PSV - Boeren Revolt

[Rick99]

What tactic and player roles are you using?

 

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What tactic and player roles are you using?

The roles may change slightly based on the player but that is the usual tactic and roles. Dominate possession and rely on a creative 5 man midfield to create chances for the team.

 

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September

Zoet, Atal (Dumfries), Luckassen, Van Drongelen (Baumgartl), Willems, Almendra, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Bruma, Malen

We almost threw this game away as we got lazy in our defending. Their goals were very similar as balls down the wing got into the space behind the full backs. That is something that has happened a lot and I may need to alter the tactic to see out a game properly.

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems, Belmonte, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro (Doan), Bruma, Malen

What a great result that gives us a chance of making the knockout rounds. We were quick out of the box and then held on for the win. Them having Arias sent off after 60 minutes certainly helped us.

Zoet, Atal (Dumfries), Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems, Belmonte (Kana), Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Bruma, Malen (Romero)

Another strong result in the league. The only negative was the fact that Atal and Belmonte both came off with injuries and will miss the new few games.

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems, Kana (Almendra), Ihattaren (Burger), Gutierrez, Pereiro, Bruma, Malen

Another solid win and a clean sheet as well. The general competition in the league doesn’t seem to be challenging and if we can keep up this kind of form, we should be able to build a really big lead in the league.

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl (Luckassen), Van Drongelen, Willems, Almendra, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro (Doan), Bruma, Malen

The result is good but we almost threw it away. We were 3-0 up and at half time we had had 26 shots to their 0. By the end of the game, they had 14 shots and could have equalized. Definitely a game of two halves.

Summary

Another won passes where we won every game. I thought we would lose that run when we faced Atletico but we were able to get a win against then. Next month brings games against Man City and Ajax, so this 100% start to the season will be under major threat. The club also gave me a new contract this month, so I am here for another 4 years.

League Table

Fixtures

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October

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems, Almendra, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Bruma, Malen

A good win here to keep the 100% record going but the biggest surprise of the game was the fact that even though we won 3-1, it was their striker who got the MotM award even though he did nothing but score their goal.

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl, Luckassen, Willems, Almendra, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Malen, Romero

Bruma was injured so I decided to push Malen out on to the wing and give Romero a start. It clearly worked as both Malen and Romero scored and Malen got the MotM award for the game.

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems, Belmonte, Ihattaren (Kana), Gutierrez (Dumfries), Pereiro, Malen (Luckassen), Romero

This is getting ridiculous now. Not only have we beaten Man City but, we were away from home and we had Atal sent off just before half time for a second yellow card. After taking the lead, I went very defensive and they barely created a chance. Due to other results in the group, this win means we have now qualified for the knockout round and will not try and focus on doing so by finishing top of the group.

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems (Boscagli), Belmonte, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Malen (Doan), Romero

The 100% run is over but at least it goes against the toughest team in the league. We missed a penalty during this game so we had the chance to win it and keep the run going but it wasn’t to be.

Ruiter, Dumfries, Luckassen, Amione, Boscagli, Kana, Almendra, Burger, Doan, Gakpo, Romero

We scrape through to the next round of the cup as the backups win 2-1 against a lower level team who also played most of the 2nd half with only 10 men. They will need to improve dramatically if we are to go far into the competition this season.

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems, Belmonte, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Doan (Pereiro), Malen (Almendra), Romero

We were struggling here until I did the substitutions and moved Ihattaren to the left wing. Almendra grabbed an assist and of course Ihattaren scored two goals to win the game. It is good to see he can score a goal or two when given the chance and he may be an option to play on the wing if we need to.

Summary

Another strong month as this season keeps going strong. The 100% record is gone due to Ajax but we still have a healthy lead in the league and have already qualified for the knockout round of the Champions League. Next month brings some difficult games as we face Vitesse, Feyernoord and Willem II in the league while we also face Man City and Atletico Madrid in the Champions League as well.

League Table

Fixtures

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November

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems (Boscagli), Belmonte, Almendra (Kana), Gutierrez, Pereiro, Ihattaren, Malen

We lost the 100% record last month and now we have the unbeaten record. We were never at the races here and didn’t deserve to get anything.

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl (Schwaab), Luckassen, Boscagli, Belmonte, Almendra, Gutierrez, Pereiro (Doan), Ihattaren, Malen

Another strong win in the league as we secure a 4-1 win against Vitesse. Almendra provided 2 goals and an assist in a strong performance.

Zoet, Dumfries (Schwaab), Baumgartl, Van Drongelen (Luckassen), Willems, Belmonte, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Bruma, Malen (Romero)

Feyernoord were the team that broke the unbeaten run in the league last season, so I am pleased to get a pretty comfortable win against them this time. We weren’t completely on fire up front but the defense gave a great performance to make sure we kept a clean sheet and took 3 points.

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl, Luckassen, Willems, Belmonte, Ihattaren, Gutierrez (Dumfries), Pereiro, Bruma, Malen

Another incredible result against Atletico Madrid as we won the game after spending over an hour with just 10 men on the pitch. Atal has been an incredible threat on the right wing for us, but he also picks up yellow cards almost every game he plays so he can be a liability.

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems, Belmonte, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Bruma, Malen

A nice end to the month as Willem II have been great this season and sit in 3rd behind Ajax. I loaned young right back Teze to them this season and he has done really but he struggled to control Bruma as he scored 2 goals and was involved in the build up to their own goal as well.

Summary

A strong month here as we won every game except for the first against Man City. Ajax are keeping on our tail in the league but everyone else are far behind with Willem II in 3rd place but 12 points behind and we have a game in hand. We have one game in the Champions League left but as we have already secured top place, I am planning on putting out the backup/youth players.

League Table

Fixtures

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December

Zoet, Atal (Dumfries), Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems (Boscagli), Belmonte (Almendra), Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Bruma, Malen

A strong win with Malen getting an early hat-trick that secured the game. Malen hadn’t actually scored for a while so it was pleasing to see him score here.

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems, Belmonte, Almendra, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Ihattaren, Malen

Another win and another hat-trick for Malen. All of his goals came early on again as well. The match was actually very even but we had the quality in front of goal that they lacked.

Ruiter, Luckassen, Schwaab, Amione, Boscagli, Kana, Almendra, Burger, Doan, Unuvar, Romero

The group stage comes to an end with a draw away from home. I thought we would struggle as it was the backup players, but them having a man sent off early on balanced the game and if anyone deserved the win then we did.

Zoet, Dumfries (Luckassen), Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems, Belmonte, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Bruma (Almendra), Malen

We were never under threat of losing this game as they failed to have a single shot on target. We did however make hard work of the win as only scored once and missed a penalty during the game as well.

Ruiter, Luckassen, Giebels, Amione, Leysen, Kana, Almendra (Hopman), Burger, Doan, Unuvar, Romero

A really big win here and a great moment for Unuvar as he scored a hat-trick. We had a few injuries and suspensions, so I decided to give a few of the youngsters a game and they definitely impressed. Following this game, I moved Giebels, Leysen, Hopman and Unuvar into the B team so they can get regular second division football, despite them all being just 17 years old.

Zoet, Atal, Luckassen, Van Drongelen, Willems, Belmonte, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Bruma, Malen

This time it was Gutierrez’s turn to get in on the goals. We have been great in front of goal this season and are regularly scoring 3 or more goals in a game. With January coming I am sure we will have some interest in our attacking players.

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl (Luckassen), Van Drongelen, Willems, Belmonte, Ihattaren (Almendra), Gutierrez, Pereiro (Doan), Bruma, Malen

Another strong month ends with us scoring plenty of goals. We went behind to a very early goal here but we were able to battle back and had the win wrapped up before half time.

Summary

Another strong month passes as we win every league game and get through to the next round of the cup as well. Apart from the Ajax games and possibly AZ and Feyernoord games as well, the league has not provided much of a challenge and it has become a chance to try and get the tactic working for when we play in the Champions League.

League Table

Fixtures

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January

Ruiter, Dumfries, Kana, Amione, Boscagli, Hendrix, Almendra, Burger, Doan, Unuvar, Romero

A good re-introduction by Jorrit Hendrix here as he gave a MotM performance in his second debut for the club. I will talk more about him in the transfer section later on.

Zoet, Atal (Dumfries), Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems (Boscagli), Hendrix, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Bruma, Malen

Another MotM performance from Hendrix as he has slotted in like he never left. The disappointment here was that the first team could only win by the same score-line as the backups did in the cup in the game before.

Zoet, Atal (Dumfries), Baumgartl, Van Drongelen (Amione), Willems, Hendrix, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro (Doan), Bruma, Malen

Back to our big score-lines as we net 3 away from home. This game was also the final game for a big player for us as we made a few deadline day deals but I will talk about that in a moment.

Summary

A nice start to the second half of the season as we win all 3 games and kept 3 clean sheets as well. The transfer window has been busy and the depth of the squad has been improved except for the striker position which is now looking slightly weaker.

Transfers Out

The big deal is towards the bottom as, on deadline day, we sold Bruma to Arsenal for £47.5mil. Arsenal had made a bid for him earlier in the window but walked away when I negotiated for £50mil. This time when I negotiated for £50mil, they counter offered for £47.5mil and I decided to take it. Bruma is one of our oldest players at 26 and I didn’t feel as though we would get a better offer for Bruma in the future, so I decided it was time to move him on.

The other thing to mention is the fees we got for some backup players. £9mil for Gakpo, £18mil for Luckassen and £15mil for Romero. All 3 were backup players in their positions so to make £42mil from those 3 players is astonishing. All 3 only ended up going for so much money due to the fact that we had multiple bids from clubs so I was able to push the fee higher and higher. Schwaab left for regular football and all the other deals are players from the second team who I pushed out to give more game time to youngsters who have better potential.

Transfers In

Hendrix was the first signing for just £9.5mil. After failing to break into the first team at Juventus, he was transfer listed for a fraction of the fee I got for him. I wasn’t too sure on whether to bring him back at first, but when Ajax went for him, I decided to bring him back and have him compete with Belmonte for the DM position.

The rest of the deals all happened on deadline day and the first two are two youngsters from Lanus. Last January, we signed Belmonte from Lanus and he has turned into a key player for us. These two are not as good as he was straight away but could develop into regular starters for us. They will go into the B team for the rest of this season but may step up if needed.

The next deal is a direct replacement for Bruma as Noah Okafor joins from Basel for £12.25mil. The fee was his release clause and his value has already gone above that to. With regular game time, he should develop further and be sold off for a handsome profit in the future.

Tomas Esteves joins from Porto for just £1.9mil. My scout recommended this lad to me after he was transfer listed, I decided to take a punt on him as the fee wasn’t that high and I feel as though I have found a future gem of a player. As a RB, he will have to wait for a chance in the team due to Atal and Dumfries being here but he has all the stats to be a starting RB in the near future when those 2 move on.

The last deal sees us bring another former player back to the club, although he never played under me. Angelino was transfer listed and I haven’t been too impressed with Boscagli so I have brought him back to the club to compete with Willems. Due to a clause when Angelino left the club, we got 20% of the fee back so he only actually cost us £6.8mil.

League Table

Fixtures

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February

Zoet, Dumfries (Angelino), Baumgartl (Kana), Van Drongelen, Willems (Boscagli), Belmonte, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Okafor, Malen

A great victory as the goals keep flying in. We keep getting suspensions and injuries at the back, but I imagine that is a inevitable when we play an aggressive high line.

Bajic, Esteves, Benitez, Amione (Boscagli), Leysen, Kana, Jimenez, Burger, Doan, Unuvar, Krilanovich

A second 5-0 win in a row and this one is even more impressive considering the team is made up of backup players and youngsters from the B team. Unuvar impressed again on the left wing but to be honest pretty much everyone does in a 5-0 win.

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Angelino, Belmonte, Ihattaren, Almendra, Pereiro (Doan), Okafor, Malen

A much tighter scoreline here but still 3 points gathered. The title is almost a certainty now unless we have a monumental collapse in the remaining games.

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems, Belmonte, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Okafor, Malen

I got a little lucky here as I started the game and then walked away from the laptop and let the game run by itself. I have no idea how the game went but I did go back and look at the goals and Gutierrez’s winner was a great strike.

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen (Belmonte), Willems, Hendrix, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Okafor (Unuvar), Malen

I am pleased with this result as we still stand a decent chance of getting through to the next round. The away goal could be useful as well. They dominated us but we were able to hold them to just 1 goal.

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen (Amione), Angelino, Belmonte, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Okafor, Malen

We finish the month just as we started it with a 5-0 win. The score-line was pretty close until the final 20 minutes where we really opened them up with 4 goals. Malen also missed a penalty that could have got him his hat-trick and taken the score-line even higher.

Summary

Another really strong month where we all but wrapped up the title, got through to the semi-final of the Dutch cup and have a fighting chance of making the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The number of goals going in is incredible as we scored 5 goals in 3 different games and we are pretty tight at the back. At the moment I am not too sure how I can improve this team other than move on the more experienced players to bring more youth in.

League Table

Fixtures

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March

Bajic, Dumfries, Benitez, Amione, Angelino, Hendrix, Almendra, Burger, Doan, Unuvar, Krilanovich

We get through to the final of the cup. Just. Willem II have been very impressive this season and they took us to penalties where be both took 8 penalties each until Amione scored the winning one.

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl (Kana), Hendrix, Willems, Belmonte, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Okafor, Malen

Another strong win with a couple of goals for our main goal threats, Malen and Pereiro. They have both been on great form this season and have both got over 20 goals this season now.

Zoet, Atal (Dumfries), Kana, Hendrix, Angelino (Boscagli), Belmonte, Ihattaren, Gutierrez (Burger), Doan, Okafor, Malen

The goals keep going in for Malen at the moment. He is unhappy at the club as he wants a move to a bigger club but he is still capable of getting the goals for us.

Zoet, Atal (Dumfries), Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Boscagli, Belmonte, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro (Hendrix), Unuvar (Almendra), Malen

What a result here, and it was a great performance as well. We dominated the game and deserved to win it in normal time. Once we took the lead in extra time, I went completely defensive which included bringing on Hendrix to play as a 3rd CB and it worked a treat as they didn’t create a single chance once I did this.

I took a screenshot of the match stats as well to just show many chances we created against them.

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems, Kana, Ihattaren (Almendra), Gutierrez, Pereiro, Okafor (Unuvar), Malen

CHAMPIONS!!! Not the result we wanted for the match but definitely enough to secure the league title. The title had been a formality for a while, but we finally confirmed it here with a decent draw. It was a decent game with chances for both teams and the draw is enough to keep our unbeaten run in the league going.

Summary

Probably the best month we have had in terms of importance as we make the final of the Dutch Cup, beat Man Utd to face Real Madrid in the quarter finals and won the league title with plenty of games spare. The possibility of going unbeaten for the league title is still there, but with Champions League and the Dutch Cup final games coming up, we will play the younger players in the league and focus on trying to win those games.

League Table

Fixtures

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April

Zoet, Dumfries, Benitez, Hendrix, Boscagli (Angelino), Belmonte (Van Drongelen), Almendra, Gutierrez, Doan, Okafor, Malen

A strong win keeps the unbeaten run going. I rotated a few key players as we face Real Madrid next and that is our main focus at the moment.

Zoet, Atal, Kana, Van Drongelen, Willems, Belmonte, Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Unuvar, Malen

I’m really pleased with this result. The odds of us getting a win at the Bernabeu are very small but the fact that we could match them at home shows that we are progressing really well. Gutierrez getting the MotM award when he was competing against Modric and Casemiro was pleasing to see as well.

Zoet, Dumfries, Kana, Boscagli, Angelino, Hendrix, Almendra, Burger, Doan, Okafor, Krilanovich

I rotated the team again as our next two games are playing Real Madrid again and then Feyenoord in the Dutch Cup final. I don’t really remember a moment of real quality as the game flew by. The main target in the league now is to just not lose a game and we met that target here.

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems (Angelino), Belmonte (Burger), Ihattaren, Gutierrez (Doan), Pereiro, Unuvar, Malen

I said it was unlikely we would get a result here and we didn’t. We had 11 shots on goal which could be seen as possible, until I checked and saw that Real Madrid had 34. We are out of the Champions League but we got one round further than last season which is decent progress.

Zoet, Atal (Dumfries), Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems (Angelino), Kana (Belmonte), Ihattaren, Gutierrez, Pereiro (Doan), Okafor, Malen

WE WIN THE DUTCH CUP. We almost through it away after they equalized in the 95th minute to take it to extra time. I thought it would end up going to penalties but then Okafor stepped up and finally delivered in a big moment to grab us the trophy. The only thing left now is to see if we can go the season unbeaten.

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl (Hendrix), Amione, Willems, Kana, Ihattaren (Almendra), Burger, Pereiro (Doan), Unuvar, Malen

Another good win and a clean sheet in the league which is always a good thing. I am bringing in some of the younger players a bit more as I already start to plan for next season and both Kana and Amione really impressed here.

Summary

The month went roughly as I would have expected it to go. We continued being unbeaten in the league, went out of the Champions League to Real Madrid and won the Dutch Cup (Just). The youngsters are starting to get more game time and they are beginning to step up. Kana has been great and gives me another strong option in the DM position. Next month brings the final two games and hopefully we can keep the unbeaten record for the whole season.

League Table

Fixtures

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May

Zoet, Esteves, Benitez, Amione, Angelino, Kana, Jimenez, Burger, Doan, Unuvar, Krilanovich

A strong win from the youngsters with Unuvar putting in a great performance. I haven’t been too impressed with Okafor so Unuvar has a real chance of taking the LW position next season.

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Angelino, Belmonte, Ihattaren, Hendrix, Pereiro, Okafor, Malen

And we finish the season going unbeaten. Willem II have had a good season but we really put them away here. Pereiro started the season like a house on fire but then was a bit off and on for the rest of it. I am pleased to see him get two goals here to finish the season on a high.

Summary

We only had two games but they were important as the two wins mean we finish the league unbeaten and with a record breaking 96 points. I will talk about the squad more in the end of season post so there isn’t too much to say other than the fact that we dominated the league and this month has finished off an incredible domestic season.

League Table

Fixtures

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End of Season Post

We have finished the second season and the team is ticking by nicely. The youngsters are developing nicely and with the interest in our regular starters, I think the youngsters will be given a chance to step up next season. We did extremely well in Europe as we finished top of a tough group and then were able to knock Man Utd out before falling to Real Madrid.

Our performance in the Dutch cup couldn’t have been any different compared to last season. Last season we went out very early on but this season we ended up lifting the trophy. It has been a good chance to see how the youngsters could do against top division sides and they did very well. I am expecting 3 or 4 first team players to leave as almost the entire starting XI are wanted by bigger clubs so these youngsters will be stepping up next season.

End of Season Awards

No real surprises in the team of the year as it is the regular XI from the first half of the season before Bruma left the club. Okafor was a not very impressive in the second half of the season so it was always going to be Bruma to take that position.

I was surprised to see Willems get player of the season. He has had a good season and tops the assists table for us but I would have put Malen and particularly Pereiro ahead of him. The rest was as expected as Willems definitely was the best signing of the season and Ihattaren has been one of our best players so he is definitely worthy of winning young player of the season.

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Squad Overview

Goalkeepers – Zoet was still the clear number one will youngster Bajic got a couple of appearances in the cup to aid his progression. We have a pre-arranged deal for a new keeper that will put more pressure on Zoet and hopefully make sure he keeps putting in strong performances.

Defenders – Atal, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems. I can touch type these 4 names one after the other after typing them so often this season. Luckassen got a bit of game time in the first half of the season but after he left, the back line never really changed. The only reason for changes was for any injuries or suspensions. We have a pre-arranged deal for a CB to try and provide more competition and both Baumgartl and Van Drongelen are wanted by clubs so they may not be here by the time the new season starts.

Midfielders – This has been the real strength of the team this season. We have been able to rotate between Belmonte, Hendrix, Kana, Almendra, Gutierrez, Ihattaren, Burger and also play youngsters Hopman and Jimenez in the cup games. A few of these guys are wanted by the biggest clubs in Europe so expect there to be changes here.

Forwards – Pereiro settled into the RW position very quickly and made that position his own. Doan has not been able to compete for that position for 2 seasons now so he is likely to be moved out over the summer if we can find a buyer. Bruma earnt a big move to Arsenal and his replacement, Okafor, did not do to well. Unuvar did though and may be the starting LW when we start the next season. Malen has been the only option up top really and bringing in some depth for this position is key for the summer.
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[Jedd95]

I absolutely love the Dutch league, well done on your first season.

EDIT: Just realised there was a second page! Awesome second season, so well done on your champions League run and unbeaten League season.

 

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Pre-Season

I am writing this the day before the season starts so the transfer window is still open and things could still change. One of our key players is likely to leave as we have already accepted an offer for him so there should be some movement.

Players Out

The big deal is Mohamed Ihattaren leaving for £80mil to Man Utd. I obviously did not want him to leave but he had a £80mil release cause in his contract so there was nothing I could do about it. The other starting player to leave was Donyell Malen to West Ham for a deal worth up to £45mil. He was unhappy and not going to sign a new deal so I created a bidding war for him which eventually West Ham won.

The next deal was the big shock as we were able to make £27mil from Ritsu Doan. I had not been that impressed with Doan but there were a few teams interested in him so again I was able to keep increasing the bids for him until Huddersfield signed him for a very big fee. The other sales were players that had no future at the club with Boscagli, Sadilek, Junior and Piroe all leaving for small fees.

The last thing to mention is that I loaned out a few youngsters including Burger and Amione. Both of these two were close to breaking into the first team this season but I decided a season of regular football elsewhere will be better for them.

Players In

The biggest deal is to replace Malen as Alexander Isak comes in for a fraction of the price I sold Malen for. Isak was a highly rated wonderkid a couple of years ago and I am hoping he still has good ability on this years game to step in and replace Malen’s goals.

The next signing is to compete with Isak and that is Joshua Zirkzee from Bayern Munich for £8mil. I was looking for a backup striker before I sold Malen and Zirkzee perfectly fits the bill. He is young, Dutch and has well rounded attributes for a striker. He was on loan FC Utrecht last season and had a decent season so I am hoping he can step up for us when I need him to.

Alan Velasco is a young star that my scouts found. My scouts have had a lot of success in Argentina so far and I am hoping Velasco will be another one. I am not too sure where he will fit into our tactic at the moment but he is clearly a great youngster who has a lot of potential and I am sure I can find a place for him.

Perr Schuurs joins us from rivals Ajax for a small fee. He hasn’t reached his potential at Ajax due to not getting any game time so I was able to bring him in for a small fee and then immediately loan him out to get that game time that he needs.

Theo Plomp was a signing made by the HoYD but the other two free transfers were mine as Jesus Vellejo and Jack Butland both join for no fee. The should both provide good cover for their positions with Vellejo likely to get a lot of game time when rotating with Baumgartl and Van Drongelen.

The last signing (so far) is Matteo Guendouzi on loan from Arsenal. He is in the last year of his deal at Arsenal and transfer listed so I am using this loan as a way of seeing how good he is before I try to bring him in on a free transfer next summer. He will have to compete with Gutierrez and Almendra in midfield but he should get plenty of game time over the whole season.

Current Squad

GK – Zoet, Butland
RB – Atal, Dumfries
CB – Baumgartl, Vellejo
CB – Van Drongelen, Obispo
LB – Willems, Angelino
DM – Belmonte, Kana
CM – Almendra, Guendouzi
CM – Gutierrez, Hendrix
RW – Pereiro
LW – Okafor, Unuvar
ST – Isak, Zirkzee
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[Jedd95]

Squad looking good for the coming season. It's a shame you had to sell a few of your stars but always the case in the smaller leagues, and I'm sure your young side will adapt to keep you competitive.

 

[bcfc1]

I absolutely love the Dutch league, well done on your first season.

EDIT: Just realised there was a second page! Awesome second season, so well done on your champions League run and unbeaten League season.

Thanks for the post. We did a lot better in the second season that I thought we would. The pressure is on to go even further in the coming season though.

 

[bcfc1]

Squad looking good for the coming season. It's a shame you had to sell a few of your stars but always the case in the smaller leagues, and I'm sure your young side will adapt to keep you competitive.

We will always have to sell our best players and the challenge is to always make sure you have someone lined up to replace them. Ihattaren is gone but Almendra will step into that position easily and Isak should do okay up top in place of Malen. My only concern is that they were both Dutch homegrown players replaced by foreign players.

 

[bcfc1]

August

Zoet, Atal, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen (Obispo), Willems, Belmonte, Almendra (Jimenez), Gutierrez, Pereiro, Okafor, Isak

This game has been a real indicator of how much we have improved. In the first season, we lost this game, in the second we struggled to a win and now in our 3rd season we have got a comfortable win with 2 early goals. We kept pushing for more goals and ended the game with 29 shots on goal.

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen (Obispo), Willems, Belmonte, Almendra, Gutierrez (Guendouzi), Pereiro, Okafor, Isak

We start the season by taking 3 points against Willem II who had a strong season last season. Isak has settled quickly and scored in his first two games. It is looking like he will be a good replacement for Malen.

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems, Belmonte, Almendra, Gutierrez (Hendrix), Pereiro, Okafor (Unuvar), Isak (Zirkzee)

We created loads of chances but it took a late goal from sub Unuvar to get us the 3 points.

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl (Vallejo), Van Drongelen, Willems, Belmonte (Kana), Almendra, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Okafor, Isak (Zirkzee)

Back to usual here as we scored plenty of goals. I’m not pleased that we conceded twice but if we can score 5 goals a game then we are likely to win most games.

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems (Angelino), Belmonte, Almendra, Gutierrez (Jimenez), Pereiro (David), Okafor, Isak

I haven’t always been impressed with Okafor but he delivered here with 2 goals. If he can do this more consistently then he would be a world class winger but he has too many games where he does nothing.

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen (Obispo), Willems, Belmonte (Kana), Almendra, Gutierrez, Pereiro (David), Okafor, Isak

Another big scoring game that broke our record for a game with the most goals involved. I have also noticed that in games where we score 4+ goals, unless one of the forwards is scoring a hat-trick, it is usually one of the 2 CM’s that ends up as MotM as they control the game so well.

Summary

It has been a perfect start to the season so far as we beat Ajax in the cup and then won all 5 of our league games. The Champions League draw has not been kind to us as we are in a group with Liverpool, Atletico Madrid and Stade Rennais. We have qualified for the knockout rounds in both of our first two seasons but I think it is very unlikely this time. I wouldn’t mind a good run in the Europa League to see if we have a chance of winning that competition.

Transfers Out

There was just one more player to leave this window but it was another big one as Youcef Atal joined PSG for £40mil. PSG had been interested in him for a while and he wanted to leave. They originally bid £24mil for him but we negotiated that to a deal worth £40mil and they accepted. We still have Dumfries at the club who is a top RB for this league and both Teze and Esteves can come back from their loans if we need another option there as well.

Transfers In

The first transfer is Dirk Proper from NEC. He looks to be a very good young Dutch player who will have a good future for us. As part of the deal, he will spend the season on loan at NEC who are in the second division. This should help his development and give him a good chance of being ready to step into the first team squad for next season.

The next one is another youngster as we spent £6mil on a 17yr old. Romain Lacombe looks to have a great future as he has incredible mental stats for such a young player. He is also really strong technically for a playmaker. His only weakness is his physical stats but he has time to develop those.

The last signing is a big one as we spent £20mil on Jonathan David. I was looking at him all summer but didn’t feel comfortable spending so much money on one player. Once Atal left, we had plenty of money and I decided this deal was worth it. David is comfortable in any of the front 3 positions so he will get plenty of game time and should develop well.

League Table

Fixtures

 

[bcfc1]

September

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl (Vallejo), Van Drongelen, Angelino, Belmonte, Almendra, Gutierrez, Pereiro, Okafor (Unuvar), Isak (Zirkzee)

Feyenoord are the team that ruined our unbeaten run in our first season so I am pleased to get a win against them here to keep our 100% league run going.

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems (Angelino), Belmonte, Almendra (Guendouzi), Gutierrez, Pereiro, Okafor (David), Isak

We almost got something from this game as we pushed for equalizer late on. In the end, Baumgartl took a silly second yellow to get sent off and then Atletico got a second from that free kick.

Zoet, Dumfries, Vallejo, Van Drongelen, Angelino, Belmonte, Jimenez, Guendouzi, Pereiro, Okafor (Velasco), Isak

Another strong win in the league. We haven’t played Ajax yet but there doesn’t seem to be any competition in the league. There are plenty of games where we are blowing teams away and this was another of them.

Zoet, Dumfries, Vallejo, Obispo, Angelino, Kana (Hendrix) (Belmonte), Jimenez, Guendouzi, David, Unuvar (Gutierrez), Zirkzee

This was one weird game. I rotated the squad a lot to give players a rest but Belmonte barely had one as both Kana and then his replacement Hendrix had to come off with injuries. Kana was off after just 13 mins while Hendrix came off after 34. Dumfries also got a straight red to make sure the game was just that little bit harder for us as well.

Zoet, Dumfries, Vallejo, Van Drongelen, Angelino, Belmonte, Almendra (Guendouzi), Gutierrez, Pereiro (Velasco), Okafor (Isak), David

This game completely changed in a 5 minute window. They equalized in the 56th minute, Pereiro missed a penalty to give us the lead again in the 59th and then they did score just 2 minutes after that.

Summary

The month went about how I thought it would as we won every league game but lost both Champions League games. We weren’t blown away in either game but if we had got a point then we would have been lucky to do so. The league is becoming a formality and I have already started to rotate the squad for the league games to give ourselves the best chance possible in the Champions League games.

League Table

Fixtures

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[bcfc1]

October

Zoet, Vallejo, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen (Obispo), Angelino, Belmonte, Almendra, Gutierrez, Pereiro (Velasco), Okafor, Isak

I was hoping for more goals but we still kept a clean sheet and record another win in the league.

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Willems (Angelino), Kana, Almendra, Gutierrez, Pereiro (Velasco), David, Isak

Another tight result here where we dominated the game but could only score 2 out of 28 shots.

Zoet, Dumfries, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Angelino, Kana, Almendra, Gutierrez, Pereiro (Willems), Okafor (Zirkzee), Isak (Vallejo)

What a game. 5 goals, 3 red cards and 3 goals in the last 5 minutes of the game. We desperately needed to get a win here to give ourselves a chance of still qualifying and we have done so. We face Stade Rennais again in our next Champions League match and we need to win that one as well.

Zoet, Vallejo, Baumgartl, Van Drongelen, Angelino, Belmonte (Hendrix), Almendra, Gutierrez (Guendouzi), Pereiro (Velasco), Unuvar, Isak

Another close win in the league. This game was possibly the tightest one so far this season in the league as we struggle to control the game. We have averaged 62% possession this season but in this game we only just had more than half with 51%.

Butland, Dumfries, Vallejo, Van Drongelen, Willems, Hendrix, Jimenez, Gutierrez, Velasco, Unuvar, Zirkzee

We comfortably go through to the next round of the cup as the backup squad win by 2 goals.

Butland, Dumfries, Vallejo, Obispo, Willems, Hendrix, Jimenez, Guendouzi, David, Unuvar (Velasco), Zirkzee

Another 1 goal victory in the league. We have played 4 league games this month and in every one of them we have won by just one goal. In this game it was Zirkzee who stepped up with both goals to make sure we take the 3 points.

Summary

6 games and 6 wins sounds like a good month but our performances have not been as good as the previous month as we won almost every game by just 1 goal. We have generally blown a team away in the league every 3 or 4 games but we didn’t do it to anyone here as had to battle our way to keep our 100% league run going. We also finally got off the mark in the Champions League and now hopefully we can try and build on that to maybe steal a qualification place away from Liverpool or Atletico Madrid.

League Table

Fixtures

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