spot. Faghir didn't make the cut, he was sent off on loan to Molde where he can hopefully improve his game and come back a better player. Andersen also moves on a temporary basis to IFK Norrköping to get some match experience. Edited January 6, 2021 by KlaaZ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 6, 2021 Author Share Posted January 6, 2021 Season 2022-2023: It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings 3F Superliga As revealed in a previous update, we went into the winter break five points ahead of our nearest follower. Because of the World Cup, we restarted on January 1st, away at rivals Brondby IF. The break didn't seem to have done us much good, as we deservedly go back home to Kopenhagen with a 2-1 loss in the bag. Four days later we drop points again, this time at home to AGF. In reality, we actually win a point as we were 0-2 down after half an hour. Bundgaard, returned from loan at FC Hacken, scores the equalizer. When one week later we trash Silkeborg 3-0, we seem relaunched but a horror game against Vejle casts some more doubts. We are the better team, create plenty of chances but once again find it difficult to score while our opponents are more clinical. We lose 4-1. The shock defeat makes me rethink our tactics, with succes. I drop Bundgaard from the striker position to the attacking midfield, effectively playing without a striker. Result: a five win streak with no goals conceded, followed by a deserved draw away at Midtjylland in the last game of the regular season. We head into the Championship Group four points ahead of our rivals, who are once again in second place. Two wins in our first two (away) games put us in a great place in the race for the crown, but for the third time this season we fail to beat Brondby, drawing 0-0 at home, and also drop points away at Esjberg fB one week later. As a result, we are level in points with Midtjylland, leading only by goal difference. Our next game, at home against our rivals, is a resounding succes. We send them back to Jutland 3-0, in a game where we could have scored five or six, at least. Five games to go, three points ahead. Both Midtjylland and ourselves win the next three games, in which Xadas scores four goals. We can clinch the title at home against Esjberg, but despite having 19 shots on goal (against zero from their side), we fail to find the net. On the other side, Midtjylland beat Vejle 0-2, which leaves us one point ahead, one game to go... Away at Midtjylland. Luckily for us, all the important players are fit and for once all out to kill. We miss the first few chances but when Xadas (again him) scores after 25 minutes, the dam breaks. Miltao makes it 2-0 with a fabulous screamer from the edge of the area and just before half time Bundgaard first slots away a penalty kick and one minute later even makes it 0-4. Game, set, match. Simsir saves the honour for Midtjylland with a fantastic strike into the bottom right corner fifteen minutes before the end of the game, but that's as far as they get. Sealing the title away at your arch rivals on the final day of the season, satisfaction! Spoiler Sydbank Pokalen In the quarter final, we beat AC Horsens in two legs on a 5-0 aggregate. Bundgaard scores twice. The semi final brings us Midtjylland. In the first leg at home, Bundgaard levels one minute after we concede from a penalty, but in the 36st minute Inui puts our rivals ahead again. Not for the first time this season we create plenty of good chances, but our finishing lets us down, 1-2 is the final result. The game at Midtjylland starts off badly when Nelsson scores an owngoal after 25 minutes. He rectifies his mistake in the 40th minute when he scores an excellent header from a corner and in the 87th minute, when it once again looked like we were gonna rue all the missed chances, Sher finally found the net to send us into extra time and, unfortunately, penalties. Both teams score their first seven (!!) spot kicks, but when Johannesson scores and Larsen stops the attempt from Inui, we're into the final. That final is one to remember because when we do find our scoring boots, there's no limit to what we can do. Our first four shots on target result in as many goals. Miltao, Bundgaard, Johannesson and Holm all get their name on the scoresheet. In the second half, Miltao manages to get a second and finally, goalkeeper Rinne has some bad luck when he stops an attempt but get the clearance kicked against him, into his own net. Final score: 6-0 and the double is ours. Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 6, 2021 Author Share Posted January 6, 2021 (edited) 2023-2024: Transfer news No offical news yet, but our youth brigade is starting to draw a lot of (unwanted) attention. Both Rönning (Fulham, Leicester, Marseille, Wolves, Watford) and Larsen (Lazio, Leicester, Marseille, Watford, Fulham) are getting a lot of bids. Rönning has a contract until the summer of 2024 and we'll start negotiations soon. He has a minimum fee release clause of 40M now and I'm a bit worries that he'll want that lowered. Larsen has the same problem, currently claused at 120M (well negotiated) with two years left on his contract. I've offered him better terms but he wants a 25.5M escape fee and that is way too low. Spoiler Qvist is in a similar position. He did sign a new contract until the end of 2025 but had a mandatory release fee of 25.5M for clubs in continental competitions. From what I remember, that clause can only be activated if I'm not in Europe so I've got my fingers crossed that I can keep him around as long as possible because he looks like the real deal (just like Larsen). The interest in him is more substantial as well, with the likes of Liverpool, United, Real Madrid and Monaco showing interest (minor, for now). Spoiler Furthermore, there's interest for Bundgaard (Brighton, Lens, Udinese), Nelsson (seven clubs, including Milan, Roma and Schalke) and Daramy (Fulham). Here's to hoping I can keep the squad together for at least one more season, hopefully getting some success in Europe now. Spoiler Edited January 6, 2021 by KlaaZ 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemoche Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 Good save great youth signings !!! What nations did u load ?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 8, 2021 Author Share Posted January 8, 2021 13 hours ago, Lemoche said: Good save great youth signings !!! What nations did u load ?? Hi Lemoche! Here's an overview, I loaded quite a few because I like to keep my options open and I'd really love to try my hands on building something in a (smaller) South American league or Portugal as a gateway to South America at some point. I had a great journeyman save in FM17 (I think, where I started at Oud-Heverlee Leuven (which is my hometown team, season ticket holder), moved to PSG next, where I got bored and accepted an offer from Sao Paulo. I really loved it there actually, Brazil is fantastic for finding and developing young talent, although you have to be realistic and know that you can't hang on to them forever. Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 8, 2021 Author Share Posted January 8, 2021 (edited) Season 2023-2024: Transfer news About success... We've had a very successful tranfser window for once. We finalised the deal on one player who will go straight into the first team, picked up another for the near future and signed a few promising youngsters. Most importantly, we didn't lose any first team players despite the widespread interest and I can already announce that, after three failed attempts where he wanted a mandatory release clause of 25M, we finally managed to reach an agreement to extend Lars Larsen's contract to 2027 with option for another year, no release clause! That means that practically, he'll stay a FC Kobenhavn player until he's 23, at least, because I have no intention of letting him go. Spoiler Anyway, a transfer overview! Transfers in: Santiago Baggio Age: 18 Nationality: Argentinian Club: Arsenal (Sarandi) Position: AMR/AMC Transfer fee: 2.5M Notes: Baggio was actually an end of contract signing but was unwilling to enter discussion until he got closer to the end of his contract. He was already drumming up interest from at least six major European clubs so I made a transfer offer to his club which opened him up for talks (maybe a glitch?). Either way, 2.5M is peanuts for someone of his ability and potential. Potential world beater. Spoiler Johnny Pulgarin Age: 18 Nationality: Colombian Club: Envigado FC Position: AMC, with the potential for a striker position Transfer fee: 1.5M Notes: Once again a great scout recommendation, but signed for the future. Will get some game time over the course of the season but has to improve to claim a first team spot. I'm swarming in attacking midfielders now though. Spoiler Daniel Thomsen Age: 17 Nationality: Danish Club: OB Position: MC Transfer fee: end of contract Notes: Lots of potential but needs to improve on his personality and physicals. Low risk signing as his contract was running out at OB. Spoiler Lars Sommer Age: 16 Nationality: Danish Club: AaB Position: AMC Transfer fee: End of contract Notes: Same situation as Thomsen, more of a signing of opportunity than anything else. Spoiler Transfers out There are no permanent leavers with the exception of four youth players who weren't good enough. Lots of loan though! Molgaard (AaB), Moller (Clermont), Lerche (Falkenbergs FF), Oskarsson (IFK Göteborg), Osmani (Verona), Pep Biel (Verona), Adjei-Broni (RC Lens) and Fleckner (Lyngby. And missed opportunities... Despite having had a few solid transfer windows now, we also missed one major opportunity which is still haunting me. In autumn of 2022, my scouts notify me of a young player in the Lyngby youth squad who has some skill and has an expiring contract on 31/12/2022. When we go to take a closer look, it quickly becomes clear that with the right guidance, this kid could go very far. There's only one problem: Historically, Lyngby and Kobenhavn are fierce rivals and because the kid came through their youth ranks, he doesn't want to open talks with us. We make several attempts nontheless, but to no avail and in the end, RB Leipzig snatches him up for free. This is him now, having just signed a new dazzling contract at the age of 17. I'm still hoping that he would somehow get unsettled, maybe due to lack of playing time (as I don't think he warrants the regular starter playtime they promised him) or a broken promise somewhere else. If he does, I will still try to pick him up no matter the price. Spoiler And then there is an Icelandic kid who for some reason came through the youth ranks at Tottenham and who I've unsuccessfully been trying to unsettle. He's on a five year contract so I don't think it will ever happen. Spoiler Edited January 8, 2021 by KlaaZ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 8, 2021 Author Share Posted January 8, 2021 Season 2023-2024: The squad Formation I've been playing around with different formations for the past three seasons, evolving from a DM 433 past a quickly binned 442 to finally settle on two setups, the 4231 wide and a bit more specific 424 strikerless (with 4 AM's). The latter has had some great success on occasion, especially if we manage to get ahead because it focuses on runners from the attacking midfield positions and is very well suited to hit teams on the break and attack space. The players Goalkeepers Rönning is technically still my first choice goalkeeper, but he's seeing more and more rotation with Lars Larsen now that the latter has signed a new contract and considering how well he's developed. By the end of this season, Larsen should be first choice and Rönning will be playing smaller games and cups. Spoiler Left back Possibly our weakest position. I'm still looking for someone who can replace Hoyer but he's a very solid, all round player with a great cross so it's not the easiest search. Ideally, one of my next youth intakes will solve the problem but since my last one was pretty much crap I'm not having high hopes. Boilesen, his backup, left the club after his contract ran out (forgot to mention that in my previous post apparently), because he had, for the second time, damaged cruciate ligaments and was out for 8 months. The good news is that Johannesson is versatile enough to play there when Hoyer's fatigued, so for now the problem is solved. Spoiler Right back We have the same issue on right back, but that will solve itself from the youth setup. Pinto is still my number one man and has been doing very solid for the past two seasons but his offensive contribution is lacking. Varela is still at the club at well and is his first backup (and third backup for the left back position), but he's not getting any younger. The good news is, Jakob From made his debut because of suspensions and injuries in the CL qualifiers at 17 years old and could be a first team regular before long. And in even better news, he also became a natural on the LB position. Spoiler Central defense Victor Nelsson is turning 25 this year and will soon reach his prime. He's the first name on the sheet usually, playing in a BPD role and orchestrating the defense. Next to him, Swedish wonderboy Vilhelm Qvist is coming up strong. He has a 25.5M release clause for clubs in continental competitions but as long as I qualify for Europe, those can't be activated I believe. Great mentals and physicals, just lacking aerially. THeir rotation option is Kenny Falck who has been getting quite a bit of game time since January. New blood for this position is priority, together with the LB position. I'm considering retraining Zeca as well. Spoiler Central midfield A position with lots of options, apart from dropping an AMC down a line. Zeca has been important here and on the DM position for years but age is finally starting to catch up as he turned 35 in August and tore his hamstring in the final game against FC Midtjylland last season. For the more defensive position it's usually Mannsverk that plays nowadays, as he combines solid defensive attributes with great strength, stamina, work rate, bravery and aggression. Youth player Silas Andersen also developed really well and has actually started in eight games this season, also scoring a great header from a corner. At only 19 years of age, there's still room for growth. On the other side, the playmaking position is very much up for grabs with quite a few players claiming their stake. Johannesson, Mannsverk and Holm all have the quality to play here and recently, Frank Wujewitsch made his debut as well. Spoiler Attacking midfield and striker These are probably the positions where I have a lot of luxury to choose. Most players are at least accomplished in multiple roles, with Bundgaard as a prime example (natural AMR, AMC and ST). With Baggio, Xadas and Daramy we have some amazing quality on the right wing, and Sher has been doing quite well on the left. The only disappointment is that over the past seasons, I've never gotten Fischer to perform. He has a recurring torn hamstring as well but despite that, he only got 14 games last season, only providing two goals an three assists and having three horrible performances in Europe (6.15 average). In the central AMC slot, I can have no complaints. Baggio can play there, as can Miltao and Xadas. As said, Bundgaard is also a natural attacking midfielder, as is Holm, and finally, the arrival of Jhonny Pulgarin completes the long list of talent. If I play a striker, Bundgaard is my number one man. If necessary, I can rotate him with Daramy or Fischer. Arezo is also still at the club but he has a damaged spine so it's unlikely he'll be playing much this season. Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
karanhsingh Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 Team is looking very good. KUTGW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemoche Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 10 hours ago, KlaaZ said: Hi Lemoche! Here's an overview, I loaded quite a few because I like to keep my options open and I'd really love to try my hands on building something in a (smaller) South American league or Portugal as a gateway to South America at some point. I had a great journeyman save in FM17 (I think, where I started at Oud-Heverlee Leuven (which is my hometown team, season ticket holder), moved to PSG next, where I got bored and accepted an offer from Sao Paulo. I really loved it there actually, Brazil is fantastic for finding and developing young talent, although you have to be realistic and know that you can't hang on to them forever. Reveal hidden contents Woooow what pc do use?!! Love tour save Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 9, 2021 Author Share Posted January 9, 2021 On 08/01/2021 at 15:52, karanhsingh said: Team is looking very good. KUTGW Cheers! Still putting some building blocks in place, like the back positions, but all in all I'm very happy with the progress we've made so far. 18 hours ago, Lemoche said: Woooow what pc do use?!! Love tour save Nothing superfancy really, just a prebuilt system with a decent processor and GFX card and 16GB RAM. Does what it has to do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 9, 2021 Author Share Posted January 9, 2021 Season 2023-2024, first half: The season of progress? 3F Superliga We start off like a rocket with five wins and more importantly, no goals conceded. Andersen scores his first goal, and we beat FC Midtjylland at home 2-0 in the fifth game. A tiny blip at home to OB, 1-1, is followed by four more stable victories. In the fifth game, we trash FC Norsjaelland, who are promoted back after being crowned champions in the second division last seaon, 5-1 and five days later we also absolutely destroy AC Horsens, 5-0. Four games left until the winter break, of which we win three but have another home game blip against Randers (1-1). I'm a bit worried about the fact that we conceded in every one of those games but in all honesty, it seemed more a stroke of bad luck considering our opponent's xG is usually still very low. Either way, we can be very happy with our performances in the league so far, with two games in hand compared to second placed AaB. We have no prolific goalscorer, unfortunately, but on the other hand our goals are very well spread out in the squad. Xadas is once again the top performer, Baggio has hit the ground running and surprisingly, Andersen is doing really well in the CM(D) position and is pretty much a first team player now, getting plenty of starts. Spoiler Champions League We have to play an extra qualifying round because Danish football dropped in the rankings, and our first opponent is Dundalk, from Ireland. They get wooped with a 4-0 aggregate. Our best performance is in the next round against Astana, who we manage to embarrass at their home turf with a resounding 2-7 victory. Highlight of the game is a hattrick by Bundgaard. The final team that stands in our way is IFK Göteborg but another hattrick from Bundgaard in a simple 5-0 home victory pretty much seals the deal. I send the B-squad to Sweden, who manage to lose 1-0 despite 19 shots on goal. On to the group stage we go. The draw is once again not our friend. We're seeded third so the teams from pot one (Man City) and pot two (Inter) were to be expected, but when we draw Celtic from pot four I'm not too chuffed. Nontheless, I feel that, if we can be a bit more efficient than last year, we should at least still be in Europe come spring. We start the campaign away at City where we lose 2-0. A deserved defeat although it could have been very different, with both Qvist and Bundgaard hitting the woodwork. We bounce back with a very strong 3-0 victory against the Scots and three weeks later, we surprise everyone when Nelsson and Bundgaard gives us a 2-0 lead against Inter. We manage to keep a clean sheet for another three points and are in a great position now since Inter also lost their home game against City but on 08/11, we get put back in our place by the Italians when we lose 3-0 away. Our first half performance was actually very good but in the first minute of stoppage time, Bastoni scored a tap in after a set piece scrimmage and 15 minutes into the second half, he scored again from a set piece. Anyway, this meant that we had to grab at least something against City at home and when Foden put them ahead in the 53rd minute, things were looking bleak. But once again Baggio saved the day for us. When Mannsverk put him through one on one, he scores the equalizer with a lovely chip. In the final game against Celtic, a draw is enough to at least qualify for Europe after the winter break but things get even better. Manchester City does its job and wins its home game against Inter, so our draw (thanks to a disallowed 90 minute goal from Celtic) puts us through to the knockout stage of the CL, where we will meet the other Mancunian giant, Manchest United. We still didn't score as much as I would have liked us to but defensively, we were much more stable than last season when we finished our campaign with only a single point. Spoiler Sydbank Pokalen Only two games played here so far, not the most interesting ones. We beat Nykobing FC (who eliminated us in the semifinals two seasons ago) 3-0 away and also eliminated Silkeborg IF 3-1. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted January 9, 2021 Author Share Posted January 9, 2021 Season 2023-2024: Winter transfer window Intro Once again, our good results lead to a lot of transfer interest. We refuse offers up to 55M for Qvist, who will receive a new contract proposal once all of this dies down. He's currently entering his last year of contract and doesn't want to enter negotiations yet but I'm fairly confident of signing him on a new, long-term deal. I just hope he doesn't want a low release clause. In other news, Miltao signs a new deal that will keep him in Denmark until the summer of 2028. He wanted a mandatory 25.5M release clause but I've managed to put an expiration date of 31/12/2025 on it. Other players who sign a new deal are Bundgaard (30/06/2027), Hoyer (31/12/2027) and Rönning (30/06/2027). Faghir and Oskarsson both return from loan. Faghir became champions with Molde in Norway, scoring 18 goals in the process. Oskarsson's spell at Göteborg was less successful. They both go on loan again, this time to Freiburg and Bielefeld, both active in the Bundesliga. Finally, the transfer window closed already but there may be bad news incoming from Johannesson. Apparently, Chinese teams can still do permanent transfers and he still had a 22M release clause which was activated by Shandong. I tried to get him to prolong his contract but the wage demands were really over the top (somewhere in the 60K per week region) for a player of his calibre so I'm hoping he will just reject their contract offer. If not, I will have a left back problem if something happens with Hoyer. On the incoming side, apart from the deals we've already made (see below for details), we're also looking at a young Finnish goalkeeper who came through the youth ranks at Willem II and I'm still working on getting the Icelandic and Danish youngsters at Tottenham and RB Leipzig to Kobenhavn. They're both interested but their clubs are so far not interested in selling so it will take a while. I'm also looking more and more towards South America as my last youth intake was disappointing and the next one also doesn't look too great. Spoiler Anyway, on to the permanent deals! Transfers in Fransisco Pedraza Age: 19 Nationality: Argentinian Club: Boca Juniors Position: DC Transfer fee: 7M, buyout clause Notes: I finally found my left footed ball playing defender in Argentina. Needs to work on his marking and maybe his strength a little but all in all, a very complete package for this price, with room to improve. This means that I now have four decent players that can play as a central defender with Qvist, Nelsson, Falck and this guy. Spoiler Diego Trujillo Age: 18 Nationality: Colombian Club: La Equidad Position: MC/AMC Transfer fee: 3M Notes: One for the future, but I couldn't resist at that price. I love the combination of technique, dribbling, flair and first touch, which means he's someone who could easily unlock the midfield. He'll move on loan to Spezia until the end of the season. Spoiler André Keltoft Age: 17 Nationality: Danish Club: Vejle Position: ST Transfer fee: 450k Notes: Came very well recommended by my scouts and because of the transfer price, we took the chance. Loaned out to Silkeborg to get some minutes. Spoiler Alexander Brandner Age: 17 Nationality: Liechtensteiner (really!) Club: FC Norsjaelland Position: DR Transfer fee: End of contract Notes: Great potential, no risk, obscure nationality, what's not to like about this kid? I already have a great Danish prospect in this position with From but two is always better than one. Great mentals for his age! Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share Posted February 12, 2021 I'm still here, got a bit distracted by WoW Classic again but I managed to finish my season just now so an update will follow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share Posted February 12, 2021 Season 2023-2024, second half: The season of progress! 3F Superliga We start after the winter break the way we ended, not very solid defensively with only one clean sheet in the first five games. Four wins and one draw are very much okay though, so not complaints there. At the end of March, we draw again against Nordsjaelland but take revenge at home ten days later when we trash them 4-0. Ball playing defender Pedraza scores... A hattrick! Unfortunately, this good result is not followed up by more. We draw four of the next five games,, where we fail to find balance. Either we score, but so does the opposition, or we manage to keep a clean sheet but fail to hit home on the other end of the pitch. The good news is, our margin is so big that it doesn't really matter. We become champions, again, with six games to go and finish the season unbeaten with 80 points, 20 points ahead of eternal rivals FC Midtjylland. Spoiler Champions League Domestically, we are clearly dominating. The next step is to step up our game in the European competitions. As stated in the previous update, we managed to sneak into second place in a group with City, Inter and Celtic with only eight points. And the reward was a very tough draw with the other Mancunian giant, United. In a ridiculous game where I abandoned my principles to play a very straightforward 442, Fischer turned up for once and laid the foundation for a very promising 3-1 victory with two goals. Arezo completed the set with the third after 65 minutes but Van de Beek drew one back in the 86th, which still made the return a little tricky. Away at Manchester, we somehow survived the first half despite being outplayed time and time again. And when Arezo scored that very, very important away goal around the hour mark, they just collapsed. Miltao put the icing on the cake in the 89th with a great strike, stunning the Reds and putting us through with a resounding 5-1 aggregate win! On to the quarter final, where we got... Chelsea. Only English top tier teams for us this year, apparently. Unfortunately, it was also the end of the ride for us. We managed to keep it decent at home, and held on to a draw until Zanolio kicked us in the teeth 15 minutes before the end of the game, so we had to try and do the impossible in England and somehow turn around a 1-2 home loss. No more surprise results though. Tomori scored from a corner after 20 minutes and when Abraham made it 2-0 ten minutes later, the game was up. Werner converted a penalty to make it 3-0 and while we had some chances to at least put one back, we we'rent clinical enough to do so. Still, a quarter final was more than I expected and a good foundation to build upon next season, where we can hopefully have a repeat performance. On the other hand, finishing third in the CL group stage might actually give us a chance at a prize in the Euro Cup.. Spoiler Sydbank Pokalen Still not our competition.. We made it to the final where we met FC Midtjylland (surprise surprise) during our bad run of form. 120 minutes of virtually nothing, on to penalties where Pinto and Pulgarin couldn't keep their cool. Not too happy about this. Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted February 13, 2021 Author Share Posted February 13, 2021 The kids are the future Intro As with any save I've played over the past x years, I always get back to the same thing: Building a youthful squad, preferrably with regens, develop them as best as can be and build something on that platform. From my previous updates, you've been able to see that, both through a decent scouting setup and my own youth ranks, the first steps towards this were already taken. Four seasons in, I feel it's time to show you where we stand! Youth intakes Up until now, our youth intakes have been a bit of a mixed bag. The good news is that Lars Larsen, the goalie who came through in the first season, is looking really, really good and will probably be around for a while as he recently signed a new contract that will keep him at the club until the summer of 2027. He's been rotating in and out of the GK spot with Tim Rönning but will in all honesty be my main choice going forward, at the mere age of 19. This is Larsen when he signed his first contract: Spoiler And this is where he's at now: Spoiler Apart from Larsen, full back Jakob From has also been enjoying a run in the first team due to injuries and he hasn't disappointed. I'm happy to say that without any issues, he will also be my first choice in the right back position. Since he's a natural on both flanks, he can even fill the left back position if I ever need him to, as I'm working on a tactic with an inverted WB on that side. Spoiler Further down the line, I have a few kids in the waiting chamber who are not yet ready for a first team spot but may be making their debuts somewhere next season. Joseph Antipas is the most important one, a Nigerian midfielder with great physical qualities and a very nice personality. Next to him, I have two potential goalkeepers (we are very spoiled in that position) which makes me consider selling Rönning and using one of them as a backup for Larsen. And finally there's Villads Nielsen, another midfield boy. Spoiler From transfers My main rule of thumb is that I will generally be very cautious when spending money. If I splash on the cash, it will either be on a Scandinavian kid, or someone who will be a straight improvement to the first team. In the Scandinavian department, my best bargains were Qvist and Falck, a Swedish and a Norwegian defender respectively. Qvist came straight into my first team at the age of 17 and has been indispensible ever since. The big clubs come sniffing every year (right now Real Madrid and Milan are showing interest) but he has a contract until the winter of 2027 and has no negative concerns so I'm fairly sure I can keep him at the club for the time being. Falck needed some more time but has also developed surprisingly well and, although he can't claim a starting spot yet (since he's blocked by Qvist and Perlaza), he's been getting game time regularly and getting very good ratings. I already mentioned wanting to play with an inverted wing back on the left and new signing Brandner fits that profile perfectly. This Liechtensteiner came through the youth ranks at Nordsjaelland, after which I picked him up on a free. I wasn't sure what to do with him as I already had From for the right back position but he played the last three games of the season in the aforementioned role and has been a revelation. Only 17 years old, he is set to have a very bright future, hopefully at Parken. Spoiler South American flamboyance On the other end of the pitch, it's all smooth and spicy with my South American connection. Non-regens like Arezo (Uruguay) and Xadas (Portugal) are flanked by the upcoming diamonds Miltao (Brazil), Baggio (Argentina) and Colombian duo Pulgarin and Ortiz. In fact, although I really wanted to see if I could get Bundgaard performing (and get his physicals up enough), I'm getting to the point where I feel like it's not really going to happen and Arezo will replace him. He hasn't been doing to badly and his speed and strength has significantly increased, but I'm afraid it's not going to be enough to perform at the level I expect. Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParanoidBuddha Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 (edited) No updates? Can I ask you how do you scout new players? Edited May 14, 2021 by ParanoidBuddha Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 On 14/05/2021 at 21:19, ParanoidBuddha said: No updates? Can I ask you how do you scout new players? Sorry, I've been AWOL for quite a bit of time. Currently in March 2026 but no more time for updates unfortunately. I leave scouting in the hands of my scouting team so I pretty much go on what they advise me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
karanhsingh Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 31 minutes ago, KlaaZ said: Sorry, I've been AWOL for quite a bit of time. Currently in March 2026 but no more time for updates unfortunately. I leave scouting in the hands of my scouting team so I pretty much go on what they advise me. Did you manage to win anything in Europe? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 29 minutes ago, karanhsingh said: Did you manage to win anything in Europe? Not yet. Managed to get out of the group stages of the CL every season bar one and I'm currently into the quarter finals for the second time, beating Barcelona in the first knockout stage thanks to a great 0-3 win at Camp Nou. City now though, so it'll probably be another year of nothing. The easiest way to get silverware in Europe would probably be to finish third in the group stage and win the Euro Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 It may finally be happening though. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 And the beauty of it is, Harlev is an 18-year old kid straight out of my academy. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
karanhsingh Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 Nice! Champions league is really tough. I am just hoping to win europa at some point at Ujpest. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 6 hours ago, karanhsingh said: Nice! Champions league is really tough. I am just hoping to win europa at some point at Ujpest. Yeah, it's a lot harder than it used to be. I'm not really lucky in the knockout draws either, always getting the biggest teams. Edging closer though! I don't want to jinx it, but if I manage to edge this I'll have qualified from a group with Juve and Chelsea, and beaten Barcelona, City and PSG on the way to the final. That's a hard run. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 8, 2021 Author Share Posted July 8, 2021 IT'S HAPPENING 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 9, 2021 Author Share Posted July 9, 2021 Right, I'll do a very quick and short overview of 2024-2025, which I played months ago, and then do a proper one on 25-26 later tonight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 9, 2021 Author Share Posted July 9, 2021 (edited) Season 2024-2025: Quick recap Transfers In: Tomas Krcik Age: 18 Nationality: Slovak Position: Left winger Club: Zilina Transfer fee: 575k Notes: Big steal, no money for a player with his current ability and potential. Resolute personality as well, with some amazing physicals. Spoiler Out: Wahid Faghir never reached the ability of my first playthrough and was sold to Villareal for a potential total fee of 4.4M. Aimar Sher was surplus to requirements and shipped off to Mainz for a healthy 9.75M. The same goes for Alex Pinto to Atalanta for 6.5M. And finally, because I have two great young goalkeepers, Tim Rönning is allowed to leave. He moves to Ajax for 16M. Apart from that, I have a load of youngsters leaving who will never reach the ability to stake a place in the first team squad. Competitions No big surprises. Won the 3F Superliga with 87 points, 28 ahead of Brondby IF. Also won the cup and once again reached the first knockout stage of the CL after finishing second in a group with FC Bayern, Atletico and Rangers. Lost that first knockout round to Inter. Managed to get a 1-1 draw in Italy but then tripped over my own feet and lost 1-2 at home. Edited July 9, 2021 by KlaaZ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
karanhsingh Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 21 hours ago, KlaaZ said: IT'S HAPPENING Nice!! Final? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 9, 2021 Author Share Posted July 9, 2021 Season 2025-2026: When everything clicks Transfers In: Alvaro Fratta Age: 18 Nationality: Uruguayan Position: Striker Club: Nacional Transfer fee: 1.9M Notes: Has the potential to become an excellent advanced forward but I'm not sure if he'll fit into my system (as I play with either a DLF(A) or a CF(S)). Either way, if he develops nicely we can always make a healthy profit of a future transfer. Spoiler Diego Cascini Age: 18 Nationality: Argentine Position: Right back Club: River Plate Transfer fee: 6.75M Notes: With Alex Pinto leaving, I needed additional cover for the right back position. From is first choice now, with Brandner playing on the left as an inverted wing back, but more quality is always welcome. I'm fairly sure that he may become better than From but as the latter is from my own academy, it's possible that he'll keep his first team spot. Spoiler Matti Seppä Age: 20 Nationality: Finnish Position: Goalkeeper Club: Willem II Transfer fee: Free Notes: One of the best bargains I've done. Matti had been on my list for a long time, being Scandinavian and a great talent. He came through the youth ranks at Willem II and I'm unsure why they didn't renew his contract but in all honesty, I couldn't care less. Larsen is quite the better goalkeeper but it's good to have a solid backup who, if I give him enough game time, will never complain. Spoiler Thierno Fontaine: Age: 20 Nationality: French Position: Central midfielder Club: AS Monaco Transfer fee: 50M Notes: May have gone 'slightly' overboard on this one but Silas Andersen, my first choice for the CM(D) position moved to AA Gent on 31/8 so I panicked a bit. he performed very well though, and may have been one of the missing links in the European games I just couldn't edge before. Spoiler Gardar Logi Prastarson Age: 20 Nationality: Icelandic Position: Central midfielder Club: Tottenham Transfer fee: Loan Notes: Loaned him to have a little more squad depth. He's been on my list for a while now, being Scandinavian, but unfortunately he came through the youth ranks at Tottenham and they have no intention of letting him go (for now). Will try to keep loaning him to see if I can get him to run down his contract. Spoiler 3F Superliga Not our best season in the competition (also because I played the B-team quite often due to what happened in Europe), but easy champions nontheless. Hit a very nasty drop of form right at the end of the regular competition (only one win in 6 games, and even two losses in a row against rival Midtjylland and Brondby) which dragged on for a few games into the Championship stage until I switched my tactics around. Finished on 78 points, nine less than the season before but did better in both goals scored and goals conceded compared to the previous season. Sydbank Pokalen Another cup win, the highlights being an 8-1 trashing of Nykobing with youth product Kristensen scoring four goals, and an empathic 5-0 win over Brondy in the semis. We beat AGF in the final 2-0. Hurray, more silverware! Champions League What you've all been waiting for! Due to recent results, we only have one playoff to go before the group stages. Drew RB Salzburg, not the easiest of opponents, but a narrow 1-2 away win laid the foundation to qualify for the group stage. Once again, we got a hard group with Chelsea, Juve and Spartak Moscow. I'm very proud to say that we finished first despite the odds, getting 13 points. Chelsea were level with a better goal difference but the results between us were in my favour (2-2 away, 1-0 at home). Fun fact, I was 0-2 up at Stamford Bridge but they equalized in the 95th minute. The first game of the knockout stage was away at Barcelona, and this is where everything finally seemed to fall into place and where I started feeling like this could be the year. 36 minutes in we were 0-3 up at the Nou Camp through Miltao, Baggio and Krcik. Despite Barça pushing, we held onto that result and a dry 0-0 (which we also deserved to win) at home took us to the quarter finals. Lucky as we are, we once again got a worthy opponent: The new giants from Manchester. At the Etihad we started really well, with Arezo putting us in the lead after only 12 minutes. City started increasing the pressure but a golden substitution edged it. Harlev came on for Miltao and scored a marvellous free kick into the top corner. When Sterling pulled one back on 74 minutes we just had to try and survive, and survive we did. A similar scenario at home, but with a better performance all round from us. Krcik put us ahead after just four minutes and although Parrott equalised right at the start of the second half, we kept playing well and rewarded ourselves with Baggio's winner in the 86th. 4-2 aggregate and a very happy coach! Unfortunately, the draw still didn't favour us, we got the French superstart ensemble of PSG in the semis as our last roadblock to a first final. The good news is, we started away again and although we didn't play particularly well, we weren't completely overrun and managed to steal a very narrow win when Baggio put us ahead fifteen minutes before the final whistle. The return was not a game for the weakhearted. We went ahead THREE times (through Holm, Krcik and Baggio) and PSG managed to equalize every single time. One more goal and we would've been out on away goals but we held firm (and deservedly so based on the game statistics) to qualify for the final! As you may already have guessed from my previous posts, the final was played against the last of the giants, the illustrious Real Madrid. We once again started brilliantly, Arezo scoring the opening goal after only 17 minutes but when Jovic equalized halfway through the second period, we really started choking. Lucky for us, Mbappé and Boadu didn't have the best games of their careers so we survived first until extra time and then until the penalty shootout. And once again, the screenshots above gave it away: When first Jovic and then Rodrygo missed their penalties, Brander kept his nerve and slotted home the most important goal of his career. Kobenhavn Champions League winners! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 9, 2021 Author Share Posted July 9, 2021 The squad and the future Meet the golden generation When I started this career, I had my mind set on trying to win silverware with as many Scandinavian players as possible. Although I got a bit carried away on South American talent, I restrained myself mostly to other nations than Argentina and Brazil and still have a solid core of Northerners. And most importantly, if all goes to play I'll have at four to six players from my own academy in the starting eleven in two or three seasons: Larsen, From, Harlev, Hansen, Geertsen and hopefully Lyster. Anyway, meet my team, all grown up and pretty much all regens. Lars Larsen Probably the most important backbone of this squad, Larsen came through the youth ranks in my first season and has been first choice goalkeeper for the past two and a half years. Only 21 years old, he's already world class with some room to grow, a great personality and a leader in the dressing room. Larsen recently signed a new deal that will keep him at the club for another five years, until 2031. Spoiler Jakob From Just like Lars, Jakob also came through our academy. And just like Lars, he's been first choice on the right back for over two years now. He's only 19 years old but already has great mentals, with room to grow. Spoiler Vilhelm Qvist Picked up at IF Brommapojkarna for a measly 450k at the end of the first season, Qvist has been nothing short of amazing. Leading centre back for the past five seasons, team leader and very, very consistent in his performances, he's been a rock to lean on. The best example is that on his coach reports, he hasn't got a single negative item. Spoiler Francisco Pedraza One of the three Argentinians in the squad, Pedraza joined us in the summer of 2023 because we were looking for a left footed ball playing defender (Nelsson is still at the club but is right footed). Great all round stats and great all round performances aside, he makes for a great couple with Qvist in the heart of the defense. Spoiler Alexander Brandner Although he's got the Liechtensteiner nationality (and already 21 caps at the age of 19), Brandner actually came through the youth ranks of FC Nordsjaelland which pretty much qualifies him as Scandinavian. For some reason, they let him go on a free in the summer of 2023 and I was very much ready to swoop in. he used to cover for From on the right back position but because of his attribute distribution, I retrained him as a left back to play the inverted wing back role. Defensively solid and with surprisingly good playmaking skills (technique, passing, first touch, vision, team work, decisions, composure, anticipation,...), that fits him like a glove. Indispensible. Spoiler Odin Thiago Holm The only player in my first eleven who isn't a regen (for now). Holm was an expensive kid at the time, coming over from Valerenga for a whopping 9M. First playing in one of the three AM slots, his performances weren't very consistent, up to the point where I very much considered selling him off. Good thing I didn't though, because this season he was nothing short of amazing as a roaming playmaker, bossing the central midfield with Fontaine. Torben Harlev Torben is the third kid to come through our own youth ranks. He's been getting more and more game time, especially domestically, and really started to excel when I played him as a trequartista in the ACM slot. Only 18 and a perfectionist, I'm hoping he'll be the next big star. Spoiler Miltao The only Brazilian in the team, but I couldn't pass up on him considering his transfer fee (only 900k). Miltao plays on the left flank as an inside forward, possessing a fantastic shot from distance and great technicals all around. I have a fresh 16-year old Dane who hopefully will be replacing him in a few years though. Spoiler Santiago Baggio Not only do I love this guy because of his name, but he's probably one of the best players in his position currently. Picked up for only 2.5M at Arsenal Sarandi, Baggio has been the driving factor behind our progress in Europe, scoring a few very important goals in the last campaign. Very all round stats and great mentals, on top of a driven personality. And most importantly, versatile, as he can play in all three AM positions. Spoiler Jhonny Pulgarin This was a difficult case. Pulgarin joined in 2023 from his home team, Envigado for 1.5M and although he had a lot of potential, he didn't get into the team straight away. Not that this was his fault, but we had a load of wealth in the attacking midfield position which meant he was pretty much blocked off. But when I started retraining him as a striker, he managed to outplay Arezo on several occasions, which means he'll probably be our first choice forward next season. Arezo is great, but as I play mostly with a DLF Pulgarin's playmaking skills offer us a big advantage. Spoiler Tomas Krcik Only 19 years old, has been amazing this season. He only cost us a penny or two, 575k, and managed to score 18 goals and deliver 9 assists in all competitions in 36 games from the left wing. Physical powerhouse! Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 9, 2021 Author Share Posted July 9, 2021 The future will follow tomorrow, when we'll assess the U19 squad. Main players to look out for will be Geertsen (DC), Hansen (CM,D) and Lyster (AMR). There's also very exciting transfer news! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 (edited) Ok, so tomorrow turned into today as I had my second shot of Moderna on Friday which knocked me flat on my back with a very nasty fever. But anyway! Meet the future Say hello to the U19 talent factory of Kopenhagen. Although my last batch of academy graduates wasn't as good as the previous ones, even that one produced one kid with a lot of potential, Benjamin Lyster. Not all of these kids will make it, I know, but a lot of them have the potential to at least become useful members of the squad. Benjamin Lyster Starting off with the last wonderboy to enter the U19's, Lyster is a natural striker but as I play with an inside forward on the right hand side, he already had an interesting trait and because of his stat distribution, I'm retraining him as an AMR. A natural dribbler, technically gifted and high flair means he could become a solid squad player. His personality (driven) and his determination are also a huge plus. Spoiler Marc Geertsen Probably the biggest prospect in our academy at the moment. Amazing mental ability with high bravery, leadership, teamwork and work rate, and lots of room for improvement technically and physically. I'm positive of a great future for this young man, who will be getting more playing time in the easier games this season. Spoiler Aramayis Mkrtchyan Mkrtchyan is a left footed central defender, which is interesting because that means he might be able to form the future heart of my defense together with Geertsen. As with the previous two kids, he's also an academy player with a double nationality (Armenian/Danish). Only 17, he already has two caps with the senior team of Armenia under his belt. His progress was hampered in the beginning because he broke his leg in 2024 but despite that, he's been improving steadily. Could become more of a physical powerhouse in defense. Spoiler Viktor Hansen Viktor came through with Geertsen in what could be called a golden generation, but I feel like his progress has not been that good. I moved him to the first team this season to have him tutored as I believe that his personality is one of the main reasons behind this. That said, I'm hoping he'll at least become a useful addition to the squad but with the transfers we've done during the summer (more information soon!), he'll have a hard time getting game time. Possible candidate for a loan move. Spoiler Villads Nielsen Villads is the oldest good prospect in the youth academy. A good all round midfielder, he needs some more work on his technicals but all in all, I really like the way he's been improving. Needs game time though at his age, so I'm looking for a loan move to a club where he'll be a first teamer. Spoiler Edited July 12, 2021 by KlaaZ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 2026-2027 transfer news: From disappointment to extasy First off, the bad news. When we signed Thierno Fontaine last season, he had a non-negotionable release clause of 60M that I had no choice but to accept. At the end of the current season, Arsenal made the bid but as he rejected their offer, I was under the assumption that none but the biggest clubs would be able to steal him away. How wrong I was, two weeks later Everton came knocking and off he went. The good news is that, because of us winning the Champions League, we had a transfer kitty of almost 70M to burn and with the money from Fontaine's transfer added, I could finally make a very expensive rectification of an error I committed in the spring of 2023. When searching for new domestic talent, I noticed a very young midfielder at Lyngby who's contract was up in the summer. But because I tarried in offering a contract, I faced stiff competition once I moved in and sadly, he chose to join Red Bull Leipzig instead. To show how impressive he was, in the three seasons since he joined them, he played 66 league and 18 continental games before turning 20. Ever since missing out on him, I left him on my shortlist in the faint hope that I might one day bring him back to Denmark to fulfill his destiny and boss my midfield. And that time has now come. Mathisen had a release clause of 91M which I happily activated and I offered him a big contract which lead to him rejecting Leipzig's offer for an extended stay. In short, I'm please to announce the biggest transfer in Scandinavian history. The other good news is that I already had an incoming player to replace Fontaine as well, thanks to my scouting (once again). They pointed me in the direction of Miroslav Cerovic, an 18-year Serbian wonderkid who was somehow still flying under the radar of the big clubs at Red Star. We met his release clause of 17M and brought him in as fast as we could. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 21, 2021 Author Share Posted July 21, 2021 2026-2027: The year of confirmation? Transfers Apart from the two big signings in the previous update, we brought in some young, fresh talent. Most of these had already been signed in the past but because they're from outside of Europe, they could only join us upon turning 18. Mender Pino Age: 18 Nationality: Colombian Position: Central defender Club: Deportivo Cali Transfer fee: 2M Notes: Very happy with this signing. Mender is a physical beast with a great tackle and a lot of room to progress. He was immediately loaned out to Ligue 1 outfit Bordeaux, where he ended up playing 28 league games. Spoiler Paul Benavides Age: 18 Nationality: Colombian Position: Central midfielder Club: Independiente Santa Fe Transfer fee: 2M Notes: Benavides would probably have been the direct replacement for Fontaine if it hadn't been for the signing of Cerovic. But for now, he's in the same boat as Pino, going straight on loan to Zaragoza. Spoiler No big news on the outgoing front apart from the sale of Fontaine. The only player of note to leave is Xadas, who's contract wasn't renewed. He moved to Aston Villa on a free. European Super Cup The Super Cup pits us against English giants Liverpool, the reigning Premier League champions. In one of the most spectacular games I've ever played, we manage to throw away a 0-1 and 1-3 lead. The score after 90 minutes is 3-3, extra time. When Cerovic picked up a straight red right away, I thought I was done for but remarkably, we picked up our game under impulse of a very strong off the bench performance from Harlev. We score three more goals on the break, final score a whopping 3-6 and another trophy into the cabinet. Spoiler 3F Superliga For the first time, we played a perfect season. 32 games, 32 wins. We also scored 10 more goals than last season and managed to better our previous defensive record by conceding only 9 times. Spoiler Sydbank Pokalen Another season, another cup win. The biggest highlight of our cup run was the 10-0 demolishing of Esbjerg fB, with both Pulgarin and Harlev scoring a hattrick and Krcik providing four assists. Spoiler Champions League Probably our most important European campaign ever after last season's win. It was unlikely that we'd be underestimated again so I was curious if, with the addition of Mathisen and Cerovic, we would be able to handle the pressure and get at least to a second final. Thanks to the recent results, we go straight into the group stage now, with Porto, Galatasaray and Bayer 04 as our opponents. Things don't start off well when we lose 1-0 away in Portugal. Away in Istanbul we go behind as well, but manage to turn the situation around. Results get better from here on out, we beat Bayer at home and get a credible draw away, and finish with two wins in our final two games to end up one point ahead of the Germans in first place. First knockout round, we get City (again). We manage to get a very credible draw in Manchester, and get a very quick 2-0 lead in our home game. After that, we just had to survive and although Vinicius Junior scored the 2-1 fifteen minutes before the final whistle, we somehow held on. Next up is Bayern in the quarter finals. In Munich, Yusuf Barasi puts the Germans ahead after only two minutes but half an hour later, we somehow lead 1-2 with Krcik and Baggio both bagging a goal. Barasi equalizes again just before half time and despite being under quite a bit of pressure in the second half, we don't break and hold on to the draw. And even better, we absolutely destroy the Germans giants in Kopenhagen with a well deserved 3-1 win. The semis pit us against Real Madrid and for the first time in forever, we don't have the away advantage in the first game. We completely outplay them at home despite going 0-1 down from a set piece after only ten minutes, but only manage to turn it into a narrow 2-1 win. The away game is a very nervous affair where we're not at our best but despite that, everything seems to line up when in the 75th minute, Arezo puts us ahead (ten minutes after Mathisen smashed a pen against the post). Unfortunately, we completely collapse and the Spaniards pull extra time out of the first with two goals in the 87th and 91st minute. And that's with us being lucky because Mbappé's winner in the 92nd was disallowed for offside. We're on the backfoot for most of extra time although we stop giving away as many chances as before and one minute before the end of the game, Miltao sends us to the final after a mediocre clearance from the Madrid defense. Surprisingly, we play Arsenal in the final. Although it's probably the easiest of opponents we could have gotten, Baggio lets us down with a reckless challenge and a well deserved red card after only half an hour of play. Strangely, just like against Liverpool in the Super Cup, this seems to lift us up rather than the other way around and the game stays very, very even. And in the 76th minute, Arezo does what he does best. From sends Miltao into space on the right flank. He cuts inside and squares it for the Uruguayan, who moves in front of his defender to slot it home first time. We see out the rest of the game for a second consecutive CL win. Spoiler Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 21, 2021 Author Share Posted July 21, 2021 2026-2027: Performance and growth Performance In what can only be described as a defining season, a few players really surprised me with their performances. Both From and Cascini, who are fighting over the right back position, did really well this season. Harlev was outstanding in both the league and the cup but fell a little short in Europe. I'm not worried though, as he's still only 19. The most standout performer in Europe was Larsen, who shows that a quality goalkeeper can make all the difference between success and failure. At 22, he's pretty much the rock this team is built around. More importantly, three youngsters got ample game time this season and will probably start playing a bigger role in the first team next season. Geertsen played seven league games and five matches in the cup and was solid in every one of them. He needs a bit more work on his anticipation and maybe a few technicals, but he's very close to becoming a first team regular. Lyster only turned 17 recently but also played six games with the big boys, league and cup combined, providing three goals and an assist. His progress has come up in leaps and bounds but it's obvious that he has a big future ahead of him. He's also one of the reasons I let Xadas go, as I wanted to create some more time for him to play. Hansen only started one cup game this season but will replace Mannsverk as a first team regular next season, being the first standin for Cerovic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 Five goals, two youth players. Harlev also provided the assist for Geertsen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
john1 Posted July 25, 2021 Share Posted July 25, 2021 Got brilliant youngsters coming through Can I see attributes of Arezo? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 1 hour ago, john1 said: Got brilliant youngsters coming through Can I see attributes of Arezo? Thanks! Got another gem through the youth ranks that will hopefully be my main striker in a few years time. Working really hard on his finishing right now but since he only just turned 16 there's plenty of time. Model citizen too! And here's Arezo! I retrained Pulgarin to a striker because I prefer someone with better playmaking skills in that position (rotating between a DLF and a CF(S)). But he still gets plenty of game time, often from the left wing as in IF/Raumdeuter. I picked him up in the first season for a mere 1.6M, great investment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KlaaZ Posted July 25, 2021 Author Share Posted July 25, 2021 More good news, nine Danish players in the starting lineup tonight against Sonderjysk Elitesport in the league, of which six came through our own youth ranks. And Brandter is pretty much Danish too, coming through the youth setup at FC Nordsjaelland. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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