[FM21] Danish dynamite

[john1]

Brilliant win over Sevilla  

[Rhand]

48 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

I'd rather not, Leuven fan here.  

I know puni, it was a joke from a BG-colleague!

[KlaaZ]

1 minute ago, Rhand said:

I know puni, it was a joke from a BG-colleague!

Haha, I was actually wondering if this was someone undercover.

[Rhand]

2 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

Haha, I was actually wondering if this was someone undercover.

I even wrote Beyond Gaming in bold, and it doesn't even make much sense, so I thought it was clear  As I have a different nickname here, I added the team suggestion to make it clear who I am.

 

how are Beerschot and OHL doing it in Belgium? Either team won anything yet?

[KlaaZ]

2 minutes ago, Rhand said:

I even wrote Beyond Gaming in bold, and it doesn't even make much sense, so I thought it was clear  As I have a different nickname here, I added the team suggestion to make it clear who I am.

 

how are Beerschot and OHL doing it in Belgium? Either team won anything yet?

I'm tired and blind, apparently.

Both are still in 1A, finishing somewhere between spot 9 and 16 usually. OHL's in fourth place this year though. They got taken over by a tycoon in March 2028 and had a net spend of 21.5M this season. 

[KlaaZ]

Busy October month again, with five games spread around another international break. We start off with a home game against our toughest opponent in Europe, Manchester United. They actually picked up our left back target Silva during the summer and have been impressive domestically, trailing Liverpool in second place by three points.

This was also the first real test for our lower block, and I was very happy with the result. In a very even first half we created the better chance, although they had more shots at that point. Lyster scored twice but Rodrygo clawed one back before the break. We started furiously in the second half, Lyster completing his hattrick after only three minutes and would have easily finished the game if it weren't for an unlucky own goal by Brandner. But even despite that, we held firm until the final ten minute and only then came under some medium pressure. But we did manage to see out the game with an all in all deserved win.

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Our two league games that followed were easily won 3-0 and 0-4, the latter being away at rivals Midtjylland. I'm very happy with the clean sheets and the fact that we didn't concede a single shot on target against the latter. 

We then went on to trample Dynamo Kiev, with Lyster scoring another hattrick. This puts us in pole position to win the group if we can secure a result in Manchester. The 'reserves' finish off the month with an easy 0-2 win at Velje. 

 

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[engamohd]

20 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

Busy October month again, with five games spread around another international break. We start off with a home game against our toughest opponent in Europe, Manchester United. They actually picked up our left back target Silva during the summer and have been impressive domestically, trailing Liverpool in second place by three points.

This was also the first real test for our lower block, and I was very happy with the result. In a very even first half we created the better chance, although they had more shots at that point. Lyster scored twice but Rodrygo clawed one back before the break. We started furiously in the second half, Lyster completing his hattrick after only three minutes and would have easily finished the game if it weren't for an unlucky own goal by Brandner. But even despite that, we held firm until the final ten minute and only then came under some medium pressure. But we did manage to see out the game with an all in all deserved win.

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Our two league games that followed were easily won 3-0 and 0-4, the latter being away at rivals Midtjylland. I'm very happy with the clean sheets and the fact that we didn't concede a single shot on target against the latter. 

We then went on to trample Dynamo Kiev, with Lyster scoring another hattrick. This puts us in pole position to win the group if we can secure a result in Manchester. The 'reserves' finish off the month with an easy 0-2 win at Velje. 

 

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Brilliant results against Man U and Kiev!

[KlaaZ]

4 hours ago, engamohd said:

Brilliant results against Man U and Kiev!

Cheers! We made it a little harder on ourselves than it should have been in the game against United but all in all, it was a deserved win and that's what matters.

[KlaaZ]

November brought us three league games, our cup opener against amateur club Koge Nord and two more CL group stage games, away in Kiev and in Kopenhagen against Sevilla. And what a month it turned out to be! We won every game, scoring 18 goals in the process and, more importantly, not conceding a single one. Even more impressively, we didn't allow a single shot on target in four of those games, showing how much we've grown defensively.

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We opened up the month with a very dry 2-0 win against AaB, a team that, despite the difference in quality, always managed to cause us trouble in the past. I still vividly remember last year's cup final where they managed to score three goals against us... But none of that this time around! Hlödversson opens the score with a deftly executed penalty kick and Sena adds another to his tally in the 92nd minute.

Away in Kiev, Benjamin 'mister Europe' Lyster once again shows his quality and only needs three minutes to score two goals. When Marcus Aurélio scores the third a few minutes into the second half, we start playing in conservation mode and concede a few shots on target, but still manage to keep the clean sheet. 

In Nykobing an own goal puts us ahead after only nine minutes of play and when Pulgarin adds a second on the 21 minute mark, the game is already done for. Cerovic also managed to put his name on the scoresheet to make it three, job done!

I was hoping to let some youngsters into the team in the first cup game, but unfortunately there's an U19 international game at the same time which means they're mostly not available. So I give some playing time to the guys not usually featuring and they thank me by demolishing the amateurs from Koge 7-0, helped by an early red card. Highlights of the games: Three braces for Hlödversson, Baggio and Holm.

Another bit of rotation at home against OB because we have a big game against Sevilla coming up a few days later. Holm, Krick, Baggio, Nelsson and Qvist all make the starting lineup. We play a good game but have trouble netting that first goal until Sena and Harlev come on as subs. The latter provides the through ball, Sena puts it into the far corner. Two minutes into stoppage time Marcus Aurélio profits from a bad clearance to make it 2-0.

And finally, to end the month in style, the home game against Sevilla. A game of one way traffic throughout when it comes to chances, with the Spaniards unable to get even a single shot on target, but as in a few other games this month, we have trouble finishing off what we create and it's only in the 84th minute that Sena, once again assisted by Harlev, finally puts us on a well deserved lead. We easily see out the game which puts us on 15 points and just one win away from a perfect group performance. That game is away in Manchester though, but one point would at least be enough to see us win the group. 

 

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[john1]

Fantastic win over Man Utd  And what a epic November  AaB always cause me troubles too on my save.

[KlaaZ]

Right, I'm back from holiday and quickly finished the final games of December, so here we go!

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We kick off the first day of the month with an away game at rivals Brondby, who are still featuring their lethal striker Mathias Birk. A brace from Hlödversson and a deftly executed finish from Sena in the 94th minute lead to a 0-3 win. I was especially pleased with our defensive performance as we only conceded two shots and forced Birk to a very quiet game.

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One week later we trash Randers FC at home, 4-1. Sena scores a hattrick and we concede from our only shot on target conceded. A very, very majestic attacking performance, judging by our xG.

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Three days later we play our final game of the CL group stage at Old  Trafford, where we battle United for the first place. A point will see to that but a win is always nicer. In a very entertaining game, Pulgarin puts us deservedly ahead halfway through the first half. Full back Rensch equalizes, a bit out of the blue, five minutes before halftime but Lyster (who else?) sends us to the dressing room with a 2-1 margin. We're very quiet in the second half but manage to survive until Marcos Leonardo finds the gap and United grab a late equalizer in the 88th minute. Krcik's 90 minute winner gets chalked off for offside. Either way, we bag a very strong draw and finish the group stage in first place.

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A tired team struggles against Silkeborg four days later and it takes substitute Holm to break them down with an excellent free kick into the top corner. Pino takes away all doubt in the final stages of the game with a rebound on a corner.

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We finish the first half of the season with our first cup game against HB Koge, who are sitting in last place in the 3F Superliga. A lot of players are getting some well deserved rest and Lerager gets his first start at the age of 18. Halfway through the first half, he's already completed a hattrick and in the 85th minute, he scores a fourth to put the icing on the cake. What a debut! We finish the game 2-7 and although I'm a bit concerned about our defensive performance, I can't fault us for our attacking display. 

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[john1]

Welcome back from your holiday  Hope you enjoyed it  

Unlucky not to get 3 points against Man Utd  Good month to finish off with a thrashing  

[KlaaZ]

4 hours ago, john1 said:

Welcome back from your holiday  Hope you enjoyed it  

Unlucky not to get 3 points against Man Utd  Good month to finish off with a thrashing  

No complaints, except that holidays are never long enough.  

And yeah, but I was happy with a point nontheless. I'm also very happy with the amount of chances created away, as that is sometimes still an issue. 

[KlaaZ]

A quiet january window (except for another thousand transfer offers to reject, sadly) has only two major standouts. Esmeraldo, who is surplus to requirements due to the development of Sena, moves to Eintracht Frankfurt for 25M plus a percentage on a future sale. And Villads Nielsen once again is loaned out because he's not getting any game time. The youngster joins Esmeraldo at the German Bundesliga side until the end of the season.

On the incoming side, we pick up a young Romanian midfielder for free, just because we can. 

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[john1]

Who is  your HOYD? @KlaaZ Sune Smith-Nielsen?

[KlaaZ]

Oh, and we also almost signed this lad who was transfer listed by request but I misread the asking price as 11 million when it was actually 111.  Luckily, I didn't have that kind of transfer budget so the move was blocked.

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[KlaaZ]

2 minutes ago, john1 said:

Who is  your HOYD? @KlaaZ Sune Smith-Nielsen?

I've been employing Bernhard Peters in that position ever since 2020, and have absolutely no complaints. Great attributes and a model professional to boot. Probably one of the best HOYD's in the game I think.

 

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[john1]

10 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

I've been employing Bernhard Peters in that position ever since 2020, and have absolutely no complaints. Great attributes and a model professional to boot. Probably one of the best HOYD's in the game I think.

 

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Ah, I forgot to load up German league so he doesn't appear on mine   I agree, probably one of the best HOYD on the game.

[KlaaZ]

Right, February update coming up! In the meantime, after I finish this season I may be looking into doing something new as I feel I've achieved pretty much everything I wanted, and I have a few options:

a) I've always wanted to try my hands at managing a lower league team in France to try and break the hegemony of PSG. Ideally, I'd pick a team from either a major city that doesn't have a big team yet, or a major city that actually has one. I'm leaning towards Paris FC, but other contenders are US Orléans, Grenoble or SC Lyon. 
b) The team I support in real life is Oud-Heverlee Leuven, or OHL in short, in Belgium. I may try my hands at managing them, either in a new save or in a splitoff from this one (where they actually landed a sugar daddy apparently). 
c) Managing in a eastern European country (probably Croatia or Serbia, looking at Dinamo Zagreb or Partizan) and building a team exclusively made of eastern/central European players. 
d) Managing in the lower leagues of either Italy, Germany or Spain, preferrably with a team that has a lot of history (think Dresden, Karlsruhe, Düsseldorf, St Pauli, Kaiserslautern, Brescia, Bari, Deportivo,... You get the idea). 

The thing is, I only have time for one. I'm leaning towards France, the only question is if I continue this save or start a fresh one. And what team to pick, obviously. A penny for your thoughts!

[john1]

2 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

Right, February update coming up! In the meantime, after I finish this season I may be looking into doing something new as I feel I've achieved pretty much everything I wanted, and I have a few options:

a) I've always wanted to try my hands at managing a lower league team in France to try and break the hegemony of PSG. Ideally, I'd pick a team from either a major city that doesn't have a big team yet, or a major city that actually has one. I'm leaning towards Paris FC, but other contenders are US Orléans, Grenoble or SC Lyon. 
b) The team I support in real life is Oud-Heverlee Leuven, or OHL in short, in Belgium. I may try my hands at managing them, either in a new save or in a splitoff from this one (where they actually landed a sugar daddy apparently). 
c) Managing in a eastern European country (probably Croatia or Serbia, looking at Dinamo Zagreb or Partizan) and building a team exclusively made of eastern/central European players. 
d) Managing in the lower leagues of either Italy, Germany or Spain, preferrably with a team that has a lot of history (think Dresden, Karlsruhe, Düsseldorf, St Pauli, Kaiserslautern, Brescia, Bari, Deportivo,... You get the idea). 

The thing is, I only have time for one. I'm leaning towards France, the only question is if I continue this save or start a fresh one. And what team to pick, obviously. A penny for your thoughts!

I think managing OHL will be a good choice  

[KlaaZ]

Only four games in February: Two league games, a first leg cup match and the first leg of the champions league first knockout stage where we were quite lucky to draw FC Porto.

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We start again after the winter break against FC Nordsjaelland. Being fresh and sharp, we play a solid game, the highlight being a brace from Lyster who is having an absolute stormer of a season.

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Four days later, we play away at Vejle with a 'B-team'. Not a very convincing defensive display but nontheless an easy 0-4 victory. Baggio, who replaces Lyster position for position, copies his game against FCN and also bags two goals.

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Another three days go by and we travel to HB Koge, who are sitting in last place. Despite dominating them in every aspect of the game, it takes a 92nd minute penalty kick from Mathisen to clinch us the win. I'm not sure if I should be unhappy with this, really... They scored a fluke goal and did nothing more except for giving away a ton of fouls.

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And finally, we grab a very narrow lead away in Portugal thanks to, who else, Benjamin Lyster, who scores the only goal in a surprisingly even game. We almost blew it at the end but Larsen kept his cool with an excellent save (which you can see in the sudden xG jump right below). 

Spoiler

 

[KlaaZ]

Meanwhile in the Danish national team. 

Daramy is an ex-player and Nielsen is still our property, playing on loan in Germany.