‘How does is it look?’ he asked the medic in English
‘At first glance I can’t tell you, but it is very purple’ the medic replied before adding ‘Take this, it’ll help with the pain, eventually’
It wasn’t that bad a tackle, just late. The attacker had every right to go for the ball but he was late and caught the left back. As soon as the defender felt the impact hit he knew it was bad. How bad he wasn’t sure, that type of pain doesn’t happen often, but in the coming days he was going to find out just how bad it was.
4 days later in the hospital the surgeon appeared and spoke in Portuguese
‘I won’t sugar coat it, you are going to be able to walk again in around…’ he was cut off by the man laid on the bed with his leg held up on the hospital bed.
‘When can I play again?’
‘As I was saying, you will walk again, that’s not in question, but I have to be realistic with you, when professional athletes suffer ACL injuries they are out for what, 7 maybe 8 months before they’re able to train again, footballers are usually back within the year. Athletes that tear their quadriceps are out for around the same sort of time, but semi professional footballers, that have never worked on conditioning, or been on a proper fitness plan suffering both of these injuries? You’re not going to be walking without crutches for at least 10 months, yet alone running on a pitch’ the doctor replied. After a short pause the doctor continued ‘My prognosis is that at least a year is going to pass before you are able to train properly if you’re lucky, and then it’s going to be however your body reacts to the rehab if you’re going to be able to play again’
‘Thanks’ the man said as he tried sitting up. Now was not the time for thinking about playing again, he knew the road ahead was going to be a slow and relentless struggle. For most players, an ACL injury is bad luck, as is a torn quadriceps, but to suffer both injuries at the same time? He must’ve pissed somebody off in the previous life for this he thought to himself.
Everything seemed to be falling in place for Miguel Sanchez. Finally after playing semi-professional football for what seemed like forever, he had signed for a professional team. He was contracted on a pay as you pay deal for Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia, or just Estoril to most people, however he’s never been anywhere near the first team and had found minutes in the reserves hard to come by, until the last 4 weeks. In those 4 weeks he’s played 9 times, all starting at left full back and finishing each game, winning 5, drawing and losing 2. In the last 3 games, including the most recent where he suffered his injury, the Estoril first team manager and assistant manager had been to watch, and the first team manager even spoke to Miguel after the second of those 3 games. ‘Keep that up, you might just find yourself training with the first team’ were his words after Miguel put in a man of the match performance, finishing with a 3 nil win, 3 assists and 2 goal line clearances. Clearly there was some talent there, but he was just never able to get that break when push came to shove.
As a life long Sporting Lisbon fan, he was conflicted when he’d been invited to trials as a youth player at 16 with FC Porto, after winning the regional championships but wasn’t selected for the next step after the initial trial. After that he’d signed as a semi-professional for Associação Desportiva de Oeiras and went on to play for them over 200 times in the 9 years since leaving school. During this time he again had a trial at FC Porto, despite being a die hard Sporting Lisbon fan he couldn’t turn down this second chance to impress. This time he was more seasoned and could be considered an experienced head at 25, however after passing the initial trial, and making it through the first and second 6 on 6 games, he wasn’t able to maintain his fitness and wasn’t called back after the first medical. After leaving Associação Desportiva de Oeiras at 26, he spent 2 seasons north at another semi professional club, ARC Oleiros. During the first season with them he was the first choice left back but he didn’t stand out too much, a modest return of 4 assists and 1 goal, however his defensive play earned him a spot in the Portuguese Football Reporters non league team of the season, as well as being named in the top 10 players to watch next season. It was during his second season that he really shone through. In the first 19 games however he managed a staggering 12 assists and 4 goals, which would be considered a fantastic return at any level for a left full back, and it was this form that caught the attention of Varizm who were in the second division of Portuguese football, the Liga Pro
Despite scouts being sent to no less than 7 of his games, nothing came of the reported interest. His morale didn’t drop however and from the turn of the year to the end of the season, he finished with a total of 38 appearances, 21 wins, 19 assists and 9 goals, named player of the season for the whole division as well as the clubs fans player of the year. This form had seen Oleiros get into the play offs, only to lose to Santa Clara over 2 legs. This great season saw him attract the attention of recently relegated from Liga Nos, the top division of Portuguese football side Estoril, professional neighbors of his first club.
During that summer Estoril went on a recruitment drive and snapped up a lot of young players, so for Miguel to get that call, he thought it was a joke. ‘Seriously homie, you’re not funny’ ‘I’m not your homie, and I’m being serious, you’re invited to our open day, and you’re going to be the oldest player the clubs new manager is considering’ the voice replies. ‘Okay sorry, I just can’t believe that a massive club like yours is really interested in a semi pro left back like me’ ‘Between me and you, from what I gather he likes to have a large squad, now I can’t guarantee anything, just keep your head down and do your best, I’ve seen your stats for last season, great return for a player in your position, carry on what you’re doing, and good luck’.
Third time’s a charm as they say and he absolutely smashed the trial with Estoril. At 28 he was in his physical peak, his form last season had been all the hard work from the previous year’s paying off, and by the end of the 3 day trail, the reserves team manager approached him
‘Firstly, thanks for attending these last 3 days, I just want to let you know where we are’ he said as Miguel thought this was where he was about to be told thanks but no thanks. ‘As you know the club unfortunately suffered relegation so the manager is looking for players to come in and make an impact straight away, he doesn’t want to be out of this league any longer than this 1 season, so with that in mind, we are happy to offer you a pay as you play deal and contract you to our reserves side’
‘Wow really?’
‘Yes really’
‘I’ll happily accept’
‘Great stuff, our HR guys will sort everything out for you, I guess as you’re on a semi-pro contract at Oleiros you can sign straight away?’
‘Yes of course I can I just…’
He was cut off by the reserves manager ‘Great stuff Miguel, see you at 6AM’ and he walked off.
The next 3 months were mainly training and making the bench for Estoril reserves. He got a few appearances from the bench, but never long enough to make an impact. He spoke to the manager but he was met with the same response, he was told he was brought in as a back up at best player, and this was not an opportunity to be sniffed at, his time will come eventually. It did eventually come and by the time November 2018 rolled around, and he was laid in the hospital bed wondering why it all went wrong, a sudden realisation crept over him that he was probably never playing football again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a prelude to my save that I will be posting on here in FM20, and will document the time between November 2018 and the start of the game when the beta is released.
I’ll try and get updates up at least once a week.
‘At first glance I can’t tell you, but it is very purple’ the medic replied before adding ‘Take this, it’ll help with the pain, eventually’
It wasn’t that bad a tackle, just late. The attacker had every right to go for the ball but he was late and caught the left back. As soon as the defender felt the impact hit he knew it was bad. How bad he wasn’t sure, that type of pain doesn’t happen often, but in the coming days he was going to find out just how bad it was.
4 days later in the hospital the surgeon appeared and spoke in Portuguese
‘I won’t sugar coat it, you are going to be able to walk again in around…’ he was cut off by the man laid on the bed with his leg held up on the hospital bed.
‘When can I play again?’
‘As I was saying, you will walk again, that’s not in question, but I have to be realistic with you, when professional athletes suffer ACL injuries they are out for what, 7 maybe 8 months before they’re able to train again, footballers are usually back within the year. Athletes that tear their quadriceps are out for around the same sort of time, but semi professional footballers, that have never worked on conditioning, or been on a proper fitness plan suffering both of these injuries? You’re not going to be walking without crutches for at least 10 months, yet alone running on a pitch’ the doctor replied. After a short pause the doctor continued ‘My prognosis is that at least a year is going to pass before you are able to train properly if you’re lucky, and then it’s going to be however your body reacts to the rehab if you’re going to be able to play again’
‘Thanks’ the man said as he tried sitting up. Now was not the time for thinking about playing again, he knew the road ahead was going to be a slow and relentless struggle. For most players, an ACL injury is bad luck, as is a torn quadriceps, but to suffer both injuries at the same time? He must’ve pissed somebody off in the previous life for this he thought to himself.
Everything seemed to be falling in place for Miguel Sanchez. Finally after playing semi-professional football for what seemed like forever, he had signed for a professional team. He was contracted on a pay as you pay deal for Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia, or just Estoril to most people, however he’s never been anywhere near the first team and had found minutes in the reserves hard to come by, until the last 4 weeks. In those 4 weeks he’s played 9 times, all starting at left full back and finishing each game, winning 5, drawing and losing 2. In the last 3 games, including the most recent where he suffered his injury, the Estoril first team manager and assistant manager had been to watch, and the first team manager even spoke to Miguel after the second of those 3 games. ‘Keep that up, you might just find yourself training with the first team’ were his words after Miguel put in a man of the match performance, finishing with a 3 nil win, 3 assists and 2 goal line clearances. Clearly there was some talent there, but he was just never able to get that break when push came to shove.
As a life long Sporting Lisbon fan, he was conflicted when he’d been invited to trials as a youth player at 16 with FC Porto, after winning the regional championships but wasn’t selected for the next step after the initial trial. After that he’d signed as a semi-professional for Associação Desportiva de Oeiras and went on to play for them over 200 times in the 9 years since leaving school. During this time he again had a trial at FC Porto, despite being a die hard Sporting Lisbon fan he couldn’t turn down this second chance to impress. This time he was more seasoned and could be considered an experienced head at 25, however after passing the initial trial, and making it through the first and second 6 on 6 games, he wasn’t able to maintain his fitness and wasn’t called back after the first medical. After leaving Associação Desportiva de Oeiras at 26, he spent 2 seasons north at another semi professional club, ARC Oleiros. During the first season with them he was the first choice left back but he didn’t stand out too much, a modest return of 4 assists and 1 goal, however his defensive play earned him a spot in the Portuguese Football Reporters non league team of the season, as well as being named in the top 10 players to watch next season. It was during his second season that he really shone through. In the first 19 games however he managed a staggering 12 assists and 4 goals, which would be considered a fantastic return at any level for a left full back, and it was this form that caught the attention of Varizm who were in the second division of Portuguese football, the Liga Pro
Despite scouts being sent to no less than 7 of his games, nothing came of the reported interest. His morale didn’t drop however and from the turn of the year to the end of the season, he finished with a total of 38 appearances, 21 wins, 19 assists and 9 goals, named player of the season for the whole division as well as the clubs fans player of the year. This form had seen Oleiros get into the play offs, only to lose to Santa Clara over 2 legs. This great season saw him attract the attention of recently relegated from Liga Nos, the top division of Portuguese football side Estoril, professional neighbors of his first club.
During that summer Estoril went on a recruitment drive and snapped up a lot of young players, so for Miguel to get that call, he thought it was a joke. ‘Seriously homie, you’re not funny’ ‘I’m not your homie, and I’m being serious, you’re invited to our open day, and you’re going to be the oldest player the clubs new manager is considering’ the voice replies. ‘Okay sorry, I just can’t believe that a massive club like yours is really interested in a semi pro left back like me’ ‘Between me and you, from what I gather he likes to have a large squad, now I can’t guarantee anything, just keep your head down and do your best, I’ve seen your stats for last season, great return for a player in your position, carry on what you’re doing, and good luck’.
Third time’s a charm as they say and he absolutely smashed the trial with Estoril. At 28 he was in his physical peak, his form last season had been all the hard work from the previous year’s paying off, and by the end of the 3 day trail, the reserves team manager approached him
‘Firstly, thanks for attending these last 3 days, I just want to let you know where we are’ he said as Miguel thought this was where he was about to be told thanks but no thanks. ‘As you know the club unfortunately suffered relegation so the manager is looking for players to come in and make an impact straight away, he doesn’t want to be out of this league any longer than this 1 season, so with that in mind, we are happy to offer you a pay as you play deal and contract you to our reserves side’
‘Wow really?’
‘Yes really’
‘I’ll happily accept’
‘Great stuff, our HR guys will sort everything out for you, I guess as you’re on a semi-pro contract at Oleiros you can sign straight away?’
‘Yes of course I can I just…’
He was cut off by the reserves manager ‘Great stuff Miguel, see you at 6AM’ and he walked off.
The next 3 months were mainly training and making the bench for Estoril reserves. He got a few appearances from the bench, but never long enough to make an impact. He spoke to the manager but he was met with the same response, he was told he was brought in as a back up at best player, and this was not an opportunity to be sniffed at, his time will come eventually. It did eventually come and by the time November 2018 rolled around, and he was laid in the hospital bed wondering why it all went wrong, a sudden realisation crept over him that he was probably never playing football again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a prelude to my save that I will be posting on here in FM20, and will document the time between November 2018 and the start of the game when the beta is released.
I’ll try and get updates up at least once a week.
1
