Team News
Transfers for Transfers sake?
Sampdoria will go into Season 15 with an aim on improving and whilst doing deals might well improve the side - when is the right time to sell your players?
For example the two images has my first XI (potentially) and youth XI for next season with the circled players being the ones interesting potential suitors (triangles are players to watch - the Greek boy in particular has just broken into Greece first team despite being at an unfancied club) - We have had lots of interest and offers and some of them very good....
But I ask is it worth selling them now? Sure all of them could bring in a pair of good players - but is it not better to continue to sit on them till they reach their potential and then cash in with better players then being offered?
Lets just take 1 of them as an example - Bradaric? An outsider surely for the Croatia side at Euro 2021? First choice at Lille - chasing a title in Ligue 1 and still only 86? If I sold him at 86 then I'd be doing an injustice to the future of the team? Same for Maehle? Is it right to sell him so soon after his big chance at Atalanta? I think not.
Yes - DP is an advocate of the game needing/wanting transfers to boost form - but that can be achieved externally. I am happy with the make up of both first team and youth team
As for the last season - well disaster is one word to describe it! Our first in Division 5 as a club and despite starting positively it spiraled downwards!
À vaillant coeur rien d’impossible
We pick up our story following a band of merry Parisian footballers back in mid January 20 games into the season, the squad had just taken to the top of D2 for the first time after 20 games, but a 4 point reduction in the first 11 after reviews and sales to the first team meant that lead was precarious …
Post Xmas the boys had arrived back overweight and bloated by to many glasses of Chateux nef du pape, and our form was collapsing, the high of reach the league pinnacle was becoming a distant memory. A 1-0 home defeat thanks to Liverpool was the start of the 3 game blip including 2 defeats and a draw – that coincided with losing 2 youth cup fixtures, suddenly he lovely green run we were on was looking a very ominous red. The new signings weren’t gelling quickly and the rating drops began to play on my mind, maybe rather than sell him I should’ve personally flown to see Godin and asked if he would very much of minded not leaving Inter Milan IRL rather than playing for relegation threatened Cagliari who my own knowledge of was seeing them get tonked weekly on football italia on channel 4 in the 90s. Come to think of it maybe Godin was playing back then as well based on his age.
A turn in fortune was needed and of course I had full faith in the lads, I promised them all a lovely jambon joint if they pulled their collective fingers out and restarted the promotion chase. And I guess they all like ham as things began to click. We put our foot down stopped conceding and went on a lovely little run which saw us win 6 out of 6, concede just once and return to the top of the division.
Our nearest chasers were all beating each other and while it was nice being top we had to keep an eye on the run in which would see us play most of the top 6 in the final weeks.
Valentines day arrived and as everyone knows Paris is the city of love. This fact somewhat distracted the boys who found themselves caught up in a national scandal involving a 6 players, a brothel, a bathtub full of custard and a single cucumber.
The board were furious and demanded we rotate the squad. What followed was 3 straight draws the last of which was a dogged 0-0 vs Hamburg who left Paris with a well deserved point.
Fate however was on our side as while we picked up single match points the chasing pack also stumbled and slowly the lead at the top became 6 points and dreams of sealing promotion at the first attempt started to look like a solid possibility.
March 7th will forever be the day etched into folklore for the club.
Mahrez still out injured long term with a strained buttock muscle (no relation to the brothel incident) was a big loss but the boys were now unbeaten in 11 league games. We were up against Liege away, a team themselves right in the playoff mix.
Suso was the man to make a hero of himself, goals after 18 and 36 minutes meant the away fans where in raptures, baguettes were flying high as the team strutted not just to guaranteed promotion but thanks to other results the title was clinched with 3 games to spare as we now had a 10 point cushion.
This meant the previous worries around our run in which disappeared as rhe next 2 games were vs 2nd at the time Milan and 3rd at the time Leverkusen.
The 3 game victory parade only yielded 4 more points. Which leads me back to a line from my last blog post
“a lovely article on the blog suggests around 76 points gives you a chance at the D2 title”
How many points did we finish with …. 76
So there it is. 1 season in charge of PSG, 1 D2 title delivered. We were forecasted pre season to finish second so to have lost points to player reviews and actually improve on where we should have finished was a great result.
There are challenges ahead for PSG. Most immediately will be D1 and the level of teams we will face. But longer term is dealing with the age of the squad. A number of our top performers have now passed 30. While still many years younger than their gaffer the squad will need some updates.
Yesterday we waved good bye to top player Mahrez but welcomed Inaki Williams who rarely misses a game IRL and fives us cover for Vardy and Carrasco who now hes back at Atletico is playing regularly and should have a shout at regaining his 91 rating in the future.
Anyway that all from me as we bask short term in some glory.
I’m off for a glass of red and to read up on what this Moulin Rouge place is the players keep talking about.
Merci d'avoir lu.
Seats
Leicester City: On The UP!
Leicester City have finished their season in 8th place, shocking fans, pundits and staff in doing so. Despite sitting in 7th at mid-season, and missing out on the play-off spots by just 1 point, there can be no complaints from anyone associated with the club. Leicester were pegged to be rock bottom before the season kicked off as per the "Season 13 Division 4 Stats and Facts" report, a view shared by the chairman who's only goal (more a hope) was to avoid relegation. The preseason report had Leicester rated 1.29 lower than Malaga in 19th. Within that same margin (1.29) above Malaga, there were 10 teams, showing just how far behind Leicester were on paper. Despite this, a quick start and several key signings meant the Foxes shocked the division finishing 12 places above their expected position. So how did the season unfold?
The Numbers
54 - The total points tally for the season was expected to be between 35 to 40 before the season began, but the team impressed many and finished with 54 points. Considering the huge changes in the team and drop in squad rating, a drop of just 6 points from Season 12 is incredible, especially considering the team is still in a phase of rebuilding.
36 - Leicester City were the joint 2nd lowest scoring team in the division, netting only 36 goals. This was equal to Athletic Club, who finished 20th, and 1 more than PSV who finished 16th. Of all of these goals, Oussama Idrissi was directly involved in 24, showing the teams over reliability on just one player.
39 - Despite their poor attacking figures, Leicester did boast the joint 5th best defence in the league, conceding just 39 goals. The arrival of Luigi Sepe is believed to have played a large part in this figure, with the keeper earning an average rating of 6.95 and being voted man of the match 5 times.
66 - Throughout the season Earle has been trying to put the team in the best position possible as they move forward, part of that process has been the completion of 66 transfer deals, with another 1 already agreed for the start of next week.
9 goals, 15 assists
Where Are They Now?
Of the staring XI from the first game of the season, only 3 remain at the club, and only 2 are playing regularly. Goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski was sold to Sampdoria after 16 games, with Luigi Sepe coming the other way. Skorupski has been making issues in Italy, complaining about a lack of game time, despite featuring in all 22 games since he arrived. Wing backs Joel Andersson and Eder Balanta were both sold and are still working to find their feet at their new clubs while Alessandro Bastoni has returned to Genoa following his loan. He was one of the brightest players for the Foxes this season and will be hard to replace. His centre back partner and club captain Bonfim Dante also moved on, joining Besiktas in their Division 5 fight for promotion. John Fleck made his long awaited move to Internazionale, while Irfan Kahveci joined West Ham United, despite being labelled as off limits earlier in the season. And finally Ze Luis Joined Partizan as part of a deal to bring a new left back to Leicester. The striker has made just 6 appearances for the Division 5 team. Sander Berge and Oussama Idrissi have both remained key players throughout the season, missing just 1 game each in the league. Remi Oudin has also stayed, but has made just 9 starts in all competitions.
The Season to Come.
The upcoming season is expected to be slightly calmer than this season. Earle believes he has a great mix of youth and experience, but is also aware that improvements are still needed. The team has undergone a full restructure over the past few weeks, with an emphasis on bringing in youth talent, which has cost several senior squad players their spots. Despite this, the 1st team is looking strong. Last seasons player of the year Oussame Idrissi has signed an extension, with Douglas Luiz, Sander Berge and Faitout Maouassa all following suit. On top of these extensions, Mouctar Diakhaby and Enes Unal both joined creating a solid core of young players in the starting line up. Darwin Machis and Luigi Sepe also look likely to retain their positions following good campaigns from both. Filling out the staring XI is expected to be Paolo Farago, Robin Knoche and Jhon Cordoba. However, there will be tougher competition for places this season with Tony Jantschke and Nivaldo Jardel experienced options at the back and Derlis Gonzalez offering versatility and talent up front. These are not the only depth options however, and Earle is hopeful that throughout the season other players will step up and challenge for starting roles. Yangel Herrera is still seen as one of the most promising midfielders in the squad. While his opportunities have been limited so far, fans and pundits believe that he will be given a chance this season and potentially push for a more permanent role. David Garcia, Gael Kakuta, Angelo Fulgini, Remi Oudin and more will also be hoping to come into contention.
High expectations!
Youth Focus
Improving the staring XI usually comes at the cost of youth prospects. This, however, has been avoided, and the Foxes youth squad looks to be in its strongest position since Earle arrived. Retaining the three big names was always going to be a challenge with Josh Sargent, Carlos Cuesta and Luis Sinisterra all attracting interest. Despite this, they all remained, along with the equally promising quartet of Maxime Busi, Martin Zubimendi, Dominik Fitz and Paul Nebel. So far there have been 6 new U21 additions to the squad, with several more still being followed. The landmark signing was Kik Pierie from Leverkusen, costing just £5,000,000. The 20-year-old is expected to partner Carlos Cuesta at centre back for the youth competitions, but will likely see most of his senior action at left back this season. Following him in were midfield trio Noah Diliberto, Nikolas Nartey and Daan Huisman. Diliberto and Nartey are likely to compete for a starting youth spot while Huisman will need to develop more before becoming an option. The defence was improved further with the capture of Leo Greiml from SK Rapid Wien. The 19-year-old will provide back up at centre back, but could get game time if a youth left back doesn't join. Finally, Hugo Souza arrived from Flamengo. The Brazilian keeper is someone Earle expects to see a lot from in the future and will need to show his ability in the youth team. In Souza, Leicester will hope that they have secured a long term option, although he still has a long way to go.
Onwards and Upwards
The season has been a complete success for Leicester. Not only have they performed better than expected, they did so while bringing in younger starting options and retaining, and building on, the clubs future. It seems obvious next season that more goals are needed to propel the team forward. However, it would be foolish to assume that this is a team who will regularly push for the play offs. It is likely that next season will be tougher, but it is key that Earle sticks to his plans and maintains a clear focus on the teams long term objectives.
The difficult second album
And so ends my first full season in T100 at West Ham.
The initial boost of results the club saw after my take over had faded towards the end of last season and we finished with a bit of a whimper. Ok a lot of a whimper. Infact whimper probably doesn’t do how badly we finished justice alright so lets leave that there.
Expectations were low for this season, indeed a pre season blog predicted a 15th place finish based on average first team ratings and that was assuming the first team stayed fit, something older players seemed to struggle to do and we do love an aging player in the east end.
Hilton 43/87, Juanfran 35/87, Rukavina 36/87, Diego 35/8, Joaquin 39/87 and Bravo 37/87 were all been recruited to boost squad numbers but also to try and maintain at least an average 87 starting average through the season.
Pre Season was traumatic to say the least as we set off on a 5 game tour and were promptly thwacked in 4 of them achieving only 1 draw. Not the greatest of pre season confidence boosts, but its seems to fit the feeling of impending doom for the season ahead.
A quick trip with the squad to the Queen Vic on the Friday night before he opener helped raise morale and we actually started a lot faster than expected with a draw and 2 wins in the first 3.
However im not quite sure what happened next but the collapse was spectacular. One afternoon we announced the exciting capture of young Englishman abroad, Musah, and all was rosey then…. Oh my what happened then….
Over the course of the next 11 games we would collect just 7 points, we would score only 7 goals and slide down the league faster than a fat kid on the Orbit slide outside the ground.
As points dried up we often had a bigger gathering of fans outside the ground calling for an end to my reign than attending actual games.
The middle of the season saw a slight improvement with wins over the bottom 2 keeping the club hovering in and around the 3rd automatic sacking spot much to the delight of the preying ultras. The 12 games saw us win 4, draw 2 and lose 6.
By this point it wasn’t just the fans that were restless I was becoming more fixated on the automatic sackings than ever before.
Then I had another managerial epiphany. I called in club captain and all round hardman Tomas Sivok and between us we decided to utilise a gap in our schedule (less said about our cup games the better) to take the squad a 2 day trip to Sivoks Czech home town, the delightful and under appreciated Ceske Budejovice. It may sound crazy and taking a squad of 48 players on a 2 day trip to a town with a population of under 100k may not seem like a good idea, well let me tell you this, you are correct. The trip was a disaster, young Joe Scally was arrested for urinating on a tree, Musah spent the entire time telling his agent to get him out, star striker Mata spent more time dancing on tables than relaxing and worst of all Sivok bumped into his high-school girlfriend and promptly announced his retirement from football. In retrospect going to a small Czech town famous for its beer with a group of aging alcoholics was probably a bad idea.
What a shit show. Anyway after 1 night of the proposed 2 we all came home early and vowed never to mention the trip to each other again. Sivok agreed to come back but maintained he would leave for home again at the end of the season.
The final 3rd of the season looked like being as much of a struggle as the first but like any good gaffer it was time to switch it up, out went 532 and in came a snazzy new 4231 formation, Enes Unal wasn’t happy to lose his spot but then again I wasn’t happy spotting him spray painting the Czech monastery a few days earlier with the phrase “menajerim bir pislik”.
So off we set 16 games to save the season and what a ride it was. Our defence was tighter than before, 65 year old Hiltons new hip was holding up well, fortunately due to his age he’d had it done on the NHS, new keeper Campana proved there was life after Andrade left the club while new boy Konopyanka was doing everything my other forwards couldn’t - he scored some goals.
The fans began to return and a glorious charge saw us only lose 2 of the last 16, climbing up the dizzy heights of 10th finishing the season with 14 wins 11 draws 13 loses, scoring 39 and conceding 37. The 3rd best defence in the division but also 3rd worst attack.
At his traditional end of season dinner Life Chairman Danny Dyer delighted the players with a rendition of forever blowing bubbles and declared he wants to see Seats at the club for the foreseeable future. He also questioned why he wasn’t invited on the trip to the Czech Republic but I swept that one under the carpet.
On a serious note the strong finish to the season and some pretty interesting looking younger players joining the squad the future looks positive – so long as my defence don’t all retire any time soon. We do however wave a teary good bye to my most consistent performer Mr Sivok, enjoy your retirement captain.
Up the Irons.
Seats
S11 Managers of the Season Announced
Following voting for the Manager of the Season nominations, here are the winners:
Hamburger Takeaway Promotion BOGOF
Der Dino destroyed Monaco 5-1 in their final league game of Season 11 to claim the final promotion place in Division Two. In doing so, the Red Shorts rained on Shakhtar's parade, who before the game had been on pole position level on points but with a plus one superior goal difference. The Ukrainian's victory by a solitary goal wasn't enough, and Hamburger reach the top division of Top 100 for the first time in their history.
Wonderful Willian
Winger Willian, and his sidekick Maxi Meza, stole the show in terms of goals and assists during the season. Willian came in from D1 Atletico in exchange for previous star player Lucas Vazquez, so had big boots to fill. And fill them he did! Meza was picked up from an external club right under the nose of Hellas Verona who had previously let him go.
What the Fekir's going on?
Both players have now gone - Willian moved across the border to Amsterdam to join Ajax, newly relegated from D1, and Meza to D5 Fiorentina. Coming in to replace them are Nabil Fekir and Amin Younes, while Jonas Hector also joins.
Those signings are in addition to Nacho Fernandez and Stephan El Shaarawy, who joined in time for the final game, and Vedran Corluka and Antonio Candreva, who bring plenty of experience as well as giving us a slightly stronger, albeit still relatively small (deliberately so) first team squad.
Out with the old...
Of course, we've had to sacrifice some players we feel had lots of potential to bring this kind of quality in, but if we're going to have a decent stab at survival in D1 then we had no choice but to make changes. And we also had to think about coming straight back down and the longer term future.
Tactical takeaway
From a tactical point of view, we made to try something new next season against sides which will be much stronger than us. This season, we started out trying 4222 (3 points from 3 games), then 433 narrow (5 points from 4 games), and 4231 wide (nil points) before reverting to our tried and trusted 433 wide (13 points from 8).
A marked improvement, but still just 21 points from 16 games, with two fifths of the season gone. Just one clean sheet (against Shakhtar), 21 goals scored, and 25 conceded.
It still wasn't good enough, so we reverted to the tried and trusted 4231. 11 points from the next 7 games, one clean sheet, 11 goals for and 10 against wasn't really any better, though (although we did field reserve teams against City and Basel during this time to play our first team in the Cup Quarter-Final against PSV).
Next up we had high-flying Standard Liege, and I'd noticed how they played 4231 with a very young team and the instructions they gave their fullbacks and defensive midfielders. They were doing really well against supposedly better teams, so I thought I'd go like for like against them. A one nil win!
Cup Semi-Final against Juventus was next, but we managed to win the following league game with our reserve team (and another clean sheet), and we stuck with this adaptation of 4231 for the rest of the season.
Fantastic season
The only tactical changes I made from then on were for individual games to play on the counter, or not, depending on the opposition. I also played Willian on the right or left wing, again depending on the opposition and on which flank I felt he could do most damage.
27 points from 15 games, 6 (six!) clean sheets, 24 goals scored, 15 conceded, and we were up on the final day by one goal. Promotion, Best PVA in the division, and a Cup Semi-Final, even a couple of youths in the D2 young team of the season - what a fantastic season!
Last night's Cup win over Newcastle
Just trying out a feature on a video recording app I used for the first time yesterday, but I didn't realise then that you can do this with it.
XRecorder, it's called, although I'm sure there are other similar apps that do the same thing.
Liverpool Down the Toilet!
Update on Top 100 and Hamburger's season.
Adios, Aduriz!
Hamburger have said goodbye to veteran striker Aritz Aduriz. The 38 year old stalwart and club captain fell down the pecking order at the Volkparkstadion, after Manager Marsden signed Sandro Wagner from Liverpool, and made only three starts this season - all in the cup competitions.
Indeed Aduriz's last appearance was captaining the Cup side to victory over Barcelona in front of his adoring fans.
It's also rumoured that the Red Shorts' boss felt Aduriz's stubble was unbecoming and a bad example to some of the younger players. That said, the gaffer wished Aritz well and noted that he believes he can still do a job for someone in the lower divisions.
Aduriz started his Top 100 career with his home club Athletic, of course, but was soon shipped out to Shakhtar Donetsk for a bargain £8m. That disrupted first season, was the only one where he failed to score at least ten league goals.
Perhaps more of a creator of goals than an out and out goalscorer in the Ukraine, Aduriz moved south-west across the Black Sea to Istanbul where he had his best ever goals per game ratio - 15 in 27 starting appearances for Galatasaray.
A brief and unsuccessful stint at Olympique Marseille was followed by a return to Spain and arguably his most successful period with Celta Vigo. 26 goals, 14 assists over a couple of seasons, including promotion from Division 5.
That got him a big move to Italy and Division 2 Internazionale under Alex McLean's stewardship.
Aritz was a godsend for us when I was at Inter. He had just entered his 'golden age' and I was very happy to play him up top. He scored many a goal for Inter and kept us competitive. Because of his age I was happy to sell him, believing his scoring run couldn't go on - but it did! A superb player who fought against the dying of the light.
Alex McLean, Manchester City manager
Aritz moved from Milan to Verona, and dropped down the divisions again, and another promotion.
Hellas 1st priority after my return was to sign a top striker. Once we saw Adúriz was available we didn't blink. The basque was exactly what we needed despite the age handicap & delivered what he was requested: goals & assists. Also brought us leadership & became one of our captains & a reference for our young talents. Key player in a campaign that culminated in the D4 playoffs win for the gialloblù. Long live to The Great Basque!
André Libras-Boas, Hellas Verona manager
Aduriz's most sustained and successful stint was still to come, however. Desperate to get out of Division 3 after seemingly becoming becalmed in the still waters of mid-table, Hamburger boss Marsden gambled the then still raw potential of the untested Karl Toko-Ekambi, for the proven goal menace that was the aging Basque.
Aritz recorded his best ever goal haul in his first season in northern Germany with 17, and formed part of the now legendary HSV VAT (Vazquez-Aduriz-Teixeira) attacking trident that won promotion to Division two the following season.
Although he never played in Division 1, Aduriz had a great Top 100 career, being a model of consistency throughout his ten full seasons.
Adios, Aritz!
