All or Nothing: Internacional

[Cahoon]

This story will follow one season, day by day.


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I am Internacional
Lou is Gremio
Mike is Palmeiras
Paul is Coritiba (but will change to a first division club in May, if he remains active)


We've made a bet, where the winner of the league gets a new copy of Football Manager 2020, paid for by whomever finishes bottom out of the four of us.
​

Thisstory will follow my journey this year....
​

Hello, and welcome. Or welcome back.

In this story I'll be taking over Internacional of Brazil's top flight and competing against my two brothers, Lou and Mike. Lou is Gremio, Mike is Palmeiras.

We're doing one season, following the calendar day-by-day. To follow the preseason, which began 7 weeks ago, the thread is here:
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/fm19...-everybody-3way-hotseat-save-vs-brothers.html

Thanks for following......here we go!

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RIO GRANDE DO SUL State preview: The Road to the Title Runs Through Porto Alegre

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Some things in life are undeniable: the inevitability of death, the inescapability of taxes, and a team from Porto Alegre appearing at the top of the preseason odds to win the Rio Grande do Sul State Championship.

To no one’s surprise, Gremio is the title favourite, according to Blahblah.com This is one of the main reasons that manager Lou Alves chose this team, he’s a bandwagon jumper, but I digress.

Crosstown rivals, Internacional also have a new manager, Boss Tweed (me). While Gremio elected to shore up a few positions with big name signings, Inter have overhauled their roster making no less than 12 signings so far this offseason.

These teams are at somewhat of a crossroads.
Gremio is coming off back to back finals appearances in the Copa Libertadores, winning in 2017, but have lost playmaker Arthur to Barcelona and their manager Renato Gaucho, and will be trying to fight off a hangover from that golden period.

Inter is one season removed from playing in the second division and are suffering under crippling debt, most of their players are in on loan, with new coach Tweed using a tactic of selling players with a 1 year loan back.

The State Championship runs from now until the end of April, with each team playing the others once for a total of 11 games, the top 8 qualify for the 2 legged knockout ties culminating with Gremio and Inter in a two legged final (or, if a miracle happens, some other team may make the final)

The other 10 clubs in the competition are lower league teams including:
Serie B -Brasil de Pelotas
Serie C -Juventude, Sao Jose
Serie D -Caixas,
Amateur clubs -Aimore, Avenida, Novo Hamburgo, Pelotas, Sao Luiz and Veranopolis
Look for Veranopolis to be on the receiving end of some world class beatings, they’re really bad.

A more detailed preview is available on the old preseason thread (link above)

Inter
I played 2 preseason friendlies and didn’t start anyone of note. I don’t plan on having any of my starters playing 60+ games this year, so I’ll use a heavy rotation all the way through the State Championship, and start working in my starter in the knockout rounds so they will be in form for the start of the League in May.
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Gremio
Lou did basically the same thing as I did, his backups just didn’t play as well and he only scheduled one friendly. His goal was scored by Tete who, in a normal save, would be a great signing, he’s gonna be their next big star. He just won’t help them much in this save.
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Palmeiras
Mike has had one friendly to date with one more scheduled, his State Championship starts 11 days later. He jumped right in with both feet and started his best 11 right off the bat, all of them at 50% match fitness. They lost against Racing Club who are in mid-season form and leading the Argentina superliga.
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This weeks matchups

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*real articles are and will be used throughout this story, credit to the original author will be given when available. I will use historical events from Serie A in Brazil throughout the story.

 

[Cahoon]

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Internacional tight-lipped after disappointing Pelotas draw but their display spoke for itself
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Nobody reading this would want a dictaphone stuck under their noses after a bad day at the office, so it was hardly unexpected that Inter’s players trooped past reporters without speaking after Wednesdays 1-1 draw away to Pelotas - especially as they are seldom any more forthcoming after victories.

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Normally, an away point using only backups is one of those draws that is said to feel like a victory, but this was one of the highest-paid group of players in Serie A, playing an amateur team full of players with side jobs. They knew this result for what it was.

These players might not be the most professional in the competition, but are surely a tough team to play if you don't put them away fast. And Inter didn't.

Inter will still be expected to recover and progress from the league into the knockout rounds, but Boss Tweed’s side will have to perform much better in their remaining games.


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Inter 1-1 draw at Pelotas
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In a poor match, we led 1-0 into 2nd half stoppage time before giving up the equalizer. Even with my backups, these are top flight players who should have easily dispatched an amateur side. It does not bode well for my tactics. Next up is our home opener against Juventude, kind of a local derby, they are the third Porto Alegre based team, but not really a strong enough team to build a heated rivalry, not from our side anyway. Having said that, this is a team that crushed Veranopolis 6-0 om matchday 1 and currently top the table at this very early stage.
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Gremio 4-1 win at Aimore
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Gremio scored early and often, they are favourites to win not only the Brazilian Championship but also the Copa Libertadores and they certainly looked the part even when playing a second string squad. Next up is their home opener against Pelotas, the side that held my Inter team to a draw. I’m pretty sure Lou will go for a huge win to make me look even worse, that’s his style.
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Palmeiras did not play
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Mike had no matches scheduled but he did bring in close to 500k by selling two youth players, he’s quietly building his transfer budget but has been tight lipped about what he’s planning.
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Upcoming matches
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​

 

[Cahoon]

Oops, the upcoming matches posted was actually last matchday scores:

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[Cahoon]

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~TRANSFERS~

OUT

Central defender Ernando was sold to Guizhou of China for 500k. The reason for this is that I've got an offer in for a top central defender and I need to clear room for him.
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~FAMILY NEWS~
Palmeiras was the only team in action, against something called Atibaia Reserves. Mike stuck to his strategy of playing all his starters, even though he was playing a team of backups from a club no one has heard of, the result was a 7-0 whitewash. No surprises here, I'm just sitting back and waiting for his players to start dropping with injuries. He'll have 9 days off until the Paulista Championship kicks off with a match against Santos.
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~COPA LIBERTADORES~

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With the Libertadores 2018 now in the history books, the stage is set for next years’ edition. Hopefully, it’ll have much less drama and controversy, and plainly, just more football.

The first group that jumps off the page is Group A. Internacional has been drawn into a group with Estudiantes de la Plata from Argentina, which is tough enough, but that group looks much worse when you add Atletico Mineiro, the favourites to qualify from Game 1. Either way you look at it, one thing is certain: Melgar is screwed.

View attachment 23681

Gremio have to qualify for the group stages by going through two rounds before potentially being placed into Group B, with Flamengo, Talleres (Arg) and The Strongest (Bol).

Palmeiras got the easiest group of the three of us, by far. Nacional of Uruguay will be their only somewhat challenging opponent, with Caracas (Ven) and Cantolao (Per) making up the numbers.

View attachment 23695View attachment 23694View attachment 23693

POTENTIAL QUALIFYING TEAMS (IN ORDER GAME 1 THRU 4)
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​

 

[Cahoon]

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~GAUCHAO STATE CHAMPIONSHIP~
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SATURDAY JANUARY 19, 2019


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My brother Lou's Gremio side had won on Saturday against the same club that had held me to a draw, so I began Sundays action 5 points behind, this forced my hand a little bit. Lou has been slowly introducing his stares as subs during the first two matchdays. We both have the same problem, how to get our starters up to match fitness without risking injury. There are just a few weeks left before our big derby on the 10th of February at Gremio's Stadium.

SUNDAY JANUARY 20, 2019

​

I got my first win of the State Championship this weekend with a modest 2-0 win over city rivals, and 3rd tier club, Juventude.
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New signings Mauro Boselli and Neilton both scored as I began to start some of my 1st team squad. I wasn't planning on using a lot of my stars in the early stages of this league but after a disappointing 1-1 draw against an amateur side in the opening round I couldn't afford to wait any longer. I'm realizing that I don't have the depth in my squad that I thought I had.

So, after two matchdays, Gremio sit at 6pts and I am at 4pts with 9 matchdays left

 

[Cahoon]

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MONDAY JANUARY 21, 2019

~TRANSFERS/SIGNINGS~
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Porto Alegre (AP) - Today, I signed Bixente Lizarazu to be first team coach. Lizarazu played for Bordeaux and Bayern Munich, among other teams, as a left back. He also had 97 caps for the French national team.

View attachment 23342

In a twelve-year international career from 1992 to 2004, Lizarazu played in three European championships and two World Cups for France, winning the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.



I've also sent wingback Alex Santana out on loan for the year after an unsuccesful attempt to sell him, the move saves us 1.7k per week
View attachment 23341

~INJURY NEWS~
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Central defender Victor Cuesta has returned to training after suffering an injury during training camp. He's one of my starting center backs and I'm going to have to wrap him in pillows during the state championship as I cannot afford to lose him for any length of time.


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One comes back, another goes. Mateus Uribe suffered a calf strain and will miss about a month. Uribe is another strong cog in the midfield as well as emergency cover for right back.

​

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[Cahoon]

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TUESDAY JANUARY 22, 2019


~TRANSFERS~

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I've been trying to sell Gabriel Dias for a few weeks now and I think I've finally got some serious interest from Sport Recife. Dias is a defensive midfielder but my formation doesn't use that position and I never really have. Another reason I'd like to see him go is because, like Paolo Guerrero, he is a very vocal critic of my management and has been actively turn the squad against me in order to get a move.
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~COPA LIBERTADORES~
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The qualifying rounds for the group stage of the Libertadores began today with first round games, there are three rounds in total which will give us the remaining four teams for the group stage. Notable teams that will have to qualify include Gremio and Atletico Mineiro.

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~STATE CHAMPIONSHIP~
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My next game is tomorrow against Brasil de Pelotas, a team from the second tier, Serie B. Can't say there are any easy games just yet, it should be but after the start I've had I'm not prepared to make any bold predictions. I'm just trying to get my squad ready without suffering any injuries. I'll be facing Alex Santana, a player I loaned out to them just a few days ago.



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[Cahoon]

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WEDNESDAY JANUARY 23, 2019

~STATE CHAMPIONSHIP~

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Pelotas (AP) - Two games today, My Inter team travelled to Pelotas to play Brasil de Pelotas, while Lou's Gremio stayed in Porto Alegre to play away to Juventude. We both took control of our games early, but I was able to put the game on ice while Lou had to hold on to a narrow victory. His trash talk seemed to cool a little bit after the results but was still there. It seems that both Lou and Mike seem to think that my squad isn't strong enough to challenge them and have focused most of their trash talk on each other.

That's fine with me, I definitely don't have the firepower that either of them do, but I've found a really good tactic and filled my squad with players who fit that formation perfectly. That's what I'm going to rely on this season.

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~COPA LIBERTADORES~

The remaining first leg game in the 1st qualifying round.
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​

 

[Cahoon]

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THURSDAY JANUARY 24, 2019


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Porto Alegre (AP) - Another competition begins this week, the Liga Sul-Min-Rio, which is a 16 team tournament featuring teams from 3 different states seperated into 4 groups of 4 and with the top 2 teams in each group advancing to the knockout rounds in the fall. Got all that?

In a normal save, I'd put no emphasis on this at all, I'd even go out of my way to get knocked out early, but with this save, everything matters. Every loss opens me up for ridicule from my brothers, and you can't just move on to the next match, it could be a week before you play again. Yeah, this year, everything matters, so I'll take it seriously, just like the other 5 trophies we're competing for.

~LIGA SUL-MIN-RIO~
I've been group with Atlhletico Paranaense and two teams from Serie B. Hopefully I can comfortably beat the minnows in the first two games with the B team and not have to play any important players in the 3rd match.
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Gremio has Chapecoense in their group, but play them in the second match so they might have to play starters.
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The knockout rounds take place in September. I'll tell ya, there are no shortage of matches in Brazil!

~COPA LIBERTADORES~

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Liga de Quito eliminated Racing of Uruguay to advance to round two of qualifying. Round two takes place next week.



~STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS~


3 matches in the State League today. Sao Jose jumps to the top of the table despite being unimpressive in a 5-3 win vs bottom of the table Veranopolis.
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The remaining game in matchday 3 takes place on Sunday. If Caixas win by 3 or more goals they will leapfrog me into 3rd in the table.
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T
Also, got this breaking news, yeah big surprise!
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~TRANSFERS~
The deal for a new central defender that I teased a few days ago has been completed!
View attachment 23068Jose Maria Basanta joins for next to nothing (only 250k, the rest will be paid next year, so never). Not only is he my best central defender, he also becomes my best player! A big signing for me!

View attachment 23067Basanta joins Inter looking for trophies.


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[Cahoon]

FRIDAY JANUARY 25, 2019


Porto Alegre (AP)- It's been a decent start to the year, not great but things are progressing. Our first test will be in two weeks when we travel across town to play Gremio. Besides that, I'm really just focused on training, avoiding injuries, and perhaps signing another player or two.
​

We're currently involved in one competition, the State Championship, with another beginning this weekend, the Liga Sul-Min-Rio.
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There are four more competitons that will start in the next few months. Four.
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I want to win them all.

​

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~COPA LIBERTADORES~
*South America's Champions League

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I thought Allianza Lima was in some trouble after a 0-0 draw at home in the first leg vs Blooming (yeah, who?), but then they went to Bolivia and smashed them 5-0. Guarani also advanced to the second qualifying round, joining Liga de Quito, who advanced yesterday.


The second qualifying round begins next week and some heavy hitters join the fun.
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~TRANSFERS~

Another centre back sent packing, I just had too many defenders who just weren't at the level I need.
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When seven days of game time is also seven days of real time, you can forget some of the smaller details, like who you've upset.
View attachment 22946Enjoy the winter in Denmark, then. Punk.

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[Cahoon]

SATURDAY JANUARY 26, 2019



There are 27 State Championships in Brazil, they run from January to the end of May. One of the toughest is the Sao Paolo State, or the Paulista as it's known.

As in Rio, there are four big clubs in Sao Paolo. They are Corinthians, Palmeiras, Sao Paolo FC, and Santos.

It's not an easy trophy to win. Palmeiras has won the Brazilian Championship twice in the last three years but they have only won the Paulista once this century, in 2008.


The 2019 Paulista starts tomorrow.


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Even though there are three players in this save, my story will generally focus on my club, Internacional. Lou's team, Gremio, will get lots of attention as they are in the same State Championship as I am. Mike, my other brother, is in charge of Palmeiras, and there won't be much about them until the League starts in May, so with today being slow as far as team news, I thought I would take the opportunity to catch you up on Palmeiras.

View attachment 22908The first game is juicy, Santos comes to town. I say 'comes to town' because Santos isn't actually in Sao Paolo, they are based in Santos, a beach town about 50km from Sao Paolo. They are among the favourites to win the Paulista again, Sundays game will be a big test.


View attachment 22907Palmeiras are favourites, but only slightly

Mike has not been shy about playing his bug guns right from the start, if he keeps in up he'll have some players involved in close to 70 games this year, so we'll see if he's able to keep that up. Squad rotation has been his downfall before and it does not look like he's learned his lesson.


~TRANSFERS~

With the signing of Argentinian CB Basanta, we are now over the limit of 5 foreigners in the squad, so it looks like Carlos Luque will be the odd man out, he was going to provide depth at left wing, but it seems I'll have to make due with what I have until Valdivia returns from loan at the beginning of May

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Carlos Luque, nice knowing you. Valdivia, see you soon.


It's come across my news feed that Gremio has had a loan offer for Wendel accepted from Sporting. This jumped off the page for me as Gremio is weak in midfield. Lou has assembled a team that is strong up front, strong at the back and strong at keeper, but the midfield has zero depth, and is not nearly as talented as the other areas. Wendel solves both of those problems.

View attachment 22865
Mr. Wendel


I immediately tried to put an offer in for him, but even on loan he was way too expensive. I don't know how Lou got an offer accepted, if he did. If it turns out to be true, this could be a game changer.
​

 

[Cahoon]

Sunday January 27, 2019


So I was on the verge of signing another top striker from Mexico when I realized that I was at the limit for foreign players, five. I was faced with a choice, buy the striker on the cheap and sell Victor Cuesta, a top Argentine centre half, or keep Cuesta and try to find a Brazilian striker somewhere else.

My family is big on motivational quotes, my brother Mike (Palmeiras' manager) loves to score and he always preaches his philosophy;

"Make sure the guys with the guns are on your side"

He's got a team with lots of firepower, as usual, but he always seems to come up short in the end, despite huge wins along the way.

I've had some high scoring clubs in the past as well, but I've always been more successful with a strong back four. I chose to keep Cuesta. I'll be facing some big firepower from both of my brothers and I'm going to need to be strong at the back.

There's a popular saying where we're from, it goes:


"Offense wins games, but defense wins championships"

​

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~State Championships~

One game today to close out Matchday three. Caixas won by three clear goals and leapfrogged me into third in the table.
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There are no midweek games in the league this week as the Liga Sul-Min-Rio kicks off. Two weeks until the first Grenal of the season (The name given to the Gremio-Internacional derby).

Next weekends fixture list.
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In the Paulista today, Palmeiras kicked off their league season with a huge match against Santos. This morning the official twitter account of Santos took some jabs at Palmeiras and another local rival, Sao Paulo. First, a little history.

Here is a list of winners of the Paulista for the past 10 years:
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Two teams are conspicuous by their absence and Santos made sure everyone knew who.

(This is from the actual twitter account of Santos today, with the hastag #TenYearChallenge)
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Anyway, fun and games aside, the game didn't go as planned for Santos
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A part of me wishes that we had all chosen teams in the same State, just for the added fun, but the buildup will make it all the better when the league kicks off, not to mention the Copa Brasil, and the Copa Libertadores.

~LIGA SUL-MIN-RIO~
Group matches began today with a couple games, the first of three group match days
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~TRANSFERS~
Mike has also caught wind of the potential blockbuster loan transfer of Wendel to Gremio and has also put in a bid. I have no idea how either of them can afford this, we're talking 725k per month! That's obscene money in Brazil. Let them battle it out, I couldn't even muster half of that amount.

I was able to raise my budgets a little by promising that I would win every competition. It's a one year save so there's really no reason not to make big promises.


~FIXTURES~
After almost two months of inactivity the fixtures will start hot and heavy now.
Hard to believe we started this save on the 27th of November and none of us have even played each other yet.

Inter
We stay at home this week, Tuesday vs Figueirense, Saturday vs. Veranopolis
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Gremio
This could work out well for me as Lou has to put out a strong lineup in his qualifying matches for the Copa, so he doesn't have an opportunity to rest his big guns for the derby. I'm just hoping that he doesn't put the Venezuealan team away in the first match.
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Palmeiras
With the Santos match in the books, Mike doesn't have any real tests until March. Will he use the opportunity to rotate his squad? We'll see.
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​

 

[Cahoon]

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This week we've got the first group games for the Liga Sul-Minas-Rio, we'll be hosting Serie B side Figueirense on Tuesday. They're a second division side but they're the best club we've faced this year so far, so it'll be good to see where we're at.

There is also the second round of qualifying games for the big one, the Copa Libertadores, with Gremio travelling to Venezuela. Another game I'll be watching closely is Atletico Mineiro hosting Libertidad of Paraguay, as Atletico will be placed in our group if they qualify so I'll be rooting against them for sure.

MONDAY JANUARY 28, 2019


~LIGA SUL-MINAS-RIO~

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Bit of a surprise with Criciuma holding Chapecoense to a nil-nil draw. Athletico (the new spelling of the club as of 2019) did what they had to do.


Almost every press conference Lou sneaks some jabs in on me, most of them aren't PG, whatever.
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TUESDAY JANUARY 29, 2019


~COPA LIBERTADORES~


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Atletico Mineiro welcomed Libertad to the Independência

View attachment 22496It was as throrough a 4-0 win as you will see, CAM looks strong and they'll be a tough team to deal with this year.


The rest of the 1st leg games will go Wednesday.
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~LIGA SUL-MINAS-RIO~

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Notes on the game
Overall, I was happy with the win, but I saw some things we need to improve on. We were very sloppy at the back, we turned a 3-0 lead into a close game even though we were playing 10 men, our offense bailed us out but that can't happen when we run into the big clubs that we have waiting for us.

Diego Goncalves played and scored twice which had me rethinking the decision to sell him, he'll be off to the MLS on February 6.

It was the first start of the year for Patrick, and he had an outstanding night, picking up man of the match honours
View attachment 22492
Despite the 5-2 scoreline, our tackling was poor, we need to be better in the air, we gave up too many shots and we have to be more disciplined. I'm not worried about 45% possession, that's normal for us, we played a patient game and hit them on the break, we just need to get our tactics down and we'll be fine.
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On to Saturday now, we host Veranopolis and I'll be looking for a huge win, it's our final game before the big derby with a week in between games so I'll have the full squad out for the match and if all goes well, we'll get double digit goals!


​

 

[Cahoon]

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Wednesday January 30, 2019


Today we had six matches in the qualifying for the Copa Libertadores, it's the 2nd round and these were first leg matches. There was also some interesting transfer news as well as a look at this weekends league match in the Gauchao.

~COPA LIBERTADORES~


We have had the group stage draw, but there are still 4 spots in those groups that have to be filled and I'll go through each of those groups to make it easy to follow.

The first group that needs a 4th team is Group A, my group.

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The 4 teams that are hoping make up that 4th slot are: (favourites in bold)
Atletico Mineiro (Brazil), Libertad (Paraguay), Emelec (Ecuador) and Fenix (Uruguay)

Yesterday we had Atletico beating Libertad 4-0 in Brazil to take a stranglehold on that tie.

Tonight it was Emelec travelling to Uruguay to play Fenix.

It was all about this man:
View attachment 22379Marcos Mandaini scores in the 16th, 38th and 55th minute to give Emelec a 3-0 win to bring back home for the second leg next week.

So, for Group A it looks as if it will be Emelec vs Atletico unless there's a minor miracle next week.



Next is Group B
View attachment 22378
The four remaining teams for qualifying are: Gremio (Brazil), Deportivo Tachira (Venezuela), Allianza Lima (Peru) and Union Espanola (Chile)

Allianza, 24 time champion of Peru, are making their 25th appearance in the Copa and are the favourites to win the tie but had a difficult trip to Chile in the first leg. A second minute goal was all that Union needed as they held on for the 1-0 victory. They head to Peru knowing that a draw is all they need and if they can score then Allianza will need three, a big win for them.

In the other match Gremio travelled to Venezuela.
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I was hoping for a close match here or even an upset as I have a derby match with Gremio in a weeks time and it would help me out if they were unable to rest their starters for the second leg. Lou must have had the same thought because he really went after this one and tried to put it away.

It was 1-0 for Gremio at halftime and things look good but two early second half goals put it at 3-0 which was still not bad of a scoreline for me. Tachira didn't even have a shot on target at that point so Lou set his players to all out attack to get that fourth goal and in the 86th minute he got it, a second from Matheus Henrique.

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The final was 4-0 and with the second game in Porto Alegre, it's safe to say that this tie is over and that Lou will be resting his players for the match against me. That's okay, I have 7 full days to rest for the match as well.

So, Gremio looks to be through to the last round, while Allianza will have their work cut out for them against Union Espanola

The next group is Group D
View attachment 22373
This looks to be one of the easier groups and the four teams that are trying to get in it are:
Bolivar (Bolivia), Universidad de Chile (Chile), Guarani (Paraguay) and Independiente Medellin (Colombia)

Universidad took advantage of a controversial penalty call and got away with the 1-0 victory in the altitude of Bolivia and are looking good to advance.

The other match was a close game that was 0-0 at halftime, Independiente was awarded a penalty in the 58th minute and Yulian Anchico put it home to give Independiente the lead.

They still led 1-0 in the 89th minute when:


View attachment 22369
Epifanio Garcia scored a lovely chip to tie the game and send the home fans into frenzy!

The underdogs managed a draw with the Colombians and it's all to play for in the second leg. Medellin carries a slight advantage having scored the precious away goal.


The final threesome waiting for a fourth is Group H
View attachment 22368
The last four teams wanting a group stage slot are:
Liga de Quito (Ecuador), Racing Club (Argentina), Municipal (Peru), and Deportivo Cali (Colombia)

Racing and Municipal play their match later this week.

Deportivo Cali, the Copa Libertadores runners up in 1978 and 1999, travelled to Ecuador to face the 2008 Libertadores Champions Liga de Quito. Cali scored in the 19th minute and then went into a defensive shell, trying to preserve the 1-0 away win and, just like the other travelling Colombian side tonight, gave up a second half goal to go home with a 1-1 draw. That's why I don't like to go defensive when I have a one goal lead. We all have our own styles but I like to go for the throat.

Anyway, that's how it stacks up in the Libertadores with one more 1st leg match later in the week.

All of tonights results and goalscorers:
View attachment 22363


~STATE CHAMPIONSHIP~

Turns out there aren't a lot of people interested in a blowout win with your team scoring lots of goals (how's that for a jinx)

Still 25,000 fans for a State game against a team of plumbers seems pretty good to me.

View attachment 22366
I would have thought the odds wouldn't have been so close
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This game will be on Saturday.


~TRANSFERS~

So I had decided against selling Victor Cuesta in order to make room for a new foreign striker but I forgot to cancel the deal, which was subsequently accepted and I was even more tempted to do it.

I could sell Cuesta and still have 4 centre backs that were capable of playing and use the foreign roster spot to sign Colombian striker Ayron Del Valle from Millonarios, who would fit my tactic so well.

View attachment 22364

This would also allow me to sell Paolo Guerrero, who has been a pain in my backside since I took this team over despite the fact that he's suspended until February and hasn't played a single game for the team yet.

Del Valle would cost a few hundred thousand while Cuesta would bring in a million, minimum.

What to do, what to do.

I delayed the transfer for a week to give myself more time


​

 

[Cahoon]

View attachment 22250

THURSDAY JANUARY 31, 2019


I've changed my manager appearance to resemble real life Inter manager Odair Hellmann, who will now be playing the part of me, Boss Tweed.

View attachment 22249 ---> View attachment 22248
NOT A BAD RESEMBLANCE.

Now, on with the show....
We have the remaining 1st leg qualifying game for the Libertadores and some minor transfer news today.



~COPA LIBERTADORES~

Municipal of Peru had a gargantuan task of travelling to Buenos Aires to face Racing Club in their imposing cauldron of a stadium, Estadio Presidente Juan Domingo Perón. 51,000 fans packed the stadium, including the Ultra group, La Guardia Imperial (The Imperial Guard). Here is what welcomed Municipal.
View attachment 22246
The stadium is known to fans as El Cilindro, or The Cylinder, because of it's shape and, oddly, it's located just steps from the home of their bitter rivals, Independiente. The two giant stadiums are among the closest in world football and the neighbourhood is crazy for their teams.

With this as a backdrop it would be difficult to give Municipal any hope of achieving a result.

They didn't.

View attachment 22245Racing scored early in the first half, late in the first half, early in the 2nd half, midway through the second half. It was a complete win, the final was 5-1 but it could have been a hundred. Municipal were never going to get anything from this match. I'm sure they were happy to leave and get on a plane back to Peru. I've watched a game there and it was rough, I couldn't imagine playing against Racing there. It's quite an atmosphere.


View attachment 22247

View attachment 22244


~TRANSFERS~
I've offered these clowns to anyone who wants them, dirt cheap. I just want to unload their salaries and I'm not even worried about recouping any transfer fee, but still can't unload them. They're both foreign players and can't be registered as I'm at the limit, I'll have to get desperate.
View attachment 22243
Slow day Friday, not sure there'll be anything to post, but league matches on both Saturday and Sunday before the 3nd legs qualifying matches next week, then the big derby next weekend!


Oh, here is an aerial view of how close those stadiums are:
View attachment 22239



​

 

[Cahoon]

View attachment 21989

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2019

Full day of training today, getting ready for the home match against Veranopolis tomorrow.

Mike had a game in the Paulista, an easy win for him, he continues to top the table up in Sao Paulo.

View attachment 21988

This weekends games in the Gauchao
View attachment 21987View attachment 21986

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2019


4 league matches today and some transfer news.

~STATE CHAMPIONSHIP~

View attachment 21985

I thought it would be more, probably should have been more, but 6-0 is okay with me. Veranopolis is a really bad team so this is really no indication of what level my squad is at. There were no injuries and that's the main thing.

The performance was much improved as well, tackling (what little tackling we had to do, anyway), shots, shots given up, all good. We still need to improve in the air, but that will be a season long struggle, I'm afraid. This squad just doesn't have the heading ability.

View attachment 21984

Because of how the other results went, we temporarily jumped to the top of the table.
View attachment 21983

View attachment 21982
Gremio will play tomorrow, and then again midweek in the qualifying for the Libertadores, so they have two games before the derby next weekend. The schedule had really fallen in our favour here.


~TRANSFER NEWS~

After failing to secure a permanent transfer for defender Thales, I've accepted a loan offer for him, just to get his salary off the books. Oeste will pay 90% of his 2.1K salary which is acceptable for me at this point, the window is closing soon so I have to take what I can get.


View attachment 21981
I had another offer but rejected it on principal, I will never do business with Boa Sport after they signed Bruno. For those of you who don't know the story, Bruno was a promising keeper for Flamengo about a decade ago when he was arrested and convicted of murdering his pregnant girlfriend and feeding her body to dogs. Really heinous stuff. Anyway, somehow he managed to get released temporarily while his appeal went through and BOA SPORT SIGNED HIM!!!!! Truly one of the worst signings in history as every football fan in the country revolted against them, they lost most of their sponsors. They're disgusting. Well, Bruno never played a game for them and is back where he belongs, in prison. Google the story for more info if you like.
View attachment 21977https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...keeper-bruno-fernandes-de-souza-prison-guilty


In other news, Gremio has beaten Palmeiras for the signature of Wendel on loan. The deal costs Gremio 725k per month! In my mind that is much too high and may wind up hurting them in the long run. Mike, from Palmeiras, wasn't too upset about missing out.
View attachment 21980If you look closely at the photo, you can see in the background that I'm back in for Robinho. I've offered him a contract for when his deal expires in July.


View attachment 21979Robinho looks good in red, no?

I'm also in talks with Mike about possibly loaning in striker Deyverson, who is currently not in his plans. Doing a transfer with Mike is tricky as Lou will certainly question the fairness of any deal. It's almost a three way negotiation as Lou will have to be satisfied that there's no funny business going on. Can we do a deal? We'll see.

View attachment 21978Come and get me Inter!

​

 

[Cahoon]

View attachment 21575Arena do Gremio will play host to next Sundays derby between Gremio and Internacional.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 3RD, 2019

~SPECIAL DERBY PREVIEW EDITION~
Grenal Derby: T-6 days


View attachment 21573


Next weekend, in the State Championship, Lou and I play our first match against each other in this save. This past weekend was almost unbearable for my other brother, Mike. Lots of smack-talk.

No doubt that there is a lot of pressure on both of us in this game, the loser doesn't get a rematch for months.

It's the most important unimportant game ever.

View attachment 21563

GreNal (Gre from Gremio, Nal from Internacional)

In FourFourTwo's list of the 50 greatest derbies in the World, the Grenal ranked 8th, it's widely considered the fiercest rivalry in Brazil, and one of the most passionate in-city rivalries on the planet. This is all added to the rivalry between myself and Lou, possibly one of the most passionate sibling rivalries on the planet. We've been waiting almost two months for this.

This is a big game.
View attachment 21567
FourFourTwo article on the Grenal
https://www.fourfourtwo.com/feature...est-derbies-world-no8-gremio-vs-internacional

Grenal Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenal

View attachment 21565View attachment 21564

​

 

[Cahoon]

View attachment 21289

This post covers the period from Sunday to Wednesday, which includes two Gremio games, two Palmeiras games and the second leg games in the 2nd round of qualifying for the Libertadores Group Stage.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 3, 2019


~STATE CHAMPIONSHIP~

Lou actually started a bunch of his key players for this match, which tells me that he isn't planning on playing them midweek. Which means that they'll be well rested for the weekend derby against me.

View attachment 21287Gremio plays again on Wednesday in a qualifying match but goes in with a 4-0 advantage. There's always a chance that his backups will blow that lead but I'm not counting on it.


In the Paulista, Mike suffered a big upset loss against Red Bull Brasil, who play in the 4th tier of Brazilian Football.

View attachment 21284
This marks the first competitive loss for any of the three of us, which didn't go unnoticed by Lou and I.

View attachment 21283
Yes, Mike played his starters once again, but I think he's starting to see that there are just too many games in this country to not rotate. His guys are tired.

He bounced back a few days later, but with a lot of rotation in his squad. He thought that just because Lou and I aren't in his state that he would just have a cake walk, well he learned his lesson.
View attachment 21276

~COPA LIBERTADORES~


TUESDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2019

View attachment 21281
Emelec finished the job on Fenix of Uruguay and they will move on to the final round of qualifying vs Atletico Mineiro or Libertad. These matches will decide the 4th team to get placed into my group, so I'm interested.



WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 5, 2019

View attachment 21280
The only mild upset of the night was Union Espanola of Chile knocking out the 24 time Peruvian Champions, Allianza Lima. Brazil and Colombia each went 2-0 as Gremio advanced despite the fact that Lou played absolutely none of his starters, and they won easily.

The last game of this round is Universidad de Chile hosting Bolivar of Bolivia, La U leads 1-0 after the first leg, that match will go Thursday.

This sets up the final round of qualifying, those games go Feb 13 and 20. The matchups are set:

Deportivo Cali vs Racing Club
Emelec vs Atletico Mineiro
Gremio vs Union Espanola
Universidad de Chile/Bolivar vs Independiente Medellin


View attachment 21279



~TRANSFERS~

The transfer of Colombian striker Ayron Del Valle has been cancelled. I decided not to sell Argentine defender Victor Cuesta so that left no foreign roster spots for the Colombian.

Also, Wednesday marks the day that transfers to the MLS go through, we all had a few players leave, for me it was striker Diego Goncalves and 3rd string 'keeper Daniel.

I've also cancelled the potential loan deal for Deyverson from Palmeiras. Not because of any controversy the deal might have caused, it actually looked like it was gonna go through without any trouble, but Deyverson was sent off at the weekend for spitting at an opposing player (in real life) so I just can't have that.

~INJURIES~

We got some bad news today, Mauro Boselli sustained a twisted ankle and will be out for a month. This means that he will miss the big match at the weekend vs Gremio. He is a key player for me and I'll have to make adjustments now as my other top striker, Paolo Guerrero, is still serving a suspension for drugs and will also be unavailable.

View attachment 21278

~DERBY NEWS~

View attachment 21277
Gremio go into the derby on top of the table, 2pts up on me.

Technically, the game is meaningless, as the top 8 teams (out of 12) will qualify for the knockout rounds, but it may as well be te Superbowl.


Speaking of the Superbowl, Tom Brady has announced that he will be attending the game. His wife is a well known Gremio fan and he will take in the game this weekend. What else would you do after leading a universally hated team to a championship? you go cheer on another universally hated team! Yes, everyone hates Gremio.

View attachment 21275
The consensus is that Lou will win. Both Lou and Mike think my team is weak and that I should have chosen a better team instead of going with my heart. Obviously, I don't agree and having a team that is perceived as weak makes me look better if I win and gives me an excuse if I lose.

​

 

[Cahoon]

Six months after signing with Inter, Paolo Guerrero trains for the first time.


View attachment 21162

Today- A new arrival at training, a big signing and a recap of the Universidad-Bolivar Libertadores match.




​

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2019


~TRAINING~
With his suspension due to end on February 20th, striker Paolo Guererro was officially allowed to train with the team today. He arrived at the Parque Gigante training complex today for the first time to meet his teammates.

View attachment 21161
Guerrero is slated to play alongside the injured Mauro Boselli up front in what should be a lethal attack for Colorados this year.



~TRANSFERS~

BOOM!
View attachment 21160
I know you've all heard of him.

That's my response to the Wendel signing for Gremio. He won't join the team until July, but will be a huge lift to the club.

How did I get him for only 14k per week? incentives maxed out, 50% yearly wage rise was what put the deal over the top.

~COPA LIBERTADORES~

The final 2nd round qualifying match for the Libertadores took place tonight. Bolivar travelled to Chile to face Universidad de Chile to decide who will face Independiente Medellin in the final round.

Another great atmosphere at this stadium
View attachment 21158
The game went as expected, the home side scored two early goals and coasted into the final round where La U will once again be favoured to go through, they'll face Independiente Medellin next week.

View attachment 21159
~DERBY~

3 days to go!
View attachment 21157

​

 

[Cahoon]

View attachment 20875

Into the belly of the beast.....

~DERBY DAY~

The game hasn't actually been played yet, that will be done tomorrow. Today's post will take us right up to kickoff.


DERBY WEEKEND FEBRUARY 9/10, 2019

The entire city of Porto Alegre has been consumed with this game all week and the atmosphere has ramped up considerably with only 24 hours to go until kickoff!

View attachment 20873Inter's Torcida, called Camisa12, prepares to march north to Arena do Gremio

Inter will take a big crowd to the game, they always do.
View attachment 20874

The team bus makes it's way across town
View attachment 20872

This supporters club travelled all the way down from Manaus in the Amazon, 4500kms!!
View attachment 20871
Neither team has lost yet, although I stumbled a little bit with a draw in my first competitive game vs. Pelotas. None of that matters today, we all know anything can happen on derby day!

View attachment 20870
Over 55,000 fans are packed into the stadium, and we're just under an hour until kickoff!

View attachment 20869Get the warm blood flowing boys! There's gonna be nothing nice about this game!



View attachment 20865Who's watching the bus?!?! I can't do everything!


View attachment 20863As promised, Tom Brady is in attendance. Cheering for Gremio, of course. I wouldn't have it any other way.



​