[FM24] The Soul of Solna: Swedish Supremacy in Oxford

[GrayMatter]

Oxford United - Season One - 2023/24

Hugo Svensson, 28, takes his seat in front of the skeptical League One press, poised and prepared despite his relative obscurity in the footballing world.

Journalist: "Liam Manning's departure for Bristol City was met with great sadness among the Oxford fan faithful, just how confident are you that you can continue what Manning started here?"

Svensson (smiling warmly): "I understand the apprehension, honestly. I'm a young man, there is still a lot of learning for me to do. However, I will never shy away from a challenge."

Journalist: "Your only previous managerial role was managing the under-15 team at AIK in Sweden, how do you anticipate your responsibilities differing at Oxford in comparison?"

Svensson: "I'm under no illusions, believe me. I was hired by this great football club to win football matches, managing more mature, senior players will have nuanced challenges but I would not be seated here in front of you if I did not believe that I was capable to lead this group of players at my disposal."

Journalist: "There have been some murmurs that you appointment marks a new transfer philosophy at the club, are these rumours to be believed?"

Svensson: "Myself, Grant Ferguson (chairperson) and the board discussed my objectives while I am here. Developing the domestic youth setup, embedding young players into the first-team and using my knowledge of Swedish football in recruitment are all expectations of me."

Journalist: "Although you did not play professionally yourself, surely you'll feel right at home (Sweden) seeing your players pull on the yellow home shirt for the first time?"

Svensson (hardly concealing delight): "It will be quite special for me, I have thought about it a lot already. It'll be even better if that game is a win." 

Hugo Svensson is a Swedish football manager who currently manages Oxford United. He was born in Solna, Sweden on March 7th 1995. Svensson is notable for working within the AIK youth setup, coaching multiple age groups to title wins over the course of his 5-year stint at the club.

Disclaimer: All storytelling and use of graphics is fictitious and is designed to enhance the save game narrative.

Edited May 18 by ShaunG95

[GrayMatter]

Oxford United - Season One - 2023/24

[GrayMatter]

Oxford United - Season One - 2023/24

The aim of the save in many respects is to not only honour what Oxford achieved yesterday but also to create a bed of Swedish talent across England, it's almost as if the intention is to 'build the nation' of Sweden while migrating most of the talented prospects to England.

Most players will be funneled via Oxford but higher reputation Swedish players will ideally get transferred to Brighton and either loaned out or eventually signed to Oxford. The end goal is to have a talents like Lucas Bergvall, Jonah Kusi-Asare, Roony Bardghji, Hugo Larsson, Wiliot Swedberg, John Mellberg and Momodou Sonko all at Oxford. I'd like Dejan Kulusevski and Alexander Isak too but that may well be a stretch.

Hopefully, at some point I'll get the opportunity to manage Sweden too. Kim Källström (whose games as Brighton boss are instant resulted) is currently managing the Swedish under-21s too as like the national side, they are without a manager at the start of a save. I would have selected myself as Sweden manager too but I want to organically earn my stripes with Oxford first before managing both setups.

[GrayMatter]

Oxford United - Season One - 2023/24

Transfers

Despite his heroics in real life, Josh Murphy gathered interest from Shrewsbury and was sold for £71k. We in turn used that money to purchase Tom Bayliss (screenshot below) from the Shrews who was bought for £75k and an additional £100k on instalments. Luke McCormick was brought in from Bristol Rovers for a similar transfer structure. Meanwhile, Alex Rico, Jamie Bowden, Mason Cotcher and Jake Larsson were free agents, the former and latter occupying our ESC places for the year. We later loaned out Bowden to Stockport County for the season and James Henry went to Charlton Athletic for £7k. Deadline day saw us purchase George Nevett from Rochdale for £15k, Manual Braun from Wolfsburg for £100k and we secured Mark O'Mahony and Kamari Doyle on loan for the full season. Nevett and Braun possess a fair bit of potential and I would imagine their signings will have a lot of future resale value.

Interest in Goodrham

Question marks continue over Tyler Goodrham's future as a barrage of bids came our way for him on deadline day. Premier League clubs Sheffield United and Burnley were persistent in the pursuit of his signature but I am adamant that I want to see him and Stephan Negru occupying squad places when we hit the dizzy heights of the Premier League. Gatlin O'Donkor is behind in his development compared to those two but his combination of strength and pace is proving problematic for League 1 sides already.

Tactical Setup

August Results

A sea of green! Nothing much to say aside from that MK Dons pushed us and Mark Harris saved our blushes with a late equaliser, before keeping our composure in the penalty shootout. The tactical setup has been embedded and we are attacking fluidly.

September Results

Green once more. Shocked really by how emphatic some of these results were, the tactic feels like a cheat code at this level, overwhelming most sides with the pace and power in the team. It was pleasing to get another reasonable EFL Cup draw and better yet, dispatching rivals Reading along the way.

October Results

Our 100% record was finally halted by Reading, they have been among the Play-Off chasing pack in the league and I wasn't too discouraged by a further draw with Wigan. The points deduction curse? The EFL Cup game with Bolton was a fascinating contest as they are currently 3rd in the league while we sit top, 11 points clear of them.

November Results

Bolton shocked us. We'd been so strong at home but credit to Ian Evatt's side, they dominated us in that game. The points gap between ourselves, them and Derby began to close a little due to the stutters in the last two games of the month.

December Results

Sadly, Chelsea's billions eliminated us from the EFL Trophy. Considering the goalscorers were recruited for £50m between them, I can't complain, money talks. We really avenged the defeat from there and beat Kim Källström's Brighton, who setup tactically similar to ourselves, so the game itself was an entertaining spectacle. Elliott Moore's late header sealed the deal into the semi-finals.

Edited May 25 by ShaunG95

[GrayMatter]

Brighton - Season One - 2023/24

Fast Forward to January

Transfers In

Transfers Out

[GrayMatter]

Oxford United - Season One - 2023/24

January Results

Despite the unexpected EFL Cup run, Liverpool humbled us prematurely in the FA Cup. However, we showed our quality by dispatching Norwich comfortably at home in the second-leg. The first-leg was a competitive affair and with automatic promotion looking likely, drawing at Carrow Road gives us confidence that even our current squad will be able to make a big impact in the Championship.

January Transfers In

Victor Adeboyejo arrived after Mark Harris suffered cruciate ligament damage, which was devastating for him but we had to move quickly. Quick, decent aerially and a resolute personality while weakening a domestic rival, a no brainer. My scouts had been monitoring Filip Sidklev and I was alerted that he would be available for a work permit after an appeal, so we pounced. However, we terminated Jamie Cumming's loan in turn to accommodate for Sidklev's wage, as we were flirting quite closely with the wage threshold. Similarly we terminated Tyler Burey's loan to save on wages too so that Emil Krafth could later arrive outside of the transfer window.

January Transfers Out

This was a mission of simply saving wages as upgrading the training facilities and youth facilities was proving costly, in which the board decided to slash my wage budget. So I moved to loan out the majority of the under 21s side in order to cope better financially. Disappointingly, the board also accepted a good bid for Gatlin O'Donkor which I was powerless to resist, however they did loan him back to us. He had scored 17 goals in 33 appearances (majority in cup games) so it was a blow but given we were loaned him back with zero need to cover any of his wages, that was a positive, however naturally, I decided to use Mason Cotcher as the rotation striker instead to aid his development.

February Results

EFL Cup Final

Mason Cotcher etched his name into Oxford United folklore, largely a rookie in the game but immortalized after Aaron Wan-Bissaka's labored pass found Tom Bayliss who laid it to Cotcher to place a right-footed effort into the left-corner of Altay Bayindir's goal. Alas, Europa Conference League Football is on the horizon for season two. Exciting times and a financial windfall along the way.

Youth Intake

Zack Packham, perhaps the best intake player I've seen while managing a League 1 outfit. He looks a really good deep-lying forward but I am actively looking to improve his quickness so that hopefully one day he can become a fully-fledged advanced forward. He enters the fray with a good personality and is arguably already better than Mason Cotcher, the intention is that he will instantly become the rotational option to Adeboyejo.

March Results

The EFL Cup final hangover was inevitable, with promotion pushing Portsmouth beating us comfortably. As we have a habit of doing though, we bounced back immediately and went on a dominant run, which compromised of hammering Bolton after our loss at home earlier in the season. We sadly condemned Bayliss' former club Shrewsbury to relegation with a win there.

April Results

The League 1 title was secured after the demolition of Fleetwood. Thankfully, we didn't let up for the remainder of the games left in the campaign with the entirety of our squad playing a part in those games.

League Table

Standout Performers

Greg Leigh was magnificent in that wing-back on attack role, given his age and profile, it's unlikely he'll have a long-term future with us but he was pivotal in this promotion campaign. Similar can be said of Owen Dale, although not inherently the most talented player in the squad, his crossing and corners were a constant danger to League 1 opposition. Kyle Edwards and Tyler Goodrham were threats in the wide areas, cutting in consistently and proving to be menaces to most full-backs in the division. A special shout-out goes to Sidklev and Adeboyejo who settled into the side comfortably after arriving in January.

Zack Packham's Instant Impact

Packham picked up the ball from Goodrham from around 25-yards out, terrific first touch into space and the teenager hammered a left-footed effort to the top corner beyond the helpless Nicholas Bilokapic in goal. The first of many in the future.

 

Edited May 26 by ShaunG95

[GrayMatter]

Brighton - Season One - 2023/24

January Transfers

Roony Bardghji was signed with every intention of him moving to Oxford eventually, but also to keep his transfer value moderate as opposed to him signing for an elite club and becoming financially unreachable for a team of Oxford's stature. He won't get too much club game-time to honour the realism of his recent long-term injury in real life.

Season Overview

Top Performers

Jonas Wind proved to be an inspired signing despite not starting that many games, rotating with Radamel Falcao frequently.

Sweden Under-21s

The trio of Roony Bardghji, Lucas Bergvall and Jonah Kusi-Asare will be the fulcrum of this save. While Bardghji receives mentoring from James Milner at Brighton, Lucas Bergvall will arrive at Tottenham Hotspur in the summer and will be one of the first names on Hugo Svensson's loan wishlist for Oxford's Championship campaign. Disappointingly, it seemed Djurgardens took the decision to limit Bergvall's first-team exposure after confirmation of his arranged transfer to Spurs. Kusi-Asare will be too young for a foreign loan but will be pursued in the 3rd season. A permanent transfer will be unlikely given his potential. Notably, Kusi-Asare scored 8 goals in his second appearance for the Sweden under-21s. As you can imagine with his 197cm height and 18 jumping reach, 3 of those were headers.

[GrayMatter]

Oxford United - Season Two - 2024/25

Transfers

The board awarded us a £5m transfer budget after League One and Carabao Cup success. The rationale with signings was to recruit Swedish players but also predominantly younger players with potential and resale value. We'd already committed to signing Finn Wilkes from Chelmsford in season one, he arrived on a free, the scouts flagged him up early doors in the save. Anes Čardaklija, bolstering the Swedish contigency, arrived on the same day as Wilkes, costing £250k up-front, £250k in instalments and £200k after 50 league appearances. The big Swedish-Bosnian looks to be a steal at that price. A central defender chain reaction resulted in the sales of Elliott Moore and Jordan Thorniley to Plymouth and Bolton respectively, bringing in £3.8m in the process. Stuart Findlay arrived back from his loan at Kilmarnock and swiftly followed Moore and Thorniley to the exit door, joining Rotherham for £300k. All such deals were completed before the new season officially rolled over.

A Fin Stevens-shaped hole needing plugging after his loan-spell, we obliged with Harrison Ashby from Newcastle for £125k, a steal! Omari Forson was signed on a free to cover CAM and AMR. The scouts picked up on a young Argentine, Franco Minerva from Platense, costing £500k up-front, £500k on instalments and £500k after 50 league appearances. He surprisingly got a work-permit and like Forson, can play CAM but can also cover AML. Elliott Bennett came in after a successful trial period, mostly for backup and mentoring. Andrei Borza from Rapid București was a massive coup at £1m up-front, if his potential is to believed, he'll secure that LB position for the foreseeable. A similar fee was paid for Adrian Skogmar from Malmo, who offers midfield versatility but will mostly be used as a backup RB to Krafth and Ashby. Jonas Rouhi arrived on a free after his contract at Juventus expired, he's reasonable but occupies an ESC spot, so he will need to be afforded adequate game-time.

An exciting signing was Montenegrin Vasilije Adžić from Budućnost, he had a measly release clause of £425k and initially caught our eye when Coventry bid for him (as seen on the social feed), we then proceeded to take him from the Midlands side and he again takes our second ESC spot. Defender Cho Wi-Je and winger Kevin Jensen joined for £500k and £850k respectively from Busan IPark and Kalmar FF. Those two took up my remaining ESC spots and will be big parts of the squad this season. Ruben Rodrigues was allowed to depart for pastures new as Al Taawoun coughed up £8.5m for him, a bid too good to turn down. However, where one chapter ends, another one starts, Lucas Bergvall came in from Tottenham on loan, absolute stud and the absolute jewel of this save. I want this lad to reach Kevin De Bruyne levels at Oxford.

[GrayMatter]

Oxford United - Season Two - 2024/25

Tactical Setup

No changes to the setup, Cameron Brannagan has flattered to deceive in the segundo volante role (largely down to contradictory players traits) but is valued highly and attracting interest from Saudi... watch this space. Thankfully, Alex Rico is waiting in the shadows and scored 15 last season.

August Results

West Brom away was an outrageous Championship homecoming for us, capped off nicely with a Zack Packham goal. The spirited starlet will be looking to build on his positive contributions late last season. He did so with a brace against AFC Wimbledon and a late goal to win away at Rheindorf Altach and secure passage into the Europa Conference League proper.

September Results

After an unbeaten August, Stoke and Middlesbrough showed us that away days in the division won't be as breezy as they were in League One. Filip Sidklev's shootout heroics proved decision to knockout Everton in the EFL Cup. Kevin Jensen's deciding penalty booked us an away tie against Bristol City.

October Results

We proved that we are no slouches in Europe, dispatching of Slavia Prague and FC Twente fairly comfortably. Sidklev once more aided our passage to the latter stages of the cup. Jonas Rouhi this time doing the honours to ensure victory.

November Results

A fairly stagnant month domestically. Four goals in five appearances in the Europe Conference League for Zack Packham is adding to the youngster's stock, however. Sitting 4th in the league with three games in hand.

December Results

Wow! Relentless and rewarding. The sheer amount of squad rotation necessary during this period was ridiculous. Thankfully, we've got an awfully dependable bunch. The 12-0 win against Dinamo Batumi may well be an FM record for me, at least in a competitive outing. Tom Bayliss, Marcus McGuane and Vasilije Adžić all got braces, with six other different scorers. Better yet, Luke McCormick scored a belter before recklessly getting himself sent-off, we still scored another two after that! It almost seemed quite comical that we ended up facing League Two Notts County in the EFC Cup Quarters, they weren't to be underestimated though and took the lead before we fought back resiliently through Adžić and a towering late header from Anes Čardaklija. Still 4th as the year closes, only six games in hand now, no less. Only three losses in five congested months of fixtures. 

Goodbye to a favoured personnel

After speaking with Brannagan's agent, Al-Qadsiah approached us with a £16m bid, I haggled for £20m and 50% of the profit made on his next sale. Overall, quite pleased with the fee considering he didn't really fit our system very well. We will likely be active in the January window to sniff out a Swedish replacement.

Edited May 30 by ShaunG95

[GrayMatter]

Oxford United - Season Two - 2024/25

January Transfers

With Cameron Brannagan's departure, we had around £30m in the transfer kitty. With our growing reputation in the world game, we noticed that numerous Swedish youngsters were now interested in joining us. Frank Kamga, a Swedish newgen from Rochdale came in for £140k, he's relatively poor for now but I noticed him in the Sweden under-18 squad, for context, he does actually bolster the attacking midfield position in our under-18 side. Isak Brusberg arrived from BK Häcken for £1.3m (£1.9m), a promising midfielder who can be deployed wide right too. Viggo Jeppsson came in from Malmö FF for £600k (£1m), a more defensive minded midfielder but his physical stature will see him trained as a centre-half. Isak Alemayehu Mulugeta followed from Djurgårdens IF for £1m (£1.5m), he's relatively similar to Lucas Bergvall in profile but will be used primarily as an attacking midfielder. Otto Rosengren came in from Malmö FF as Brannagan's natural successor for £2.5m, a well rounded midfielder who can play in any central midfield role. All of these deals were arranged for January 1st.

Leopold Wahlstedt was later lured to us from Blackburn for £175k, a decent backup for Filip Sidklev. Hjalmar Ekdal became available from Burnley and we signed him for £2m (£2.2m) to become a lead mentor at the club with his model citizen personality. It also helps that he's an upgrade on all of the current central defenders. Ali Jassim came in for £130k from Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, I'd had him on a previous save and he was very good, however getting a work permit for him is problematic, so he was loaned back to his previous club immediately. Jake Larsson attracted interest from Djurgårdens IF, which was interesting as we liked the look of Oskar Fallenius (same position) from them, we proceeded to sign Fallenius for £2m while Larsson went in the opposite direction for £1.1m. A real upgrade in quality. Last but certainly not least, Brandon Thomas-Asante was transfer listed for £69k and given his sheet athleticism, we thought it was too good to ignore and purchased him to rotate with Victor Adeboyejo up-front. It also allows for us to play more direct so that he can run in behind.

[GrayMatter]

January Results

Oh we do love a sea of green here at Oxford. If I'm honest, I had low expectations going into the games with Middlesbrough, particularly away, I thought if we could avoid defeat that would put us in a good position. Filip Sidklev was again our hero against them at the Riverside (he averaged a 7.5 match rating across the month) as we booked our place at Wembley once more, this time against the blue side of Manchester. Again, the FA Cup draws were kind, it's all money in the coffers as far as I'm concerned.

February Results

League form was again immaculate, due to the Europa Conference League fixtures earlier in the calendar, we had a hectic schedule again. Lots of home games and lots of goals! We were slightly sloppy against Watford and Stoke but we are grateful for the abundance in attacking talent we now have. Victor Adeboyejo and Brandon Thomas-Asante really shined as the pair rotated frequently due to the frequent fixtures.

EFL Cup Final

Marcus Browne had me jumping out of my seat with a late equaliser (90+5) against Man City in the cup final but our unspeakable achievement from last season could not be repeated as they battered us in extra-time. We did lick our wounds, however, and hammered Premier League Leicester City in the FA Cup. We took a 4-0 lead thanks to a brace from Lucas Bergvall, who was proving to be exceptional as expected.

Youth Intake

Quick, determined and labelled the next Michael Owen! Scott Forbes arrives with high hopes for the future, I may well make him a left-winger given how good of a crosser of the ball he is. I do envisage Jonah Kusi-Asare being my striker in the long-term, so I do not expect to waste a talented crosser like Forbes by always playing him centrally. Sweden do not really have a standout left-winger besides Momodou Sonko, so I think Forbes can be used to alternate with him in the future for Oxford.

March Results

Apollon Limassol proved to be a relative walkover in the round of 16 in the Europa Conference League, while fellow manager Kim Källström seemed awestruck for the FA Cup Quarter Final occasion, in which we seized victory. 

April Results

Five goals in the first three games of the month from Brandon-Thomas Asante alone set the tone before we imploded against newly-relegated Bournemouth. A winner into the 10th minute of extra time was a bitter pill to swallow. We then limped against Slavia Prague, initially taking a 3-1 lead before conceding in the fourth and then fifth minute of stoppage time. Seemingly a poor habit to be developing in such a pivotal stage of the season. We did recover against Sheffield Wednesday but rivals Reading thumped us as they fought for Championship survival. Zack Packham and Vasilije Adžić were the starboys against Slavia in Czechia, the substitutes scoring two late goals to overcome Slavia's lead. Miraculously, we had to field a 'greyed-out' goalkeeper against them too as Filip Sidklev and Leopold Wahlstedt each had a month on the sidelines, with Simon Eastwood unregistered for selection.

FA Cup Semi Final

This game gave me everything that an important match should offer to you in Football Manager. We took an early lead, which we doubled before allowing Manchester United's quality to shine through, on the brink of defeat in stoppage time before Oskar Fallenius became prime Cristiano Ronaldo and scored two right-footed thunderbolts into the top corner beyond Altay Bayindir. Genuinely one of the most engaging matches I have ever experienced on the game.

We could then have secured promotion officially by defeating Leeds United and Wolverhampton Wanderers but our FA Cup Semi-Final hangover impacted our mentality in those fixtures. Nevertheless, Bournemouth dropped points against our rivals Reading which confirmed our promotion to the Premier League!

May Results

We looked very secure going into the second-leg against AEK Athens after again scoring two late in the first-leg to secure a win. Coventry City and Burnley were brushed aside to win ourselves the Championship title, back-to-back! Remarkable. Our European dominance brought in some complacency in the second-leg in Athens, we took an early two-goal lead before Marcus McGuane received a straight red-card, which led to some late drama. The fit-again Filip Sidklev was quite disappointing on his return to the starting eleven in these games.

League Table

Ipswich later beat West Brom in the Play-Off final to join ourselves and Middlesbrough in the Premier League.

FA Cup Final

Utterly ridiculous scenes! It was gut-wrenching when Dominik Szoboszlai equalised so late, given how well we had played but for Filip Sidklev to put himself on centre-stage again and save penalties was something to behold. He cemented himself as an Oxford United legend. Regardless of the outcome of the European final we had coming up after this, we had a place in next season's Europa League.

Europa Conference League Final

In what was a cagey, drab affair; wonderkid Vasilije Adžić, like Filip Sidklev before him, became an Oxford United legend with the only goal of the game to add a fifth trophy to Hugo Svensson's collection. Sky is the limit, right? 

Standout Performers

So many players performed to extremely high-levels across the season, it'd be unjust to single anyone out in particular for praise! Bring on the Premier League.

Edited May 30 by ShaunG95

[GrayMatter]

Brighton - Season Two - 2024/25

Transfer Activity 

In

Recruitment was focused on bringing in model citizens/other good personalities and mentoring the younger players signed. Tim Rönning did come in however as the new starting goalkeeper. Again, he will probably move to Oxford at some point.

Out

The screenshots are fragmented to cut out some of the largely irrelevant loans. Some really good fees were accrued here which funded our own spending.

Season Overview

Two extra points compared to last season allowed Brighton to secure a 4th place position, without having to rely on co-efficient allocation for an additional Champions League position.

Champions League

A good first attempt but you can't argue with being eliminated by the juggernaut that is Real Madrid, still led by Carlo Ancelotti. However, they did lose to Inter Milan in the final.

Top Performers

The wider players seemed to thrive in the system, while Gonçalo Ramos was excellent either as a shadow striker or advanced forward.

Sweden Under-21s

Roony Bardghji is now a model citizen after some productive mentoring.

Jonah Kusi-Asare's under-21 goal record is outrageous. 8 goals against Liechtenstein was a particular highlight.

 

 

Edited June 15 by GrayMatter