(FM23) Lutterworth Fox's go at The Nearly Men

[DavidBeckham]

Charles De Ketalaere looks fantastic! So intelligent, one of the best passers around, and so good in the air too!

[TheLutterworthFox]

2037/38 Season - Transfers and Champions League Draw

Compared to normal it's been a pretty quiet Summer transfer window, a lot of players left, most of them youth and reserve lads but we did lose a couple of first-teamers.

Temel (Striker), Verbist (AM), Bustos (CM) all left, none of them had really set the world on fire so I decided to cash in. Alongside that we also lost Daniel Maldini who decided to retire. £44.5m of sales and quite a bit of wages freed up.

All in all 5 players joined and here they are...

Antonio Jose - Attacking Midfield - Free from Tottenham

A cracking looking player, young and signed for nothing! Quality!

Leandro Figliomeni - Central Defender - £20m from Leipzig

A big fee but he looks really good, I needed to add more depth to my central defence and this lad fits the bill.

Aldo - Full Back - £10.75m from Genoa

Another really good looking players, he will be my backup Left Back for this season, he needs to improve his crossing and dribbling but overall he looks decent.

Jesus - Left Wing - £15,5m from Norwich

My replacement for Maldini on the Left Wing, a big fee but at 19 he has plenty of time to grow.

Raul Coste - Central Midfield - £2.7m from Cluj

Another young player joins, I needed to add more options to my midfield, a cheap fee as well.

So some really good business, £49m spent, £45.5m recouped, really happy with that!

Finally, we have our Champions League fixtures and my god it looks tough!

Usually you get 4 winnable games and 4 tough ones, this time around we have 5 tough matches. We face last season Champions League winners Leipzig, Spurs, Betis, Real Madrid and Porto, all those games are going to be really hard!

[TheLutterworthFox]

2037/38 Season - August to January

A bit of a longer update here, I won't lie, I got so engrossed in playing today that I totally forgot to do my usual end of November update!!

It's now the end of January, a lot of football has been played, so let's take a look at how it's gone!

Firstly is the Italian Super Cup, we once again faced Juventus and played incredibly well to grab a 2-0 win!

De Ketalaere the man again as he grabbed a goal and ended as POTM.

Next, Serie A and my god we have been utterly incredible, 21 games in and we are still unbeaten!!

Some brilliant wins as well with only 4 games where we've not won. Juventus - beaten, Roma, who were with us all the way until the last 3 weeks - beaten, AC Milan - beaten. We have been amazing!!

7 points clear with 17 games to play, we have a huge chance of the league title!!

Now to the Champions League and it has been really really tough!

We started poorly with a 1-0 home defeat to Spurs before a credible 0-0 away to current Champions League holders Leipzig, a win over Betis followed before an away defeat to Real Madrid and a draw at home to Porto. At this point any hope of the top 8 had gone and we were now vying for a playoff spot, we had to win at least 1 of final 2 games to end in the top 24 and we did enough beating both Celta Vigo and Copenhagen to qualify for the playoff round.

A tricky 8 games negotiated and now we have a 2-legged playoff against Celta Vigo, who we only recently beat to get a spot in the Last 16

Finally, I have to show you the youth intake preview, it looks amazing!

Just look at all those A's, more than I've ever seen in a preview, the big question now is will it be as good as it looks?! Let's hope so!!

Edited December 22, 2022 by TheLutterworthFox

[TheLutterworthFox]

2037/38 Season - February and March

It's time for the Champions League knockouts, after a poor-ish League phase we have to play a playoff game to get into the Last 16 against Celta Vigo, a team we beat earlier in the season. 

FIRST LEG (A)

A really lucky escape, for 75 minutes we were bloody awful and found ourselves 3-0 down, subs came on and changed the game and we produced one of the greatest comebacks in my save so far. 3 goals in the final 15 minutes sealed a 3-3 draw, did we deserve it? No. I'll take it though!!!

 

SECOND LEG (H)

Into the home leg and we absolutely battered them, once again it was the Charles De Ketalaere show as he grabbed a hat-trick, a 4-0 win overall and we eased in to the last 16 

Where we were drawn against Tottenham, one of the best ties we could've got, Spurs are currently 11th in the Premier league, a tough game but one I felt we had a chance if we could come out of the first leg at home with a win.

FIRST LEG (H)

And win we did!!! One of the best displays I've had at Napoli so far. We found ourselves 2-0 up within 13 minutes and after that we just cruised to victory, scoring a third just before the hour mark and in the 92nd minute we scored again to seal a 4-0 win!!! Absolutely stunning!

SECOND LEG (A)

In the away leg Spurs really went for us but we never really had a worry, 4 up from the first leg, there was no way we were gonna bottle that! Spurs did win the game, but only 1-0. WE'RE INTO THE QUARTERS!!!

Where we will face Premier League champions Newcastle, a really tough game!!!

Now to domestic issues and the first bit of bad news is we were knocked out of the Italian Cup. I did rest a lot of my key men due to the Champions League games and we did not perform well to get knocked out by Torino in the Quarter Final

Really disappointing but there is much bigger competitions to go for this season.

Now to the League and the stunning unbeaten run continues!!!!

Some amazing wins, capped off with the best one yet, a 6-1 hammering of last seasons Serie A winners Juventus!!

Amazing!!!

The gap at the top has now got even bigger, surely we can't chuck this away?!!?

Finally, the Youth Intake, I'd said in my previous update the preview was mental with a load of A's, well we ended up getting 8 players classed as "Top Talents"!!!

Overall none of them are going to set the World on fire but there are 3 that I will be keeping a close eye on to see how they are developing.

Pretty good!

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by TheLutterworthFox

[TheLutterworthFox]

2037/38 Season - Champions League Quarter Final v Newcastle

Here we go, a place in the Champions League semi final is at stake as we face last seasons Premier League champions Newcastle.

FIRST LEG (H)

We really needed to make home advantage pay here, going to St. James' Park in the second leg was going to be really tough so we needed to go there with a lead.

It didn't start well as Newcastle took the lead midway through the first half, 1-0 down at half time I had to fire the lads up, we had a productive team talk and it worked a treat. Luis Colman scoring within 30 seconds of the second 45 and then, 5 minutes later, De Ketalare popped up to make it 2-1. The game after that was pretty even, chances at both ends but we held firm to win the game 2-1, it's still going to be hugely tough in the second leg, we need to defend well!

SECOND LEG (A)

I knew Newcastle would go at us and go at us hard and that's exactly what happened. But as Newcastle threw everything at us in the first half we broke away and, just after the half way point in the first 45, Luka Romero grabbed a goal to put us in the lead. Newcastle continued to push and eventually grabbed a deserved goal just before half time. 45 minutes to go, we were 3-2 up on aggregate, all we had to do was keep it tight, Newcastle though have so many good players you could just feel it in the air that they were going to score, they pushed and pushed and with 63 minutes on the clock grabbed a goal to make it 3-3. We held on to take it extra time, 30 minutes to go, we needed to go for a goal, we had some chances but so did Newcastle. Then with 10 minutes left Newcastle scored what would be the decisive goal. Dogan scoring a lovely goal from 20 yards out. We tried to score, had some decent chances but Newcastle held firm, the whistle blew and it was all over for another season.

A 4-3 aggregate loss, absolutely gutting, it just shows you how much more work we have ahead of us to be challenging Europe's elite.

Edited December 22, 2022 by TheLutterworthFox

[TheLutterworthFox]

2037/38 Season - End of Season Review

Out of the Champions League, out of the Italian Cup, there's only one thing to play for and that's the League title, when I left you last we were well clear at the top of the Serie A table and still unbeaten, unfortunately that ended rather quickly as we lost to Lazio, I rested numerous key men due to the Newcastle game and paid the price with a 2-0 loss. It didn't dent our title ambitions though as we went on to win the title with 4 games to spare!!!

 

Some fantastic wins with plenty of goals along the way.

Absolutely smashed it, my aim this season was to win the League, I didn't expect us to dominate as much as we have!

A fantastic season overall, now we need to push on and start improving this squad to get further in the Champions League, hopefully this title win will a) give us more money to spend and b) improve our reputation to be able to entice better quality players. Only time will tell.

Now let's take a look at who my key men were.

There really is only one place to start and that's 37 year old forward Charles De Ketalaere, an absolutely ridiculous season for him, 45 starts, 36 goals, 26 in the League ending 2nd in the top goalscorer charts and he ends as the club player of the season. He seems to be getting better with age but how much longer will he last?

Central Defender Nikos Liagas ends as the clubs young player of the season, signed last season he has been fantastic when called upon, he made 25 starts, 20 sub appearances and chipped in with 6 goals.

Luka Romero ends with the most assists at the club, after Daniel Maldini retired Romero has come in and took that Left Wing spot, 44 starts, 18 assists, a brilliant season

And here for your perusal is the whole squad

Now we look forward to another season, we will have a big target on our backs after dominating the league season, we need to keep improving this squad to start challenging more in the Champions League so there may be a few changes to the squad. The good news is the board have given me £60m to spend on transfers and have increased the wage budget by £300k per week. I do however need to abide by the Champions league squad rules to players will have to go to be able to create space for new signings. The squad is decent but it does need improvements, mainly in defence, I'd also like to sign a new Striker as I have a feeling De Ketalaere will be retiring sooner rather than later!

[TheLutterworthFox]

2038/39 Season - Transfers and Champions League Fixtures

A new season begins, Serie A champions last time out, this season we have to start progressing in the Champions League. Twice now we've been knocked out in the Quarters, this season I want to go another step further. To do that though we need to improve the squad, overall it's not too bad and rather large so if I want to bring players in then people have to leave. 

Firstly the one bit of bad news. Charles De Ketalaere decided to call it a day, it came around rather suddenly, I tried to ask him to reconsider but he decided to retire. This leaves a huge hole in my team, last season top scorer, most POTMs and the squads highest average rating. We also let a few players leave to free up funds and space in the squad.

Just over £85m of sales, most of them you can ignore. Fabian Toledo (RB) and Mohamed Allioui (CB) were both mainstays in the first XI last season but both of them had already come to me and said they would leave on a free next Summer, I had to cash in and did just that. We also let Ingrosso go, he did nothing last season but complain about lack of football but when he played he wasn't great. Defenders Granato and Ilardi also moved on after wanting more first team action which I couldn't agree to.

So a lot of defenders leave meaning we need to majorly strengthen that area. I also needed to find a new forward to replace De Ketalaere.

Tommaso Sellitti - Goalkeeper - £4m from Sassuolo

I lost both my backups keepers during the Summer so needed to find a new No.2 Sellitti helps with the homegrown rules and looks quality for a low fee.

Alekos Koblas - Striker - £27.5m from Monaco

I needed to go big with a new Striker and when I saw this lad I had to bring him in. An absolute superstar and only 23.

Francesco Teodoro - Defensive Midfield/Central Defence - £6m from AC Milan

Another young, quality defender joins, he will be employed mainly as a CB but can also play as a DM.

Alessio Zini - Right Back - £3.8m from Atalanta

With Toledo and Ilardi both leaving I needed to sign 2 new RBs, Zini is young and already looks pretty good, he will by my backup RB for the season.

Guiseppe D'Addario - Right Back - £30.5m from Atletico Madrid

The most expensive signing of the Summer, my brand new, top quality RB. I have high hopes for him playing as a WB(A).

Rob Campbell - Central Defence - £8.75m from Hibernian

Another young defender, again he looks fantastic and ready made to walk into the first team.

Zdenek Vrba - Central Midfield/Right Wing - £4.3m from Banik Ostrava

A deadline deal as I decided to let a couple of my young midfielders go out on loan, a ridiculously low fee for someone who looks really good and only 18 as well.

£85m spent, a small profit compared to what we let go. I'm really pleased with the business I've done, again I've lowered the average age of the squad but in no way has the quality been affected. Now bring on the Champions League!!!

Then the fixtures came out and now I'm scared!!!!

Some really tough games there!!! Bayern Munchen (last seasons runners-up), Liverpool (last seasons Europa Conference Winners), Newcastle (Last season Premier League winners), we also have an away game against Monaco. But there is one game there I cannot wait for and that's a visit to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona by my old club Eintracht Frankfurt!! Overall there are 4 games we really should win, other than that it is going to be tough!