Taking Southampton North!

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ninjaskill said:
Grat job winning the Europa league and unlucky with the FA Cup. Good signings in Vietto and Laporte they should help you back into the to four.

Also 11 million signing on fee I should have spent more time practicing not being awful at football. I guess I could make do with the 5 million agent fee if I must
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Thanks mate, the Europa League result meant I didn't mind too much about the FA Cup, especially as it was Liverpool :P

It's the agents that make a killing by leeching off someone else's talent! :P I bumped up the wage, agent fee and signing on fee once I saw Athletic had made him a counter offer, so that's some serious cash!
 
PatrickLFC said:
Thanks mate, the Europa League result meant I didn't mind too much about the FA Cup, especially as it was Liverpool :P

It's the agents that make a killing by leeching off someone else's talent! :P I bumped up the wage, agent fee and signing on fee once I saw Athletic had made him a counter offer, so that's some serious cash!
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At least they aren't stealing all of your player like IRL then you may not be as fond of them

My most recent coach was an agent actually and it looks like he made a killing from it
 

Injury News...


Our first friendly doesn’t go to plan as we pick up 3 injuries! Clasie is also sidelined currently.

Some good news! Dragowski signs a new contract, which is fantastic. His release clause actually drops from 60m to 51m, which I wasn’t happy about but couldn’t avoid, but I will look to renew again at some point soon to remove it altogether if possible.
 
ninjaskill said:
At least they aren't stealing all of your player like IRL then you may not be as fond of them

My most recent coach was an agent actually and it looks like he made a killing from it
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That's true haha but Saints have got the better end of most of those deals irl, Clyne probably the only exception!

Yeah I'd imagine you could make some serious money from it!
 
Lionel Messi has done it! Two goals to turn things around in the World Cup Final and deliver it to Argentina!
The biggest surprise of the tournament was Brazil, who finished 3rd in their group after losing to both England and Japan

Apparently I’m the favourite for both the Italy and Spain jobs! I’m not sure whether I’ll take either of them if offered, still undecided. The Brazil job is also available, which makes me wonder if I could have kept Luan and tried for the job.
 

In the end I was offered both roles! I considered both, but decided against it in the end. Either would have been a good chance of a major trophy at some point, but I’m just not really that interested right now. There are a couple of countries which could probably tempt me, but they don’t have vacancies. It’s possible that if only one of them had come forward I would have taken it, but I couldn’t pick between them because I wasn’t especially keen on either.


Injury News...

Wanyama joins the injury list! This preseason hasn’t been very friendly.


Clasie returns to the treatment room for the second time this preseason.
 

Preseason results were pretty good, as I once again left them to my assistant. It's worth noting that we had a number of players at the World Cup for many of the early matches. We only lost to Real Madrid after outshooting them at the Bernabeu, and thoroughly dismantled Inter in the last match, with the 4-2 scoreline flattering the Italians.

As far as signings go, I’m unlikely to move for any more senior players. I was rejected by two midfielders, Chochev (again!), who went to Lazio, and Lewis Cook, who opted for Man City, but I’m happy with the options I have currently.

Angelo Palombo has been promoted to captain this season, with Tadic taking his role as vice captain. The squad seem very happy with the decision. Fonte can’t secure a move away at the moment, even for free, so he might even be released.
 
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Some fantastic signings you have made, I feel a title push might just be round the corner.

Loving the layout of your posts as well, keep up the good work!
 
JCGooner said:
Some fantastic signings you have made, I feel a title push might just be round the corner.

Loving the layout of your posts as well, keep up the good work!
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Thanks mate, I decided it was about time I spent some of the money we had :P

Very glad you're enjoying it, thanks for the support! :)
 

UEFA Super Cup - Grand Final - Juventus (Neutral)


The UEFA Super Cup is essentially a friendly, and I’m not too fussed if we win or not. Juventus are an incredible team so we can’t be too disappointed if we can’t beat them. I’m taking the opportunity to start my new central defence pairing together, so they can begin to gel, and Vietto starts up top. Clasie and Wanyama are both injured, though nearing a return, and so my midfield isn’t as strong as it might otherwise be. As you can see, Juventus are completely stacked, having added Kovacic, Janmaat and Kenedy to a Champions League winning squad.

In the 7th minute Ward-Prowse’s low corner found Tadic. Pogba blocked his shot, and Cillessen saved Pjaca’s followup, but the Croatian wasn’t done, and slotted the rebound from the sharpest angle! Last season’s top scorer opens his account!

Dybala burst through in the 30th minute but Dragowski made a good stop.

In the 37th minute the man who I hope will be this season’s top scorer, Vietto, netted his first for the club on debut! Some tight passing near the edge of the box led to Ward-Prowse slipping him the ball, and he finished beyond Cillessen.

In the 53rd minute Laporte knocked down a corner for Pjaca, but Bonucci blocked his goal-bound shot.

It was another corner, which was cleared only as far as Ward-Prowse, and he gave it to Cedric, who put it back in to the far post, and it took a touch off Janmaat and found the net! Own goal!

In the 68th minute Iniesta took the field in place of Asensio to make his debut, whilst Gitschier and Sindelar replaced Tadic and Vietto.

In the 71st minute Dragowski turned a ball which had been deflected goalwards by Süle around the post! Outstanding reflexes!

In the 80th minute Süle, after a dominant performance to that point, fouled Benteke and conceded a penalty. Dybala converted.

Well how about that? We didn’t just beat the Champions of Europe, we thrashed them! We were certainly the better side, and our debutants did a great job, especially Vietto up front. I’m not sure how Dragowski got such a high rating, as he made two saves! Great result, and trophy number two! We face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in 4 days time, about as difficult an opening day as we could have asked for!


POM: Bartlomiej Dragowski (9.1, 2 Saves, 1 Conceded)
 

English Premier League - Game 1 - Chelsea FC (Away)


Chelsea away from home to start the season. This will be a huge test of our credentials this season. It was always my intention to start Chambers ahead of Süle in this fixture, so that I’m not making wholesale changes to my back line too quickly, although he handled Juventus well for the most part. Chelsea have added Barkley and Ødegaard to their already frightening squad.

In the opening minute Nkoulou scored after a partially cleared corner was headed back in. Disastrous start!

We drew level in the 8th minute though as Tadic turned a low Augustinsson cross home from 6 yards.

Dragowski made a point blank save on Costa in the 11th minute from a Cuadrado cross.

He could do nothing in the 30th minute though, as Costa’s header found the top corner, again from Cuadrado.

Barkley then picked up a debut goal in the 51st minute after a Hazard free kick was poorly dealt with.

De Paul replaced Pjaca in the 59th.

In the 63rd minute Hazard raced from halfway, played a one two with Costa and continued into the box, before blasting past Dragowski. Just too good.

Süle replaced Laporte and Milik replaced Vietto in the 65th minute.

It was Hazard and Costa again in the 77th minute, the former winning the ball near his own box and sending a long ball forward, and the latter shrugging off Chambers and racing around the back, before cutting the ball back to Klaassen for a tap in.

Klaassen had his second in stoppage time with a low shot from the edge of the box which made its way through traffic and straight through Dragowski.

Well that was disgraceful. Last season we lost to Chelsea twice by a single goal, but both times we were worth at least a point, and should in fact have won the home fixture. This time we didn’t even come close. We were torn to shreds, as 6 of their 9 shots on target found the net. Everything they touched turned to gold - or goals, more accurately. Time to refocus. That’s our wake up call.


POM: Diego Costa (Chelsea - 9.4, 1G, 2A)

Best Southampton Players: Marco Asensio and James Ward-Prowse (7.1, 0G, 0A)
 

English Premier League - Game 2 - West Ham United (Home)


A couple of changes from the side that was hammered by Chelsea. Wanyama returns from injury, but Clasie is missing. Laporte and Süle are reunited at the back. We should beat West Ham, and it’s crucial that we do.

We started brightly, with only a desperate Gibson block denying Vietto at the near post from a Cedric cross in the 2nd minute.

In the 42nd minute Vietto produced a sublime touch to bring down an Asensio pass and turn in one motion. He fired past the keeper, but hit the underside of the bar!

In the 44th minute Vietto sent a perfect ball for Tadic, who would have scored if he’d shot right away, but he took far too long and 3 defenders got back, one of them deflecting his shot behind.

In the 50th minute we finally hit the lead as Cedric;s cross was won by Svensson, but his header fell to Asensio, who headed it into the net!

Pjaca and Balic replaced Tadic and Alonso in the 62nd minute.

In the 69th minute Bentancur had a speculative shot from distance, and Dragowski couldn’t hold it. Quick as a flash, Valencia put it in the open net.

Milik replaced Vietto as we moved to 4-2-3-1 in the 74th.

The substitution happened as we had a free kick, and Asensio sent it into the box, where Milik was hauled down by Gibson - penalty! Asensio tucked it into the top corner for his second of the game!

In the 82nd minute we returned to a 4-3-3.

Asensio sent a brilliant ball over the top for Milik in stoppage time, but a last ditch sliding tackle from Reid halted him just before he got a shot off.

Not our most convincing performance, but we got the result we needed after having our egos shattered at Stamford Bridge last week. Asensio did the damage with a brace, and how about Milik for an impact substitute, winning a penalty within seconds!


POM: Marco Asensio (8.8, 2G, 0A)
 

Injury News...


Aargh! Just about my most important player!!

Gitschier will miss a couple of weeks too!

No complaints from me about the Capital One Cup Draw, particularly as one of Arsenal or Liverpool will fall early, as well as either Manchester United or Chelsea.


The Champions League Group Stage pits us against Barcelona! Certainly not going to be easy, but I’m confident we can finish second. Groups G and H look the stuff of nightmares, whilst Group A isn’t too flash either!

 
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