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This just shows how good we have been They are first but we are near and they have just beaten Benfica to win the League Cup. The moment of truth The first game was against Feirense and we were easily beaten 3-0. We were just bad. [Liga 2] vs Feirense (A) Final Score: 0-3 L Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 69 – 32 52 – 27 2 – 5 0,33 – 2,49 1 – 6 65 – 35 Individual Highlights Goals - Assists - Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Edu P 6,9 D Andrade 3 S Justo 1 Ricciullu 6,9 Edu P 2 Denilson 1 L Ferreira 6,8 L Madeira 2 xG Interceptions Key Passes Denilson 0,1 L Ferreira 6 D Andrade 3 Cassamá 0,1 Ricciulli 5 T Melo 2 D Andrade 5 Cassamá 1 xA Headers Won Dribbles Karamoko 0,1 L Ferreira 11 Cassamá 2 D Andrade 0,1 Edu P 7 T Melo 2 Ricciulli 7 Lacx 2 The second game was against Tondela. They have been the best team in the league and they have shown they can compete with the tier-1 teams. 1 penalty in the 11th minute in their favor and it made the match very difficult for us. We still managed to draw 1-1, with a goal by our homegrown Cassamá. [Liga 2] vs Tondela (H) Final Score: 1-1 D Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 54 – 74 49 – 30 4 – 4 1,22 – 1,67 4 – 3 62 – 38 Individual Highlights Goals Cassamá Assists Lacx Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Cassamá 7,8 Lacx 3 Lacx 2 Lacx 7,2 T Melo 2 Cassamá 2 P Martins 7,2 L Ferreira 2 xG Interceptions Key Passes Cassamá 0,5 Ricciulli 4 T Melo 3 Karamoko 0,3 F Pereira 3 Lacx 3 Miccoli 0,2 P Martins 3 Denilson 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles Lacx 0,3 Ricciulli 10 Lacx 4 Denilson 0,3 L Ferreira 7 Denilson 4 P Martins 0,2 Lacx 4 J Castro 3 Next game was against Vilafranquense. They couldn’t reach us already in the standings. We started well with a great goal by Cassamá who was replacing Karamoko as he is not playing very well. Then one more penalty against us, they drew level and then they were just better than us and eventually won the match 1-2. [Liga 2] vs Vilafranquense (A) Final Score: 1-2 L Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 28 – 113 32 – 57 4 – 5 0,58 – 2,36 0 – 6 35 – 65 Individual Highlights Goals Cassamá Assists Lacx Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Lacx 7,0 Denilson 7 Lacx 2 Cassamá 6,8 P Martins 4 Ricciulli 1 L Madeira 6,7 T Melo 4 Cassamá 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Lacx 0,2 Denilson 3 T Melo 6 Miccoli 0,1 Lacx 3 Lacx 2 L Ferreira 0,1 L Madeira 2 Miccoli 1 xA Headers Won Dribbles Melo 0,3 Ricciuli 8 Denilson 2 Lacx 0,2 L Ferreira 8 L Madeira 2 Miccoli 0,1 T Melo 4 Lacx 2 Now we were facing Varzim who were already 2nd while we were 3rd. Decided to make a change in the training schedule. The day before the match: Team Bonding – Teamwork – Match Preview. I want everyone committed to the team. Can you guess what happened? Yes, penalty for them. 3 penalties against in 3 games. I’m not saying they weren’t deserved, but it’s odd. We had 2 all season before this. We showed them how determined we were and especially Edu Pinheiro had a great perfomance, and we turned it around and beat them 3-1. 4th place is guaranteed and we can still be champions. [Liga 2] vs Varzim (H) Final Score: 3-1 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 47 – 76 41 – 44 5 – 4 1,56 – 1,74 4 – 5 36 – 64 Individual Highlights Goals Denilson, Lacx, L Faustino Assists Edu P, P Martins, D Andrade Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Edu P 7,6 F Pereira 6 Lacx 3 Lacx 7,4 Edu P 4 Denilson 1 J Castro 7,2 J Castro 4 L Faustino 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Lacx 0,4 J Castro 3 L Madeira 5 L Madeira 0,3 L Faustino 3 J Castro 3 Karamoko 0,3 P Martins 3 Edu P 3 xA Headers Won Dribbles Edu P 0,3 L Ferreira 8 Lacx 5 P Martins 0,3 L Faustino 5 J Castro 2 D Andrade 0,3 Lacx 3 Denilson 2 Unfortunately, Karamoko, Denilson and Pedro Martins got another yellow card and they are now suspended for the last game of the season. And Luís Ferreira is injured for 3-4 weeks. We schedule a friendly as we have one week with no game (have no idea why). And then we face Alverca who are on the verge of relegation. Tondela face 13th-placed Trofense; Varzim face 5th-placed Benfica B; Feirense face 9th-placed Porto B. All tricky matches, but they all play home and we play away. Last game of the regular stage I start in a 4-3-3 DM Wide with Daniel Azevedo; Pereira, Ricciulli, Faustino and Andrade; Edu Pinheiro, Madeira, Castro, Lacx, Ruster and Cassamá upfront. It was a quiet first half where we dominated possession ( 69% ) but made little of it with just 3 shots on target and 0,18 xG. Feirense and Tondela are winning their games, Varzim is 0-0. This puts us in 2nd with Feirense in 3rd. There isn’t much I can do from the bench, so we keep everything the same for the second half. We just play a bit wider and try to dribble past them a bit more. We play only a little better and they score from a set-piece. I try to change some players but nothing seems to work. We lost 1-0 and fall into 3rd which leads us to the playoff. [Liga 2] vs Alverca (A) Final Score: 0-0 D Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 64 – 45 48 – 32 6 – 4 0,80 – 0,45 2 – 0 64 – 36 Individual Highlights Goals - Assists - Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target L Faustino 7,0 Ruster 4 L Faustino 2 F Pereira 6,9 Cassamá 3 J Castro 2 Ricciulli 6,9 Ricciulli 2 J Pedro 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Ruster 0,2 F Pereira 5 J Castro 4 J Castro 0,2 L Faustino 4 Edu P 3 J Pedro 0,2 Ricciulli 4 F Pereira 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles F Pereira 0,2 L Faustino 17 Ruster 4 G Gomes 0,1 Ricciulli 10 F Pereira 1 J Castro 0,1 Edu P 9 L Madeira 1 Terrible form to end the season: And these are the final standings: On a curious note: we and Varzim were promoted this season and were fighting for direct promotion until the last breath. The other team was Mafra who managed to avoid relegation. We now have 2 games against Vizela to decide who plays in the first tier. However it goes, this will be our best finish ever.

Thank you for the feedback! If there's anything you don't understand, please feel free to ask. Regarding the matches, I mostly do it the same way: always in extended. I rarely look at statistics inside the match, and mostly look at my player's statistics every 3/4/5 games depending on the competition. About the promotion, that's my feeling now. If it were real life no one would bottle it intentionally nor give up near the end. I rotated a bit, maybe I shouldn't have (although the results were quite good). Rationally it seems an unwise decision, but deprive me and my players of this experience seems wrong. We'll try our best for this final run of games and see where it leads us.

My first 100! An overview of my first 100 games in management Not a single holiday… I’m a slave to them New recruits I’ll present to you my top talents The first one is Biruk Tadesse, RW/CAM from Ethiopia. Spirited personality. With 6 passing and 7 vision; speed and technical as his strongest suits, I’m counting on him as a right-side inverted winger/inside forward. Then it’s Henrique Carneiro, CB from Portugal. Unambitious personality. I’m worried about his determination ( 3 ), but if he shows some improvement soon, I’ll add him to the first team and get him in a mentoring group. The third one is Brahim Tahiri, ST/CAM from Morocco. Spirited personality. He isn’t fast or has balance or strength, so I think he won’t be a striker. I’m divided between training him as AP in the CM-line or as an inverted winger/inside forward from the left. Next is Luís Soares, LB from Cabo Verde. Balanced personality. He’s rated with the highest potential and he’ll take the place of Isidro Correia as my prospect LB. The last one from this list is Gilson Barbosa, LW from Cabo Verde. Fairly Sporting personality. Rated with highest current ability alongside Biruk. He’s natural as LM but I’ll force him into LW where he’s already competent. The report adds he is fairly susceptible to injuries. I have my hopes for Brahim Tahiri. Name Best Pos Def Physical Speed Vision Att Tech Aerial Mental Total Biruk Tadesse AM (R) 3 7 11 8 7 10 4 8 36% Henrique Carneiro D (C) 11 7 7 4 5 6 9 7 35% Brahim Tahiri AM (C) 5 6 9 10 7 11 8 8 40% Luís Soares D (L) 6 9 10 6 5 7 7 11 38% Gilson Barbosa M (L) 5 9 12 5 7 8 3 8 36% Dinis GK 9 5 8 8 9 4 9 6 36% Paulo Carrilho DM 8 7 7 4 4 5 4 8 29% Edgar Castelhano AM (L) 3 7 6 9 8 9 7 7 35% Carlos Silva M (R) 4 6 8 9 7 9 5 9 36% Dominik Sirmais AM (L) 3 8 14 8 8 9 3 5 36% Telmo Figueiredo AM (R) 4 6 8 8 7 9 8 6 35% Vitorino Coentrão AM (L) 5 6 8 9 7 10 4 8 36% Herculano Queta AM (L) 2 8 9 9 7 10 5 7 36% Some improvements elsewhere Anthony has been training with the senior team and has 5 stars in potential. Improving his personality will certainly help him reach his potential. Only 5 matches to go! 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss. And we keep rotating the squad [Liga 2] vs Estrela da Amadora (A) Final Score: 0-2 L Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 45 – 71 38 – 39 5 – 4 1,49 – 1,69 4 – 4 54 – 46 Individual Highlights Goals - Assists - Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Lacx 7,0 Lacx 6 Lacx 2 L Faustino 6,9 L Madeira 5 Karamoko 2 P Mendes 6,8 F Pereira 5 Miccoli 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Lacx 0,6 P Martins 5 Miccoli 4 Karamoko 0,6 L Faustino 5 Lacx 2 Miccoli 0,3 Edu P 2 Denilson 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles Lacx 0,5 L Faustino 8 Lacx 2 Miccoli 0,3 Lacx 5 L Madeira 2 Karamoko 0,3 G Gomes 4 P Martins 1 [Liga 2] vs Trofense (H) Final Score: 2-2 D Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 66 – 64 37 – 34 8 – 2 1,67 – 0,25 5 – 1 42 – 58 Individual Highlights Goals L Madeira, Cassamá Assists Karamoko, T Melo Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Cassamá 8,4 T Melo 4 Karamoko 4 L Madeira 7,5 L Madeira 4 L Madeira 1 T Melo 7,3 Cassamá 3 Cassamá 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 1,1 T Melo 9 T Melo 5 T Melo 0,1 L Ferreira 7 Cassamá 4 Cassamá 0,1 L Faustino 4 Denilson 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles Denilson 0,6 L Faustino 5 Denilson 3 Cassamá 0,5 Cassamá 4 P Martins 2 T Melo 0,2 L Ferreira 4 J Castro 2 [Liga 2] vs Porto B (A) Final Score: 2-1 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 58 – 48 47 – 37 4 – 1 1,47 – 0,63 3 – 1 60 – 40 Individual Highlights Goals Cassamá, Lacx Assists Miccoli, Cassamá Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Cassamá 8,2 Miccoli 4 L Madeira 1 Lacx 7,7 D Andrade 4 L Benay 1 Miccoli 7,3 J Castro 3 Lacx 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Lacx 0,8 L Ferreira 4 Denilson 4 Cassamá 0,2 L Madeira 2 P Mendes 3 Miccoli 0,2 L Benay 2 Miccoli 3 xA Headers Won Dribbles Cassamá 0,6 L Ferreira 12 J Castro 5 P Mendes 0,3 L Benay 8 Cassamá 3 Miccoli 0,3 L Madeira 5 F Pereira 2 [Liga 2] vs Nacional (H) Final Score: 0-0 D Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 36 – 73 25 – 33 2 – 4 0,61 – 0,57 1 – 0 45 – 55 Individual Highlights Goals - Assists - Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target D Junior 7,2 Lacx 6 Lacx 1 L Ferreira 7,1 T Melo 4 Denilson 1 T Melo 6,9 Karamoko 2 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 0,3 T Melo 3 Edu P 3 Denilson 0,1 L Ferreira 3 Lacx 2 Lacx 0,1 Lacx 2 T Melo 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles Denilson 0,2 Bastian 10 Lacx 1 T Melo 0,1 Lacx 4 G Gomes 1 Edu P 0,1 L Ferreira 4 Cassamá is making the most of his minutes with 2 goals and 1 assist in the 2 games he started. Hugo Lima, Benay and Culubali also got some minutes. Pratas might be the next one. We remain near the top. Even if we lost all the remaining matches, the worst we could finish would be 9th which is still a great victory. In the xG table, we are 1st, which means we are near where we should be. So no overperformance or underperformance issues. We have a very difficult end of season. We play 5th, 1st, 9th, 3rd and 17th. In the first round we got 3 wins and 2 losses (Tondela and Varzim) against these teams. President wins the elections once again But he has no plans in making investments, which is quite worrying, since our financial situation is not good.

9 to go and we are… in the promotion route! [Liga 2] vs Penafiel (H) Final Score: 1-1 D Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 51 – 44 52 – 22 9 – 2 2,30 – 0,64 6 – 1 56 – 44 Individual Highlights Goals P Mendes (pen), G Gomes, Lacx, Denilson Assists P Martins Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Denilson 7,4 F Pereira 4 Lacx 3 P Martins 7,4 Bastian 2 Bastian 2 Lacx 7,3 Culubali 2 J Pedro 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes P Mendes 0,8 Bastian 6 P Mendes 3 G Gomes 0,3 D Andrade 4 J Pedro 2 Lacx 0,3 F Pereira 3 D Andrade 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles S Justo 0,3 Bastian 15 Lacx 3 P Mendes 0,2 L Faustino 14 J Pedro 2 P Martins 0,2 J Pedro 5 D Andrade 2 [Liga 2] vs Mafra (A) Final Score: 2-2 D Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 67 – 51 40 – 25 5 – 3 0,73 – 0,84 1 – 2 53 – 47 Individual Highlights Goals J Castro, Denilson Assists Edu P, P Martins Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Denilson 7,4 P Martins 4 T Melo 1 J Castro 7,4 T Melo 4 Ricciulli 1 L Ferreira 7,3 J Castro 4 Denilson 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Denilson 0,2 L Ferreira 7 P Martins 3 Cassamá 0,2 P Martins 3 T Melo 2 Ricciulli 0,1 Ricciulli 3 Denilson 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles P Martins 0,3 L Ferreira 10 Ruster 2 T Melo 0,1 Edu P 6 Cassamá 2 Cassamá 0,1 Ricciulli 6 P Martins 1 [Liga 2] vs Vitória de Setúbal (A) Final Score: 0-1 L Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 59 – 96 44 – 38 1 – 1 0,98 – 0,40 0 – 2 38 – 62 Individual Highlights Goals - Assists - Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target J Castro 7,4 T Melo 7 Karamoko 1 Miccoli 6,8 Miccoli 4 L Ferreira 6,7 Denilson 4 xG Interceptions Key Passes Lacx 0,4 Lacx 3 J Castro 3 Denilson 0,3 Denilson 3 Cassamá 1 Karamoko 0,2 J Castro 3 G Gomes 1 xA Headers Won Dribbles J Castro 0,4 L Ferreira 5 Denilson 5 Miccoli 0,2 D Andrade 4 J Castro 2 T Melo 0,1 Ricciulli 3 Lacx 1 [Liga 2] vs Benfica B (H) Final Score: 2-0 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 65 – 39 51 – 31 2 – 2 1,53 – 0,23 3 – 0 63 – 37 Individual Highlights Goals Karamoko (x2) Assists L Madeira, F Pereira Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Karamoko 8,1 Denilson 5 Karamoko 2 L Madeira 7,8 T Melo 5 F Pereira 7,5 L Faustino 2 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 1,1 L Ferreira 8 L Madeira 5 Denilson 0,1 P Martins 2 P Mendes 3 J Castro 0,1 Bastian 2 Denilson 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles L Madeira 0,8 L Ferreira 12 Denilson 4 F Pereira 0,4 L Faustino 10 J Castro 4 Lacx 0,1 Lacx 6 P Martins 2 I can’t explain. I’m making some rotations and trying out different approaches in roles and duties but we are still getting the results. There are 18 points to battle for and we are 6 points away from the team in place to go to the promotion playoff and 8 points away from non-promotion. We are playing against 6th, 7th and 9th in the next 4 games. It will be tough. Doubts and Squad Building This is leaving me a bit scared. We are dead last in wages in this league and playing in a stadium with a capacity for 1800 people. Even if we were in the tier below us, we would have been 13th out of 21 teams in wages. We only have 2 players considered “Good for Liga 2”. We have no structure in place to get promoted. In the middle of this, I was building the team to stay in this league, but now it seems we are on the path to promotion. Should I keep building for Liga 2? Should I use the budget to try and build a team to play in tier 1? If we are promoted, should I invest in young players, accept relegation as a fate in the next season, and use those youngsters to get promoted in the third season?

Either I'm tired or the wording in the rule is super confusing

Another link you can check

First Signings for Next Season Following the scouting setup I talked about at the beginning of the season, we identified some possible targets, and we now have finished our first two signings for the next season. The first one is Bruno Ventura, 23. He was playing for Rio Ave U23, ending his contract. He can play both in the wing and in the middle. As he is not very fast, I’m counting on him to play as CM. Regarding attributes, 14 in corners really attracted me as we need that type of threat. Below is his comparison with João Castro and Luís Madeira He is signing on a 2,6k/month and there’s a buy now clause of 14k. I’ll wait and see if it drops until the end of the transfer window. Two options: one – we save the money from his wages and he comes next season; two – he joins now and by next season he should be fully integrated. The second one is Bernardo Caldeira, 24. He is at Leiria who are underperforming this season and he had shown interest in playing for us. He’s a right-back, more defensive-minded than Tiago Melo and his mental attributes are great. The comparison between him and both our current options. Filipe Pereira ends his contract this season and I won’t renew with him. He’ll be on a 3,1k/month contract for 2 years. The downside to the negotiation was he demanded a release clause of just 46k. It’s more than double what I’m paying for him, but I don’t want to lose him for such value. I had the option to sign him now, but once again, I don’t see a point in adding him right now, so he’ll join next season. Studying for a new Coaching Licence It’s going to take a bit of time to complete, but I’ll start now so it impacts the rest of this season and half of the next Winter Transfer Window Update I made one adjustment to the team. I already had an eye on Ricciulli at the beginning of the season but he had a long-term injury, so I brought him in December for a trial and decided to sign him. He’ll be a replacement for Bastian. I’ll keep both of them for the remainder of the season while I integrate Ricciulli. Bastian has a great personality and he has 0,37 goals/90 which is incredible. I hope the new guy can cover that as well. Couldn’t terminate Hugo’s loan but got a message from his manager at Famalicão asking for more game time and told him he should recall him and he did. I liked him, but can’t rely on loanees. Maybe in the future, he will be an option. Scouting Setup I’ll change the scouting setup for the remainder of the season. Will look into players ending their contracts and transfer listed and also the U19 leagues. I’ll keep the recruitment focus in the league we are in broader, but the rest will change. 4 more games I’m rotating the squad a bit to give some time to less-played players. I want to reach the end of the season and have a clear judgment and no doubts about my decisions. Losing points is not a problem as I don’t really want to get promoted so soon. Certainly, this doesn’t mean I will intentionally lose a game, I just am not afraid of losing. However, things have been going quite well and we only lost 4 points in 4 games. A bonus of 2 games with full attendance. [Liga 2] vs Rio Ave (H) Final Score: 1-1 D Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 44 – 74 53 – 31 3 – 3 0,71 – 0,60 1 – 1 53 – 47 Individual Highlights Goals L Ferreira Assists Miccoli Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target L Ferreira 7,4 F Pereira 6 Miccoli 1 Miccoli 7,2 G Gomes 4 D Andrade 1 L Faustino 6,8 L Madeira 3 L Ferreira 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes J Pedro 0,4 D Andrade 3 G Gomes 3 L Ferreira 0,2 L Faustino 2 Miccoli 2 G Gomes 0,1 Karamoko 1 D Andrade 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles G Gomes 0,4 L Faustino 11 Lacx 3 Miccoli 0,2 L Ferreira 10 G Gomes 2 Lacx 0,1 F Pereira 6 Karamoko 1 [Liga 2] vs Académico de Viseu (A) Final Score: 2-1 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 69 – 36 62 – 35 8 – 3 2,63 – 1,86 10 – 5 60 – 40 Individual Highlights Goals Denilson, Karamoko Assists J Castro, Denilson Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Denilson 9,2 T Melo 4 J Pedro 3 Karamoko 7,7 Denilson 3 Denilson 2 J Castro 7,7 D Andrade 2 D Andrade 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes J Pedro 0,9 T Melo 7 Denilson 5 Denilson 0,6 L Faustino 5 L Madeira 4 Karamoko 0,4 D Andrade 3 J Castro 3 xA Headers Won Dribbles Denilson 1,1 Bastian 15 J Castro 2 J Castro 0,6 L Faustino 7 Lacx 2 L Madeira 0,3 J Pedro 7 Denilson 2 [Liga 2] vs Leixões (H) Final Score: 2-2 D Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 52 – 154 25 – 54 5 – 3 1,98 – 0,49 3 – 1 31 – 69 Individual Highlights Goals Bastian, J Castro (pen) Assists D Andrade Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target J Castro 7,1 Lacx 4 J Castro 1 Bastian 7,0 S Justo 4 J Pedro 1 D Andrade 6,8 J Castro 3 Bastian 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes J Castro 0,9 L Ferreira 4 D Andrade 3 Karamoko 0,4 L Madeira 3 J Castro 3 S Justo 0,3 Lacx 2 L Madeira 3 xA Headers Won Dribbles Lacx 0,3 L Ferreira 7 J Castro 3 J Castro 0,1 Lacx 3 F Pereira 1 D Andrade 0,1 D Andrade 3 G Gomes 1 [Liga 2] vs Marítimo (A) Final Score: 3-1 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 62 – 52 52 – 58 7 – 7 2,30 – 1,64 6 – 3 54 – 46 Individual Highlights Goals Karamoko (x2), Lacx Assists Denilson, T Melo, G Gomes Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Karamoko 8,3 Lacx 4 Karamoko 3 T Melo 7,9 Miccoli 3 Denilson 2 Denilson 7,7 T Melo 3 Lacx 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 1,2 T Melo 7 T Melo 4 J Castro 0,4 L Ferreira 6 G Gomes 3 S Justo 0,2 Karamoko 2 Denilson 3 xA Headers Won Dribbles Denilson 0,7 L Faustino 11 Karamoko 4 G Gomes 0,5 L Ferreira 11 Lacx 3 Miccoli 0,4 Lacx 8 Cassamá 2 The standings show a very comfortable position to fight for promotion, if it were our goal, it would have been nice. In the next 4 games, the strategy will be the same: rotate, observe, and try to win.

Expectations Since we are doing so well and our initial objective for the league was to go to the relegation play-off, the president asked me if I wanted to change objectives and therefore budgets. I didn’t set the bar too high, but thought it would be unrealistic to leave it as it is. Regarding the budget, we keep losing a lot of money every month, so in the meantime, I’ll pretend it wasn’t changed. New Year – 2025, here we come! The year ended very well. We got 6 points with an expressive win over Vilafranquense and a more predictable one against Alverca. Varzim was way better than us. [Liga 2] vs Vilafranquense (H) Final Score: 3-0 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 59 – 68 44 – 40 8 – 5 1,59 – 1,09 2 – 1 41 – 59 Individual Highlights Goals Karamoko (x2), Lacx Assists D Andrade, Karamoko Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Karamoko 9,0 T Melo 4 Karamoko 3 Lacx 7,7 Lacx 4 P Mendes 2 D Andrade 7,7 F Pereira 4 G Gomes 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 1,2 J Castro 4 J Castro 4 Lacx 0,1 D Andrade 3 Lacx 2 G Gomes 0,1 L Faustino 2 D Andrade 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles D Andrade 0,3 L Ferreira 7 Lacx 4 L Madeira 0,1 J Pedro 5 Denilson 3 T Melo 0,1 L Faustino 4 L Faustino 1 [Liga 2] vs Varzim (A) Final Score: 1-3 L Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 45 – 103 44 – 51 6 – 7 1,84 – 2,13 4 – 3 38 – 62 Individual Highlights Goals Karamoko Assists D Andrade Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Karamoko 7,4 D Andrade 4 L Ferreira 2 G Gomes 7,4 P Mendes 3 Karamoko 2 J Castro 6,9 G Gomes 3 G Gomes 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 1,3 L Faustino 6 J Castro 5 Lacx 0,2 L Ferreira 4 Karamoko 3 L Ferreira 0,2 T Melo 3 P Mendes 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles G Gomes 0,8 L Ferreira 4 Karamoko 5 D Andrade 0,4 T Melo 4 J Castro 3 J Castro 0,2 L Faustino 4 Miccoli 2 [Liga 2] vs Alverca (H) Final Score: 1-0 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 63 – 42 65 – 16 5 – 0 2,66 – 0,21 5 – 0 68 – 32 Individual Highlights Goals J Castro (pen) Assists - Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target J Castro 7,9 Cassamá 5 Karamoko 2 Daniel Junior 7,5 T Melo 2 Cassamá 2 Edu P 7,4 Denilson 1 J Castro 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes J Castro 1,0 Bastian 5 T Melo 6 Karamoko 0,8 L Ferreira 4 Edu P 4 Cassamá 0,4 Miccoli 3 J Castro 3 xA Headers Won Dribbles Karamoko 0,6 L Ferreira 10 Denilson 4 J Castro 0,5 Cassamá 9 J Castro 4 T Melo 0,2 Edu P 7 Cassamá 3 League standing after the first half: We get to the first objective: 34 points. We now have 22 more points than 3rd from last. Which means they would have to get almost 1,3 more ppg than us or win 8 more games than us. That would have to be a miraculous second round for them and a totally disastrous one for us. So, we can safely assume we are relegation safe. I don’t expect us to keep this place through the second round. Other teams will rate us much higher and will have a different plan for us and it will be a learning process. Team Overview Player Stats Around the World Portugal England France Germany Italy Netherlands Spain Winter Transfer Window and Future Plans Since we have already secured a place in this league for the coming season, it’s time to plan it carefully. In this transfer window I’m not planning on making any big changes. We have already signed 2 youngsters: João Bacôco, LW, 17 and Marco Castanheira, RB/RW, 16. They’ll be integrated in the youth team and we’ll see how they develop. They came on a free, so we only have to deal with the cost of their wages. I’ll dive into the first team next, but the approach to this window will be: if there’s a good deal, mainly for positions where we have loanees, we’ll go for it, but we’ll focus on giving minutes to youth players for the remainder of the season. Looking into my first team GK Daniel Azevedo has been the clear best, Daniel Júnior is doing reasonably well when he has a chance, so there’s no point in changing. I’ll try and give Hugo Lima some chances so he can develop a bit. Name % Min Av Rat Daniel Azevedo 74% 7,04 Daniel Júnior 26% 6,95 DR Filipe Pereira has a very low average rating, but his Poss +/- and Defensive Rating is quite good. I’ll keep him for the rest of the season and give him some chances, but I don’t think he’ll be around next season (he ends his contract this season). Name % Min Av Rat Tiago Melo 78% 6,96 Filipe Pereira 22% 6,75 DL Pedro Martins and Daniel Andrade are not perfect but they are decently good. I’ll focus my attention on getting a better player for this position for next season, but I’m not worried about it. Both end their contracts at the end of the season. I’ll renew with Daniel Andrade if he doesn’t ask to be a regular starter and too much on wages. Name % Min Av Rat Pedro Martins 52% 7,03 Daniel Andrade 46% 6,94 DC Luís Ferreira and Levi Faustino are clear first choices, but I’m not sold on Levi. He handles defensive aerial duels well, but he isn’t a threat in set-pieces and I need that from my CB. He also has 2 mistakes leading to goals. Bastian is the aerial threat but we lose the ball so much when he is on the field, I don’t trust him to be in the starting eleven regularly. Hugo has been doing well, but just like Levi he isn’t a threat in set-pieces. His loan cannot be terminated, so I’ll keep him around but I’m thinking of giving his chances to Benay, our youth product. Name % Min Av Rat Luís Ferreira 83% 7,15 Levi Faustino 77% 6,93 Bastian 26% 6,87 Hugo 17% 6,79 DM/MC Quite happy with all of my options. Edu doesn’t get very high ratings but he’s valuable in winning and not losing possession. Samuel Justo isn’t having much game time, but I don’t have any youth player I want to develop right now in this position, so I’ll keep him. I’ll try to have a solution to replace Samuel and Pedro Mendes for next season, and I’m thinking of someone who can be a threat taking set-pieces. Name % Min Av Rat João Castro 79% 7,17 Luís Madeira 67% 7,12 Edu Pinheiro 61% 6,89 Miccoli 41% 7,07 Pedro Mendes 33% 6,85 Samuel Justo 15% 6,84 W Lacx and Denilson are the frontrunners, Ruster was playing well in the beginning of the season but his performances have taken a downward turn. Gomes is not doing that bad but isn’t taking Denilson’s place in the starting eleven. Cassamá has been getting some minutes and scored 4 goals already. He’ll get more minutes in the second half of the season, most likely at the expense of Ruster. Eduino is also in the lookout for some minutes to help his already good progression. Name % Min Av Rat Denilson 78% 7,00 Lacx 60% 7,04 Ruster 29% 6,86 Herculano Cassamá 27% 6,93 Gonçalo Gomes 16% 6,89 ST Karamoko is our star with 14 goals and 4 assists in half a season. Can’t complain about João Pedro as he has 1,11 goals/90 and 0,22 assists/90 and it’s just a shame he isn’t getting more game time, but no way I’m removing Karamoko from the starting eleven. João ends his contract with Vitória de Guimarães this season and if he’s interested by then, I’ll probably make a move for him. I have Culubali who I also want to develop but he needs more time. I’ll probably let him play some minutes this season. Name % Min Av Rat Mohamed Karamoko 70% 7,26 João Pedro 20% 7,04

I might be dumb… but we are on the right track Great win against Feirense and the expected loss to Tondela (they have beaten Porto in the Allianz Cup!). We also managed to beat Nacional in the cup. [Liga 2] vs Feirense (H) Final Score: 3-1 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 74 – 37 65 – 17 5 – 2 1,35 – 0,80 3 – 2 64 – 36 Individual Highlights Goals Denilson, Lacx, Cassamá Assists P Martins, T Melo, Karamoko Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Karamoko 7,7 J Castro 6 Cassamá 1 P Martins 7,7 P Martins 4 Karamoko 1 L Ferreira 7,6 T Melo 3 Lacx 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Cassamá 0,8 L Ferreira 8 J Castro 4 Karamoko 0,3 P Martins 7 T Melo 4 Denilson 0,1 T Melo 5 S Justo 1 xA Headers Won Dribbles Karamoko 0,8 L Faustino 12 T Melo 4 J Castro 0,3 L Ferreira 10 J Castro 2 T Melo 0,2 Edu P 7 Denilson 2 [Liga 2] vs Tondela (A) Final Score: 0-2 L Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 34 – 73 39 – 42 0 – 4 0,81 – 2,15 3 – 4 45 – 55 Individual Highlights Goals - Assists - Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Lacx 7,3 Lacx 6 - - J Castro 6,6 Edu P 3 - - L Madeira 6,6 T Melo 2 - - xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 0,4 J Castro 3 Lacx 2 L Madeira 0,2 T Melo 2 Denilson 2 Denilson 0,2 L Faustino 2 L Madeira 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles Lacx 0,4 L Ferreira 7 Lacx 6 Denilson 0,2 Karamoko 6 Denilson 4 L Madeira 0,1 Bastian 4 L Ferreira 1 [Allianz Cup] vs Nacional (H) Final Score: 3-1 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 62 – 68 47 – 24 8 – 3 1,51 – 0,59 4 – 2 50 – 50 Individual Highlights Goals Denilson, L Madeira, J Pedro Assists Karamoko, Denilson (x2) Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Denilson 9,0 D Andrade 3 Karamoko 3 Miccoli 7,4 P Mendes 2 Denilson 2 L Madeira 7,4 Cassamá 2 L Faustino 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 0,4 Miccoli 5 Denilson 4 Denilson 0,3 L Faustino 4 Miccoli 4 J Pedro 0,2 Cassamá 3 P Mendes 3 xA Headers Won Dribbles Denilson 0,6 Bastian 15 Karamoko 4 Miccoli 0,2 L Faustino 11 Miccoli 3 D Andrade 0,2 T Melo 5 T Melo 3 Denilson with 2 goals and 2 assists was the highlight. He also had 4 dribbles and 2 key passes in the game we lost. Great run from him. Where was I dumb? In the Allianz Cup. I don’t know what went through my mind, but we were beating Nacional 3-0 and I decided the game was over and replaced my most used players with some youngsters and backups to give them game time. We were 1, just 1! goal away from a tie with Benfica. Had we scored that goal I don’t know what would be the sorting of the group as rules only mention goal difference and goals scored as tie-breakers and we would have been equal on both. So close… We are now only 6 points away from the desired 34, but we will have to set new objectives as we keep our place in the top of the table. Now we are only playing in one competition, the league. In the next 3 games, we receive Vilafranquense (6th) and Alverca (17th); and we travel to Póvoa de Varzim (10th). At least 6 points should be achievable. Development Update A quick look into my player’s development in the last 6 months. This time I changed the way I accounted the changes. Green Arrow pointing NE +0,5; Green Arrow Pointing N +1 (except if there's mention of any other number); Red Arrow pointing S -1; Red Arrow pointing SE -0,5. Name Best Pos Cro Dri Fin Fir Lon Tec Ant Bra Cmp Cnt Dec Det Lea OtB Pos Vis Wor Acc Agi Bal Jum Pac Sta Str Daniel Júnior GK Daniel Azevedo GK 0,5 Filipe Pereira D (R) 1 Tiago Melo AM (R) Pedro Martins AM (L) 0,5 Daniel Andrade D (L) 0,5 Hugo D (C) 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,5 L Faustino D (R) 0,5 0,5 0,5 Bastian D (C) Luís Ferreira D (C) 0,5 1 Name Best Pos Cro Dri Fin Fir Lon Tec Ant Bra Cmp Cnt Dec Det Lea OtB Pos Vis Wor Acc Agi Bal Jum Pac Sta Str João Castro AM (C) Luís Madeira M (C) 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,5 Pedro Mendes M (C) Miccoli M (C) 0,5 Edu Pinheiro DM 0,5 Samuel Justo M (C) 0,5 Lacx ST (C) 0,5 0,5 Ruster AM (L) Denilson AM (L) 0,5 0,5 Gonçalo Gomes AM (L) 0,5 0,5 Mohamed Karamoko ST (C) 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,5 João Pedro ST (C) 1 1 Herculano Cassamá AM (R) 0,5 1 1 0,5 0,5 0,5 Senior Squad 0,5 1 0,5 0,5 0,5 1 1 0 1 1 3,5 3 2 1 0 1 0,5 0 1 0,5 0 0,5 2 2 TOT TEC MEN PHY 24 4 14 6 Youth Players in their second full season Name Best Pos Cro Dri Fin Fir Lon Tec Ant Bra Cmp Cnt Dec Det Lea OtB Pos Vis Wor Acc Agi Bal Jum Pac Sta Str Isidro Correia D (L) -1 0,5 Ricardo Dias AM (R) -1 0,5 0,5 Both had injuries which led to Bravery being reduced. All the other players (except Cassamá) are on loan so I don't have the development information. Youth Players in their first full season Name Best Pos Cro Dri Fin Fir Lon Tec Ant Bra Cmp Cnt Dec Det Lea OtB Pos Vis Wor Acc Agi Bal Jum Pac Sta Str Hugo Lima GK -1 0,5 0,5 0,5 Lukas Benay D (C) 0,5 0,5 1 1 Domingos Culubali ST (C) 0,5 -2 0,5 1 1 Anthony Pratas ST (C) 0,5 0,5 Pedro Flor D (R) 0,5 0,5 0,5 Jorge Pedro D (R) 0,5 0,5 Eduino Gomes AM (L) 0,5 0,5 0,5 2 0,5 1 1 0,5 1 1 1 1 Innocent Chembezi M (R) 1 0,5 0,5 1 1 Gabriel Rosado D (L) -1 -0,5 -0,5 -0,5 1 -0,5 0,5 João Lopes ST (C) 0,5 Carlos Flor AM (R) 0,5 0,5 0,5 Bernardo Mendonça D (R) -1 0,5 André Ribeiro M (L) -0,5 -0,5 -0,5 -0,5 -0,5 1 Joaquim Branco M (C) João Martelo M (R) 1 0,5 0,5 0,5 1 Hugo Lima is also improving his technicals, but I didn't create the rows for GK-specific. Eduino Gomes has been evolving pretty well. They are both training with the first-team as is Benay and Chembezi. Culubali was at the start of the season but he was just 15 so I sent him back to the youth team. Now he's back again. TOT TEC MEN PHY 24,5 -3 3 24,5 Don't know what's happening with the technical training, but I'm happy with the physical development. Overall biggest increases: Eduino Gomes AM (L) 10,5 Innocent Chembezi M (R) 4 Herculano Cassamá AM (R) 4 Hugo D (C) 3,5 João Martelo M (R) 3,5 Lukas Benay D (C) 3 Luís Madeira M (C) 2,5

December is here! Some great wins and our first loss in the league. We have also played 2 friendlies to keep players in shape and try some different things. [Liga 2] vs Trofense (A) Final Score: 4-0 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 74 – 73 50 – 39 10 – 3 2,54 – 0,72 7 – 2 40 – 60 Individual Highlights Goals J Castro, Karamoko, G Gomes, Ruster Assists Denilson, Lacx, Karamoko, J Castro Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target J Castro 8,4 D Andrade 4 Karamoko 4 Lacx 8,0 J Castro 2 Ruster 1 Karamoko 7,8 Denilson 2 Lacx 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 1,5 L Faustino 3 Denilson 4 Edu P 0,2 T Melo 3 T Melo 4 Ruster 0,2 J Castro 2 Lacx 3 xA Headers Won Dribbles Lacx 0,9 L Faustino 8 Denilson 4 J Castro 0,4 L Ferreira 8 Lacx 3 Denilson 0,4 T Melo 4 D Andrade 2 [Liga 2] vs Porto B (H) Final Score: 4-0 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 56 – 35 47 – 34 8 – 2 2,51 – 0,70 5 – 1 64 – 36 Individual Highlights Goals Lacx, L Ferreira, Bastian, J Pedro Assists J Castro, Miccoli (x2), Ruster Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target L Ferreira 8,6 T Melo 2 Lacx 2 Lacx 8,4 Denilson 2 J Pedro 2 Miccoli 8,3 L Madeira 1 L Ferreira 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 0,7 P Martins 4 Miccoli 8 J Pedro 0,6 L Ferreira 3 Lacx 5 Lacx 0,4 Miccoli 3 P Martins 3 xA Headers Won Dribbles Lacx 0,7 L Ferreira 24 Lacx 6 Miccoli 0,6 Lacx 8 Denilson 3 Ruster 0,6 L Faustino 6 Karamoko 2 [Liga 2] vs Nacional (A) Final Score: 0-2 L Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 67 – 55 64 – 31 4 – 4 0,97 – 1,17 2 – 3 52 – 48 Individual Highlights Goals - Assists - Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Edu P 7,0 T Melo 5 L Faustino 2 Denilson 6,8 Denilson 4 Karamoko 1 L Faustino 6,7 Miccoli 3 T Melo 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 0,5 L Ferreira 4 Edu P 2 P Martins 0,1 Edu P 3 P Mendes 1 L Faustino 0,1 P Martins 3 L Madeira 1 xA Headers Won Dribbles Denilson 0,3 Edu P 10 Lacx 2 Edu P 0,2 L Ferreira 10 T Melo 2 Lacx 0,1 L Faustino 8 Denilson 2 In this run of games, it was João Castro who impressed the most with 1 goal and 2 assists. The league situation is perfect especially when we take into consideration we should be in the relegation battle. An overview of player stats. One player in each stat is quite good. Miccoli certainly is deserving more playing time but all my midfielders are doing quite well. Daniel Azevedo has been great as well and Karamoko is our star. My players have also collected some awards in the meantime. This board is for Young Player of the Month. And the next games: We need 9 points to expectedly be outside the relegation battle. Tondela is 1st, and Feirense is 8th so I’m expecting two tough matches. We just lost to Nacional and we didn’t play very well, so expectations will be kept to a minimum this stretch of games.

League’s Finances It’s mid-October and we’ve already lost 142k this season. We have a projected 2,1M loss this season (I don’t exactly believe these numbers, but it’s the best we have). Our financial situation is defined as “Okay”. Out of 18 teams, 9 are “Okay” – where us, Porto B and Benfica B are included; 2 are “Secure” (Marítimo and Estrela da Amadora); and the rest, 7, are “Insecure”. October is done! 3 more games played. 4 points out of 6 in the league and a 2-1 defeat against Sporting in the Cup it’s a definite win on my book. [Liga 2] vs Vitória de Setúbal (H) Final Score: 3-3 D Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 67 – 31 49 – 19 9 – 5 2,14 – 1,59 4 – 3 47 – 53 Individual Highlights Goals L Madeira, Karamoko (x2) Assists Denilson, D Andrade, L Madeira Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target L Madeira 8,3 D Andrade 6 Karamoko 3 Karamoko 8,0 Ruster 4 Ruster 2 D Andrade 7,8 J Castro 3 L Ferreira 2 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 1,4 D Andrade 3 L Madeira 7 Ruster 0,4 J Castro 3 Denilson 5 L Madeira 0,2 Karamoko 2 D Andrade 3 xA Headers Won Dribbles L Madeira 0,8 Denilson 6 Ruster 5 D Andrade 0,7 L Faustino 6 Denilson 4 Denilson 0,4 Edu P 4 D Andrade 3 [PT Cup] vs Sporting (H) Final Score: 1-2 L Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 32 – 160 33 – 61 4 – 8 0,74 – 3,60 1 – 8 37 – 63 Individual Highlights Goals J Pedro Assists D Andrade Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target D Andrade 7,1 P Mendes 6 Lacx 2 J Pedro 7,0 Lacx 3 J Pedro 1 Miccoli 6,9 D Andrade 3 S Justo 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Lacx 0,3 D Andrade 3 Miccoli 2 J Pedro 0,2 F Pereira 2 D Andrade 2 Bastian 0,1 P Mendes 2 J Castro 1 xA Headers Won Dribbles J Castro 0,2 Bastian 6 Lacx 5 Miccoli 0,2 J Pedro 6 Denilson 2 D Andrade 0,2 L Faustino 5 Edu P 2 [Liga 2] vs Estrela da Amadora (H) Final Score: 3-1 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 74 – 64 56 – 37 7 – 4 2,56 – 0,52 6 – 1 59 – 41 Individual Highlights Goals Karamoko (x2), L Ferreira Assists L Madeira, Miccoli (x2) Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Karamoko 8,6 L Madeira 4 Karamoko 3 Miccoli 8,1 Karamoko 4 L Ferreira 2 L Madeira 7,5 Lacx 2 Lacx 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 1,4 T Melo 5 G Gomes 3 L Ferreira 0,4 Lacx 4 Miccoli 2 T Melo 0,3 D Andrade 4 Denilson 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles Miccoli 0,7 L Faustino 12 Lacx 3 L Madeira 0,6 Lacx 6 J Castro 3 Karamoko 0,3 Edu P 6 D Andrade 3 Karamoko with 4 goals and Luís Madeira with 2 goals and an assist in these 3 games are the individual standouts. I’ve implemented both changes I talked about in the last post: Daniel Andrade is in the starting eleven and I’m playing more direct (move the slider to the middle). Andrade got 2 assists; top 3 in average rating in 2 matches; top 3 in tackles in 2 matches; top 3 in interceptions in all matches; top 3 in key passes in 2 matches; top 3 in dribbles in 2 matches. He’ll keep his place in the coming matches. Next matches: Only 2 games in November, so I’ll schedule some friendlies to maintain match sharpness and possibly make some tests. League Update We can be quite happy with the standings. 15 points needed to the 34 that should grant us a place in this league for next season. We have 2,11 ppg and need 0,6 ppg until end of season.

New contract The president is happy with us and offered me a new 3-year contract. I’m on 5k/month and his first offer is 6k. The second lowest wage in the league is the Varzim manager with 7,75k. I tried to level with that, but the most I got was 6,5k and an increase in non-relegation bonus. It also includes a 15% increase in promotion. The only attribute that changed over the course of the last year was Player Knowledge. Increase by 1. Reputation is also still at 2,5 start (Minimal). Will soon look into upgrading my coaching licence. Probably will apply in January. First International Players No, not full internationals, but 2 of my players (one of them homegrown) have been called-up to the U19s of their country. Very proud of them! Some More Games Played Quite successful in both cup games, although I expected a bigger margin against Merelinense. One more draw in the league. We are having some trouble finding our way to the goal in the last matches. This is the third consecutive league game we don’t score; it is however our fourth consecutive match without conceding. Against Benfica, I never thought we could get a decent result. My bad… But my players proved me wrong. I switched most of the team and we were losing 4-0 until the 68th minute. Then they fell asleep and we took our chances. Great display by Cassamá and João Pedro. They won their place for the game against Merelinense where they both scored and due to an injury to Karamoko and Lacx still being out, they both played against Benfica B, this time to no effect. [Allianz Cup] vs Benfica (A) Final Score: 4-4 D Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 44 – 112 26 – 54 5 – 9 1,31 – 3,29 4 – 4 35 – 65 Individual Highlights Goals Cassamá (x2), J Pedro, Bastian Assists P Mendes (x2), J Pedro Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Cassamá 8,7 Bastian 2 Cassamá 3 J Pedro 8,1 F Pereira 2 Bastian 1 P Mendes 7,9 Ruster 2 J Pedro 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Bastian 0,4 D Andrade 5 P Mendes 4 Cassamá 0,4 F Pereira 4 J Pedro 3 J Pedro 0,2 L Madeira 4 G Gomes 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles P Mendes 0,7 Bastian 7 F Pereira 2 J Pedro 0,2 Edu P 7 Ruster 2 Cassamá 0,1 Hugo 4 G Gomes 2 [PT Cup] vs Merelinense (A) Final Score: 2-1 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 43 – 43 47 – 25 4 – 3 0,51 – 0,24 0 – 0 58 – 42 Individual Highlights Goals J Pedro, Cassamá Assists T Melo, S Justo Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target S Justo 7,4 P Martins 4 G Gomes 2 J Pedro 7,2 Cassamá 3 J Pedro 1 Cassamá 7,2 P Mendes 3 Cassamá 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes G Gomes 0,2 T Melo 3 T Melo 3 Cassamá 0,1 Bastian 3 S Justo 2 J Pedro 0,1 P Martins 3 P Mendes 1 xA Headers Won Dribbles S Justo 0,2 Bastian 15 P Martins 3 T Melo 0,1 J Pedro 15 Bastian 1 Karamoko 0,1 L Faustino 12 Ruster 1 [Liga 2] vs Benfica B (A) Final Score: 0-0 D Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 37 – 69 40 – 44 0 – 2 0,64 – 0,68 1 – 1 65 – 35 Individual Highlights Goals - Assists - Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target L Ferreira 7,5 T Melo 3 D Azevedo 7,3 Denilson 3 L Faustino 7,2 L Madeira 3 xG Interceptions Key Passes J Pedro 0,2 L Faustino 5 L Madeira 1 J Castro 0,2 P Martins 4 J Castro 1 Denilson 0,1 L Madeira 3 J Pedro 1 xA Headers Won Dribbles P Martins 0,2 L Ferreira 15 Denilson 2 L Madeira 0,2 L Faustino 11 Cassamá 2 J Pedro 0,1 J Pedro 4 Miccoli 1 Our next games Comparing this Season to the last one Since we have played some games in different competitions and against different levels of opposition, I’ll compare players performances this season to their performances last season. GK Daniel Azevedo is averaging better performances with a better saves held ratio and Poss +/-. Name Best Pos Mins Ps C/90 Pas % Hdrs W/90 Hdr % Av Rat DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 Held – P+T Daniel Azevedo GK 1425 20,59 84,00 0,00 0,00 6,76 0,44 0,06 0,50 3,22 0,06 0,00 0,25 Daniel Azevedo GK 720 27,12 89,00 0,00 0,00 7,20 0,87 0,00 0,87 4,38 0,00 0,00 0,63 GK 6,53 5,00 0,00 0,00 0,44 0,43 -0,06 0,37 1,16 -0,06 0,00 0,37 RB Tiago Melo is doing very well. He started very strong with some goals and assists, his progression and key-pass ratio is on the same level as last year, but he dropped a bit on Poss +/-. Name Best Pos Mins Ps C/90 Pas % Hdrs W/90 Hdr % Av Rat DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck PW/Fls Tiago Melo AM (R) 968 42,02 86,00 2,51 59,00 7,02 7,35 2,97 10,32 6,50 0,28 0,14 3% 2% 13% 18% 2,23 0,53 11,00 Tiago Melo AM (R) 727 48,40 86,00 3,59 69,00 7,28 7,55 2,85 10,40 1,49 0,75 0,18 3% 2% 14% 18% 1,90 0,84 7,25 RB 6,38 0,00 1,08 10,00 0,26 0,20 -0,12 0,08 -5,01 0,47 0,04 -0,01 0,00 0,01 0,00 -0,32 0,31 -3,75 LB First player to be compared with a different one. Pedro Martins has more defensive actions and unfortunately less offensive actions. It’s a shame since I brought him as a more offensive minded option, but I guess it has to do with my left-back having played as an WB-A a part of last season and this season he has made 1 appearance as WB-A and the rest on support. His progression is also lower than what Daniel Andrade got last season. Name Best Pos Mins Ps C/90 Pas % Hdrs W/90 Hdr % Av Rat DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck PW/Fls Daniel Andrade D (L) 1559 51,55 87,00 3,64 80,00 6,81 6,64 2,95 9,59 3,29 0,06 -0,01 3% 1% 11% 15% 2,22 0,46 15,00 Pedro Martins AM (L) 778 62,24 90,00 4,51 76,00 6,95 8,44 2,08 10,52 4,28 0,00 0,00 1% 0% 8% 9% 2,12 0,48 12,92 LB 10,69 3,00 0,87 -4,00 0,14 1,80 -0,87 0,93 0,99 -0,06 0,01 -0,02 -0,01 -0,03 -0,06 -0,09 0,02 -2,08 Pedro Martins also got a red card against Benfica B, so Daniel will get his chance. Let’s see how he does. He has a higher progressive pass ratio and more offensive actions this season than Pedro Martins as well, so he is deserving this chance. Name Best Pos Mins Ps C/90 Pas % Hdrs W/90 Hdr % Av Rat SPKP /90 DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck PW/Fls Pedro Martins AM (L) 778 62,24 90,00 4,51 76,00 6,95 0,00 8,44 2,08 10,52 4,28 0,00 0,00 1% 0% 8% 9% 2,12 0,48 12,92 Daniel Andrade D (L) 212 68,77 93,00 3,82 75,00 6,83 0,00 8,07 4,24 12,31 5,52 0,00 -0,02 4% 0% 10% 14% 2,05 0,50 9,75 CB Both players have more passes completed, more completion ratio, more defensive actions, and a better ratio of possession won per foul. On the negative side, the aerial ability is lower. In the Poss +/-, Luís Ferreira is almost on the same level as last season but there’s a big (positive) difference in Levi when compared to Bastian. Might use Bastian when I have João Pedro in the field. He’s big and might get to some of Bastian’s “punts”. Name Best Pos Mins Ps C/90 Pas % Hdrs W/90 Hdr % Av Rat DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck PW/Fls Luís Ferreira D (C) 2376 67,61 91,00 9,70 77,00 6,90 4,55 0,46 5,01 15,00 0,11 -0,01 0% 0% 6% 6% 4,92 0,80 24,63 Luís Ferreira D (C) 830 81,65 92,00 10,19 73,00 7,22 5,10 0,22 5,32 14,43 0,00 -0,04 0% 0% 7% 7% 4,40 0,87 29,58 CB1 14,04 1,00 0,49 -4,00 0,32 0,55 -0,24 0,31 -0,57 -0,11 -0,03 0,00 0,00 0,01 0,01 -0,52 0,08 4,95 Name Best Pos Mins Ps C/90 Pas % Hdrs W/90 Hdr % Av Rat DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck PW/Fls Bastian D (C) 1735 50,73 68,00 12,86 84,00 6,98 4,51 1,66 6,17 0,47 0,46 0,15 1% 0% 12% 13% 5,81 1,08 18,71 Levi Faustino D (R) 648 92,50 93,00 7,92 76,00 7,19 5,27 0,00 5,27 13,62 0,00 -0,03 0% 0% 6% 6% 4,14 0,67 39,26 CB2 41,77 25,00 -4,94 -8,00 0,21 0,76 -1,66 -0,90 13,15 -0,46 -0,18 -0,01 0,00 -0,06 -0,07 -1,67 -0,41 20,55 CM In the midfield, we are missing Pedro Mendes set-pieces, but Edu Pinheiro Poss+/- is very impressive. Him, alongside the increase we had by changing Bastian with Levi are leading to way higher possession stats and it can be seen on the increase in passes completed (the 11 most used players have 121 more completed passes per 90 than last season). This might lead to a decision in increasing passing directness. Name Best Pos Mins Ps C/90 Pas % Hdrs W/90 Hdr % Av Rat DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck PW/Fls Luís Madeira M (C) 2705 55,63 86,00 2,99 72,00 7,26 4,79 3,46 8,25 -2,29 0,40 -0,03 3% 0% 11% 15% 1,95 0,18 20,01 Luís Madeira M (C) 825 63,82 87,00 2,84 67,00 7,09 3,28 3,16 6,44 -5,35 0,22 0,02 3% 0% 11% 14% 2,20 0,31 16,50 RCM 8,19 1,00 -0,15 -5,00 -0,17 -1,51 -0,30 -1,81 -3,06 -0,18 0,05 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,25 0,12 -3,51 Name Best Pos Mins Ps C/90 Pas % Hdrs W/90 Hdr % Av Rat DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck PW/Fls João Castro AM (C) 2416 52,41 86,00 1,90 42,00 7,05 3,95 3,47 7,42 -3,21 0,22 0,06 4% 1% 12% 16% 2,15 0,15 32,56 João Castro AM (C) 710 69,34 88,00 1,90 39,00 7,18 3,43 4,68 8,11 -6,84 0,25 0,12 3% 1% 12% 15% 1,85 0,31 12,50 LCM 16,93 2,00 0,00 -3,00 0,13 -0,52 1,21 0,69 -3,63 0,03 0,06 -0,01 0,00 0,00 -0,01 -0,30 0,16 -20,05 Name Best Pos Mins Ps C/90 Pas % Hdrs W/90 Hdr % Av Rat DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck PW/Fls Pedro Mendes M (C) 1879 60,64 86,00 1,05 45,00 7,01 3,25 2,58 5,83 -6,18 0,58 0,06 2% 5% 13% 20% 2,11 0,36 11,00 Edu Pinheiro DM 599 69,42 86,00 6,91 88,00 6,96 2,85 1,35 4,20 -0,30 0,15 -0,02 2% 0% 12% 13% 4,11 0,63 15,60 CDM 8,78 0,00 5,86 43,00 -0,05 -0,40 -1,23 -1,63 5,88 -0,43 -0,08 0,00 -0,05 -0,01 -0,06 2,00 0,26 4,60 RW Lacx was impressive in the preseason, but since the official games started his production has dropped. 6,93 average rating is definitely not a big cause of concern. As it happened with Pedro Martins, not playing as an IF-A might be taking away some of the benefits of his game. Name Best Pos Mins Ps C/90 Pas % Hdrs W/90 Hdr % Av Rat DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck PW/Fls Gonçalo Cabral AM (R) 1974 30,05 78,00 5,47 54,00 7,17 5,10 6,25 11,35 -6,39 0,73 0,04 8% 0% 10% 18% 1,64 0,34 8,31 Lacx ST (C) 569 29,74 78,00 3,80 55,00 6,93 3,48 4,75 8,23 -11,55 0,48 0,06 4% 0% 10% 14% 1,50 0,40 5,50 RW -0,31 0,00 -1,67 1,00 -0,24 -1,62 -1,50 -3,12 -5,16 -0,25 0,02 -0,03 0,00 -0,01 -0,04 -0,14 0,06 -2,81 LW Another player with a good start to the season. In the squad analysis he was one of the weaknesses I needed to upgrade/solve, but he’s proving me wrong with increases all over the place. Name Best Pos Mins Ps C/90 Pas % Hdrs W/90 Hdr % Av Rat DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck PW/Fls Denilson AM (L) 2179 31,84 82,00 1,40 21,00 6,90 4,71 4,42 9,13 -5,45 0,50 -0,02 7% 0% 9% 16% 1,50 0,39 6,84 Denilson AM (L) 736 40,84 80,00 1,47 26,00 7,01 4,89 4,28 9,17 -9,17 0,73 0,24 4% 0% 8% 12% 1,50 0,56 4,29 LW 9,00 -2,00 0,07 5,00 0,11 0,18 -0,14 0,04 -3,72 0,23 0,26 -0,03 0,00 -0,01 -0,04 0,00 0,17 -2,55 ST Karamoko is in excellent form. There’s not much to add. Name Best Pos Mins Ps C/90 Pas % Hdrs W/90 Hdr % Av Rat DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck PW/Fls Mohamed Karamoko ST (C) 2493 18,16 81,00 3,43 19,00 7,14 2,20 4,48 6,68 -4,99 0,94 0,12 9% 0% 5% 13% 1,84 1,50 2,87 Mohamed Karamoko ST (C) 588 17,60 83,00 1,99 23,00 7,11 3,21 4,75 7,96 -3,37 0,92 0,32 8% 0% 3% 11% 1,10 1,00 2,30 ST -0,56 2,00 -1,44 4,00 -0,03 1,01 0,27 1,28 1,62 -0,02 0,20 -0,01 0,00 -0,01 -0,02 -0,74 -0,50 -0,57 I’m curious to see if João Pedro can challenge him for the place. His ability in the air can be hard to deal with Name Best Pos Mins Ps C/90 Pas % Hdrs W/90 Hdr % Av Rat SPKP /90 DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck PW/Fls Mohamed Karamoko ST (C) 588 17,60 83,00 1,99 23,00 7,11 0,00 3,21 4,75 7,96 -3,37 0,92 0,32 8% 0% 3% 11% 1,10 1,00 2,30 João Pedro ST (C) 189 14,29 70,00 11,43 73,00 7,18 0,00 0,48 4,28 4,76 -7,62 1,43 0,67 17% 0% 7% 23% 2,98 1,98 1,50 Overview Ps C/90 Pas % Hdrs W/90 Hdr % Av Rat DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck PW/Fls Sertanense 11,04 3,36 0,02 3,55 0,10 0,08 -0,42 -0,34 0,15 -0,08 0,03 -0,01 -0,01 -0,01 -0,03 -0,15 0,03 -0,52 This is the table for the average of the most used 11 combined. High increase in passes completed and pass completion and decrease in offensive actions and progression + key-pass ratio. Will try to play more direct and see the effects.

Scouting Setup In the past seasons we didn’t have much to do in scouting and could gather much data to work with, but this season I think we’ll be able to do something a bit more organised. I’ll try to do this a bit like Monchi. First, some focus on populating the datasheets and getting to know the world; then going into detail. So, I decided to set 4 recruitment foci for the first 6 months of the season: All Positions, Liga 2, Under 25; All Positions, Liga 3, Under 25; All Positions, Under 23 competition; All Positions, CNP (Tier 4), Under 25. Liga 2 Points Requirement Looking into the last 2 seasons, relegation was granted for every team with 33 or fewer points (almost 1 ppg). Promotion is a 55+ race (1,62 ppg), although in the first season 3rd and 4th tied with 55 and last season 55 would only grant 6th place. Right now we need a midway point. I don’t think it will come to this, but I think if we had the chance to get promoted again, I would probably purposefully bottle it. We need some stability to work and build a platform to keep us stable at this point or above. Summer World Transfers Portugal England France Germany Italy Spain The most valuable players in the world: I know goals and assists don’t tell all, but some are weird: Martinelli has a 27-2-3 (games-goals-assists) and a 22-4-2 seasons; Chiesa has 27-9-4 and 34-5-7 and Kvicha has 38-10-3 and 37-13-6. And top-15 in reputation are: Matchdays 04, 05 and 06 One win and 2 goalless draws. In the middle of the league games, we had a fun friendly. [Liga 2] vs Marítimo (H) Final Score: 5-0 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 81 – 19 61 – 17 9 – 2 3,47 – 0,17 7 – 0 62 – 38 Individual Highlights Goals Denilson, J Castro (pen), Karamoko (x2+ pen) Assists Denilson (x2) Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Karamoko 9,8 Denilson 4 Karamoko 4 Denilson 9,6 Miccoli 3 Lacx 2 D Azevedo 7,6 Karamoko 2 J Castro 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 1,7 L Faustino 4 Denilson 5 J Castro 0,8 L Madeira 4 Miccoli 4 Denilson 0,4 P Martins 4 Lacx 3 xA Headers Won Dribbles Denilson 1,0 L Ferreira 14 T Melo 2 Miccoli 0,3 P Martins 7 F Pereira 2 Karamoko 0,1 L Faustino 5 J Castro 2 [Liga 2] vs Penafiel (A) Final Score: 0-0 D Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 75 – 52 57 – 22 4 – 4 0,81 – 0,72 2 – 0 64 – 36 Individual Highlights Goals - Assists - Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target L Ferreira 7,6 P Martins 5 T Melo 1 D Azevedo 7,3 Lacx 3 L Madeira 1 L Faustino 7,3 J Castro 3 G Gomes 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 0,4 L Faustino 6 J Castro 3 G Gomes 0,2 T Melo 5 Karamoko 2 L Madeira 0,1 L Ferreira 5 L Madeira 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles T Melo 0,2 L Ferreira 19 P Martins 3 Miccoli 0,2 L Faustino 8 Lacx 2 J Castro 0,1 T Melo 6 G Gomes 2 [Liga 2] vs Mafra (H) Final Score: 0-0 D Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 131 – 66 61 – 16 4 – 2 1,06 – 0,19 2 – 0 59 – 41 Individual Highlights Goals - Assists - Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Hugo 7,6 Denilson 6 Ruster 1 D Azevedo 7,2 F Pereira 3 Hugo 1 Denilson 7,1 Karamoko 3 Denilson 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 0,4 Hugo 5 D Andrade 3 Miccoli 0,2 F Pereira 4 Denilson 3 Ruster 0,2 Karamoko 3 L Madeira 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles P Martins 0,2 Hugo 13 Denilson 3 Miccoli 0,2 L Ferreira 7 F Pereira 2 L Madeira 0,2 L Madeira 4 J Castro 2 The league table looks good for us. Remember, our first goal is not to get relegated, so near 34 points. We have 14 already (41%). Next games are not easy: Benfica in the League Cup, Merelinense in the Portuguese Cup and Benfica B in the league.

I'm very loyal to 4 at the back and I haven't messed around much with 3 CB formations, but do you really need the DM? If they are playing 4-2-3-1, you have 3+3 vs 3+1. These are just numbers but seems like you could use that player somewhere else on the pitch to give you a bigger advantage. I agree with @13th Man, flat midfield 3 would push your CMs to the side. Do you have any OIs in place? Maybe a trigger press on their wingbacks could help.

The First Games of the League Way better than expected, that’s for sure. With a bit of luck as well, but we played very well on these games. Expect to see more of the same as the season goes on. The screens for each game: [Liga 2] vs Rio Ave (A) Final Score: 4-1 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 50 – 84 52 – 36 7 – 6 1,60 – 2,08 6 – 5 57 – 43 Individual Highlights Goals Karamoko, L Madeira, Ruster, Denilson Assists Lacx, Edu P, Miccoli, L Madeira Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target L Madeira 8,3 Denilson 5 Denilson 2 Edu P 7,6 T Melo 3 Karamoko 2 Karamoko 7,4 P Martins 3 Cassamá 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Denilson 0,7 P Martins 4 L Madeira 4 Ruster 0,3 L Faustino 2 Miccoli 2 L Madeira 0,3 J Castro 2 Lacx 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles L Madeira 0,3 Edu P 9 T Melo 2 Miccoli 0,3 L Faustino 8 Denilson 2 Edu P 0,3 L Ferreira 6 L Madeira 2 [Liga 2] vs Ac Viseu (H) Final Score: 1-0 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 82 – 24 67 – 32 8 – 1 1,78 – 0,45 3 – 2 67 – 33 Individual Highlights Goals Denilson Assists T Melo Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target J Castro 7,7 P Martins 3 Lacx 2 D Júnior 7,6 J Castro 3 Denilson 2 T Melo 7,6 Edu P 3 D Andrade 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Denilson 0,5 T Melo 6 J Castro 7 Ruster 0,4 Edu P 5 L Madeira 3 Lacx 0,2 L Ferreira 3 Lacx 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles J Castro 0,5 L Ferreira 12 J Castro 3 T Melo 0,5 Edu P 10 Ruster 2 L Madeira 0,4 L Faustino 8 Lacx 1 [Liga 2] vs Leixões (A) Final Score: 2-1 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 55 – 165 51 – 55 6 – 2 1,30 – 0,78 3 – 1 45 – 55 Individual Highlights Goals Karamoko (x2) Assists Miccoli Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Karamoko 9,2 Ruster 5 Karamoko 4 Miccoli 7,2 P Martins 4 S Justo 1 D Andrade 7,0 L Faustino 3 T Melo 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 1,0 L Faustino 4 Miccoli 3 Lacx 0,1 L Ferreira 3 J Castro 2 L Ferreira 0,1 Karamoko 3 Karamoko 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles Miccoli 0,7 P Martins 6 Ruster 3 Ruster 0,2 L Ferreira 5 Karamoko 2 Karamoko 0,1 Ruster 4 J Castro 2 Along with these results came my first Manager of the Month Award The next 3 games: Final Transfer Window Update & Wage Structure News from the last update? We decided to go for Levi Faustino, mostly due to his age. And we also managed to get João Pedro on loan from Vitória de Guimarães. He had 15 goals in 24 matches last season on tier 4, provides an aerial threat with his height and jumping, while not losing much on pace to Karamoko; lacks bravery, concentration and anticipation. He’s only on 275 €/month and with a squad player status. Taking into account the comparison between our team and the rest of the league, I have some concerns regarding the quality of my team (although the results show a different reality). Following ThrowingCopperFM’s post: (https://dictatethegame.com/implementing-a-wage-structure-transfer-policy-in-football-manager/) I have defined a wage budget of 80k. Important + Star Players 4 is the recommended number, but since I’m changing tiers, I need some versatility on this until I can settle. I'm happy as long as the spending is under the limit. Name Best Pos Age Ability Wage Appearance Fee Agent Begins Expires Transfer Value Agreed Playing Time Levi Faustino D (R) 23 3,5 3 700,00 € €170 Ricardo Morais - Acquaintance 24/7/2024 30/6/2028 €22K - €170K Important Player Luís Ferreira D (C) 23 3,5 3 000,00 € €110 César Rodrigues - Very Close 26/6/2023 30/6/2026 €55K - €100K Star Player Edu Pinheiro DM 26 3 2 600,00 € €120 Fábio Rodrigues - Acquaintance 10/7/2024 30/6/2027 €110K - €190K Important Player Luís Madeira M (C) 21 3,5 2 600,00 € €95 Leandro Carvalho - Very Close 15/2/2024 30/6/2026 €7K - €240K Important Player João Castro AM (C) 23 3,5 3 200,00 € €120 Leandro Santos - Very Close 1/7/2023 30/6/2026 €12K - €85K Important Player Mohamed Karamoko ST (C) 22 4 3 700,00 € €140 Alejandro Vega - Very Close 22/6/2023 30/6/2026 €7K - €130K Important Player Wage Sum 18 800,00 € Total Allowed 24 000,00 € 6 Max 4 6 000,00 € All of these are most likely starters through all season and the best players I have, so I have no concerns here. Regular Starters We don’t have many players with this status still, Pedro Mendes will soon have to drop and I’m expecting some players from the category below to be “upgraded”. Name Best Pos Age Ability Wage Appearance Fee Agent Begins Expires Transfer Value Agreed Playing Time Pedro Martins AM (L) 23 3,5 1 800,00 € €120 - - Close 9/7/2024 1/7/2025 €6K - €18K Regular Starter Pedro Mendes M (C) 30 2 1 600,00 € €65 Tiago Queirós - Very Close 20/8/2023 30/6/2026 €6K - €30K Regular Starter Denilson AM (L) 24 3 2 500,00 € €90 Mojammel Hossain - Very Close 3/11/2023 30/6/2026 €9K - €50K Regular Starter Wage Sum 5 900,00 € Total Allowed 24 000,00 € 3 Max 7 3 428,57 € Backups Name Best Pos Age Ability Wage Appearance Fee Agent Begins Expires Transfer Value Agreed Playing Time Daniel Azevedo GK 26 3 1 500,00 € €70 Diogo Francisco - Very Close 7/1/2024 30/6/2026 €7K - €50K Cup Goalkeeper Daniel Júnior GK 26 2,5 900,00 € €40 Miguel Serra - Very Close 14/7/2024 30/6/2026 €1K - €7K Backup Hugo D (C) 17 2,5 0,00 € €70 Diogo Francisco - Very Close 4/7/2024 1/7/2025 €140K - €1,4M Impact Sub Filipe Pereira D (R) 23 2,5 1 400,00 € €55 - - Very Close 3/1/2024 30/6/2025 €1,5K - €24K Squad Player Bastian D (C) 27 2,5 2 100,00 € €90 José Araújo - Very Close 15/2/2024 30/6/2026 €7K - €40K Squad Player Tiago Melo AM (R) 27 3 3 000,00 € €150 Diogo Francisco - Very Close 31/1/2024 30/6/2026 €35K - €210K Squad Player Daniel Andrade D (L) 24 2 1 200,00 € €70 - - Very Close 4/8/2023 30/6/2025 €500 - €7K Squad Player Daniel Novais M (L) 23 2 650,00 € €35 - - Very Close 22/8/2023 30/6/2025 €1K - €14K Emergency Backup Isidro Correia D (L) 17 1,5 600,00 € €40 - - Close 19/7/2024 30/6/2026 €500 - €5K Future Prospect Miccoli M (C) 26 2,5 2 400,00 € €100 Vasco Matos - Very Close 6/1/2024 30/6/2026 €14K - €100K Squad Player Samuel Justo M (C) 20 3 0,00 € €850 Vasco Matos - Acquaintance 13/7/2024 1/7/2025 €300K - €2,9M Impact Sub Herculano Cassamá AM (R) 17 2 1 500,00 € €80 Miguel Serra - Very Close 23/7/2024 30/6/2027 €0 - €40K Impact Sub Ruster AM (L) 28 3 3 600,00 € €130 Leandro Carvalho - Very Close 12/7/2023 30/6/2026 €14K - €75K Squad Player Gonçalo Gomes AM (L) 23 2,5 2 400,00 € €180 - - Very Close 10/1/2024 30/6/2026 €6K - €90K Fringe Player Lacx ST (C) 23 3,5 2 300,00 € €300 Vasco Matos - Close 1/7/2024 30/6/2026 €24K - €350K Fringe Player João Pedro ST (C) 22 3,5 275,00 € €250 Silas da Silva Oliveira - Own Player 27/8/2024 27/5/2025 €0 - €70K Squad Player Wage Sum 23 825,00 € Total Allowed 24 000,00 € 16 Max 11 2 181,82 € This is the most concerning part: Daniel Azevedo, Tiago Melo and Lacx have a backup status although they are first choices. That’s easy to solve, but I should expect to have to offer a new contract to reflect the new status. Ruster is a problem. Only important players earn more than him and he doesn’t come from a good season. He’s starting to play better, and I think the change to the right side of the pitch helped him, but he needs to do much better if he wants to stay here on this wages. Isidro is still a youngster who already has a contract and couldn't loan him out. I've also tried to loan Novais with no success. He isn't on high wages so I'll keep him until January but he'll most likely leave then (his contract expires this season, so either that or he leaves on the end of contract). Youth I won’t post the table for them, but they are well behind the structure, so no cause for a deep analysis. They have 10% allowed which corresponds to 8k. Summary With the expected changes, we will have 6 + 5 + 12 (without Isidro and Novais). Not ideal, but since we are transitioning and need a way better squad, most of these statuses will have some pressure to change quickly. I’ll have to make this change as slow as I can so I don’t disrupt the whole squad. Also, the wage budget will also likely have to increase, as you can see from the image below we are way too far from the other teams in this league.

Show your tactic

Thanks, @SixPointer! The mind is a mysterious and very powerful machine. We all have our stories. Writing some of them down, even if fictional like this, seems to help. Glad it also helped you! @_Ben_, it's quite difficult to tell. Overall, I believe the quality of my players is still a bit far from the competition, but I also think the squad as a whole is more complete than some of the others. I was also expecting these two first games to be very difficult and we have done very well. Squad comparison inside FM doesn't help much because I'm keeping many youngsters on the first team and my averages become terrible, but I'll try and find a way to compare. Maybe through top-5 players in some attributes or something. Let's see. I have this week off and expect to have some time to play (and write). Edit: Here it is, the comparison between every team in the league in a choice of attributes: Top 5 Sum Name Prediction Drb Fir Pas Tec Ant Cnt Dec Jmp Pac Str TEC MEN PHY Average Rank Académico de Viseu 10th 68 64 63 68 66 67 63 78 67 73 66 65 73 68 10 Alverca SAD 14th 68 68 66 67 67 72 65 71 71 68 67 68 70 68 6 Benfica B 71 69 67 71 63 61 65 74 70 68 70 63 71 68 8 CDEA 1st 71 63 65 70 70 68 62 74 74 67 67 67 72 68 4 Feirense 6th 66 63 66 65 67 62 62 71 73 67 65 64 70 66 13 Leixões 9th 68 62 63 68 66 67 66 74 70 71 65 66 72 68 11 Mafra 13th 65 63 65 69 67 63 64 70 71 65 66 65 69 66 13 Marítimo 2nd 69 69 70 74 69 69 64 70 71 68 71 67 70 69 2 Nacional 5th 65 69 65 68 66 65 72 73 71 70 67 68 71 68 4 Penafiel 7th 67 70 67 69 66 65 63 77 70 71 68 65 73 69 3 Porto B 69 73 70 72 64 60 64 68 70 61 71 63 66 67 12 Rio Ave 4th 67 67 69 71 67 67 64 69 73 67 69 66 70 68 7 Sertanense 16th 62 61 61 66 60 62 63 71 66 65 63 62 67 64 17 Tondela 3rd 68 66 67 67 70 62 65 75 71 67 67 66 71 68 9 Trofense 12th 64 64 63 66 67 60 62 72 69 73 64 63 71 66 15 Varzim 11th 62 62 65 65 62 63 62 73 67 71 64 62 70 65 16 Vilafranquense 8th 68 71 72 69 69 66 73 74 72 67 70 69 71 70 1 Vitória de Setúbal 15th 64 61 59 66 60 63 59 64 65 60 63 61 63 62 18 Sertanense Rank 17 17 17 14 17 13 11 11 17 15 17 17 16 17 It will be a long season if this indicates anything.

First Friendlies I didn’t take full responsibility for the schedule and I need to pay more attention next time. We had a 2 games to gain fitness, then a difficult test against Fenerbahçe where we got a surprise win and we lost to Oviedo 2 days before an official match. I needed that test against Oviedo, but couldn’t risk playing my first-team with just 1 day to recover. Regarding the Fenerbahçe game and testing a new visual, here are the stats for the game: [Friendly] vs Fenerbahçe (H) Final Score: 2-0 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 58 – 75 51 – 50 3 – 2 0,38 – 1,24 2 – 5 59 – 41 Individual Highlights Goals Bastian, Denilson Assists J Castro, L Madeira Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Denilson 7,7 Denilson 4 Bastian 2 Bastian 7,6 F Pereira 3 Denilson 1 L Madeira 7,2 Ruster 2 xG Interceptions Key Passes Ruster 0,1 D Novais 3 Denilson 2 Fabian 0,1 G Gomes 2 J Castro 2 L Ferreira 0,1 Bastian 2 L Madeira 1 xA Headers Won Dribbles Denilson 0,2 Bastian 8 G Gomes 3 J Castro 0,1 L Ferreira 7 Miccoli 2 Hugo 5 Ruster 2 Allianz Cup First Phase – vs Trofense (A) This will be the first official game of the season. Oh… Thanks… We have to prove them wrong. Rules for this competition require at least 2 u-21 Portuguese players in the starting eleven: Hugo will get a start, the other one is Madeira. We will play our 4-3-3 in line with attacking LWB and RIF. They are also playing a 4-3-3 but they are playing a DM. The first half starts slow and is a bit uninteresting. Karamoko scores but it’s disallowed for offside. However, we do end up with more shots and both their full backs are on yellows. The second half almost starts with our goal. Tiago Melo with a brilliant interception from a clearance, shoots from outside the box, and scores. We keep control of the game, then we make some substitutions to keep players fresh and Ruster who had come in in the 83rd minute creates 2 goals. The first one scored by Castro, the second by Lacx (I won’t write his full name every single time, sorry about that). They have a goal disallowed on 90+1. We win, very clearly. 3-0! “To whom it may concern...” [Allianz Cup First Phase] vs Trofense (A) Final Score: 3-0 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 61 – 52 54 – 28 7 – 0 2,14 – 0,73 4 – 3 50 – 50 Individual Highlights Goals T Melo, J Castro, Lacx Assists Ruster (x2) Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target Ruster 8,9 T Melo 6 Lacx 3 T Melo 8,2 P Martins 2 T Melo 1 P Martins 7,7 L Madeira 2 Hugo 1 xG Interceptions Key Passes Lacx 0,8 P Martins 11 T Melo 3 J Castro 0,5 T Melo 7 Ruster 2 Bastian 0,3 L Ferreira 5 P Mendes 2 xA Headers Won Dribbles Ruster 1,0 L Ferreira 6 Lacx 3 P Mendes 0,4 L Madeira 5 Denilson 3 T Melo 0,2 Hugo 3 Karamoko 2 The second phase is against Casa Pia (Tier 1), also a knockout round, then it’s a league phase with 3 teams in each group. It would be great to get to the group stage as there is always a strong team in there which will lead to good gate and TV revenues. Tactics for the season These will be my starting 3 tactics for the season in no particular order. Very similar but achieving different goals and attacking on different places. 4-3-3 no DM, RIF and LWB on attack. When I want to play wider and potentially exploit a LB weakness and use the P Martins – Lacx connection. 4-3-3 DM with RCM on attack. To be used mostly against 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1. Might change the distribution to playmaker when playing against 2 ST. 4-3-3 no DM, all in support Allianz Cup Second Phase – vs Casa Pia (H) They are a first-tier team, where they finished 9th last season. They play a 4-2-3-1. The game starts and they are playing a center-back as a striker. They have 4 strikers available, however. We begin very strong and score 2 goals in the first 7 minutes. We keep controlling the game but give them a big chance and they score. The first half ends 2-1, we have 9 shots on target from a total of 11, accumulated xG of 0,94. We start the second half with another goal, this time a direct FK from Tiago Melo. But then, we lose control of the game and they score in the same minute and another one 4 minutes after. It’s now 3-3 with 30 minutes to play. In the 72nd minute they score, I almost lost all hope, but it was gladly disallowed. We keep playing toe-to-toe and eventually Gonçalo Gomes, who had come in, scored. At the last minute… Penalty! We score, it's 5-3, and we are through! [Allianz Cup Second Phase] vs Casa Pia (H) Final Score: 5-3 W Final Third Passes Progressive Passes Shots on Target xG Chances Possession % 56 – 44 49 – 38 16 – 5 2,62 – 0,70 6 – 2 60 – 40 Individual Highlights Goals Lacx, Denilson, T Melo, G Gomes and P Mendes (pen) Assists T Melo (x2) and Ruster Av Rat Tackles Shots on Target T Melo 8,8 Lacx 6 L Madeira 3 Lacx 7,8 L Madeira 4 J Castro 3 G Gomes 7,4 J Castro 3 Karamoko 3 xG Interceptions Key Passes Karamoko 0,8 P Martins 8 J Castro 4 P Mendes 0,8 L Ferreira 6 T Melo 3 T Melo 0,2 T Melo 5 L Madeira 3 xA Headers Won Dribbles L Madeira 0,4 Edu P 7 Lacx 4 J Castro 0,3 L Ferreira 5 J Castro 2 Denilson 0,3 P Martins 5 P Martins 2 I have to talk about 3 players who were wonderful in both games: Tiago Melo, Ruster and Lacx. Tiago Melo is a right-back and has 2 goals and 2 assists; Ruster was subbed in and has 3 assists; Lacx scored in both games and most dribbles in both games. On the bad side is Karamoko. He started last season very slow and eventually improved his performances. Will that happen again? Right now he has an average rating of 6,40 and in this game he accumulated 0,8 xG without scoring.

Acknowledgments Before starting season 3, I would like to give you some context on this story and acknowledge some people I feel inspired by. I have been through a bit of a rough phase in my personal life (my life IRL, not "Jacinto Leal"), and reading everybody's stories in this forum and playing FM while writing about it, has let me take my mind off bad things and helped me on my recovery. I'm in a better place now and I'm having fun doing this. Thanks to @_Ben_, @MattyLewis11, @SixPointer, @GIMN, @13th Man and so many others who share how they play the game and their stories and you all have inspired me. Now, back to the story. Third Season – 2024/2025 Season Preview, Board Expectations and Budgets We are now in 3 competitions: Liga 2, Taça de Portugal and Allianz Cup (League Cup) Gladly, the president doesn’t expect much. The media is not particularly in our favour as well. It doesn’t look pretty for us. But we are still in the market and the odds will change. Although the president isn’t expecting much from us, he still believes in a big paycheck, I assume. When the budgets were first set-up, I instantly changed them. We had over 200k of wage budget, while we were only spending around 50k (after promotion and yearly wage rises). Right now, I decided to settle on 80k and we’ll see if this changes as the season goes on. The transfer budget should not be taken into account as I don’t intend to spend not even 10%. I just don’t want the talk of us having a lot of wage budget or else agent’s will gladly ask for better offers for their players. Some of the value from the transfer budget will probably move to the scouting budget, but I’ll adapt as the season goes. New Staff As previously stated, the backroom staff was going through some changes and since we were promoted, the president allowed us to get more members in the team. We placed adverts and got some decent results. Coaching Team For someone who just got to this level, I believe we are doing very well. New arrivals are: Timmy Simons, former PSV player, with 95 caps to his name on the Belgium national team. He is a model citizen which was the reason to sign him along with all his experience. He’ll be my new assistant manager. Nuno Piloto, former Académica player (when they were a tier-1 team). Fairly professional and capable across the board on the training. He’ll be a coach. Recruitment Team We are also doing very well on this front. Jacek Kulig, who had been working with Famalicão. He has a vast knowledge of European players which might help us get some targets and he’s fairly determined. He’s our scout. Grégory Lecointre, a 26-year-old recruitment analyst, just starting his career. He’s fairly professional. Medical Team Although the bars seem a bit low, we are in fact 3rd best in both categories. Marco Alves, 43, is our new head physio. He was working in Poland before. I would’ve preferred someone with a bit more people management skills, but his physiotherapy knowledge is too good to exclude him. Along with him came Ana Alves (I suppose they are not related), 30 as a physio. As you can see, one of the most important aspects of this recruitment was the personality, second their ability to do their jobs, then their experience/knowledge. First Transfer Update We also have some news regarding the playing squad. Last time I went through the team, this is what was going through my mind: We didn’t get any of the targets we set on that post, but I think we are doing well. André Lacximixant, 23, can play all 3 positions upfront and CAM. Similar player to Gonçalo Cabral, one year younger and 5 cm taller. He’ll be our first option as IF-S or A on the right but he can also be a backup for Karamoko. Here’s the comparison with Gonçalo Cabral: Edu Pinheiro, 26, is mostly DM but can also play CM. He’ll most likely start alongside Madeira and Castro. Way taller than Mendes which will help on aerial duels, and physically way better, more aggressive and brave. He mostly loses on set-piece delivery, but we got it covered with other players. Then we got 3 players on loan, 2 of them without the cost of their wages. First, our new starter LB, Pedro Martins. An attack-minded full-back who left for Länk with Driven personality. He can also play as LW which might be useful. They are a world apart: Then, as we needed CB, I went for Hugo, 17, as Vizela allowed him to come on loan with an Impact Sub status. He isn’t great, but if I get a starter CB, Dénis Martins drops to 4th CB and he’s earning to much to not even sit on the bench. Then, as we got the Sporting affiliation, I wanted to use it and got Samuel Justo, 20. He also came with no costs and with Impact Sub status. He’s here for depth and he can offer some speed from deep which might be interesting in some games. He also has a driven personality which helps the team. Right now, my focus is on a starting CB. We have offers for 3 players: Nuca, 26, from Fafe (Tier 3). 25k transfer fee and Daniel Andrade (LB) in exchange. He wants 3,9k/month which would be our highest wage (Karamoko is 3,7k). Miguel Rodrigues, 31, from Oliveira do Hospital (Tier 3). 17k transfer fee, he wants 2,5k/month, but he’s 31. Levi Faustino, 22, from Porto B. 38k + 43k in installments; 3,7k wage. Can also play RB.

It did happen!

End-of-Season Review As we've seen before, we increased the revenue we can affect a lot. Ruster barely played but he sold many shirts. The main guys, who made this possible. Our Supporter Profile Comparing this with last year: lower % of hardcore and core fans; higher % of fair weather and casuals; higher influence of supporters on the board; increase of 6,5k in social media; increase of 379 season ticket holders. Career Stats Season Year Club League Position Cup Stage PPG Win % GF GA 01 2022/2023 Sertanense PT4 1st TdP First Round 2,27 69% 70 32 02 2023/2024 Sertanense PT3 3rd TdP Sixth Round 1,56 44% 33 26 Season Year Club Most Goals Most Assists Most POM Highest AvR 01 2022/2023 Sertanense Karamoko – 31 Quaresma – 9 Karamoko – 8 Kisley – 7,42 02 2023/2024 Sertanense Karamoko – 23 P Mendes – 10 Karamoko – 5 L Madeira – 7,26 Season Year Club Income Expenditure Profit Avg Attendance 01 2022/2023 Sertanense 1 353 447,00 € 1 411 118,00 € -57 671,00 € 662 02 2023/2024 Sertanense 1 485 040,00 € 1 942 059,00 € -457 019,00 € 1 266 The League's Signing of the Season He totally deserved it, what a great season he had! The Overachievers! All-Time Most Played The guys who have participated in most matches with me: Name Position Apps Goals Seasons Daniel Júnior GK 44 0 22-24 Alexandre Lavrador RB 44 0 22-24 Luís Ferreira CB 56 4 22-24 Deyvison CB 39 4 22-24 Rúben Moura LB 39 0 22-24 Pedro Mendes CM 59 5 22-24 Miccoli CM 45 4 22-24 Luís Madeira CM 32 4 23-24 Kisley RW 40 14 22-24 Denilson LW 52 8 22-24 Mohamed Karamoko ST 62 54 22-24 New Stadium Just after we finished the construction work in our stadium, the president wants to build another one… Senior Affiliate Just before the season ended, I asked the president to search for a senior affiliate so we can get some players on loan. I don’t want it as a long-term solution, but since we got promoted 2 years in a row, we need all the help we can get. And if that help comes in the form of players and money, I’m happy. President said yes. Soon we should have some news. A few days go by and Sporting is the only option. I don’t mind. 61K annual fee, it’s not much but helps. There don’t seem to be many players interested in joining us, but it might change in the end of the transfer window.

Planning the Next Season Even moving up one tier, I don’t plan on any revolution. Need: 1 backup/starter CM, 1 backup ST, 1 starter RW, 1 starter CB Might drop Mendes and get someone to play as a starter either on the DM role or in the middle. Luís Madeira was great as CM, but I’ve also been training him to play as DM so he adds some depth. The first target will be Idrissa Dioh. His contract is ending, he had 3 assists in 16 games on the second tier and according to my scouts he doesn’t seem to be too demanding on wages. Karamoko was our only choice this season, Cabral was here on loan and could’ve filled the spot if needed, but he was on loan and he might not be here next season. I want to develop Cassamá, but might get another player if the right option is there. Looking around, I found Jefferson Kibe. He hasn’t been scouted yet, so I don’t have all the information, but he ends his contract this season and he scored 5 in 8 on the tier below us and he played a bit in the first tier. He’s a completely different type of player than Karamoko, but some diversity will certainly do us well. Cabral is leaving, Kisley as well; Ruster will play on the right, Gomes can also play there, but I don’t think they have the quality necessary to be starters. I had my eyes on Alan Francisco who was on trial with us in January but unfortunately, he already retired. I searched through our scout reports and could only find João Magalhães. He’s on loan from Paços de Ferreira (tier-1) to a tier-4 team. No goals, no assists,… Not much to be excited about. I’ll keep looking. Deyvison will retire, and Bastian isn’t good enough to be a starter. Bennay isn’t yet ready to be part of the team, but he will train with the first team. There are not many interesting targets but we found Simão Júnior, playing for Oriental Dragon (on loan from Trofense); and João Ricciulli from Vitória Guimarães B. Both are right-footed and I wanted a left-footed player or else I’ll have 4 right-footed CB on the squad. But right now, more important than footedness is quality. I noticed at the last minute that Ricciulli is out with a broken foot – 5 to 8 months, so he’s out. Simão Júnior is not that good, but I’ll try to bring him to replace Dénis Martins. Improve: 1 starter LB, starter LW?, starter GK? I was a bit disappointed with Daniel Andrade; Rúben Moura helps on attack but he isn’t good enough on defense; Novais did well but I don’t think he can sustain his performances on a higher level. Denilson did well, but from the 3 upfront he is the one I doubt the most about stepping up and Gomes is not good enough to take over the spot. In goal, both Daniel Júnior and Daniel Azevedo are good, but not great. We’ll see if someone interesting becomes available. Staff Review I won’t change anyone with a contract, but I want to check on the expiring ones: Frederico Rodrigues, Assistant Manager, 36, Continental A Licence His preferred formation is the same as mine but with a totally different style. His training attributes are not great. His personality is balanced which doesn’t say much. I had a look around the league to check on other assistant managers and they are not very different from him. I think I’ll let him go. I’ll try and find someone better, if not, pretty sure I’ll find a similar one with a tactical style closer to mine. Ricardo Antunes, HOYD, 36, Continental A Licence He has the same tactical style I have, the same formation and despite the attributes not being great, he’s been doing a good job. Players coming to the U19 squad have decent quality. I’ll ask the DOF to offer him a new contract. Rui Susana, Head Physio, 27, Continental B Licence We are 6th best in the physio department in the league (both North and South, so out of 20 teams). He’s fairly professional, I’ll offer him a 1-year contract and compare our situation with the rest of the league. After offering 1 year, he asked for 10 times his actual wage, so I’ll find a new head physio. End-of-Season Player Stats and New Statistics So, I've been working on my statistics and decided to go for something new: From now on, I'll use: DA - Defensive Actions - Sum of Tackles, Interceptions and Blocks OA - Offensive Actions - Sum of Shots on Target, Open-Play Key Passes (OP-KP) and Dribbles D+A - Sum of Defensive and Offensive Actions Poss +/- - Difference between Possession Won and Possession Lost ATT - Only available in league comparison - Average of: Shots on Target / Max Shots on Target ; OP-KP / Max OP-KP ; Dribbles / Max Dribbles DEF - Same as ATT, for DA Gls/ShOT - Goals per Shot on Target Ast/OP-KP - Assists per Open-Play Key Passes KP/Psc - Key Passes per Passes Completed ProgP/PsC - Progressive Passes per Passes Completed Prog+KP % - Sum of Progressive Passes and Key-Passes per Passes Completed PossW/DA - Possession Won per Defensive Action Fls/Tck - Fouls per Tackle (note: Offsides count as fouls, so I've subtracted that value) Fls/PW - Fouls per Possession Won Held - P+T - Difference between Saves Held and the sum of Saves Parried and Saves Tipped per 90 (Exclusive for GK) Then we have the statistics for every player in my team, sorted by position and minutes played. Name DA OA D+O Poss +/- Held – P+T Daniel Azevedo 0,44 0,06 0,50 3,22 0,25 Daniel Júnior 0,38 0,00 0,38 4,32 0,15 Name DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck Fls/PW Alexandre Lavrador 6,62 1,72 8,34 4,20 0,06 0,00 2% 0% 16% 18% 2,42 0,72 0,09 Tiago Melo 7,35 2,97 10,32 6,50 0,28 0,14 3% 2% 13% 18% 2,23 0,53 0,09 Filipe Pereira 8,32 1,54 9,86 1,93 0,00 0,00 2% 0% 13% 15% 1,65 0,64 0,10 Name DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck Fls/PW Daniel Andrade 6,64 2,95 9,59 3,29 0,06 -0,01 3% 1% 11% 15% 2,22 0,46 0,07 Rúben Moura 6,53 4,14 10,67 -4,02 0,22 0,00 6% 1% 11% 17% 1,77 0,95 0,18 Daniel Novais 6,51 2,89 9,40 2,00 0,25 -0,01 3% 0% 15% 18% 2,23 0,32 0,05 Name DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck Fls/PW Luís Ferreira 4,55 0,46 5,01 15,00 0,11 -0,01 0% 0% 6% 6% 4,92 0,80 0,04 Bastian 4,51 1,66 6,17 0,47 0,46 0,15 1% 0% 12% 13% 5,81 1,08 0,05 Deyvison 3,26 1,01 4,27 5,09 0,31 0,23 0% 0% 7% 7% 5,71 1,22 0,06 Dénis Martins 3,51 0,25 3,76 8,28 0,00 -0,06 0% 0% 6% 6% 4,43 0,50 0,03 Name DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck Fls/PW Luís Madeira 4,79 3,46 8,25 -2,29 0,40 -0,03 3% 0% 11% 15% 1,95 0,18 0,05 João Castro 3,95 3,47 7,42 -3,21 0,22 0,06 4% 1% 12% 16% 2,15 0,15 0,03 Pedro Mendes 3,25 2,58 5,83 -6,18 0,58 0,06 2% 5% 13% 20% 2,11 0,36 0,09 Miccoli 4,65 3,95 8,60 -5,15 0,60 0,03 4% 3% 11% 18% 1,89 0,27 0,07 Mário Borges 3,56 1,18 4,74 -2,37 0,17 0,00 2% 0% 10% 12% 2,14 0,33 0,11 David Santos 4,13 2,22 6,35 -3,82 0,32 -0,07 2% 0% 14% 16% 1,54 0,14 0,05 Name DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck Fls/PW Gonçalo Cabral 5,10 6,25 11,35 -6,39 0,73 0,04 8% 0% 10% 18% 1,64 0,34 0,12 Kisley 3,59 4,53 8,12 -7,34 0,00 -0,13 5% 0% 10% 16% 2,09 0,64 0,19 Name DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck Fls/PW Denilson 4,71 4,42 9,13 -5,45 0,50 -0,02 7% 0% 9% 16% 1,50 0,39 0,15 Ruster 3,99 4,57 8,56 -6,42 0,29 -0,32 4% 0% 9% 13% 1,63 0,36 0,12 Gonçalo Gomes 2,36 3,44 5,80 -7,06 0,72 0,03 4% 0% 12% 17% 2,53 2,19 0,33 Name DA OA D+O Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 OPKP/PsC SPKP/PsC ProgP/PsC Prog%+KP% PossW/DA Fls/Tck Fls/PW Mohamed Karamoko 2,20 4,48 6,68 -4,99 0,94 0,12 9% 0% 5% 13% 1,84 1,50 0,35 Herculano Cassamá 2,40 4,22 6,62 -3,31 0,60 -0,06 8% 0% 1% 9% 2,26 1,67 0,28

Around the World England – Arsenal won, then Liverpool, Man City, Tottenham, Chelsea and Man Utd qualify for UCL and they were respectively 2nd to 6th in the league. Forest, Boro and QPR were relegated. Spain – Barcelona won the league. Real Madrid, Atlético and Villarreal are in the UCL. Granada, Almeria and Tenerife were relegated. Italy – Napoli are the champions. Roma, Inter, Juventus and Milan qualify for UCL. Cagliari, Salernitana and Brescia are relegated. Germany – Guess who? Bayern are the winners in front of Leverkusen, Leipzig and Stuttgart. Dortmund finished 8th. Nürnberg and Schalke will play in the second tier. France – Again, no surprise: PSG are champions. Monaco, Rennes and Marseille are also in the UCL. Caen, Toulouse and Ajaccio are relegated. Netherlands – Yes, it’s Ajax. Feyenoord and AZ follow them. NAC, Sparta and Excelsior go down. Portugal – Porto are the champions by one point. Benfica is the only other club in the UCL, Braga was 3rd, Sporting was 4th. Marítimo, Vilafranquense and Nacional are relegated. Both teams from Madeira will leave the first tier. European Competitions – Chelsea beat PSG on penalties to take home the major trophy; Leipzig beat Tottenham 3-0 in extra-time to seal the EL win; Aston Villa win the UECL by beating Trabzonspor 2-1. Transfers In Overview I decided to take a look at my signings and check how much they have played. Beginning with the summer signings: Name Best Pos Club TI Mins Bastian D (C) Sertanense S 58% Daniel Andrade D (L) Sertanense S 52% Luís Madeira M (C) Sertanense S 91% João Castro AM (C) Sertanense S 81% Gonçalo Cabral AM (R) Sertanense S 66% Ruster AM (L) Sertanense S 31% Bastian eventually won his place, but I don’t trust him 100%; Andrade is another doubt but he was the main LB; Madeira and Castro were key part of the team, Cabral as well; Ruster was a bit of a disappointment, but I still believe he can be a good addition to our squad. 3 total success, 3 doubts. Regarding the winter signings: Name Best Pos Club TI Mins Daniel Azevedo GK Sertanense W 40% Tiago Melo AM (R) Sertanense W 33% Filipe Pereira D (R) Sertanense W 16% Dénis Martins D (C) Sertanense W 24% Mário Borges DM Sertanense W 18% David Santos AM (L) Sertanense W 10% Gonçalo Gomes AM (L) Sertanense W 17% Daniel Azevedo won his place in goal; Tiago Melo was a great signing and I’m sure he’ll be our number one wing-back next year; Filipe Pereira is a decent backup; Dénis was brought in as a backup and did well for his status; Mário and David were loans to provide some depth and I’m happy with how they played; Gonçalo Gomes returned to our club and I believe I’ll need him more next season. All were successful About promoted youngsters, only Cassamá played. He had 10% of total minutes which isn’t much but I’m happy with that. Name Best Pos Club TI Mins Herculano Cassamá AM (R) Sertanense Y 10% Finances Balance is terrible, but I want to find the reasons why. So let’s check our income and expenditure Top 5 Income this season TV and Gate revenues had a big increase (around 760k) from last season. Top 5 Income last season We made 960k last season through grants and investments that didn’t happen this year. Top 5 Expenditure this season Wages take up most of the increase: 1100k (non-football costs are wages paid to non-football staff). Top 5 Expenditure last season Last season we paid for the construction work on our ground which took quite a big chunk of money. In summary, wages went up across all the club and they should go up once again in tier-2; we didn't have any investments nor access to grants; both total a differential of 2M (-1,1M -960k); we got some help from TV and gates which reduced the deficit (-2M+760k = -1,24M); we didn't have any construction work which further alleviated the difference (-1,24M+850k = -400k). These 4 topics explain our balance. Where can we get more revenue? TV and gates alone can do it? Selling is barely an option as my most valuable player (Luís Ferreira) has a transfer value of 55-110k. Can we cut anywhere? Staff and players' wages are definitely not an option as we are moving up on the ladder. Let's see what the future brings, but I'll have to be careful with the budget. Club Vision Meeting I don’t understand. After all I’ve done, I wasn’t expecting this. The President wants us to play possession football and high-tempo pressing. Neither have we got here by playing possession nor by pressing high. I tried two times to remove this from the vision, but the President is adamant. I’ll accept, only because they are favored and preferred and not required, otherwise, I would be out the door.

Playoff Stage – Semi-Final – Länk (H) We have Cabral back, and since he enjoys big matches, he’ll be a starter. He’s not fully fit, so I’ll have to sub him off in the second half, but I’m comfortable with that. Tactically, only adjustment I made was asking the defensive line to drop more because they have a very fast striker in Edmilson. He’s their main threat with 20 goals, second best has 4. Most of their assists come from the left wing with Bruno Silva accumulating 7 over the season. Won’t change anything at the start, but I’ll be on the lookout and might have to ask Tiago Melo to play a more defensive role (WB-D or FB-S). The first half went really well, we got 2 goals, one from Karamoko and the other by Cabral (who proved to be a good decision starting him). They had a big chance as expected from a long ball to Edmilson. I’ll ask both my wingers to hold the ball, expecting them to gain us more possession away from our goal and dropped the mentality to cautious for the start of the second half. As soon as the second half started they had another chance with a ball behind our defensive line so I dropped to a low block. In the 62nd minute they subbed Edmilson off, so I moved back to a low block and Balanced mentality. Eventually, we scored the third through Denilson. 3-0 game is over. We’ll have to be more aware of those runs behind on the away match. Maybe Dênis or Bastian will have a cover duty. Individually, Tiago Melo had 4 tackles on 100% completion, 3 of them being key, 4 interceptions and 2 dribbles; Pedro Mendes had 5 key passes, 1 chance and 1 assist; Cabral had 2 key passes, 3 dribbles, 1 shot on target and 1 goal in 66 minutes; Denilson had 2 key passes, 1 chance, 1 assists and 1 goal. It’s a good cushion for the second match. Youth Squad In the meantime, something (should say someone) has been catching my attention. Although against opposition of questionable quality, Pratas has been performing really well. At first, I didn’t rate him much but might give him a chance. He’s 15 still, so he has a lot of time to improve. Helping him out has been Eduino with some assists Playoff Stage – Semi-Final – Länk (A) Bastian collected his 5th yellow in the last game so he is out. Ferreira might recover, but he’s still a doubt. If he can’t play the options are: Deyvison or Daniel Andrade as CB and Novais who is also unfit at LB. Come matchday and my physio reports Ferreira can play but shouldn’t play more than 45 minutes and Cabral shouldn’t play more than 75. I’ll take the risk with both. They score from a corner, then Mendes hits a long range shot and leaves the field with an injury. On came Miccoli. First half ends 1-1. The aggregate is 4-1 and we are looking comfortable. Beginning of the second half and Andrade feels some pain and asks to come out… I didn’t call Deyvison to the bench because Andrade was the backup CB. Now Moura comes in for him and soon I’ll have to sub off Ferreira. Probably Novais as he’s 180cm, has a header success ratio of 75% and he’s third most on defensive actions by a full back (first is Melo but I need him on the right, then is Pereira who’s injured). Now I only have 1 stoppage left to make substitutions. Near the 70th-minute mark I make my last 3 substitutions: Novais for Ferreira; Borges for Madeira (and drop him to DM); and Gonçalo Gomes for Gonçalo Cabral. The clock keeps ticking and nothing important happens. It’s clear to see they have given up. The match ends, we are the winners! Third place is ours. On the overall ladder of the Portuguese football we are 39th! (18+18+3) The champions are also decided with Varzim beating Mafra 3-1. Now we are off to play Oliveirense to decide who plays in Tier 2 or 3 in just 3 days! And second leg is only 4 days after. Playoff Stage – Final – Oliveirense (A) A quick check on them: Fábio Pereira is their coach since 2021, he prefers a tiki-taka style in a 4-2-3-1 DM Wide formation. Although, their possession was the lowest across all teams in their league with just 44% and a passing completion of 78% (on the detailed team stats screen). Focusing on the last 3 matches, they have 65+ possession in every game. Something seems odd here. Only one AvR over 7 which is their RW, Rui Batalha. The second-highest average rating is Serginho who won’t be able to play as he’s injured. Their left-back also has a long term injury and their starting striker is out between 2 and 9 days, so he might play both games or none. The player with the most goals is Michel, CAM, with 8 and the most assists is Mike, RB, with 5. On the negative side, Ricardo Ribeiro, GK, seems to be the weak point. He isn’t holding the shots, he’s parrying and tipping way more. Name Position Svh Svp Svt Av Rat H-(P+T)/90 Ricardo Ribeiro GK 43,00 79,00 25,00 6,50 -1,68 On our side, Bastian is back from suspension; both injuries from last game were minor and players will be ready; David Santos is on loan from Oliveirense so he can’t play; and Ruster will most likely be available to play. Somehow all my youth players can’t play this game. We’ll have a light training schedule so we can have everybody ready for both games. On the day of the match, while I was preparing the final touches, I noticed the predicted formation for them has changed. They have moved from the 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2, the manager’s second preferred formation. I’m going with this: Luís Ferreira is available for 60 minutes according to my physio and Denilson is a bit tired. I switched Gomes for Denilson just before the game started. We started well, and scored the first goal of the game in the 15th minute. Madeira played a through ball, Karamoko shot and their GK had a blunder. Then they reacted and eventually scored in the 30th minute. Just after they scored, Tiago Melo scored a Direct Free Kick. And before halftime, we scored the 3rd. Nice combination on the right wing between Cabral and Melo, Melo puts the ball in the box, Gomes shoots and the ball deflects on Karamoko. There were 2 minutes of injury time and everybody was waiting to for the referee to signal the end of the first half when Abbas Ibrahim, their CM, fouled Cabral and was sent off with the second yellow. 3-1 and a man up, we have to take this! They moved to a 4-3-2, so I ask my wing-backs to be more attacking and I ask the team to play wider. Nothing happens until the 60th minute. I decide to make some changes: Moura for Andrade, Denilson for Gomes, Miccoli for Castro. On the 83rd minute we get a penalty, Karamoko misses but on the run of play we manage to score though Cabral. Just 3 minutes after, Moura crosses and Cabral headers in, another time where their GK should have done better and it’s 5-1! 0,17 xG/Shot on 18 shots is quite good. We were brilliant. Individually: Karamoko had a 10 rating – 5 key passes, 3 chances, 5 shots on target, 2 goals (although one was just a deflection) and 1 assist (although from a missed penalty); and Cabral with 2 goals, 1 key pass, 1 chance, 2 dribbles, 2 shots on target and on the defensive side 7 completed pressures! Playoff Stage – Final – Oliveirense (H) It’s difficult to lose this one, but we must remember they are a tier above us, so we must be careful. I’ll go with the same team, just with one correction: I’ll ask the GK to distribute to the DM-zone. I didn’t on the first game as I was afraid they were switching to a 4-2-3-1. The first half was balanced and ended 1-1. Bastian scored with a header following a free kick by Tiago Melo who is proving to be a weapon on set-pieces. It’s easy to tell their morale is destroyed. We are calm and composed. The second half had no story, we had 1 goal disallowed after a combination between Kisley and Karamoko, but not much else. I wanted to give some minutes to Kisley one last time, this will be his last game for us and he served us very well last season. We are promoted! Two promotions in a row!

Thanks, @_Ben_! It means a lot! I just needed a bit more money to get more(/better) coaches. In the meantime, I believe these 15/16-year-olds will have the quality to be starters when they are 17/18. Cassamá is quite near already, for instance. Will also have to focus a bit on getting experienced players with great personalities to mentor all the youngsters. I'll also explore a bit the statistics when this season ends.