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#315386 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
Great way to start off November, thumping the early league leaders and doing the treble over them this season.
From one playstyle to another:
Mourinho who?
Valladolid were playing that annoying 4-2-3-1, so we decided to match their numbers in attack and attempt to suffocate their quick passing moves.
Sure we conceded 46 shots, but most of those weren't too much trouble for us.
While we (while by no means accurate ourselves) got ourselves the winner rather fortuitously, it has to be said.
Back to a more positive brand of footie, a reasonable win over Castilla.
.. And back to parking the bus, except we nearly paid for our negativity, only for Cartagena to balls it up even more.
Muca and Pascual both came off the bench to play out wide, the latter got a goal in his debut appearance, the latter being sent back early after a stupid dismissal.
Despite that, our increased hoofball somehow got us a mad winner, in a game we should've lost much earlier.
Going 3 up in 30 minutes, I had hoped the team would add to the scoreline for a more comfortable 2nd half.
No matter, a win's a win even if we did concede 2 to make the game slightly nervy.
Rinse and repeat, though this was far more nail-biting.
This conceding late goals thing of ours needs to stop, it'll end up biting us in the ass one day.
Damn, a 10-point lead, didn't see this coming.
That said I've had more than my fair share of disastrous collapses, 10 points is fuck all if the dominoes do fall.(If that analogy works)
Anyway, it's the start of the transfer window, and it's also 6 months before most European-based players' contracts end:
Lots of key players included here, though Ismael Fernandez has already signed a new deal since.
I can half of this list signing new contracts, but it's the likes of Cermak (31 years), Rosero (also 31) and Rafael Manuel (26 but without a single league appearance this season) that I've to make a decision on - Cermak will probably pave way for fresh blood, but the latter two might stay: Rosero for his sheer goal output, Manuel for being a decent backup at least.
In other news:
Honestly, Smouha's not going to win the CL are they.
For once Orlando aren't in the Group Stages (got knocked out by Heartland) and they'd finished top of their group.
Disposed of Oran with ease as well...
Only to - yet again - fall short when it mattered most.
That's the 3rd final in 4 years, for once they weren't meeting Orlando in the semis or beyond, and they still couldn't win.
They've also sold quite a bit of the squad so it might well be the last time they get this close again (though I could be wrong - they're still leading the league).
Though I regret to say I'm glad they didn't win this time, would be gutting to see them do it the season after I left.
#314828 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
Again, attacking the 4-4-1-1 paid dividends.
Rosero again keeping out Matuszczyk (and Muca) with some great end product, which is bad news as he's now 30 and I need to convince Matuzczyk to stay by (presumably) playing often.
Borell as the supersub yet again! In what was a poor game from both sides Kike came off the bench (again for Alava) to plunder in a winner from a corner.
Coming next was a double header against Pontevedra, first in the Cup:
Very, very poor defending here, despite our best efforts in attack.
Out of the Cup as well, particularly pissed that it's against the league's strugglers.
Well we have the league encounter to look forward to:
Bollocks - this time our attack let us down, and despite Rosero's goal he was quite poor with his finishing all game.
So that's 1 draw in 2 games against Pontevedra, very disappointing.
Following Rosero's poor finishing against Pontevedra, Matuszczyk was drafted in for his first league start, and boy did he stake his claim for the lone striker's spot.
We were never in any trouble against yet another 4-4-1-1, and even after going down to 10 we still managed another goal.
Well Matuszczyk show why he might not be ready for a starting role quite yet.
Recreativo were just as wasteful as we were, a poor game from all involved.
Right in the mix for promotion, hopefully this makes up for the early Copa del Rey exit in the board's eyes.
#314474 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
Some way to start the season, even if we did let one of the Levante guys score a hat-trick...
Well then, some way to bring us back down to earth - lesson learned, sometimes it's not worth dropping in-form players just to change the system.
A 4-6-0 was employed to counter their 3-5-2 (as per the Smouha days) but it backfired miserably - without Rosero's finishing our wingers weren't anywhere as clinical and we were picked off after some really shoddy defending.
Rosreo made a scoring return as we picked ourselves up from that abrupt humbling.
A deep 4-2-3-1 works very, very well against a 4-4-1-1, that much I've found; the lack of opponents in our defence meant we could build up play in our own time, and we made full use of that.
Our stopper was poor here, a terrible miskick and subsequent late reaction to the long-range lob that followed was not the best start for us, and only through piling bodies forward did we find an equaliser.
Osasuna's opener was admittedly magnificent - being closer to the centre circle than our box, a shot was let fly and whistled into our net.
Turned out that we were more accurate (and clinical) than our opponents for once, and we managed to carve out another win..
Man we should've wrapped this up earlier than we actually did, had 2 goals disallowed (one of which was certified toe be erroneous).
Kike Borrell was plucked from our B-Team this season, and he came off the bench to save an unlikely win for us in the end.
Well in the promotion hunt, things are looking rosy.
On to the Copa Del Rey:
Matuszczyk was making his 1st (and only so far) appearance here, and he impressed with a goal - still he'll have to pray for a disastrous drop of form from Rosero to have a sniff of that lone striker role.
Equally impressive was the (backup) stopper here, his many punts upfield lead to Pascual's winner.
It's another fellow 2nd tier side in the next round, but with Pontevedra in such horrible form we need to get nothing less than a win here.
Transfers (and there was a couple as it turned out):
Muca was signed when it became apparent that Malaga was going after one of my other wingers - he'd be a stopgap, and we'd look for options in January.
Turned out that my man rejected Malaga, so he wasn't really needed anyway.
He stays regardless, content with a backup role and actually being one of the better players at the club (apparently).
This deal was agreed before I arrived, if I'm honest he won't have much of a future here, not with the other right wingers coming through the ranks already.
Chucked him in the U19s, let's see what he can do.
#314001 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
Eric Portapotty
#313926 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
To end off last season:
Rosero really was something else last season, Without him we probably wouldn't have even gotten a sniff of the playoffs.
Transfers:
A significant number of the 'old guard' (even though most have only been at the club for a year or so) were shipped out, and in came a couple of (fingers crossed) promising guys:
Let's start with arguably thee weakest signing - he was signed on a pre contract at a time when I was feuding with my starting CBs and had just sold my starting LB.
First mistake, he's nowhere near sufficiently to play LB and second, he's nowhere near worth playing 18k p/w.
That said he's given a good account of himself in preseason so it might not be that much of a disaaster.
Highly rated at Ajax, it was a shock that he was allowed to run his contract to its last 6 months.
A very versatile defender, Pituca has a high ceiling which will at least give us a good sell-on price should we need to.
Probably the biggest signing imo, Matuzsczyk is an instant upgrade on Rosero already, which is impressive considering he's been hiding in South Korea all this while instead of going places in Europe.
Missed the entirety of preseason though due to knee tendonitis, and having a Temperamental personality could result in a toxic influence if things don't go his way - he'll need to be handled carefully.
Preseason:
I don't think I can get too much out of this preseason relative to the rest of the league, having only played with B-teams of Bundesliga sides, FC Barcelona, Cercle Brugge (in Belgium's second tier) and a number of lower division sides.
Nevertheless, with a preseason record as good as that it's hard not to feel optimistic when the season proper commences.
Third favourites, madness - I think my head will definitely roll if we don't pull this off.
#313846 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
Eric Portapotty
Emery would fit in well, he'll be able to handle all the #EmeryOut shite from the fans (Piers) considering the amount of grief he had been given from Valencia fans.
#313845 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
Eric Portapotty
Emery would fit in well, he'll be able to handle all the #EmeryOut shite from the fans (Piers) considering the amount of grief he had been given from Valencia fans when he was there.
#313689 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
Eric Portapotty
Well I stand corrected then.
Still think the Italian NT will be his last gig though, which I'd wager he'll get by that time.
In any case I doubt we'll be going for him then.
#313679 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
Eric Portapotty
By 2019 he'll probably be retired or with the Italian NT imo.
Looks like we're running out of quality managers available post-Wenger though, scary thought.
#312310 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
Awful end to the regular season, it wouldn't have been so bad to lose but to see many of our passing moves break down the way they did was particularly galling.
(spoiler alert if you can spot it)
So the loss meant we finished behind Gimnastic, and as a result staed the 1st leg of our playoff semifinal at home:
Hoofball at home, must've been great viewing for our fans.
That said it definitely worked, our deep block ensured that they weren't getting too many clear-cut chances, while with 3 runners up top we had a consistent threat on the counter.
Rinse and repeat.
In the final we met Malaga, having won comfortably against them earlier in the season we had plenty to be optimistic about:
Unfortunately I was in two minds over attacking their 4-4-1-1 or playing away on the counter with a solid defence.
In the end neither happened as we were outplayed, with only Lucio's thunderbastard giving us an away goal.
It was Malaga's turn to sit back now, and even them it was our backline which buckled first.
In the end we weren't good enough over the two legs, tactically or individually.
Great, player bonuses wiping out our prize money.
Nothing much to be excited about the season, we had some great games but ultimately promotion wasn't achieved.
Tbh I'm glad we weren't promoted, looking at our squad we'd probably be slaughtered and even barring that it'll be a struggle to stay beyond 2 seasons.
To finish off this season:
Nice, but it'll take some time before I put the same amount of faith I had in the Smouha youth to these guys, Spain is far stronger.
By far our best player this season
As I'd said before I wasn't looking forward to having a man of his calibre leading the line - boy and I glad to have been proven wrong.
Leading the line solo meant that we was the main recipient of the hoofball sometimes employed, as well as the large number of crosses the wingers delivered at other times.
A great achievement...
... With a greater reward.
Though it's burnt quite a hole in our pockets I think.
The rest of the squad was decent, but no one else really got the kind of form the Rosero had, or even had anything resembling positive consistency.
#312294 Transfer Rumours 2015/16
Eric Portapotty
What you lot clearly need is the FIFA Doumbia.
#312255 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
Scripting innit
No seriously how the flying fuck did we not win this? We weren't really dominant but we definitely played some sparkling football on the break, only to get clawed back from there with a late (AND CONTENTIOUS) penalty to boot.
Flashbacks to the Newcastle game *cringe*
Well at least we won this one, playing on the break looks to be our go to style now, seems to get the best out of Rosero too.
Las Palmas didn't show much ambition with their 4-4-1-1 setup, and we were able to keep the ball well enough.
Should we have had more than a single goal? Probably, but a win's a win,particularly against one of the favourites for automatic promotion.
With that we get another shot at going up, not really what the board wanted but they probably won't mind too much of we went up anyway.
Oh man this was pretty much smash and grab, we were cut open so many times by their 4-2-3-1, but they weren't able to capitalise.
Hoofball and setpieces worked in our favour yet again, not the prettiest of playing styles but hey, at least I'm still in the job.
All we have to play for now is finish ahead of Gimnastic and (probably) get the 2nd leg of our playoffs at home.
Across the Mediterranean Sea, there was another side celebrating their success (though theirs is probably much bigger of an achievement)...
Yup, Smouha ran away with their 3rd title in 5 seasons, despite losing a fair few key players (Ahmed Emam, Hany Gamal, Ramy Ragab).
They're also in their 3rd straight cup final, having won 19 consecutive cup games across the 3 seasons.
#312096 The Night Thread Mk. IX
Eric Portapotty
#311869 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
Great, great way to start April, apparent vengeance for a defeat earlier in the season.
What followed was an extremely frustrating draw against minnows Sant Andreu, we completely and utterly dominated proceedings so it was damn near a travesty that we left with only a point.
Man, the first time that a 4-2-3-1 was seemingly sufficiently subdued, setting up a deep block and playing Route One for Rosero to run for somehow worked.
We should have had so many more goals (Rosero in particular) but their stopper was on fire on the day.
Probably went about this game wrongly, should probably gone with a favoured 4-3-3 instead of continuing with our 4-2-3-1 Deep used to counter the other 4-2-3-1s.
Though we should have won regardless, both Sevilla's goals came through crosses, our aerial game was lacking here..
We finished the month in empathic style, Rosero and Rivero with a bit of statpadding (the former did go back top of the goalscoring charts) and it was undeniable that we deserved to win this comfortably.
Will probably be 5th and 6 points into the playoffs zone once the games in hand are played, but going unbeaten and earning 11 points this month is nothing to be sniffed at, and it keeps us within the slightest of touches of Levante.
Las Palmas have already ensured at least a playoffs spot, with our form I can't see why we can't join them sooner than later.
#311864 The Night Thread Mk. IX
Eric Portapotty
#311819 Night Thread X
Eric Portapotty
#311470 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
Heh, I'd have to challenge the established order in these parts (i.e. Barca and Real among others) to Smouha things up in here.
And I'd need to get promoted first
Cheers itchycoo, always nice to see you around.
------------------------------------
Really only woke up after conceding the opener, but at the very least we actually go on to win this.
Also the only side not to field a narrow diamond 4-4-2 against us this time, we'l see how that turned out...
I'll be the 1st to admit that we probably didn't deserve 3 point, hell we'd struggle to justify a point the way we were opened up at times.
But bloody hell you don't just throw away a 2-goal lead, you just don't...
An extremely frustrating game, particularly considering our form and that we could well have closed the gap on them in 2nd.
Another diamond-fielding promotion rival, thankfully we actually saw this game out with a win.
Gimnastic didn't pose as many problems as Numancia, and once they went down to 10 men the onus was on us to grab a winner, and we duly did so.
Another promotion-chasing side, this one we ended up losing to.
Rosero couldn't continue his hot form here, and probably showed his weaknesses here - as good a goalscorer he currently is he's not really a clutch player, a guy who could nab a crunch winner when it matters most.
A 50% win rate this month keeps us in the playoffs spots, 6 ahead of our closest rivals who are eligible for promotion (reserves can't be promoted), Pontevedra.
In came the 1st youth intake of my time here as well:
This isn't Egypt where youths can simply be played at will and have their abilities boosted massively when given game time, Spain is far stronger as a whole and it'll take a lot more for youths to break through.
Camilo looks good enough, here's hoping that I don't just flog him to the B Team and forget about him.
#310599 Old Trafford Lounge
Eric Portapotty
#310452 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
Eric Portapotty
I was looking forward to you lot grinding out goalless draws for the rest of the season.
#310421 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
We started off February in some style - handing Ponferradina a new one for our best performance since I came in.
We didn't really get going in the 1st period ('only' scoring 2 goals) but we came back with fire in our bellies and proceeded to underline our promotion credentials.
Cool.
Double cool.
Next was a narrow win against relegation-bound Albacete, who despite having nowhere near the prerequisite quality to compete at this level still managed to trouble us and could've knocked in a couple - shows the sheer struggles I've currently having with that narrow 4-2-3-1, my defence simply can't cope with that mass of attackers running in behind.
Should've won this on paper - Barca have got a surprising number of greyed-out lads in their XI (given the wealth of their parent club and their famed academy), but they game us more than a game and it only took a fortuitous late equaliser from substitute loanee Mesic to grant us a point.
Man was this some game - Valencia took the lead and would've run away with it hadn't Rosero (more on him later) outjumped their keeper to win a long punt and slot in a leveller.
They then had an absolute peach of a chance to regain the lead - their striker was play through, rounded our GK...
The rest is history.
1 month, 4 games and 10 points later we find ourselves relatively comfortably in the playoff spots, with an outside chance of challenging for automatic promotion.
Eduardo Rosero also has 8 goals in 4 games, not a bad return considering he was one of my 1st targets to ship out initially.
#308757 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
-----------------
We completely outclassed an overachieving Pontevedra side but couldn't add to our single goal due to our absolutely atrocious finishing.
Zaragoza have seen better days and currently are fighting going down to the third tier, but fought to a good draw here.
Their narrow 4-2-3-1 (which packs 3 CAMs and 2 CMs into a small area) meant that our sole holder in the 4-5-1 was hopelessly overwhelmed and our backline was cut to pieces between the channels.
A positive would be a better goal/SoT rate than them, but given our total shots we were simply wasteful.
Same problems as against Zaragoza, but exacerbated by properly clinical finishing.
Our defence was really playing as individuals here, no covering, no tracking of opponents, no nothing.
Cermak impressed in his chance up top after Rosero's awful shooting 'exhibition' last time out in our musical chairs for 30+ year old mediocre strikers.
Unfortunately being the composed and rational manager that I obviously am I fined my entire backline 2 weeks' wages, leading to transfer-listing both starting centrebacks - proper man management there.
Awful game, both sides deserved to lose, less said about it the better.
Well we did end up losing here.
I went into the game foolishly thinking that 4 4-2-3-1 could stand up to a 3-5-2, when I could easily have gone back to the Smouha days and went 4-6-0.
In the end we didn't accomplish anything trying to sit back, and were outplayed in midfield anyway, so it was never for the taking.
So embarrassingly profligate at best, and non-existent defence at worst - still 9th, 9 off the automatic promotion spots, and alienated players in a key position.
Well at least we have the Copa Del Rey to look forward to:
What a surprise, trriblt shooting on display, couple with some less than ideal defending.
Leavs us with a slightly unpalatable prospect of scoring at Anoeta.
La Liga regulars Sociedad weren't going to let us off so easily again, and put us to the sword with a finishing performance that we would do well to learn from.
Which left us with only 1 thing on the agenda to look toward:
Hohlovs got the move that both sides wanted, Sangroniz was the worst of a bad bunch of strikers on the wrong side of 30, Francisco wanted game time but woukldn't have gotten it, while Oste... Not a fast winger, a CAM without creativity, a striker who can't finish, you get the point.
Nemec's replacement, ostensibly to offer a greater attacking presence, but unfortunately he's been part of some of our worst defensive showings this month.
Needed a cover for Alava in the creative department, which Mesic technically fits the bill. though it'll be seen if his mercurial ability can offset his virtual non-existence of any physical presence.
Don't really know why I signed him, he's not much better than our current crop of forwards.
Probably fit on the tip of the 4-6-0 diamond, decent speed and height to offer a nominal striker's threat at least.
Driven as well, which is already better than most of our lot.
#307221 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
---------------------
Having evaluated the squad and with my 'tactical genius' I came up with this:
Which was based on the fact that I only didn't have any good right wingers registered (Oviedo actually signed one but they didn't register him) while the one that was registered I judged shite.
Unfortunately despite playing a sort of midfield diamond we lost on the possession count and our imbalanced structure meant big problems while defending, all whilst we weren't at all clinical with our finishing.
So on the eve of the Copa Del Rey clash against Rayo I decided that my right wingers weren't shite after all and went:
Which was then used for the rest of the month.
That's both cup legs won over Rayo, another against an inferior side in Zamora and a frustrating defensive performance against league leaders Las Palmas.
We've contrived to regress a fair bit since I arrived, but at the very least the transfer window's open, which gives me an opportunity to make a number of much needed changes.
One of which is the strikeforce:
Top 4 are 30 or over, and none of them are exactly setting the world alight, at least not enough to warrant keeping all of them.
Sangroniz is particularly awful, he's blessed with great creativity and finishing but due to a lack of physicality and confidence he's done almost nothing on the pitch.
Rosero can literally only play up top (at least the other 2 are serviceably versatile) and he's not even remotely a sharpshooter.
Numan Sand couldn't cut it in an Inter side stuck at Serie B, while Oste and Iriarte are non-entities up front.
Pascual looks to be the only youth hope that I can count on in the short-to-medium term, while I want rid of Rosero and Sangroniz pronto.
And finally to make everything that much better I've probably jumped the gun in quitting Smouha:
Turns out that Orlando, having won their domestic league represent the host nation in the Club World Cup, but they've also won the African CL (as you know, FOR THE THIRD FUCKING TIME) the runners-up were sent to represent Africa. Suffice it to say they finished 5th losing (AGAIN) to Orlando in the process.
Oh and they've sold RB Ramy Ragab to Al Moqaoloun for 8.75 million(SGD).
#306270 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
A couple of weeks into unemployment:
No messing about, 1 club, 1 job application and 1 contract signed.
Currently a Liga Adelante side, they enjoy the briefest of seasons in the top flight a couple of seasons ago.
The upstairs men want promotion to La Liga, no pressure then.
Looking at the table it's surprising that Cosmin Contra was sacked, they're well in the promotion hunt and are currently in the promotion race, I'll have to do well to match what he'd done so far.
At least the club is willing to indulge in my obsession with youths (
Here's the squad's strength list:
And here's (in my ssman's opinion) the club's best player:
Not impressed at all, his attributes gaives flashbacks (PTSD?) to Emad Ahmed, probably the most defensively accomplished fullback that we had, but offered so little going forward and had problems with opposing wingers running in behind.
In any case he's asked to leave, I've granted him his wish and will be looking for a more attacking LB in January.
Now this is the best player in the team, a hard worker, offensively and defensively sound, he'll be our CWB until we can sort out the sheer lack of quality/form on our right wing.
Looking to build the team around him, a well-equipped playmaker with no little mobility.
#306266 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
wat
No really though, it was one of the most insane matches you'll ever see, 46 shots in total, a comeback from 3 goals down, both CKs having absolute clangers, and some truly atrocious defending on show.
Not that I enjoyed our 1st half though.
The reverse happened here thankfully, as we thoroughly dominated an underperforming Ismaily side.
That still left us with quite the mountain to climb, as we still find ourselves 8 points off the top albeit with a game in hand.
Enough of that league nonsense though, there's a CL final to look forward to:
Well fuck.
Our backline was in sixes and sevens, attack was so so poor, El Ashri in particular was completely useless.
More significantly, this marked the 3rd consecutive season that we've lost to Orlando in the semis and beyond - but this hurts the most. In previous season they'd always win by a goal or nudge out a very scrappy draw over 2 legs, but they definitely outclassed us here, just as we saw this as our best chance of finally breaking through - riding a wave of momentum to come back and win the group stage, finally beating Orlando in the process, and besting TP Mazembe (who are not slouches tbf) in the semis.
Cunts.
In any case, I can't take it any more, I can't see us breaking Orlando's dominance in Africa (well not us anyway, not with this mental block) and I don't want to have to meet them again.*
Nice to see I've made some friends in my time there, including 2 of the best GK coaches available.
Of course I couldn't leave without giving the players a piece of my mind over their performance in the final:
---------------
*(inb4 Smouha win the CL next season)
What's next? I don't know.
#306023 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
-------------------------
Fielded a much weakened side against minnows Koroum, unfortunately for 45 minutes we made them look like Conte's Juventus, such was their swashbuckling 3-5-2 that saw them race to a 3-0 lead before the interval.
Brought on one of last season's youth graduates in Mohamed Fathy for his debut, and what a debut it was - a double as we managed to claw it back to what is still an embarrassing 3-3.
It looked like things we about to go sour again after a dire 1st half, and it wasn't helping that we conceded the opener yet again.
Fortunately, 3 Ahmeds(!) combined to give us another rather lucky win, yet again.
We started a vastly inferior team to Tersana's in light of our fixture pile-up, we never coped very well to their threats but at least went into the interval level.
2nd half, BAM ex-Smouha CB Eric Diaby gives us a suckerpunch by bundling in from a corner.
A couple of minutes later we're two down and struggling to claw our way back.
Fathy played the role of supersub again, pulling one back albeit to no avail.
We've got a game or two in hand over our title rivals, but the dropped points this month are a problem - even if we won our games in hand we'd still be 2 points behind leaders Al Moqaoloun.
That said, challenging for the league isn't that high on my list, and I've been pooling most of our efforts to...
African Champions League
On a day where Mahmoud Ibrahim was firing blanks yet again, Emam popped up from the left wing to show a clinical touch - between his tendency to keep himself offside and his injuries he's still quite the player when on form...
It'dve been a much more nail-biting game had we not found an equaliser after Mazembe levelled the aggregate, Emam with a peach of a cross for Ibrahim to slot home.
Abdel Latif came on and curled in a effort from range, which is a surprise given that he isn't much of a longshots man.
The other semi was quite the convincing one, put it that way:
"Oh shit we've lost to Smouha for the first time ever" "Oh shit we've finished 2nd in our group" "Oh shit we might not be able to make it 3 CL titles in a row"
Well that's about as big a middle finger as they could've shown to the rest of Africa, demolishing the other group's winner.
I'd take a draw, we were playing with (albeit wunderkid) midfielder Aziz Amer at a completely unfamiliar rightback role, and substitute loanee Anouar Benali who was nothing short of a nervous wreck in a ballwinning role.
Best news however would be Ragab not being ruled out for too long, bruised ribs only keeping out for 8 days.
In any case this is probably going to be my last season at Smouha, I'll either win the CL, play out the Club World Cup and leave with Part 1 of 5 done;
or lose, render my work here a failure and leave before the financial hell sets in and I lose many key men to frees next summer.
#305898 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
Eric Portapotty
Aye we aren't doing well, Oxlade has been useless apart from a couple of runs on the break, damn near broke Ayoze as well.
#305746 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
I feel like I've put too much into the club to just leave, spunking millions into the club's facilities when I could well have bought quality players for more immediate success.
I think there's a vindication now, most of the 1st XI (and squad) are the academy graduates, but I really need to win the CL to say that my work here is really done.
------------------------------------------
Took quite a while to get going, but even we did eventually score they weren't stopping us.
Abdel Kader got us an early lead against new boys Samanoud, but again it took a while for us to seal the game.
Still, a largely rotated side did well here.
Was a titanic struggle here, Abdel Fatah was in good form in goal, but eventually Al-Hammadi (who has been top scorer for the best part of 5 seasons) got his goal.
A draw was fair, could've been worse.
Ex-Smouha lad Mohammed Talaat (via Al Moqaoloun where he inevitably flopped) moved to El Gouna, and is currently among the league's top scorers this season.
And with pace up top in 4-1-2-1-2 it really gave me the heebie jeebies from last season where we got completely wrecked by Suez Cement.
Here our back 3 seemed to cope well against that threat, and though Ibrahim was completely misfiring one of his aerial challenges did eventually set up El Ashri for the opener.
A magnificent counterattack afterwards led to El Badry netting in an impressive finish to seal the game.
Wasn't expecting to finish the month on top, but Damanhour's failure to capitalise on their superior H2H record against us and Al Ahly's apparent penchant for draws meant that we lead the pack, albeit on goals scored.
On to the CL, where we were on a high after digging ourselves out of a hle last time out:
Another comeback win, and probably another fortuitous victory given we were under the cosh for a significant period of the game.
Oh man, this was some game.
Farouk started up top and his poaching ability was showcased here with the opener, and Amr Hassan's CWB role and the almost shameful amount of space afforded to him to storm forward granted him 2 great finishes.
Unfortunately playing in a cavalier style meant that we had to compromise at the back as well, though it was arguably inevitable that a team of Kaizer Chiefs' calibre would score regardless of our setup, so *shrugs*.
Add that to Orlando absolutely bottling their last 2 games and we find ourselves topping the group! Absolutely amazing, especially considering I was considering resigning after Matchday 3 (where we only had 3 points).
But let's not be too glad, Orlando are still in the bloody competition, they can beat USM Alger, knowing them as the jammy cunts that they are.
We've beaten Mazembe before, we've got a better team than theirs, so I'd be disappointed if we don't find ourselves in the final.
The problem would be the other finalist - it'll either be Orlando bloody Pirates (who lest us forget are gunning for a THIRD CL title in a row) or the team that beats them over 2 legs, neither of which is really ideal if I'm honest.
#305425 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
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A 4-2-4 that was debuted against Orlando was repeated here, a possession-based, aggressive pressing approach coupled with a very high line (offside 'trap' included) that ensured we would have most of the ball against a narrow diamond 4-4-2.
Unfortunately pairing a high line with a keeper who doesn't ever come off his is a recipe for disaster - on multiple occasions their forwards beat our offside trap and had the best part of half a pitch to run on and shoot - our setpieces saved us here.
Far too easy as usual, the 4-6-0 on the counter against a 3-5-2, running at their weak backline repeatedly.
Another narrow diamond in the midfield, only this time we reverted to a 5-3-2.
We raced to a comfortable lead, but our defending (especially given that it was a back 5) was a letdown.
Bollocks, our 1st big game in the league and we bombed it - Hossam Ibrahim and Ramy Ragab on the centre-right of our backline was absolutely outwitted on the day, we were lucky not to concede more.
1 point off the top, still early doors but going behind in the H2H against Damanhour is potentially costly.
Now on to the CL, licking our wounds after another Orlando defeat:
Note to self - never, ever play a high line against a pacy striker.
It was the last time the 4-2-4 was used as well, the sheer lack of midfield cover and high line was just suicidal - the 5-3-2 was employed against midfield diamonds from here on in.
You know who else uses a midfield diamond? Orlando fucking Pirates, that's who.
THEY ARE NOT UNBEATABLE
A surprisingly tame performance from them to be fair, and we were fortunate they didn't put us to the sword.
We now find ourselves 2nd, not quite safe from elimination but a damn sight better than from a matchday previously.
#304705 [FM14] Pentagon - Redux
Eric Portapotty
Let's start with some (more) bad news:
This despite breaking our transfer sales records (individual and over a window), we are probably knee deep in the shitter.
Then you see this and you gradually realise that the inevitable is about to happen - this season could be the last chance for us to win a CL title, we won't be able to afford their wages/contract renewals for long.
In any case, the show must go on - here are our transfers:
Bah and El Amrani were both re-signed as inexpensive deputies, while a couple of veterans left the club.
Yao was a fan favourite but wasn't interested in signing a new deal, while club legend Adel quite simply can no longer justify being on the payroll, not even as a tutor to the youths unfortunately.
Moataz Emam... he was never going to get game time with particularly with the emergence of Aziz Amer and with Mabrouk still going strong.
Onto the friendlies:
Very sound stuff with an unbeaten run, only blip was Norwich but a draw was probably fair for bot sides.
It wasn't exactly a fully prepped preseason though, 4 guys (Ramy Ragab, Amr Hassan, Aziz Amer and El Ashri - quite the backbone of the side given their age) went away for the Olympics.
Midway through our friendly tourney the African champions League resumed proceedings with the commencement of the group stage:
Surprisingly comfortable, though we did amass one too many cautions(...) and Hossam Ibrahim was subsequently suspended for our next game - against Orlando fucking Pirates.
I think at this point it'll be easier to keel over and die than to put up with this nonsense.
I've thrown the kitchen sink at them and still we're quite simply unable to even chip away at their game - won't put it past them winning a third straight CL, the jammy cunts.
Group B looks much, much easier - Kano Pillers thrashed Mazembe 5-1 there btw.
And before we start the season proper, there's the Super Cup to look forward to:
Disappointing, we didn't build on our lead and eventually Tersana switched to a 4-3-1-2 which nullified our possession game, and by he end of extra time we were probably fortunate to hang on.
Penalties - well I skipped through that, pretty much luck of the (virtual) draw there so I'm not too fussed over losing it there.
Al Ahly - despite still possessing a couple of cracking players - are a fading force and are probably still favourites for the championship by virtue of their moniker of "Club of the Century" - most famous club in Africa let alone Egypt,, they aren't going away any time soon.
#304697 2015/16 Barclays Premier League Thread
Eric Portapotty
And I didn't watch the game (THREE FORTY FUCKING FIVE HERE) but we can'tve played well evidently.