rkosatiy

Winter Transfer Window 2033 – A New Challenge Lechia lost 1 game through the whole 2032 calendar year. Paradoxically, the vibes are off now. An AVERAGE atmosphere?! Of course, this could be caused by none other than a massive coordinated raid for our best players. But instead of continuing to lose them like I lost Nielsen, David and Florica, we are giving in no more! Lechia has money, owns the stadium, won 4 titles in a row and competes in UCL. The players believe that Ekstraklasa is a weak league – well, THEY ARE WRONG. From now on, no one leaves our glorious club until we want them to. Let's see where this new policy brings us. Musial has to go, though. I'm grateful for all the times he saved us in the last 6 years. Robert has overtaken a starting role in the national team, but I have to admit I prefer Silaghi.

2032/2033 UCL League Phase – We Can Do It As you remember, we have finally received a favourable draw in the UCL and, to add onto that, the first 4 out of 5 are at home. Our squad is extremely young, Riedel is our only player older than 23 y.o. It was important to start with the win and we managed to achieve just that against Dinamo Zagreb. We were playing rather poorly during the first half, but an excellent strike just before halftime by Bota put us in control of the game. Not the first time we beat Dinamo though. The second game started with the shock – Rangers took the lead after a cross. Twenty minutes later we were already ahead – Antal finished from close range and then a loanee Rose connected his shot from the edge of the box. Controlling the ball proved itself an effective tactic and we hung on to the lead. 6 points in 2 games is our new record in the UCL! Then we were destined to face the Big Boys! First, another rendezvous with Bayern awaited! The home crowd gave us strength and Mokhehle gave us an early lead. The situation started to look fantastic after a red card from Davies! However, the first shot on target from Bayern equalised to score and the game ended in a draw. A bit disappointing given the situation, if you ask me! Anfield trip was next! Liverpool dominated through the whole game, but unfortunately for us, the winning margin came in the form of two long shots by 34 y.o. Darvin Nunez. We took an expected loss, even though the Reds were not at their best. The final home game started disastrously. Two shots on target – both successfully converted. Our hopes of getting to the playoffs started to look grim at the moment. Antal saved us, completing two of our many second-half attacking attempts. 8 points, 3 away games to go! Well, it's getting difficult to play up the drama. Our captain single-handedly destroyed Levski at their home! Now Lechia is nearly guaranteed to progress to the next stage! An early header from Kurzawa was important, but the deciding factor in the game was a referee's decision late in the game. The last time we played in Eindhoven, two penalties were awarded to the hosts, but this time we kept our minimal lead. An extremely defensive approach in Turin's game resulted in a corner goal exchange. This was the only League Phase game we lost by XG. Our fans will cherish the 2032/2033 season as the best League Phase performance ever. We earned 15 points and finished 10th, the same exact results and position we had 3 years ago (but in the Europa League, the UCL is on the whole other level). Lechia, which only had 2 UCL main stage wins in its history, now proudly has 6! What's even more fascinating, we will face one of the two teams we beat before this season, competing for the Round of 16 spot. See you at Diego Maradona stadium! The Polish representatives in the Europa League were not as terrible as last season's Jagellonia, but sad display nonetheless. We must do it alone! And surely can!

Mid-Season 10 – 2032/2033 – Domestic Challenger Reborn As usual, let's take a look at domestic results before the winter break. This season has been special for Lech, they have managed to drop only 10 points in 19 games so far. We are enjoying an unbeaten streak of 34 games – our last loss in the league is dated December 2031, more than a year ago! A few of the games were close, including some barely deserved wins away. In the last game of 2032, we were incredibly close to dropping the streak, being a man down in Pomozsa Derby, but hung on to draw thanks to our defence. So far everything points out to it being the closest title race the league has seen in years. In the past, the challengers often crumbled right after the break. Will Lech repeat their fate? We wiped the pitch with them in all tournaments before an August draw, so their comeback is even more impressive. We had little issue progressing in the cup, beating Gornik and Stomil (they are in the 1. Liga now!) respectively. In the quarterfinal, we are set to face Ruch for the second year in a row. Our quality of play was not that far ahead of the competition due to massive rotation, we are only 4.5 expected points ahead of Radomiak, who looked stronger and stronger in the last two seasons. We find ourselves significantly behind Rakow in the final third passes created. We're playing more vertical and intense football, but surrendering some control to the opposition on more occasions. Our attacking talent is incredible though. Antal, Suk and Bota are topping the league in goals, while Mokhehle is an assist leader (Elliott whooo?).

Summer 2032 Transfers We continued to spend fortunes on defenders. This summer, they are at least young On the opening day, all the scheduled deals went on, the most important one being Mathias Karlsen from Scandinavia, for a record-breaking 9.8M. He is physical and smart but his technique far from perfect. We need a defensive-minded left-back for our tactic, and now we have one for years to come. It took us nine days to break the transfer record again – 12.25M were required to pay off the Swiss. Jean Nsangou is on the brink of breaking into the national team from our starting lineup. We struggled against crosses heavily in the past against the very best team and the 198cm defender was brought to help with that. Hopefully, he'll learn how to pass the ball someday All other transfers were for clear rotation guys, so I'll introduce them at later points when any of them stands out on the pitch. Weirdly enough, Adrian Church has already been recalled by Bayern despite starting all but one league game. I've explored the loan market for a bit but decided that Kurzawa will continue to start in his stead. We've let go of most of the influential players who led us to four consecutive titles. Elliott was the best assist man last season but only had 1 year left on his deal, the highest salary matching clause and a tough agent. Laird, Ramon, Ahamada lost their starting places in the second half of the season and the infusion of youngsters will be able to replace them in rotation. Kahl is over 30 and much worse than Karlsen even right now. Ahmad and Kisiel were too good of deals to turn down because of finances. We don't expect them to start and 50M for a useless stadium aren't going to pay for themselves. Despite a significant interest in their services from top clubs, Bota, Musial and Riedel all stayed with the team. Silaghi is back for the season after a wonderful spring with Werder, but is growing upset because I was not able to register him for the UCL. I expect to rotate the keepers in the league, while Musial plays in UCL and Silaghi in the Puchar. The new hierarchy looks a bit weird tho...

@RoguPL Our supporters could not care less about the stadium deal!

Season 10 – Summer 2032 Following the record-breaking season, Pomorski had no major changes in mind for the summer. Surely, a few veterans were set to leave, but all the key pieces are young and have room to grow. 4-2-3-1 suits the squad perfectly, even though our DM situation is not as stable as it was a season ago. Since Ekstaklasa's stature has declined, Lechia would have to go through 3 rounds in UCL qualification, giving us 4 extra games in July and August. The season started with two confident wins: in Superpuchar against Jagellonia and then in the home Pomorza derby. We were looking strong in the UCL too, smashing teams in their houses and containing them in the second ties. The home game vs. Malmo in the last round got unexpectedly close: we were up 2-0 at the half time (4-1 on aggregate), but the Swedes scored two after the break. We sustained the aggregate lead and progressed to the League Phase. Finally, a fairly mild draw occurred. I like our chances to improve upon the 5 points we earned last year. Legia and Rakow fared well in the qualies, both reaching the League Phase of the Europa League. Let's hope they get points there. Our form in the league declined: first, a major rotation in the Gornik game resulted in a late tying goal and a week later Bota (who was forcing a transfer at the time) missed a penalty in Poznan, so the leading Lech is keeping the pole position (for now).

What a run! Congrats on the proper treble

Season 9 – Records, Records – 2031/2032 Despite some unfortunate results in the first half and a complete transformation of the central axis after 3 key departures, Lechia returned stronger than ever. The only equal thing about the Radomiak game was the total score. In April Lechia showed off its clutch gene like never before. First, a late goal from the captain took us to the second consecutive cup final. During the last week of the month, a double strike against Jagellonia was a glorious repeat from the previous season (vs. Lech). In the league game, the late breakthrough from Suk clinched the fourth consecutive league title for us! Jagellonia put up a fabulous battle in the Final, but after a few early (and late) misses, Antal finally managed to put the ball into the net. The second domestic treble is ours for the second year in a row! Our U-19 team arguably put up an even greater season – the young lads are among the final four teams in European club football! It was an incredible run, during which they eliminated PSG and Atalanta from the playoffs! After the senior and the U-19 both clinched their respective titles, a few of the youngsters got the chance to impress the Ekstraklasa opponents right away. Among them was Piotr Kwasnik, a fan favourite from the latest youth intake, who already played 4 league games and even made an assist before turning 16! Lechia 2031/2032 broke the record for League Points – now it is set at 90! And the number of wins too! Unbelievable, but the followers apparently did not share and enjoy our success... A truly dominant style of play and fantastic performance gave us a season to remember! Let's celebrate all the players who achieved this once again! Lechia's reputation around the world finally took a step forward and I hope it will give more opportunities to strengthen the team for continental glory. In the meantime, the ownership finalized the acquisition of the stadium. Lechia will enter the next season playing at home. Our own, at last.

Let's see if the pile of cash can help us on the field

Season 9 – January 2032 While the Ekstraklasa restarts only in February, we have two important events in January. With 4 points after 6 games, Lechia's chances for playoffs are slim, even though the last two games arguably are the easiest ones – against Benelux teams – away vs. Anderlecht and home vs. PSV. Before we get to them though, our squad has to survive the biggest challenge of all – the winter transfer window In August, Pomorski promised Savu, our top BWM, that we would be able to join PSG for 8M. The offer never came before the deadline but on the first week of January, we saw a bidding war. Since Lechia is never in the business of crushing our players' dreams, we welcomed the auction. Elliott as DLP only left one place in midfield and Abdalas fits there perfectly (if only not for the Cup of the African Nations). One offer superseded the other and our great friends from Leipzig placed the highest bid of 35 million Euros! Crazy good deal for us! Our luck on the pitch is of course different. Anderlecht scored their first shot on target and once again our attack has been fruitless. For the second game in a row, our player got a red card out of frustration, not a good sign at all. Anyway, this loss leaves us with 4 points and officially out of contention for the playoffs. The elimination from the UCL only intensified the rumours that started circulating before the game – Abdalas and Florica, our captain and best player, also want out and they want out now. There was speculation in the press that the club took a tough stance this time and was not willing to let the leaders leave immediately. Amid the mess, the last UCL game lost the last bits of importance. It's pretty difficult to win against two penalties even when PSV can't create anything else. Musial saved the first penalty shot and we got a draw at home. 5 points is our new best result in the UCL. We improved gradually in the Europa League and expect some progress to be made in the most demanding competition of all. We were clearly worse than the opposition for 100 minutes – the last 10 in Nice and during the whole game in Munich. Maybe it's too soon for us to become giant slayers, but Lechia deserved more. A woeful Europa League performance by Jagellonia – ZERO points with 3-18 GD – cemented this season as the worst for Polish football in the last decade. The clubs earned 3.4 points together, that's a disgrace. Right after the PSV game ended, it became clear that the tough pose was a negotiating tactic – the highest bid strategy was on for both Abdalas and Florica. Abdalas left first to continue his career in Spain. Saying goodbye was sad – this guy can truly develop! He came as a free agent but now the club becomes 20M richer with his departure. The interest for Florica was of course much higher. The early contender was Inter and then the mighty Real Madrid joined the race. However, the result shocked many experts –Bogdan is joining Ajax! FORTY MIL for us! Now we literally have A HUNDRED MILLION EURO in our transfer budget. What's next, what are we going to do? Yeah, we are still favourites both in the league and in the cup, but there is no way this team is going to be competitive in Europe next season with the remaining level of talent. We are fully prepared to buy out the arena, that's true. But Harvey Elliott, a career loser who could not make it in the serious leagues, is our now vice-captain and the main star. Are we the Clippers or what? I've also followed the advice and let Repka go. He put up some beautiful performances in the minutes he had though. Kamil Kurzawa, who you just saw, is our first addition to the squad. He will get a rotation place when Moralis joins Arsenal and hopefully will develop his game a little bit. He can shoot and he is a great guy – the first Model Professional in a green T-Shirt! Everyone's hyping up South America, but what have you heard of South Africa? Amos Mokhehle will be the new starting BWM for the second part of the season. It's more and more difficult to procure elite talent even though we now have all the money we could've asked for. Can we stop the degradation of our football culture on the European fields?

Season 9 – Highs and Lows Our struggles in the Champions League continued at Allianz Arena. Round 5 became our lowest point – Bayern dominated completely throughout the game, so we are okay to take the minimal loss here. Corners kill us again and again this year. We are at 1 point after 5 games with almost no chance of progressing. The cup was where we had a decent chance to reach the next round. The home game against Legia became a rollercoaster – we scored and went ahead 3 times but each time it took our opponent just a few minutes to even the score. The game was slowly arriving at the penalty shootout but 1 shot decided it all. After a questionable referee decision, Harvey Elliott got a chance to rectify his 2 misses from the last season – his right corner shot took us to the 1/4, where we will face Ruch in late February next year. Two days later we were set to play in Krakow against a top-5 Cracovia team. After 120-minute blockbuster in the cup and ahead of facing Napoli in the UCL, some rotations were in order. Antal saved the day! He had been scoreless for 10 games or so but finally his finishing is back! After such a turnaround, Pomorski opted to play aggressively against the superior opponent. We were pressing extremely high, even after Florica gave us the lead. Only in the last 10 minutes Napoli created chances, but Musial had a great game and deservedly took the MotM trophy. Our first win in Europe this season and just the second one ever in the UCL, witnessed by 35000 in attendance. Regretabbly, the first part of the season ended with a stinker. Legia were not better than us in any capacity, but gave us the second home loss of the season (the first one was against Arsenal). We are still leading in the league, but the form Radomiak is in right now becoming scary. We only managed to get a draw at home against them, so the title is absolutely in play as well as all 5 European spots for the next season.

Thanks for the advice! I tried a DM thing a couple of times already, first with Montolio – originally brought in as a DLP, but I moved him into defence for the last season. The other one is Abdalas, but has improved technically by such a margin that I'd rather see him in midfield for 4-2-3-1 now Understand that the saves are different, but anyway, I'd like Lechia to feature more home-grown guys even when I'm not restricted with movements all the way like you are (ignoring South America with the current club rep complicates matters enough for me )

@RoguPL Another little thing on the academy: I wonder what would you say about my two guys? How would they fare in your squad? My coach considers both good Ekstraklasa players, but I can't decide whether it tells more about the state of the league. They are barely bench players for me, and I can easily replace them with better options, just don't feel the need to do that for the domestic season.

Funnily enough, I kinda feel my finances are in perfect shape for at least 3 seasons or something. That's the main reason I went after the stadium (still no idea how much it's gonna cost in the end, maybe I'll talk differently after that ). We are at 30M now in the transfer budget, and a lot of instalments are coming in while we're not paying out any. To add to that, we got a 50% future fee clause dealing the former captain David, who now starts for PSG alongside Mbappe and Musiala. I can get 10M out of that right now, but since his market value is 250M, I'm in no rush. Riedel was a strange transfer at this stage, I agree, but all the regens centre-backs I scouted either have 7 vision and passing or 5 jumping reach. Maybe in a couple of years I'll embrace a true Bayern mentality and opt to start someone like Kimmich or Alaba in that role All of the facilities have been maxed out but the Youth ones, we're at the 4 stars now (and I'm requesting the next upgrade this very minute). Our regen HoYD got hunted by Ajax during the summer, but his replacement is okay, I guess. We even won the U-19 league last season for the first time! I just looked up how our U-19s are doing in UCL – to say the least, much better than I do Maybe youngsters are the way to go indeed! Other clubs are terrible in Europe so far. There were seasons when Legia and Lech even got to the Playoffs in the Conference League, but lately, no one even gets through the summer. Well, Jagellonnia did this season, at least they've got 5M in bonuses. We'll keep 5 teams for the next season, but not after that. The troubling part is that Ekstraklasa's reputation is still 3 stars, so the club is stuck around that too, unless I get lucky enough to win the Europa League soon.

@RoguPL Thanks man! Finally, I have some decent guys on the bench who can be trusted, which helps a lot. Would be nice to give more playing time to youngsters but I don't have many candidates atm. The scouting really dried out, and our academy has not generated anyone decent since Repka in the first season (who's barely getting on my bench). All of that hardly helps in Europe. Seems like my tactics this season are somewhat off, my best striker from last season isn't getting any chances and overall even vs. domestic competition we often scrape to score 1 goal. Adding more talent to the defence would def help in UCL, but for now, Riedel seems like a flop for the price (although he scores headers vs. 18th-place teams rather well). Last season I felt two matches a week, but now I can easily focus on UCL – it just has not helped us so far I wonder about the effect the stadium purchase would have too. The avg attendance is twice as much (~20k) as we had in the first season, but the season tickets are still at a proud number of 515! The waiting list is 50 times that We shall see what happens next July. The new TV deal is coming as well. I'm so disappointed with the other clubs' performance in Europe so far. If the trajectory does not change, it would be impossible for the league to rise in the ranks before Lechia consistently appears in the UCL semifinal year after year or smth like that. Despite reaching 1/4 and 1/2 in two of the three last seasons, we will def be out of the top 15 next year, which means no UCL money for anyone but us. We are not strong enough to start loaning starters to our rivals, but something has to be done to increase the club's reputation. I envy your progress lately – keep up the great job leading your golden Youths