The Utrecht Adventure

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Abij2

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Overview

Welcome to my FC Utrecht story. In this save I am aiming to first try to bring Utrecht to the top of the Eredivisie, and then try to slowly establish the side as a regular challenger for the top European trophies. I don’t have any set in stone rules per se, but I am hoping to mainly try to bring young Dutch players into the squad, and hopefully the Netherlands squad will eventually be built up of a core of Utrecht players.
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As you can see I take over Utrecht at a pretty solid base position. It is good to see that we have no debt to take care of, and a predicted mid table finish is telling me that we will have a solid set up in the squad to start with, and hopefully will not be worrying about a relegation battle in our first season.
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Looks like the club won’t be breaking the bank for our initial contract.

Looking at the club background, it is good to see the facilities look in decent shape at the start, hopefully we can quickly bring more success to the trophy cabinet, and try to turn the tables on our league rivals Ajax.
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Squad Overview (Key Players)

Goalkeeper We look to be well set in goal moving forward. Ruiter looks like he should do a great job for us, and at only 28 years of age he can stay between the sticks for many years to come.
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Defense Leading the defense we will have the young Timo Letschert. He looks to have the stats in the right positions to be a good BPD for us. Although his strength could do with some improvement. At 22 years old he still has plenty of time to improve, and I am looking for him lead from the back.
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Midfield We should not have any problems in the center of the park this season, as we have quite a few very good options in this part of the pitch. Leading the pack is our captain Janssen. I feel that Janssen could well be the most important player for us this season, as he has more experience than the other options in the center of the park combined, and I feel he could do a job for us in his favoured AP role. As he is 29 he will also be a solid tutor for our younger options who are looking to break through very quickly.
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Forward We have a handful of decent choices up top, but Haller is looking to quickly cement his place as our first choice option up top. I am most likely going to play him as an Advanced Forward, but it is good to see that he is just as comfortable playing as a Target Man if we have to hoof the ball forward while chasing a goal late on. As he is only 21 with a some room still to develop I am looking for him to push on grab some crucial goals for us. Hopefully we will be able to keep hold of him for a few years, as if he bangs them in clubs all over Europe will surely come calling.
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Hot Prospect We have several players vying for the number one prospect designation, but I feel that 19 year old Bart Ramselaar is the most likely of our young guns to make an impact this season. I am having him tutored by Janssen, as I feel that the combination of Janssen’s experience and his excellent determination will quickly help Bart push on. Expect him to play an important role in the first team for many years to come.

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Needs and Squad Depth Looking at our Depth Chart, we have solid depth in most areas, but we are severely lacking in both the AML and AMR departments. Patrick Joosten is the only player in both of those positions that looks to have a role in the first team this season, and I see him as purely a rotation option at best. We will look to bring in several faces on the wings. This first transfer window also may see me bring in a rotational/backup central defender, as the quality at the back looks to drop off dramatically after our first choice pairing.
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Looking closely at Joosten, it would be a real let down if he is first choice for us this season. He has the potential to be a top player for us in the future, but he needs to be worked in slowly, and is simply not yet the quality required to be a first team player for us. Looking at his physical attributes his stamina is abysmal and requires serious attention.
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Tactic This looks to be our main tactic for this season, provided I can bring in the required players on the wings. The tactic looks to be tinkered with over the first few months of the season as we fully get to know the ins and outs of the squad and the Eredivisie in general.View attachment 140933
Finances Coming from my long term save in England, the finances at the start here do not look nearly as promising. We start with just over 2.5 million in the bank, and after a slight budget adjustment we have almost 200,000 available for transfers, and around 3,000 available in the wage budget. Looks like we will be looking in the loan market for our targets this season. This will probably result in raising the wage budget to allow for a little flexibility in the market.
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Transfer Updates

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A backup forward departs. I had no confidence in his ability to provide the needed quality up top moving forward, so he heads to Belgium for a decent fee.

Unfortunately none of my transfer targets have signed yet and it looks like we will head into our opening fixture against Feyenoord with a weak selection of wingers available.
 
Here we take a look at our fixtures for the opening month of the season. It looks to be a difficult start on the opening matchday, but I am looking for our team to take at least 6 points from the following 3 matches to get our season off to a quick start.

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Feyenoord v. Utrecht

No surprises in our lineup as we have yet to bring in anybody this window. Feyenoord looks very strong and we will have to be at our best to get anything out of this game.

6’ - We get off to a poor start as *** fouls Kuyt in the box and gifts Feyenoord a penalty. No need to foul him there. Toornstra converts from the spot and we are down early.
8’ - Elia plays Kuyt in behind as he runs between our center backs. Kuyt shoots from slightly to the side of the spot, but a good save by Ruiter keeps their lead to one.
10’ -We switch to a counter mentality
16’ - Feyenoord stringing together passes as they work their way down the pitch. Eventually Karsdrop gets the ball on the right and swings a cross in towards Kuyt who makes no mistake and flicks the ball into the far corner.
17’ We drop to a defensive mentality, we havent showed up going forward, time to stop the bleeding.
28’ - A corner from Marko somehow picks out Kuyt in a crowded box and he heads home. 3-0.
33’ - A lovely ball from Marko finds Vilhena left all alone at the top of the box. He takes a touch towards goal but Ruiter smothered it. Great save but where on earth was Klaiber?
45’ - We manage to make it to halftime without giving up any more chances. A horrendous start to my career however, and it is time to let the team know that this is absolutely unnaceptable. Christian *** is on a 5.8 match rating and needs to come off but our backup CB picked up a Hernia before the match so Strieder, a RB will slot in for him.
61’ - Rubio Rubin comes on for Hallar who didn’t show up today, although to be fair to him he received no service from the rest of the team.
62’ Nganioni comes in for Conboy at LB who was having a shocker and looked likely to be sent off.
71’ - Joosten gets on the ball on the left wing and holds off a challenge from Karsdrop before drilling it across to Rubin 5 yards outside the box. Rubin drags both Feyenoord CB’s forward before slotting Ludwig through on goal as he cuts across the defense. Ludwig’s shot is hit back across goal and the keeper can only get a fingertip to it and it bounces into the net. Brilliant combination from the team!
72’ - We switch back to counter, as Feyenoord look like they could be complacent.
79’ - I tell the team to be more attacking as we look for another goal.
84’ - A cross from Elia on the left finds Kuyt drifting to the back post who taps it in for his hat-trick. No hope to rescue a draw now and we fall back to defensive. Gutting.
89’ - Basickoglu picks up the ball on the right and hits an early floating cross over our defense to find Elia. Elia hits it first time back across goal, but Ruiter springs across and makes a very very difficult save. Should be 5-1.
90’ - The final whistle blows and we are finally able to head back to the training ground. I expected a loss but this was a terrible performance by the team. Without Ruiter they could easily have had 6 or 7 past us.

 
Transfer UpdateThe first player to arrive at the club this season will hopefully bring the quality we have needed on the wing.


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I think he could be a brilliant loan signing for us this season, and Chelsea will surely be pleased with the game time he will receive this season.​
 
Unlucky in your first game, man. Got a wee soft spot for Utrecht so I'll be following.
 
Utrecht v. sc Heerenveen

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0’ - The lineups are set, and Bertrand Traore looks set to make his debut for the club. Very excited to see a much better performance from the team.​
7’ - Traore picks up the ball just into their half and goes on a mazy run across the field to the top of the box, and then lays Ludwig through on goal. Ludwig looks to make it 2 goals in 2 apps for the club as he slides it across goal, but Mulder gets down to his left to make a great save.
30’ - Larsson takes a free kick from just off the left corner of the box, and crosses it in to the head of Van Anholt but he heads it well wide of the net.
42’ - Ludwig suffers a foot injury and Joosten replaces him
56’ - A cross from Van Anholt finds the head of Veerman who strikes the crossbar. Cleared by Klaiber.
60’ - Rubin replaces Haller who was poor again.
65’ - Keskin replaces Janssen.
69’ - Ayoub wins the ball deep in our half and plays it forward to Ramselaar. Ramselaar finds Traore to his right, who hits a first time ball through for Rubin. Rubin draws both central defenders towards him and plays Keskin through on goal. Keskin all alone on the top of the box... takes a touch towards goal. He is one on one with the keeper... slight touch to the right ... Keskin scores!!! He slots it cooly around the keeper into the bottom right corner. Instant impact from the substitute. A goal on his debut as well!
92’ - The referee blows his whistle and the game is over. Delighted to grab a win but it was not quite the performance I was looking for.
 
Falkirkyabass said:
Unlucky in your first game, man. Got a wee soft spot for Utrecht so I'll be following.
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Yeah that first game was disappointing but Feyenoord have a strong team so it's not to disheartening. Yeah Utrecht have been my favorite team in the Eredivisie for a while so I was hoping I'd learn more about the club and league by having a save with them. Thanks for reading!
 
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Unfortunately Ludwig looks like he will be out for over a month. This leaves us really short on depth in that department as I continue to scour the loan market for wing reinforcements. Sad to see Ludwig injured as he was having a solid start to the season and was finding plenty of space in behind the defense.Options are looking scarce on the loan market currently, I am hoping my scouts can find someone that can do a job for me on the wings and not hurt the finances too much. I attempted to bring in Andreas Pereira on loan from Manchester United, but he was not willing to drop down to the Eredivisie and instead will be spending the season playing in France. ​
 
Transfer Update
The club are delighted to announce that John Utaka has signed a 2 year deal with the club today. John will quickly look to stamp down a first team spot on the left wing in Gary Alexander’s squad. Alexander has said that he is “Delighted.” with the new signing, and that fans can expect to see him feature at the earliest opportunity.

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Utrecht v. ADO Den Haag

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0’ - 2 changes to the squad today, as Rubio Rubin slots in for Haller who has been dropped to the bench, and new signing John Utaka replaces the injured Ludwig.
25’ - The first chance of the game comes for Den Haag, as Duplan swings a corner in and Gehrt meets it but Ruiter is well positioned and saves comfortably. After winning Ruiter’s punt they then recycle possession and Gehrt eventually plays Marengo through but he also puts his chance directly at Ruiter. Should have scored.
37’ - Similar to their last chance Gehrt plays the ball to Marengo, who muscles off ***, and makes no mistake this time around. Slots it coolly into the corner. 1-0.
45+’ - Utaka picks the ball up in his own half, and hits a lovely through ball for Rubin to chase. Rubin picks up the ball just inside the box and cuts inside the defender. Rubin takes a shot on goal... and hits it straight at Hansen. A real chance there.
45’ - Haller replaces Rubin at halftime. Need to get something out of one of my strikers.
57’ - van der Maarel replaces Klaiber as we try to get our RB bombing forward to provide support on the wing.
57’ - Janssen makes a strong challenge in the center of the park. The ball is picked up by Haller. Haller swings it across to Traore. Traore plays the ball inside ahead of van der Maarel. His cross floated into the box, Hallar flicks it on, his header finds Utaka all alone in the area. Utaka takes a touch towards goal and fires but again his shot is straight to the keeper.
58’ - We recycle possession after the previous chance and come forward again. This time Hallar finds his way free and he is all alone with the keeper. Plenty of space to place his shot. Hallar surely can’t miss from here. Straight at the keeper. Shocking.
63’ - Ayoub wins the ball outside their box after a poor pass, and heads Hallar through. Hallar has a tight angle to shoot from and Hansen closes him down well and makes another good save.
64’ - Den Haag come forward again. Gehrt pulls *** out of position and slots through Marengo who looks to claim his brace. Marengo beats the keeper but his shot strikes the woodwork and trickles out of play.
69’ - Joosten replaces Utaka
93’ - Full Time. Another bad performance. This looks to be the end of the tactic we started the season with, as the squad just will not buy into it.





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Utrecht v. Groningen
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0' - A change in tactic sees us take a more narrow approach, and we try to control the game more. Hopefully we see more of the ball in this game.
45' - Halftime already and nothing of note has happened.
49' - Rusnak plays De Leeuw into the box, and *** clatters into him. Didn't look a penalty to meat all. Second penalty given away by *** in the first 4 games.
49' - The referee didn't like ***'s challenge at all, and after some thought he produces a straight red. Not the start to the half we wanted.
49' - It gets even worse. The team surrounded the referee after the red card, and Ayoub picks up his second yellow of the game. for arguing with the official. Down to 9 men now.
50' - Rusnak step sup for the penalty, and blasts it high and wide.
50' - Conrad replaces Nganioni and slots into the center, and Haller replaces Rubin. We are now playing a 3-1-2-1-1 formation.
68' - Strieder replaces Keskin as we drop to a 3-2-2-1 and look to hold on to our point.
89' - Groningen come forward, Lindgren floats a ball across to the back post, and Antonia is 1 on 1 with the keeper. Ruiter makes himself big and comes up with a big save.
91' - Ramselaar carries the ball forward and looks to play Haller in. Tamata has other plans and slides in and takes out Ramselaar. The referee walks over and pulls out a second yellow! Tamata is off as well!
92' - Full time!Somehow we manage to hold off their attacks and keep a point!


 
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Transfer Updates

On deadline day Sporting come in for one of our very promising young midfielders. He was not quite ready for the first team here yet, so I told them that they could have him for 2.5 million as an initial fee, and combined with other incentives 30%of the profit on his next transfer.


We also lose a young fullback in Sylian Mokono to Lazio. Mokono was well down the pecking order here, so 600,000 and 25% of next transfer was more than enough for Lazio to have him.


We also got news of a surprising decision by the FA as they rule that ***'s challenge was not worthy of a red card and overturn his suspension. First time appealing a referee's decision has worked for me in FM. *** is definitely a player that needs to improve, and soon.
 
Transfer Updates

Late on deadline day we dip back into the market and bring in the young South African star Fagrie Lakay. Lakay could well become a key player for us, but for now he is surely a signing for the future.

A young keeper, Nijhuis will also leave the club, and he heads to Inter for a fee of 1 million.

One of our most promising strikers also leaves the club, and he heads to Lazio to join former teammate Mokono. He leaves for a fee of 500,000 and a 35% of any future fee.

 
Utrecht v. Vitesse


Utrecht v. Vitesse
0' - We revert to our 4-3-3 base formation for this matchup. Vitesse appear to be trying to pile on the pressure as they are lining up with 3 strikers to start the match.
3' - The first chance falls for us as Ramselaar plays the ball ahead of Traore who cuts across the top of the box. Traore fires from 22 yards out, but he drags his shot wide right.
25' - Verloo fires an early cross to the far post where Pablo meets it, but his first time effort hits the woodwork and bounces clear.
36' - John Utaka is replaced by Joosten after suffering what could be a serious injury.
41' - Janssen wins the ball outside of the Vitesse box. He plays Traore in, who hits a one time pass to Haller. Haller takes a touch to settle the ball before striking a shot from 8 yards out, but his shot is right at Room who saves easily. This has happened too often so far this season.
49' - Nganioni takes the ball down the left side. He hits an early cross floating to the back post. Traore runs in, and he makes no mistake about it. A tap in from less than two yards out. 1-Nil Utrecht!
63' - Lakay is going to make his debut. He replaces Haller, who has not been able to find any form so far this season. Lakay will move to the right wing and push Traore up top.
73' - Nathan takes a shot from 25 yards after some good play by Vitesse. His shot is well saved by Ruiter, but the rebound falls to Pablo who taps it into the net.
74' - Rubin replaces Traore.
90+5' - Letschert whips in a corner. This could be our final chance to steal the 3 points. Rubin wins the ball and looks to shoot. He strikes it on goal, but Yeini comes up with a crucial block for Vitesse. Unlucky for Rubin. Hold on a moment, Rubin believes that Yeini handled the ball to keep it out of the net. A big penalty shout here. The referee agrees with Rubin! Penalty for Utrecht in the 95th minute! The captain Janssen steps up for this one, and he strikes it hard to the right and barely beats Room. Goal for Utrecht! 2-1.!
90+5' - Full time!

Postmatch Injury News: Utaka's injury is not as bad as first feared, he will only miss 2 weeks with a chest injury.

 
Utrecht v. Willem II

0' - Only one change to our starting 11 this game, as Joosten slots in for the injured Utaka. Ludwig has returned from injury, but was unfortunately not fit enough to feature in this match.
8' - The ball spurts out of our box following a long throw by De Sa. Joppen gets to the ball first and sets up Andersen. Andersen hits it first time, and the ball slices across goal but is saved well by Ruiter.
25' - Nganioni makes a brilliant interception to cut out a Willem II attack. He quickly plays Joosten in behind the defense. Joosten slides the ball across to Ramselaar who hits it to Traore. Traore makes his defender look silly as he slides the ball past him. Traore beats the second defender as well and is in on goal. Shot by Traore, but it is straight at Lamprao.
63' - Rubin replaces Haller
64' - Traore plays it to Rubin, who spins off of his marker. Rubin is through on goal. Rubin slides the ball to the right, and finds the back of the net! Clinical finish by Rubin! Goal! 1-0 Utrecht!
72' - Achenteh fires a cross to the back post, and it is met by a wide open Hupperts, who hits the bar with his strike. Ruiter collects the loose ball.
85' - Two substitutions as Ayoub makes his return from suspension, replaces Klaiber. Nganioni is replaced by Conboy.
92' - Full time, and that makes two wins on the trot!
 
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FC Eindhoven v. Utrecht (KNVB Beker 2nd Round)

I am not going to spend too much time worrying about our cup run, so I did not make a complete match write up on what turned out to be a very thrilling cup game away at Eindhoven. We started a heavily rotated side, giving some match experience to some younger players to see what they had to offer. The match made it's way to extra time, and we grabbed a 2 goal lead. Incredibly Eindhoven drew level in the 119th minute, sending us to penalties. The penalties were very frustrating, as Heus, our young GK, had many chances to make an easy save but just couldn't quite manage it. Eventually the Eindhoven keeper made a great save, ending our cup run in the 2nd round, after a 9 round shootout.
 
Utrecht v. SC Cambuur

0’ - We revert to our standard formation following our experiment in the cup. Haller has picked up a slight knock, and is therefore unavailable for this game although he should be fit for the following match. Rubin will slot in to take his place.
30’ - Utaka plays a brilliant ball across the field that just gets over the last defender and puts Traore in on goal. Traore hits it first time at the open near post. His shot cannons off the bar and wide. Unlucky from Traore, but brilliant team play to create the chance.
59’ - Van Rooijen makes his debut for the club. The 16 year old looks to be a future star on the right wing, and he replaces Rubin and slides Traore up top.
64’ - Leeuwin replaces Letschert who was looking rather nervous out there.
80’ - Joosten replaces a tired Utaka.
88’ - Our player of the season comes up big again, as Ruiter makes two point blank saves to keep Cambuur off of the scoresheet, with Browning also getting a crucial block on a rebounded shot in between Ruiter’s saves.
90’ - Ayoub whips in a corner into a dangerous area. Browning rises to meet the delivery. Lachman beats him to the ball and clears, but the referee has already blown his whistle! He says Lachman shoved Browning out of the way! Another late penalty for Utrecht!
90+1’ - Janssen steps up to take the penalty, and he powers it past the helpless keeper. 1-0 Utrecht (Janssen PK)
90+3’ - And that’s it! Another league win for Utrecht. That is 3 Eredivise wins in a row, as the league campaign starts to pick up steam.
 
League Update

Looking at the league so far we have definitely managed to turn our campaign around after our poor start, and we now have a solid foundation to build on at this point. A concern that we still need to address is our lack of a consistent goalscorer, hopefully Haller turned over a new leaf after his solid performance in the last cup match as we could really use his goals. I am also slightly concerned about Ayoub’s tendency to pick up a booking, as he is already on 4 yellow cards through just 7 league games. I would prefer to not have to deal with any yellow card accumulation suspensions, so I am hopeful that he will be able to calm himself down.

In other news, Bart Ramselaar, our 19 year old central midfielder, has been absolutely magnificent for us so far. I was slightly worried about whether or not he would be able to be an everyday starter for us this season, as he has such limited experience. Looking at his stats though he has been doing an excellent job while playing as a box-to-box midfielder, and the only area he has been lacking in is the end product.

He has been developing quite decently as well, and I feel like a continued training partnership with the more experienced Janssen will lead to him becoming a top talent.
 
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