Cheers guys
Going to be slow at first with the updating because I've got a busy weekend but once I get into next week I'll have nothing really to do so should be able to get through a decent amount
Preseason and Transfers 2015
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Okay so I started the game with a very small transfer budget, only £1.5M, and had a few signings I wanted to make so some outgoings would also be necessary. I didn't actually do all the business I wanted to but I managed to bring in my main target and offload the main player I was looking to sell:
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So I only sold 2 players.
Ibrahima Traore was the main player I wanted to sell, with my tactic a left-footed winger doesn't really fit and he was also the worst winger I have at the club. The fee for him wasn't the largest but it could rise by another 3 million if he plays enough for Watford and his national team (which he should he's Guinea's best player pretty much).
Branimir Hrgota was another one who didn't really fit my tactical plan, I like using a complete forward up front and he's not capable of playing that role, his contract also ends in one year and he wanted a pay increase that his goals to games record just doesn't suggest he's deserving of.
As You can see I made 3 incomings and here's a more major look at them:
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Gokhan Gul is a good prospect for the future, he might get a game or two this season but he won't play much. He'll start to play a lot more from next season and will probably spend a lot of this season with the U19s and Second team. He has well rounded stats for his age though.
Rodrigo Bentancur was my main target for the summer. He's a great prospect but he can also play now. I need to train him to be able to play AMR and once he's capable there his versatility will come into full play. He could be a future starter as either my winger or part of my central midfield 2. I'll have to see how he develops and also which players leave/join to decide where his future truly lies but I love how he could be a world class operator in 2 distinct positions for me. Potentially in the future he could even play AML as my inside forward or DM, his potential versatility is incredible and his stats are already fantastic for his age. He'll need to improve his decision making quite quickly though.
Olivier Kleiner has been brought in as backup at LB. He might never play for us but I was planning on selling one of my LBs this summer and noone has come in for either of the 2 I'm trying to sell. At only £80,000 this transfer will be worth it though, if he plays even once he's been value for money and I'll undoubtedly be able to make a profit on him. A win-win situation with next to no risk involved.
So with those signings that took my squad to this:
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There's a good mix of established talent and future prospects in there at the moment. I particularly like Xhaka and Dahoub in midfield, they could be a partnership for years. I'll take a more in depth look at my squad next time.
So we had a lot of friendlies lined up, let's see how we got on:
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Not great overall to be honest, we didn't score enough goals and considering we had our first choice front 3 available for most of these that's disappointing. I did play youngsters a fair bit too to be fair but still a lot of work to be done if we're to achieve my goals. Our performances, if not results, picked up quite dramatically after the friendly cup to be fair and we finished with 2 good victories although again with a caveat, Gladbeck are a regional team in Germany and Wegberg are probably the second worst team we played.
Still I'm optimistic for the season ahead and believe we can make some noise.
Next time I'll take a look at tactics and some key players both now and for the future within my squad
Got to go to work now though so thanks for reading