Lineup - Donnarumma, Yedlin, Upamecano, De Ligt (Lascelles), Tierney, Pellegrini (Cuisance), Arthur, D'Amico, Lucas Paqueta*, Kean, Pellegri (Althuser)
A great win as this was one game where I thought my unbeaten league record would end. Chelsea were the better side tbh but Lucas Paqueta scored 3 goals in the first 20min and that was that!!
--
UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg
v
Newcastle United 3 (Pellegri 2, 50, Arthur R. 88) Atletico Madrid 0
Lineup - Donnarumma, Yedlin, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, Rashford, Xadas, Kean (Arthur R.), Pellegri*
I would like to think that this win should be enough to see us through into the semis. Atletico rarely threatened us in truth and despite the absence of D'Amico and Lucas Paqueta - we won easily.
--
v
Newcastle United 1 (Pellegri 45) Manchester City 1 (Bailey 35)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Yedlin, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini*, Arthur, Rashford (Sancho), Lucas Paqueta (Althuser), Kean (Arthur R.), Pellegri
We went into this game knowing a win would secure the title but it wasn't to be. We had Arthur sent-off just on the hour mark and then they had Kyle Walker sent-off so everything was even. At least Pellegri got one more goal ahead of Icardi here though!!!
--
UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg
v
Atletico Madrid 2 (Hwang-Hee Chan 70, Martins 83)
Newcastle United 1 (Arthur R. 88) (Agg: 2-4)
Lineup - Convery, Sampaio, Lascelles, Maresic, Robertson, Cuisance, El Khatib (Santisteban), Rashford, Xadas, Sancho (Murphy), Althuser (Arthur R.)
I put faith in my backups to see us through and they managed fine although we did lose the match. Arthur R. scored his 9th goal of the competition.
--
v
Watford 0
Newcastle United 2 (Pellegri 41pen, 44)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Yedlin, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, El Khatib (Cuisance), Rashford, Lucas Paqueta, Kean (Arthur R.), Pellegri*
CHAMPIONS!!!!
Man City failed to win in the early kick-off which meant that we went into this game knowing that the title was secured.
--
v
Newcastle United 3 (Cuisance 8, Sancho 22, Rashford 37) Leicester City 0
I rested my first XI for the two big cup matches coming up. Donnarumma would have played but he was injured so he missed his first league game for us.
--
FA Cup Semi-Final
v
Newcastle United 4 (D'Amico 18, 28, Kean 31, 52) Liverpool 2 (Belotti 40, 86)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Yedlin, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Cuisance), Arthur, D'Amico, Lucas Paqueta, Kean*, Pellegri
An entertaining semi-final and both teams could easily have scored more. We will play Man Utd in the final.
--
UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg
v
Newcastle United 4 (Kean 20, 78, Pellegri 33, 55pen) Bayern Munich 3 (Goretzka 10, Kane 60, Muller 70)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Yedlin, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney (Robertson), Pellegrini (Cuisance), Arthur, D'Amico, Lucas Paqueta, Kean*, Pellegri
While I am naturally delighted that we won the match I am seriously ****** off that we conceded 3 goals when they only had 5 shots!!!! We better not rue those 3 away goals conceded.
Lineup - Convery, Sampaio, Lascelles, Maresic, Robertson, Cuisance (Evans), El Khatib, Rashford (Murphy), Xadas*, Sancho, Althuser (Arthur R.)
Every time I play my backups I run the risk of losing our unbeaten league campaign but once again my backups came in and did well. I signed Tom Evans from Bournemouth and he scored his 2nd goal for us against his old club here. I may loan him out next season though.
--
SUMMARY
The penultimate month of the season was tough but very good!!! We clinched the title and not only that we have extended our lead to a massive 23pts with 2 games to go. We have scored 127 league goals and need 2 more to break our own record and 2 more points to reach 100.
In the FA Cup we beat Liverpool 4-2 to set up a final with Man Utd and we could face them in the Champions League final if they overcome Man City and we manage to get something in our 2nd leg away to Bayern Munich.
Bayern Munich 3 (Kane 30, 73, Vinicius Junior 90)
Newcastle United 3 (Pellegri 3, Kean 45, Sancho 75) (Agg: 6-7)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Yedlin, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico (Rashford), Lucas Paqueta, Kean (Sancho), Pellegri (Althuser) WE REACH THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL!!!!
We got off to a perfect start by scoring an early goal and from that point on we never really looked like throwing the tie away. Bayern rallied and did well but I always felt comfortable.
--
This win means we have 101pts and have broken the scoring record in the league with 130 goals. If we beat Spurs by 6 goals we will have a goal difference of +100!!!! Obviously if we don't lose to Spurs we will have went the entire league campaign unbeaten too.
Rashford got injured and unfortunately his season looks to be over.
Almost the perfect day as we beat Spurs to go unbeaten in the whole league campaign. Unfortunately Mauro Icardi scored and Pellegri didn't so Icardi is the leagues top scorer. Pellegri though has missed exactly half of the league campaign however.
Kieran Tierney picked up an injury before the match and his season is over which is devastating.
--
FA Cup Final
v
Newcastle United 3 (D'Amico 4, Pellegri 26, 111) Manchester United 2 (Fosu-Mensah 48, Silva 50) AET
Lineup - Donnarumma, Yedlin (Sampaio), Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (El Khatib), Arthur, D'Amico, Lucas Paqueta (Althuser), Kean (Sancho), Pellegri*
We win the FA Cup in the practice match for the more important Champions League. We dominated the first half and deservedly went in 2-0 up but it was role reversals in the 2nd half as after 90min it was 2-2. We had the better of things in extra time and Pellegri struck to win us the cup.
--
UEFA Champions League Final
v
Newcastle United 3 (Pellegri 51, De Ligt 66, Althuser 86) Manchester United 2 (Fernandes 20pen, Lindelöf 23) Lineup - Donnarumma, Yedlin, Lascelles (Maresic*), De Ligt, Robertson, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Lucas Paqueta (Althuser), Kean (Sancho), Pellegri
WE WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!!!!!
What a comeback. We were 2 down at half-time and I went nuts on my players and it worked as Pellegri and De Ligt drew us level before Althuser's memorable moment late on. Alli got sent-off for them in stoppage time.
--
SUMMARY
What an end to the season we had. In the league we saw out the campaign with victories over Brighton and Spurs to end the season over 20pts clear with over 100pts, over 130 goals and of course we were invincible as we didn't lose a game.
In the FA Cup we had the final won before throwing our 2 goal lead away before Pellegri snatched the winner in extra-time and then it was the Champions League final against Man Utd who were looking for revenge.
In the end we came out on top after clawing back a 2 goal deficit to take the match 3-2 thanks to Althuser's late winner. It was a great match for us and I am so proud of all my players. The only negative about the month was the injuries to Upamecano, Rashford and Tierney that made them miss the finals although Upamecano did play in the FA Cup.
Almost the perfect season. We won every competition we were entered in and the only way it could have been bettered was if we hadn't lost a game or won every match so that is what we have to strive for!!!!
Going into the campaign I figured it would be a close run thing between ourselves and Man City again - especially after they signed Mbappe and Asensio - but when we beat them 4-2 in the Community Shield I did wonder if we were going to be on to something special.
In the league we destroyed everyone. Over 100pts, over 130 goals, unbeaten and just generally magnificent - we had it won in April but in reality it was all over in November!!!! What makes it even more remarkable is that we did it without our main striker, Pellegri, who missed half the season through injury.
The Carabao Cup was won easily enough against Fulham although we did dispose of Man Utd and Chelsea along the way and in the FA Cup we edged out Liverpool before again beating Man Utd - this time in the final after extra-time.
As for the Champions League we were put in a tough group with Real Madrid, Monaco and Leipzig yet we won all of our games with the highlight being a 6-5 win away to Real Madrid. We then knocked out Dortmund with the 2nd leg being a stupid 6-7 defeat and Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich were also swept aside before we faced Man Utd in the final. Despite falling 2-0 down we managed to win thanks to a great comeback in the 2nd half.
Finally at the end of season awards Arthur won the domestic player of the year titles while Pietro Pellegri won the European ones.
Goalkeepers - Gianluigi Donnarumma was magnificent as ever and our defensive record as a whole was much better this season although we did have one or two games where we lost our way. Convery would be first choice for most sides so I made sure he got enough games to impress. I also have Sukunza out on loan who looks amazing and he has been called up for Spain!!!!
Defenders - My full backs were solid as usual but this time Tierney got himself a goal!!!! Upamecano was my big summer signing and he did well but he was injured for a large part of the season so the Lascelles - De Ligt partnership was still in full force. Special mention goes to Andy Robertson who got 10 assists despite his limited appearances.
Midfielders - Arthur arguably had his best season yet for us as he performed brilliantly and consistently throughout the season. Pellegrini did well and got the goal of the season award and El Khatib developed nicely and has overtaken Cuisance in the pecking order.
Moise Kean on the LW found his scoring boots again and got over 20 goals and he was amazing as was D'Amico on the opposite wing who also scored over 20 and got over 20 assists. Sancho scored plenty in his limited appearances and Lucas Paqueta in the No 10 role had another stellar season and obviously scored over 20 goals lol.
Forwards - Pietro Pellegri top scored with 38 goals despite being out injured for 3-4 months. In his absence the likes of Althuser, Arthur R. and Rashford all did well and scored plenty. Rashford really surprised me as even though he played a fair bit on the wing he was always good for a goal and he was impressive.
My Player/Young Player of the Season - Pietro Pellegri My Surprise Player of the Season - Marcus Rashford Donkey of the Season - Jacob Murphy
--
SUMMER PLANS
With a £50m starting transfer budget I have already spent £40m of it on one player so I will have to move players on if I want to do business but with so many players out on loan (nearly 50) I think I can do that. I have cancelled a couple of affiliates and hope to get some more but generally most of the work needs done with keeping a strong U23 side instead of loaning them all out.
As ever I have the strikers conundrum. Obviously Pellegri, Rashford, Arthur R. and Althuser aren't going anywhere but what to do with Schindelholz, Arp and Geubbels when they return. Geubbels starred at Inter Milan and is valued at over £40m!!!!
My team Truro finished almost the whole season unbeaten with 39 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. My team also broke the goal scoring record previously held by Grays Athletic. It was a bizzare over 115 goals. Also got more records for fewest draws and losses. It was a season to mark for the team as they got promoted to National League for the first time ever!
I got a racketing 118 POINTS!
I had plans for the summer - I had arranged to sign one player and thought I could sell one or two first team squad players to promote some youngsters but EVERYTHING got flipped on its head when the UK left the EU and all of a sudden all of my players who didn't have work permits suddenly were allowed to play in the UK so I had an extra 43 players to deal with!!!!! The thing is they weren't rubbish players - most were decent!!!!
So far I have spent £143m (I had a starting budget of £50m remember) and I have recouped an astonishing £262m so I have over £100m to spend but I don't really need anyone!!! It is safe to say I shouldn't fail the FPP rules this year lol.
In other news Brazil beat Romania to win the World Cup - Lucas Paqueta scored in the final - while I got Estudiantes (LP) as a feeder side which could prove fruitful.
--
PLAYERS OUT
Could be a while here!!!! My highest incoming fee was the £45m for Willem Geubbels from Liverpool. I rejected a £60m bid a few years back but I have a large sell on clause inserted so we should make some money back! He played 56 times and scored 18 goals for us but with the strikers I have at the club one quality player had to move on.
Andrew Robertson also left as he joined Chelsea for £35m. I only sold him because I wanted to promote Eduardo from the U23 side who was attracting interest from Real Madrid and Barcelona. He played 60 games for me and it is a £28m profit.
Away for £31m is DeAndre Yedlin who joined Inter Milan after 213 appearances and 1 goal. I was always looking to sell Yedlin tbh and although he had done great for me I had earmarked an improvement.
For an initial £20m - rising to £25m - is Mickael Cuisance who joined Watford. He hasn't developed as I would have liked tbh and I have plenty of other options in CM. He played 160 times for me and scored 15 goals.
Jacob Murphy is the last first team member to go. He joined Brighton for a cheap £10.25m as he was never going to get a game tbh. He featured 118 times for me and scored a respectable 37 goals for me.
And there were a few others for a couple of million or less!!!!
Out on loan went Schindelholz to Aston Villa for £2.2m, Guilherme Beck joined Villarreal for £2.5m and wonderkids Giovanny Cortes and Aboubakar Kouadio joined Man Utd and Stoke for around £1m each. I also loaned out several other players including Tom Evans and there hopefully will be more to come.
--
PLAYERS IN
7 players for £143m!!!! 2 cost £126m!!!
The transfer that I had pre-arranged was the £42m deal for Trent Alexander-Arnold to replace Yedlin as my new right back. He is still young, got some great abilities and being English is an added bonus. View attachment 35732
My biggest move however was a move that I didn't need to do but money was burning a hole in my pocket so I paid Bayer Leverkusen £84m to sign Kai Havertz. He will challenge Lucas Paqueta for the AMC spot and I will go by game by game to see who plays. View attachment 35731
Next I got screwed by my lack of knowledge of the transfer rules as I signed 2 CMs. I thought they wouldn't get work permits so I was going to loan them out but both of them did and I don't need them immediately. I have had my eye on Luis Alvarez for a couple of years and he was highly recommended by my scouts so I paid 7.25m to bring him in while 18y/o Mexican Javier Vazquez joined for £8.5m. Both are fantastic players and I will try and give them some game time. View attachment 35730View attachment 35729
Alexander-Arnold is my new RB and due to everyone getting work permits I now have 2 great regens in Sampaio and Eandi as backup so I need to loan one out. Eduardo is my backup LB, Alvarez and Vazquez add depth to CM while Havertz is one of 2 players for AMC - Xadas may not get much games this season!!
A good win. This is actually James Forrest's last game of his career as he announced his retirement from professional football a few weeks back which is annoying as he is only 30 and valued at £7m playing for Guingamp.
Another trophy collected as we easily beat Wolfsburg. Our 1st goal was excellent as Alexander-Arnold whipped in a cross and Kean arrived to bullet a header into the top corner.
--
v
Liverpool 3 (Gustavo Scarpa 15, Slane 37, Belotti 90)
Newcastle United 3 (De Ligt 30, D'Amico 68, Arthur 85pen)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (El Khatib), Arthur, D'Amico, Havertz, Kean (Sancho), Pellegri (Althuser)
The result was a fair one but we shouldn't have lost. Pellegri had a goal disallowed and they had Slane sent-off when he gave away the penalty but they still managed to equalise with 10 men.
--
v
Newcastle United 3 (Kean 2, 26, Pellegri 9) Huddersfield Town 2 (Pinamonti 72, 86)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold (Eandi), Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico, Havertz (Lucas Paqueta), Kean*, Pellegri
In the first half we were magnificent and could have scored 5 or 6. In the 2nd half we were awful and could have thrown the game away.
--
v
Manchester United 2 (Alli 40, Tierney 69og) Newcastle United 2 (D'Amico 21, Arthur 32)
To only draw when we were 2-0 up is very disappointing but Man Utd deserved a point in truth.
--
SUMMARY
The opening month of the season was very tough. We had two tough cup finals in which we came out on top and then in the league we had 2 horror away fixtures against Liverpool and Man Utd and although we could be sitting with a 100% record we are unbeaten and that's the main thing.
Our defence was dodgy however as we threw away a couple of leads and almost a couple more. Hopefully we will click into gear soon. Kai Havertz has also had a quiet start to life here.
As for the remainder of the transfer window I had more outgoings!!!! My 3rd choice keeper, Sukunza, left to join Valencia for £17.25m. He is a quality keeper but wasn't going to get in ahead of Donnarumma and Convery so we sold him on for a huge profit. Pedraglio was sold to Derby for £7m while out on loan went Sampaio, Conway, Robson, Martinez and Gomez to make the total income for the summer a whopping £287m!!!!!!
I did bring in another player and as is common it was a Colombian wonderkid!!! James Jaramillo came in from Medellin for £750,000. View attachment 35625
As for the cups we have WBA in the Carabao Cup and in the Champions League we will play Atletico Madrid, FC Porto and Feyenoord.
v
Newcastle United 3 (Havertz 11, D'Amico 26, Pellegrini 52) Brighton & Hove Albion 0
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (Alvarez), D'Amico*, Havertz, Kean (Rashford), Pellegri
A comfortable win. Havertz got his 1st goal for us and Pellegrini scored a screamer. Alvarez made his debut but Pellegri is struggling for goals and isn't playing that great tbh.
--
UEFA Champions League Group B v
Feyenoord 2 (Sierhuis 53, 65)
Newcastle United 3 (Rashford 14, Arthur R. 26, 77)
Lineup - Convery, Eandi, Lascelles, Maresic (Okoro), Eduardo, Alvarez, Vazquez, Althuser (Havertz), Lucas Paqueta (Xadas), Rashford, Arthur R.
I decided to field my backups here to give them some game time and they did well enough with Arthur R. being ruthless in front of goal.
--
v
West Bromwich Albion 0 Newcastle United 3 (Pellegri 8pen, Kean 51, Rashford 90)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold (Eandi), Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Alvarez), Arthur, D'Amico (Rashford), Havertz, Kean, Pellegri
We are still not playing at our best but as long as we get the results I cant really complain after all we won 3-0 away from home!
--
Carabao Cup 3rd Round
v
West Bromwich Albion 3 (Acosta 65, Livermore 89, Paterson 113) Newcastle United 3 (Arthur R. 22, Rashford 60, Xadas 115pen) (AET - Newcastle United won 3-1 on penalties)
Lineup - Conway, Eandi, Lascelles (Okoro), Maresic, Eduardo, Alvarez, Vazquez (Faccin), Althuser, Lucas Paqueta, Rashford (Xadas), Arthur R.
We scrape through here but only just. We had the game won but contrived to throw it away and we were on the verge of going out but we thankfully got a penalty. In the shoot-out WBA were awful and so we progress.
--
v
Newcastle United 2 (Pellegri 33, Pellegrini 69) Everton 0
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (Faccin), D'Amico (Rashford), Havertz, Kean (Arthur R.), Pellegri*
--
UEFA Champions League Group B
v
Newcastle United 5 (Lucas Paqueta 45, 47, Arthur R. 66, Althuser 83, Rashford 90) FC Porto 0
Lineup - Convery, Eandi, Lascelles, Maresic (Okoro), Eduardo, Alvarez (Faccin), Vazquez, Althuser*, Lucas Paqueta, Rashford, Arthur R.
My backups did a fine job here. Lucas Paqueta reminded everyone what he can do while Arthur R. just loves this competition - 9 goals last term and 3 in 2 matches this time.
--
SUMMARY
We are still finding our feet this season and this month saw my backups play as much as the first team. In the league we won all 3 matches although we weren't at our free flowing best although we did keep 3 clean sheets which was pleasing. In the cups we beat WBA on penalties in the Carabao Cup and we defeated Feyenoord and thumped FC Porto.
See below for a planned change in the game save...…..
Lineup - Archer, Ralston (J.Souttar), McCrorie, McKenna, Tierney, Armstrong, McGregor (McTominay), Slane, Christie, Morgan (Hornby), Griffiths
I cant fault my players here. Any result we get against Portugal or Germany will be an unexpected one as our quality is just not there at the minute. Connor Slane however is a quality regen and has signed for Liverpool and is valued at £40m. He is the only regen in my squad.
I have decided to do something at the end of the season. I will add the Scottish League as playable instead of view only and become a manager of a Scottish club to increase the pool of Scottish players available to me. I wont manage the Scottish team apart from during transfer windows.
A hard fought victory and finally Havertz stamps his authority in a game.
--
UEFA Champions League Group B
v
Atletico Madrid 1 (Diego Costa 69)
Newcastle United 1 (Arthurt R. 87)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt (Lascelles), Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, Rashford (Althuser), Havertz, Kean (Arthur R.), Pellegri
A good point as Atletico were the better side and even missed a penalty. Arthur R. continues to score in the competition.
--
v
Chelsea 2 (Chiesa 37, Hazard 59)
Newcastle United 2 (Pellegri 46, D'Amico 56)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold (Eandi), Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Arthur, El Khatib (Alvarez), D'Amico, Havertz (Lucas Paqueta), Kean, Pellegri
This is a good point and keeps our long unbeaten run going. This is the first time this season in the league that I had to change the starting XI as El Khatib came in for Pellegrini.
--
Carabao Cup 4th Round
v
Newcastle United 1 (Althuser 30) Middlesbrough 0 Lineup - Convery, Eandi, Lascelles, Maresic, Eduardo, Alvarez (Vazquez), El Khatib*, Rashford, Lucas Paqueta (Xadas), Sancho (Arthur R.), Althuser
Through we go as the backups dominated here and it leaves me to wonder what my first team will do against Boro in the next match.
10-0!!!!!! A perfect performance as we get the kind of performance that I have been waiting for. We have been battering teams without getting the goals recently but we got them here as we break the record for the biggest win in the Premier League.
(Btw - I type my updates game by game so didn't have a clue what would happen after I said that it would be interesting to see what my first team would do lol)
--
SUMMARY
We did well this month and got back to playing our free flowing attacking football. Our 5 goals against Bournemouth were eclipsed by us smashing an incredible 10 goals past Middlesbrough. Even in the tighter games we played well enough to score more so I pleased with how things are going.
Also off the pitch I am delighted to say that I have finally got Aberdeen as an affiliate club. I have tried for a few seasons now to get them both by picking them manually and for the random search by the board but they kept coming back with Hearts, Hibs, Kilmarnock, Partick and St.Johnstone or refused me picking them but not this time!!!!
[video=youtube;uXX3XmBsUiY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXX3XmBsUiY[/video] Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal - the great comeback NOVEMBER
UEFA Champions League Group B
v
Newcastle United 3 (Pellegri 7, 90, D'Amico 37) Atletico Madrid 2 (Griezmann 42, 49) Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold (Eandi), Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Havertz (Lucas Paqueta), Kean (Sancho), Pellegri
This win secures qualification for us but although we left it to the last minute we really shouldn't have as we missed about 6 clean cut chances with players going through on goal etc.
--
v
Newcastle United 7 (Upamecano 5, Kean 9, 58, 74, D'Amico 10, 77, 83) Arsenal 1 (Tonny Vilhena 27)
WOW!!!!! To follow up a 10-0 victory with a 7-1 win over Arsenal is fantastic. We even had a goal disallowed so it could have been better.
--
v
Manchester City 1 (Icardi 19)
Newcastle United 0
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt (Maresic), Tierney, Arthur, El Khatib, D'Amico (Rashford), Havertz, Sancho, Pellegri (Althuser)
Defeated!!!! After going 52 league games undefeated we are finally beaten as Man City go 4pts clear. After running away with the title last season we have a battle this term!!!
--
UEFA Champions League Group B
v
Newcastle United 3 (Rashford 16, Althuser 51, 88) Feyenoord 0 Lineup - Convery, Eandi, Mason, Maresic, Eduardo, Alvarez (Vazquez), El Khatib (Faccin), Rashford, Lucas Paqueta, Sancho (Arthur R.), Althuser*
While the game was getting played I checked on some of my backup players stats - I think my backup lineup could challenge for the title!!!!!
Back to winning ways in the league as we get 5 goals past Watford as we faced up against our old player Mickael Cuisance.
--
SUMMARY
November saw us finally lose a game and fail to score in the league as we lost 1-0 to our rivals Man City. We are 4pts behind Man City and 2pts behind Liverpool and we are due to fall behind in games played when we are off playing in the Club World Cup.
The highlight of the month was our 7-1 thrashing of Arsenal which was almost as good as the 10-0 win over Middlesbrough last month. Next month we have a busy month as we play in the World Club Cup, have Man City in the Carabao Cup, finish off the Champions League group and obviously have league games to play.
v
Newcastle United 4 (Pellegrini 30, Pellegri 38, 45pen, 61) Leicester City 0 Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico (Arthur R.), Havertz, Sancho (Rashford), Pellegri*
Back to back hat-tricks for Pietro Pellegri as we continue to plunder the goals in.
--
UEFA Champions League Group B v
FC Porto 2 (Camara 15, Marega 45)
Newcastle United 2 (Arthur R. 49, Rashford 54)
Lineup - Convery, Eandi, Lascelles, Maresic (Okoro), Eduardo, Alvarez (Faccin), El Khatib (Vazquez), Xadas, Lucas Paqueta, Rashford, Arthur R.
We finish off the group by my backups getting a decent point away from home and fighting back from 2 goals down too was impressive.
--
v
Newcastle United 4 (Bruma 41og, Pellegri 46, Havertz 47, 56) Wolverhampton Wanderers 0
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt (Lascelles), Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Havertz*, Rashford (Xadas), Pellegri (Arthur R.)
Finally a star performance from Kai Havertz as he scores 2 and performed great all round. Alexander-Arnold got 2 assists too.
--
FIFA Club World Cup Semi-Final v
ES Tunis 0
Newcastle United 4 (Rashford 25, 39, 45, Arthur R. 50)
Lineup - Convery, Eandi, Lascelles, Maresic, Eduardo, Alvarez, El Khatib, D'Amico, Lucas Paqueta, Rashford*, Arthur R.
Through to the final we go. Rashford got a hat-trick and his 2nd goal was a dream as he volleyed in from 18 yards.
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico*, Havertz, Kean, Pellegri
That's how to win a final!!!! I thought that Flamengo would put up a sterner challenge tbh as we easily thrashed them. I wanted to make subs but everyone was playing so well!
--
Carabao Cup Quarter-Final
v
Manchester City 2 (Asensio 14, Icardi 40) Newcastle United 1 (Pellegri 69)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold (Eandi), Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico, Havertz, Kean (Rashford), Pellegri
We get dumped out of the Carabao Cup as Man City took advantage of our awful first half performance to win the tie. We won every competition there was to win last season so already we are doing worse this term - even though we can win more trophies lol.
--
v
Newcastle United 4 (Pellegri 10, 24, 36, 46pen) Burnley 1 (Arp 66)
Another easy win and another 4 goals for Pellegri. I have to give Lucas Paqueta, Althuser and a few others a few more league games as they only have a few sub appearances to their name.
--
v
Huddersfield Town 1 (Donnarumma 54og) Newcastle United 3 (Havertz 8, Kean 58, D'Amico 79)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles (Maresic), De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Havertz, Kean*, Pellegri (Althuser)
We end the calendar year with a victory with my 3 attacking midfielders getting the goals and my star striker having an off day.
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SUMMARY
December saw us win the Club World Cup easily enough but also saw us getting knocked out of the FA Cup by Man City which was extremely disappointing. In the league we can go top if we win our games in hand but we are still behind Liverpool and Man City with our next match being against Liverpool.
In the draws for the cups we have been given a nightmare draw against Real Madrid in the Champions League while we will play Spurs in the FA Cup. For the European Championship qualifiers my Scotland team will face off against Poland, Macedonia, Montenegro and Liechtenstein.
Finally Pietro Pellegri won all the end of year player awards available to him again!!!
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Newcastle United 2 (Pellegri 32, Lucas Paqueta 89) Liverpool 2 (Lozano 50, Geubbels 71)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Lascelles, De Ligt (Maresic), Eduardo, Alvarez, El Khatib (Vazquez), D'Amico, Havertz (Lucas Paqueta), Sancho*, Pellegri
This is a decent result I suppose considering I had to rest several players. Eduardo and Vazquez made their league debuts here with Eduardo being the subject of a £45m bid from Man City a few days before. Willem Geubbels came back to haunt us.
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Stoke City 0
Newcastle United 1 (D'Amico 26)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles, De Ligt*, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Lucas Paqueta (Althuser), Kean, Pellegri (Rashford)
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FA Cup 3rd Round
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Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Gonzalez 30)
Newcastle United 4 (Kean 2, 35, 50, Pellegri 64)
Lineup - Donnarumma (Convery), Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Alvarez, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico, Havertz, Kean*, Pellegri (Althuser)
A fantastic victory as we progress into the next round. Moise Kean excelled with a hat-trick but Donnarumma got injured for a few weeks so Martyn Convery will now get an extended run in the side.
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Newcastle United 2 (Lucas Paqueta 47, Pellegrini 78) Manchester United 2 (Sanchez 18, Gouiri 82)
Lineup - Convery, Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini*, Arthur, D'Amico, Havertz (Lucas Paqueta), Kean (Sancho), Pellegri (Althuser)
Disappointing. When Pellegrini smashed us into the lead with only 12min to go I expected us to take all 3 pts but we couldn't hold on to the lead and another 2pts are dropped.
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Lineup - Convery, Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico (Rashford), Althuser*, Kean (Sancho), Pellegri (Arthur R.)
When we surged into a 2 goal lead after only 5min I expected the floodgates to open but it was not to be and we had to settle for a narrow victory.
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Everton 2 (Musonda 49, Luan 63)
Newcastle United 5 (Pellegri 6, 90, Althuser 46, Sancho 58, Lucas Paqueta 65)
Lineup - Convery, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt (Lascelles), Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini, El Khatib (Vazquez), Althuser, Lucas Paqueta, Sancho, Pellegri*
That's much better!!! To score 5 goals away from home against Everton with a weakened side out on the field is quite impressive. Upamecano returned from injury here and amazingly Sancho got his first goal of the season.
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Derby County 1 (Roger Guedes 90) Newcastle United 3 (Sancho 28pen, Lucas Paqueta 39, Arthur R. 75)
Lineup - Convery, Eandi, Lascelles, Maresic (Okoro), Eduardo, Alvarez (Evans), El Khatib (Vazquez), Rashford, Lucas Paqueta, Sancho*, Arthur R.
I decided to take a chance and rest my first team for the upcoming cup tie and my backups did a fine job here. Tom Evans is back from a loan spell and I have to admit - my £10m signing does look like a bit of a waste of money lol.
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FA Cup 4th Round
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Chelsea 3 (Christensen 11, 49, Aguinaldo 85)
Newcastle United 3 (Pellegri 27, Arthur 35, Upamecano 40)
Lineup - Convery, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (El Khatib), Arthur, D'Amico, Lucas Paqueta, Kean (Rashford), Pellegri (Arthur R.)
I would have taken a draw before the match kicked off but not after being 3-1 up at half-time!!! Still at least we are still in the competition and that's the main thing.
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SUMMARY
January was a tough month as we had plenty of games and we suffered a few injuries to boot but all went well as we finish the month top of the league and we are still in the FA Cup after we thumped Spurs and drew away to Chelsea.
Not much else needs to be said about things on the park tbh except when doing a random check on my players and comparing a few I noticed that my backup RB Eandi seems to be far better than Alexander-Arnold but I will keep Alexander-Arnold in for the moment.
As for transfers I loaned a couple of players and rejected huge offers from various clubs for Kean, Eduardo, Pellegri and D'Amico!!!! One player who I did sell though was Xadas who joined Hoffenheim for £16.25m. Xadas played 170 times for me and scored 29 goals and we wish him well.
Incoming was a couple of regens. Vegard Oppen joined from Rosenborg for £2.8m and Pedro Diaz Leal joined from Chivas for £275,000. View attachment 35296View attachment 35295
[video=youtube;iaCuavjLOCU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaCuavjLOCU[/video] Chelsea 3-4 Newcastle FEBRUARY
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Newcastle United 7 (Arthur 14, 25, Kean 22, 48, 88, De Ligt 35, Nagy 81og) West Bromwich Albion 2 (Diatta 85, Chadli 90) Lineup - Convery, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Alvarez), Arthur, D'Amico (Sancho), Lucas Paqueta, Kean*, Althuser (Arthur R.)
A fine win. I didn't really need or want to make any subs as we were playing so well but I need to give my backup players more minutes in the league so I gave the three subs half an hour or so.
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Bournemouth 2 (Horta 70, L.Cook 88)
Newcastle United 3 (Lucas Paqueta 26, Arthur R. 87, 90)
Lineup - Convery, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico (Rashford), Lucas Paqueta, Kean (Sancho), Althuser (Arthur R.*)
This win was made all the more remarkable as we were actually down to 10 men for the final few minutes and somehow managed to score twice to win the game thanks to Arthur R. coming off the bench to score twice.
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FA Cup 4th Round Replay
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Newcastle United 5 (Arthur R. 12, 62, 75, 89, D'Amico 17) Chelsea 0
Lineup - Convery, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Alvarez), Arthur, D'Amico, Havertz (Althuser), Kean, Arthur R.*
A magnificent victory and Arthur R. followed up his brace in the last match with a 4 goal haul here. I have Althuser ahead of Arthur R. but Althuser only has 5 goals in 21 apps (12 assists though!!!) while Arthur R. has 14 goals in 17 games with 2 assists.
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Newcastle United 3 (Althuser 5, De Ligt 32, Arthur R. 82) Southampton 0
Lineup - Convery, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Alvarez), Arthur, Althuser, Havertz, Kean (Sancho), Arthur R.*
An easy win. Arthur R. scored again but he also missed a penalty. We were dealt a devastating blow before the match as D'Amico got injured in training and will miss 3 months or so. Rashford and Althuser will compete for the spot.
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Newcastle United 4 (Arthur R. 9, Pellegrini 27, Althuser 51, 77) Tottenham Hotspur 0 Lineup - Convery, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Lift, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, Althuser, Havertz (Rashford), Kean, Arthur R.*
Another goal for Arthur R. and Althuser bagging a brace from the wing is a good sign!!!
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FA Cup 5th Round
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Newcastle United 4 (Odegaard 9og, Althuser 34, Arthur R. 76, 89) Watford 1 (Penaranda 42) Lineup - Convery, Eandi, Lascelles, Maresic, Eduardo, Alvarez (Vazquez), El Khatib (Faccin), Althuser, Rashford (Oppen), Sancho, Arthur R.*
With Real Madrid lurking around the corner I decided to put faith in my backups to get us through and they managed that fine.
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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg
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Real Madrid 1 (Coman 64)
Newcastle United 5 (Arthur R. 43, 81, Althuser 66, Upamecano 76, Ramos 85og)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt (Lascelles), Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, Althuser, Havertz (Rashford), Kean (Sancho), Arthur R.*
Amazing!!!! We beat Real Madrid home and away last season but I didn't think we would trounce them 5-1 here. Donnarumma returned from injury and Pellegri was fit enough too but I stuck with Arthur R. since he has been playing so well and he rewarded me with another excellent performance.
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Middlesbrough 1 (Pennery 4)
Newcastle United 2 (Arthur R. 8, Pellegri 80)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano (Lascelles), De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, Althuser, Havertz, Kean (Rashford), Arthur R. (Pellegri)
The last time we met Middlesbrough we won 10-0 but this was much different as we were poor. Arthur R. scored but picked up a knock so Pellegri came off the bench to net the late winner. Upamecano got injured and is out for 3-4 months so his season is over.
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SUMMARY
February brought goals galore as Arthur R. was on fire and scored an incredible 13 goals in the month. Our run of goals in games was 7, 3, 5, 3, 4, 4, 5 and 2!!!!
The league could be going right to the wire though as even though we have a 9pt advantage and a slightly better goal difference over Man City - they crucially have 3 games in hand so can overtake us.
Also during the month I rewarded several players new contracts. Tierney, Donnarumma, Lascelles, De Ligt, Arthur R., Pellegri, Kean and Arthur all signed new deals so that has put the wage bill up a bit!!!
[video=youtube;Bm2XNkburfk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm2XNkburfk[/video] Newcastle 2-1 Chelsea - with a stunning Shearer goal MARCH
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Arsenal 2 (Tonny Vilhena 14, Lacazette 75)
Newcastle United 2 (Havertz 15, Pellegri 41pen)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold (Eandi), Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, Althuser, Havertz*, Kean (Sancho), Pellegri (Arthur R.)
A decent point. Man City lost beforehand so we went out on the park without any pressure on us. Arsenal had a late goal disallowed.
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Newcastle United 10 (Althuser 4, 8, 13, 17, Azpilicueta 33og, Tierney 37, Kean 39, Arthur R. 45, 80, Alvarez 52) Chelsea 0
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Arthur, El Khatib (Alvarez), Althuser*, Havertz, Kean, Arthur R.
ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!!!!!
To beat a side like Chelsea 10-0 is an amazing achievement. Althuser scored 4 in the first 17min and we were 8up at half-time and the only disappointing thing was that we only scored twice in the 2nd half.
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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg
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Newcastle United 3 (Rashford 15, Arthur R. 34, 58) Real Madrid 2 (Suso 40, 59) (Agg: 8-3)
Lineup - Convery, Eandi, Lascelles, Maresic, Eduardo, Alvarez, Vazquez (Faccin), Rashford (Wilkinson), Lucas Paqueta, Sancho (Oppen), Arthur R.
With a 4 goal lead and 5 away goals in the bank I put out my backups and they proved themselves yet again. Arthur R.'s finishing is just incredible unlike Jadon Sancho's who missed a penalty.
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FA Cup Quarter-Final
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Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 (Sandro 1, 42) Newcastle United 4 (Arthur R. 40, Sancho 46, Lucas Paqueta 81, Rashford 87)
Lineup - Convery, Eandi, Lascelles, Maresic, Eduardo, Alvarez (Faccin), El Khatib (Vazquez), Rashford, Lucas Paqueta, Sancho (Oppen), Arthur R.
Wolves are bottom of the league with only 3 wins to their name so once again I put my faith in my backups and although they weren't at their best we managed to win and score 4 goals to boot.
-- SUMMARY
Not many games in March but the games in which we did play were incident packed and full of goals. The highlight of course was the incredible 10-0 victory over Chelsea which is unheard of against that quality of opposition. We then went on to beat Real Madrid with my backups and they also progressed us into the FA Cup semis with a win over Wolves.
In the next round of the cups we will play Atletico Madrid in the Champions League and Man Utd in the FA Cup semis.
The youth intake was terrible!!!!!! Not impressed.
[video=youtube;IOgFErO299g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOgFErO299g[/video]
Rob Lee's incredible long range goal v Coventry 97/98
APRIL
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Newcastle United 4 (Althuser 13, De Ligt 38, Lascelles 59, El Khatib 73) Watford 1 (Penaranda 22) Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), Althuser, Havertz, Kean*, Pellegri (Arthur R.)
A decent win. It seems that 4 goals seems to be our average amount of goals scored each game lol. Lascelles and El Khatib scored their 1st goals of the season.
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Leicester City 0
Newcastle United 3 (Pellegri 11, Kean 13, Althuser 30)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini (El Khatib), Arthur, Althuser*, Havertz, Kean, Pellegri (Arthur R.)
We didn't get 4 goals which is a surprise considering we were 3up after half an hour. Althuser is loving life on the right wing!!!
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UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg
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Newcastle United 5 (Kean 4, Althuser 20, 45, Pellegri 29, Havertz 43) Atletico Madrid 4 (Martins 9, Griezmann 32, Ceballos 56, Lascelles 60og) Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Lascelles, De Ligt (Maresic), Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini, Arthur, Althuser*, Havertz, Kean (Sancho), Pellegri
Both teams put on a show here as we come out on top in a 9 goal thriller. I am however naturally ****** off that from 5-2 up we only won by a goal and their 4 away goals could be a problem.
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Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 Newcastle United 1 (Sancho 36)
Lineup - Convery (Donnarumma), Eandi, Lascelles, Maresic, Eduardo, Alvarez, El Khatib (Evans), Rashford*, Lucas Paqueta (Althuser), Sancho, Arthur R.
A win is a win and a win with my backups is always good even though it wasn't with our usual swashbuckling style.
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UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg v
Atletico Madrid 1 (Hwang Hee-Chan 67)
Newcastle United 2 (Pellegri 65, 81) (Agg: 5-7)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur Althuser (Sancho), Havertz (Lucas Paqueta), Kean (Arthur R.), Pellegri
This was an uncomfortable match in which we win but in truth I was never overly confident - especially with their 4 away goals. The aggregate score hides how close this tie actually was.
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FA Cup Semi-Final
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Manchester United 1 (Alli 9) Newcastle United 1 (Arthur 77) (AET - Newcastle United win 4-3 on penalties)
Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold (Eandi), Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (El Khatib), Arthur, Althuser, Havertz (Sancho), Kean, Pellegri (Arthur R.)
We played well enough here but it didn't look to be our day until they had a man sent-off and we quickly levelled just after. We couldn't get the winner in extra-time though but edged them out on penalties.
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Newcastle United 6 (Pellegri 3, 48, Lucas Paqueta 11, 34, Althuser 56, Sancho 74) Manchester City 2 (Bailey 56, Icardi 58) Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold (Eandi), Lascelles, De Ligt, Eduardo, Pellegrini, El Khatib (Vazquez), Althuser*, Lucas Paqueta, Kean (Sancho), Pellegri
CHAMPIONS!!!!
We add Man City to the list of teams that we score 5 or more against as we put 6 past them here. Kean even had a goal disallowed!!! Louis Althuser was immense as he scored 1 and got 3 assists.
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Newcastle United 5 (Althuser 9, 34, 55, Arthur R. 12, El Khatib 64) Stoke City 0 Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Lascelles, Maresic, Eduardo, Alvarez (Vazquez), El Khatib, Althuser*, Lucas Paqueta, Sancho (Wilkinson), Arthur R.
With the league won and with Inter Milan up next I put out my backups and we thumped Stoke. Althuser put on another show with a hat-trick and an assist.
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SUMMARY
This month saw us secure the title, reach the FA Cup final and also progress in the Champions League. In the FA Cup we will face Liverpool while Inter Milan are standing in our way of another Champions League final.
In the league we secured the title with 4 games left which means I can afford to rest my starting XI for the big cup games as I have had a few injuries and don't want any of my key players to miss the match.
Special praise goes to Louis Althuser who scored 8 goals and probably more than that in assists and earned himself a new contract to boot as Real Madrid are interested in him.
Finally my initial transfer budget for next season is a whopping £160m but tbh there is not a single position in the first team that I think I need to strengthen as my first XI is so strong and they are all young plus even my backups are strong.
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