The rise of Fulham

  • Thread starter Thread starter mask0991
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 1K
  • Views Views 286K
EPL Team of the Season

So, this was the Players' Team of the Season:
View attachment 273988
I don't agree with this, not one bit. Firstly, Eden Hazard was voted as the Players' Player of the year but he is not in the team of the year. Very surprising.

What's even more surprising is the absence of Pat Roberts. He has been absolutely phenomenal for us. I think it has to do with the 442 formation. Hazard and Roberts are natural AML and AMR, and I think that's why they aren't included in this 442. A bit silly, I think.

Here are some select stats for two of my top performers this season.
View attachment 273987
I am delighted to see Roberts performing so brilliantly but it's so disappointing that he's not in the team of the year. I think he deserves much needed appreciation. I really hope the Fulham fans vote him the player of the year.

Balanta has been rock-solid as always. In fact, he has been in the Premier League for 4 seasons and he's been included in the team of the year each time.
 
June 3rd 2019

In 5 days, we face Liverpool in the Champions League Final. We've been training on defensive discipline ahead of the big game.

However, it wasn't going to be a smooth ride for us. Head Physio Mark Taylor has been rather busy with his work of keeping players fit and he has been reporting several injury problems off late.

In the last 2 weeks, Pedto, Amorebieta and Finnbogason got injured and they all look pretty bad. They will all be missing the final vs. Liverpool. The latest victim was Alex Kacaniklic.

In fact, I was away from the training ground to tend to some personal business and Taylor let me know of this development via a message.

Taylor:
Hey T, Kacaniklic is unfortunately injured. He twisted his ankle, and it looks bad.
Click to expand...
Me:
Oh ****** ****! Can't call right now, but send me the report as soon as possible. I'll check my e-mail.
Click to expand...
Taylor:
sure boss, but it'll take a couple of hours to get the full prognosis on his situation
Click to expand...

View attachment 273984
 
ECC 2018/19: Final

And our wonderful Champions League journey ends on a sour note. We lost the game but honestly, this game went according to plan for majority of the 90 minutes. I set-up to draw Liverpool forward and counter-attack. It nearly worked in the 30th minute as Vilhena hit the bar with a lovely volley. Balanta hit the bar just moments later from a corner. Despite Liverpool dominating possession and stats, our plan was working well and we very nearly took the lead.
View attachment 273978

But things changed in the second half. Our only error in marking
allowed Liverpool to take the lead. Bettinelli saved a long ranger effort from Volland, and Ankersen pounced onto the rebound. The defenders should be doing a better job at marking than that (see right). Ankersen ran in from the left wing, completely escaping the back four's notice and scored.

The second one - well nobody could've done anything. It was a fantastic 20 yarder (see below) that whistled into the top corner. I don't think any tactic could've worked when the wonderboy pulls off something like that.
View attachment 273977
We went a bit more offensive after that but couldn't find the much needed goal. Liverpool celebrated jubilantly after their success. The reclaim the title after losing it to Chelsea last season.
 
Bad luck, but if you had to lose to someone I'm glad it was Liverpool! Could you screenshot this Ankersen guy please?
 
3 Norwich players in the team of the year?! Did they finish in the champs league places or something?! Haha
 
****, unlucky in the CL Final, Norwich seem to do well on my games aswell lol
 
Fulham Awards

Fulham Team of the Season:
​
View attachment 273766

Fans' Player of the Year
View attachment 273764​
I am delighted that Patrick won this award. He has easily been our best performer this season, being directly involved in 44 goals in 47 appearances. Woodrow has been involved in 32, while Jiminez in 29.

Cauley Woodrow has won this award the last four years in a row and he came third this season. I had a conversation with Patrick Roberts and congratulated him and said that his performances this season have been nothing short of brilliant.
 
Convincing the trio...

Three of my first team players are currently wanted by other clubs. Kranevitter by Arsenal, Vilhena by Liverpool and Balanta by PSG.

Kranevitter's agent wanted a new contract for his client to put this transfer speculation to rest.
Vilhena and Balanta directly came to me asking for my permission to move.
Kranevitter has been a beat in our midfield and I didn't want to lose him. So, I offered him a 5 year deal as he is just 26 and has his best years ahead of him. He immediately accepted the offer and signed a contract worth 33M.View attachment 273743
Balanta wanted to move to PSG for higher wages. He has done this a few times, asking a move for money. I dealt with him the same way as before and told him money is not everything. He has the habit of getting carried away at times, but he listens to reason.
View attachment 273742
Vilhena was a tough one to convince. Liverpool have already taken Christensen from me, and I can't let them take another player. So, I spoke my mind. And he wasn't happy. Well, I have no regrets. He has been quite annoying over the last 2 seasons when it came to matters like this and I felt this was the right way to talk to him.View attachment 273741
​
 
Contracts

I had to think twice before offering new contracts to Ruiz and Amorebieta given their ages but given that they agreed to take pay cuts, I was okay with it.

I let go of Elijah Adebayo as he wasn't good enough to make it to the first team. He even got a couple of starts last season and he very nearly gave me heart attack with his defending.
 
Finnbogason leaves

View attachment 273698
Out of nowhere, Empoli made an enquiry for Alfred Finnbogason. Woodrow and Jiminez were brilliant last season, thereby sidelining Finnbogason. Further Artur is developing well and I think he'll start to get more game time. So, I accepted the 4.4M offer for him.

Finnbogason has been a really good player for us in the 3 seasons he played for us. I brought him for a 3-4 year spell and am happy to have gotten it out of him. More importantly, I have sold him for more than I brought him for, which is always a nice deal considering that his attributes are slowly starting to decline now that he's 30.
 
View attachment 273696
SEASON 6 (2019-20) PREVIEW

​
I've been at the club for five seasons now. I have won the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and the Community Shield - basically all the top tier trophies in England. We haven't yet established ourselves as a top team in the domestic setting. We still haven't won a European competition yet. We came so close to winning the Champions League last season.

PREMIER LEAGUE: This season, I primarily want to establish domestic dominance and try to win against bigger teams like Liverpool, Chelsea, Man United etc. in the league. I want atleast 13-15 points against the 'big five' (Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Utd, and Arsenal). If I can do that, we have a great shot at winning the league.

LEAGUE CUP: After winning the League Cup thrice, I think it's time to let the youth and reserve squad have a go at this. I won't be fielding my first team as this competition is not my main focus now.

FA CUP: I'll be going strong in this competition. I've won this once and would like to add a few more FA Cup titles to my bag. I may still give some rotation players a shot in this competition, depending on the opposition.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: This will be my second priority, after the Premier League. This is where the real quality of my squad will be tested, with the likes of Barca and Bayern around. My first goal is to finish top of the group (we finished second in the last two seasons). It's not going to be easy but I'm gonna have a go at it.

My team: Very much the same as last season. I will not be making any buys in the summer transfer window. With a few top quality youngsters coming through the academy, I don't feel the need to buy unnecessarily. Depending on how the first half of the season goes, I may buy in the winter transfer window.

I'll of course be relying on Balanta, Baselli, Woodrow, Roberts and Kranevitter to form the back-bone of the squad this season.

The one big change would be the inclusion of Foday Nabay. After 4 seasons out on loan, it's time for the 20 year old to start playing a role in the first team. I'll start him as a rotation option and see where it goes from there.
 
A question to the readers

View attachment 273695This will be my sixth season in charge. Up until now, I've been quite detailed in match reports, team talks and other stuff.

Heading into the sixth season, I am wondering if I should continue with the match by match update or do it monthly. I am undecided at the moment.

I do like giving detailed reports but I'd like to hear the thoughts of you folks, the readers.

Should I continue this way, or should I do a month-by-month update?

I appreciate your views!
 
2019/20: Pre-Season

Pretty poor results to be honest. My assistant Baresi managed the first four away games, and I took charge for the last two. I did rest a few key names and the remaining ones played only one half.

We came so close to drawing with Stuttgart. In the final 5 minutes, we hit the cross bar twice and had a goal ruled out for offside.
PRE-SEASON FITNESS
​
Most of my players are fully fit and didn't have any fitness concerns ahead of the first game in the season. However, two players were injured and will miss the beginning of the season.

Right back Lustig will be out for 3-4 weeks and will miss the beginning of the season, just like last season. Nabay will also be sidelined for a week or so.
 
mask0991 said:
View attachment 838267This will be my sixth season in charge. Up until now, I've been quite detailed in match reports, team talks and other stuff.

Heading into the sixth season, I am wondering if I should continue with the match by match update or do it monthly. I am undecided at the moment.

I do like giving detailed reports but I'd like to hear the thoughts of you folks, the readers.

Should I continue this way, or should I do a month-by-month update?

I appreciate your views!
Click to expand...

I like it the way it is mate, has been a very good read but in the end its up to you. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

FMBase

Beta

Resources

Back
Top