WCC R32 Results

Both legs of WCC R32 is completed successfully and now we have 16 winners ready to fight for the glory. Here the updated results :

WCC R32 Leg 1 result :

Match 1  São Paulo FC (0) vs  Bayer Leverkusen (1)
Match 2  Barcelona (4) vs  Valencia CF (0)
Match 3  Manchester United (0) vs  SC Internacional (2)
Match 4  Hertha BSC (1) vs  RSC Anderlecht (3)
Match 5  Torino (2) vs  Olympiacos (1)
Match 6  West Bromwich Albion (2) vs  West Ham United (0)
Match 7  FC Koln (0) vs  Atlético Madrid (3)
Match 8  SL Benfica (0) vs  Borussia Dortmund (0)
Match 9  Hamburger SV (0) vs  Swansea City (1)
Match 10  FC Basel (0) vs  Juventus (0)
Match 11  Málaga CF (2) vs  Dinamo Zagreb (1)
Match 12  Sporting CP (1) vs  Celta Vigo (1)
Match 13  AS Monaco (1) vs  Internazionale (4)
Match 14  Everton (1) vs  FC Porto (2)
Match 15  Chelsea (1) vs  Hellas Verona (1)
Match 16  Manchester City (2) vs  Arsenal (2)

WCC R32 Leg 2 result :

Match 1  Bayer Leverkusen (1) vs  São Paulo FC (0)
Match 2  Valencia CF (0) vs  Barcelona (4)
Match 3  SC Internacional (2) vs  Manchester United (1)
Match 4  RSC Anderlecht (2) vs  Hertha BSC (0)
Match 5  Olympiacos (1) vs  Torino (3)
Match 6  West Ham United (1) vs  West Bromwich Albion (2)
Match 7  Atlético Madrid (0) vs  FC Koln (1)
Match 8  Borussia Dortmund (2) vs  SL Benfica (0)
Match 9  Swansea City (2) vs  Hamburger SV (0)
Match 10  Juventus (1) vs  FC Basel (1)
Match 11  Dinamo Zagreb (1) vs  Málaga CF (2)
Match 12  Celta Vigo (1) vs  Sporting CP (2)
Match 13  Internazionale (2) vs  AS Monaco (1)
Match 14  FC Porto (0) vs  Everton (1)
Match 15  Hellas Verona (1) vs  Chelsea (2)
Match 16  Arsenal (3) vs  Manchester City (1)

Aggregate results and winners of R32 :

São Paulo FC (0) vs  Bayer Leverkusen (2)
 Barcelona (8) vs  Valencia CF (0)
 Manchester United (1) vs  SC Internacional (4)
 Hertha BSC (1) vs  RSC Anderlecht (5)
 Torino (5) vs  Olympiacos (2)
 West Bromwich Albion (4) vs  West Ham United (1)
 FC Koln (1) vs  Atlético Madrid (3)
 SL Benfica (0) vs  Borussia Dortmund (2)
 Hamburger SV (0) vs  Swansea City (3)
 FC Basel (1) vs  Juventus (1)
 Málaga CF (4) vs  Dinamo Zagreb (2)
 Sporting CP (3) vs  Celta Vigo (2)
 AS Monaco (2) vs  Internazionale (6)
 Everton (2) vs  FC Porto (2)
 Chelsea (3) vs  Hellas Verona (2)
 Manchester City (3) vs  Arsenal (5)

Koln vs Atletico Madrid is forfeited as Koln failed to organise the fixture. Atletico Madrid is declared winner of the game and winner of R32 and qualifies to next round.

Congratulations to winners and commiserations to the losers). The draw for next round will be conducted after WCS R32 games are done and fixtures will be updated soon after that. We thank all the participating managers for their kind co-operation and their support in making this tournament successful. Thank you and good luck.

MANCHESTER UNITED APPOINTS THARANIDHARAN AS MANAGER

The hot news around the corner is that Mr. Niall Taylor has left the Manchester United manager citing the pressure of the job and personal commitments as the reasons to call it an end. The huge speculations were spread about who will fill this hot spot. Some big names were linked but it was Mr. Tharanidharan, native of India but Mancunian by heart, given the nod to lead this great club.

Tharani, coming from a small town in India, didn’t have glittering career as professional footballer. Infact, college football was the best he did. He was not gifted with football skills to make it big. But his love for the game pushed him to continue doing something else in the most beloved sport and that’s how he took on managerial position 12 years ago. Fast forward, he is now the manager of Manchester United. It’ll befitting to say he has achieved his life’s purpose and destiny.

Journey in Top 100 started in 2022, when he joined Real Sociedad in Top 120. After proving his potential in non-league level, he was given a job at Athletic Bilbao in Div 5 in Top 100. After 1 and half seasons and over-achieving all the expectations in Div 5, he became the hot candidate for top jobs in the town. He could have joined any top club but he understood it’ll be too early and undeserving, so took on a challenge at then fellow Div 5 club Stuttgart – a club filled with potential but never able to break into top half of the table consistently.

Tharani, grateful to work done by Mark Scott, did some tweaks to ratings and tactics. Boom. He achieved two consecutive promotions and brought Stuttgart to Div 3. Currently they were expected to fight relegation battle instead they are in mid table spot. He publicly declared Stuttgart will be his last and only club he will manage at Top 100 unless Manchester United board comes knocking at his door. Out of nowhere, his dream came true and after learning the trade, he felt it’s the right time to jump ship and lead his dream club to top where it belongs and bring back the glory days to Old Trafford.

Tharani in his first interview as Man Utd manager :

I’ve spoken before about how I’ve prepared more or less my whole adult life, to be a manager somewhere and I have always been stupid enough or naive enough or daft enough to dream about this job.

I wouldn’t have said yes if I wasn’t looking forward to it and if I didn’t believe in the club and in the potential. I feel, and I hope, that I can do this job justice, that’s the first thing I asked myself when I got the call.

It’s truly an honour. I think everyone knows, and I’ve spoken about it in the last few months, that this is the dream job for any football-interested man, especially anyone who has been involved with Man United. Being given the opportunity now to move the club forward, with all the potential there is, it’s fantastic.

I understand the mood has been down as we are fighting relegation. This is not us. We don’t belong here. It can’t be done overnight. It’s a long tiring process and we have to roll-up the sleeves, do the dirty work and get the work done. But first thing we just want to get the players enjoying football. I’m looking forward to seeing the supporters and bring the happiness and cheer in their face.

 I’ve seen the last few games and I observed some players not performing up-to the expectations. But it’s alright. Everyone will get a chance. Everyone starts with a clean slate. You’ve got to start somewhere. We’re in a results business and we want to win games. That’s our main focus.

Squad depth and quality are also a concern, which will be attended on priority keeping Man Utd DNA philosophy in mind. That’s all for now. I’d like to be man of action rather than man of words.

We wish Tharanidharan a good luck in his new adventure and hope Manchester United reach greater heights.

WCS Round of 32

Hello everyone, welcome to first round (i.e. R32) of World Club Shield (WCS) tournament. Started with 100 teams, now we have second top 32 teams competing for WCS trophy. As mentioned already, from here on till semi final, these round of games will be 2-legged knock out games (1 home, 1 away) and the winners will be decided on aggregate score and FET (if needed). Qualified 32 teams list is available in our recent post WCC-WCS Qualifier 4 results.

Through random draw, we finalized the fixtures for WCS R32. First leg to be played on 13th March and second leg will be played on 27th March.

The fixture schedule for 1st leg (13th March) are :

Match 1  FC Augsburg vs  Galatasaray SK
Match 2  Standard Liège vs  Real Madrid
Match 3  Genoa CFC vs  Riverplate
Match 4  Lille OSC vs  Girondins Bordeaux
Match 5  Sunderland vs  Tottenham Hotspur
Match 6  AC Milan vs  Udinese Calcio
Match 7  Leicester City vs  FC Schalke 04
Match 8  Aston Villa vs  Liverpool
Match 9  Flamengo vs  Paris Saint-Germain
Match 10  Levante vs  Santos FC
Match 11  Bayern München vs  Crystal Palace
Match 12  Ajax vs  Celtic
Match 13  Southampton vs  Stoke City
Match 14  Fenerbahçe SK vs  Independiente
Match 15  Club Brugge KV vs  SS Lazio
Match 16  RCD Espanyol vs  Sampdoria

The fixture schedule for 2nd leg (27th March) are :

Match 1  Galatasaray SK vs  FC Augsburg
Match 2  Real Madrid vs  Standard Liège
Match 3  Riverplate vs  Genoa CFC
Match 4  Girondins Bordeaux vs  Lille OSC
Match 5  Tottenham Hotspur vs  Sunderland
Match 6  Udinese Calcio vs  AC Milan
Match 7  FC Schalke 04 vs  Leicester City
Match 8  Liverpool vs  Aston Villa
Match 9  Paris Saint-Germain vs  Flamengo
Match 10  Santos FC vs  Levante
Match 11  Crystal Palace vs  Bayern München
Match 12  Celtic vs  Ajax
Match 13  Stoke City vs  Southampton
Match 14  Independiente vs  Fenerbahçe SK
Match 15  SS Lazio vs  Club Brugge KV
Match 16  Sampdoria vs  RCD Espanyol

We thank in advance all the participating managers for their kind co-operation and their support in making this tournament successful. Thank you and good luck.

WCC Round of 32

Hello everyone, welcome to first round (i.e. R32) of World Club Cup (WCC) tournament. Started with 100 teams, now we have top 32 teams competing for WCC trophy. As mentioned already, from here on till semi final, these round of games will be 2-legged knock out games (1 home, 1 away) and the winners will be decided on aggregate score and FET (if needed). Qualified 32 teams list is available in our recent post WCC-WCS Qualifier 4 results.

Through random draw, we finalized the fixtures for WCC R32. First leg to be played on 6th March and second leg will be played on 20th March.

The fixture schedule for 1st leg (6th March) are :

Match 1  São Paulo FC vs  Bayer Leverkusen
Match 2  Barcelona vs  Valencia CF
Match 3  Manchester United vs  SC Internacional
Match 4  Hertha BSC vs  RSC Anderlecht
Match 5  Torino vs  Olympiaco
Match 6  West Bromwich Albion vs  West Ham United
Match 7  FC Koln vs  Atlético Madrid
Match 8  SL Benfica vs  Borussia Dortmund
Match 9  Hamburger SV vs  Swansea City
Match 10  FC Basel vs  Juventu
Match 11  Málaga CF vs  Dinamo Zagreb
Match 12  Sporting CP vs  Celta Vigo
Match 13  AS Monaco vs  Internazionale
Match 14  Everton vs  FC Porto
Match 15  Chelsea vs  Hellas Verona
Match 16  Manchester City vs  Arsenal

The fixture schedule for 2nd leg (20th March) are :

Match 1  Bayer Leverkusen vs  São Paulo FC
Match 2  Valencia CF vs  Barcelona
Match 3  SC Internacional vs  Manchester United
Match 4  RSC Anderlecht vs  Hertha BSC
Match 5  Olympiaco vs  Torino
Match 6  West Ham United vs  West Bromwich Albion
Match 7  Atlético Madrid vs  FC Koln
Match 8  Borussia Dortmund vs  SL Benfica
Match 9  Swansea City vs  Hamburger SV
Match 10  Juventu vs  FC Basel
Match 11  Dinamo Zagreb vs  Málaga CF
Match 12  Celta Vigo vs  Sporting CP
Match 13  Internazionale vs  AS Monaco
Match 14  FC Porto vs  Everton
Match 15  Hellas Verona vs  Chelsea
Match 16  Arsenal vs  Manchester City

We thank in advance all the participating managers for their kind co-operation and their support in making this tournament successful. Thank you and good luck.

WCC – WCS QUALIFIERS 4 RESULTS

WCC – WCS Qualifier 4 has been successfully completed and now we are ready for important part of the tournament. Winners of Qualifier 4 (32 teams) will advance to Club World Cup Round of 32 and Losers of Qualifier 4 (32 teams) will advance to Club World Shield Round of 32. From here on, all the rounds will be double legged knock out format and winners will be decided on aggregate score. In case of a draw, traditional FET rules come in to play.

Below are the 32 teams qualified for World Club Cup (WCC) :

Atlético Madrid  Manchester United  Chelsea  Dinamo Zagreb
 Swansea City  Celta Vigo  Olympiacos  São Paulo FC
 SL Benfica  Hamburger SV  Borussia Dortmund  Bayer Leverkusen
 Hellas Verona  Málaga CF  Barcelona  AS Monaco
 SC Internacional  Arsenal  Manchester City FC Koln
 Internazionale  RSC Anderlecht  Torino  Valencia CF
 West Bromwich Albion  FC Basel Juventus  Sporting CP
Everton  West Ham United  FC Porto Hertha BSC

Below are the 32 teams qualified for World Club Shield (WCS) :

FC Augsburg  Genoa CFC  Flamengo  Club Brugge KV
 RCD Espanyol  Sampdoria  Lille OSC  Stoke City
 Standard Liège  Crystal Palace  Ajax Bayern München
 Liverpool  FC Schalke 04  Girondins Bordeaux  AC Milan
 SS Lazio  Southampton  Udinese Calcio  Levante
 Galatasaray SK  Paris Saint-Germain  Real Madrid  Sunderland
 Fenerbahçe SK  Aston Villa Tottenham Hotspur  Leicester City
Santos FC  Celtic  Independiente Riverplate

We thank all the participating managers for their kind co-operation and their support in making this tournament successful so far and we expect the same in future as well. The fixture list and fixture date will be announced in subsequent posts. Thanks and good luck.

Defying the odds

Espanyol arrived back in Spain this morning after another memorable night in Turin, as they beat one of the title favourites Juventus 2-1. The Italian Giants were the second big scalp in 5 games, as Espanyol had previously beaten former Champions Verona.

Espanyol are the lowest ranked side in Division 1 by some margin, however their explosive start to the season sees them joint top scorers with 13 goals across the 5 divisions, though defensively they have let in 10.

"We are under no illusions how difficult it's going to be to finish anywhere better than bottom. We've got the promotion bounce right now, where we are putting away our chances and to have 11 points at this stage is minor miracle. What we lack in ratings we have tried to offset in depth and I really can't be any happier by the surprise start. We've 33 games to try and get another 30 points now to give us a chance of staying up. Division 1 is an unforgiving place, where you can easily go on a losing run of 7-8 games and get pulled into a rut. There is a number of 6 pointers to come this season against teams which are closer to our position. Wins against the likes of Juventus and Verona are bonus points which you don't expect , but they have certainly helped towards a solid start to the season. History has shown that winning 25% of your games in division 1 is not usually enough to keep you up. West Bromley last season took points in nearly 50% of their games but still went down with 42 points. This makes life extremely tough for us and we are not getting carried away with the start. Its take each game as it comes , pray that injuries and suspensions don't de-rail the team and see where we are after 10 games, 20 games , 30 games etc. "

WCC - WCS QUALIFIERS 4

WCC - WCS Qualifier 3 has been successfully completed and now we are ready for next and final round of qualifiers. Just like previous round, this round will also be 1-legged round and winners (32 teams) will advance to World Club Cup Round of 32 and losers (32 teams) will advance to World Club Shield Round of 32. Here are the 14 winners from Qualifier 3 : (Congratulations to winners and commiserations to the losers).

Ajax Málaga CF
FC Basel SS Lazio
Sampdoria AS Monaco
Club Brugge KV Torino
Girondins Bordeaux Tottenham Hotspur
Crystal Palace Santos FC
Southampton Olympiacos

And now we have 50 teams which got bye into the Qualifier 4 and 14 teams from previous 3 rounds which totals to 64 teams. Through random draw, we finalized the fixtures of Qualifier 4 and winners will qualify for World Club Cup and losers will play World Club Shield. This round of games will be played on 21st February. 32 games to be arranged in 1 week. It's a difficult task (but not impossible) and let's try to get it arranged all games. The fixture schedule are :

Match 1  FC Augsburg vs  Atlético Madrid
Match 2  RCD Espanyol vs  Swansea City
Match 3  Standard Liège vs  SL Benfica
Match 4  Hellas Verona vs  Liverpool
Match 5  SS Lazio vs  SC Internacional
Match 6  Galatasaray SK vs  Internazionale
Match 7  Fenerbahçe SK vs  West Bromwich Albion
Match 8 Everton vs Santos FC
Match 9  Manchester United vs  Genoa CFC
Match 10  Celta Vigo vs  Sampdoria
Match 11  Crystal Palace vs  Hamburger SV
Match 12  FC Schalke 04 vs  Málaga CF
Match 13  Arsenal vs  Southampton
Match 14  RSC Anderlecht vs  Paris Saint-Germain
Match 15  Aston Villa vs  FC Basel
Match 16  Celtic vs  West Ham United
Match 17  Flamengo vs  Chelsea
Match 18  Olympiacos vs  Lille OSC
Match 19  Ajax vs  Borussia Dortmund
Match 20  Girondins Bordeaux vs  Barcelona
Match 21  Manchester City vs  Udinese Calcio
Match 22  Real Madrid vs  Torino
Match 23 Juventus vs Tottenham Hotspur
Match 24  FC Porto vs  Independiente
Match 25  Dinamo Zagreb vs  Club Brugge KV
Match 26  Stoke City vs  São Paulo FC
Match 27  Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern München
Match 28  AS Monaco vs  AC Milan
Match 29  Levante vs FC Koln
Match 30  Valencia CF vs  Sunderland
Match 31  Leicester City vs  Sporting CP
Match 32 Riverplate vs Hertha BSC

We thank in advance all the participating managers for their kind co-operation and their support in making this tournament successful. Thank you and good luck.

WCC - WCS QUALIFIERS 3

WCC - WCS Qualifier 2 has been successfully completed and now we are ready for next round of fixtures. Just like previous round, this round will also be 1-leg knock out game and winners will advance to next round of qualifiers. Here are the winners from Qualifier 2 : (Congratulations to winners and commiserations to the losers)

Rubin Kazan AS Roma
SS Lazio Sampdoria
Athletic Club Olympique Marseille
Ajax VfL Wolfsburg
Sevilla Mönchengladbach
FC Basel Olympique Lyonnais

Here are the teams which got bye into Qualifier 3 :

Crystal Palace Santos FC
Southampton Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
Málaga CF Olympiacos
Tottenham Hotspur AZ Alkmaar
Cruzeiro VfB Stuttgart
AS Monaco Club Brugge KV
Torino Girondins Bordeaux
Werder Bremen CSKA Moskva

Through random draw, we finalized the fixtures of Qualifier 3 and winners will qualify for next round. This round of games will be played on 14th February. The fixture schedule are :

Qualifier 3
Game 1 Ajax vs Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
Game 2 Rubin Kazan vs FC Basel
Game 3 Sampdoria vs CSKA Moskva
Game 4 Olympique Marseille vs Club Brugge KV
Game 5 Mönchengladbach vs Girondins Bordeaux
Game 6 Crystal Palace vs AZ Alkmaar
Game 7 Olympique Lyonnais vs Southampton
Game 8 Málaga CF vs AS Roma
Game 9 Cruzeiro vs SS Lazio
Game 10 Athletic Club vs AS Monaco
Game 11 Torino vs Sevilla
Game 12 Werder Bremen vs Tottenham Hotspur
Game 13 Santos FC vs VfB Stuttgart
Game 14 Olympiacos vs VfL Wolfsburg

We thank in advance all the participating managers for their kind co-operation and their support in making this tournament successful. Thank you and good luck.

Samp report conspiracy - Admin against Super Samp!

Super Samp manager Beddows' side have started Season 22 like the Japanese bullet train - YET the authorities seem to be against them.,,,

PRIOR to game 1 - 1 player suspended from last season

GAME 1 - Nicolas Jackson sent off for two yellow cards - AWAY to Marsden? Which Samp win 2-1? Coincidence?

GAME 2 - Another red for two yellows - Admin trying to thwart little old Super Samp?

GAME 3 - Straight red for Nmecha - the destroyer of Marsden and two injuries picked up as Sunderland play dirty? Surely too much this?

BEDDOWS: "We will go to the authorities but expect very little - especially as we effectively relegated CSKA Texas and Chris Meida last season - we will fight on but it is clearly a battle that ultimately we will lose!" 

Youth Cup Groups

I did the draw live on Facebook, but I can't see a way to download the video to upload here. Sorry. Mind you, it's 30 minutes long, so maybe for the best.

This is how it all turned out. (Colours refer to the pots the teams were in - Pot 1 Orange, Pot 2 yellow, Pot 3 green, Pot 4 blue.)

All fixtures are on Challonge, and as you can see below, if it's easier.

Link to the old UI for arranging fixtures further ahead than the new UI allows.

WCC - WCS QUALIFIERS 2

WCC - WCS Qualifier 1 has been successfully completed and now we are ready for next round of fixtures. Just like previous round, this round will also be 1-leg knock out game and winners will advance to next round of qualifiers. Here are the winners from Qualifier 1 : (Congratulations to winners and commiserations to the losers)

FC Basel
AS Saint-Etienne
Athletic Bilbao
ACF Fiorentina
Olympique Marseille
SSC Napoli
Boca Juniors
Shakhtar Donetsk
FK Partizan
Olympique Lyonnais

Here are the teams which got bye into Qualifier 2 :

SS Lazio
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Sampdoria
VfL Wolfsburg
Rubin Kazan
Ajax
Spartak Moskva
US Sassuolo
AS Roma
Sevilla
Dynamo Kyiv
Besiktas JK
Zenit Saint Petersburg
Montpellier HSC

Through random draw, we finalised the fixtures of Qualifier 2 and winners will qualify for next round. This round of games will be played on 07th February. The fixture schedule are :

Qualifier 2
Game 1 ACF Fiorentina vs Rubin Kazan
Game 2 SS Lazio vs FK Partizan
Game 3 Besiktas JK vs Athletic Club
Game 4 Ajax vs Dynamo Kyiv
Game 5 Montpellier HSC vs Sevilla
Game 6 FC Basel vs SSC Napoli
Game 7 AS Roma vs AS Saint-Etienne
Game 8 Zenit Saint Petersburg vs Sampdoria
Game 9 Spartak Moskva vs Olympique Marseille
Game 10 Boca Juniors vs VfL Wolfsburg
Game 11 Mönchengladbach vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Game 12 US Sassuolo vs Olympique Lyonnais

We thank in advance all the participating managers for their kind co-operation and their support in making this tournament successful. Thank you and good luck.

Youth Cup and Shield Format for S22

62 63 teams entered this season. I've placed each team in one of four seeded pots for the draw, ranked in order of average team rating submitted by managers:

Pot 1
No. Team Rat Grp
1 Genoa 87
2 Levante 86
3 Juventus 85
4 Barcelona 84
5 Hellas Verona 84
6 Leicester City 84
7 Cologne 83
8 Sporting 83
9 Benfica 83
10 Bayern 83
Pot 2
No. Team Rat Grp
11 Dortmund 82
12 Hertha Berlin 82
13 Inter 82
14 Real Madrid 82
15 Aston Villa 81
16 Espanyol 81
17 Independiente 81
18 Montpellier 81
19 Schalke 81
20 Sampdoria 81
Pot 3
No. Team Rat Grp
21 AC Milan 80
22 Arsenal 80
23 Athletic Club 80
24 Atletico Madrid 80
25 Chelsea 80
26 Club Brugge 80
27 FC TWENTE 80
28 Manchester City Academy 80
29 Olympique MARSEILLE 80
30 River Plate 80
31 Shakhtar Donetsk 80
32 Standard Liege 80
33 CSKA 79
34 Dynamo Moskva 79
35 Manchester United 79
36 PSG 79
37 Santos 79
38 São Paulo 79
39 Torino 79
40 Bordeaux 79
Pot 4
No. Team Rat Grp
41 Atalanta 78
42 Besiktas 78
43 Dynamo Kyiv 78
44 Fc Basel 78
45 Hamburger 78
46 Leverkusen 78
47 Monchengladbach 78
48 Sevilla 78
49 West Bromwich Albion 78
50 Dinamo Zagreb 77
51 Flamengo 77
52 VfL Wolfsburg 77
53 AZ Alkmaar 77
54 Sassuolo 77
55 Augsburg 76
56 Tottenham 76
57 Villarreal 75
58 Celtic 74
59 Chievo Verona 74
60 Anderlecht 73
61 Fenerbache 72
62 LYON 71

EDIT: Last minute entry from Lazio in Pot 3, ave. rating 80. Lazio will be no. 63 in the draw.

The Draw

Each team will be drawn at random to play in one of nine groups in total:

  • Eight Nine groups of seven teams
  • One group of six teams

In each group there will be:

  • no more than two teams from Pot 1 (in a group with two teams from Pot 1, there will be only one team from Pot 2)
  • no more than two teams from Pot 2 (in a group with two teams from Pot 2, there will be only one team from Pot 1)
  • no more than three teams from Pot 3
  • no more than three teams from Pot 4

I hope to do a live draw Friday morning (tomorrow). Eeek!

Group Stage

Each team will play each other team in the group once, every Saturday from 10 February to 30 23 March. (or 23 March for the Group of Six).

Fixture schedule and results for the Group Stage will be posted on Challonge.com as usual (ignore the "Final Stage" on Challonge - I will set up a new tournament for the Knockout Stage).

Knockout Stages

The top three teams in each group will qualify for the knockout stage of the Youth Cup, along with the the five best fourth placed teams.

The remaining four fourth placed teams will drop into the Youth Shield knockout stage, along with all nine fifth placed teams and the three best sixth placed teams. They will be joined by the sixteen losers from the Youth Cup 1st Round.

The Knockout Stage will be every Saturday from 6 April with a one leg 1st Round in the Youth Cup. The 2nd Round to the Final on 25 May and 1 June will all be two legs.

The Youth Shield will be every Saturday from 13 April with one leg 1st and 2nd Rounds. The Quarter Finals to the Final on 25 May and 1 June will all be two legs.

Disputes

In the event of a dispute, my decision will be final, but, if possible, I will favour teams and managers who have not forfeited any games.

S22 Power Rankings

Top 5 Risers: Hamburg (+66), Espanyol (+45), Celta (+30), Ajax (+23), Brugge (+19)

Interesting to note that 3 of the top 5 risers were part of the top 5 decliners last season.

Top 5 Fallers: Feyenoord (-40), Twente (-39), Cruzeiro (-21), Hoffenheim (-19), Southampton (-18)

Something in that Dutch water?

Apologies for the format - on a very small screen at the moment so can't snip like I normally do.

  • Gk Def Mid Att Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Division Ranking Change in Ranking Season 21 Season 20
  • Borussia Dortmund 92 92.8 93.8 95 87 92.1 232.47 D1 1 2 3 5
  • Hellas Verona 94 92.3 92.8 96 89 92.8 232.4 D1 2 0 2 4
  • FC Porto 94 91.5 93.8 96 86 92.3 232.24 D1 3 1 4 6
  • Chelsea 95 92 93.3 95.3 85 92.1 231.83 D1 4 -3 1 1
  • Juventus 93 93.3 92.4 92 89 91.9 230.16 D1 5 0 5 3
  • Bayern München 91 91.8 92.8 94 86 91.1 229.98 D1 6 1 7 8
  • Manchester City 94 90.8 92.8 93 86 91.3 228.89 D2 7 3 10 11
  • Atlético Madrid 91 90.8 90.6 95 86 90.7 228.07 D1 8 13 21 24
  • Barcelona 92 91 91.8 93 86 90.8 228.05 D1 9 2 11 10
  • Arsenal 90 91.3 91.6 92 86 90.2 227.2 D1 10 -1 9 9
  • Leicester City 90 91.3 91.2 92 85 89.9 226.76 D1 11 -3 8 12
  • Levante UD 90 90.8 91.2 91 87 90 225.95 D2 12 2 14 14
  • São Paulo FC 90 90 91.2 92 86 89.8 225.88 D1 13 4 17 28
  • SC Internacional 90 89.5 89.8 93 88 90.1 225.25 D2 14 9 23 23
  • Real Madrid 89 90 90.4 92 87 89.7 225.24 D1 15 -3 12 7
  • Internazionale 90 90.3 90.6 91 87 89.8 225.07 D3 16 0 16 27
  • Sporting CP 90 89.8 90.4 92 86 89.6 225.04 D2 17 3 20 33
  • SL Benfica 95 89.8 90 91.3 86 90.4 224.87 D1 18 -12 6 2
  • Genoa CFC 90 90.8 90.6 90 87 89.7 224.82 D1 19 0 19 17
  • FC Schalke 04 91 90 90.2 91 86 89.6 224.55 D2 20 4 24 30
  • Stoke City 90 89.8 90.2 91 87 89.6 224.35 D2 21 -6 15 22
  • Everton 89 90.5 90.8 90 84 88.9 224.3 D2 22 -4 18 18
  • Manchester United 89 90.5 90 91 83 88.7 224.19 D1 23 6 29 31
  • Bayer Leverkusen 90 89.8 90.6 90 87 89.5 224.02 D1 24 -11 13 16
  • Valencia CF 88 88.5 89.6 92 86 88.8 223.16 D1 25 5 30 26
  • Hertha BSC 90 89 89.4 91 86 89.1 222.99 D2 26 10 36 38
  • Flamengo 88 88.8 89.8 91 87 88.9 222.99 D3 27 12 39 42
  • Paris Saint-Germain 88 90 89.2 90 87 88.8 222.86 D2 28 0 28 29
  • Fenerbahçe SK 88 89.3 89.9 90 86 88.6 222.69 D1 29 13 42 45
  • Aston Villa 88 89.5 89.6 90 85 88.4 222.54 D1 30 -3 27 25
  • RSC Anderlecht 90 89.8 89.4 89 87 89 222.41 D2 31 -5 26 21
  • Liverpool 88 90.3 88.8 89 87 88.6 222.09 D2 32 -7 25 20
  • Dinamo Zagreb 89 88.8 88.6 91 86 88.7 222.03 D3 33 5 38 37
  • Hamburger SV 92 89.3 89.2 89 86 89.1 221.97 D3 34 66 100 35
  • Udinese Calcio 88 89 89.6 89 87 88.5 221.73 D2 35 -2 33 48
  • Celta Vigo 88 87.5 89.6 91 86 88.4 221.71 D2 36 30 66 61
  • Standard Liège 91 88 89.6 90 85 88.7 221.7 D3 37 -15 22 13
  • RCD Espanyol 88 87 91 89.7 87 88.5 221.68 D1 38 45 83 52
  • Sunderland 89 89.5 89 89 85 88.3 221.53 D3 39 -5 34 34
  • Swansea City 87 88.3 88.6 91 87 88.4 221.51 D3 40 -3 37 40
  • Galatasaray SK 88 89 89.4 89 86 88.3 221.45 D3 41 0 41 49
  • FC Köln 89 88.5 89 90 85 88.3 221.38 D2 42 11 53 70
    West Bromwich Albion 91 89 89 89 85 88.6 221.37 D2 43 -8 35 15
    West Ham United 89 88.5 88.8 90 86 88.5 221.34 D3 44 6 50 50
    Celtic 89 88.8 88.8 89.5 86 88.4 221.18 D2 45 0 45 56
    Málaga CF 88 88.8 89.2 89 85 88 220.97 D3 46 -2 44 62
    AC Milan 88 88.8 88.8 89 87 88.3 220.89 D2 47 7 54 47
    Independiente 89 88.3 88.6 90 85 88.2 220.86 D5 48 1 49 85
    Tottenham Hotspur 88 89 88.8 89 85 88 220.85 D3 49 -1 48 41
    Southampton 89 88 89.2 89 85 88 220.49 D2 50 -18 32 32
    Crystal Palace 88 88.3 88.5 89.5 86 88.1 220.46 D3 51 -11 40 75
    Cruzeiro 89 88.8 88.8 88 85 87.9 220.12 D3 52 -21 31 51
    River Plate 90 87.5 89 89 85 88.1 220.05 D2 53 3 56 57
    Werder Bremen 88 88.8 88 89 85 87.8 220.01 D2 54 -8 46 43
    Girondins Bordeaux 87 88 87.2 91 85 87.6 219.95 D5 55 -12 43 64
    FC Augsburg 89 88 88.2 89 87 88.2 219.93 D4 56 -9 47 39
    Lille OSC 90 87.3 88.8 89 86 88.2 219.81 D4 57 0 57 55
    AZ Alkmaar 87 88.3 88.2 89 86 87.7 219.77 D5 58 -7 51 36
    CSKA Moskva 86 87.8 88.8 89 86 87.5 219.73 D4 59 -1 58 68
    Borussia Mönchengladbach 87 87.8 88.4 89 85 87.4 219.41 D3 60 7 67 44
    Club Brugge KV 88 88 88 89 85 87.6 219.41 D4 61 19 80 82
    SS Lazio 89 87.5 89.2 88 84 87.5 219.32 D5 62 8 70 100
    Ajax 89 87.5 88.6 89 82 87.2 219.25 D4 63 23 86 19
    Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 88 87.3 88.8 88.5 86 87.7 219.21 D3 64 -5 59 88
    Sampdoria 87 88 87.8 89 85 87.4 219.13 D3 65 -13 52 66
    AS Monaco 89 86.8 88.6 89 86 87.9 219.13 D4 66 -3 63 63
    Olympiacos 88 87.5 88 89 86 87.7 219.13 D4 67 -5 62 81
    Rubin Kazan 88 87.3 88.4 89 84 87.3 219.01 D5 68 8 76 67
    Santos FC 88 87.8 88.3 88 87 87.8 219 D4 69 2 71 71
    VfB Stuttgart 89 87.3 88.6 88 85 87.6 218.76 D3 70 -5 65 59
    Spartak Moskva 87 87.5 88.6 88 85 87.2 218.72 D5 71 1 72 84
    Torino 89 87.3 88.2 88 87 87.9 218.68 D4 72 -12 60 73
    Zenit Saint Petersburg 88 86.8 88.2 89 83 87 218.33 D4 73 0 73 79
    AS Roma 87 88.3 87.2 88 85 87.1 218.2 D4 74 0 74 90
    Dynamo Kyiv 86 87 87.4 89 86 87.1 218.01 D5 75 0 75 80
    Dynamo Moskva 87 87 88 88 85 87 217.84 D5 76 3 79 76
    VfL Wolfsburg 88 87 87.6 88 86 87.3 217.76 D4 77 -9 68 54
    Lokomotiv Moskva 88 87 88 88 83 86.8 217.72 D4 78 0 78 72
    Boca Juniors 88 86.3 88.6 88 83 86.8 217.6 D5 79 -10 69 58
    Besiktas JK 88 87 87.4 88 85 87.1 217.48 D5 80 14 94 92
    Olympique Marseille 87 88 87.2 87 86 87 217.47 D5 81 3 84 86
    US Sassuolo 88 86.8 87.6 88 85 87.1 217.44 D3 82 11 93 53
    TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 86 87 87.6 88 85 86.7 217.4 D3 83 -19 64 60
    AS Saint-Etienne 87 87.3 87.2 88 85 86.9 217.4 D4 84 1 85 77
    Shakhtar Donetsk 87 87.8 87.6 87 83 86.5 217.23 D5 85 -3 82 99
    FC Basel 87 87.8 87.2 87 85 86.8 217.15 D5 86 10 96 93
    PSV 88 86.8 86.8 89 82 86.5 217.09 D4 87 1 88 97
    SEVILLA 88 86.8 87.6 87 86 87.1 216.91 D4 88 4 92 95
    Villarreal CF 86 87.5 87.2 87 85 86.5 216.83 D5 89 -8 81 78
    Montpellier HSC 88 87 87.2 87 86 87 216.79 D4 90 0 90 87
    ACF Fiorentina 88 87 87.2 87 85 86.8 216.67 D4 91 4 95 94
    SSC Napoli 88 87 86.8 87.5 85 86.9 216.64 D4 92 -5 87 91
    Chievo Verona 88 86.5 86.8 88 85 86.9 216.6 D5 93 -2 91 96
    Atalanta BC 88 86 87.2 88 85 86.8 216.52 D4 94 -17 77 69
    Feyenoord 88 86.3 86.8 88 86 87 216.52 D5 95 -40 55 46
    Newcastle United 87 87 86.8 87 85 86.6 216.23 D5 96 3 99 98
    FK Partizan 87 85.5 87 89 82 86.1 216.13 D5 97 1 98 74
    Olympique Lyonnais 87 86.3 87.4 87 85 86.5 216.11 D5 98 -1 97 83
    Athletic Club 87 86 86.6 87 84 86.1 215.15 D5 99 -10 89 89
    FC Twente 87 85 85.8 86 83 85.4 212.9 D3 100 -39 61 65

WCC - WCS QUALIFIERS 1

Hello folks, welcome to WCC and WCS Qualifiers 1 which is set to take place on 31st January 2024. This will be one legged round and the winners will qualify for next round (Qualifiers 2) and the losers will unfortunately be eliminated from the tournament. Below are the 20 teams which will compete in QFR1 :

Dynamo Moskva FC Basel
Olympique Marseille TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Feyenoord Newcastle United
AS Saint-Etienne PSV
SSC Napoli Shakhtar Donetsk
Chievo Verona Villarreal CF
Lokomotiv Moskva Olympique Lyonnais
ACF Fiorentina FK Partizan
Atalanta BC Athletic Club
Boca Juniors FC Twente

Fixture schedule for these teams in QFR1 are :

FC Basel Vs Atalanta BC
AS Saint-Etienne Vs Feyenoord
PSV Vs Athletic Bilbao
ACF Fiorentina Vs Villarreal CF
Olympique Marseille Vs Dynamo Moskova
SSC Napoli Vs Newcastle United
Boca Juniors Vs Chievo Verona
Shakhtar Donetsk Vs FC Twente
FK Partizan Vs TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Lokomotiv Moskva Vs Olympique Lyonnais

As mentioned earlier, the above fixtures will be played on 31st Jan 2024. We thank in advance all the participating managers for their kind co-operation and their support in making this tournament successful. Thank you and good luck to all.

WCC - WCS

Hello everyone, World Club Cup and World Club Shield are back. Congratulations to last season's winners - AC Milan (WCC) and Sao Paulo (WCS). A very big thanks to Mr. Gav Harmer for organizing these tournaments successfully for 4 seasons. Take a bow, mate!! I'm very much honored and pleased to be in-charge of these tournaments this season. Myself along with the fellow admins will try our best to make this tournaments fair, transparent and successful.

As we have 100 teams in our game-world, we will have 4 single legged qualifying rounds followed by 2 legged R32, R16, Qtrs., Semis and 1 leg Final. Please look at following table for clear understanding. We have ranked all 100 teams based on their team strength which are :

Hellas Verona Stoke City Celtic Olympiacos Dynamo Moskva
FC Porto Bayer Leverkusen Swansea City AZ Alkmaar Olympique Marseille
Borussia Dortmund Hertha BSC 1. FC Köln VfB Stuttgart Feyenoord
Chelsea Hamburger SV AC Milan Club Brugge KV AS Saint-Etienne
Juventus RSC Anderlecht Sunderland Girondins Bordeaux SSC Napoli
Manchester City Everton Galatasaray SK CSKA Moskva Chievo Verona
Bayern München Flamengo FC Augsburg SS Lazio Lokomotiv Moskva
Barcelona Valencia CF Lille OSC Borussia Mönchengladbach ACF Fiorentina
Atlético Madrid Paris Saint-Germain Independiente Sampdoria Atalanta BC
SL Benfica Manchester United River Plate VfL Wolfsburg Boca Juniors
Arsenal Dinamo Zagreb Crystal Palace Rubin Kazan FC Basel
SC Internacional Standard Liège Southampton Ajax TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Levante UD Fenerbahçe SK Málaga CF Spartak Moskva Newcastle United
Leicester City Liverpool Tottenham Hotspur US Sassuolo PSV
São Paulo F West Bromwich Albion Cruzeiro AS Roma Shakhtar Donetsk
Internazionale RCD Espanyol AS Monaco SEVILLA Villarreal CF
Real Madrid Udinese Calcio Torino Dynamo Kyiv Olympique Lyonnais
Genoa CFC West Ham United Werder Bremen Besiktas JK FK Partizan
Sporting CP Aston Villa Santos FC Zenit Saint Petersburg Athletic Club
FC Schalke 04 Celta Vigo Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Montpellier HSC FC Twente

From these, we will have 20 teams play QFR1, 24 teams in QFR2, 28 teams in QFR3. Final Qualifying round (QFR4) will have 64 teams. Winners of QFR4 will qualify for World Club Cup while Losers of QFR4 will qualify for World Club Shield. From there on, we will have 2 leg rounds till final. (*QFR=Qualifiers)

RULES:

  1. Any team failing to organize their home fixture / failing to accept the friendly requests will be disqualified automatically and the opponent will qualify for next round.
  2. In case of draw in Qualifiers and Final (1 legged) and R32, R16, Qtrs, Semis (2 legged), Top 100's traditional method of deciding the winner will come into place which is available here : https://smtop100.blog/2023/09/20/fictional-extra-time-fet-and-away-goals/

We request everyone to extend their kind support to make these tournaments successful as always. Thanks and all the best to all the managers.

For any queries or discrepancy, please reach out to me - Tharanidharan (Stuttgart) or David Marsden (Hamburg).

A Look Back, A Glance Forward!

In their first ever season in Division 1, Leicester City finished comfortably in mid table with 55 points, netting 51 goals and conceding 47. Ciro Immobile made a colossal impact with 19 goals in 23 games before his departure, whilst captain Martin Odegaard chipped in with 5 goals and 15 assists.
Last season though, the Foxes didn't find the same success. A drop to 16th in the league saw them finish just 2 points clear of relegation, ending on 44 points. The drop is hard to pinpoint. Goals dropped to 45 scored (a drop of 6), with 53 conceded (an increase of 6) with only 1 less win than the preceding season. However, they won a total of 5 less games, a substantial points dropper.
Leading from the front, Gabriel Jesus dragged the team to safety, netting 18 goals and assisting 6 more in the league, earning him the clubs Player of the Year award in his maiden season. The rest of the team struggled to contribute as much though with Odegaard dropping to 4 goals and 9 assists and Havertz only supplying 4 goals and 5 assists in his first and only season. Martinelli did register 1 extra goal contribution, but that came in 11 extra starts, resulting in a drop of G/A per appearance.
One key drop in results can be seen when Odegaard raised concerns about playing on the wing and asked to play centrally, a move which has not boded well for the team.

Despite the struggle, fans and the club have kept full faith in Earle, given his success in the past. With 4 promotions, 1 League Title and 1 Youth Shield and a history of successful recruitment there are no fears that the club remain on the correct course.
In his first season with the club, the squad was the the 96th ranked of all of the 100 clubs with a 216.07 ETOT. Kicking off last season the squad was up to the 8th ranked team with and ETOT of 227.53 showing a meteoric rise during Earle's tenure.
Despite a drop to 10th with an ETOT of 226.76 this season, the clubs potential has increased exponentially with additions throughout last season and this pre-season.

Even looking back to the first few rounds of recruitments whilst in Divisions 4 and 5, Earle brought in multiple back up calibre players who have since risen to prominence around the league.
Douglas Luiz joined the Foxes almost immediately when Earle joined and played 164 games for the club over the course of 5 seasons. He has since become a prominent player for Division 1 side Aston Villa with interest from a host of top clubs.
Within 2 days of arriving Earle brought in centre back David Garcia from non-competing CA Osasuna. Whilst playing a minor role at Leicester, he has developed himself into a top option at Division 2 AC Milan.
Nicolas Gonzalez was also an early signing, picked up within a month of the managerial change. He remained a back up for a long while, before working up to a starter and netting 16 goals with 10 assists in 50 games. Similarly to Luiz, Gonzalez has become a top player, culminating in a 12 goal 24 assist season for Leverkusen just 2 seasons ago.
In defence Federico Dimarco came in as a back up but grew into a player who was one of the first names on the team sheet playing over 100 games for the Foxes. The Italian is now one of the top full backs in the league and is playing at Real Madrid.
Similar success stories can be seen in the early signings of Enes Unal, Yangel Herrera and Matty Cash.

With this in mind, the fans have trusted Earle's judgment in this seasons marquee signing, Florian Wirtz. The German gem did not come cheap with multiple starters moving to Levante in exchange, but if he can build on his 12 goal 9 assist season last year then the club will be happy. At just 21, Wirtz will be a long term project for Earle, but is already a guaranteed starter from day 1, slotting in anywhere in the front 4. The early signs look superb, with 1 goal and 8 assists in pre seasons playing on the left flank, stats which will hopefully translate to the league.
Wirtz was joined by Odilon Kossounou in the move from Levante to Leicester, and he will similarly play a vital starting role. The 23-year-old is a natural centre back, but will likely find himself deployed as a makeshift right back allowing Jurrien Timber to play centrally. Kossounou has taken up this role confidently, featuring twice off the bench in the last 2 games of last season and staring there in all of the pre season matches.
These remain the only 2 signings who are likely to make starting impacts, but towards the end of last season a number of depth options were added.
Melo Arthur made a surprise return just 6 months after heading to Shakhtar. The 27-year-old wont return as a starter though, as he will act as back up to Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga.
Mato Joselu was also a surprise arrival coming in from FC Twente. The 33-year-old does not fit the standard model of recruitment, but a back-up striker was a necessary addition in case of any injuries or suspensions up top. He was followed in by Alassane Plea who will add depth across the top, but will be departing prematurely in March.
Further depth has been added in the post season with goalkeeper Stefano Turati returning from Hamburg, Marco Richter arriving from Shakhtar and the versatile Baktiyor Zaynutdinov coming in from RCD Mallorca. With these additions, Earle has said his 1st and 2nd team are set to proceed for the season.
The main focus of recruitment in the past few weeks has remained youth though. After the agreement for Wirtz, Earle launched an intense pursuit of 19-year-old Joao Neves, landing the Portuguese gem from CSKA Moskva who will become a key part of the youth set up, and the 4th choice centre midfielder. Also coming in as a youth team starter and senior back up is Yan Couto. The highly coveted right back was chased by many top clubs, but it was the Foxes who won the race. Tim Lemperle also came in as a starting youth option, as Leicester search for a left winger.
Further additions came in the form of talented forwards Peque Fernandez and Calixte Ligue. Earle was surprised at the lack of competition to bring in Peque, and is excited to see how he and the 18-year-old Ligue can develop.
To bring more numbers into the youth squad a deal was agreed which has seen talented winger Amario Cozier-Duberry arrive ahead of the start of the season, with Petar Ratkov and Aljoscha Kemlein both arriving in March from Valencia.
Further additions in March will be Fin Stevens adding an option at full back, and Martim Neto, who will pair well in midfield with fellow countrymen Joao Neves.

With a lot of business done, it looks unlikely to slow down, with the future of Martin Odegaard currently in question. Earle was not thrilled with the captains decision to refuse playing on the wing, especially after the success he had found out there. A number of teams have discussed signing the Norwegian, but currently nothing is confirmed. Several approaches for Tino Livramento have been entertained, although no final agreement has been reached.

Whilst Earle has not often put much value in the pre season games, the club have taken motivation from their undefeated run. After an opening 0-0 draw with Levante, Leicester won their following 3 games, netting 9 and conceding 1. Tonight they wrapped up with a 1-1 draw against Fenerbahce, who they kick their season off against tomorrow, before heading to title favourited Dortmund for game 2.
A long season lies ahead, with the focus remaining on long term development, but the squad now looks like it is in a place to move forward with very few changes with an eye on challenging within the next few seasons. This season the target is a record top half finish, although with Division 1 strengthening season on season that target could be challenging.

Division 5 Season 22 Stats and Facts.

Crazy! The best team in D5 would be the best team in D4.

Not completely clear of the rest but Independiente would top D4 if they were in it. No weaknesses and would expect to pop 2 or 3 against most teams,  anything other than promotion is a flop this year. Bordeaux approach the 220 mark but just lack a strong keeper.  AZ would expect to challenge deep into the season especially with that potent attack. Lazio top and tail well but lack depth. Kazan similarly have a good keeper / attacker combo but also lack depth.

It is a relatively soft landing into D4 any team over 217 would survive with little change.  Any team down to Basel should look to promotion or at least a playoff place.  Feyenoord could well go deep in the cup despite their 16th ranking.  Partizan will probably finish higher than their ranking suggests due to the strong attack. Athletic club and Newcastle could well lack enough possession to make progress. Division 5 has shown some improvement this season with an increase in average rating of 0.5 points.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre
Independiente 89.0 88.3 88.6 90.0 85.0 88.2 220.86 1
Girondins Bordeaux 87.0 88.0 87.2 91.0 85.0 87.6 219.95 2
AZ Alkmaar 87.0 88.3 88.2 89.0 86.0 87.7 219.77 3
SS Lazio 89.0 87.5 89.2 88.0 84.0 87.5 219.32 4
Rubin Kazan 88.0 87.3 88.4 89.0 84.0 87.3 219.01 5
Spartak Moskva 87.0 87.5 88.6 88.0 85.0 87.2 218.72 6
Dynamo Kyiv 86.0 87.0 87.4 89.0 86.0 87.1 218.01 7
Dynamo Moskva 87.0 87.0 88.0 88.0 85.0 87.0 217.84 8
Boca Juniors 88.0 86.3 88.6 88.0 83.0 86.8 217.60 9
Besiktas JK 88.0 87.0 87.4 88.0 85.0 87.1 217.48 10
Olympique Marseille 87.0 88.0 87.2 87.0 86.0 87.0 217.47 11
Shakhtar Donetsk 87.0 87.8 87.6 87.0 83.0 86.5 217.23 12
FC Basel 87.0 87.8 87.2 87.0 85.0 86.8 217.15 13
Villarreal CF 86.0 87.5 87.2 87.0 85.0 86.5 216.83 14
Chievo Verona 88.0 86.5 86.8 88.0 85.0 86.9 216.60 15
Feyenoord 88.0 86.3 86.8 88.0 86.0 87.0 216.52 16
Newcastle United 87.0 87.0 86.8 87.0 85.0 86.6 216.23 17
FK Partizan 87.0 85.5 87.0 89.0 82.0 86.1 216.13 18
Olympique Lyonnais 87.0 86.3 87.4 87.0 85.0 86.5 216.11 19
Athletic Club 87.0 86.0 86.6 87.0 84.0 86.1 215.15 20

FutureTransfer- Leicester City/Valencia

Moving immediately to Leicester City : Amario COZIER-DUBERRY

Moving to Leicester on 25th March : Aljoscha KEMLEIN and Petar RATKOV

Moving to Valencia on 25th March Shea CHARLES

Division 4 Season 22 Stats and Facts.

The tightest division so far, a 9-way tie for first spot?

A quick excuse for 3 or 4 months down the line. There are only 3.4 points from first to last, so literally any team could win the league, some are just a bit more favoured than others.

The top 3 do sit a little above the rest, Augsburg look a well-balanced team with tons of depth which should lend well to no surprises.  Lille have a stronger keeper but a weaker defence which could be a concern with some of the strong attacks in this league. CSKA sit in third and will be waiting for their keeper to rise otherwise they would have been in second spot.  The next 5 clubs are separated by .4 points.  Ajax top and tale with little depth, they will need luck on their side.  Monaco may fancy their chances more with that good attack and keeper combo with added depth on the side.

Santo and Torino go down to 87 rating in their top 18, Torino in particular look to be a great cup prospect.  Unlike other divisions it doesn’t fall off a cliff but as 219 will be needed to survive in the next division those should be the promoted teams.

217.7 was the rough cut off for relegation. This leaves 7 contenders from St-Etienne down in peril. Of those teams St-Etienne have a weaker keeper which will cost them. PSV lack depth, like their Dutch cousins how will they prosper as the season continues.  Atalanta have the best Attack / Keeper combo, that is usually a good move. Sevilla and Montpellier have plenty of depth, Fiorentina and Napoli have decent balanced teams. If I were to pick 4 teams away from the stats It would be Napoli (midfield weakness) St Etienne (Keeper weakness) PSV (no depth) (Atalanta weak defence) who will struggle the most.

Division 4 is 0.5 points weaker than last season but as previously mentioned much more tightly packed.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre
FC Augsburg 89.0 88.0 88.2 89.0 87.0 88.2 219.93 1
Lille OSC 90.0 87.3 88.8 89.0 86.0 88.2 219.81 2
CSKA Moskva 86.0 87.8 88.8 89.0 86.0 87.5 219.73 3
Club Brugge KV 88.0 88.0 88.0 89.0 85.0 87.6 219.41 4
Ajax 89.0 87.5 88.6 89.0 82.0 87.2 219.25 5
AS Monaco 89.0 86.8 88.6 89.0 86.0 87.9 219.13 6
Olympiacos 88.0 87.5 88.0 89.0 86.0 87.7 219.13 7
Santos FC 88.0 87.8 88.3 88.0 87.0 87.8 219.00 8
Torino 89.0 87.3 88.2 88.0 87.0 87.9 218.68 9
Zenit Saint Petersburg 88.0 86.8 88.2 89.0 83.0 87.0 218.33 10
AS Roma 87.0 88.3 87.2 88.0 85.0 87.1 218.20 11
VfL Wolfsburg 88.0 87.0 87.6 88.0 86.0 87.3 217.76 12
Lokomotiv Moskva 88.0 87.0 88.0 88.0 83.0 86.8 217.72 13
AS Saint-Etienne 87.0 87.3 87.2 88.0 85.0 86.9 217.40 14
PSV 88.0 86.8 86.8 89.0 82.0 86.5 217.09 15
SEVILLA 88.0 86.8 87.6 87.0 86.0 87.1 216.91 16
Montpellier HSC 88.0 87.0 87.2 87.0 86.0 87.0 216.79 17
ACF Fiorentina 88.0 87.0 87.2 87.0 85.0 86.8 216.67 18
SSC Napoli 88.0 87.0 86.8 87.5 85.0 86.9 216.64 19
Atalanta BC 88.0 86.0 87.2 88.0 85.0 86.8 216.52 20

Division 3 Season 22 Stats and Facts.

Inter a solid 90 team in Division 3, not for much longer!

Inter have a team which would be mid table in Division 1 and all but guaranteed promotion in D2. Should be a walk over for them. There is then a crop of 8 or 9 teams who could challenge for the promotion places.

Flamengo look to be solid second favourites solid for D3,  strong attack and good keeper.  Zagreb in 3rd are the classic lower division top and tail team maybe less depth than the rivals above them.  Hamburg shouldbe confident of at least a playoff spot of their high rated keeper can perform as well as he should. Liege likewise have a strong keeper and a good attack, continuing the theme at the top of the rankings. Sunderland are a well balanced team with no real weakness.

Swansea have a good attack but the keeper is surely a sore point that will be attacked by other managers.

The cut off for survival in D2 is 221 so Galatasaray, West Ham and with a little work Malaga and Spurs could also feature in the playoff battle.

219 rating points was the relegation cut off last season.  This would leave Twente who are a work in progress,  Hoffenheim with their low rated Keeper,  Sassuolo who must improve their defence and Stuttgart in the drop zone.  Up for the cup? Swansea should be able to put out a decent reserve side to battle for a knock out prize.

Division 3 is 0.2 points weaker than last season with the two outliers of Twente and Inter more or less cancelling each other out. However the mid ranked teams are slightly higher rated which suggest more of a scramble for the last playoff spots and the weaker teams losing contact more quickly than normal.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre
Internazionale 90.0 90.3 90.6 91.0 87.0 89.8 225.07 1
Flamengo 88.0 88.8 89.8 91.0 87.0 88.9 222.99 2
Dinamo Zagreb 89.0 88.8 88.6 91.0 86.0 88.7 222.03 3
Hamburger SV 92.0 89.3 89.2 89.0 86.0 89.1 221.97 4
Standard Liège 91.0 88.0 89.6 90.0 85.0 88.7 221.70 5
Sunderland 89.0 89.5 89.0 89.0 85.0 88.3 221.53 6
Swansea City 87.0 88.3 88.6 91.0 87.0 88.4 221.51 7
Galatasaray SK 88.0 89.0 89.4 89.0 86.0 88.3 221.45 8
West Ham United 89.0 88.5 88.8 90.0 86.0 88.5 221.34 9
Málaga CF 88.0 88.8 89.2 89.0 85.0 88.0 220.97 10
Tottenham Hotspur 88.0 89.0 88.8 89.0 85.0 88.0 220.85 11
Crystal Palace 88.0 88.3 88.5 89.5 86.0 88.1 220.46 12
Cruzeiro 89.0 88.8 88.8 88.0 85.0 87.9 220.12 13
Borussia Mönchengladbach 87.0 87.8 88.4 89.0 85.0 87.4 219.41 14
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 88.0 87.3 88.8 88.5 86.0 87.7 219.21 15
Sampdoria 87.0 88.0 87.8 89.0 85.0 87.4 219.13 16
VfB Stuttgart 89.0 87.3 88.6 88.0 85.0 87.6 218.76 17
US Sassuolo 88.0 86.8 87.6 88.0 85.0 87.1 217.44 18
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 86.0 87.0 87.6 88.0 85.0 86.7 217.40 19
FC Twente 87.0 85.0 85.8 86.0 83.0 85.4 212.90 20