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Take Two


So last night on the back of the 5-2 defeat to Monaco I played the Italian Super Cup fixture against my old club Roma, crazy right, two games in and I've played 2 of the 4 clubs I'd previously managed. We played Roma and won 5-2, poetic justice at it's finest, anyway, yet again I had a crash as 'FM quit unexpectedly' and lost 14 days worth of game time. Not much usually but during a transfer window that's suddenly a lot of data lost.

So take two on the fixtures and a complete change of fortune in both games.



In hindsight at both times we won one and lost one and on both occasions scored as many as we conceded so not a lot of change.

Next Up - Transfer & August Updates

I've Created A Monster


So another club and another transfer window. This is technically the most I have been given for a summer transfer window also believe it or not. Seem's like I developed a bit of a reputation for spending a fair bit as well and not surprisingly I may have helped myself once more all to be revealed at the end of August. Of course some players will be revealed in the report of our opening fixture against would you believe it Monaco in the European Super Cup which unbelievable will be followed by our game in the Italian Super Cup against Roma.

Monaco Dominate

So the European Super Cup saw complete domination for my former club who were actually 5-0 up within 31 minutes Thankfully the team upped the game slightly in the second half and we managed two late consolation goals. The team we had to field was made up of plenty of new signings and plenty signings were also missing due to international duties and such but it was all the same an embarrassing debut game for me.

Serie A - Title Odds


Finally a little look into the upcoming transfers. Of course as hinted, I couldn't help myself again in the transfer window with Napoli but I did have some pretty frustrating times in the market also. Surprisingly Tom Brown was listed for loan after his incredible debut season for me last year but rejected the chance to join me on loan. Worse still, I had agreed a fee and deal to sign star striker Ortega for a pretty low fee given his record last season only to realise a rule I never had opportunity whilst at Roma last time around in Italy due to poor finances.



Having already signed two midfielders who weren't of EU nationality I now would have to miss out on signing the best striker I've seen. What made it worse is Monaco actually decided to sign a striker from Arsenal meaning they had made Ortega available for a loan deal. You what? 29 in 29, 50 from 50 and you decided to list this guy as available for a loan deal having nearly almost sold him for only £32m!


This game is seriously messed up

Unfinished Business


Sadly for me Roma managed to win the Serie A this season by quite a margin meaning that my replacement those seasons ago, Luis Fernando Tena was still in charge and going strong. Due to the now very attractive Monaco position becoming available though there was some movement in the managers merry-go-round meaning an opportunity to return to the Nation I was unable to achieve European Glory before became available. The club I in fact turned down after departing Shakhtar in order to manage Roma, rivals Napoli.



An in depth look at my new club Napoli including the inherited squad





So a 4th placed finish and winning the Europa League last year for Napoli was not a bad performance for the club at all and some European Glory in itself. Expectations will be high.

The Battle of Two Armies


For the second season in a row PSG are competing in the Champions League final and for the second time in a row they will be facing me I'm sure they must actually wish I'd just disappear quietly and leave them to it but I'm afraid I'm not done just yet and the chance to retain the Champions League with 2 different clubs could well be my greatest FM achievement should we accomplish victory in the final and claim European Glory for Monaco and for myself for a 3rd time.


When I took charge at Man City I planned on building a dominant force with the financial backing available to me expecting it to take a season or two. A year later we had won the Champions League and I genuinely couldn't believe it, now to be on the verge of the feat again in a debut season but furthermore, the first season after taking over at Monaco whom I decided I would build from a younger basis of talent is just ridiculous.

Champions League Final
The first half produced few key highlights other than a couple of chances for star striker Ortega who decided that tonight would be the night he would fail to perform as he failed to score both chances which if this were any other player you wouldn't be surprised about to be fair but this kid isn't human, at least I thought not until tonights fixture.
Half time 0-0

The second half showed a quick change of pace and star midfielder David Luiz stepped up to the plate firing home a bullet shot from inside the box after 51 minutes. The lad has scored some beauties this season but tonight he did it from only 6 yards but I couldn't care less! I thought initially this goal may even be the difference but former player Gabriel Barbosa who also scored against Man City in last years final was at it again, firing home from 6 yards after 71 minutes. This goal came from a clearance from Geis who struck the ball right at a team-mate to which it's path lead right to Barbosa unmarked inside the area.

A few chances later and a break away for Monaco lead to a David Luiz shot which the keeper palmed away to Tom Brown who managed to get in front of the defender to poke it away, 2-1! Just a moment later a counter attack lead to Ricardo Rodriguez whom I sold to PSG from Man City a couple of seasons ago bringing down a Monaco star, I believe might have been Sinan Kurt in the area before the same player stepped up and fired home to make it 3-1 after 89 minutes!!!!!

Gabriel Barbosa wasn't quite done yet though as right from kick off PSG pulled one back to make it 3-2 after a move of around 20 passes involving near every player on the pitch was finished by Gabriel Barbosa from a few yards away. Suddenly I felt a little sick and quickly enforced a defensive tactic in desperate bid to ensure we could hold out. Monaco did in fact almost grab another late on as we headed right into the hands of Sirigu but it didn't matter as the full time whistle went!!!!! 3 goals in the last 3 minutes as a dramatic end to the game went in our favour and we've done it! European Glory once more!







With this achievement I think it's time for a bit more of a challenge. Shakhtar was a real achievement for me, Roma was a frustrating period of the career where we fell short in our time there, Man City & Monaco have been absolutely insane and completely unexpected. On the back of the ridiculous successes in the past two seasons I think it's time to make thing's hard on myself once more but not before we return to unfinished business should it be available at Roma. If not I will look for the next best thing, that being European Glory for an Italian club.

In the month of May, In the month of May


Champions League - Semi Final - 2nd Leg
The 2nd leg would prove to once more be a tight affair between the two clubs with Real Madrid dominating the early stages before a quick counter attack from a corner saw Tom Brown put Monaco one goal to the good after 12 minutes. The game teetered out somewhat until half time. A few words of encouragement to a side playing well and on the verge of qualification should things stay the same and on we went.
At the 60 minute mark I thought we had taken a further step towards the Champions League final as Ortega broke the defensive line to slot the ball home but the goal was ruled offside. 15 minutes later Ronaldo broke through the Monaco defence this time and drove the ball home! As I had my head in my hands I glanced up to see that the goal had been ruled offside and we remained in the driving seat as Real Madrid turned up the heat once more.
Chances at both ends in the remaining 10 minutes with little actually happening in terms of shots on target as the game came to a close without big threats to the Monaco goal meaning come the full time whistle it would be Monaco prevailing on aggregate and into the Champions League final!!!!!

After 4 games the teams were not separated bar the aggregate away goal rule! Had I been on the wrong end of this one I'd have been cursing my luck but to have managed to overcome Juventus Man City & Real Madrid over two leg's to reach the final was an incredible achievement

You couldn't write this script though. Our opponents in the final, my opponents from last season with Man City, the side I had never lost to in the competition and faced by far the most times of any club in the competition. The side who we have maintained an undefeated season against this season however sat behind them on goal difference in Ligue 1 PSG The setting, France, The Stade Velodrome, where we last month defeated them 3-1 in the Coupe de la Ligue final. Someone here is playing me I'm sure of it. Unbelievable!


Back to Ligue 1 action for our final two league games of the season. The first game was against Lyon no easy affair in the past but for Monaco now a fixture which brings goals with a 3-2 win away at Lyon coming earlier in the year. A similar result this time as well as we ran out 4-2 victors which would now mean there was no chance of making up the huge goal difference we were behind rivals PSG and as far as I was concerned once again, the end to our title push.

Our final game of the season came against bottom of the table Dijon away from home whilst PSG faced lowly Le Havre also away from home. I played out the game in a quick fashion looking forward to our finals against Toulouse in the Coupe de France and Champions League final against PSG and didn't bother checking the score. Prior to the match I had spoke to the journalists and written off the chances we had as PSG would wrap up the title with ease against Le Havre.
As the final whistle went the players started celebrating what I had believed to be victory in our last game of the season. Progressing out of the post-match team talks up pops a steam achievement. Eh!?

You what PSG!?!?

We've only gone and bloody done it! Ridiculous! Lost for words on this one, how crazy this season has been that on the last day PSG finally slip up and hand the league right into our hands. Could this month get anymore insane!

Records & Awards
With the above Ligue 1 points record came a flurry of additional records for Monaco and more particularly one man.





Ligue 1 - Season 2020/21 - Round Up


Coupe de France
Finally for domestic action this season we faced Toulouse in the cup final. Having smashed Toulouse on every occasion this season I walked into this match with complete confidence of turning them over once more and I'll just leave it with a summary of our run in fixtures.


Juan Pablo Ortega 29 goals in 29 Ligue 1 appearances, overall 50 goals in 50 games. How about that?! Not quite Messi but not far off either, France or not, probably the best player record for a season on FM I've seen before.


Next Post
The Champions League final & without blowing my own trumpet too much, the chance to not become the first club to retain the Champions League of course but maybe a step up even that ladder and an opportunity to become the first coach to retain the Champions League but with different clubs! Suddenly I feel pressure!
Can we achieve European Glory once more and on the back of two debut seasons!

Gonna make a record in the month of May


An Arcade Fire inspired title this month which sum's up a month of records of a different kind. So much actually occurs during May that I think it's best to separate the month into two posts.

May
We started the month with a league fixture against Saint-Ettiene whom we quickly dispatched off starting with a 6th minute David Luiz strike after hitting the woodwork courtesy of star striker Ortega. It was the Argentine who doubled the lead just on the stroke of half time and the game was latter wrapped up by David Luiz once more making it 3-0 before a late consolation goal from Saint-Ettiene making it 3-1 on the night. Elsewhere PSG won with a 4-0 win meaning we remained behind in the league table with 3 games remaining.

Champions League - Semi Final - 1st Leg
The third fixture of the month was our very unexpected Champions League semi final and the return of an earlier opponent in the competition this season, Real Madrid. We both lost 2-1 and won 2-1 in the earlier stages of the competition with the sides technically being un-seperable which really add's some spice to this fixture which will determine the better of the two clubs this season. We drew Real Madrid away in the first leg to my delight, meaning we could play the second leg at home in front of the fans knowing exactly what is required of us. The first leg brought a similar result to the fixtures already contested by the two clubs this season and once more favouring the home side.

This familiar result between to two sides also once more saw Cristiano Ronaldo score against us meaning he has now done so in every fixture this season against Monaco which doesn't bode well for us as we will face him once more in 6 days time.

Our second Ligue 1 fixture was against Bastia where the opposition took an early lead before we struck right back and later in the first half made it 2-1. We controlled the majority of the game and found ourselves with 2 disallowed goals before a late surge from Bastia in the last 15 minutes lead to an 85th minute equaliser which I thought ensured the Ligue 1 title would not be on it's way to Monaco this season. PSG's opposition Troyes however had other plans and managed to comeback from a 1-0 deficit to win the match 2-1!

Of course if you've been following though you know that this does little for us other than rub salt into the wound as it now means were second to PSG thanks to goal difference one more, unbelievable scenes!

Leaps & Bounds


After our early set-back's at the start of the year we've barely had time to look back as the games have come thick and fast and down to the likes of Ortega so have the wins. Having found ourselves right back in contention midway through March we started April back to 3 points behind but still in the Champions League with a fixture that would take me back to Manchester sooner than anyone would have liked having spent the previous few months sunning it up in Monaco and it's the 1st leg of that fixture where we start the month.

Champions League - Quarter Final
Starting with the home fixture first in the tie has never been something I desire but until 70 minutes had passed in the game I was happy with the tie. 2-0 to the good and looking like we might have a shot at the final 4 in the competition but then Man City turned up the heat and we melted. A 2 goal comeback and complete dominance by our opposition was how the tie ended and the final score ended up flattering us.


The tie of course isn't over at this stage but 2 away goals will be a hard task against last years champions and the dominant force they have been of late winning the Club World Championship and sitting top of the Premier League.

Quarter Final - Second Leg
The second leg alike to our fixture against Juventus left me with hope of progression but a feeling that deep down the tie was probably over. Yet again our side had other ideas, either that or this years game has really implemented something which prevents a side becoming the first to retain the coveted trophy.
The 2nd leg was a much closer tie than the first faired for Monaco although we were the away side and although Man City once more found themselves getting plenty of shots on goal they were unable to hit the back of the net all too often. We however had other ideas.

5 different scorers for Monaco in the 2nd leg; David Luiz, Sinan Kurt, the obvious Ortega, Romagna and Tom Brown all getting themselves on the scoresheet as we scored over half our chances which found the target. Nothing as dramatic as our comeback against Juventus but an unlikely dominance against the competition holders.
I had feared that I may had created a monster at Man City having dominated the competition last season with a newly built squad but with the same model adopted once more at Monaco we have destroyed the opposition and progressed to the semi-finals

Domestic Round-Up
Amongst our European triumphs we faced plenty of fixtures domestically with cup games coming thick and fast once more. Progression in the Coupe de France semi-final was followed by our long awaited Coupe de la Ligue against rivals across the board PSG. Having not faired too well since joining the club in January, Patrick Roberts came good when it mattered and scored a quick-fire double to hurt PSG in the first half and in doing so effectively won the tie with the Paris outfit only capable of pulling back the 1 goal late into the game as we came away with a big win over our rivals in the cup.
The league may have fallen out of our hands in the previous month with only our second defeat of the season but we had hurt PSG on the big stage and I was happy with the knowledge that we had done so. April was a good month for us in the league campaign however as we picked up 3/3 wins against somewhat lowly opposition but opposition that needed defeating all the same.
Ortega came close to completing what would been an insane 2 straight scoring months only failing to score in two of our 7 fixtures.


With 3 games remaining in the league this season the league still remains out of our hands although PSG decided to once more put us back in contention dropping 2 points in the month. It's still all to play for as we remain in the running in every competition even still with a Coupe de France final set against Toulouse, a point to makeup in the league over PSG, a win of course coming this month against PSG in the Coupe de la Ligue and now a semi-final appearance against an earlier foe this season all to be revealed in the next update!

Magnific Monaco


Our first league game of the month saw us defeat Toulouse whilst PSG on the back of our victory over the club dropped points on the same weekend meaning the league was now all tied up with 9 games remaining!


Champions League - Last 16 - 2nd Leg
After the 1-0 away defeat against 'The Old Lady' we needed to ensure that we wouldn't concede away goals against our opponents in the 2nd leg of the tie in order to progress. At half time however we found ourselves 2-1 down on the night, 3-1 down on aggregate and now behind on the away goals as well. An awful first half for us and one which I was near resigned to expecting that it would be the sentence upon our Champions League campaign this year and after 6 minutes of the second half I had lost all hope after Matias Granata pounced on a save from Hewitt to put the ball away at the second opportunity for Juventus, 4-1 down on aggregate now. At half time I had said I was embarrassed and they were letting both themselves and the fans down and now with things at an all time low I thought, 'what the hell, were out now anyway' and replaced both wingers opting for an overload option to at least try to get a goal back to make the result look respectable.

What occurred in the remaining 40 minutes might even top the performance last season by my Man City side over Barcelona.

A phenomenal turn of events as Ortega rallied the team into a 4 goal come-back by first dribbling past 3 opposing players which lead to the assist for inside forward Tom Brown before grabbing his second of the night. Left-side inside forward Sinan Kurt then grabbed a goal on the break to put the night's game back in our favour and then Ortega decided that he wasn't done there as the striker went on to complete his hat-trick in the 89th minute and put the tie in our hands 5-4 on aggregate! Forget about Messi, this kid is the future.

Ortega had earned our place in the quarter final stage of the competition and our reward was for the first time for me, a tie against a former club and that club being the current holders of the competition, Man City. To be fair I had given up on us being here just a day ago with 45 minutes of season in the competition remaining so everything from here is a gift, even if that is a fixture against the side I achieved European Glory with in less than a year.


Fixtures

Perhaps the true story of this month isn't 'Magnific Monaco but Magnific Ortega! who bagged a goal in every single fixture we played through March, Roberts came close to the feat at Man City but Ortega has achieved it by scoring 9 times in only 5 games, unbelievable this guy and only 21! Watch out Messi!

Table

So at the end of March we have managed to drop the points we have been clawing back all season to match PSG which is extremely frustrating. Just 2 games ago we even managed to tie points with the Paris outfit but the recent poor performance against Rennes of all clubs meant we have yet again dropped off of the pace. The news is even worse and I'm sure some of you may have noticed, having tied points after 29 games with PSG we still sat in 2nd even though we had drawn and beaten PSG this season already. It looks like goal difference is going to decide the league at best with 7 games remaining and not results against alike to the time we managed to top Serie A over Juventus on such a basis. I guess what goes around, comes around!

Flying Through February


Early February saw Ortega break the clubs one season goalscoring record unbelievably with not far from 4 months worth of fixtures still remaining! Being his debut season for the club and also within France an incredible achievement and to do so this early on in the season is mad but long may the goals keep coming from the lad!


Another month of cup fixtures galore as we played 8 games in only 24 days. Thankfully no drama's as we managed success in all but one fixture which happened to come in the away tie to Juventus in the Champions League which by all means was not a bad result for us. A shame to have not bagged the desired away goal but we did well to not concede too many goals against a Juventus side who managed to hit the target plenty more times than ourselves who actually failed to do so! Having dominated especially within the first quarter of the game seeing the ball hit the woodwork twice this stat really surprised me.


Elsewhere we played PSG this month in a must win league game especially as prior to the game we managed back-to-back draws dropping 4 points further behind PSG which was actually a relief that it wasn't 5 as we lost a 2-0 lead over Lille to be 3-2 down before a late Ortega equaliser. Thankfully though the lads decided they would turn up to the PSG game to ensure that the league wasn't taken right out of our hands in a month of poor results in hindsight points wise although really it meant we maintained our unbeaten status.




The league table didn't look too bad after the months games thanks to that win over PSG as we only dropped a point over the Paris outfit. Plenty to still play for as we drew PSG in the 'Coupe de la Ligue' final and progressed to the later stages of the Coupe de France. Of course as well the 1-0 deficit to Juventus is definitely salvageable and will hopefully see us progress to the Quarter-Final stage of the Champions League which would additionally mean that I have never failed to achieve such feat with any club in the competition.

It's All Happening in January


We started 2021 with great news for star striker Ortega as he bagged one of Europe's top awards and did so with a record of almost a goal a game for 2020!

This good news for Ortega was however followed by bad news for our centre back Romagna as he was now set to sit on the sidelines for the foreseeable future with a predicted 3 months in return for his torn hamstring, a big blow for the club.


Elsewhere there were records being set by both PSG & my Monaco side with the topic of unbeaten runs the subject of the records. Sadly however our record was quite some way off of the current PSG run of results putting into context the dominance that the Paris outfit have had in Ligue 1 in recent times.



Finally for non fixture related subjects we move to transfers or transfer should I say. If you have money, flaunt it right? Well we have money, I have a pretty good record over the last couple of season of spending it at the very least if not flaunting it and also an eye on an old player. This player should of course be well known to most in their own career's and also for those following this career a player that shone quite recently for me.
Patrick Roberts Returns

A fee of just under £40m which I thought was incredible business actually. I signed him last season for £27.5m and after a fantastic year & a half at Man City in which whilst under my management he was the clubs top scorer as an inside forward, they let him leave for only an initial £12m profit. Sadly Roberts cannot be registered for the Champions League due to already playing in this years competition for Man City.

Last but not least our fixtures for January which was a month of cup games coming thick and fast and a month of fixtures which almost saw another perfect streak for us but dropped points right at the end of the month let us down. The month was almost a perfect one for Ortega also as he scored in all but 1 game!

Delightful December


Great news arrived at the start of December as the board saw fit to reward our turn of fortunes of late and pump additionally money into the club, you'd think that I didn't make any to spend during the summer! Clearly what Monaco really needed was another £65m


Champions League
Our first game of the month was our final group game in the Champions League against Real Madrid and a chance to see where the club is at in terms of competing with the elite after a few months in charge. After a 2-1 defeat away in Madrid it was also a chance for revenge. We managed to dominate the majority of the game and it also proved to be a fixture which we were well capable of winning and had it been a fixture that was in the knockout stages we would have been heading to extra time as the game finished 2-1 to Monaco after Madrid's late equaliser.
What the result additionally meant was we leapfrogged Real Madrid into top spot in the group keeping my record of having done so at every attempt.


The draw for the last 16 saw a return of 'The Old Lady' as we would return to Italy once more and face old foes Juventus


Domestic Fixtures
The month was a perfect one as we picked up wins in every fixture including league fixtures against Saint-Ettiene Bastia & Lorient whilst also progressing to the next stage of the Coupe de la Ligue after a 3-0 victory over Toulouse. Again not many were conceded this month, one to both Madrid and Ettiene which made for good reading also concluding a great month for Monaco.


The league table however changed very slightly although a 2 point gain on leaders PSG was very welcome!

In Good Form


November was set to be a short month however an important one for the club with 2 Champions League games that needed wins. Striker Ortega had just been hit with another setback and this time for 2-3 weeks so thankfully not as long as the previous injury. This meant that Eze was asked to step up again and the young 19 year old English prodigy stepped up and bagged himself a goal in our first of the 2 Champions League ties in the month.

Another setback in the league followed as we dropped points to Nantes whom had made a good start to the league season recording a 0-0 draw. Ortega made a return in the next fixture although not even close to full fitness in an attempt to ensure we would not slip back out of form and although he found the net twice he was perhaps not needed in a goal-glut against Le Havre.

A rest for the Argentine in the Champions League fixture against Dinamo Moscow and a good performance claimed 3 points and a 3-0 win. David Luiz made a phenomenal start to the game banging in two goals within the first 10 minutes of the game really proving his worth and value to the side. Following this, more goals for new stars as the ridiculously named Randrianatonisolo or 'Han Solo' for short got his first goal along with another for Ortega



A good enough month to see us keep the pace in the league table, moving above Marseille and into second place for the first time this season. Catching the 5 points we currently are behind rivals PSG however will be no easy accomplishment but as long as the goals keep flying in we will be in contention domestically.