I agree, it was a big mistake going for the Bayern job and it nearly cost me big time! Again thanks for reading though, my new aim is to get us into the Champions League, which will be difficult but I think it is achievable.
Lothar Matthäus: The Matthäus Affect
- Thread starter SJT
- Start date
- Replies 49
- Views 23K
I agree, it was a big mistake going for the Bayern job and it nearly cost me big time! Again thanks for reading though, my new aim is to get us into the Champions League, which will be difficult but I think it is achievable.
03/08/2013
Marching into Europe
After another great pre-season run, with victories over the likes of PSG and Sampdoria, our first competitive game of the new season would be against Newcastle in the Europa League Playoff. The game spans over two legs and the winner on aggregate gets a place in the Europa League Group Stage.
Before getting into the nitty gritty details of our matches so far, I'll break down our new signings for this season. We had a very transfer limited budget of just over £3m, £2.3 of which was spent on the clubs new record signing Maurice Exslager. I also managed to sell and release quite a few players that I felt weren't needed, some of whom had just came back to the club from loan spells.
PLAYERS OUT:
Pavel Krmas (Contract Expired)
Marc Lais (Contract Expired)
Alexander Jager (Contract Expired)
Nicolai Lorenzoni (Contract Expired)
Umberto Tedesco (Contract Expired)
Patrick Lienhard (Contract Expired)
Christian Gunter (Contract Expired)
Tobias Klein (Contract Expired)
Sebastian Kerk (Loan / Unterhaching)
Ufuk Bayram (Loan / Kaiserslautern)
Sebastian Freis (£220k / Nurnberg)
Beg Ferati (£450k / PAOK)
Erik Jendrisek (£250k / Dusseldorf)
Nicolas Hofler (£625k / Bochum)
PLAYERS IN:
Simao Mate Junior (DM / £40k / Shandong)
View attachment 320064
View attachment 320057
A secondary defensive midfield enforcer who is big, strong and very hard working. His primary use will be to partner Karim Guede in front of our defence, which should work well against tough opponents.
Daryl Janmaat (RB / Free / Feyenoord)
View attachment 320066
View attachment 320058
Janmaat was signed on a pre-contract in January, and the Dutch International will most likely be my new first choice right back. He has a good work rate and some decent defensive attributes to boot.
Denis Stracqualursi (ST / Free / San Lorenzo)
View attachment 320068
View attachment 320059
A former Everton loanee, Denis will act as our big number 9 target man. Standing at 6ft 3in, his fantastic mental and physical stats will hopefully combine with his finishing and passing attributes to get us some vital goals and assists throughout the season.
Maurice Exlager (ST / £2.3m / Duisberg)
View attachment 320067
View attachment 320060
At the age of 22, both myself and my assistant believe Exslager could become quite a good player at Bundesliga level. He is quick and agile, with relatively decent team work and work rate stats. We are currently planning to put him on a poacher training programme as a means to improve his composure in front of goal.
Michael Rensing (GK / Free / N/A)
View attachment 320070
View attachment 320061
The man who was originally thought to be the successor to Oliver Kahn at Bayern, the former German U21 goalkeeper has a great deal of experience in the Bundesliga and will be used as a great back-up to our current number 1 keeper Oliver Baumann. I will also probably use Rensing in cup games for his experience and great level of communication, and also so that the young Baumann gets a rest.
OVERALL TEAM REVIEW
Our starting 11 features only 2 players over the age of 25. Our combination of youth and drive will hopefully spur on some great successes this season, and I look forward to the technical abilities of players improving when our new facilities are complete in a few months.
I believe our standout player is still Matthias Ginter, as the 19 year old continues to improve time and time again. I am also hoping that Maurice Exslager makes the step up from Bundesliga II and takes the opportunity I have presented him with both hands.
Europa League: Newcastle (1st Leg, Away)
Quickly scouting Newcastle revealed that Shola Ameobi and Gouffran were now their strike partnership, as Cisse (our former player) had moved onto Tottenham.
As much as I knew the away leg would be tough, I was positive that the home leg was winnable and therefore opted to play it safe in the first game at the Toon.
View attachment 320049
Shockingly enough, we actually completely outplayed Newcastle at St. James' Park and came away with a narrow 2-1 win, setting us up perfectly for the 2nd leg.
The 2nd leg would take place after our first league game, which began just as it ended, facing Schalke at home.
Bundesliga: Schalke (Home)
View attachment 320052
As I had hoped, we beat Schalke comfortably, albeit with a 2-1 scoreline. Draxler was the only player that really posed a threat to us, and they got frustrated towards the end as shown by the bookings.
We now had two wins on the bounce and we took this confidence in to the 2nd leg of our Europa League tie.
Europa League: Newcastle (2nd Leg, Home)
View attachment 320055
We eased through the 2nd leg following an early Tim Krul own goal, giving us a 3-1 advantage. Newcastle could only pull one late goal back themselves, which wasn't enough to defeat us over the 2 legs.
Following the fantastic efforts of last season, I saw these 2 games as mini cup finals as such, and getting into the Europa League Group Stage is clearly my first great achievement.
Of course every silver lining has a cloud, and we were narrowly defeated in the Bundesliga after our Europa League victory, away to Nurnberg. I was disappointed with this result as we should clearly be taking points from teams at the lower end of the table if we want to finish in a similar position to last season.
Overall a great start to the season, and hopefully the start of a decent Europa League cup run!
Marching into Europe
After another great pre-season run, with victories over the likes of PSG and Sampdoria, our first competitive game of the new season would be against Newcastle in the Europa League Playoff. The game spans over two legs and the winner on aggregate gets a place in the Europa League Group Stage.
Before getting into the nitty gritty details of our matches so far, I'll break down our new signings for this season. We had a very transfer limited budget of just over £3m, £2.3 of which was spent on the clubs new record signing Maurice Exslager. I also managed to sell and release quite a few players that I felt weren't needed, some of whom had just came back to the club from loan spells.
PLAYERS OUT:
Pavel Krmas (Contract Expired)
Marc Lais (Contract Expired)
Alexander Jager (Contract Expired)
Nicolai Lorenzoni (Contract Expired)
Umberto Tedesco (Contract Expired)
Patrick Lienhard (Contract Expired)
Christian Gunter (Contract Expired)
Tobias Klein (Contract Expired)
Sebastian Kerk (Loan / Unterhaching)
Ufuk Bayram (Loan / Kaiserslautern)
Sebastian Freis (£220k / Nurnberg)
Beg Ferati (£450k / PAOK)
Erik Jendrisek (£250k / Dusseldorf)
Nicolas Hofler (£625k / Bochum)
PLAYERS IN:
Simao Mate Junior (DM / £40k / Shandong)
View attachment 320064
View attachment 320057
A secondary defensive midfield enforcer who is big, strong and very hard working. His primary use will be to partner Karim Guede in front of our defence, which should work well against tough opponents.
Daryl Janmaat (RB / Free / Feyenoord)
View attachment 320066
View attachment 320058
Janmaat was signed on a pre-contract in January, and the Dutch International will most likely be my new first choice right back. He has a good work rate and some decent defensive attributes to boot.
Denis Stracqualursi (ST / Free / San Lorenzo)
View attachment 320068
View attachment 320059
A former Everton loanee, Denis will act as our big number 9 target man. Standing at 6ft 3in, his fantastic mental and physical stats will hopefully combine with his finishing and passing attributes to get us some vital goals and assists throughout the season.
Maurice Exlager (ST / £2.3m / Duisberg)
View attachment 320067
View attachment 320060
At the age of 22, both myself and my assistant believe Exslager could become quite a good player at Bundesliga level. He is quick and agile, with relatively decent team work and work rate stats. We are currently planning to put him on a poacher training programme as a means to improve his composure in front of goal.
Michael Rensing (GK / Free / N/A)
View attachment 320070
View attachment 320061
The man who was originally thought to be the successor to Oliver Kahn at Bayern, the former German U21 goalkeeper has a great deal of experience in the Bundesliga and will be used as a great back-up to our current number 1 keeper Oliver Baumann. I will also probably use Rensing in cup games for his experience and great level of communication, and also so that the young Baumann gets a rest.
OVERALL TEAM REVIEW
Our starting 11 features only 2 players over the age of 25. Our combination of youth and drive will hopefully spur on some great successes this season, and I look forward to the technical abilities of players improving when our new facilities are complete in a few months.
I believe our standout player is still Matthias Ginter, as the 19 year old continues to improve time and time again. I am also hoping that Maurice Exslager makes the step up from Bundesliga II and takes the opportunity I have presented him with both hands.
Europa League: Newcastle (1st Leg, Away)
Quickly scouting Newcastle revealed that Shola Ameobi and Gouffran were now their strike partnership, as Cisse (our former player) had moved onto Tottenham.
As much as I knew the away leg would be tough, I was positive that the home leg was winnable and therefore opted to play it safe in the first game at the Toon.
View attachment 320049
Shockingly enough, we actually completely outplayed Newcastle at St. James' Park and came away with a narrow 2-1 win, setting us up perfectly for the 2nd leg.
The 2nd leg would take place after our first league game, which began just as it ended, facing Schalke at home.
Bundesliga: Schalke (Home)
View attachment 320052
As I had hoped, we beat Schalke comfortably, albeit with a 2-1 scoreline. Draxler was the only player that really posed a threat to us, and they got frustrated towards the end as shown by the bookings.
We now had two wins on the bounce and we took this confidence in to the 2nd leg of our Europa League tie.
Europa League: Newcastle (2nd Leg, Home)
View attachment 320055
We eased through the 2nd leg following an early Tim Krul own goal, giving us a 3-1 advantage. Newcastle could only pull one late goal back themselves, which wasn't enough to defeat us over the 2 legs.
Following the fantastic efforts of last season, I saw these 2 games as mini cup finals as such, and getting into the Europa League Group Stage is clearly my first great achievement.
Of course every silver lining has a cloud, and we were narrowly defeated in the Bundesliga after our Europa League victory, away to Nurnberg. I was disappointed with this result as we should clearly be taking points from teams at the lower end of the table if we want to finish in a similar position to last season.
Overall a great start to the season, and hopefully the start of a decent Europa League cup run!
Last edited:
samillyroy
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love this!! great story idea and I love the transfers you made, HATE seeing all the cliched ones and you clearly do a good bit of scouting. you definitely have a keen follower, sir!
03/09/2013
For the fans
View attachment 320605
Our supporters have been packing out our home and away games so far this season, with over 15,000 season tickets sold (more than 60% of our capacity!)
We have played six games since my last update, which I will summarise now:
Bundesliga: Werder Bremen (Home)
Werder Bremen were tough opponents with strong defenders, which led to me giving Stracqualursi a start up front to try and bully them. This plan worked perfectly and he got us a goal in the 9th minute. The rest of the game was relatively boring, but with 62% possession we kept Bremen out of the game and took all 3 points comfortably.
Result: Win (1-0)
Europa League Group Stage: Lille (Home)
Our first Europa League group stage game was at home against Lille, which we managed to win narrowly with a 1-0 scoreline. Our group consists of Zaragoza, Lille and AZ Alkmaar, which is rather tough based on our stature and we'll have to play at our best if we want to qualify for the knockout stages.
Result: Win (1-0)
Bundesliga: Gladbach (Away)
Following the Lille game, we lost 2-0 to Gladbach away, which I can firmly put down to a very poor and aggressive performance from our boys. Ginter received two yellow cards and has been warned about his behaviour, which he accepted. The game did mark Baumanns 100th appearance for Freiburg though, a superb achievement for the young goalkeeper who I believe will turn out to be one of the greats.
Result: Loss (1-0)
Bundesliga: Mainz (Home)
Our game against Mainz at home was tough, with a makeshift defence put together due to injuries and Ginter's red card from the previous game. After being 1-0 down up until the late stages of the game I was worried we would lose, but Exslager stepped to the mark and hit a fantastic equaliser. The result was still a tough one to take as we should have took three points, but I suppose a point is better than the loss that we nearly suffered.
Result: Draw (1-1)
Bundesliga: Stuttgart (Away)
Against Stuttgart, Exslager once again stole the show despite me playing him on the right wing, following a fantastic 30 yard free kick which he scored to win us the game. Of course this free kick would have meant nothing at all if it wasn't for a great defensive display that managed to block out all of Stuttgart's efforts.
Result: Win (1-0)
Europa League Group Stage: Zaragoza (Away)
Our away game against Zaragoza saw Michael Rensing grab his first start for us. Exslager was brought down badly in the first half which was followed by Zaragoza scoring. My instinct was to take him off at half time, but after our team talk I decided to leave him on for 10 minutes to try and shake off the knock he took. He shook the knock off in style with an equalising goal, 4 minutes after the break, which put us back into the game. I did eventually take him off in the 70th minute, but his goal was vital and we finished the game 1-1 and top of the group on goal difference.
Result: Draw (1-1)
Overview:
View attachment 320632
View attachment 320633
Top of our Europa League group and 9th in the Bundesliga isn't too bad of a start in my opinion, especially being only 5 points off the top of the Bundesliga with a game in hand over some of the teams above us.
Our stand out player has Maurice Exslager, scoring 5 goals in 6 starts so far this season. He has also played in three different positions, right wing, left wing and up top as a poacher. At the age of 22 I believe he can still improve a great deal, and his ability to play wherever I ask him to is proving to be extremely beneficial to the team as a whole indeed.
Based on an average rating of 7.36, Matthias Ginter has continued his form from last season and is our 'best player' overall so far. Now 19 years of age, his value has shot up to just under £5m, and his attributes continue to get better and better. Fallou Diagne, Ginter's Senegalese defensive partner, has also improved well and at the age of 24 I believe he will continue to do so.
Our next game is at home in the Bundesliga against Hannover, which could see us shoot right up into 5th place if we can take 3 points.
Last edited:
08/11/2013
Keep it going
Firstly I'd like to announce that Diagne, Flum and Guede have all signed new contracts that will keep the players at the club for the next 5 years. Johannes Flum as performed admirably in the time I have been at Freiburg, and his value now sits at £7m.
Here are Flum's stats:
View attachment 320660
Our latest 6 games went relatively well, although there have been a few draws where we should have picked up 3 points, and also some extremely good luck.
Bundesliga: Dortmund (Home)
The league leaders were clearly favourites against us, and rightly so. Shockingly enough, Matthias Ginter came up trumps and put us ahead in the 56th minute, which would have given us the win if it wasn't for a late freekick from Nuri Sahin that meant the game ended in a well fought draw. We're clearly no pushovers!
Result: Draw (1-1)
Europa League Group Stage: AZ Alkmaar (Away)
I personally don't think AZ have a very good team, but an away game with any team in the Europa League will always prove to be a difficult match. Ginter continued his scoring form with a fantastic 25-yard drive in the 34th minute, and we kept good possession for the rest of the first half. Unfortunately for us, AZ came out fighting and managed to ****** a point via a goal from Everton in the 72nd minute.
Result: Draw (1-1)
Bundesliga: Bochum (Away)
A very poor Bochum side looked like easy opposition for us, but as always no team should be underestimated. Bochum got an extremely lucky goal in the first minute of the game and simply parked the bus after that. A poor performance from our lads was topped off with Simao being sent off late in the game and Stracqualursi missing a penalty.
Result: Loss (0-1)
Bundesliga: Frankfurt (Away)
Two away games on the bounce could have ended with heads dropping if we didn't manage to get at least 1 point away to Frankfurt, who went ahead in the 20th minute. Thankfully, our young winger Daniel Caligiuri latched on to a fantastic long ball and set us level. It was at this point in the game where I witnessed something completely new on Football Manager. After coming out from half time we conceded a poor penalty in the 47th minute, which was saved by the amazing Baumann. Literally 4 minutes later, Frankfurt were awarded a second penalty which was again a dodgy decision. Baumann somehow stepped up to the mark once more, and saved yet a second penalty! The game wasn't over there though, as Denis Stracqualursi took full advantage of Frankfurts now dented confidence and won us the match 2-1.
Result: Win (2-1)
Bundesliga: Leverkusen (Home)
Leverkusen, one of the stronger opponents in the Bundesliga, came into this game with every chance of beating us. Stracqualursi on the other hand came into this game with the mind frame of there being no chance of Leverkusen getting even a point, and a fantastic first half brace led us to a comfortable 2-0 win.
Result: Win (2-0)
Europa League Group Stage: AZ Alkmaar (Home)
Our second game against AZ was one we were hoping to take all 3 points from, and in turn the chance to pretty much secure our entry to the knockout stages. AZ once again put up a great fight though, leading to a 1-1 draw that keeps us in 2nd place on level points with Lille who are 3rd.
Result: Draw (1-1)
Overview
View attachment 320659
View attachment 320676
Sitting in 4th position in the Bundesliga with just a 5 point gap between ourselves and Bayern is a fantastic position to be in and providing we keep our heads together we may actually be in with a chance of another top 5 finish this season.
View attachment 320679
The Europe League on the other hand is looking fragile, and although we are yet to lose in the competition we must continue to pick up points if we are to qualify.
My next update will probably be a mid-season review, but to those reading: Thank you! And hopefully the success with SC Freiburg continues!
Firstly I'd like to announce that Diagne, Flum and Guede have all signed new contracts that will keep the players at the club for the next 5 years. Johannes Flum as performed admirably in the time I have been at Freiburg, and his value now sits at £7m.
Here are Flum's stats:
View attachment 320660
Our latest 6 games went relatively well, although there have been a few draws where we should have picked up 3 points, and also some extremely good luck.
Bundesliga: Dortmund (Home)
The league leaders were clearly favourites against us, and rightly so. Shockingly enough, Matthias Ginter came up trumps and put us ahead in the 56th minute, which would have given us the win if it wasn't for a late freekick from Nuri Sahin that meant the game ended in a well fought draw. We're clearly no pushovers!
Result: Draw (1-1)
Europa League Group Stage: AZ Alkmaar (Away)
I personally don't think AZ have a very good team, but an away game with any team in the Europa League will always prove to be a difficult match. Ginter continued his scoring form with a fantastic 25-yard drive in the 34th minute, and we kept good possession for the rest of the first half. Unfortunately for us, AZ came out fighting and managed to ****** a point via a goal from Everton in the 72nd minute.
Result: Draw (1-1)
Bundesliga: Bochum (Away)
A very poor Bochum side looked like easy opposition for us, but as always no team should be underestimated. Bochum got an extremely lucky goal in the first minute of the game and simply parked the bus after that. A poor performance from our lads was topped off with Simao being sent off late in the game and Stracqualursi missing a penalty.
Result: Loss (0-1)
Bundesliga: Frankfurt (Away)
Two away games on the bounce could have ended with heads dropping if we didn't manage to get at least 1 point away to Frankfurt, who went ahead in the 20th minute. Thankfully, our young winger Daniel Caligiuri latched on to a fantastic long ball and set us level. It was at this point in the game where I witnessed something completely new on Football Manager. After coming out from half time we conceded a poor penalty in the 47th minute, which was saved by the amazing Baumann. Literally 4 minutes later, Frankfurt were awarded a second penalty which was again a dodgy decision. Baumann somehow stepped up to the mark once more, and saved yet a second penalty! The game wasn't over there though, as Denis Stracqualursi took full advantage of Frankfurts now dented confidence and won us the match 2-1.
Result: Win (2-1)
Bundesliga: Leverkusen (Home)
Leverkusen, one of the stronger opponents in the Bundesliga, came into this game with every chance of beating us. Stracqualursi on the other hand came into this game with the mind frame of there being no chance of Leverkusen getting even a point, and a fantastic first half brace led us to a comfortable 2-0 win.
Result: Win (2-0)
Europa League Group Stage: AZ Alkmaar (Home)
Our second game against AZ was one we were hoping to take all 3 points from, and in turn the chance to pretty much secure our entry to the knockout stages. AZ once again put up a great fight though, leading to a 1-1 draw that keeps us in 2nd place on level points with Lille who are 3rd.
Result: Draw (1-1)
Overview
View attachment 320659
View attachment 320676
Sitting in 4th position in the Bundesliga with just a 5 point gap between ourselves and Bayern is a fantastic position to be in and providing we keep our heads together we may actually be in with a chance of another top 5 finish this season.
View attachment 320679
The Europe League on the other hand is looking fragile, and although we are yet to lose in the competition we must continue to pick up points if we are to qualify.
My next update will probably be a mid-season review, but to those reading: Thank you! And hopefully the success with SC Freiburg continues!
Last edited:
11/01/2014
Super Soccer!
View attachment 320728
January means that not only are we now enjoying the Winter break, but also that the transfer window has opened, and players who have contracts ending this Summer may be looking at the possibility of moving on if they aren't happy with their current club.
This possibility meant that we were able to open up extremely enticing talks with a fantastic player, which is explained further below.
Our run up until Christmas went well, and although being knocked out of the DFB-Pokal by FC Koln once again (who I now believe to be our bogey team), we finished our Europa League group in first place and have been drawn to play Viktoria Plzen of the Czech Republic in the first knockout stage. Plzen should hopefully be easy opposition and I can now see us moving on into the second round should everything go to plan.
View attachment 320719
View attachment 320721
Our impressive league form means that we are still up with the title contenders, and although I do not expect us to win the title any time soon, it clearly shows our progression as a team and as a club. It is also worth noting that we have the best defence in the league, conceding just 10 goals in 17 games, a feat which is only closely met by Bayern who have conceded 11.
Our only league loss came away against Bayern, which was expected as they look to claim yet another title this season. Following a lack of goals, I recently decided to try and use a new formation, deploying two strikers rather than our usual one man up top. As you can see from the results against Dusseldorf, Lille, Wolfsburg, FSV Frankfurt and Zaragoza, this tactical change has paid off well.
View attachment 320720
Stracqualursi and Exslager now have 6 and 7 goals respectively, and look as if they could be quite a good combination together from the recent results.
Guardiola, who is now Bayern's manager, recently expressed his admiration of the young Matthias Ginter following the 1-0 defeat to his team. Hopefully this won't end up in any formal interest, but I am also happy that Ginter is getting the positive feedback that he deserves.
Baumann continues to impress between the sticks and seems to be reaching the peak of his development.
Now, onto that signing I mentioned!
I am happy to announce that the French International and Paris St Germain player Blaise Matuidi will be joining us this Summer after signing a pre-contract earlier today.
Blaise Matuidi (CM / Free / PSG)
View attachment 320724
View attachment 320714
After impressing highly at Troyes and St Etienne earlier in his career, Matuidi signed for PSG in the Summer of 2011, although it was rumoured that the player was close to signing for Arsenal at one stage. Since then, he has dropped out of favour and decided not to renew his contract that ends in 2014. Due to the renewal of contracts, our wage bill has gone some 20k over our current budget, although we should be fine financially until the end of the season even so. Luckily, the board understood how much of an important signings this could be and in turn allowed me meet the lad and get him signed up.
Matuidi is a combative midfielder that also has an eye for a good pass, and although not the strongest his stature and style of play means he can be likened to French legend Claude Makelele, the player who he was signed to replace at PSG. I'd also like to note that Matuidi is yet another signing who fits my hard working, team based philosophy. There are NO egos at SC Freiburg.
Being as he will have just turned 27 when he joins up with our squad this Summer, Matuidi will be expected to show his worth as a senior member to the team and may also be asked to mentor one of our young prospects.
Following a short interview with the official Freiburg website, Matuidi admitted that he was particularly impressed with our league standing as well as our new training facilities, and is looking forward to helping with the SC Freiburg revolution. Matuidi joins Freiburg on a 4 year contract worth approximately £30k a week + bonuses.
Overview
All in all, so far so good, and long may it continue. Another top 5 finish in the Bundesliga, and at least a semi-final in the Europa League, will leave me as a very happy man. I can't help but wonder if we could possibly go all the way in Europe, but with teams such as Man United, Liverpool, Tottenham, Celtic, Roma and Dortmund just to name a few, it is looking like a long shot and our boys should be very proud of any further progression.
Onwards and upwards for the Breisgau-Brazilians!
Super Soccer!
View attachment 320728
January means that not only are we now enjoying the Winter break, but also that the transfer window has opened, and players who have contracts ending this Summer may be looking at the possibility of moving on if they aren't happy with their current club.
This possibility meant that we were able to open up extremely enticing talks with a fantastic player, which is explained further below.
Our run up until Christmas went well, and although being knocked out of the DFB-Pokal by FC Koln once again (who I now believe to be our bogey team), we finished our Europa League group in first place and have been drawn to play Viktoria Plzen of the Czech Republic in the first knockout stage. Plzen should hopefully be easy opposition and I can now see us moving on into the second round should everything go to plan.
View attachment 320719
View attachment 320721
Our impressive league form means that we are still up with the title contenders, and although I do not expect us to win the title any time soon, it clearly shows our progression as a team and as a club. It is also worth noting that we have the best defence in the league, conceding just 10 goals in 17 games, a feat which is only closely met by Bayern who have conceded 11.
Our only league loss came away against Bayern, which was expected as they look to claim yet another title this season. Following a lack of goals, I recently decided to try and use a new formation, deploying two strikers rather than our usual one man up top. As you can see from the results against Dusseldorf, Lille, Wolfsburg, FSV Frankfurt and Zaragoza, this tactical change has paid off well.
View attachment 320720
Stracqualursi and Exslager now have 6 and 7 goals respectively, and look as if they could be quite a good combination together from the recent results.
Guardiola, who is now Bayern's manager, recently expressed his admiration of the young Matthias Ginter following the 1-0 defeat to his team. Hopefully this won't end up in any formal interest, but I am also happy that Ginter is getting the positive feedback that he deserves.
Baumann continues to impress between the sticks and seems to be reaching the peak of his development.
Now, onto that signing I mentioned!
I am happy to announce that the French International and Paris St Germain player Blaise Matuidi will be joining us this Summer after signing a pre-contract earlier today.
Blaise Matuidi (CM / Free / PSG)
View attachment 320724
View attachment 320714
After impressing highly at Troyes and St Etienne earlier in his career, Matuidi signed for PSG in the Summer of 2011, although it was rumoured that the player was close to signing for Arsenal at one stage. Since then, he has dropped out of favour and decided not to renew his contract that ends in 2014. Due to the renewal of contracts, our wage bill has gone some 20k over our current budget, although we should be fine financially until the end of the season even so. Luckily, the board understood how much of an important signings this could be and in turn allowed me meet the lad and get him signed up.
Matuidi is a combative midfielder that also has an eye for a good pass, and although not the strongest his stature and style of play means he can be likened to French legend Claude Makelele, the player who he was signed to replace at PSG. I'd also like to note that Matuidi is yet another signing who fits my hard working, team based philosophy. There are NO egos at SC Freiburg.
Being as he will have just turned 27 when he joins up with our squad this Summer, Matuidi will be expected to show his worth as a senior member to the team and may also be asked to mentor one of our young prospects.
Following a short interview with the official Freiburg website, Matuidi admitted that he was particularly impressed with our league standing as well as our new training facilities, and is looking forward to helping with the SC Freiburg revolution. Matuidi joins Freiburg on a 4 year contract worth approximately £30k a week + bonuses.
Overview
All in all, so far so good, and long may it continue. Another top 5 finish in the Bundesliga, and at least a semi-final in the Europa League, will leave me as a very happy man. I can't help but wonder if we could possibly go all the way in Europe, but with teams such as Man United, Liverpool, Tottenham, Celtic, Roma and Dortmund just to name a few, it is looking like a long shot and our boys should be very proud of any further progression.
Onwards and upwards for the Breisgau-Brazilians!
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19/07/2014
King Lothar
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The final part of the 2013/14 season sealed this save as my one of my favourite Football Manager saves since I began playing the game many many years ago.
With our team having an average age of just 22, we defied all odds, showing that Bayern could keep on spending millions and millions but the real team to watch out for in the Bundesliga was SC Freiburg.
Impressive victories against Viktoria Plzen and Lokomotiv Moscow meant Freiburg had reached the Europa League Quarter Final. Watching the quarter and semi draws and seeing Olympiakos come out as our match-up, I knew that achieving my goal of the semi-finals was more than possible. What I was saddened by was the fact that we would have to face either Liverpool or Man Utd if we got through, and I pretty much came to realisation that it would be another season at least until we got our first piece of silverware.
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As you can imagine, I was correct about Olympiakos, and we got through relatively easily winning 3-0 in the 1st leg at home and 2-1 away (5-1 on agg). It was in the dying moments of the 2nd leg where I was unsure whether or not to celebrate, seeing that Alex Ferguson's Red Devils would be awaiting us at Old Trafford a few weeks later.
The build up to the semi-final was epic, with Ferguson stating he could see I was doing a great job he was unsure if we were the real deal. He also came out and said that he thought I was one of the nicest guys in football, which is a pretty cool compliment from the greatest manager of all time.
My aim for the 1st leg was simple - to concede as little amount of goals as possible. An away goal would have been fantastic but with a defensive outlook it wasn't very probable. Our team were set out like this (ignore fitness, this was post-game):
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Probably the strangest formation I've played all season, but it basically translated as a pyramid of steel that would lump the ball up to Exslager when possible and simply hope for the best. Injuries meant that a few of our better central midfielders were injured and Eggen H was handed a rare start.
Shockingly, to a degree, the tactic worked - at least in a way I wanted it to. We lost 3-1, with Cedric Makiadi latching on to a ball out of nowhere and slamming the ball into the top corner. I had never been so happy with a 3-1 loss whilst playing Football Manager in my life. We now had the chance to take Manchester United to our place, where our fans would roar and our usual line up could possibly, although highly improbably, get us a win or even a draw that would take us through to the final.
In between all of the Europa League madness, Werder Bremen approached me with a very handsome figure on a piece of paper and asked if I'd like to join them. I refused, as I owed everything now to the Freiburg fans that forgave me last season. A few days later however, I was linked with the Chelsea post, which would have been very very hard to turn down had the job been offered to me.
The home leg of the semi-final appeared in my calendar very quickly and it was time to see if our boys could become men. By the 75th minute my head was literally on my keyboard, 0-0, the dream was over and I was containing myself from rage quitting (which I haven't done once with this save! A personal feat I am proud of).
Then, it happened. Mensur Mujdza, out of nowhere in the 83rd minute, our full back who I had set for release at the end of the season had scored. At 1-0 we were still out of the competition, but hey we were winning! And then the greatest moment of my Football Managing history happened.
Hendrick Zuck, a young winger who is normally back-up to the first team scored a free kick in the 94th minute.
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My greatest win ever, and a place for Freiburg in their first Europa League Final ever, where we would face Tottenham.
By the time we got to the day of the final we were 5 games unbeaten in the Bundesliga, including a magnificent 3-0 win over Bayern which meant we had automatically qualified for the Champions League next season. Truly magical stuff.
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And then the final happened, and more facepalming occured. We took Tottenham to extra time at 0-0, in an absolutely boring game. Then, the magic happened, we scored a goal 3 minutes in which meant if could hold out for 27 minutes we would be Europa League champions.
You guessed it though, in the worst circumstances ever, we let them score - or should I say we scored for them, with Baumann dropping the ball into our own net after 110 minutes. The match went to my biggest hatred in the entire game, penalty shootouts.
Could we hold our nerve?
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**** RIGHT WE COULD
Baumann made up for the own goal, albeit giving me a heart attack in the process, and we did it!
SC Freiburg the Europa League Champions 2013/14!!
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Our first piece of silverware, and a fantastic finish to a season in which we finished 3rd in the Bundesliga, with the best defence in the league and also holding the record for most wins in a row (we managed to get 6 on the bounce).
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Of course, we must now aim for even bigger and better things, and with the team we are building here I genuinely believe a Bundesliga title is achievable within the next two seasons.
Our youth and training facilities are to be upgraded once again and by the end of the year we will have the ability to produce players that can potentially be up there with the best in the world.
Tomorrow i'll continue on from this post and announce our signings for the coming season and so on.
Hope you readers are happy and lets hope Freiburg can continue to climb and climb!
Up the Breisgau-Brasilianer!!!
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I agree mate, EPIC! I really think the league title is possible, but Bayern are spending huge amounts, £30m this summer already whereas my budget was £4m haha. Hoping to get some nice youth gems now since our facilities are ranked as 'top'. Really enjoying this save definitely my favourite in the last few years!
As a bump / a question to any readers, would it be better if I took things slower and just posted match by match reports?
Lack of feedback makes me think I'm doing something wrong post wise as our performances have been great.
Thanks for any advice
Lack of feedback makes me think I'm doing something wrong post wise as our performances have been great.
Thanks for any advice
robbieboro82
Member
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Very good story! Enjoying reading it!! Keep it up! Bundesliga in 2 years, Champions League in 5!!!
26/08/2014
Lothar's Legacy in the making
I'm 4 games into the 2014/2015 season, making it my third season at Freiburg now. Funds are against constrained, which is going to mean we'll have a really tough time in the Champions League against world class opposition. We have made a few signings, breaking our transfer record once again, and i'll briefly go over the signings now:
PLAYERS IN:
Blaise Matuidi (CM / Free / PSG)
View attachment 322441
As I posted about him previously I won't go into much detail but Matuidi was signed on a pre-contract agreement earlier in the year, and has been brought in to solidify our midfield as we bolster out our squad.
Ricardo Aupi (DL / £1.4m / Boca)
View attachment 322439
My first regen signing in this game comes in the form of Ricardo Aupi from Boca, a young left back with a great deal of promise. I'll be bringing Aupi off the bench mainly, but I definitely think he will be commanding a place in our starting 11 by next season.
Kleber (ST / £3.2 / Porto)
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Our new record transfer signing and the first Brazilian International signing of the Summer is Kleber from FC Porto. At just 24 years of age, I believe Kleber has a great deal more to show following his fall out of Porto's plans last season. With 2 full caps for Brazil under his belt and experience in European competitions, I think his all-round striker game will be suited and he could prove to be a key signing for our Champions League campaign. His transfer value is already sitting at £6.75m which is more than double what we paid for him, and with a wage of just £8.5k a week I think Kleber is here to prove that he is the player many thought he once would become.
Rafinha (DR / Free / N/A)
View attachment 322404
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Our second Brazilian International signing left Bayern in the Summer, and although he has just turned 29, I think he will be able to bring some vital experience and a wealth of technical ability into the squad - which is just what we'll need in the Champions League with our average age still being just 22.
Rafinha is still pretty quick off the mark, and although his age and ability to work in a team aren't really fitting with my style of management, his work rate and defensive attributes are high. So far he has averaged at a 7.03 rating with some decent performances.
PLAYERS OUT:
Julian Schuster (£3m / HSV)
Marco Terrazzino (£900k / Bochum)
Garra Dembele (£300k / Augsburg)
Mensur Mujdza (Free / Cardiff)
Marc Heister (Loan / Aalen)
Ufuk Bayram (Loan / Aue)
Overview
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We have won 3 out of 4 in the league so far, with 1 loss - a decent record so far in my opinion and it means we sit 5th in the table.
Our Champions League group will be difficult to get through, especially with a loss to Benfica as I feel it is between us and them to qualify alongside Manchester United. It'll be nice to catch up with Ferguson though (H).
I'll update again soon, but just letting you guys know I've had assignment deadlines hence the quiet patch!
Glad you're still enjoying this and I hope the season carries on well!
Lothar's Legacy in the making
I'm 4 games into the 2014/2015 season, making it my third season at Freiburg now. Funds are against constrained, which is going to mean we'll have a really tough time in the Champions League against world class opposition. We have made a few signings, breaking our transfer record once again, and i'll briefly go over the signings now:
PLAYERS IN:
Blaise Matuidi (CM / Free / PSG)
View attachment 322441
As I posted about him previously I won't go into much detail but Matuidi was signed on a pre-contract agreement earlier in the year, and has been brought in to solidify our midfield as we bolster out our squad.
Ricardo Aupi (DL / £1.4m / Boca)
View attachment 322439
My first regen signing in this game comes in the form of Ricardo Aupi from Boca, a young left back with a great deal of promise. I'll be bringing Aupi off the bench mainly, but I definitely think he will be commanding a place in our starting 11 by next season.
Kleber (ST / £3.2 / Porto)
View attachment 322427
View attachment 322443
Our new record transfer signing and the first Brazilian International signing of the Summer is Kleber from FC Porto. At just 24 years of age, I believe Kleber has a great deal more to show following his fall out of Porto's plans last season. With 2 full caps for Brazil under his belt and experience in European competitions, I think his all-round striker game will be suited and he could prove to be a key signing for our Champions League campaign. His transfer value is already sitting at £6.75m which is more than double what we paid for him, and with a wage of just £8.5k a week I think Kleber is here to prove that he is the player many thought he once would become.
Rafinha (DR / Free / N/A)
View attachment 322404
View attachment 322403
Our second Brazilian International signing left Bayern in the Summer, and although he has just turned 29, I think he will be able to bring some vital experience and a wealth of technical ability into the squad - which is just what we'll need in the Champions League with our average age still being just 22.
Rafinha is still pretty quick off the mark, and although his age and ability to work in a team aren't really fitting with my style of management, his work rate and defensive attributes are high. So far he has averaged at a 7.03 rating with some decent performances.
PLAYERS OUT:
Julian Schuster (£3m / HSV)
Marco Terrazzino (£900k / Bochum)
Garra Dembele (£300k / Augsburg)
Mensur Mujdza (Free / Cardiff)
Marc Heister (Loan / Aalen)
Ufuk Bayram (Loan / Aue)
Overview
View attachment 322402
View attachment 322444
View attachment 322445
We have won 3 out of 4 in the league so far, with 1 loss - a decent record so far in my opinion and it means we sit 5th in the table.
Our Champions League group will be difficult to get through, especially with a loss to Benfica as I feel it is between us and them to qualify alongside Manchester United. It'll be nice to catch up with Ferguson though (H).
I'll update again soon, but just letting you guys know I've had assignment deadlines hence the quiet patch!
Glad you're still enjoying this and I hope the season carries on well!
Last edited:
samillyroy
Member
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- Jul 16, 2009
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mate, top work. every now and then you get a save that brings up one of those moments. still following with anticipation 
definitely stick with freiburg now and see how far you can take them!
definitely stick with freiburg now and see how far you can take them!