CA INDEPENDIENTE - Season 25

TEAM PRESENTATION

GOALKEEPER
After 17 seasons and 526 games played we decided to say goodbye to our captain José Sà. He was the last player bought by the previous manager, so the slow revolution started 5 years ago is completed. For next season we'll bet on a young prospect, Senne Lammens, sure he will be our goalkeeper for a long time. Torop will play his last season as youth competitions goalkeeper.

DEFENDERS
The couple of centre-backs hasn't been changed, Danso and Medina are probably not top class players but they played a lot of games together and they can do very well again. We added Lindelof to bring in some experience, with Ahmedhodzic as 4th choice. For our youth team we paired up an exciting duo formed by Filippo Mané and Abdoulaye Faye.
About full-backs, we were looking for a progressive right-back as Meunier is a good short-term option and Assignon has a lot to show yet. So we made a little investment on Aaron Hickey, who has shown some qualities at Bologna and Brentford before a serious injury; he can also be a good option on the left where Sergio Gomez will be the starter. We have also some youths in the position, Nkoudou and Neffati on the right and Norheim and Nagida on the left.

MIDFIELDERS
Danilo Pereira arrived in a straight swap for Sahraoui and will be the starter as defensive midfielder, waiting for the grow of Morton who looks the player in the role for the future. The central midfielders will be Gabriel Sara, who has shown very nice things at Galatasaray, and the new added McGinn, with Nico Dominguez still on the market but probably meant to stay fighting for a place. To complete the first team Luka Sucic, new arrival Lucas Da Cunha and former French under21 international Felix Lemarechal.
In the youth team, we sadly said goodbye to Tohumcu, but Ordonez, Abdoul Ouattara and Verstraeten seem to be good prospects.

FORWARDS
Last season both Trincao as right winger and Strand Larsen as central forward had a good season, but the players who took turns playing on the left didn't do very well. So we decided to buy an experienced player and we found a good opportunity by recruiting Croatia international Kramaric. The back-up trio will be Akgun, Stassin and Borja Sainz, they are developing well and we are very confident for the future. Piroe seems to be a surplus so if a good offer arrives he could be sacrified. Daghim, Bermont, Ngoura and Thiago Fernandez are the option for the youth team.

TRANSFER MARKET

IN
Lindelof CB 88 31
Omobamidele CB 83 23
Faye CB 75 20
Hickey RB/LB 87 23
Neffati RB 77 20
Danilo Pereira DM 89 33
Da Cunha CM 87 24
Mcginn CM 90 30
Ilcin CM 65 16
Kalpakli RW 60 16
Kramaric CF 90 34

OUT
José Sà GK 89 32
Igor Julio CB 87 27
Soyuncu CB 88 29
Doucoure DM 88 25
Stengs CM 87 26
Richards CM 73 18
Tohumcu CM 83 21
Will Alves AM 76 20
Bangura-Williams RW 76 21
Sahraoui LW 86 24
Gondou CF 86 24


LIBRAS-BOAS CLAIMS TREBLE CROWN AS TOP 100 HONOURS OUTSTANDING SEASON 25 ACHIEVERS

Luis André leads dominant display in Manager of Season awards as David Marsden’s transformation earns recognition

The votes have been counted and the verdicts are in from Season 25’s Manager of the Season awards, with Luis André Libras-Boas of Hellas Verona claiming the Overall Manager crown in emphatic fashion after delivering the campaign’s only treble triumph.

OVERALL SUPREMACY

Libras-Boas swept to victory in the Overall category with a commanding 59% of the vote (36 from 61 cast), his treble haul of Division 1, SMFA Champions Cup, and Charity Shield proving decisive in what many considered the most competitive season in Top 100 history. The Portuguese tactician’s achievement in successfully defending his Division 1 crown whilst conquering Europe made him the standout candidate.

David Marsden of Hamburger SV claimed a respectable second place with 23% (14 votes), his extraordinary transformation from 17th-placed predictions to Division 2 champions earning widespread admiration. The Englishman’s +16 VA improvement represented the highest value addition across all divisions.

Adam of Barcelona (8.2%) rounded out the podium, his multi-generational mastery evident in capturing both World Club Cup and Youth Cup honours, whilst Scott Mckenzie (6.6%) and simon thomas (3.3%) completed the quintet of nominees.

DIVISIONAL DOMINANCE

The divisional categories showcased the depth of managerial excellence across the Top 100 pyramid:

Division 1

André Libras-Boas collected another emphatic victory with 64.5% of votes (40 from 62), underlining his complete dominance of the top flight. Scott Mckenzie’s remarkable statistical transformation from 15th prediction to 4th place finish earned him 17.7% recognition, ahead of Adam (9.7%) and Bojan H (8.1%).

Division 2

Delivered the most one-sided result of the night, with David Marsden claiming an extraordinary 96.8% of the vote (61 from 63). His championship triumph from such lowly expectations represented arguably the season’s greatest individual achievement, leaving Dave Oz Osborne’s play-off heroics with Málaga trailing with just 3.2%.

Division 3

Proved similarly decisive for Chris Meida of CSKA Moskva, who secured 81% of votes after combining league success with Youth Shield glory. Jamie ᚺ’s tactical excellence with FC Augsburg earned 15.9%, whilst Mike Scallotti’s remarkable underdog promotion story with Everton collected 3.2%.

Division 4

Provided the evening’s most competitive contest, with Stuart Monteith of Montpellier HSC edging victory with 46% following his automatic promotion charge from 14th predictions. Chris Union’s title triumph with Boca Juniors earned 22.2%, ahead of Fredrik Johansson (19%) and the statistically exceptional ruts66 (12.7%).

Division 5

Marc Ques of FK Partizan claimed 47.6% recognition for his clear championship victory, narrowly ahead of Bruno Neto^^'s exceptional statistical display with Olympique Lyonnais (31.7%). Wayne Bullough’s individual overperformance with Athletic Club rounded out the leading trio with 17.5%.

CUP COMPETITION EXCELLENCE

The Cup Competition Excellence category delivered a thrilling three-way battle, with Adam’s multi-competition mastery ultimately prevailing with 55.6% of votes. His World Club Cup and Youth Cup double demonstrated exceptional squad depth and tactical versatility across multiple age groups.

André Libras-Boas and simon thomas deadlocked on 22.2% apiece, the former’s SMFA Champions Cup triumph complementing his league success, whilst the latter’s Top 100 Cup victory from 20th predictions to 12th finish exemplified the great escape narrative that defined much of Season 25.

STATISTICAL STANDOUTS

The voting data revealed fascinating insights into the community’s priorities:

  • Transformation narratives proved particularly popular, with managers exceeding predictions by significant margins earning substantial recognition
  • Value addition statistics heavily influenced voting patterns
  • Trophy collection remained the ultimate arbiter of excellence
  • 438 votes cast across seven categories demonstrated continued Top 100 community engagement

FINAL THOUGHTS

Season 25 will be remembered as the campaign where defensive champions thrived alongside transformative underdogs. Libras-Boas’s treble represents the pinnacle of sustained excellence, whilst Marsden’s Division 2 heroics epitomise the unpredictable beauty that makes the Top 100 game world so compelling.

As attention turns to Season 26, these award winners have set the benchmark for what constitutes managerial excellence in the modern era. The voting has spoken, and the message is clear: consistency, transformation, and silverware remain the holy trinity of Top 100 success.


Leicester City Season Preview

Leicester City will want to put last season behind them as quickly as possible. The Foxes finished 13th in the league, dropping from 2nd the season before!
On top of that the U21 team failed to win a youth trophy for the first time in 3 seasons after losing in the semi final.
The senior team lost 2 more semi finals too, leaving the season trophyless.

The offseason has seen a couple of key areas addressed, with a slight pivot away from a full youth focus after their youth dominance came to an end, and long time captain Florian Wirtz became ineligible after turning 22.

Key Additions

There have been 2 key additions to the squad this season, both in positions which have been tough to fill for some time.
Goalkeeper has long been an issue for the Foxes. It looked like Aaron Ramsdale would be the long term option, but the Englishman's form dropped off and he was sold, leaving a void held by short term option Péter Gulácsi with a host of younger options vying for the position in the long term. But both the short and long term solutions have been found in the same player, Giorgi Mamardashvili.
The Georgian joined Leicester from Sporting CP following their relegation. He started all but 1 game in the last 4 seasons quickly becoming one of the most sought after shot stoppers in the world. He immediately takes the number one spot, with Gulácsi already departing the club after losing the role.
This was not the first time that Mamardashvili has been to Leicester though. 4 years ago Earle was one of several clubs trying to sign the then 20-year-old, and even gave the player a tour of the training grounds and stadium. But it was not to be, as he picked Bordeaux, and has since played for Malaga, AC Milan and of course Sporting.
Fans were sad to see Aleksandar Pavlović move in exchange, but rumours had been swirling that the 21-year-old was unsatisfied with his lack of opportunities and so the move took care of two birds with one stone.

The second key addition was Lucas Digne who made the move back to Division 1 from the bottom of the footballing world, with his exact role unclear. Jurrien Timber held the left back role last season with Éder Militão and Aurélien Tchouaméni deployed at right back and centre back respectively. Through adding Digne, the option came to move Timber, Militão and Tchouaméni to more natural positions, or continue with last seasons formula depending on which tactic was preferred. That was until Militão came to Earle and let him know that he would no longer play at right back, seeing as an alternative option was now available.
Digne was quick to express his excitement after joining the club, after suffering at AZ last season as the club finished last in Division 5.
"It is crazy to be training again at a proper club! At AZ it seems like the club had no plan, the manager didn't know what to do, and I don't even know when we last won. I feel like I have escaped the worst situation around! All I can say is good luck to those new arrivals there, although I suppose it cannot get any worse than 20 points in 21 games..."
Many noted their shock at the low cost of the defender for a position historically tough to fill!
It was also suggested that Earle discussed sending Gulácsi to AZ, but the German said he would rather retire than be sold there.

Depth and Cover

Last season, injury cover was near non existent, with Pavlovic stepping in to cover most positions when needed. This took it's toll when 2 or more players were out with injury or suspension and the quality of the team dropped.
This season significant depth additions have been made, spearheaded by Pablo Gavi, who played in every league game last season. The 21-year-old will continue to pick up a lot of opportunities, but will need to fight back to a starting spot, if he stays at the club.
Alexandre Lacazette was another big name addition adding depth in attack. The Frenchman has netted 71 goals in the past 5 seasons at PSG, with a further 36 assists. He will hope he can keep up that form, although his starting opportunities will be reduced.
Tyler Adams also joined, filling the gap left left by Pavlovic. At 26, he still has a lot of time on his side, and he showed his quality last season, netting 5 goals from midfield for Club Brugge.
Mario Götze, Miguel Almirón and Joaquin Correa also joined the Foxes to add depth to the midfield and attack, whilst brining in some experience to help guide the youngster in the squad.
In defence, Ricardo Mangas was brought in to add depth at left back, whilst Souffian El Karouani has already been confirmed to be returning after he accidentally boarded a plane to Stuttgart after a drunken night out.

Still to Come

Whilst most of the clubs business is done, there are still options being explored.
Pablo Gavi has expressed slight concern at prospectively losing his starting spot, and has attracted offers from several clubs as a result.
The 21-year-old is in Earle's short and long term plans though, so will remain at the club unless a strong offer comes in.
Filip Jorgensen was also rumoured to be disappointed with the arrival of Mamardashvili, which has blocked his long term path to the number 1 position. As a result, the club has sanctioned a loan move to Shakhtar for the coming season to get more game time and aide his development.
Leicester are also one of several clubs who have tracked the availability of Lautaro Martinez ahead of the new season. The Argentine is said to be furious with his situation at Hellas Verona and is desperate to leave. Rumours suggest that he has a room at the stadium as the club are fearful that the striker might run away if he gets the chance! Despite his unhappiness at the club, it not stopped him from showing up to collect his 4 consecutive Division 1 winners medals! And if he were to leave, he would have to accept that any club he goes to will be a downgrade from Hellas. Despite their interest, it looks unlikely that Leicester will be able to meet his valuation.

The staring XI looks all but set to go for the new season and will spend the next few friendlies building fitness and tactical familiarity.





Season 26 Division 1 Stats and Facts.

All looks set for a Hellas repeat?

First the preamble for any new managers

I look at the average ratings for GK, DEF,MID,ATT, the top 18 player

Then using a tried and ( mostly ) trusted formula work out the ETOT the cumulative score.

Occasionally I have to add a little human common sense if formations look odd or a team has loads of goalkeepers etc..

This year I have also involved A.I. in developing a new prototype formula to include balance and depth , the finishing position according to me is Pre, according to A.I. is A.I, all my comments below are on my predictions we will compare with A.I. at the end.

There is little doubt that strength and depth hard to beat and Hellas have that, they have the best defence in the league and one of the best attacks, crucially any injury is easily covered.  Dortmund sit a little way behind them but well ahead of the rest , they have a better attack but do lack in depth.  Chelsea in 3rd have less depth but a great keeper and midfield should keep out the opposition while creating chances.

Barcelona have the joint strongest attack in the league ,maybe their defence is a little weak for a title run. Porto are a well balanced team , no real weakness which places them just above Leicester.  Juventus are the only remaining strong challenge at least 1 whole point above their rivals.

As for relegation , around 223.5 would have been a cut off last season.  This place 3 teams in the direct line of fire. Zagreb are a point adrift of the rest and they will struggle for possession and have a weak defence. Malaga another 1.5 points from their rivals are more balanced but an 89 keeper won’t cut it in D1.  Hamburg sit just under the cut off but are by  no means relegation fodder.  Milan with a weaker keeper and defence could struggle more.

For the first time in a while D1 is slightly weaker than last season by 0.07 points.

So what does the A.I. do different. It flips 3 and 4th Chelsea and Barca around., similarly with Leicester and Juve.  Levante get bumped down 3 spots  . The 3 lowest teams remain the same but the AI sees Stoke being relegated rather than Milan.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre A.I.
Hellas Verona 93.0 93.0 93.0 95.0 89.0 92.6 232.39 1 1
Dortmund 92.0 92.5 92.8 96.0 85.0 91.7 231.88 2 2
Chelsea 95.0 92.5 93.6 94.0 83.0 91.6 231.34 3 4
Barcelona 92.0 91.3 93.0 96.0 84.0 91.3 230.92 4 3
FC Porto 93.0 92.8 93.2 93.0 87.0 91.8 230.81 5 5
LEICESTER CITY 91.0 92.0 93.2 94.0 85.0 91.0 230.38 6 7
Juventus 95.0 91.8 92.0 93.0 89.0 92.2 229.53 7 6
Levante UD 91.0 91.8 93.2 91.0 85.0 90.4 228.23 8 11
Bayern 93.0 89.8 91.0 95.0 87.0 91.2 227.95 9 8
Internazionale 92.0 90.0 91.4 94.0 87.0 90.9 227.70 10 9
São Paulo FC 90.0 90.8 92.0 92.0 86.0 90.2 227.12 11 12
H. Berlin 92.0 89.3 90.8 94.0 87.0 90.6 226.62 12 10
Arsenal 91.0 91.8 90.6 91.0 86.0 90.1 226.27 13 15
Aston Villa 88.0 90.0 90.8 93.0 86.0 89.6 225.97 14 14
Manchester City 93.0 90.0 90.2 92.0 86.0 90.2 225.44 15 13
Stoke City 90.0 90.0 90.8 90.0 87.0 89.6 224.34 16 17
AC Milan 89.0 89.3 90.2 91.0 88.0 89.5 223.95 17 16
Hamburg 90.0 89.8 90.0 90.0 86.0 89.2 223.42 18 18
Málaga CF 89.0 89.0 89.2 90.0 86.0 88.6 222.06 19 19
Dinamo Zagreb 90.0 88.5 88.4 90.0 87.0 88.8 221.26 20 20


Top 100 First Take: Gav Harmer on Atletico's Ambition

Podcast Episode Summary

In the inaugural episode of the Top 100 podcast series, host Regan Thompson chats with Atlético Madrid manager Gav Harmer, a “real life legend” and “veteran of the game” who is part of the 1,000-game club.

Gav reflects on Atlético Madrid’s heartbreaking end to last season, where they missed out on a playoff place due to an 89th-minute goal from Tyrone Mings — “in the last minute of the game”. Despite the setback, he remains optimistic for the future, saying his side is “starting to get better, get bigger, bigger ratings” and that “things are looking good.”

The conversation then turns to key player movements:

  • The successful acquisition of Pedro, now “banging them in for Chelsea.”
  • The “big move” of Ilya Zabarnyi to PSG, with his stock expected to rise quickly.
  • Angelo Stiller, described as “too good for Stuttgart.”
  • Robert Sánchez, who has regained his “number one spot” at Chelsea.

Looking ahead, Gav recognises the tough competition awaiting in Division Two. Strong sides like Sporting Lisbon, Espanyol, Tottenham, and Cologne have all come down from Division One, while clubs like CSKA Moscow and Augsburg are coming up from Division Three.

His strategy is firmly focused on developing his current squad, explaining he’s “very happy with the team” and doesn’t expect much transfer activity “unless something major happens.” He likens the journey to “taking two steps back to take one forward.”

The episode wraps up with Gav praising the community spirit and offering a big thank you to David Marsden for his “absolutely fantastic” work on the archive.


Very Brief Timeline Guide

  • The Near Miss: Atlético Madrid’s playoff heartbreak and the infamous Tyrone Mings last-minute goal.
  • New Season Challenges: Insights into strong relegated sides from Division One, new arrivals from Division Three, and big transfer moves (Pedro, Zabarnyi, Stiller, Sánchez).
  • Future Outlook: Gav’s development-first strategy, his “two steps back” philosophy, and appreciation for community contributions like David’s archive.

We can aim for a Top 8!!!

This has been an up and down season for Levante, a bad start (probably to find the best tactical solution) has characterised the final result, despite this and a management of the worries (which made us lose other important points) I am quite satisfied, when the starting 11 have played we have won important matches or dominated the matches this will be an excellent starting point for the new season, where unlike last year we will have fewer worries to manage and if we are not unlucky with many injuries I think Levante can finish in the top 8. Happy 26th season to everyone and Vamosssss Levante


Season 25 Review - Division 2 Champions

Season 25 could hardly have been a greater contrast to the previous two seasons of D2 mediocrity. When we lost all five pre-season games I had a feeling we might start with a win for once, and a 5-1 thrashing of Cruzeiro exceeded all expectations.

We were quickly brought back down to earth with a draw and a defeat in our next games.

Pre-Season Transfer Strategy

We had brought Lacroix back to the club in exchange for Tomas Araujo, an immediate +2 on our starting CB. That undoubtedly helped us to have such a successful season. Araujo eventually got his +2 while Lacroix mysteriously stayed at 88.

We also exchanged Noa Lang 88 for Alex Iwobi 89 and veteran Idrissa Gueye 88. Lang got his 89 by the season end while Iwobi stayed at 89. Iwobi was instrumental in our successful season with 11 goals and 17 assists from the left wing, however, and Gueye proved invaluable as Casemiro’s understudy. Casemiro scored 5 and created 8 goals from set-pieces and Gueye managed 6 and 3 in a third as many starts. Both had superb real life seasons as well, like Lacroix. Must be the Beddows anti-Marsden Mafia at SM HQ!

Mid-Season Reinforcements

During the season, we brought in more depth and youth including Jorge Carrascal, who since joined Flamengo in real life in a big money move. If he’s successful there, he could easily reach 89 rating.

Rafa Mujica joined from external as a like-for-like deputy for Ekitike, and he scored 6 crucial goals and 2 assists in 17 appearances (including just 4 starts). Absolutely vital contributions from an 86 rated player when added to Ekitike’s 16 goals and 10 assists.

For the youth team, Metinho returned for his third stint at the club. He’s now a starter for Basel in real life so expect a nice rise for him at the next review. We also brought young Hakon Volden back to the club for his second spell. I have high hopes for him, and his now a regular on Rosenborg’s bench in real life.

Division 1 Preparation

Later in the season, we started preparing for D1 by signing Roberto Firmino 89, Ferland Mendy 90, James Tarkowski 89, Yassine Bono 90 and Aleix Garcia 90.

We also brought in some younger depth players in Velasco, Krauss and Karlsson, while letting go Al-Dawsari and Forsberg, the able but aging servants.

We added a couple more exciting youth talents in Sato and Mabena.

Player Spotlight: Remy Cabella

A special mention for veteran playmaker Remy Cabella, who returned for his third spell at the club at the end of last season. This season, like Mujica, he was phenomenal when called upon to deputise for Traore and Iwobi, and later when Firmino couldn’t find his shooting boots and seemed to make the team lose when he played, Cabella became my starter, and guided us over the promotion line and to the D2 title. He scored 8 goals in 19 appearances (5 off the bench) with MotMs and a 7.26 average performance rating! He definitely earned himself a new contract.

Rating Changes

Hamari Traore, Azpilicueta, and Bourigeaud all dropped a rating during the season as expected. Greenwood +1, Ekitike +2, Macedo +2 rose to balance things out a bit. I thought the rises for Greenwood and Ekitike were miserly, but their true ratings will come in time.

For the youth team, Volden got a +8, Smit +5, Stojkovic +2, Volden +8, Bojang +4, Serrote +6, Jesus +3, Biden +1, Vitek +2, JSP +7, Dani +3.

Expecting more from all of them, plus Sarco and Rayane Messi. Jakob Brandtner is somewhat under the radar, but playing regularly for Liefering as he hopefully progresses up the Red Bull ladder.

Season Summary

All in all, I couldn’t be happier with this season. What a way to mark Top 100’s tenth anniversary and 25th Season!

Looking ahead, it’s going to be very tough again in D1. I hope to survive and at the very least do considerably better than my previous feeble attempt.

I’d like to add an 89+ RB, and a 89+ AM/winger, but it doesn’t look likely at the moment. So we’ll stick with what we have and know that we made a number of moves to improve the 1st team before the season ended, so there’s no panic.

And while our first team is aging, we have a wealth of younger talent developing through the ranks in the reserves, U21, and Academy.

Squad Evolution: S25 vs S26

Line-up comparisons for S25 and S26:

Position Season 25 Start Season 26 Start
GK Armani 88 Bono 90
RB Traore 89 Traore 88
LB Azpi 89 Mendy 90
CB Lacroix 88 Tarkowski 89
CB Otamendi 90 Otamendi 90
DM Casemiro 90 Casemiro 90
CM Bourigeaud 89 Garcia 90
AM Traore 88 Firmino 89
RW Greenwood 89 Greenwood 90
LW Iwobi 89 Iwobi 89
ST Ekitike 88 Ekitike 90

Trophy Cabinet (plenty of room still)

The foundation is now set for our return to Division 1 football. From relegation candidates to champions - the Hamburg resurrection is complete.


Next up: Division 1 survival and beyond. The real test begins now.


Arsenal Tough Times

Not much t shout about, not a season review, although it has been poor one, but after an unsettled period, we are pushing along for the future, the board are backing me in the transfer market and changes are a foot.

Little InSite into the Arsenal background and recently updated tracking of players in youth team, ratings, values and playing time, yellow keep an eye for transfer movement high potential.

The first team is similar, try keep the up word trend in ratings, if a player is not playing its a concern, injury, form, also on the other hand, they could be -1 like Dolberg but he had a good finish to last season so potential to go back up, if he continues this season.

Big changes at ARSENAL as you can see, a swing to the youth team heavily invested in and bigger 28 players up to press, also the first team age down, but my ratings did suffer because of the change in mindset, this and then the trophies and wins dried up. We then concentrate on cups and your league form falters, a tough Cookie to crack, but all in the life of a football manager.

Well with over 1200 games at Arsenal and decent amount of trophies, next season at the moment we look like lining up like the below for our first team.

But there are transfer rumours for start players below.

Youth team line up pretty solid starting 11 below and plus 17 more youth coming up.

Top 100 a great world and great people, some really seriously good managers and builders who do amazing and should be agents and scouts. Hope its another great season , shout out to Admin and Gameworld owner, also very important the guys contributing, we all have busy hard lives and problems so well done all.


Bayern’s S25 Review: From Underdogs to Powerhouse

At the beginning of the season, few would have predicted Bayern to be where they are now. Tipped for an 11th-place finish, the Bavarians defied expectations in every sense, ending the campaign in 3rd place and establishing themselves as one of the most exciting teams in Europe. A cherry on top of successful season was a win in SMFA Shield, defeating Manchester City in trilling match with final result 6-5 (1-1) after penalties.

Kane, Doku & Kubo: A Trifecta of Brilliance

A big part of Bayern’s unexpected surge came from the sensational form of their attacking trio.

  • Harry Kane led the line with ruthless consistency, scoring a staggering 50 goals across all competitions (42 league goals & 9 assists). Kane was crowned as SMFA Player of the Season and also SMFA Golden Boot.
  • Jérémy Doku, constantly terrorizing defenses with his pace and dribbling, racked up 13 goals and 23 assists, becoming one of the league’s top providers.
  • Takefusa Kubo added 3 goals and 13 assists, combining flair with intelligence in the final third.

With such firepower, Bayern didn’t just win games — they entertained, dominated, and silenced doubters.

Depth, Balance, and a Bold Philosophy

What truly set this Bayern side apart, however, wasn’t just star power — it was depth and vision. The club maintained a balanced squad of seasoned pros and hungry young talents. The coaching staff's trust in youth was evident: every game saw all five substitutions, with a clear goal — give young players a minimum of 15 minutes on the pitch.

This wasn’t rotation out of necessity. It was a bold, club-wide philosophy aimed at building long-term sustainability — and it's working.

A Club on Solid Ground

Off the pitch, the club remains stable, with a clear direction and strong infrastructure. Behind the current squad lies a pipeline of emerging talent, giving fans plenty of reasons to believe in a bright future.

The goals for next season are ambitious yet grounded:

  • Secure a Top 4 finish
  • Challenge for the Domestic Cup and Shield, World Club Championship, and SMFA Cup
  • And in the youth competitions, push as far as possible.

Bojan’s Next Mission: National Glory

With the club season now concluded, all eyes turn to manager Bojan H, who will lead Argentina in a bid for a second consecutive international title. Given his work with Bayern this year, confidence is high that he can deliver again on the global stage.


Final Thoughts
This Bayern side was built to surprise — and they did just that. With a commitment to youth, tactical maturity, and world-class individual performances, the club is no longer under the radar. The rest of Europe is officially on notice.

The future isn’t just bright — it’s Bayern.


Season 25 Division 5 Stats and Facts review the A.I. enhanced edition.

Due to the madness of the tactical changes, I decide to engage the help of Cyberdyne systems to help crunch the number to see if they could do any better than me.

First the standard write-up A.I. free.

FK Partizan are the clear winner both of the league and the stats. +8 VA and finishing first leaves them above 2nd placed Lyon who have the 2nd highest VA in the league. 3rd place in the league and stats ( thanks for making my job easy here ) are Monchengladbach who have an impressive +10 VA as do 4th place Lazio. Biggest winners showing the long term game is paying off are Bilbao who have +14 VA. Newcastle and PSV also performed above predicted.

Independiente finish in 11th in real life but last in the stats, just slightly better than true last placed team AZ  on -17 VA, who do just better than Napoli on -14 VA.

Now for the A.I. well I got it to crunch the number based on past data , it suggested adding a column for balance and more weighted depth so I have done that and adjusted the weightings as it suggested.

First table is the normal one all my own work.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Fin VA PVA
FK Partizan 87.0 87.5 87.8 88.0 85.0 87.1 218.08 9 1 8 9.00
Olympique Lyonnais 86.0 86.0 86.4 89.0 83.0 86.1 216.05 15 2 13 7.00
Monchengladbach 87.0 87.3 87.6 87.0 86.0 87.0 217.19 13 3 10 3.67
SS Lazio 88.0 87.0 86.8 88.0 85.0 87.0 217.00 14 4 10 2.75
Athletic Club 85.0 85.5 86.6 87.0 84.0 85.6 214.51 20 6 14 2.50
Newcastle United 87.0 87.5 88.0 87.0 86.0 87.1 217.71 11 5 6 1.40
PSV 87.0 86.3 86.4 88.0 82.0 85.9 215.60 17 12 5 0.50
Atalanta BC 87.0 86.0 87.0 87.0 85.0 86.4 215.59 18 17 1 0.12
Chievo Verona 88.0 86.0 86.6 87.0 83.0 86.1 215.15 19 18 1 0.11
Girondins Bordeaux 85.0 86.8 87.0 87.0 84.0 86.0 215.83 16 16 0 0.06
Villarreal CF 88.0 87.0 88.2 88.0 86.0 87.4 218.24 8 9 -1 0.00
Santos FC 87.0 86.8 87.6 88.0 86.0 87.1 217.44 12 15 -3 -0.13
Spartak Moskva 88.0 88.3 88.0 88.0 85.0 87.5 218.96 7 10 -3 -0.20
FC Twente 88.0 87.3 87.8 88.0 85.0 87.2 218.00 10 14 -4 -0.21
Torino 87.0 87.5 88.0 90.0 85.0 87.5 219.54 4 8 -4 -0.38
Rubin Kazan 88.0 87.3 88.6 89.0 85.0 87.6 219.29 6 13 -7 -0.46
Olympique Marseille 88.0 89.0 88.0 88.0 87.0 88.0 219.80 2 7 -5 -0.57
SSC Napoli 87.0 87.3 87.4 91.0 85.0 87.5 219.51 5 19 -14 -0.68
AZ Alkmaar 89.0 88.5 88.6 88.0 85.0 87.8 219.76 3 20 -17 -0.80
Independiente 89.0 89.0 88.2 88.0 86.0 88.0 219.96 1 11 -10 -0.82

So then the human and A.I. compared

  Pre Fin VA   A.I Fin VA
FK Partizan 9.0 1.0 8.0   10 1 9
Olympique Lyonnais 15.0 2.0 13.0   15 2 13
Monchengladbach 13.0 3.0 10.0   14 3 11
SS Lazio 14.0 4.0 10.0   13 4 9
Athletic Club 20.0 6.0 14.0   20 6 14
Newcastle United 11.0 5.0 6.0   12 5 7
PSV 17.0 12.0 5.0   17 12 5
Atalanta BC 18.0 17.0 1.0   16 17 -1
Chievo Verona 19.0 18.0 1.0   19 18 1
Girondins Bordeaux 16.0 16.0 0.0   18 16 2
Villarreal CF 8.0 9.0 -1.0   8 9 -1
Santos FC 12.0 15.0 -3.0   11 15 -4
Spartak Moskva 7.0 10.0 -3.0   7 10 -3
FC Twente 10.0 14.0 -4.0   9 14 -5
Torino 4.0 8.0 -4.0   4 8 -4
Rubin Kazan 6.0 13.0 -7.0   6 13 -7
Olympique Marseille 2.0 7.0 -5.0   3 7 -4
SSC Napoli 5.0 19.0 -14.0   1 19 -18
AZ Alkmaar 3.0 20.0 -17.0   5 20 -15
Independiente 1.0 11.0 -10.0   2 11 -9

Does the A.I. do much better, well , hard to say , but it doesn’t do any worse.  So what will happen is this.

Next season I will also use the A.I. formula and produce an alternate finishing position. At the end of the season if machine wins , I will create a new formula for each division based on A.I.  if not I will keep it the same. All seems fair, let the battle commence.