Division 2 Season 22 Stats and Facts

Man City to be promoted? Who comes with them.

Other than top 18 Man City lead every other category. They would be at least top 10 in Division 1 so anything other than 1st place will be seen as a fail by the fans and pundits.  There are then 7 teams in for a shout at  auto promotion and the playoffs. Levante will be clear favourites for 2nd spot.  Internacional may get off to a slower start than their rivals but a mighty 88 top 18 means they will have no problems with injuries or suspensions unless really unlucky.  Sporting are really strong up front but do lack depth, Schalke are a solid 90 ranked team , sitting just above Stoke who offer a slightly weaker defence.  Everton round out the super 7 challengers , maybe they are a keeper away from guaranteed playoff places.  To survive D1 it looks like the cut off is 224. So in reality these would be the only teams really gunning for promotion.

Of the rest maybe PSG if they can sort out a new keeper, Anderlecht look solid throughout but could do with bolstering the midfield.  Liverpool and Udinese fancy a cup run this season.

At the lower end I would normally say the cut off would be 218 for promotion but this year D2 is different.  The average at 222.87 is a point or more stronger across the board.  There isn’t a massive gap from Werder to Udinese.  Werder for example, lack depth but are a solid 88 team.  River Plate have a decent Midfield but are weaker at the back. Southampton lack depth but have 3 ratings at 89. AC Milan have plenty of depth . It will be tough in D2 this season and at the lower end injuries will account for at least 2 or more clubs being relegated which does leave me pondering about Werder, River Plate, Southampton maybe WBA and Koln. A relatively easy fix to get that top 18 rating above 85?

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre
Manchester City 94.0 90.8 92.8 93.0 86.0 91.3 228.89 1
Levante UD 90.0 90.8 91.2 91.0 87.0 90.0 225.95 2
SC Internacional 90.0 89.5 89.8 93.0 88.0 90.1 225.25 3
Sporting CP 90.0 89.8 90.4 92.0 86.0 89.6 225.04 4
FC Schalke 04 91.0 90.0 90.2 91.0 86.0 89.6 224.55 5
Stoke City 90.0 89.8 90.2 91.0 87.0 89.6 224.35 6
Everton 89.0 90.5 90.8 90.0 84.0 88.9 224.30 7
Hertha BSC 90.0 89.0 89.4 91.0 86.0 89.1 222.99 8
Paris Saint-Germain 88.0 90.0 89.2 90.0 87.0 88.8 222.86 9
RSC Anderlecht 90.0 89.8 89.4 89.0 87.0 89.0 222.41 10
Liverpool 88.0 90.3 88.8 89.0 87.0 88.6 222.09 11
Udinese Calcio 88.0 89.0 89.6 89.0 87.0 88.5 221.73 12
Celta Vigo 88.0 87.5 89.6 91.0 86.0 88.4 221.71 13
1. FC Köln 89.0 88.5 89.0 90.0 85.0 88.3 221.38 14
West Bromwich Albion 91.0 89.0 89.0 89.0 85.0 88.6 221.37 15
Celtic 89.0 88.8 88.8 89.5 86.0 88.4 221.18 16
AC Milan 88.0 88.8 88.8 89.0 87.0 88.3 220.89 17
Southampton 89.0 88.0 89.2 89.0 85.0 88.0 220.49 18
River Plate 90.0 87.5 89.0 89.0 85.0 88.1 220.05 19
Werder Bremen 88.0 88.8 88.0 89.0 85.0 87.8 220.01 20

Division 1 Season 22

Stats and Facts

Will three teams really beast Chelsea?

For anyone unsure of how the stats work please read the following:

I look at the likely players in the 4 key positions, GK, DEF,MID,ATT. I try to match it to the normal formation where possible. The average is calculated in each position. The TOP18 is the lowest player in the top 18 who isn’t a keeper. On rare occasions there is human input if the 18th player is much lower than the rest and unlikely to play. This is then this is fed into a magic formula to give the ETOT which calculate the rankings. Simples!

Dortmund sit a little above Hellas this year, although they have a weaker keeper and attack than their rivals. Hellas also have much better depth than Dortmund and I think they will bide their time to some extent.  Porto are a match for Dortmund in most areas except defence and even less depth. Chelsea have the best keeper and many options in attack or midfield but will falter if they get a lot of injuries.

Juventus are the best of the rest but are 1.7 points shy of Chelsea which is a huge margin.  Bayern , Atletico and of course Barcelona could still challenge for the title.  Sao Paulo look the best placed of the promoted teams.

Any team in the 222 range will struggle to make any progress in such a tough league.  Espanyol look like cannon fodder early on , although with good depth they may not suffer as much as Villa who lack strength and depth at the moment.  Fenerbache perhaps the surprise promotes are a tad stronger than Villa with a bit more strength through the squad.

This leaves an open space where almost any team from Benfica down could fall into. Leverkeusen could be good for a cup run .

Overall D1 is around 0.1 points per team weaker than last season but this is marginal.

  Gk Def Mid Att Top18 Ave ETOT Pre
Borussia Dortmund 92.0 92.8 93.8 95.0 87.0 92.1 232.47 1
Hellas Verona 94.0 92.3 92.8 96.0 89.0 92.8 232.40 2
FC Porto 94.0 91.5 93.8 96.0 86.0 92.3 232.24 3
Chelsea 95.0 92.0 93.3 95.3 85.0 92.1 231.83 4
Juventus 93.0 93.3 92.4 92.0 89.0 91.9 230.16 5
Bayern München 91.0 91.8 92.8 94.0 86.0 91.1 229.98 6
Atlético Madrid 91.0 90.8 90.6 95.0 86.0 90.7 228.07 7
Barcelona 92.0 91.0 91.8 93.0 86.0 90.8 228.05 8
Arsenal 90.0 91.3 91.6 92.0 86.0 90.2 227.20 9
Leicester City 90.0 91.3 91.2 92.0 85.0 89.9 226.76 10
São Paulo F 90.0 90.0 91.2 92.0 86.0 89.8 225.88 11
Real Madrid 89.0 90.0 90.4 92.0 87.0 89.7 225.24 12
SL Benfica 95.0 89.8 90.0 91.3 86.0 90.4 224.87 13
Genoa CFC 90.0 90.8 90.6 90.0 87.0 89.7 224.82 14
Manchester United 89.0 90.5 90.0 91.0 83.0 88.7 224.19 15
Bayer Leverkusen 90.0 89.8 90.6 90.0 87.0 89.5 224.02 16
Valencia CF 88.0 88.5 89.6 92.0 86.0 88.8 223.16 17
Fenerbahçe SK 88.0 89.3 89.9 90.0 86.0 88.6 222.69 18
Aston Villa 88.0 89.5 89.6 90.0 85.0 88.4 222.54 19
RCD Espanyol 88.0 87.0 91.0 89.7 87.0 88.5 221.68 20

New Player Concerns Rule

Player Concerns

From S22 starting Tuesday 23 January 2024,

  • All players on Level Three (or higher) concerns must be sold immediately to an external club.
  • No bidding by the selling club on the player when he becomes available.
  • Minimum bids only.

The new rule requiring the sale of players with Level 3 concerns adds a layer of strategic complexity to managing in Top 100. Here's some advice based on the SM Game Help.

Understanding Concerns

Trigger Points

Players develop (or reduce) concerns after three consecutive evaluations where they haven't met their playing time expectations. These evaluations typically occur around Turns 12, 24, and 36 during each season.

Expectation Levels

Each player has a target number of games they expect to play based on their rating, squad position, and age. Top players expect more playing time than younger or lower-rated players (but be aware of young players who rise rapidly in ratings, see "Change in Rating" below).

Lack of Games

This concern arises when a player reaches a certain rating and expects to play more than they currently are. Use the Game Help's explanation to identify players at risk.

Lack of Opportunity

Players who see no future playing time due to their position in the squad (5th choice left-back, for example) are more likely to develop this concern.

Change in Rating

As players' ratings change, their expectations and concerns might adapt accordingly.

Advice for Managing Concerns under the New Rule

Proactive Squad Management

Evaluate Regularly

Use the "Lack of Games" explanation in Game Help (above) to understand your players' expectations based on their rating and position. Monitor their concerns throughout the season, especially around Turns 12, 24, and 36.

Rotate your Squad

Give fringe players opportunities to avoid concerns. Utilise cup competitions.

Substitutions

Ensure your key players get sufficient playing time through regular substitutions. Even half appearances count, so utilize your bench effectively.

Loans

Consider sending out on loan (if your chairman will allow) fringe players, young players with potential to rise in rating, or players on concerns to gain playing time and avoid selling at a discount. But note that some older, higher rated players won't like being loaned out!

Youth Development

If you have young players with high potential, prioritize their playing time to prevent concerns and accelerate their development.

Realistic Squad Depth

Don't overstock your squad with high-rated players. Maintain a balanced squad with clear roles for each player to avoid unmet expectations.

Plan Transfers

Identify potential replacements before players reach Level 3 concerns. This allows you to negotiate better deals and avoid forced sales.

Sell Strategically

If selling is unavoidable, prioritize players with lower potential or those whose transfer values might decline due to age. Explore the market for potential buyers who might offer higher prices.

Invest in Youth

Use the funds from player sales to invest in promising young talents who require less playing time and can develop within your system.

Remember

The new rule encourages squad rotation and long-term planning. By proactively managing your team and dealing with concerns strategically, you can turn this challenge into an opportunity to build a well-balanced and sustainable squad for the future.

I hope this advice helps!

RESULTS: Top 100 Managers of the Season

Division One

James Mckenzie, 5th D1 title with Chelsea (predicted to finish 1st)

Rob Ryan, best PVA with Real Madrid

Division 2

Scott Mckenzie, D2 Champions (predicted to finish 3rd), D5 to D1 in 7 seasons with Sao Paulo

Salvatore Zerbo, record 4th Youth Cup Final win with Levante

Andrew Bailey, Top 100 Cup and Youth Shield wins with Milan

Glen Mullan, best PVA, promoted to D1 (predicted to finish 19th) and Youth Cup Finalists with Espanyol

Niall Taylor, yet another promotion, this time with Manchester United

Simon Thomas, playoff winners, 35 points in final 15 games with Fenerbahce

Walter Gogh, 66th ranked team in Top 100 at season start, finished 15th with Celta Vigo

Division 3

Gursimran Brar, back-to-back titles with Koln and best PVA (predicted to finish 12th)

Hugos Monkides, kept Sassuolo in D3 (predicted to finish bottom)

Division 4

Carl Martin, D4 title with Flamengo (predicted to finish 1st)

Mike Scallotti, yet another promotion, this time with Malaga

Tharani, back-to-back promotions with Stuttgart and best PVA (predicted to finish 12th)

Andy Martin, playoffs with Fiorentina (predicted to finish bottom)

Division 5

Daniel Wythe, D5 title with Santos (predicted to finsih 4th)

Chris East, promoted with PSV and best PVA (predicted to finish 13th)

Mattia Bertonati, promoted with Napoli (predicted to finish 12th)

Gianluca Ghio, Top 100 Shield win with Independiente

Der Dino Down

Hamburger fans celebrate relegation to D3

Hamburger were relegated on the final day of the season, a creditable 0-0 draw at home to a very strong automatic promotion seeking Levante side wasn't enough. In the end, even a win would not have saved us as both Sporting and Celta Vigo, the two teams above us both won.

We return, again, to Division Three.

Back where we started in S2 (although hopefully not rock bottom with zero points after seven games).

Worst team in Top 100

Power Rankings at the start of the season

Not much progress, then, and disappointing to say the least. Plenty of other clubs, under the guidance of more capable managers than me, have zoomed up the divisions in that time. Some have zoomed back down again under new stewardship, too. So it could be worse.

And to be fair to myself, I did start the season with the worst team in Top 100!

So to finish 17th in D2, 63 places higher than I had any right to, wasn't a bad effort at all. It's all about context, you see. And balance.

Balance was the one thing I didn't have. At the end of last season, I had sacrificed all my ratings for youth, in a futile effort to stop the evil Salvo and his crazy demonic Levante youth team from destroying Top 100 once and for all!

Levante won then, and they won again this season, too. Yet another Youth Cup Semi-Final defeat for me. I did stop Levante getting an automatic promotion spot, though.

The grim reality of relegation

So, I played most of this season with a very young team, by far the youngest I've ever put out. A few did get small ratings increases towards the season's end, but it was always going to be too little, too late.

Of course, I could have tried to trade up during the season, but having brought in some lovely young players I did want to have another go at the Youth Cup.

By the time we were knocked out, it was too late. We were rock bottom of D2, and although we put together a good run in the final six or seven games, it just wasn't quite enough. A defeat in the Nordderby was probably the killer blow.

So now we face another season in D3, but with hopes of a quick return to D2. I'll take nothing for granted, though, as there are going to be some very good teams and managers in D3.

We do have a stronger team again now, though.

In my defence...

We brought in Szczesny from CSKA to replace Lafont, who went to Kazan in exchange for Ekitike. Woj should be good for a few seasons, still, while young Hugo will hopefully get his real life career back on track soon.

Thiago Silva joined from Flamengo, with Antoine Semenyo going to Brazil.

Tyrell Malacia replaced Quentin Merlin, and Hamari Traore and Romain Saiss reinforced our back line further still.

Jaka Bijol remains at the club, and I see him as a longer term option.

We also brought in James Milner and Neco Williams, who can provide short and long term cover at both fullback and wingback positions.

And we brought back Alfonso Pedraza, who can play left wing, too.

We let go of our two youth centre backs, Kaiky and Orozco, but we've replaced them with Mihajlo Ilic (who I think has just moved to Bologna in real life), and Alessandro Marcandalli, who's playing really well for Reggiana (on loan from Genoa) in Serie B. I think they could both be better long term prospects.

In the engine room...

In midfield, we replaced Angelo Stiller with Nemanja Matic in the short term, with Nampalys Mendy and Ibrahima Sissoko providing cover.

Emile Smith-Rowe, who left as part of the Szczesny deal, was replaced by marquee signing Mason Mount. While Mount's had a torrid time with form and injury in real life (and somewhat harshly reflected in an immediate SM ratings drop), he's young enough and good enough to return to fitness and form sooner rather than later.

One of my favourite signings this season was bringing back Yacine Adli. He's such a lovely player to watch, and finally he now seems to have got his chance with Milan, so I'm hoping for big things from him.

We've retained Albert Sambi Lokonga, who I hope is regaining some form in real life now he's playing regularly again. We also brought in Mohamed Kaba from external, and he's having a great season with Lecce in real life.

We let go of Fidel Ambriz from our youth set up (part of the Pedraza deal with Orozco). We replaced him with Jose Caicedo (also playing in Liga MX). We're a bit light in midfield in the youth ranks, but we do have some exciting younger prospects in Breno Bidon, Kees Smit and Luke Harris, as well as Mohamed El Arouch, Jumpei Hayakawa and Ayanda Sishuba.

Up front...

Up front was where we had the biggest problem. Lack of goals was ultimately the reason we couldn't stay up.

For most of the season we played a front four of Mason Greenwood, Ander Barrenetxea, Georginio Rutter (all in our youth team as well), and Morgan Gibbs-White. They all did well enough, but they are just too young to reliably produce enough goals.

Rutter (another lovely player to watch) left with Stiller and young Samu Omorodion as part of the deal for Mason Mount, and Summerville went to Cruzeiro for Breel Embolo. Embolo failed to score in seven games, so that definitely didn't work out short term, but I'm confident he will score plenty in D3, and hopefully recover from his real life ACL and return to form with Monaco later this year.

It's always hard to part with talented youth, and Rutter and Summerville look fantastic in the Championship. Summerville was on Level One concerns, though, and he was never going to get into my first team, so he had to leave.

Leaving is the hardest part,
That's what we've always said.
Once upon the other side
It's best not to look back
That's what we say
About farewell

We've retained Greenwood (our player of the season with most goals, assists and MotM awards), and Gibbs-White (another lovely player to watch, and who was criminally played out of position for much of the season in real life, but who now looks to have a new lease of life under the new management at Forest).

Ekitike replaced Rutter, and we brought in Ritsu Doan to replace Ander Barrenetxea. Another small ratings boost short-term, and a little more positional flexibility and a natural left-footer, which I like.

As part of the Barrenetxea deal, we also brought in young Momodou Sonko, who I hope has a very bright future.

We also brought Diego Lainez back to the club from external, and he seems to be rediscovering some form playing again back in Mexico.

We also brought in a couple of promising young wingers in Lainez's real life team mate Marcelo Flores, and Raul Moro and Ahmed Qasem, although we had to let Brazilians Pedrinho and Goncalves go as part of deals for Hamari and Ekitike. We also managed to sign young South African talent Adam Bojang from external.

Club security protected the beleaguered manager from angry fans

We're definitely not going to be challenging for the youth competitions again any time soon, but we do have a better balance between ratings while still having some younger players with good potential to improve. I'd still like another centre back and centre forward, but I'm not desperate, and we may go with what we have now for next season, or bring in a lower rated player or two as cover from external, if need be.

So while we're back to square one in one sense, we're definitely in a much better position overall in terms of first team ratings with a sprinkling of exciting younger talents, and a decent crop of youth prospects.

Division 5 Season 21 Stats and facts review.

PSV head the stats 2nd place in the league.

+11 VA is a huge achievement in any league which is why PSV sit above fellow promotes Santos and Napoli who have +9 VA to boot. A cracking performance by Newcastle +10 VA when they were predicted to be the lowest rung on the ladder.

O.K. so D5 is for rebuilds if that is what you want this could explain 4 -10 VA for Shaktar, Dynamo Kiev, Lazio and Independiente.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Fin VA PVA
PSV 87.0 86.3 86.8 89.0 83.0 86.4 216.69 13 2 11 6.00
Santos FC 88.0 87.8 88.4 87.0 86.0 87.4 218.35 4 1 3 4.00
SSC Napoli 88.0 87.0 87.3 87.0 85.0 86.9 216.71 12 3 9 3.33
Newcastle United 86.0 86.5 86.4 87.0 85.0 86.2 215.39 20 10 10 1.10
Rubin Kazan 88.0 87.3 88.0 88.0 85.0 87.3 218.16 7 4 3 1.00
Club Brugge KV 88.0 87.0 87.4 88.0 85.0 87.1 217.48 8 5 3 0.80
FK Partizan 87.0 84.8 87.3 89.0 81.0 85.8 215.61 19 14 5 0.43
Villarreal CF 87.0 87.8 87.2 87.0 86.0 87.0 217.27 9 7 2 0.43
Olympique Marseille 88.0 87.5 87.0 87.0 85.0 86.9 216.91 11 9 2 0.33
Besiktas JK 88.0 86.5 87.0 87.0 85.0 86.7 216.11 16 13 3 0.31
Athletic Club 87.0 87.0 87.3 87.0 85.0 86.7 216.59 14 12 2 0.25
FC Basel 87.0 87.3 86.4 87.0 83.0 86.1 215.87 17 18 -1 0.00
Olympique Lyonnais 86.0 86.3 87.4 87.0 82.0 85.7 215.63 18 19 -1 0.00
Chievo Verona 88.0 86.5 87.0 87.5 83.0 86.4 216.20 15 17 -2 -0.06
Spartak Moskva 86.0 87.0 88.6 88.0 86.0 87.1 218.32 5 8 -3 -0.25
Shakhtar Donetsk 87.0 87.3 87.8 87.0 85.0 86.8 217.23 10 20 -10 -0.45
Boca Juniors 89.0 87.3 88.4 88.0 85.0 87.5 218.60 2 6 -4 -0.50
Dynamo Kyiv 86.0 87.3 87.4 89.0 86.0 87.1 218.21 6 16 -10 -0.56
SS Lazio 91.0 86.8 88.5 89.0 80.0 87.1 218.57 3 15 -12 -0.73
Independiente 89.0 88.5 88.4 89.0 86.0 88.2 220.37 1 11 -10 -0.82

Division 4 Season 21 Stats and facts review

Stuttgart +3.33 PVA head the stats over 3 playoff teams.

+9 VA and promotion a just reward for Stuttgart who fought well all season. They sit above Montpellier on +12VA and Fiorentina , who both were relegation fodder early season. Dnipro the wonder team are 4 in the stats , and they got the playoff win. Malaga and Flamengo the auto promoted teams also figure highly. The other notable high Vas are Atalanta on +6 and (cough cough) Sevilla on +8 who most people predicted relegation woes.

With such overperformance there must be the opposite. Bordeaux, AZ, Feyenord , should all have been challenging for promotion Bordeaux on -16 VA and AZ -15.

A fairly wild season in division 4 with none of the predicted relegated teams going down and only 6 teams with negative PVA.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Fin VA PVA
VfB Stuttgart 89.0 87.3 88.6 88.0 86.0 87.8 218.88 12 3 9 3.33
Montpellier HSC 88.0 86.8 87.2 87.0 85.0 86.8 216.47 18 6 12 2.17
ACF Fiorentina 88.0 86.8 86.6 87.0 85.0 86.7 215.99 20 7 13 2.00
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 88.0 87.8 88.3 88.5 86.0 87.7 219.21 8 4 4 1.25
Málaga CF 87.0 89.3 88.8 89.0 85.0 87.8 220.93 3 2 1 1.00
Flamengo 86.0 89.3 89.4 89.0 87.0 88.1 221.53 1 1 0 1.00
Atalanta BC 87.0 87.8 87.4 88.0 86.0 87.2 218.08 14 8 6 0.88
SEVILLA 88.0 86.0 87.4 87.0 86.0 86.9 216.15 19 11 8 0.82
AS Roma 87.0 87.5 87.2 89.0 85.0 87.1 218.25 13 9 4 0.56
Lokomotiv Moskva 87.0 86.8 88.2 88.0 86.0 87.2 217.92 15 12 3 0.33
AS Monaco 89.0 86.8 88.6 89.0 85.0 87.7 219.01 11 10 1 0.20
AS Saint-Etienne 87.0 86.5 87.0 88.0 86.0 86.9 216.76 17 16 1 0.13
Dynamo Moskva 87.0 87.0 87.8 88.0 85.0 87.0 217.68 16 17 -1 0.00
FC Augsburg 89.0 88.3 88.4 89.0 89.0 88.7 220.53 4 5 -1 0.00
Olympiacos 88.0 87.8 87.6 89.0 86.0 87.7 219.01 10 14 -4 -0.21
Torino 89.0 87.3 88.8 88.0 87.0 88.0 219.16 9 13 -4 -0.23
Lille OSC 90.0 87.0 88.6 89.0 86.0 88.1 219.45 7 15 -8 -0.47
Feyenoord 88.0 88.8 88.2 88.0 86.0 87.8 219.64 6 19 -13 -0.63
AZ Alkmaar 87.0 88.0 89.0 89.0 86.0 87.8 220.21 5 20 -15 -0.70
Girondins Bordeaux 87.0 88.5 88.0 91.0 85.0 87.9 220.99 2 18 -16 -0.83

Division 3 Season 21 Stats and facts review.

1 FC Koln , first by name and by stats.

A great season for Koln, +11 VA and +12 PVA promoted and well clear of the rest in the stats.  River Plate 2nd in the stats , play off team also promoted which shows the strength of the manager in charge.  Schalke in 2nd will be happy with a strong season all round as will Anderlecht . A big shout out for Sassuolo on a notable +4 VA escaping the chop.

Swansea and Cruziero had the largest negative VA and PVA but perhaps Inter who missed out on promotion will be most disappointed this year.  Not so good for the predicted relegation teams, with 3 of 4 going down.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Fin VA PVA
1. FC Köln 90.0 88.0 89.4 88.0 84.0 87.9 220.00 12 1 11 12.00
River Plate 88.0 87.5 88.6 89.0 86.0 87.8 219.61 13 7 6 1.00
Crystal Palace 89.0 89.5 88.0 89.5 86.0 88.4 221.18 8 6 2 0.50
FC Schalke 04 90.0 88.8 90.4 92.0 85.0 89.2 224.12 2 2 0 0.50
RSC Anderlecht 90.0 89.8 89.6 91.0 88.0 89.7 223.99 3 3 0 0.33
US Sassuolo 88.0 86.8 86.8 87.0 85.0 86.7 216.11 20 16 4 0.31
Borussia Mönchengladbach 87.0 87.0 88.2 89.0 86.0 87.4 218.77 16 13 3 0.31
Galatasaray SK 88.0 88.0 89.0 90.0 87.0 88.4 221.10 9 8 1 0.25
Sunderland 88.0 90.0 89.2 89.0 86.0 88.4 222.09 5 5 0 0.20
FC Twente 88.0 87.3 88.5 88.5 87.0 87.9 219.13 15 14 1 0.14
Ajax 90.0 85.5 88.5 87.5 82.0 86.7 216.72 19 18 1 0.11
Sampdoria 87.0 88.5 87.6 90.0 85.0 87.6 220.02 11 11 0 0.09
Zenit Saint Petersburg 88.0 87.0 88.4 88.0 85.0 87.3 218.28 18 19 -1 0.00
West Ham United 89.0 87.8 88.3 90.0 86.0 88.2 220.30 10 12 -2 -0.08
VfL Wolfsburg 88.0 87.0 88.0 89.0 86.0 87.6 218.73 17 20 -3 -0.10
Dinamo Zagreb 89.0 89.0 89.4 89.0 86.0 88.5 221.57 7 9 -2 -0.11
CSKA Moskva 92.0 87.5 88.5 88.0 86.0 88.4 219.36 14 17 -3 -0.12
Internazionale 90.0 90.8 90.6 90.0 88.0 89.9 224.94 1 4 -3 -0.50
Cruzeiro 89.0 89.0 89.6 90.0 86.0 88.7 222.38 4 10 -6 -0.50
Swansea City 88.0 88.3 88.6 91.0 87.0 88.6 221.63 6 15 -9 -0.53

Division 2 Season 21 Stats and Facts review

Some big gains and loses in division 2.

Espanyol head the stats with a stunning +17 VA and +9 VA and are rightly promoted. Sao Paulo who won the league finish 2nd in the stats with 3rd place Man Utd in 3rd place in the stats. Promoted Fenerbahce had a notable +5 VA . Liverpool will count themselves unlucky finishing 4th but missing out in the play offs.  All it went wrong in Lisbon and Liege -15 and -12 VA respectively and a poor performance for Levante sees the potential champs in 3rd lowest place in the stats. 2 predicted teams were relegated in Hamburg and Hoffenheim and like D1 a narrow escape for Celta.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Fin VA PVA
RCD Espanyol 88.0 86.8 88.8 86.0 85.0 86.9 217.10 19 2 17 9.00
São Paulo FC 90.0 89.8 91.8 90.0 86.0 89.5 224.90 3 1 2 3.00
Manchester United 88.0 88.0 90.6 91.0 87.0 88.9 223.03 9 3 6 2.33
Liverpool 89.0 89.8 90.0 91.0 87.0 89.4 224.07 7 4 3 1.00
Fenerbahçe SK 88.0 87.3 90.3 89.5 86.0 88.2 221.06 12 7 5 0.86
AC Milan 88.0 88.3 88.8 88.0 87.0 88.0 219.84 16 12 4 0.42
Werder Bremen 88.0 88.8 88.6 89.0 86.0 88.1 220.61 14 11 3 0.36
Celta Vigo 88.0 86.8 88.4 89.0 86.0 87.6 218.85 18 15 3 0.27
Hamburger SV 89.0 85.8 87.2 86.0 85.0 86.6 215.14 20 17 3 0.24
Udinese Calcio 88.0 89.3 89.0 90.0 87.0 88.7 222.10 10 9 1 0.22
Hertha BSC 89.0 88.8 89.3 90.0 86.0 88.6 221.90 11 10 1 0.20
Celtic 89.0 88.8 88.4 89.0 87.0 88.4 220.69 13 13 0 0.08
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 87.0 87.8 88.4 88.0 86.0 87.4 218.88 17 18 -1 0.00
SC Internacional 90.0 90.3 89.6 91.0 88.0 89.8 224.39 6 8 -2 -0.13
Tottenham Hotspur 88.0 88.8 88.6 89.0 85.0 87.9 220.49 15 19 -4 -0.16
Paris Saint-Germain 89.0 90.0 89.6 90.0 87.0 89.1 223.30 8 14 -6 -0.36
Stoke City 89.0 89.8 89.8 93.0 85.0 89.3 224.97 2 5 -3 -0.40
Levante UD 90.0 90.8 90.8 91.0 86.0 89.7 225.51 1 6 -5 -0.67
Sporting CP 88.0 90.0 90.0 92.0 85.0 89.0 224.56 4 16 -12 -0.69
Standard Liège 91.0 89.8 89.6 92.0 85.0 89.5 224.40 5 20 -15 -0.70

Division 1 Season 21 Stats and facts review.

A Real return to form.

The Madrid fans will be  more than happy with the 6th place finish and finishing just top of the stats. A +6 VA the best in the division and PVA of 1.17 places them just above Juventis and Chelsea who did all they could in winning the division.

Notable +5 for Genoa who are emerging as genuine challengers once again and Atletico who managed a good mid table finish.

The lowest VA are Leicester and Man City who were both 8 places below where they should have been, Everton will be disappointed to be relegated with Arsenal also underperforming. Two of the predicted relegation sides escaped (just) with Valencia coming 15th and Villa 14th.

  Gk Def Mid Att Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Fin VA PVA
Real Madrid 90.0 90.5 90.4 92.0 87.0 90.0 225.76 12 6 6 1.17
Juventus 93.0 92.5 93.4 93.0 86.0 91.6 230.65 5 3 2 1.00
Chelsea 95.0 91.5 94.4 96.0 86.0 92.6 232.84 1 1 0 1.00
Genoa CFC 91.0 91.8 90.0 89.0 87.0 89.8 224.61 15 10 5 0.60
Hellas Verona (C) 91.0 92.8 93.2 96.0 87.0 92.0 232.52 2 2 0 0.50
Atlético Madrid 91.0 90.3 91.4 89.0 86.0 89.5 224.41 16 12 4 0.42
Barcelona 92.0 90.8 91.0 92.0 86.0 90.4 226.56 11 9 2 0.33
Aston Villa 89.0 89.3 90.4 91.0 85.0 88.9 223.75 17 14 3 0.29
Bayer Leverkusen 90.0 90.3 90.6 92.0 87.0 90.0 225.72 13 11 2 0.27
Valencia CF 89.0 88.5 89.8 91.0 87.0 89.1 222.91 18 15 3 0.27
FC Porto 94.0 91.5 92.5 96.0 85.0 91.8 231.08 4 4 0 0.25
West Bromwich Albion 90.0 88.5 88.8 91.0 85.0 88.7 221.99 20 17 3 0.24
Bayern München 94.0 91.0 92.2 93.0 88.0 91.6 228.85 7 7 0 0.14
Southampton 89.0 88.5 89.6 90.0 87.0 88.8 222.10 19 20 -1 0.00
SL Benfica 95.0 89.8 93.4 95.0 86.0 91.8 229.99 6 8 -2 -0.13
Borussia Dortmund 92.0 92.8 93.2 95.0 87.0 92.0 231.99 3 5 -2 -0.20
Everton 89.0 89.8 91.2 91.0 84.0 89.0 224.67 14 19 -5 -0.21
Arsenal 90.0 91.3 91.0 92.0 86.0 90.1 226.72 9 13 -4 -0.23
Manchester City 94.0 90.5 91.8 91.0 87.0 90.9 226.71 10 18 -8 -0.39
Leicester City 91.0 90.5 91.8 93.0 86.0 90.5 227.53 8 16 -8 -0.44

MONCHENGLADBACH Season 21 Review

SEASON 21 - (Division 3 - League position 13th )

After having a short rest from TOP100, I spent two part seasons in TOP120, I was offered this second opportunity in TOP100 with Monchengladbach, and I accepted immediately. 

Their recent history of the club is all in division 3 and is:

season  20 6th 14-15-9 57 points

19 9th 14-14-10 56 points

18 5th 16-11-11 59 points

The current 50 player squad has a “best starting 11” of “88”, so the previous manager Simon Thomas, seems to have continually over achieved.

I spent the week looking at the transfer market but unless there were any player exchanges, I would need to sell first. I decided to make a space by selling Beni Makouana(78) 20yo to external as I didn’t believe that he would get any rises this season. I also poked and prodded other managers for some deals but nothing doing and I had only been offered dross for my better players 

A deal suddenly turned up where I exchanged THAUVIN (87)30yo, who was on the Tfl, for a little cash and Jaouen Hadjam(81)20yo who plays regularly for FC Nantes. He will help our Youth team. 

THE CHAIRMAN AND I BELIEVE THAT A REASONABLE TARGET FOR US THIS SEASON WILL BE TO “Finish mid table”, although the “TOP100” stats suggested 16th

So we started the season with no new first team players from when I picked this club up so let’s see how we go.

Well, a great win in our opener at home winning 2-1 against Wolfsburg, and although I expected a narrow win, the stats sort of confirmed this. Our second match was on the road where we played a strong 90 rated Internazionale where we were not expecting anything and well, we managed to scrap out a 0-0 draw. The stats were in their favour and our keeper received MotM. A better than expected start, but it’s a long season.

I spent the first week trying to get some internal deals done and now for the second week I have spent time on the external market. I took a chance and sold MIna(87) for a cash offer as he was out of contract with Celta Vigo and had not yet found a club (this will help a division 5 club). I decided to take a bit of a punt on two players around the 23/24yo area and managed to find Pablo Ibanez(83) 24yo where last season he managed to break through into the CA Osasuna first team. This season he has so far played in all four of their matches so I was hopeful that he might make a couple of rises in the next 2 seasons. The second player was Shackleton(82) 23yo who plays IRL for Leeds and has been one of their better players. If he continues to play like this I can see him gaining some rises.

I decided to sell Jones(83)24yo and Nikolasevic(70) 18yo to external to make way for a couple of youths in Bosluk(75) 20yo from Trabzonspur and Archie Brown (76) from KAA Gent. 

We entered the youth cup with a “best starting 11” “78”, and had been put in a group with SS Lazio(78), Sampdoria(79) and Besiktas(75) although it has been suggested that not all managers had been honest with their ratings. We were unsuccessful.

One more player exchange where I released Sammy Braybrooke (70) 19yo in exchange for Tochukwu Nnadi (75) 20yo

We have now reached mid season and thanks to our good recent run of 6 games undefeated, have climbed back up to 8th spot with W7, D5, L7 and 26 points. We are one place and two points from the play offs. I consider the first half of the season to have been reasonable and we must concentrate and maintain our form to at least hold this position

Towards the end of the season we were in close proximity to the relegation zone and so we needed a few points. In the last 3 games we managed to beat FC Twente 2-1 away, drew 1-1 at home to Swansea and lost 1-2 at Sampdoria. 

Our final position was 13th with W12, D12, and L14 amounting to 48 points. We were a little below where Simon Thomas finished in the last 3 seasons, but it’s a stake in the sand for us

TRANSFERS IN (7)

JAOUEN HADJAM 20yo 81 D,DM,M(L)

PABLO IBANEZ 24yo 83 D,DM,M(C)

JAMIE SHACKLETON 23yo 82 D(R)DM,M(RC)

ARIF BOSLUK 20yo 75 D(LC)DM(L)

ARCHIE BROWN 21yo 76 D,DM,M(L)

TOCHUKWU NNADI 20yo 75 DM,M(C)

VALENTIN VIDAL 19yo 76 D,DM(C)

TRANSFERS OUT (7)

BENI MAKOUANA 20yo 78 AM(RL)F(RLC)

FLORIAN THAUVIN 30yo 87 AM(RLC)F(RL)

SANTIAGO MINA 27yo 87 AM(RL)F(RLC)

ISIAH JONES 24yo 83 M,AM(RL)

MIRKO NIKOLASEVIC 18yo 70 AM,F(RLC)

SAMMY BRAYBROOKE 19yo 70 DM,M(C)

MARCIO RAFINHA 38yo 86 D(RL)DM,M(R)

———————————————————————————————————————

HOW AM I DOING

Season 21 - We were better than the TOP100 stats but probably just about met mine and the Chairman’s target of “a mid table finish” (8th-13th)

FUTURE TRANSFER

A deal has been agreed between Lokomotiv Mos. and Valencia to swap Choupo-Moting and Riccardo Pagano on the 4th Feb (when TB ends).

Youth Cup & Shield S21 Free New Player Prize Draw

Live draw here.

Many thanks to Gav for doing this.

And congratulations to Chris M, Doug and Frank T (in that order)!

Each winner will have the free choice of ONE new player of their choice for the whole of S22!

In the event of two or all three managers choosing the same player, priority will be given to the order in which the winners are drawn.

The following teams and managers all forfeited games during this season's Youth Cup and Shield fixtures:

AS Roma
Bayer Leverkusen
Beşiktaş JK
Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Celta Vigo
Dynamo Moskva
FK Partizan
Genoa
Manchester City
PSV
Real Madrid
SL Benfica
Lokomotiv Moskva/Standard Liège
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
West Bromwich Albion

The above teams and managers will all be excluded from the Free New Player Prize Draw.

The following teams and managers all played eligible XIs in every game and are included in the draw:

AC Milan
ACF Fiorentina
Arsenal
Atalanta BC
Atlético Madrid
Barcelona
Bayern München
Celtic
Chelsea
Chievo Verona
Club Brugge KV
CSKA Moskva
Dinamo Zagreb
Dynamo Kyiv
FC Augsburg
FC Schalke 04
Fenerbahçe SK
HAMBURGER SV
Hertha BSC
Independiente
Internazionale
Leicester
Levante UD
Málaga CF
Manchester United
Marseille
Montpellier HSC
PSG
RCD Espanyol
River Plate
RSC Anderlecht
Rubin Kazan
Sampdoria
SC Internacional
Sevilla
SS Lazio
Torino
Tottenham Hotspur
Valencia
VfB Stuttgart
Zenit Saint Petersburg

HISTORY!!!

LEVANTE winning his fourth Youth title, the third consecutive final won in the fifth consecutive final played, I become the first manager in the history of Top 100 to win 4 Youth titles, years of work and planning have led to these results but also to having a first team that in the very near future will be protagonists in Div1, we sacrificed our best U21 star for this very objective, because this project starts from afar but the DNA of LEVANTE will always be that of a beautiful competitive u21, now we celebrate with the hope that the first team will give us another joy, VAMOSSSS LEVANTE!!

S21 Manager Sackings and New Jobs

Thursday (tomorrow) night sees the final round of matches in another exciting season in Top 100. Shortly after 8:00pm UK time, we will know for sure (barring any River Plate/Dinamo Zagreb level on points, goal difference and goals scored shenanigans) who has won and lost, and who will be automatically sacked within the next few hours or days.

When Frank founded Top 100, and as far as I know, he made decisions about who got reappointed, who got offered a new club, and who stayed sacked. Later, if there was lots of interest in a club, he asked a secret panel of trusted managers to decide who got the job. When I took over ownership of Top 100 from Frank in S9, I inherited his secret panel, and we've used it more and more ever since, including in recent seasons under Beddows' stewardship, to decide who should be reappointed or not.

There are some known problems with using a secret panel of managers.

  • It's a LOT of extra work - something that Beddows was particularly good at, I have to say.
  • It takes a lot longer to do.
  • While we always tried to select managers based on their perceived trustworthiness, impartiality and wisdom, it's arguable that it just comes down to being a popularity contest.
  • Less popular, but arguably more deserving managers often get repeatedly overlooked.
  • People always complain about the panel decisions, particularly when it comes to taking into account managers' achievements and activity.

I'm always interested in doing less work, quicker, and in making decisions that are provably fair and justified, and based on our Top 100 Rules that have been (mostly) unchanged and on the blog since S1.

Screenshot of the Top 100 Rules section on Sackings

This season, we're going to decide who stays sacked, who gets reappointed, and who gets offered a new club using the following criteria (from the Top 100 Rules on Manager Sackings, and Malcolm's Stats - which show where a club was expected to finish at the start of the season):

  • Has the manager indicated that they wish to stay?
  • Were they appointed mid-season?
  • Was the club promoted last season?
  • Was the team expected to finish in the relegation places?
  • Is the manager a real life fan of the club?
  • Are they active in the game world (newsfeed, transfers, responding to messages, socials, blog)?

We'll also check the manager's individual record of achievement in the game world, whether there is interest in their job from other managers, and any other mitigating factors (e.g., personal issues, managers on waiting list, etc.).

Hopefully, this will make a simpler, quicker and fairer decision making process, although at the end of the day it will still come down to the decision of the Admin Team.

Two things I would say about this seasons sackings - we've had quite a few managerial changes during the season already, and not many managers waiting or ready to join now from Top 120 or elsewhere, so don't expect a bloodbath. And as this is a new way of doing it (even if it's based on the rules that have been there since the beginning), I think it's only fair to go a little easier on managers this time around. Next season could be different!

For any big new jobs, and/or jobs where there is a lot of interest, I do intend to consult the Managers' Panel (so sign up, if you haven't already, if you want to be part of that), but the final decision will still be made by the Admin Team.

S21 Youth Cup Winners!

Congratulations to Levante and manager Salvo, who won their fourth Youth Cup, a Top 100 record! Like the Youth Shield Final, this match also was decided in Fictional Extra Time, after both legs ended 1-1.

Commiserations on another final loss to Espanyol and manager Glen. Again like the Youth Shield, this was another very competitive competition.

S21 Youth Shield Winners!

Congratulations to Milan and manager Andrew, who beat a very unlucky Benfica in the closest final we've ever seen in Top 100 history.

Both legs finished 2-1 to the home side, meaning the scores were still level after taking into account away goals, so the match was decided in controversial fashion with the long-standing, much maligned and much misunderstood and exclusive to Top 100 rule Fictional Extra Time.

There were some good teams in the Shield this season, so it was very competitive throughout.

D DAY For Espanyol

Tomorrow Espanyol will face Standard Liege hoping to secure their return to Division 1 and the Manager's second promotion to the top division in 3 seasons.

The club was predicted to finish 19th this season following last seasons relegation, however smart recruitment including pre-agreed deals has seen the team at the higher reaches of the table all season.

Off the pitch the Manager has had to deal with some life changing events with bad health threatening to end his tenure prematurely.

"it's been a living hell these last few months, which started when my daughter found me unresponsive , I'd gone. The Paramedics worked me for two solid hours trying to bring me back despite my organs already shutting down. What followed was a death sentence, which each day becomes harder, seeing my family and what it's doing to them makes things tough. I've tried to carry on as normal as I can , which at times can be difficult if I'm not thinking straight, i can get quite confused. On the pitch at Espanyol I've tried to continue to build short, medium and long term which is evidenced by our league position and YC final loss tonight. This next week will be a defining week for the club with two games to try and get us back up there. With that comes a struggle next season , but I've always played to win. I've considered my future at the club quite a lot in recent weeks and if it's the right time to step down at the end of the season . Real life needs to take priority and if I feel I can't give the same 100% commitment then I'd rather leave on my terms than be sacked by a panel. I've put a lot of time and effort in at Espanyol, probably too much really, but I don't know any other way.

SM in the main has always been a good escape, and bar some horrific pms I received over the last few months within the GW , I've really enjoyed TOP100.

We will get this next week out of the way, get all my deals completed then review my position at both the club, GW and SM

Arsenal Update 2023 /2024.

Arsenal and a Personal Review,

Squad both First Team and Youth continues to develop and change over the seasons. My Manager History has now taken me past 1000 games in SM to 1011 games.

Arsenals longest serving Manager with 471 games over these games we brought Arsenal up in season 13 as Champions 99 points i think and we have won every Trophy except Domestic cup and Charity Shield, the highlight wining the Double in Season 18, League and World Club Cup Winners. Wow loved that.

Historically my career started at West Brom - 31 Games, Sevilla - 5 games, PSV - 174 Games, Wolfsburg- 124 games.

Roma - 203 games with some Cup success and a 2.1 average points hall, a great team was built and highest ever finish in Premier League , I really settled well in Italy. This lead me to Arsenal which have become my home.

A new team for Season 22 is now nearly in place GK and defence as below with Bassey and Sarr to still join.

Midfield we lose Gomes but Ndidi to come in.

Up font a new strike force with Sterling, Felix joining the attack.

Some great additions to the Youth Team less Baturina, Gordon, but really exited with Alcaraz and Agoume.

Long and short i would really like on more forward highly rated but we will have to wait and see what happens there i like what we have below.

All the bets for 2024.