[FM22] Overhauling SAD Franchise, (completed) and now Portugal. (Portugese edition). (Youth Only)............... Maybe!

[Thebaker]

what an youth intake, both of those players look really good

[Sonic Youth]

10 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

UEFA Europa League. The damage was done in the 1st leg. Our xG was almost double theirs, but they put the ball in the back of the net better than we did and it cost us as we were unable to claw it back in teh 2nd leg. Gutted. 

 

Damn.

I’m not seeing things am I? That’s Ramalho from latest youth intake scoring just before halftime, giving you a lifeline? That can’t be that long after the intake too! Noice 

[Sonic Youth]

13 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Youth Intake Day. 

A Golden Generation is 1 thing. A player on intake day with 3.0 CA might just be special. 

Squad by PA. 2x 5.0 PA players, 1x 3.0 CA player and 3x 1.5 CA players. I'm really hopeful that (40b) Ramalho (POR) might be a bit special. 

Squad by Actual PA. 2 players with 150+ PA is brilliant, but it's the CA of (40b) Ramalho (POR) that's the big deal. It makes him one of the best players at the club, (by CA), aged 15. 

Whole club by CA. 

Whole club by PA. 

(40a) Sérgio (POR). The physicals are ok for a 15 yo but it's the mental's that are most impressive. 

(40b) Ramalho (POR). This bloke looks great. The only issue here is that both these players play in the same position, (which is a shame), but I'm definitely not complaining. 

Ramalho and Sergio look great. Sergio the protector, Ramalho the creator, both in the same midfield. Going to be interesting to see how they develop 

[Jimbokav1971]

4 hours ago, Thebaker said:

what an youth intake, both of those players look really good

Yeah they are pretty decent. 

(40b) Ramalho (POR) has 1 goal and 2 assists from 4(1) appearances. 

There are a few more decent looking one's too. 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Damn.

I’m not seeing things am I? That’s Ramalho from latest youth intake scoring just before halftime, giving you a lifeline? That can’t be that long after the intake too! Noice 

Yep. Good spot. He's had an immediate impact. 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Ramalho and Sergio look great. Sergio the protector, Ramalho the creator, both in the same midfield. Going to be interesting to see how they develop 

I actually see both of them playing on the right of a 2 in midfield in a BBM(s) role.

I have quite a few central midfielders on the conveyor belt. 

It's dangerous sometimes to look "just" at PA because there is of course no guarantee that the players will achieve that, but where there is a reasonable CA and development time remaining, then it's hard not ton look ahead and wonder "what if?"

Left sided playmakers. 

Right sided grafters. 

 

Obviously there are more righties than lefties and while righties might occasionally play on the left, lefties are never going to play on the right. It's obviously hard to develop all these players at the same time, but I will do my best with the different squads and using loans. 

[jackripper]

How come you have the CA/PA on there? Didnt think that was possible or is it the skin or something. Or am i being a complete noob and its due to the editor or something?

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, jackripper said:

How come you have the CA/PA on there? Didnt think that was possible or is it the skin or something. Or am i being a complete noob and its due to the editor or something?

I'm using the editor on this save. 

Doing Youth Only is hard enough, but trying to compete with the Big 3 in Portugal playing Youth Only I thought I needed some extra help, 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2040. 

Liga Bwin. 

We would have qualified for the Europa League via the League even if we hadn't won the Cup. 

Taça de Portugal Placard.

Goal-scoring GK's. I can't be bothered showing you the GK stats because they aren't accurate. (36d) Cardone (ITA) saw an early penalty saved in the Cup Final, (which I assumed hinted at a poor Important Matches attribute), but I have checked and it's 9 which isn't awful for a player so young. 

Squad by appearances.

Star. Top scorer (32g) Ramos (POR) * has been called up to the Portugese Senior side  twice, (for 4 games), but is yet to make his debut. 

Overall Best XI. 

Facilities. I know that I've mentioned in the past the idea of reducing our bank balance by £10M in order to "pop" our Youth Recruitment to L20. I thought our Training Facilities were already at L20, (maybe they were and they have dropped without me noticing), but I don't want to pop the Youth Recruitment until everything else is already maxed out. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun 2040. 

European Competition rankings. 

European Nations coefficients. We're almost at the top table. 

European club rankings. 

[Sonic Youth]

Congrats on winning the Cup. A successful season, winning a trophy. Next season you can take inspiration from Vitoria de Guimaraes and attempt to finish in ECL places. Hope they do well in Europe.

What’s going on with Sporting?

First time big 5 league!

Europa league it is, though having greater success in Conference League might help the coefficient more. I do think your actually at a level to compete in the Europa league as well as the Liga Bwin. 

Does that mean you were rated higher than Porto before your co-efficient drop? I also like how close in coefficient points to Man Utd you are 

I still haven’t made up my mind about Ramos, but can’t deny his goal scoring prowess. Getting him to hit 40 goals in all competitions with 2 or three other players hitting double figures would be one way to move Belenenses to the next level. He would need decent midfield support. Would then remind me of Klose.

[Jimbokav1971]

19 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Congrats on winning the Cup. A successful season, winning a trophy. Next season you can take inspiration from Vitoria de Guimaraes and attempt to finish in ECL places. Hope they do well in Europe.

What’s going on with Sporting?

First time big 5 league!

Europa league it is, though having greater success in Conference League might help the coefficient more. I do think your actually at a level to compete in the Europa league as well as the Liga Bwin. 

Does that mean you were rated higher than Porto before your co-efficient drop? I also like how close in coefficient points to Man Utd you are 

I still haven’t made up my mind about Ramos, but can’t deny his goal scoring prowess. Getting him to hit 40 goals in all competitions with 2 or three other players hitting double figures would be one way to move Belenenses to the next level. He would need decent midfield support. Would then remind me of Klose.

Yeah. Winning any trophy is absolutely a sign of a successful season in the Portugese top flight. 

We were in contention for a Champions League place, but just fell off the pace a little in the last couple of months with lots of games to play and a fatigued squad,

Sporting only actually lost 5 league games last season, but they drew 15 which really hurt them. Their problem is that in their 34 league games last season, they only scored 38 goals. Compare that to us, (55) and Benfica (70). They don't seem to have worked too well in the transfer market in recent seasons and money issues seem to see them sell more players than they buy. They have 2 decent strikers (at least), who are way better than our best striker, so the problem would seem to be elsewhere. 

Wayne Rooney, (now manager of Real Zaragoza), is their longest serving manager in the last 5 years,

I would suggest that the biggest issue at the club is that they are not producing enough of their own quality players, and I'm not sure if this is because of the quality fo their intake or because they are not developing them effectively. 

I think we might have been ranked in the top 5 leagues before, (but not sure). We would have been ranked even higher were it not for our debacle in Europe the season before last. 

I considered finishing 3rd in the Group last season for that very reason, but then we went and won the Groups and it didn't seem right. If we are capable of winning the group then it doesn't seem right to finish 3rd. Dropping from 2nd to 3rd in a right race isn't so bad. 

The 2.5 coefficient points season the season before last absolutely killed us. I think we were behind Benfica, but ahead of both Sporting and Porto before that. Yes, not too far away from Man Utd, but then again they're playing in a non-playable league remember. 

I don't even think there is a question to be had about (32g) Ramos (POR) *. He's one of the best players at the club and has even squeezed into the (POR) National squad. I expect him to make his debut soon. This issue isn;t so much him as the supporting cast around him. We have players developing all the time, but it's hard to get them up to this level. The midfielders we're producing should really help our depth though and ensure that we are better able to compete on multiple fronts and avoid the shame of early exits in Europe. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Challenges. Jul 2040. 

We're in a tough phase of this save because it's all about Youth Development and we're starting to become saturated with young players with decent potential. I don't mean wonderkids or anything like that, but certainly players who, if they were to get even somewhere near their potential, would be able to make an impact on the senior squad. 

Although we have a few different squads, I don't think I'm getting the best out of them or all the players at the club. 

Senior Squad. This seems simple. The best 2 players in each position go into this squad. 
B Squad. This is a little more complicated. Where as the Big 3 have B Teams who play in the Liga 2, our B Team is still messing about in a non-playable league and there appears to be nothing I can do to change that. Playing in the B Team should be the last step before playing for the Senior Team, but at this stage I'm not sure if it's even as good as the player playing for the U23's and if this is impacting on player development. (I think it is). 
U23's. This seems simple. Everyone who is U19 who isn't good enough for squads above goes into here. 
U19's. This seems simple. Everyone who is U19 who isn't good enough for squads above goes into here. 
Loans. Loaning players out is something I'm a fan of, and this is something I will try and do more. 

Senior Squad. 

GK. (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" *
GK. (36d) Cardone (ITA)
GK. (33d) Diederich (POR)(LUX) 6'2

DL. (36b) Sousa (POR) *
DL. (32e) Soares (POR) *
DR. (33a) Ramos (STP) (POR) is actually a lefty, but we have a few left backs and he's a natural DR so he's playing on that side. 
DR. (36c) Mussagi (POR) (MOZ) *
DC. (25j) Grilo (POR) 6'4" *
DC. (25c) Guedes (POR) 6'3" *
DC. (32a) Gaspar (POR) (ANG) 6'2"
DC. (30g) Coelho (POR) 6'2" *

ML. (32b) Moucheira (POR)
ML. (32c) Tomás (POR)
MR. (31d) Pais (POR) *
MR. (24c) Carvalho (POR)
MC. (35a) Paulo Júnior (POR) *
MC. (36a) Cruz (POR)
MC. (37g) Martins (POR) *
MC. (37g) Martins (POR) *

SC. (32g) Ramos (POR) *
SC. (27a) Mateus (POR) * DLF
SC. (30a) Bernardino (POR) *
SC. (31j) Gomes (GNB) (POR) *

+1. (31c) Ferreira (POR) * (covering MC and MR). 
+2. (27g) Hugo Dias (POR) * (covering MC)
+3. (25e) Silva (POR) SELL (covering MC)
+4. (34a) Ribeiro (POR) * (covering SC0

B Team. 

GK.
DL.
DR.
DC.

ML.
MR.
MC.

SC.

U23's. 

 

U19's.

 

Loans. 

 

[Sonic Youth]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Challenges. Jul 2040. 

We're in a tough phase of this save because it's all about Youth Development and we're starting to become saturated with young players with decent potential. I don't mean wonderkids or anything like that, but certainly players who, if they were to get even somewhere near their potential, would be able to make an impact on the senior squad. 

Although we have a few different squads, I don't think I'm getting the best out of them or all the players at the club. 

Senior Squad. This seems simple. The best 2 players in each position go into this squad. 
B Squad. This is a little more complicated. Where as the Big 3 have B Teams who play in the Liga 2, our B Team is still messing about in a non-playable league and there appears to be nothing I can do to change that. Playing in the B Team should be the last step before playing for the Senior Team, but at this stage I'm not sure if it's even as good as the player playing for the U23's and if this is impacting on player development. (I think it is). 
U23's. This seems simple. Everyone who is U19 who isn't good enough for squads above goes into here. 
U19's. This seems simple. Everyone who is U19 who isn't good enough for squads above goes into here. 
Loans. Loaning players out is something I'm a fan of, and this is something I will try and do more. 

Senior Squad. 

GK. (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" *
GK. (36d) Cardone (ITA)
GK. (33d) Diederich (POR)(LUX) 6'2

DL. (36b) Sousa (POR) *
DL. (32e) Soares (POR) *
DR. (33a) Ramos (STP) (POR) is actually a lefty, but we have a few left backs and he's a natural DR so he's playing on that side. 
DR. (36c) Mussagi (POR) (MOZ) *
DC. (25j) Grilo (POR) 6'4" *
DC. (25c) Guedes (POR) 6'3" *
DC. (32a) Gaspar (POR) (ANG) 6'2"
DC. (30g) Coelho (POR) 6'2" *

ML. (32b) Moucheira (POR)
ML. (32c) Tomás (POR)
MR. (31d) Pais (POR) *
MR. (24c) Carvalho (POR)
MC. (35a) Paulo Júnior (POR) *
MC. (36a) Cruz (POR)
MC. (37g) Martins (POR) *
MC. (37g) Martins (POR) *

SC. (32g) Ramos (POR) *
SC. (27a) Mateus (POR) * DLF
SC. (30a) Bernardino (POR) *
SC. (31j) Gomes (GNB) (POR) *

+1. (31c) Ferreira (POR) * (covering MC and MR). 
+2. (27g) Hugo Dias (POR) * (covering MC)
+3. (25e) Silva (POR) SELL (covering MC)
+4. (34a) Ribeiro (POR) * (covering SC0

B Team. 

GK.
DL.
DR.
DC.

ML.
MR.
MC.

SC.

U23's. 

 

U19's.

 

Loans. 

 

Looks like you’re creating a spreadsheet for first team and squad depth. Hmm, it’s not coming to min….Ah, I think it’s Statsman and Robbin were @Shrewnaldo has a good simple spreadsheet that helps with first team/squad depth giving him an idea how it looks. I think this could be useful for your B-Team etc. I even think you could use this to check wages, form, training, personalities (if it’s a thing) and so on.

I think it’s odd that your B-Team hasn’t be promoted to an active league yet. It would surely have the players to dominate at those levels.

Fair point about Ramos, and also brings to mind Barcelona’s recent acquisition of Abumayang (horrible, horrible attempt at spelling!).

[Jimbokav1971]

20 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Looks like you’re creating a spreadsheet for first team and squad depth. Hmm, it’s not coming to min….Ah, I think it’s Statsman and Robbin were @Shrewnaldo has a good simple spreadsheet that helps with first team/squad depth giving him an idea how it looks. I think this could be useful for your B-Team etc. I even think you could use this to check wages, form, training, personalities (if it’s a thing) and so on.

I think it’s odd that your B-Team hasn’t be promoted to an active league yet. It would surely have the players to dominate at those levels.

Fair point about Ramos, and also brings to mind Barcelona’s recent acquisition of Abumayang (horrible, horrible attempt at spelling!).

I haven't been using a spreadsheet, but of course I should. 

Yeah, I don't know what the issue with the B Team is, but I have tried to put "good" players in there to see if that would get them promoted, but nothing has worked. I think I'm going to revert to loaning out everyone who is decent and hasn't made the Senior squad, and is too old for the U19's. I'm not sure that there will be too many players still here after they turn 23 who will be good enough to be loaned out. Will just have to wait and see I think. 

Other news on Ramos is that he came out as gay. I have never had an influential key player be the subject of this new article before. 

Edited March 3, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Sonic Youth]

22 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Other news on Ramos is that he came out as gay. I have never had an influential key player be the subject of this new article before. 

That’s a new message for me, and think you might be the first I’ve seen post something like this. Usually it’s that they had an in-game son.

[Jimbokav1971]

Job Offers & Interviews. Jul 2040. 

It's been a while since we have been offered a club job. We have just been offered the Portugese National job for the 1st time, but I don't think the time is right. In a perfect World I would also want to manage at least 1 of the Portugese aged groups teams 1st.

[Sonic Youth]

I wondered when Portugal would offer you the main team’s job.

Also, Spain are rated the 41st ranked nation? That’s a big drop.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Sonic Youth said:

I wondered when Portugal would offer you the main team’s job.

Also, Spain are rated the 41st ranked nation? That’s a big drop.

That's a typo. Spain aren't 41st. They are 4th. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2040. 

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. Because of a crash I have played this game twice. The 1st time the score was tied at 1-1 for long periods before they scored 2 late goals to win a tight game. The 2nd game was a much more one-sided affair that saw them run out comfortable victors. 

Liga Bwin. We usually really struggle at the very start of the season, so 2 draws followed by 2 wins is actually particularly decent. It's so decent that it might be our best ever start in the top flight. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Our best GK by CA is (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" * and our bet GK by PA is (36d) Cardone (ITA) and I can't decide who I want to play. I'm torn between picking our best GK and picking the 1 who is our longer term GK. Instead I have completely bottled the decision and will rotate them with the man in possession only losing his starting slot if he concedes a goal, (or misses a penalty). 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

International recognition. Sep 2040.

Although we have had Senior Internationals from the club represent quite a few Nations, to the best of my knowledge we have had only 1 single player represent Portugal at Senior International level, (while they were still at the club). That was...... actually, although (23e) Valente (POR) 6'4" *, (he of the 100 career goals), was called up to the senior Portugese side on a number of occasions, he was never actually capped. So (35a) Paulo Júnior (POR) * is the 1st product of our Academy to ever be capped by Portugal while still at the club. 

[Edit] 

Actually, it was GK (35b) Amílcar (POR) 6'1" * who was capped while still at the club. 

Although (35a) Paulo Júnior (POR) * was the only one to make an appearance, we actually had 2 other players in that senior Portugese squad. 

(32g) Ramos (POR) * is obviously doing really well for us, but if I was the Portugese Manager I'm not sure he would get anywhere near the National side. There are some very good strikers knocking about. I think he gets in the squad because of his goal-numbers rather than his actual ability. 

I personally think that it's too early for (36a) Cruz (POR) to be called up to this level, but maybe that's a reaction to him winning the European Golden Boy and NxGn awards in the last 12 months. 

This is probably a sign that we are developing as a club/squad and more should be expected of us, especially as the players are contracted to us for 5 years, 3+3 years and 3 years respectively. 

Edited March 5, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[RoguPL]

Cruz has everything to become a world beater. Surprised his media description is only 'Midfielder' 

[Sonic Youth]

5 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I personally think that it's too early for (36a) Cruz (POR) to be called up to this level, but maybe that's a reaction to him winning the European Golden Boy and NxGn awards in the last 12 months.

Cruz looks like a younger version of Paulo Junior. I’d be picking Paulo over Cruz at the moment for the Portugal National side too.

Ramos has been performing regularly in the last few years. In your opinion, does he pop up with goals when you need them and goals in big games? That could be partly why, though most likely is he’s had an increase in reputation.

[Jimbokav1971]

4 hours ago, rrozek93 said:

Cruz has everything to become a world beater. Surprised his media description is only 'Midfielder' 

Were it not for the 2 awards he has won, I'm not sure how keen I would be on him at all. Don't get me wrong, I know he's decent, but I have a few issues. 

Firstly he's a righty, (although not right only), and what I want from a righty is more workmanlike than the technical playmaker that I want from the role on the left. 
Secondly, he's more of a playmaker than a BBM anyway.
Thirdly, one of his PPM is the "comes deep to get ball" PPM. 
So far I've been playing him on the right, but I think his future is likely to be on the left of a 2 in the DLP role. 

[Jimbokav1971]

44 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Cruz looks like a younger version of Paulo Junior. I’d be picking Paulo over Cruz at the moment for the Portugal National side too.

Ramos has been performing regularly in the last few years. In your opinion, does he pop up with goals when you need them and goals in big games? That could be partly why, though most likely is he’s had an increase in reputation.

I really think Cruz's reputation will have taken a big boost after winning both the European Golden Boy and the NxGn award last year. I think that will be playing a key part in his selection. 

Ramos has done well for us, and particularly in Europe and Cup games he's done well, scoring 17 in 17 over the last 2 seasons. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Top League player development. Sep 2040. 

This is great and another sign our our development, but it shouldn't be ignores that there are 4 Portugese players ahead of us on this list. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2040. 

Liga Bwin. It was a rubbish month in the league. We lost to 2 of the Big 3, (without scoring), and then went and lost to Leixões SC because our confidence had taken a battering. 

UEFA Europa League. We eked out a narrow in Europe, and considering how poor we were in the league I should just be happy we won at all. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Portugese National Team production. Sep 2040. 

I think this is the 1st time we have topped this. 

(32g) Ramos (POR) * hasn't been capped yet, and has been suffering a bit of a drought this season so I'm surprised he was still called up. He's made the last few squads but is yet to make his debut. 

(35a) Paulo Júnior (POR) * is our 1st choice playmaker, but there are youngsters snapping at his heels. He's only been capped twice though. 

(36a) Cruz (POR) is the 19 year old midfielder who is yet to make his International debut. I personally think he would be better suited to the U21's, but that's not my choice. 

(35b) Amílcar (POR) 6'1" * is doing well in Germany and has won his place back in the squad despite only having been capped once before. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2040. 

Liga Bwin. The Santa Clara win was great, but we couldn't get the goal we deserved against Nacional so I feel like we under-performed in the league this month. 

UEFA Europa League. 2 more wins in Europe is great, especially the drubbing of Napoli. 

Taça de Portugal Placard.We were well beaten against PdF, who seem to have the sign over us at the moment and that makes it 4 wins against us in our last 8 games compared to just 2 for us. 

Taça da Liga Allianz Cup. Our Reserves did well against lower league opposition. 

Goal-scoring GK's.

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2040. 

Liga Bwin. A really good win against top of the table Braga, but again we came away from a Big 3 game with 0 points and 0 goals scored. It's becoming a pattern. 

UEFA Europa League. The Reserves are now playing in Europe but they are still doing ok. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. PdF seem to be trying to usurp Gil Vicente as a our bogey team, and they are doing it pretty well. Their equalizing goal was scored in the 91st min before they beat us on penalties. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.   

Edited March 12, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

European Golden Boy. Dec 2040. 

(36d) Cardone (ITA) was 1st choice last season and made 34 appearances in all competitions, (scoring 7 goals). He has only made 9 appearances this season, (scoring 1 goal), as (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" has become more reliable at both ends of the pitch. 

We've won the award on 3 of the last 4 seasons and as 2 of them are GK's I wonder if things are being skewed by their goal-scoring exploits?

(36a) Cruz (POR) has become an important cog in our wheel already. 

(35b) Amílcar (POR) 6'1" is doing well in Germany.

I wonder if (40b) Ramalho (POR) has a chance of winning it next season? He might be too young. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2040 & Jan 2041. 

Liga Bwin. It might be over 2 months, but that's still a lot of league games. 

5 win, 3 draws and 4 losses isn't great, but we're into the European spots at least. 

Europa League. A comfortable win sees us top the group with a GD of +13.

Taça da Liga Allianz Cup. We won, but still crashed out. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2041. 

Liga Bwin. 3 wins from 4 is decent, but the fixtures were kind and the test will be to see if we can continue winning when we have to play European games and the better domestic opposition. With games against Braga & Sporting added to German European opposition, it's likely to be a step up in quality. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake day. Mar 2041. 

It's another Golden Generation, but more significantly there are no less than 3x 5.0 PA players, 1x 4.5 PA player and 1x 4.0 PA player. The one position I really need a good player through in is right back. as luck would have it, the (41a) player is indeed a right back. 

Squad by PA. 

Squad by Actual PA. The player that stands out as being significantly under-valued is (41g) Amaral (POR) was is rated at only 3.5 PA but actually has the 3rd highest PA at 134. I like anything at 120+ because anyone with a CA of 120(ish) can have an impact on our senior squad. 

In terms of the club as a whole, (all squads) (41a) Gil (POR) * has the 6th highest actual player of all players. What's significant here is that there are 18 players at 139 PA or higher and while (24c) Carvalho (POR) is 33, (31c) Ferreira (POR) * is 26, (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" * is 25, (32c) Tomás (POR) * is 24 & (27a) Mateus (POR) * DLF is 29, the other 13 players on the list are all 22 years old or younger so there is significant scope for more development 

(41a) Gil (POR) * is the star of the show and I can't begin to tell you how happy I am that he's a right back. He will go straight into contention, even though he's a little short of the required level. We will be fast-tracking him. 

(41c) Abrantes (POR) * is a player who I initially wasn't keen on, but the more I look at him the more I like him. Rather than dropping him back and playing him as a a DLP, I wonder if I could play him as a DLF or a T up front? We just need to sort his physicals 1st. 

(41g) Amaral (POR) * appears to be quite an all-rounder, but I'm sure we can do something with him. 

(41d) Hussein (TAN) 6'5" is 6'5" at 15 and I know the taller players tend to grow less, but that's still big. 

[Thebaker]

you seem to be in a bit of a holding pattern, always in europe but unable to get into the CL spots. Also a lot of potential without being able to get much nearer to maxing them out, although that list of PA has 5 players 17 or under.

[Jimbokav1971]

32 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

you seem to be in a bit of a holding pattern, always in europe but unable to get into the CL spots. Also a lot of potential without being able to get much nearer to maxing them out, although that list of PA has 5 players 17 or under.

It doesn't seem to be a holding pattern to me, (but I can see why you think that). We did ok in the Euro Conference early on, but now we are getting out of the Group stage of the Europa League and I'm sure before too long it will be the Champions League. Benfica & Porto are still the bog dogs but at the moment Braga are the 3rd of the Big 3. 

We are really competitive with Sporting, PdF & Guimaraes and our last 4 games of the season see us play 8th, 9th, 13th & 14th, (so that should hopefully come with some positive results). 

We've progressed from Europa Conference to Europa League but breaking into the top 3, (which is what's needed at the moment to qualify for the Champions League), is a big ask. 

It's been a while since we finished 2nd, (in 2035/36), but with the exception of that over-performance, (and a slight under-performance the previous season), We've been on a general upwards trend, (albeit very gradual). Because we can't buy players, losing individual players in recent seasons has been a tough ask because we have to invariably replace them with youngsters who are nowhere near ready, (but who have scope for significant improvement). Now we're just trying to keep hitting the league targets, (of gaining European football each season), and at least getting to the Group stages each season in Europe, (for financial reasons). All the while we're doing this, these kids are gaining more experience and developing and also we're producing players who have better PA than the one's we're using and will develop to improve the squad in the future. 

The biggest thing that's holding us back at the moment, is our lack of quality up front. 

(32g) Ramos (POR) is our main man up front and we have him on a 2+3 contract, so secure for the future. But that being said his CA is maxed out at 134 so while he's great for us, he's no World-Beater and is a million miles off what our domestic competition can call on up front. 

(27a) Mateus (POR) was the 1st choice on the right up front, but at 29 he's not going to develop further and I would rather use him in Europa and blood a younger player in the league. His CA of 129 is a little short of his 139 PA.

(30a) Bernardino (POR) was our 2nd choice up front on the left, but he's 26 now and his CA of 111 is never going to reach his PA of 137 and he's not good enough to be 1st choice so I really need to get rid of him. If we have to play someone who isn't as good as him right now, but who will develop beyond his level of ability then so be it. 

(36e) Pisco (POR) * is the player who has become a starter in the league on the right. His CA is only 104, but his PA is 145 and at 20 he still has time to make big dents in the gap between CA and PA. 

(31j) Gomes (GNB) (POR) is 25 and out on loan. His CA is only 100 with a PA of 119 so not only have we past the window of optimum development, but his PA also isn't that high in the 1st place anyway. 

The problem we hit after that is that the CA of other strikers drops down to 95(125), 94, 93, 91(135), 91, 88, 86(151), 84(139), & 80(134), which is way short of what we need. The CA in bold there are teenagers, and I have added their PA in brackets afterwards. 

So I know what the problem is, but there isn't an immediate solution, (because I can't go out and buy someone). Well I can, but only products of our Academy who have moved on and they are few and far between as far as strikers go. This is the full list. 

(22e) Capucha (POR) * AF and (22c) Caneira (POR) DLF are the only 2 strikers who have ever been good enough and unfortunately they are past their prime and just not good enough for what we need of them. The problem is that while we have produced some reasonable strikers, we haven't yet produced and really good strikers. Of those that we have produced, the best of them are still developing. 

So even if we ignore the stupendous midfielders and GK's we have produced recently, every month/season's worth of development we stick into these players moves us a step closer to the top. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NxGn 2041. 

Last season 19 year old (36a) Cruz (POR) * was voted #1 on this list, but aged 20 now he doesn't make the list at all, (which makes sense as he's now 20 and there is nobody on the list older than 19). Despite that, he is still classed as a Wonderkid. 

This season, 16 year old (40b) Ramalho (POR) * is #3 on the list and obviously has 3 more years in which he can appear on the list. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2041. 

Liga Bwin. We lost out in a close game at Braga, but bounced back with a good win against Sporting. 

Europa League. When we drew away I was sure that we were as good as through. It didn't quite work out like that as we hit the woodwork 3 times in the opening 30 mins but didn't take our chances and it came back to haunt us as we lost out on penalties. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

New Contract. Apr 2041. 

I think we're doing great and are well on track, and the board largely agree. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr & May 2041. 

Liga Bwin. What a poor ending to the season. Knocked out of Europe on penalties and then this. 

Goal-Scoring GK's. 

 

Facilities. 

I'm not sure why a team based in Lisbon needs under-soil heating, but..... 

U23's. The only reason I mention this is because I don't think I mentioned it last season, which was the 1st time we won the league at this level. 

U19's. I have so much going on with the senior side at the moment that I haven't been looking at these results at all and I can't even tell you if we're winning the league at this level. (We are). 

We didn't lose a single game in the Group Stage. 

And then we went and won the Italian Youth Invitational, (again).

We don't get invited to this every season, but I think we have to be invited back if we won it the previous season. The only downside of this is that if we play in this competition then our Youth Intake game against our existing U19's gets cancelled. 

The Championship Group stage of the league is still on-going, but we sit top of the table with games in hand and are well set having not lost a game all season in any competition. 

We've been quite consistent at this level, but now I want us to really kick on now. I want us to hammer teams regularly and win the league every season. 

Finances.   

Edited March 14, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun 2041. 

Facilities. This is the number of coaches for the senior squad, (which is brilliant), but the problem is I think I keep asking for senior squad coaches rather than U23 and U19 coaches so I need to concentrate on them for a while. (And this is a note to remind me). 

Affiliates. Because we haven't been able to get the B Team promoted into a playable league, I have opted to go for a new feeder. Varzim SC finished mid-table in Liga 2 last season but they drew 18 of their 34 games so there is significant room for improvement with little actual improvement. I'm hoping that our younger strikers might benefit from this link. 

Opposition comparison. To give you an idea of the sort of players we are competing against.....

Here is the Welsh striker that filled his boots against us this season. He plays for Porto and has scored 145 goals for them in 5 seasons after joining on a free from Man City. He's got 110 caps for Wales and has scored 81 International goals in those 110 games. I personally think that he's too good for this league and it's sort of cheating that he's hung around for so long. He's been the top goal-scorer in the league for the last 2 seasons.  He's WAY above the level of our best striker. We are miles off this. 

This bloke was the top scorer in the league for the 3 seasons before the Welsh bloke, despite him not actually being a striker. He was a late developer who didn't really become a regular starter until he was 28, (in 2033/34), but has made up for lost time since then, scoring 205 goals in the last 8 seasons. That can't be right. I must have miss-counted. Hang on a minute. 18, 18, 19, 27, 26, 46, 18 & 33 = 205. That's ridiculous! 

So that's 1 player each from Porto & Benfica, but rather than showing you a Sporting player, let's have a look at Braga instead and see if it sheds some light on how they have managed to finish 3rd. Their 2 highest valued players are both centre-backs but what jumps out at me is that they only have 3 players in their squad aged older than 26. They have a much younger squad than expected. They conceded only 25 goals in the league this season, but only scored 53. Compare their 53 goals scored with Porto who scored 93. We scored 43  This French bloke scored 15 goals in the league for them. he couldn't get a game at either PSG or Porto, but is plenty good enough for Braga. 

Compare the above to the following player who is comfortably our best striker. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Senior squad for the new season. Jun 2041. 

GK. I want to play (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1", but I also want to make sure that (36d) Cardone (ITA) 6'1" * gets regular football somewhere else. That will mean that (33d) Diederich (POR)(LUX) 6'2 will stay and act as our back-up. I wonder if (36d) Cardone (ITA) 6'1" * would benefit from a spell in Liga 2 with Varzim SC. I guess it will depend on who comes in for him. 

DL. (33a) Ramos (STP) (POR) * is one of the best players at the club, but I actually much prefer the look of (36b) Sousa (POR) * and my plan is that he will be 1st choice this season. 

DR. (36c) Mussagi (POR) (MOZ) * is 1st choice but I am going to throw 16 year old (41a) Gil (POR) * straight into the mix as his back-up. 

DC. 32 year old (25c) Guedes (POR) 6'3" is leaving on a free. We've had good value out of him but he's struggling physically so it's time to go. 

ML. (32c) Tomás (POR) * didn't have a great season last season, but he has room for more growth than (32b) Moucheira (POR) so will be prioritised at selection. 

MR. 25 yo (31d) Pais (POR) is obvious 1st choice on the right flank, with 16 year old right back (41a) Gil (POR) * also going to be in contention here. 33 yo (24c) Carvalho (POR) is leaving on a free so (33h) Justino (POR) will provide some back-up both at right back and right wing, but I actually expect teenagers such as (39b) Tiago (POR) and (40g) N'Da (CIV) to feature more.

MC. We've got soooooo many good central midfielders. It's a real area of strength but I really want this intake to have the best players in other positions. (35a) Paulo Júnior (POR) * is probably the best player at the club, but he has his flaws and there will be competition from (36a) Cruz (POR) * and (40b) Ramalho (POR) * especially, with (40a) Sérgio (POR) * probably the pick of the youngsters behind them. he seems limited technically at this stage, but I think the game time will explode his development and will be well worth it. When he starts the Ass man will probably drag him off at HT anyway.  Because I don't have to register 3 of those though, we will have some fringe players available. 

SC. This is the weakest area of the squad in terms of CA. (32g) Ramos (POR) as ever will be our 1st choice on the left up front, and he will be paired with (36e) Pisco (POR) *. The 2ns choice on the left up front will be (39d) Rebelo (POR) *, (who is labelled the next Eusebio). No pressure there eh!  He will be partnered with the more experienced (27a) Mateus (POR). These obviously aren't the best 4 strikers at the club. I've paired the best striker with the 2nd best young striker and the 2nd best striker with the best young striker. I need to play the youngsters to develop them, but I don't want to pair them in the same side. It's a tough decision either way. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2041. 

Facilities. The Training Facilities are back up to L20 and I will be giving it 1 more season to try and see if the option to upgrade the Youth Recruitment appears. If it doesn't then I will deduct £10M from our bank balance and use the editor to change the Youth Recruitment from L19 to L20. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Liga Bwin. Top goal-scorer odds. Jul 2041. 

This came up and I thought it would be a perfect example to show how far behind the competition we still are. 

I don't often look at the CA/PA of opposition players, (because what's the point), but I thought this might be a good opportunity to do so. 

Ashton Hughes is the Welsh striker at Porto I showed you before. He has a CA of 150 and a PA of 152. 
Joaquin Obispo is the left-sided IF/IW a Benfica I showed you before. He has a CA of 144 and a PA of 161.
Yordan Zhelev is a Bulgarian striker at PdF. He has a CA of 132 and a PA of 153. 
Nathanael Rolland is the French player at Braga I showed you before. He has a CA of 135 and a PA of 142. 
Paulinho is a Brazilian striker at Benfica. He has a CA of 158 and a PA of 169. 
Stephen Gold is a German striker at Sporting. He has a CA of 154 and a PA of 177.

Now let's compare it to the 4 I have selected to compete for the 1st team this season. 

(32g) Ramos (POR) has a CA of 134 and a PA of 134. 
(27a) Mateus (POR) has a CA of 130 and a PA of 139. 
(36e) Pisco (POR) * has a CA of 104 and a PA of 145. 
(39d) Rebelo (POR) * has a CA of 94 and a PA of 135.

We're a million miles off it. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2041. 

Liga Bwin. No matter how good an unbeaten month might appear, make no mistake, this is rubbish! We battered Leixões SC but couldn't score and then conceded not 1 but 2 late goals to draw against Moreirense. It's 4 points dropped that we can't afford to drop. This right here is what separates us from the Champions League teams. 

Porto are 9 from 9. 
Braga are 9 from 9.
Sporting are 9 from 12, (and the 3 points they dropped were against Porto). 
Benfica are 7 from 9, (but they were held scoreless to Moreirense too so maybe that's not such a disaster after all). 

Taça da Liga Allianz Cup.

Europa Conference. We're into the Group stage but I have designs on going much further in this competition this year. My plan is that this is the last time we will ever play at this level. 

We can't complain about the Group. Celtic away might be tough, but we should be winning the other 5 games. 

Goal-Scoring GK's. 

 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2041. 

If I had to describe this month in a GIF, this would be it. (Apologies for the quality. I took the video twice and it was poor each time). 

History. 

Liga Bwin. We were beating Porto 1-0 when (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" tamely passed his shot straight to the GK. They then went and equalised with the above goal.  As if that wasn't bad enough, star striker (32g) Ramos (POR) was then shown a straight red in the 1st half against Portimonense, (while we were leading 1-0), and as well as losing the game he will obviously be missing for the next 3 league matches). 

When you consider that we have thrown away 9 points already this season, (2 draws in the opening month, the draw against Porto when we missed a penalty while leading 1-0 and the game where we had our striker sent off while leading 1-0), then we're not actually doing to badly. We're a little bit off where we might have been, but things could certainly be worse. 

Europa Conference. We've been comfortable in Europe, as you would expect at this level. 

Goal-scoring GK's. First (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" saw his penalty saved against Porto and then (33d) Diederich (POR)(LUX) 6'2 did the same on his debut in Europe, (although he did get an assist and keep a clean sheet on his debut). 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2041. 

Liga Bwin. We dominated against Gil Vicente, but they are of course our bogey side, so they somehow still won. It's our old problem of not being able to see teams off again. Teams above us have games in hand so our position is looking a little better than it actually is, but we're not doing awful at the moment. 

Europa Conference. Another 3-0 win. Business as usual in Europe. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. We made harder work of this than it should have been. 

Taça da Liga Allianz Cup. We failed to see of Liga 2 opposition and the main difference is that while we might have been able to progress to the Knockout stages with a draw against Braga, we now have to beat them. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2041. 

Liga Bwin. Braga finished 3rd last season and are playing in the Champions League this season. We've already beaten them twice now this season so things are moving in the right direction. (Famous last words). We've got a tough month coming up with league games against both Sporting and Benfica, and I would love us to win one of them.

Europa Conference. Celtic might have managed to score twice against us, but we still kept up with the +3 goal winning margin.

Taça de Portugal Placard. We have been drawn against Porto in the next round, so that's that then. 

Taça da Liga Allianz Cup. We will qualify for the next round just so long as Braga don't lose by more than 1 goal. 

Contracts. 

(36a) Cruz (POR) * is 21 years old but there was only about 18 months left on his contract and previous every time I had tried to negotiate, he had demanded quite a low min fee release clause, wouldn't allow me to put an expiry date on it and wanted loads of money to sign too. We still had to pay him a huge wage, (£133,000 per month which equates to £1.6M per season), but we have signed him for 5 more seasons and where as he wanted a £20M min fee release clause, I have managed to get a £50M min fee release clause with an expiry date of Feb 2042, (which is only about 3 months away). If we sell him a year before the end of his contract he will be 25 years old and we will not only have got considerable benefit from him as a player, but we should be able to command a hefty fee for him too. He's just made his International debut for Portugal, where he both scored and assisted. Nobody else is paid more than £60k per month at the club, although I think that's likely to change. 

17 year old (40b) Ramalho (POR) * only had 2.5 years left on his contract and I was getting nervous about losing him. I have secured him to a 3+3 deal, but he has insisted on a min fee release clause of £31.5M (and wouldn't allow me to add an expiry date). I couldn't risk losing him on a free, (and his current min fee clause was only £18.5M), so I did the deal and we will just have to see what happens. He will still only be 22 when he has 1 year left on this deal and assuming we're playing in the Champions League then I think we will have an opportunity to extend the deal again. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2041. 

Liga Bwin. A decent month, especially with a win against Sporting, but we saw a winning penalty saved against Leixões SC that would have seen us level on points with 3rd. We've dropped so many needless points already this season. We're bang in the mix for that 3rd spot though, but the fight seems a 5-way battle at the moment. 

Europa Conference. We did well in this Group stage, (but then again we expected to). By finishing top of the Group we will avoid the 1st knockout round and the teams dropping down from the Europa League. It will be interesting to see who is left in the competition at the 2nd Knockout stage. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. I know this is only the Cup, but I also only played our rotated team. We were great and should have won it in 90 mins. Brilliant performance and to beat Porto at any time is great. We've drawn Benfica in the next round though. (Call me lucky!) 

Goal-scoring GK's. 4 GK goals in a single month is decent, but it could have been 5 as (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" saw what would have been the winning penalty saved against Leixões SC. We've been in good form, but that's another 2 points dropped in the league. 

 

 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2042. 

Liga Bwin. It's been a bit of a frustrating month in the league. We've only lost 1 game, but we've dropped 7 of 12 points this month.  It's been a tough month in the Cups though as we've had 2 games against Benfica to navigate. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. We led 1-0 until the 96th minute, and then lost on penalties.  We had been unbeaten in our previous 20 home games, and I'm not sure if this counts as losing at home or if it's classed as a draw. 

Taça da Liga Allianz Cup. We battered Benfica and the margin should have been even greater. We're into the Final, (where we will play Sporting). 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.