Building a Yellow Wall - Borussia Dortmund

I'm already just over a season into this save so I'll be picking up from where we are now. My aim, well that's simple - I want to turn Dortmund into the dominant force in world football.

So what's happened in my first season

Transfers



I knew I had a strong squad so wanted to add some quality youngsters so I was pretty successful in doing this. When it came to January I was so reliant on Aubameyang I wanted to add a quality second striker to the side, and did this with Volland.

I'll look now into what we managed to achieve

Bundesliga



It took us right until the end of the season to wrap up the title but we did and that's the most important thing.

German Cup

This was pretty disappointing, we went through the first two rounds against lower league opposition but as soon as we came up against Bundesliga opposition we didn't manage to break through and ended up losing out 1-0. I know it's cliché but it allowed us to focus on other competitions.



German Supercup

Not really too bothered by this, but it was a good test at the start of the season. We came out pretty convincingly, and it remains my only win against Bayern



Champions League

So this is the big one, the one we need to win to really start dominating Europe.

The group stage was pretty comfortable, and I was pretty pleased with the group we got drawn into.



We topped the group so moved onto the knockout stages

The tie against Shakhtar was comfortable and we managed to progress. Real Madrid was perhaps the worst draw we could possibly have been given. So I didn't really expect to gain anything from this at all. That proved to be the case and we lost out in the quarter final




Results

2017/18 Preseason

This was a big pre-season for me. I had little intention of really selling anybody, but would add if players would become available.

That wasn't the way things turned out. Aubameyang had been asking to leave for Real Madrid during the previous season, which is partially what led me to bring Volland in. Real Madrid came in with an offer, and I managed to negotiate a nice £65M price tag for him.

After agreeing that I immediately went looking for a replacement - this is where I suffered the inevitable "find a player - make an offer - get a ridiculous counter offer - cancel" cycle. I went after Timo Werner in the end, he was top scorer in the Bundesliga last season so thought he'd fit in well, and in the mean time taking a quality player off a rival team. Aubameyang left and Werner came in for half the price.

The deals didn't stop coming and Liverpool came in for Schmeltzer, £22.5M for a 29 year old defender when I have a ready made replacement in Raphael Guerreiro and then brought in a couple of younger full backs in Mensah and Miangue.

Bayern Munich enquired about Marco Reus and I had no intention of selling him, but when they agreed to pay £60M for him I couldn't really refuse. Ousmane Dembélé and Andre Schurrle both had good seasons last year so I had no issues with replacing him in the side. Timo Werner and Kevin Volland are also able to play out wide. I noticed that Gabriel Barbosa would be available to bring in, so went about doing so.

We now have a lot of strength in depth, particularly going forward that I'll be looking to utilise during the season.

Players who wouldn't get enough game time this season, Christian Pulisic, Lemos, Locatelli, Minague and Mensah all struck loan deals to move away, I've included a clause where I can recall them in January if I feel we'd need to.

Here are the screenshots of my signings.

Timo Werner



Gabriel Barbosa



Maurico Lemos



Hakim Ziyech



Alphonse Areola



Senna Minague



Gideon Mensah




Pre-Season


My aim really was just to get the team up to full fitness and bed the new guys into the team. We had a pretty successful run, here are the results:




right in the middle of my pre-season friendlies came the Supercup against RBL, again I treated this as an elaborate friendly and a chance to give my first XI a full run out against good opposition.






So a good run out, and a win on penalties. Not that it really counts for anything, but it's always nice to retain a trophy.

Finally, for this post, we started our competitive season with a first round DFB Pokal match against second tier Aue.






Season Expections

Supercup - Not Important
DFB Pokal - Reach Final
Champions League - First Knockout Round
Bundesliga - Champions League Qualification

Having the Bundesliga expectation set at Champions League qualification means I have a bit of room for a slip up, but hopefully I won't need that buffer

2017/18 Season - Update 1

9 games into the season and we're doing well, it just so happens that Bayern have had a better start than we have. We've have pretty similar starts to the season in terms of the calibre of teams we've faced.



As you can see we've had some really good results, the wins against Wolfsburg and Schalke are those that come to mind at first glance. I think draws against Leverkusen and RBL are pretty respectable, I expect them to be up there fighting for the Champions League spots at the end of the season, but we really need to be looking to beat those sides if we want to retain our title.

My best result was the 3-1 victory against Schalke in the derby, it's actually the first time I've managed to beat them after drawing twice last season.



It was a strong performance from the team and Dembele and Werner hooked up really well together with three Timo Werner goals assisted by Dembele on each occasion. Each of the three goals came from Dembele getting to the bi-line and putting a cross into the danger area where Werner would finish well.

I think that the reason we were so comfortable in this game is because we controlled the midfield



If we combine that with our statistical dominance I'm really pleased with this result. We kept the ball well, moved it well and prevented them from having any real chances. I was disappointed to concede especially given how poor they'd been throughout the game. However, we created a large number of chances and were able to take a good number of them to take a great win against our local rivals.




So where does this leave us in terms of the Bundesliga table...



We sit nicely at second in the league, and although we're still behind Bayern all it'll take is one slip up from them. We have to play them soon as well. Hakim Ziyech is one of the top performing players in the league, and Dembele is really stepping up to fill the shoes left behind by Marco Reus, and Timo Werner has appeared to have found his scoring boots.

I'll update again once the Champions League Group Stage has concluded, and bring you the draw for the first knockout round (Providing that we're there of course)!
I'll then post again about the league when the winter break begins.

German Cup Second Round

The second round of the cup was a top flight clash against Hoffenheim, who are fighting for a Europa League spot in the Bundesliga.





We went down early on which was very disappointing, but we managed to get a goal back through Timo Werner. That was how the first half ended, I realised that we weren't at all playing well, so I made some tactical changes, and changed the shape. We came back out for the second half and were much better, we managed to put some daylight between us and them, before they clawed one back but Barbosa managed to restore the lead and see us through to the next round. Turns out we were much the better side, but they took their chances well which is concerning.

One thing I did notice afterwards was we didn't have the same level of dominance over the midfield that we have had previously, we were the more dominant side in our attacking half but I think we might have allowed them too much time on the ball around the halfway line. How much of an issue this was I'm not sure because we still ran out winners.




Third Round Draw

There were some second and third division sides still left in the competition and drawing one of these would be the ideal situation. Alas, that wasn't the case and we drew a Bundesliga side that will surely test us...

Got a real soft spot for Dortmund, definitely following this, good to see you claim the title first season mind!

Thanks, Dan! If there's anything you want to see or want me to write about let me know and I'll do my best.

You can get Volland to score? Never could in my Leverkusen save!

Scoring would be overstating it, he's got 5 in 24 appearances

We're approaching the winter break so I'll do a Champions League and Bundesliga update soon, but here's a little spoiler. Always nice to get mail like this

Champions League Group Stage Review

The Champions League group stage is over. I certainly believe that we were drawn into the group of death facing Chelsea, Lyon and Panathinaikos.

Here is how the table ended up...



So here we go then, topped the group. Perhaps the most impressive result was the 2-0 victory at Signal Iduna Park against Chelsea. You can see some of the results there, but in case you want to see them all they are:

BVB 3-1 Panathinaikos
Lyon 1-2 BVB
Chelsea 0-0 BVB
BVB 2-0 Chelsea
Panathinaikos 1-4 BVB
BVB 1-1 Lyon

So we've topped the group, we've beaten one of the top English sides and we're into the draw for the next round - it went like this...



It will certainly be a tough game, but with other teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and Atletico Madrid all coming second in their groups we've certainly got a kinder draw that we might otherwise have got.

Here's the rest of the draw



Some stellar ties there, with some big names sure to crash out. I've also got my eye on the winner of that Shakhtar vs Leipzig tie, think that would give us the best chance of reaching the semi finals. Although, we'll have to beat the best to win the competition anyway. Bring it on I say.


I'll be adding a domestic update on the next post

Winter Break Domestic Update

It's Christmaaaaaaaas! (As a famous Wizzard once said) which means we are roughly halfway through the season and the players are off on their holidays for a few weeks and this i the perfect time for an update.

German Cup

Let's start with the DFB Pokal as there was a Klassieker Derby in the Third Round (we got knocked out here by Leverkusen last season, so there's vengeance on the cards).



Lovely job, a third minute goal from Andre Schurrle and some great defensive efforts for the remaining time and we have eliminated perhaps our biggest rival for this competition.

The goal seemed to come in a way that we score from so often, although usually it's Dembélé and Werner combining. This time, it was still created by Dembélé but it was Schurrle at the back post to slot it home and give us the lead. Let's have a closer look...



As you can see Dembélé has gotten down to the bi-line and puts the ball right over into the danger area, usually he's a little wider than he is here, which is probably why the ball has gone through to Schurrle at the back post and missed Werner in the middle. Schurrle runs in, gets in front of his man and there's a really simple finish for him on the edge of the six yard box. We're scoring like this so often that when I see Dembélé get into this positions and Werner is in the box I'm confident we can have a good chance.

Anyway, the draw, with Bayern out I make us one of the favourites to go all the way now. Leverkusen and Leipzig can still prove problematic but like with the Champions League we'll need to beat the best anyway. Besides, I want revenge on Leverkusen.



Here's the full quarter final draw, as you can see we've avoided the other high flyers in the league, although Frankfurt were playing Champions League football this season I think we have what it takes to beat them. We showed that by beating them 2-0 earlier on in the season. So hopefully we can reach the last 4. I'm hoping for some shocks, but can't really see any happening. I fully expect the last 4 to be Us, Hamburg, Leipzig and Leverkusen.

Bundesliga

Onto the big one...





Here's where we're sitting at the moment, 2nd on goal difference behind Bayern. There are two games really where I'm disappointed with the result. Firstly that 2-2 draw with Bielefeld early on in the season, and then that 1-1 draw recently with Hoffenheim. If we'd beaten those two sides like we perhaps should have we'd have a nice lead going into the second half of the season, as it is we're behind on goal difference and Bayern don't seem to be slowing down.

My best result no doubt was the win against Bayern, it's the first time I've beaten them in a Bundesliga fixture and it came through an incredible Hakim Ziyech freekick from around 25 yards out. We had taken a 2 point lead at the top but threw that away against Hoffenheim. All to play for after Christmas



As you can see, we've spent pretty much the entire season chasing, got one sniff at leading and decided it wasn't for us. Still, we're fighting on all 3 fronts so far and we'll carry on fighting until the last game of the season against Hertha on May 5th

Player Stats



This doesn't quite highlight just how good Ziyech has been for us, you can see he is top player overall in the division and is the teams top scorer here too with 11 goals (Werner is close behind with 10), however he's spent a couple of weeks injured meaning other people have had time to catch him up.

In other news Dembélé has 9 assists and it shows how hard Bayern are going to be to beat when they have only conceded 5 goals all season so far.

Team Stats



We look a lot more dominant here, and it shows how much we can play as a team without just relying on goals coming from one place *cough Lewandowski cough*.

Perhaps the most striking is just how well we can keep the ball and our passing statistic at 83% completed with 8542 completed passes puts us almost 700 passes ahead of Bayern. Now I know titles aren't won with passing the ball but it's pleasing nonetheless.

Also, may I point you down towards the bottom of the screenshot, and show you the 37 games unbeaten. You have to go back over a year to the 10th December 2016 where we lost 2-0 against Koln (who have been relegated, so that was so worth it). However, noone cares if you're 37 games unbeaten if they run over the course of two seasons. We need to stay unbeaten this whole season to cement our legacy. Bayern went 53 games without losing, so we need another 17 games before we break their record too. There are, coincidentally, 17 games left this season. The race is on

So there we have it, we're fighting on all 3 fronts at the midseason break. The next time I'll write will be an update on the DFB Pokal against Frankfurt

Having a good season to date mate, knocking Bayern out the cup is obviously good for you however will allow Bayern to focus on the league more so could come back to bite you, it'll be a good run in thats for sure, good CL season to date too with a beatable Benfica next up

Yeah it'll be a tough ask to beat them, but hopefully someone can do me a favour.

Benfica are certainly beatable, and some of the big hitters have drawn each other so some of those will be avoided in the quarter finals

Well, transfer deadline day was certainly eventful. I don't usually do much business during the winter window I find it can ruin any momentum we had going into it.,

However, I knew Barcelona were interested in Marc Bartra going in and I'd promised he could go. We had a ready made replacement in Elvedi who could slot straight in and it wouldn't really be a big issue. So this happened...



Not an issue, until



In his contract was a release clause of £32.5M, I offered a new deal but he wanted to go to Bayern and there was nothing I could do. My replacement was gone, so I needed to act quickly. I went into the market and I did find a replacement, although with a longer period I would scout and work harder for a deal that was better value.



I looked into signing Jonathan Tah (who has now moved to Real Sociedad), Niklas Sule, Jesus Vallejo and Andreas Christiansen but all their current clubs wanted lots of money and some hefty sell on clauses. Spending a big £57M fee to secure a quality replacement and quickly.

Now that wasn't all the drama.

Gotze wanted out, I wasn't playing him so it made sense to cash in whilst he still had some value.



Not as much as I really think he's worth, I wanted nearer £15M but it's better than nothing and he isn't going to be a problem in any European competitions anytime soon.

The other out that's worth mentioning is this, Emre Mor wasn't getting game time and wanted to leave. I wasn't sure if he was going to be getting any game time soon and Southampton came in with a bid for him. I let him go, but I have a buy back fee in the deal so that if he becomes the player he can be over in the Premier League then I can bring him back for a cool £15M



I bought in one more player, this was a bit of a tense thing as this was still deadline day. I was looking at midfielders and saw that Saúl had a release clause in his contract. It was a hefty £59M but he is a quality player that could really help us make that step up in Europe.



We made an offer, and agreed personal terms...



or so I thought, he agreed a new deal and his release clause was now £79M. That deal was off.

I had another player I have been looking at for a while. So I decided to swoop. We only had 3 hours to pull this deal off



With an hour to spare we bring in Kessié from AC Milan, another quality player and with the quality we already have in our midfield it can give us the freedom to move Ziyech (who has just won African Player of the Year and African Promising Player of the Year) onto the wings where he feels more comfortable.
A midfield trio I'm likely to play of Soler, Weigl and Kessié has an average age of 21 and can be a solid quality midfield for years to come.

The transfer window is now over, and focus will soon turn to Benfica in the Champions League

German Cup Quarter Final

This was much much more comfortable than I ever imagined it would be...



A completely dominant performance right from the off with some really impressive performances from our new boys. Kessié getting on the scoresheet for the second game in succession, and Giminez netting twice, one of which was a belter



Elsewhere there were wins for Hamburg, Leipzig and Leverkusen (as predicted)

Time for the draw



A grudge match from last seasons cup, Leverkusen knocked us out 1-0 in the third round of the cup last season, time to ruin their season for them

Champions League Last 16


As I showed earlier we were drawn against Benfica in the first knockout round of the champions league we had the away tie first. I usually prefer to be at home first and then we'll have an advantage with the away goals rule to finish the tie off with. However, that wasn't the case this time so we have to deal with that

First Leg



A good result away from home, happy with the away goal. I know that with our home form we can finish the tie off nicely at Signal Iduna Park and progress.

Second Leg

and that is exactly what we did. The tie came to Dortmund and we saw off Benfica with a tense 1-0 win at home




Quarter Final Draw

We had to wait a couple of weeks before we knew who we'd face in the last 8. Both Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig were knocked out in the last round so we are the only remaining German outfit



Last season we were given a really tough draw with Real Madrid where we were knocked out. This season we yet again, draw the La Liga champions in the last 8.

It'll be a tough round and with the first leg being at the Nou Camp we need to still be in the tie when we return to Germany. With a Klassiker derby falling inbetween the two legs it's going to be a week that can make or break our season

Champions League Quarter Final

So here it is, the point we reached last season before being eliminated by Real Madrid. This time around we have the current Spanish champions, Barcelona.

First Leg

So the first leg was away at the Nou Camp



I said I wanted to keep the tie close going into the second leg and we did just that. One problem we are facing is the lack of eligible centre backs to play following the January departures of Elvedi and Bartra. Giminez is only eligible to play in domestic games because he's cup tied by virtue of playing for Atletico. It didn't seem to have such a big impact here and we took the game nicely into the home tie.

Second Leg

I changed up the tactics going into this game, playing a more defensive game trying to keep things close.

It worked



A late late winner from Ousmane Dembélé sends us straight into the semi final for the first time (in this save), I was by that point pleased to be going through on away goals but to go through with a win is even better.

The only sides left in the competition are Man Utd, Arsenal and Real Madrid. Arsenal was the draw I was hoping for

Semi Final Draw



We didn't get what I was hoping for, we got a rematch against the side which knocked us out convincingly last season. A chance to be reunited with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and a chance for revenge

German Cup Semi Final

It was time for our first semi final revenge. This time was Bayer Leverkusen in the semi finals of the German Cup. After knocking us out in the Third Round last year and making it all the way to the final it was set to be a tough test, but one I was confident of coming through.

With injuries to key players Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech it was a chance for Alexander Isak to step up and lead the line (he will be doing so against Real Madrid too)



Lead the line he did, best player on the pitch in a dominant 3-0 victory sent us safety into the final.

Elsewhere, in the other semi-final Hamburg came out victorious against last years winners RB Leipzig

The final will be the last game of the domestic season on May 19th

Champions League Semi Final

Here we go, time for the chance for revenge against Real Madrid who sent us packing last season. The first leg was at home...

First Leg



This was a nerve wracking 90 minutes. A really poor 10 minutes in the first half allowed Real Madrid to storm to an early 3-0 lead. At this point I started to think the Champions League dream was over for another year. We pulled one back before half time though and there was a flash of hope left.

Roll on the second half and Guerrero cuts their advantage down to a single goal, before Werner wiped it out entirely. A 3-3 home result isn't ideal, we'll need to go to the Bernabeu and get a win, because I can't see another 3-3 draw, nor do I want to.


Second Leg

Wow, this was one hell of a game.



Going 1-0 down early on again and thinking it'll be difficult to claw it back although I was hopeful. This hope paid off when Kovacic was sent for an early bath, and even more when Ronaldo was penalised and we were given a penalty which Passlack converted.

Fast forward a few minutes and Ronaldo has chance to make amends from the spot, but Areola to the rescue saving the penalty and keeping the score at 1-1. Less than 60 seconds later we went up the other end of the pitch and young Spaniard Carlos Soler (who arrived on a free at the start of last season) finished well to put us 2-1 up. We held on and secured our place in the Champions League final.

We're fighting on all fronts, but this is going to be a tough tough final...



Jose Mourinho's United easily brushed Arsenal aside. We have 90 minutes to cement a legacy and secure Dortmund's second Champions League, and the first in 20 years. Oh and the small matter of the clubs first ever treble is still on

Bundesliga Review

So, we're at the end of the 2017/18 season. Last time I spoke about this we were level on points with Bayern and unbeaten heading into the winter break. How did the second half of the season go? Lets take a look...



So, we ended the season unbeaten. An incredible achievement and not something that I'd ever expected or targeted at the start of the season, even way back at the winter break it was going to be a tough ask. But we started well and carried that momentum all the way through meaning...



We wrapped up the title with 2 games to go, a couple of late slip ups from Bayern meant that we cantered away and won the league by a good margin.



Not only were we 10 points clear of Bayern in the end, but we set club records for most points, and games won.


Here's how the season ended in terms of results



Some huge results, particularly back to back wins over Leipzig and Leverkusen. The 3-3 draw with Bayern will be remembered after Marco Reus put them 1-0, we bought it back and went 3-1 up (that included a Reus own goal), then they went and scored 2 goals in quick succession. We held on and didn't lose any points to them. We were 5 points clear by this point.

The season ended and the awards started rolling in, here's how my players did...



Felix Passlack is the dark horse of this season, before the winter break he hadn't really featured in the team. He first played in the 6-0 win against Freiburg because of an injury to Lukasz Piszczek then for a period of time up until the game against Schalke the right back position was shared pretty equally between them but then Passlack made that position his own and became one of the standout players in my defence. After spending last season on loan at Stuttgart in the 2.Bundesliga which was initially meant to be a 2 year loan I recalled him last summer because I was expecting him to play a part in the first team and he certainly did so, who knows maybe he could have kept Stuttgart up!






Nothing too special here, Werner came second with 21 goals in the Bundesliga this season. I do think he could have pushed Lewandowski closer if he hadn't spent as long injured as he did. Not that this matters, but he scored more in both the league, and all competitions that Aubameyang did last season. Nice to see I made a good decision in the transfer market.





I've put these two awards together because the top 3 were exactly the same in each. Hakim Ziyech my signing to replace Marco Reus last summer cost me £15M, there was a lot of talk about other teams looking to activate his release clause of £35M. Fortunately we've just entered contract negotiations and he's getting a hefty pay increase, he'll be earning £150K a week but there's no release clause and I'd love to see him take this form on and maybe challenge for a Balon d'Or in the coming season. There's certainly a wealth of talent when it comes to my attacking trio with Dembele, Ziyech and Schurrle all having good seasons. Pulisic is coming back from a loan in the Turkish Superliga and I'm hoping he'll be able to put his stamp on the team too.
Here's Ziyech's stats



Finally, time for my awards



Nice to get some recognition, also won the standard Manager of the Year award too.

Team Awards

We had several players named in the Team of the Season



These same players were also named in the Player's Team of the Season






I want to just show some of the players who really stood out this season. You've already seen Ziyech and Passlack but there's a few more, and they're not the obvious Dembele and Werner

Franck Kessié



9 goals from 14 appearances in the league for the January deadline day signing, was a unit in the centre of midfield and played well when called upon in the centre of defence when needed in the Champions League knockout stages because of Jose Gimenez being cup-tied. He really impressed me and could be a real contender for Hakim Ziyech's African Player of the Year award come December if he can keep this form up. £32.5M well spent.

Jose Gimenez



You'd hope that a club record signing would be in this list at the end of the season. He was in the goals, and was a rock at the back in the domestic games. I'm looking forward to having him available for the Champions League next season and I'm sure Dortmund fans have already forgotten Elvedi (who hasn't made a single start for Bayern).

Omer Toprak



A rock at the back all season and the captain played a blinder and was super consistent. Really stepped up when needed, especially with the defensive departures in January and having to be the only proper centre half in the Champions League knockout stages. Hopefully we can keep this defensive performance going into next season and add to that 54 match unbeaten league run.



So that's it, we retain the Bundesliga and attention will turn to the cup finals. Can we win a Treble?

German Cup Final



Pretty comfortable, it was the least tough opposition of all the semi finalists I think so drawing them I was always confident of lifting the trophy. Especially given our long unbeaten run against domestic opposition. We will have to go all the way back to December 2016 where we lost again Koln who have just been promoted back the the Bundesliga.

Champions League final next and that's the big one...

Champions League Final

Here. We. Go



Two strong teams, we could have had a stronger squad out there of course with Gimenez being cup-tied. Soler was away on international duty, and Kessié was forced to drop into centre back, and Werner was still out injured. Luckily we had Ziyech back from his hernia and ready to fight for the big one. The thing that stands out to me here was the quality of the United defence, to me it doesn't seem too strong and we were looking to exploit that



We didn't get off to the start we wanted when Lukaku put them 1-0 up, but we kept the deficit down and came out fighting after half time. Some changes were made including the introduction of Maximillian Phillip (who wouldn't have been in the squad if we were at full strength) he went on to equalise. Then come of the hour, come of the man. Hakim Ziyech fresh from injury to smash home the winner with 15 minutes of the game to play.

Borussia Dortmund are European Champions for the first time since 1997 and for the first time in our history we're treble winners.

It's going to be a big summer and I've already agreed deals for a haul of quality newgens who I'll introduce during the course of the offseason

Transfer Update

Like I said in the last update we had done some business with a number of newgens. The majority of those have already joined the club and then there are two South Americans who will be joining at the end of this coming season, and the end of the next season too.

I'll start with our two big money signings who have been bought for the first team

Jeremy Toljan - Full Back - £34M from Hoffenheim



The reason behind this signing was two-fold. Firstly, I felt we were weak at fullback, with only having Guerrero at left back, pair that with the fact he's one of the stronger central midfielders in the squad and by not having any other option at left back meant we were limited in terms of flexibility. Also, Passlack broke into the side last season but Piszczek is declining and we needed another option at Right Back. Toljan provides us with a lot of options now in the full back position. A position where before we were incredibly limited to only one or two players. This was the area I had identified to strengthen and was pleased to do so, the deal may look expensive but there are no additional clauses in the deal. It's just a £34M payment and that's all, which considering teams always try to put add-ons into the deal so I'm happy to not have those.

He's physically and mentally impressive, no outstanding attributes but will certainly fit into the squad nicely.

Andre Gomes - Centre Midfield - £35M from Barcelona



Last season there were long periods of time where Hakim Ziyech was playing in central midfield. Considering he is much more natural as an attacking winger it was limited his play. We had a midfield three of Kessié, Weigl and Soler but outside of that there wasn't a lot of depth. Dahoud wasn't of the same quality and Locatelli isn't ready for the first team yet and I'll be loaning him out this season

Andre Gomes will come into this side and will be one of the key players in that trio of central midfielders. I think it's going to be super important for long seasons to have world class players and strength in depth. That's what having Gomes as a starter will mean for us. We now have the depth in every single position which will certainly bode well when it comes to the Champions League. I think we were lucky last season and I can now start to take this team to the next level.

Now it's time to take a look at the newgens...

Cléber - Goalkeeper - £2M from 1860 Munich



He looks a quality young goalkeeper, and I think I'll probably loan him out domestically this season. I want him to be playing football and between Areola and Rajkovic he won't be getting into this team. Hopefully he can develop into a quality keeper who can be a first choice keeper here at Dortmund for years to come.

Paupol Kinsombi - Central Midfielder - £1.8M from Nurnburg



Again, this guy looks a quality find. He looks like he could do a job for at least a second division side so I will be looking to loan him out. The only issue I could see here is the quality I already have in his position. I don't know if he'll be able to break into it unless there are some departures. However, one thing I am confident about is that we can develop him and make a tidy profit on him at the very least.

Pedro Marinho - Full Back - £250K from Vit. Guimaraes



A good young player available cheap. i don't think there are any risks involved with this deal. Like I've said before I feel we lack depth in the fullback position, especially if Piszczek decides to call it a day within a couple of seasons. Some good years of development both elsewhere and with our training facilities and this guy could really develop nicely.

Mark Stretch - Winger - Free (£675K Compensation) from Freiburg



He looks really good physically and has some really good mental stats. Considering I got him on a free transfer I think there's a really good chance he could develop into a quality attacking player. Again, the same problem as Kinsombe where we have a lot of depth in the positions he occupies. Again, like Marinho a risk free deal that could have a really big pay off, whether that comes on the pitch, or in the finance office who knows.

Juan Ignacio Piva - Central Midfielder - £1.1M from Rosario Central



Of all the newgens I've bought in I think this guys is the best. I think he could do a job in the Bundesliga and I think I'll try and loan him out to another team in the Bundesliga with an option to recall him if I ever feel as though I'm lacking depth if we get to the winter break. I think in a couple of seasons he will be a starter, especially if players like Julian Weigl keep talking about leaving to join Bayern.

So all of these guys are already in the squad and I'll be surprised if any of these don't go out on loan. I think the only one who could be on the fringes of the squad now is Piva but he'll 100% play more if he goes out on loan. Maybe someone like Aue who have just been promoted to the Bundesliga will come into him.

These are the two guys who haven't joined the club yet, but will be in the coming seasons

Leonardo Fanesi - Central Midfielder - £5M from Colón (Joins 1/7/2019)



Sandro - Centre Back - £900K from Sao Paulo (Joins 1/7/2020)



These guys will have to stay in South America for a while longer in order to continue their development and hopefully Colón and Sao Paulo don't hinder them. Only time will tell


There is a little bit of news regarding players leaving, Bayern Munich wanted to sign both Julian Weigl and Timo Werner and both players came to me and said they wanted to leave. Both were on Rotation contracts and wanted to be considered Key Players (which they are) so I gave them a new contract and they're both now happy to stay. On the flip side Ousmane Dembélé wants to leave to go to PSG, I don't want to lose him and think he's one of the best (if not the best) player in the squad. He has a release clause of £72M I think, and if that gets activated then I'll be happy to pocket that and look for a replacement, or just promote someone like Barbosa or try and get Pulisic to play on the right.

It's going to be an interesting transfer window, but I'm pretty sure that all the transfers in are done. Unless someone like Dembélé leaves

So the 2018 World Cup came and went and England got knocked out at the group stage, so Southgate got binned.

Time to make England a global giant too

European Super Cup

So this didn't get off to the start we wanted. We went down to a Jose Gimenez own goal after only 6 minutes, and then later on conceded another, this time Memphis Depay. We went into half time two down, and aggressive team talk and some substitutions later and after 80 minutes Christian Pulisic set up Ousmane Dembélé to half the deficit before Franck Kessié drew us level with only 2 minutes to play.

That's how the 90 minutes finished and onto Extra Time. After merely seconds Alexander Isak (who replaced Timo Werner at half time) put us in front. That didn't last long and Lyon were back level 90 seconds later through Mariano. That's how the scores were after 120 minutes so it was onto the dread of a penalty shootout

Both teams scored their first penalties, but Kessié missed the second kick so Lyon took a 2-1 lead. Before Rajkovic made himself a hero and saved the next two meaning that we took a 3-2 lead. Dembélé then had a chance to win the game for us but missed his spot kick meaning we went to sudden death. Rajkovic saved, and Toljan scored his kick meaning we lifted the trophy.

A good test against strong opposition ahead of the season and there are both pleasing things and things we can work on. We start our German Cup defence next, before a Klassiker in the German Super Cup then finally we head into our league campaign against Bielefeld at home.

German Cup First Round

Greuther Furth

This should be pretty comfortable, they struggled in the league last season in the 2.Bundesliga.

Going to give some players a chance to impress me, and reward those who played well against Lyon last time out. My starting XI for this tie is:

GK - P. Rajkovic
RB - F. Passlack
CB - T. Baumgartl
CB - M. Lemos
LB - R. Gurreiro
CM - C. Soler
CM - J. Weigl
CM - F. Kessié
AMR - H. Ziyech
AML - C. Pulisic
ST - A. Isak



It was a dominant display, especially from Alexander Isak netting himself a 4 minute hattrick which pretty much killed the game off before half time. Werner has just signed a hefty new deal and Isak now has 5 goals in two games. He will certainly be getting some good number of minutes.

A comfortable game, although against lower opposition we gave some fringe players some good minutes and they showed why they're ready to challenge for the first team.

Second Round Draw

We were lucky, and were given another second division side in Heidenheim. This is the first time in this save that I've been given a second tier side past the first round.

German Super Cup and Transfer Update

An injury to Timo Werner meant that Isak would be leading the line in the Super Cup and our seventh meeting with Bayern Munich.

There were no issues as we ran away to victory to lift the Super Cup for the third year running, and are still unbeaten against Bayern during my tenure.



An interesting news item popped up following this game





At the start of the third season here we've entered the Hall of Fame for the nation. My target for this season is to exceed what Guardiola managed in his three seasons in Germany. Another season like last season domestically and we can certainly do that!

Transfer Update

So, I had said we were done when it came to transfers. Although, I had also warned that PSG were sniffing around, and that materialised into a £73M bid for Ousmane Dembele which is why he wasn't involved in the Super Cup because he had completed his move to the French giants. A nice amount of cash into the bank account and a clause in there so we can buy him back for £140M if he develops even further that I feel the need to break the world record for him. I'd also receive 30% of the profit, so if I paid the £146M we would get £21.9M back on the deal.



In other transfer news my biggest flop of a signing looks set to leave the club. Atletico Madrid have made a deal with me worth a potential £34M for Kevin Volland, who only scored 5 times in 27 appearances in the season and a half he spent at the club. We purchased him for £25M, so at worse we make a loss of £7M, if things go well we make a tidy profit on a failed signing that we can reinvest into other areas of the club.

I'm now working on signing a replacement for Dembélé but we only have a week until the window closes so we need to start moving. I've identified Gabriel Jesus as my number one target but we'll have to see if a deal can be made

Amazing! Congrats on winning the Champions League with Dortmund. Some cracking deals for your own players especially Dembele.

After reading this, I am tempted to manage in Germany again! My first FM17 save was with Leverkusen.