Gilberto Silva

Update on my short-term Chelsea save. Ended up finishing 7th in the league, bagging myself a Europa Conference League spot on the final day. It might have saved me from getting the sack. I did plenty of transfer business in the summer, clearing out a lot of deadwood whilst strengthening in some areas. First with the permanent sales: Malang Sarr (AS Monaco - £13m), Mateo Kovacic (Inter Milan - £30m), Romelu Lukaku (Real Madrid - £55m), Kalidou Koulibaly (Real Madrid - £9.5m), Edouard Mendy (Leicester City - £21.5m), Christian Pulisic (FC Bayern - £24.5m), Hakim Ziyech (Everton - £30m), Callum Hudson-Odoi (RB Leipzig - £36.5m). Now some players I either couldn’t shift permanently or they needed development minutes so the following went out on loan: Carney Chukwuemeka (Leeds United), Cesar Azpilicueta (Osasuna), Armando Broja (Everton), Cesare Casadei (Udinese), Datro Fofana (Southampton), Andrey Santos (Sheffield United), Lewis Hall (Middlesbrough), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Inter Milan), Ben Chilwell (Newcastle United). All in all I raised £209m from player sales this summer which I am very happy with. Now, incomings: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid - £106m), Denis Zakaria (Juventus - £22.5m), Keylor Navas (PSG - £1m), Roberto Firminio (Liverpool - free), Danilo (Nottingham Forest - £26m), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig - £56m), Wilfried Gnonto (Leeds United - £23.5m), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa - loan). I have settled on a 4-2-3-1 for this season leaving my squad looking much better and more balanced than last: GK: Navas, Kepa, Bettinelli DR: James, Gusto DL: Cucurella, Colwill DCR: Fofana, Chalobah DCL: Badiashile, Thiago Silva, Mings DM: Kante, Fernandez, Zakaria, Danilo AMR: Nkunku, Mount, Madueke AML: Sterling, Mudryk AMC: Havertz, Gallagher FC: Felix, Firminio, Thuram I did want to ship Gallagher out on deadline day but he refused a £35m move to Monaco. Also Madueke wouldn’t accept any loan offers so he will probably be getting minutes in all the cup competitions this season. Season is already going a lot better than last, four wins from four in the league.

I agree - I started a Chelsea save as was intrigued by the challenge of sorting a proper rebuild out with them. Got knocked out of the CL group stages after scoring zero goals… Knocked out of the FA Cup at the third round by West Ham. Currently sit 9th in the league. Weird thing is, I’ve been getting the news item “could be his last match” for what feels like forever at this point, and have had numerous meetings with the chairman but as of yet, have not been sacked. Not even been given the dreaded “Get X amount of points in the next X games”. I think the researcher must have given the new owner a 20 in patience or something! I started with a 3-4-2-1 formation but have recently switched to the 4-2-3-1 which was providing better results goalscoring-wise. My main issue throughout the season has been that I concede too many goals, no matter what I do. On top of that, we have drawn way too many. Not an awful lot of defeats, I think I’ve only lost five but draws are in double figures. I am hoping a goalkeeper will fix the issue because both Mendy and Kepa are conceding way more than they should going by xGA numbers. Only problem is at the moment, it isn’t looking like I’ll have a lot of cash to spend in the summer. I only really want to sign a goalkeeper and a centre-back, so we’ll see what happens. The only signing I made in January was Marcus Thuram who has mainly been used as a sub off the bench. Did score in his fourth appearance when he came off to score a 94th minute winner against Manchester United - which was fun. Felix has been much better in the second-half of the season but can’t see me making the deal permanent as Atletico want silly money. Anyone got any suggestions for goalkeepers? I really only want a world-class shot stopper who can pass the ball five yards. Not overly fussed about him sweeping etc. I just want a keeper that can keep the ball out of the net better than Kepa and Mendy.

Started a save with Forest - and much akin to real life I am struggling to find my best XI. Although I have started the season fairly well, sitting in 12th in November. I’ve kind of settled on a 3-4-1-2 at the moment but keep chopping and changing the defence and midfield. I’m leaning toward a back three of Felipe, Aurier and McKenna at the moment (mainly because I prefer Neco Williams as a flying right-wing back to Aurier). I think midfield wise I want to settle on Danilo as a deep-lying playmaker with Ryan Yates alongside as a segundo volante. Up front, Awoyoini has been the star so far leading the goalscoring charts. My long-term plan is to settle on a more 4-2-3-1 possession-based tactic once I get through a few transfer windows. I want a bigger and more physical player to partner Danilo in midfield and am on the lookout for a pacy left-winger who can stretch the play whilst Johnson acts as an inside forward on the right hand side.

Ok, so a player came to me demanding a new contract but my wage budget doesn't allow me to pay him what he wants. Why is there not an option to explain this in the following interactions with the individual player plus when having a team meeting with the squad? None of the options I can select explain that we don't have the funds, it's baffling.

How would people setup a midfield with Odegaard and Vieira as the two “8’s” in an Arteta system? I was thinking Odegaard as a mezalla on support with Vieira as an advanced playmaker with move into channels. Or swap the roles the other way around. What do people think?

Disappointed that Chelsea and Nottingham Forest don’t both have the club vision “SIGN ALL THE PLAYERS”.

Everton's win at the weekend against us has inspired me to start an Everton save, complete with creating Sean Dyche to roleplay as. Started with two base tactics, the first is a close replication of how he set the team up against us at the weekend. The only trouble really is that it is quite difficult to double up on wide players as Everton did. First tactic is a 4-5-1 base; GK: Pickford - GK(D) - Do not want him being too adventurous with sweeping. Mainly he is there to stop the ball going into the net. He will distribute quickly though looking primarily for progressive passes into the final third as often as possible. DL: Mkylenko - FB (S) - Nothing fancy here, I want the full-backs to concentrate mainly on defending but they will get forward when required (boosted by personal traits). DR: Coleman - FB (S) - See above. DRC: Coady - BPD (D) - Main job here is to stop attackers but want to see plenty of progressive passes into the final third. DCL: Tarkowski - BPD (D) - See above. MCR: Doucoure - B2B (S) - Out of possession, I want him to be pressing the opposition so have ticked mark tighter and tackle harder. When we are in possession, I want him breaking into the box to get on the end of second balls and crosses so have get further forward ticked. MC: Gueye - BWM (D) - Simple, win the ball back and give it to someone else. I want him holding the middle of the pitch. MCL: Onana - B2B (S) - Similar to Doucoure, he has tighter marking / tackle harder selected but no other option selected. He will get forward as an when he needs to. MR: Iwobi - WM (A) - The wide players will be the main source of creativity. I selected wide-midfielders here to ensure that out of possession they stayed more or less in line with the midfield trio but will break to get forward when we win possession. ML: McNeil (WM (A) - See above. FC: Calvert-Lewin - TF (A) - Self explanatory. He is the spearhead of the side, battering ram. He needs to be winning headers, bringing the two box-to-box midfielders into play and looking to score chances himself. In terms of team instructions, I have the mentality set to balanced, with standard passing, play for set pieces and focus play down both flanks. In transition I have counter-press selected and GK distribution to kick it long. Out of possession I want to press more often and invite crosses into the penalty area. The second tactic I have setup similar with a flat midfield three but push the MR/ML into the AMR/AML strata to get them starting higher up as we will be pressing higher but most other instructions shall remain the same. The only other change would be having the middle midfielder as a deep-lying playmaker (more than likely Garner) whilst having Gueye replace one of Onana/Doucoure but still acting as a ball-winning midfielder. Thoughts on my tactics welcomed. We started the season with a 0-0 draw away at Wolves before a 1-1 draw at home to Aston Villa. So far I am happy with the tactic I have setup as we are doing very well to limit the opposition to good chances.

Thanks for all the hard work - best update around! (actually includes squad numbers and all...!) Just a note, Enzo Fernandez still has a minimum fee release clause in his contract at Chelsea.

I think Uwa could work out to be a nice conservative full-back in the future.

Best of the youth intake highlighted below. Really excited about Matt Thomas and Steven Moran (look at that finishing attribute!) in particular.

Oh yeah - youth intake was tremendous. I have a goalkeeper that’s already rated at 2*, plus a right-winger, central midfielder and I think a right-back that are all 5* potential. Will add screens of them next time I’m at the computer.

Why are squad numbers always such a mess in the second season? Harry Kane switches to number 6, Marcus Rashford to number 12, Mo Salah to number 6. Why?

Finally finished my first season with Arsenal. I wanted to keep the same philosophy that Arteta has been using in terms of playing style and recruitment. This meant keeping a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 hybrid of sorts. We managed a fourth-placed finish on the final day, with Chelsea missing out on Champion's League football in fifth. Our front four all had excellent seasons, with Gabriel Jesus topping the scoring charts with 19 goals from 34 league games (31 as a starter). The other Gabriel, Martinelli had a productive season finishing with 11 goals and two assists from 27 league starts. His season was ended by a broken ankle with a month or so left to play. Bukayo Saka was an assist machine, laying on 17 plus scoring 5 goals across 34 league appearances (he managed 20 assists and 8 goals in all competitions). Meanwhile, the orchestrator of the side Martin Odegaard finished the league season with 8 assists and 5 goals from 33 games, topping the team charts for key passes per 90. Aside from the starters, Eddie Nketiah had a hugely impressive season, ending with 20 goals from 47 appearances (21 as a starter). He has impressed me enough to keep him around. All-in-all it was a fairly inconsistent league campaign despite my attacking players having very good output - just not quite good enough. Highlight of the league season was the 6-0 home battering of Spurs, whilst they did have ten-men for an entire half, we vastly outplayed them for the entire 90 minutes. Six different goalscorers as well - Xhaka, Martinelli, Jesus, Zinchenko, Elneny and Nketiah all getting on the scoresheet. Cup competitions were incredibly painful this season. Starting with the EFL Cup, we had kind draws up to the semi-final stage but still made life difficult for ourselves. We started with an easy 3-0 win away at Brentford before squeezing past Southampton at St. Mary's on penalties after a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes. The quarter-finals drew us against Championship side Watford at home, we again needed penalties to progress to the semi-finals after another 1-1 draw (thanks to a 91st minute equaliser from Asprilla for Watford). The semi-finals saw a heavyweight clash between ourselves and Liverpool with the first leg at Anfield. We fell to a disappointing 2-1 defeat despite us having the better of the chances. However, we managed to overcome the deficit with a 3-1 win at the Emirates, thanks to an extra-time winner from Emile Smith Rowe. The February final drew us against Norwich City who were currently outside the play-off places in the Championship. "Easy trophy" I thought. Wrong. After 80 minutes, we found ourselves 3-0 down thanks to a Teemu Pukki hat-trick. Grant Hanley was then sent-off which gave me a glimmer of hope, so we threw the kitchen sink at them for the final ten minutes plus stoppage time. Granit Xhaka found the top corner on 81 minutes, before Gabriel Martinelli added a second in the 89th minute. We went into complete attack-mode, which ended up being our downfall as Gabriel Sara scored a fourth for them in the 98th minute. Losing an EFL Cup final to a Championship side was no fun. Our FA Cup run started well, two kind home ties against Gillingham and Fleetwood respectively and we dispatched of both 3-0. The Fifth round drew us against fellow PL opposition in Fulham and we once again won 3-0, helped in part by two Fulham red cards. The quarter-final was a tight affair away at Brentford, where they gave us a much tougher game than they did in the EFL Cup, we ended up 1-0 winners with a late Jesus goal. Onto Wembley and the semi-final against old rivals Manchester United. It was a tight game, but United came out on top 2-1 after a late Antony poachers goal. Lastly, we had the Europa League. Our group was very, very kind when we were drawn against Qarabag, Sivasspor and Ferencvaros. We topped the group with 5 wins and a draw from the six games, the highlight being a 6-0 win at home to Sivasspor. The round-of-16 drew us against old Champion's League opponents, PSV. I was a little concerned, recalling Alex knocking us out all those years ago. The first tie was away and we fell to a 2-1 defeat. We took a 4th minute lead with a penalty dispatched by Fabio Vieira, but Cody Gakpo levelled just before half-time before they snatched a 93rd minute winner through Xavi Simons. The second leg we had no such issues, routing them 4-0. The quarter-finals drew us against Spanish opposition in Real Betis. This time we were the home side for the first leg and finished with a comfortable 3-0 victory after goals from Martinelli, Jesus and Saka. The second leg, we controlled the tie without exerting too much energy and ended with a 0-0 draw and safe passage to the semi-finals, where another Dutch side was waiting for us in Feyenoord. Another comfortable home win, 3-1 this time, we let in a late consolation. However, once again we controlled the away tie, finishing with another 0-0 draw to send us to the final where AC Milan were waiting. After an attempt on goal from Jesus in the fourth minute, there were literally no other highlights until extra-time. It was an extremely cagey affair with both defences on top. Sadly, we conceded two goals in a terrible five minute spell late in the second half of extra time which saw us lose our second cup final of the season. The season ended with a fourth-placed finish, two cup final losses and a semi-final loss. It could have been much better. So next on the agenda was the small matter of the summer transfer window. We hadn't really completed any notable business in January other than bringing in Thomas Lemar on loan, who flopped - ending the season with no goals or assists across eleven games. We did agree a deal to bring Albon Lafont to the club in the summer on a £7m deal. As we approach the start of the 2023/24 season, our business looks like this: Ins: Alban Lafont (Nantes - £7m) Agustin Giay (San Lorenzo - £4m rising to £6m) Danilo (Palmeiras - £17.5m) Evan N'Dicka (Frankfurt - £20.5m rising to £26m) Manu Kone (Monchengladbach - £34.5m rising to £44.5m) Mykhalo Mudryk (Shakhtar - £48m rising to £67m) Outs: Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Southampton - £10m) Nicolas Pepe (FC Barcelona - £25.5m) Matt Turner (Tigres - £9m) Pablo Mari (Zenit - £4.6m) Runar Alex Runarsson (Leeds United - £1m) Rob Holding (Southampton - £11.5m) Karl Jakob Hein (Bolton - loan) Cedric (Wolves - loan) Omar Rekik (Schalke 04 - loan) Nuno Tavares (Bayer Leverkusen - loan) Reiss Nelson (Montepellier - loan) Marquinhos (Rennes - loan) Leaving me with a very balanced squad, more departures could happen (mainly loans) but I think my signings are complete. The squad looks as below: Goalkeepers: Aaron Ramsdale, Alban Lafont, Arthur Okwonkwo Right-backs: Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Brooke Norton-Cuffy Left-backs: Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kieran Tierney Centre-backs: William Saliba, Gabriel, Evan N'Dicka, Zach Awe Defensive midfield: Thomas Partey, Danilo, Mohamed Elneny Central midfield: Granit Xhaka, Martin Odegaard, Manu Kone, Emile Smith Rowe, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Charlie Patino Forwards: Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Bukayo Saka, Mykhalo Mudryk, Fabio Vieira, Folarin Balogun Sambi Lokonga did break his leg in pre-season so will not likely feature until 2024 at the earliest, I was looking to move him on but that will no longer happen in the short-term. I feel as though we are stacked now in the attacking positions and we have good versatility and cover in defence. I am hoping to give Awe and Patino game-time in the league cup whilst Norton-Cuffy will more than likely be loaned out provided I can find a suitable destination for him.

Started a Napoli save - wanted to manage Kvaratshkelia. So far, he is fun to manage. Overall, Napoli have a very decent starting squad with room to improve a few areas. It will be a challenge to keep the three strikers happy though.

An observation regarding the UEFA licences. I really like the presentation with the draws and match-days but wonder why the screens for the competition don’t have the same look? I think SI missed a beat here - it would really add to the immersion if all the CL screens for example were shown in the same format rather than going back to whatever skin you have loaded.

Not a bug but an irritation. When I am looking at the results of a recruitment focus and click on a player, when I return to the previous screen it completely comes out of the recruitment focus that I selected so I have to click it and scroll down to where I was all over again. Why?

What date was the cut-off for data changes out of interest?

Does Gabriel Jesus still have the trait “runs with the ball rarely”? Because that’s nonsense.