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So yeah… I’m back again. I know it has been a very long time since I last posted an update, however I found myself swamped with university work and a general loss of interest in Football Manager. However this past week I found my motivation again and powered my way through the second season!

Now enough of my shit excuses, here is how the season went.

Premier League

Although this picture gives a massive spoiler as to how we did in Europe, I’m going to pretend you guys haven’t noticed it. This year was a lot more stressful than the season before. Although we found ourselves conceding considerably less goals than last year (which was a big goal), we never really found any consistent form. You’ll see later on in the results and fixtures that there just wasn’t any real string of positive results.

We finished on 3 fewer points than last year, 2 fewer wins, 3 more draws and 1 less loss. I can’t figure out a conclusion from that, so I’m going to assume we’ve made close to no improvement on last year. We scored 21 goals less this year too. This definitely showed as we did not keep Zaza from last year and although my strikers both got around 20 goals, very few of them actually came in the league.

I found the fact Everton got relegated quite amusing. Although it didn’t surprise me as they sold Lukaku to Arsenal at the beginning of the season, only to bring in Rooney on loan as a replacement. They then decided to sell Barkely to me in January, just because losing one key player wasn’t enough for them. Their downfall was all their own fault.

My 7th place finish was what we deserved. We just weren’t very good this year and have been incredibly lucky to qualify again for Europe next year. I really want the team to step up next season and qualify for Europe more comfortably.





You can see here what I meant by us not really getting any consistent form in the league. Our brightest patch came between Halloween and Boxing day, but other than that it was quite frustrating.

Our away form did pick up though. We got far more wins compared to last year, where our away form cost us a place in the Champions League.

The start of the season really gave me a wake up call. I definitely didn’t strengthen the team properly during the transfer window and it showed throughout the whole season.

Manchester United were ridiculously strong and should have won the league as they were 12 points clear at one point. However in nice FM fashion, they bottled it for the Spurs to win it twice in a row.

EFL Cup



I thought I may as well just get this out of the way. You would have thought being the cup holders we would have gone a bit further, but alas, the team went into full dickhead mode and decided that they didn’t want to beat a 10 man Championship team at home.

Funnily enough though, the final was contested between Brentford and Swansea of all teams. I was routing for Brentford, just because I wanted to see something different, however Swansea had different plans and won on penalties, meaning a Championship side will be in the EURO league next year.

Community Shield



Our first piece of silverware of the season was actually quite easy considering who the opponents were. It’s another trophy crossed off the list though, so you will not find me complaining.

FA Cup



All I will say to this is that I reached the board expectation. I thought I was riding my luck with the draws for the first 3 rounds, and then I got what I really deserved in the quarter final. The less said, the better.

The FA cup was won by Manchester City against Middlesbrough.

EURO Cup



So yeah… this really happened? I have no idea how we managed it, considering our shocking form in the league, but we were incredible in Europe. We went unbeaten the entire competition but then decided to again, make it as difficult as possible in the final.

A 93rd minute screamer by Noble got us into extra time, followed by a cross from Lanzini, fumbled into the goal by Traore. 2-1 up against 10 men had me feeling rather confident, especially when Berahino decided to take a penalty in the 112th minute. This is West Ham though, and so he put it wide. From the resulting goal kick, BMG made it 2-2. I was angry. In cruel footballing fashion though, we broke BMG hearts for a second time when Berahino was taken down in the 121st minute. He had the opportunity to make up for his missed penalty 8 minutes earlier… and he certainly did, as he slotted it away for his 17th goal in the competition, making us winners of the EURO Cup!

Berahino ended up top goal scorer in the competition. He was truly a cup striker.

Squad



Here is how everyone performed over the season. This also gives spoilers as to who we signed and sold over the season.

John Brooks was player of the season yet again, starting 44 games and getting a 7.33 average rating. Our top goalscorer was Berahino with 24 goals in 28 starts. I would like the mention that only 5 of those goals came in the league. He got 19 goals in the cup competitions, which means he will definitely be the back up/tournament striker for next year. Diafra Sakho had another consistent season. He was my league striker and ended up with 14 goals in 31 games. He got 12 goals in 18 games in the league last year. So he scored more, but his goal:game ratio decreased significantly. This is therefore making me think about bringing in a more clinical replacement.

Domenico Beradi was an excellent signing I made in the summer. He spent his time on the right wing as an IF (at). He bagged us 13 goals and 10 assists in 32 league games which was a brilliant return for £15 million. He is definitely a player who will cement his spot. He was even more special as he only ever scored screamers. Cutting inside from 25 yards and hitting them into the far post was he signature goal.

Ross Barkley had a great season for us when he was signed in January. 6 goals and 8 assists in half a season is a great return.

Lanzini bloomed late yet again. Much like last season, it wasn’t until the end of the season where he started really showing up.

Payet did not quite have the impact he did the previous season. 10 goals and 9 assists is still very respectable, but I was expecting more. I made a promise he could leave if we didn’t get Champions League football this year, however thankfully due to the EURO Cup win, we have managed to keep him for another year. I will start to think about offloading him soon though, as he is getting old.

Honourable mentions to Obiang who was incredible this year in the box to box midfield role. De Sciglio also had a brilliant first season at right back. A massive improvement from Arbeloa.

Transfers



Initially I was relatively happy with the transfers I had made at the beginning of the season. I did over pay for Ryan Woods, however he was incredibly solid and can easily play at this level. Berardi and Barkley are both players who were also worth the price. Along with Berahino who I managed to snap up for £3 million.

I did say I wanted to invest in a big striker for this season, however as you can see, it didn’t quite happen. I had Lukaku, Morata and Icardi in my sight, however they all either wanted Champions League football or too much money. Berardi was a good goal scoring winger to bring in, however he isn’t the out and out striker I was looking for. I wanted Berahino to be that guy, but 5 goals in the league is just not good enough. He has now established himself as a cup striker.

Lucas Lima was a player I was very excited for. 4 star ability for only £2 million is an absolute bargain. However he has struggled. I plan on selling him immediately next year, which is a shame, but I expect to make a very healthy profit.

Yaya Toure was a player I wanted to bring in for experience and tutoring. However he got injured for 4 months in January and since then I’ve just wanted to offload him.

Josh Tymon is a player I am excited about. He is an 18 year old left back who I brought in on loan first just to see if I could develop him a bit in a year. I included a future fee which I intend on activating as I believe he can be a quality left back in the future.

The other players are youngsters I spotted who I thought might have some potential to develop.

As you could see from the squad screen, we were missing a lot of players from last year. Zaza and Tore’s loans were not renewed despite their successful seasons, which I now view as a mistake from my part. We missed Zaza’s goals and I stupidly thought I could bring in someone better.

Most of the “outs” are not that interesting, however we did sell Feghouli for £39.5 million. I didn’t want to sell him and actually saw him as a key player. £39.5 million is too much to reject though, so off he went to Madrid. Valencia also found his way to Lyon for £9.5 million, along with Adrian who decided Everton would be his next team to bring down to the Championship.

I changed my mind about Calleri by October as he really is actually quite shit. I was very happy to receive as much as I did from Dortmund. Masuaku was complaining about game time, so I just thought I’d get rid of him and Watford eagerly snatched him up. Lastly Kouyate was sacrificed to Palace for £12 million, who helped them narrowly avoid relegation.

Other News

The Champions League final was a North London derby between Spurs and Arsenal with Spurs winning 3-2 thanks to a Harry Kane hattrick.

I do now plan on doing end of season updates only. I might do an End of August update, however that will really depend on the moment in time. I do have a lot of work due to uni, so posts will not be as regular. I hope you guys can understand.