2017
Hertha Berlin Season 5 Review
With season 5 done and dusted Hertha Berlin manager Mark Stewart gives SMTOP100blogspot an overview of the successful season
After the disappointment of failing in the play offs for the second time under Stewart in season 4, fans of Die Alte Dame were hoping for new faces to be brought in, in the hope that Berlin could challenge again.
Stewart did scour the market during the close season but come Match day 1 - not one squad player was brought in. This led to murmurs of discontent in the streets of Berlin with many claiming Stewart had been spending to much time spotting trams and had lost his marbles.
However the man from Cardiff had been working hard in training and trying new formations in friendlies. He stated “I was confident with my side come the start of the season. I had moved Andrea Poli from Right Back to Centre Midfield during the pre season friendlies and that gave the side a more balanced look. This was coupled with the emergence of early Stewart buys Jose Gomez and Dario Benedetto gaining plus 2 rating rises from 85 -87 respectively. “This solved the Right Back problem with Gomez making the position his own and Benedetto having a decent season as a replacement for Ben Yedder and Muriel”.
On the opening day of the season Berlin competently brushed a resurgent Bremen aside 2-0. They carried on the style going on a club record 11 match unbeaten run, which also led his side to the top of the table. A position they would occupy for the next 27 games.
After losing for the first time Match Day 12 Stewart realised maybe a little more strength in depth was needed. He scoured the transfer market and brought in Tranbzonspor winger Volkan Sen for £6m plus Lee Jones and Gabriel Silva from Marseille for £7m plus youth striker Fred Friday.
Sen went on to play a pivotal part as an impact player, taking part in 25 games - 13 of which were substitute appearances. He netted a massively important 8 goals, most of which were late on at crucial times.
Silva made the left Back spot his own, settling in seamlessly - offering pace and reliability on the left hand side
“I now felt my squad was complete and we were playing with gusto, attacking as a unit and defending like tigers”. From that first defeat at home to Montpellier the Germans went on to only lose a further three times all season.
“I think I realised we had the title when later in the season and up against Montpellier - who incidentally had ended our record unbeaten run we faced the prospect of 9 first team regulars missing through suspension or injury. Many other sides may have crumbled but not Berlin, Stewart trusted his squad players and rather than go ultra defensive as he had initially planned he decided to go for it playing an attacking formation. This worked a treat as the patched up side won a thriller 4-3.
During Berlins run Malaga had embarked on a colossal unbeaten run but The German’s were not fazed as they themselves broke the club record for unbeaten league run for the second time in the same season recording the final 12 games without defeat and lift the Division 5 title.
This sparked wild scenes of celebrations with the fans and they partied day and night proclaiming Stewart the greatest manager in the clubs history. However little did they know that current Youth Cup Champions and Division One side Valencia had slapped a name your price contract on the table for the in demand manager.
The Future
So now Stewart has declared his intent to stay what does the future hold for Die Alte Dame? We are now in the close season and no transfer activity has taken place yet.
Stewart said “Of course I’m in the market, but lets get this straight. I wont make transfers for the sake of it, if a player cant improve my side without upsetting the balance, then obviously I wont bring them in” The boys I have here have proven their worth with a title - it may be the lowest divsion but its still a great achievement against a host of other experienced top managers and they deserve a chance to shine at a higher level without being broken up”
The Players
We take a look at some of the shining stars of the season and who are the future main players of Berlin.
Wissam Ben Yedder - Mr Berlin himself, a great season playing unselfishly in working hard for the team. Once again he recorded the highest average rating in the squad and chipped in with 13 league goals. He can definitely shine in higher divsions
Luis Muriel - Has found his place as the central attacking midfielder in the side. Didnt chip in with to many goals but his unselfish play and high average ratings made him a key component of the side. Dont let Muriels lack of goals distort your thinking, the guy is a class striker but the balance works well with him playing just behind Ben Yedder and he will continue to play well in higher divsions
Vladimir Darida - Central Midfield lynchpin and free kick taker. The diminutive Czech chipped in with 9 goals all from free kicks last year. His unlimited energy and vision for a killer pass demonstrate the importance to the team
John Terry - Serial Shagger and general twat Terry was seen wearing a Chievo Verona and Celtic kit after their respective promotions. He may be a prick but he totally held the defence together last year and will continue to do so next year
Fringe Players
Alfie Mawson - The young central defender is the heir to Terry’s throne. If he continues his real life form a ratings rise from 85 will surely happen soon and when it does he will be seeing game time. I see the lad as a future England star so it would take a special bid for me to even consider parting with him
Florian Lejeuene - Will step in for Wes Morgan at centre back when his inevitable ratings rise comes. He had a fantastic season for Eibar in real life last season and similar perfrmances for Newcastle will surely see him rise soon
Walter Gargano - Now 32 years old but still continues to be an animal in the centre of the park when called upon, he will feature mainly from the bench next season and having chipped in with greta performances this season I expect the same for season 6
Aaron Mooy - The Aussie midfielder has it all. He can pass has a great shot, boundless energy and is great in the tackle, having won the Championship player of the year for Huddersfield last season I am confident he will raise in ratings this season by surprising premier league sides with his quality.
Conclusion
All in all you cant ask for much more in a season we won the league with style, we attacked throughout, we scored goals, we hardly conceded. The stat’s dont lie as the table above shows.
We have had a taste of success and want more. There is no reason why we cant challenge next season.
When drawn on his long term future Stewart stated “I’ll take each season as it comes, I have a desire to test myself at the top and we will see what happens after next season”. So will the mercurial, personable Cardiffian stay? Only time will tell - keep your eyes on season 6 and all will surely be revealed….
Italy World Cup Squad Announcement
Italy manager Beddows has today confirmed his Italy squad for the forthcoming World Cup.
The International Master who has masses of success at International level - losing the last final to Portugal, but winning the previous World Cup.
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The rivalry and hatred between Beddows and the Dinosaur spans millions of years - and Beddows still WILL NOT pick ANY ITALIAN player playing for a Mister Malcolm managed side!
“Players who play for the dinosaur for me are extinct from international duty - I cannot possibly call up players who no longer exist!"
The squad was as in the previous 3 world cups full of AC Milan players.
Some Interista journalists then questioned why there were no Inter players in the Italy squad - abusing Beddows verbally with insults as being biased, selfish and of holding a grudge even… when the insults had finished Beddows answered…
“If they were any Italian players at Inter then I would most certainly call them up if they were good enough but unfortunately there are as many Paraguyans in the Inter team that Alex Mcclean speaks Italian words!"
Beddows then refused to admit if there were Italians at Inter if he would pick them or not.
One notable inclusion which has baffled some fans is Angelo Ogbonna - with the only explanation being that he is about to move to AC Milan - hence his inclusion!
The King of Iberia
A.S. Roma announce Chisholm
Sitting at the head of the table looking out to the awaiting media. Chisholm looked calm and composed with the media attention this out of the blue announcement had generated. The opening gambit was from Spanish media, questioning what had changed in the 48 hours following the statement of intent to remain at Celta Vigo.
Chisholm was honest in his approach, “When the Head Coach has a different idea to the direction of the team to that of the owner the job is much harder to enjoy”. Transfer policy has been speculated with Chisholm keen to bring youthfulness into the team and produce a tam that could develop over the next few seasons but the owner wanted different. Chisholm looks back fondly at Celta Vigo and his time in Spain which didn’t get off to the best of starts with relegation to Division 5. “The team needed a revamp and that’s what I did in D5, Players that wanted to play for The name on the front of the jersey turned the clubs fortunes around” Despite falling short with a defeat in the D4 Play-off final Chisholm was proud of the clubs effort of the past 2 seasons and hopes the club can continue to move forward. There are many good youngsters left behind who with the right guidance will have every chance of breaking into the first team in the future. “That;s one area I am proud of, the youth team has masses mof potential if they keep working hard on the training ground."
When the discussion turned to the new era at A.S. Roma, Chisholm was bullish in his team and plans. He knows it won’t be easy but feels that on paper the squad should be higher than fourth from bottom. But as everyone knows, You finish where you deserve to finish with Chisholm keen to bring pride back to the Stadio Olimpico. “Good players are here, and with a few additions in the right areas I believe we can aim to push for much better that where we were last season. It’s a clean slate for all at the club, Who stands out in training over pre-season, lets wait and see!” Double sessions will be utilised to ensure peak fitness of all players is met come the opening game of the season.
Chisholm left with one final line. “It’s a shame Milan went down as I would have loved to have beat them on their turf and silence Beddow’s claims of having a hand in any success I have had so far on this journey”.
Levante: Reports of an Incredible season.
After 3 seasons, Levante manages to return in Division 4, winning a thrilling play-off final against Espanyol (2-3, Modestè(E) 19’, 48’; Rodriguez 15’, Veloso 54’, Nilmar 75’).
At the end of the match, a drunk Saviano commented: “it’s an huge satisfaction, which comes after 2 months of hard work”. Then he ran away, maybe to continue the celebrations, more probably to throw up.
After 17 matches, the team was already trying to enter in the play-off zone. Saviano reached this goal in the last match, despite a loss of form in the last few matches, that didn’t bode well for the play-off. But against all odds, Levante beated Flamengo and Espanyol, for their supporters’ happiness.
“Now, we must focus on the future”- Saviano said this morning in the press conference- Semedo and Torres already went away, with Sissoko (two assists for him in the final), Soyuncu, Hwang, Falcinelli and Ferrari coming in. We’ll do everything we can to make a competitive team, even sacrificing some good youngsters."
In fact, rumours says that Ontiveros will move soon for a left back. The team is also expected to buy a wing or a midfielder, with Sissoko covering the other position.
Sunderland Manager Speaks to the Press
This evening after the greatest result in the history of Sunderland football club Mr Wayne Bullough spoke about his impending move to Liverpool and denied that he had been tapped up!
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| Bullough celebrates with his players Rondon, Sidnei (c) and Kacheridi |
"All good things must come to an end.After 18 months in charge over 3 and a half season's it's time to say thank you and goodbye to everyone at Sunderland.When I took over midway through season 2 the club were near the bottom of division 2 with an ageing team low on confidence.After a massive overhaul of the squad bringing in many younger players we were unfortunately relegated. After a season of consolidation we achieved consecutive promotions from Division 3 and Division 2 winning the playoff final in both season's.I leave the club in Division 1 for the first time and wish the club and the new manager every success in the future."
Wayne clearly had a tear in his eye...
"But my time has come to move on.When an opportunity comes around to manage a club like Liverpool you can't turn it down.Liverpool are a huge club with a great history and I hope to carry on the good work done by the previous manager but also bring some new ideas of my own in.The squad is an exciting one and will need to be competitive for all of the challenges ahead.I look forward to the new season and battling it out with the other fantastic clubs and managers in Division 1."
Sunderland's board were said to be seeking an Irishman to join the revolution!
Taylor Aims To Return Lyon To Better Times
Having saved Lyon from almost certain relegation in season 4, things were looking good after Game 10 with Lyon sitting 2nd in Div 2, what happened next is un-explainable but Lyon plummeted to the bottom of Div 2 and found themselves relegated to Div 3, Taylor was removed from his position but was welcomed back less than 24hrs later when a move to England looked to be Niall Taylors next move, Niall signed on with a 1 year contract with a chance of a 2 year option if Lyon return to div 2.
Since his fast return Taylor has been busy on the phone with agents looking to revitalise a squad, Out has went Fans favourite and Club Captain Mathieu Valbuena with Russian International Roman Neustadter & Turkish U21 International Orkan Cinar making the move to France " With Wesley Sneidjer already on his way and the chance to sign a commanding defender something we have been missing, I felt the time was right to let Mathieu leave, Mathieu has been a great servant and the star man in my season and a half here, hopefully he can inspire an Udinese side under new management.
Also arriving in France again from Udinese is Dutch Winger Luciano Narsingh " we lacked pace last season and with Rachid Ghezzal a later arribal last season I feel along with Luciano we will cause teams problem now.
Taylor has been linked with several names and no doubt will be linked with several more in his bid to return Lyon to Div 2, One player who wont be leaving is Cédric Bakambu who this afternoon signed a new 2 year deal, " I’m delighted that Cedric has decided to stay on a help us fight for promotion, he has had various offers to move on, but after hours of talks he signed on the line"
Division 2 Season 5 Value Added
Division 2 Season 5 Value added , Villareal storm the barricades. Southampton sink into the solent.
+15 PVA and +14 VA, a fantastic performance by Villareal. This somewhat eclipses the +10 VA of Sunderland , +9 VA of Internacional and + 7 of Genoa.
Just goes to show the manager makes the differences, at least in division 2. Interestingly it is Genoa and Sunderland and not the more favoured Inter and Wolfsburg who made it to the playoff.
Southampton who should have easily got into the playoffs but finished 11th get the wooden spoon, Sevilla and Schalke sit just above them , with relegated Sevilla actually having the worse VA.
Upto you to decide is it worse coming 11th when you should have been promoted or coming 20th when you should have come 11th. However since only 6 points seperated 17th to 10th , we can conclude the it is the former rather than the after.
| GK | Def | Mid | Att | Top18 | Ave | Pr | Fin | VA | PVA | |
| Villarreal CF | 88 | 89.7 | 88.5 | 88.5 | 87 | 88.3 | 15 | 1 | 14 | 15.00 |
| Sunderland | 88 | 88.3 | 88.3 | 89 | 87 | 88.1 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 1.83 |
| Genoa CFC | 89 | 88 | 90.3 | 89.5 | 85 | 88.4 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 1.14 |
| SC Internacional | 88 | 88.3 | 87.7 | 87.5 | 86 | 87.9 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 1.11 |
| Internazionale | 91 | 89.7 | 90.5 | 88.5 | 85 | 88.9 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1.00 |
| Wolfsburg | 88 | 89 | 91 | 92 | 85 | 89 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1.00 |
| SL Benfica | 88 | 88.8 | 90.3 | 90.5 | 86 | 88.7 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0.38 |
| Swansea City | 88 | 87.3 | 88 | 89 | 86 | 87.7 | 19 | 17 | 2 | 0.18 |
| Spartak Moskva | 88 | 87.7 | 88.5 | 88.5 | 85 | 87.5 | 20 | 18 | 2 | 0.17 |
| Atlético Madrid | 92 | 90.3 | 90.3 | 90.5 | 87 | 90 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0.00 |
| Leverkusen | 91 | 89.7 | 90.5 | 89 | 86 | 89.2 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 0.00 |
| Olympique Lyonnais | 88 | 88.7 | 88.3 | 89.5 | 86 | 88.1 | 17 | 19 | -2 | -0.05 |
| SPORTING CP | 88 | 88 | 88.7 | 89.5 | 87 | 88.6 | 12 | 14 | -2 | -0.07 |
| SS Lazio | 89 | 89.3 | 90.3 | 89 | 87 | 88.9 | 8 | 10 | -2 | -0.10 |
| Fenerbahçe SK | 89 | 87 | 89 | 90 | 87 | 88.4 | 13 | 16 | -3 | -0.13 |
| ACF Fiorentina | 89 | 88 | 89.7 | 89.5 | 87 | 88.6 | 11 | 15 | -4 | -0.20 |
| Zenit | 91 | 89 | 88.5 | 89.5 | 87 | 89 | 6 | 12 | -6 | -0.42 |
| Sevilla | 88 | 89.5 | 90.3 | 89.5 | 87 | 88.9 | 9 | 20 | -11 | -0.50 |
| Schalke | 89 | 90 | 90.7 | 91 | 86 | 89.3 | 3 | 13 | -10 | -0.69 |
| Southampton | 90 | 90.5 | 90.5 | 90.5 | 87 | 89.7 | 2 | 11 | -9 | -0.73 |
Division 2 Playoff Final Preview
Tonight, Genoa & Sunderland meet at Napoli’s San Paolo for a place amongst the Elite of Division 1…
and many T100 Managers have called it an outrage that Genoa have basically been handed a home tie in the playoff final and are calling for change at the T100FA.
Genoa met Sunderland in Gameweek 38 and got the draw that cemented their place in the playoff (lottery), after a 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light.
With fitness levels an issue, none of the players who defeated Inter Milan in the semi final will start for Genoa tonight, with Coach Hirst choosing to field an all Italian 11 for 2nd time in less than a week. Andrea Belotti returns to lead the line, being supported by Domenico Berardi + debutants, Politano & Orsolini.
Sunderland have plenty to choose from in terms of fitness, with Rondon, Khaceridi, Pieters, Cabella, Visca, Zapata & Kurtic all 100% fit for tonight’s match.
The Black Cats will have the advantage of having won a playoff final last season after winning the Division 3 playoff final and having better strength in depth, but key players like Belotti & Marchisio from the bench will be a big boost for il Grifone.
Genoa will be hoping to follow in Villarreal’s footsteps of making from Division 4 when T100 was inaugurated right upto Division 1 in only 5 seasons, but without the relegation that the Yellow Submarines had in Season 1 ;)
Rumour has it that Liverpool FC Owner, John Henry has flown out to Naples and will be offering a contract to the winner of tonights Division 2 Playoff Final…
UDINESE NEWS
