2022
Espanyol transfers, still to be completed
In
Joe Gomez, Saul Niguez, Mikel Oyarzabal, Mikel Merino, Alvaro Morata, Marcos Poalo, Esequiel Barco, Oihan Sancet, Schouten,
Out
Brozovic, Ndidi, Raphinha, Alberto, Trincao, Fernandez ,Nunez, Under, Aguero (retired), Bouanga, Sanchez, Torres
We made history!
Div1 at last! Levante is in Div1 for the first time in its history, the path was long and difficult, I inherited an excellent base from the previous coach, but I had to create my team with my philosophy (only L. Felipe left from the squad , Diop and Balerdi) the first season was difficult we risked relegation, then it was a crescendo that led us to this wonderful promotion, deserved I would say, in these seasons we have made excellent participations in the Youth Cup and World Cup demonstrating that we have an excellent first team and an excellent youth team, but now we go to the Top 100 Olympus, it will not be easy, we are easy, we are at most all the opportunities to score points and bring home a difficult salvation, but for now CELEBRATE !! VAMOSSSS LEVANTE!
Season 16 Division 5 Stats and facts review
Cruziero top of the league and top of the stats.
No one could doubt that a league winner with +5 VA should lead the stats, Sau Paulo the 2nd place team in real life only figure 8th in the stats despite a great season.
Montpellier are 2nd in the stats they made the play offs beyond expectations. Independiente had the highest VA on +7 with Torino on +6.. Shaktar and St Etienne also over performed and should have a notable mention
Spartak have the lowest VA and PVA, should have been 3rd but really never got started. Twente on -7 also were disappointing..
| GK | DEF | MID | ATT | Top18 | Ave | ETOT | Pre | Fin | VA | PVA | |
| Cruzeiro | 89.0 | 87.0 | 88.5 | 89.0 | 82.0 | 87.1 | 218.77 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6.00 |
| Montpellier HSC | 88.0 | 87.3 | 88.3 | 87.5 | 86.0 | 87.4 | 218.16 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 1.20 |
| Torino | 87.0 | 87.0 | 87.5 | 87.0 | 85.0 | 86.7 | 216.79 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0.88 |
| Independiente | 87.0 | 86.5 | 87.3 | 86.5 | 85.0 | 86.5 | 215.87 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0.73 |
| AS Saint-Etienne | 88.0 | 86.8 | 87.3 | 87.0 | 85.0 | 86.8 | 216.51 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 0.60 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 86.0 | 85.5 | 87.3 | 87.5 | 84.0 | 86.1 | 215.48 | 20 | 14 | 6 | 0.50 |
| São Paulo FC | 88.0 | 88.8 | 88.5 | 88.5 | 86.0 | 88.0 | 220.21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.50 |
| Internazionale | 87.0 | 87.0 | 88.3 | 87.0 | 86.0 | 87.1 | 217.51 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0.33 |
| Sunderland | 87.0 | 87.3 | 88.3 | 88.5 | 86.0 | 87.4 | 218.69 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0.33 |
| Olympiacos | 88.0 | 88.3 | 88.3 | 87.5 | 85.0 | 87.4 | 218.84 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0.25 |
| Olympique Lyonnais | 87.0 | 87.3 | 87.3 | 87.0 | 86.0 | 86.9 | 216.91 | 13 | 12 | 1 | 0.17 |
| AZ Alkmaar | 87.0 | 86.8 | 87.0 | 87.0 | 83.0 | 86.2 | 215.95 | 17 | 18 | -1 | 0.00 |
| Málaga CF | 87.0 | 86.3 | 87.0 | 87.0 | 85.0 | 86.5 | 215.79 | 19 | 20 | -1 | 0.00 |
| VfB Stuttgart | 89.0 | 87.5 | 86.8 | 86.5 | 83.0 | 86.6 | 216.27 | 16 | 19 | -3 | -0.11 |
| Rubin Kazan | 89.0 | 88.3 | 87.5 | 88.0 | 86.0 | 87.8 | 218.80 | 5 | 7 | -2 | -0.14 |
| Athletic Club | 87.0 | 86.8 | 87.8 | 88.0 | 85.0 | 86.9 | 217.44 | 12 | 16 | -4 | -0.19 |
| Boca Juniors | 88.0 | 86.5 | 87.8 | 89.5 | 85.0 | 87.4 | 218.34 | 9 | 13 | -4 | -0.23 |
| Swansea City | 88.0 | 88.5 | 89.0 | 89.5 | 87.0 | 88.4 | 221.18 | 1 | 3 | -2 | -0.33 |
| FC Twente | 87.0 | 87.8 | 87.8 | 88.0 | 86.0 | 87.3 | 218.36 | 8 | 15 | -7 | -0.40 |
| Spartak Moskva | 87.0 | 87.5 | 88.5 | 88.5 | 86.0 | 87.5 | 219.09 | 3 | 17 | -14 | -0.76 |
Season 16 Division 4 stats and facts review.
The 3rd 2nd 1st are 1st 2nd 3rd in the stats.
A great season by Fenerbache give them the highest VA in D4 at +11 and PVA at +4 and a promotion spot. Celtic on the basis of finishing 3 positions above expected are second in the stats with leaders Wolfsburg in 3rd. Sampdoria in 4th are on +5 VA with a whole series of overperfomers on +7
Bruge, Moscow and West ham all pushed away from danger and in some cases into the play offs and a notable mention to PSV.
This obviously means that there will be an equal number of underperformers.
CSKA should have been top but struggled to get in the playoffs. They have -5 VA and -0.67 PVA. Fiorentina and Koln have the worst VA on -8. Leicester, Dynamo Moscow, Villareal and Marseille also slipped well below expectations.
| GK | DEF | MID | ATT | Top18 | Ave | ETOT | Pre | Fin | VA | PVA | |
| Fenerbahçe SK | 90.0 | 87.3 | 87.0 | 88.0 | 84.0 | 87.3 | 217.48 | 14 | 3 | 11 | 4.00 |
| Celtic | 88.0 | 88.0 | 87.8 | 88.5 | 85.0 | 87.5 | 218.89 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2.00 |
| VfL Wolfsburg | 88.0 | 89.0 | 89.0 | 87.5 | 87.0 | 88.1 | 220.28 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2.00 |
| Sampdoria | 87.0 | 88.3 | 87.5 | 87.5 | 86.0 | 87.3 | 218.24 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 1.20 |
| Club Brugge KV | 88.0 | 86.0 | 87.8 | 88.0 | 85.0 | 87.0 | 216.96 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0.89 |
| Lokomotiv Moskva | 88.0 | 86.0 | 88.0 | 87.5 | 85.0 | 86.9 | 216.84 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 0.80 |
| West Ham United | 87.0 | 86.3 | 87.3 | 87.5 | 86.0 | 86.8 | 216.44 | 20 | 13 | 7 | 0.62 |
| PSV | 88.0 | 86.8 | 87.3 | 87.0 | 85.0 | 86.8 | 216.51 | 19 | 14 | 5 | 0.43 |
| Celta Vigo | 88.0 | 87.8 | 87.8 | 88.0 | 85.0 | 87.3 | 218.36 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0.13 |
| Girondins Bordeaux | 87.0 | 87.0 | 87.5 | 88.0 | 85.0 | 86.9 | 217.44 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0.07 |
| Atalanta BC | 88.0 | 86.5 | 87.8 | 87.0 | 86.0 | 87.1 | 216.83 | 18 | 19 | -1 | 0.00 |
| Lille OSC | 90.0 | 87.0 | 88.5 | 89.5 | 85.0 | 88.0 | 219.58 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 0.00 |
| Olympique Marseille | 87.0 | 87.3 | 88.0 | 87.0 | 86.0 | 87.1 | 217.51 | 13 | 18 | -5 | -0.22 |
| Villarreal CF | 87.0 | 87.0 | 87.5 | 89.0 | 86.0 | 87.3 | 218.21 | 11 | 16 | -5 | -0.25 |
| Beşiktaş JK | 88.0 | 87.8 | 89.0 | 87.5 | 85.0 | 87.5 | 219.04 | 4 | 7 | -3 | -0.29 |
| Dynamo Moskva | 87.0 | 87.5 | 88.6 | 88.2 | 83.0 | 86.9 | 218.58 | 7 | 12 | -5 | -0.33 |
| 1. FC Köln | 88.0 | 87.3 | 88.3 | 87.5 | 85.0 | 87.2 | 218.04 | 12 | 20 | -8 | -0.35 |
| Leicester City | 89.0 | 87.3 | 88.8 | 87.5 | 86.0 | 87.7 | 218.68 | 6 | 11 | -5 | -0.36 |
| ACF Fiorentina | 88.0 | 87.3 | 88.5 | 87.5 | 86.0 | 87.5 | 218.36 | 9 | 17 | -8 | -0.41 |
| CSKA Moskva | 89.0 | 88.3 | 88.8 | 89.5 | 86.0 | 88.3 | 220.78 | 1 | 6 | -5 | -0.67 |
Season 16 Division 3 Stats and facts review.
Dnipro +15 VA and +8 PVA fantastic achievement.
Relegation prospects to 2nd spot , hard to beat really in terms of achievement and a great year by Dnipro. Augsburg were much the most consistent team of the year and they needed to turn over their last 4 opponents to even win the title by 3 points. They finish 2nd in the stats. Only Feyenoord and Sassuolo can get to +3VA but Sassuolo will be much happier with the play off spot.
Biggest under performance this year is probably a tie between Sporting on -5 VA and -0.67 VA, no wins in 8 games at one point probably cost them the title mid season. Zagreb also should have been playoff but finished 12th . WBA also had -5VA as they slipped out the playoff spots.
3 of the 4 predicted relegation teams were relegated and they must look to rebuild next season.
| GK | DEF | MID | ATT | Top18 | Ave | ETOT | Pre | Fin | VA | PVA | |
| Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk | 88.0 | 87.5 | 87.5 | 88.0 | 86.0 | 87.4 | 218.08 | 17 | 2 | 15 | 8.00 |
| FC AUGSBURG | 89.0 | 88.3 | 89.3 | 91.0 | 86.0 | 88.7 | 222.15 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3.00 |
| Sassuolo | 91.0 | 88.5 | 89.0 | 88.0 | 86.0 | 88.5 | 220.44 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0.80 |
| Udinese Calcio | 88.0 | 89.3 | 89.0 | 88.0 | 86.0 | 88.1 | 220.68 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0.75 |
| Feyenoord | 90.0 | 88.0 | 87.5 | 89.0 | 86.0 | 88.1 | 219.37 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0.50 |
| TSG 1899 Hoffenheim | 88.0 | 87.8 | 89.5 | 88.5 | 86.0 | 88.0 | 220.21 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0.43 |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 87.0 | 86.5 | 89.5 | 88.5 | 83.0 | 86.9 | 218.73 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0.36 |
| Chievo Verona | 87.0 | 87.3 | 88.3 | 87.0 | 85.0 | 86.9 | 217.59 | 18 | 17 | 1 | 0.12 |
| Crystal Palace | 89.0 | 87.5 | 88.3 | 88.5 | 86.0 | 87.9 | 219.13 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0.08 |
| SS Lazio | 89.0 | 87.0 | 87.8 | 87.5 | 85.0 | 87.3 | 217.56 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 0.05 |
| FC Basel | 87.0 | 87.5 | 87.0 | 87.5 | 85.0 | 86.8 | 217.12 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 0.05 |
| Flamengo | 88.0 | 90.0 | 89.0 | 90.0 | 85.0 | 88.4 | 222.46 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0.00 |
| Zenit Saint Petersburg | 89.0 | 87.3 | 88.5 | 87.5 | 86.0 | 87.7 | 218.48 | 15 | 16 | -1 | 0.00 |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 88.0 | 87.0 | 87.8 | 88.5 | 85.0 | 87.3 | 218.09 | 16 | 18 | -2 | -0.06 |
| FK Partizan | 89.0 | 87.5 | 88.5 | 88.5 | 86.0 | 87.9 | 219.33 | 12 | 15 | -3 | -0.13 |
| Hamburger SV | 89.0 | 88.5 | 88.3 | 89.5 | 86.0 | 88.3 | 220.58 | 7 | 10 | -3 | -0.20 |
| SSC Napoli | 87.0 | 86.5 | 89.8 | 89.5 | 85.0 | 87.6 | 219.82 | 10 | 14 | -4 | -0.21 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 88.0 | 89.5 | 89.0 | 90.0 | 83.0 | 87.9 | 221.82 | 4 | 9 | -5 | -0.44 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | 89.0 | 88.0 | 89.5 | 89.5 | 86.0 | 88.4 | 221.18 | 5 | 12 | -7 | -0.50 |
| Sporting CP | 88.0 | 90.3 | 89.0 | 90.0 | 84.0 | 88.3 | 222.54 | 1 | 6 | -5 | -0.67 |
Season 16 Division 2 Stats and facts review.
A.C.Milan to of the stats , just above Bremen due to higher VA.
A very rare PVA tie was separated by the superior +7 VA of A.C. Milan as the top 2 teams in the table were also top of the stats. Perhaps the stats were skewed by the Internacional affair as they could have finished top but enough said about that the better.
Schalke had the best VA of + 8 and avoided relegation and were 4th in the PVA stats table just below Ajax who are playoff bound. Also a nod to Villa who are steadily moving up the division and had a VA of +4
Spurs on -9 VA and -0.53 PVA were a big disappointment, Santos avoided relegation by goal difference on -5 VA. Southampton the 3rd lowest stats ranked team with -4 VA and – 0.43 PVA will look to ignore that and challenge for promotion from the play offs.
| GK | DEF | MID | ATT | Top18 | Ave | ETOT | Pre | Fin | VA | PVA | |
| AC Milan | 92.0 | 89.3 | 89.8 | 89.0 | 86.0 | 89.2 | 222.41 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 4.00 |
| Werder Bremen | 89.0 | 89.3 | 89.8 | 91.0 | 87.0 | 89.2 | 223.47 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4.00 |
| Ajax | 87.0 | 89.0 | 89.0 | 90.0 | 85.0 | 88.0 | 221.54 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 1.17 |
| FC Schalke 04 | 90.0 | 87.8 | 87.8 | 89.5 | 86.0 | 88.2 | 219.70 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 1.00 |
| Aston Villa | 88.0 | 88.3 | 89.0 | 89.0 | 87.0 | 88.3 | 220.65 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 0.45 |
| Valencia CF | 89.0 | 89.3 | 90.0 | 89.0 | 85.0 | 88.5 | 222.13 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0.38 |
| Everton | 89.0 | 89.3 | 90.0 | 91.0 | 85.0 | 88.9 | 223.43 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0.20 |
| River Plate | 88.0 | 88.3 | 89.0 | 89.0 | 87.0 | 88.3 | 220.65 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0.15 |
| Newcastle United | 87.0 | 87.8 | 89.0 | 88.0 | 86.0 | 87.6 | 219.36 | 18 | 17 | 1 | 0.12 |
| Galatasaray SK | 88.0 | 87.8 | 88.5 | 88.0 | 86.0 | 87.7 | 219.08 | 19 | 18 | 1 | 0.11 |
| AS Roma | 89.0 | 88.5 | 87.8 | 88.0 | 83.0 | 87.3 | 218.84 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 0.05 |
| AS Monaco | 88.0 | 88.5 | 89.3 | 89.0 | 86.0 | 88.2 | 220.93 | 13 | 14 | -1 | 0.00 |
| Levante UD | 89.0 | 88.3 | 91.5 | 91.5 | 86.0 | 89.3 | 224.28 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0.00 |
| Sevilla | 89.0 | 88.0 | 88.5 | 88.5 | 86.0 | 88.0 | 219.73 | 16 | 19 | -3 | -0.11 |
| Liverpool | 90.0 | 89.5 | 89.0 | 91.5 | 82.0 | 88.4 | 222.92 | 7 | 10 | -3 | -0.20 |
| Manchester United | 88.0 | 89.3 | 89.8 | 90.5 | 85.0 | 88.5 | 222.79 | 8 | 12 | -4 | -0.25 |
| Santos FC | 88.0 | 88.5 | 88.8 | 90.5 | 87.0 | 88.6 | 221.63 | 11 | 16 | -5 | -0.25 |
| Southampton | 89.0 | 89.5 | 91.0 | 90.0 | 87.0 | 89.3 | 224.02 | 3 | 7 | -4 | -0.43 |
| SC Internacional | 91.0 | 90.0 | 90.3 | 91.0 | 87.0 | 89.9 | 224.71 | 1 | 4 | -3 | -0.50 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 89.0 | 89.3 | 90.5 | 89.5 | 86.0 | 88.9 | 222.98 | 6 | 15 | -9 | -0.53 |
Season 16 Division 1 Stats and facts review
Hertha are the kind of the stats with a PVA of +2 , just over taking the champs Barcelona.
Few notes I calculate the stats leaders on PVA , positional value added.
Value added is simply how much above or below a team finishes statistically from its predicted ( pre ) position.
Positional value added takes into account how high up the table you finish. Otherwise Barcelona for example would have a value added of 0 or less most seasons. Thus success is important.
Hertha had a great season finishing 9 places above their predicted position, their VA of +9 is just above that of Stoke who were clear relegation material but finished a more the creditable 12th, they finished third in the stats just above Juventus who had a much better season this year.
Real Madrid and Genoa rightly are at the lower end of the stats. Real had a PVA of -0.43 and Genoa – 0.33 both with a value added of -7 showing that they finished 7 place below their expected position, with Atletico just above them . Lowest side Anderlecht had an up hill battle all season . Credit though to Stoke and Man City for avoiding the drop.
| GK | DEF | MID | ATT | Top18 | Ave | ETOT | Pre | Fin | VA | PVA | |
| Hertha BSC | 89.0 | 89.3 | 92.3 | 92.5 | 85.0 | 89.6 | 226.21 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 2.00 |
| Barcelona | 95.0 | 93.3 | 92.5 | 97.5 | 87.0 | 93.1 | 233.82 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.00 |
| Stoke City | 89.0 | 88.5 | 90.3 | 89.3 | 86.0 | 88.6 | 222.05 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0.75 |
| Juventus | 95.0 | 91.8 | 92.5 | 94.0 | 87.0 | 92.1 | 230.34 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.67 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 92.0 | 91.3 | 90.5 | 92.0 | 87.0 | 90.6 | 226.68 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0.63 |
| Chelsea | 95.0 | 92.3 | 94.0 | 95.5 | 85.0 | 92.4 | 232.68 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.50 |
| SL Benfica | 93.0 | 91.0 | 91.3 | 90.5 | 89.0 | 91.0 | 226.47 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0.40 |
| Bayern München | 94.0 | 90.8 | 93.0 | 91.0 | 89.0 | 91.6 | 228.11 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0.17 |
| Manchester City | 90.0 | 90.8 | 90.3 | 91.5 | 85.0 | 89.5 | 225.28 | 17 | 16 | 1 | 0.13 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 90.0 | 90.8 | 89.8 | 89.5 | 88.0 | 89.6 | 223.94 | 18 | 17 | 1 | 0.12 |
| RCD Espanyol | 92.0 | 91.8 | 92.0 | 90.5 | 86.0 | 90.5 | 227.19 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0.11 |
| Standard Liège | 90.0 | 90.0 | 91.3 | 91.0 | 88.0 | 90.1 | 225.51 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0.07 |
| Paris Saint-Germain | 91.0 | 89.8 | 90.3 | 90.1 | 85.0 | 89.2 | 223.69 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 0.05 |
| FC Porto | 93.0 | 91.0 | 93.3 | 95.0 | 86.0 | 91.7 | 230.63 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 0.00 |
| Hellas Verona | 89.0 | 90.8 | 91.5 | 92.5 | 86.0 | 90.0 | 226.93 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 0.00 |
| Arsenal | 92.0 | 91.5 | 92.8 | 93.0 | 87.0 | 91.3 | 229.33 | 5 | 7 | -2 | -0.14 |
| RSC Anderlecht | 91.0 | 91.0 | 90.3 | 91.0 | 86.0 | 89.9 | 225.39 | 16 | 20 | -4 | -0.15 |
| Atlético Madrid | 90.0 | 90.5 | 92.0 | 92.5 | 86.0 | 90.2 | 227.25 | 8 | 13 | -5 | -0.31 |
| Genoa CFC | 92.0 | 91.8 | 91.5 | 90.3 | 87.0 | 90.5 | 226.74 | 11 | 18 | -7 | -0.33 |
| Real Madrid | 91.0 | 91.0 | 91.0 | 92.5 | 89.0 | 90.9 | 227.33 | 7 | 14 | -7 | -0.43 |
MANCHESTER UNITED SEASON 16 REVIEW
SEASON 16
In season 15, my first with United it took a while to find the right players/formations/tactics and after mixed fortunes, we eventually finished 5th with W17-D9-L12 and 60 points. We managed to win the play off final and were therefore promoted to division 2.
On paper, we still had a first 11 average of 89 and therefore should have finished mid table of 8th - 13th.
It is my intention to stay at United and get them back into the first division where they belong. This season I aimed to be mid table and assess what we need for a push for promotion in season 17. It will be interesting to see what rises the players will get and whether we can push for the play offs this season.
With a third of the season completed, we found ourselves in 5th position with W6, D2, L5 and 20 points, and were in the play offs, over performing on our seasons expectations. We had a slow start to the season with a single win in our first four games, but things picked up a bit and we slowly climbed up the league.
At the half way point with 19 games completed, we were in 6th position with W8, D5, L6, and 29 points. It’s nice to remain in a play off spot, but this is a very tight division. We were only 5 points off top spot, 2 points from an automatic promotion place and 8 points off relegation. We had only lost one of our last nine matches and needed to continue this vein of form. We were still over performing on our seasons target with 29 points achieved from an expected 25 and had progressed to the Youth Shield knock out stages.
I was tinkering with the youth team and looking for opportunities, but only considered exchanging first team players if players are offered that are on my gold short list. We had a full squad with some likely risers, and therefore I had time to build for the future
After completing around 75% of our games we stood at W12, D6, L10, and 42 points. We sat in a play off spot in 6th place, and I would have loved to be there at the end of the season. This is a very tight division and there are only ten points between the play offs and relegation. It is also very tough playing against 4231B every week and trying to combat it. We were slightly ahead of my prediction on the best average starting 11, of 8th - 13th, and we had achieved 42 points of the expected 36. I was pleased with our performance to this point and was hopeful of finishing between 6th - 11th. We managed to reach the Youth Shield quarter final. I exchanged Christensen(89) 25yo (Chelsea doing well) with Mingueza(87) 22yo (Barcelona struggling) and hoped I had gambled well. I was still tinkering with the youth, and had received only some minor player rating rises.
How did our season go, well we finished in 12th position and managed to elude relegation with a 3-1 home victory against Newcastle which unfortunately meant that they were relegated themselves. We have found this a tough division with most teams beating each other and the Champions, Bremen even losing 9 games themselves. We achieved W14, D7, L17 and 49 points, which ended up as only being 8 points from the play offs. The teams that were promoted from division 3 with us all found it tough, Villa were champions and finished one place above us in 11th, Galatasary(2nd) were relegated and River Plate(3rd) finished 13th.
We started off the season poorly and then it picked up, but our recent form tailed off otherwise we would have finished in at least the play offs. Looking at the best starting eleven’s for all teams in the division, we should have finished 8th-13th so I was happy enough in 12th.
We will need to improve our team in order to make a push for division 1 so it maybe season 18 before we can seriously challenge for promotion
Espanyol, young guns focus.
Glen Mullan's ethos of building a good youth set up is already beginning to take shape at Espanyol. Other the coming weeks we will review some of the youngsters he is tipping to make an impact.
REDA KHADRA
Khadra came through the ranks at Borussia Dortmund, and is of Lebanese descent. During his time there he helped Dortmund win both the under 17 and under 19 Bundesliga. Khadra despite predominantly being a wide player, contributed a number of goals during his time in the youth set up, before being snapped up by English Premier league side Brighton.
Khadra has already made his debut at Premier League level as a substitute but an injury soon after ruled him out for the rest of his first season.
After impressing Blackburn in a pre season friendly, Rovers made the move to sign the flying winger on loan for the season to fill the void of another teen sensation Harvey Elliott who returned to his parent club liverpool after a very successful season at Blackburn.
Khadra has had initially bide his time to get regurlar starts at Blackburn however in the last couple of months has become a regurlar. During that period he has become a lethal weapon with his unbelievable pace and close ball control. Chipping in with 3 goals and 5 assist already, his involvement has coincided with Blackburn marching up the table to second place in the Championship.
Strengths- Tony Mowbray states "he's the fastest player he's ever coached" . Khadra covers the ground quickly and is equally at home on either wing, or playing down the middle. His dribbling skills are exceptional, as is his ability to put dangerous balls into the box at pace. He has an eye for goal, and has shown that can be from 25 yards or 5 yards.
Weaknesses - He is not the tallest player and prefers the ball into feet or into space as he offers no aieral threat. He needs to get his head up more, as sometimes he will beat 4 or 5 players but fails to then pass when the opportunity is on. He is still young and can be pushed off the ball in high physical games.
CONCLUSION - Khadra has come through a good education at youth level, and is already standing out in the Championship which is historically physical and demanding. As with Harvey Elliott, he is showing all the attributes to step up to Premiership football and be a real threat. Currently valued at £200k by transfer market, that value in real time terms is soaring. Brighton have pulled off a blinder securing him. Khadra has the potential to become an international player, and certainly head up to the 87/88 mark on SM within a couple of seasons if he can maintain regurlar games. Other clubs will be taking notice of the progress he is making and Espanyol see him as a long term prospect.
"I'm fortunate as a Blackburn Supporter that I see Reda play week in week out. He is currently keeping Dolan out the team, who himself has been a revelation, and also Leighton Clarkson who has returned to Liverpool due to struggling to break into the rovers side. His understanding with Brereton Diaz has been the Catalyst of rovers march into automatic promotion contenders. In a 50/50 foot race no one has been able to live with his pace. He is an excellent talent, who will go on to bigger and better things. I picked him up straight away for Espanyol and note that he only appears to have come to the attention of Dan at Juventus with him on his shortlist. Given Dan's eye for young talent, thats a positive sign. He has at present just a 68 rating, and i'm looking fowards to the rises and seeing how far he can go. I recall watching Jude Bellingham play as a 16 year old in one of his first games for Birmingham. You could see he was going all the way to the top, Harvey Elliott is similar, and now I put Khadra in that bracket as a serious young player to watch"
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