Pent-agony - The struggles of the Pentagon Challenge

The ultimate quest in the career of any self respecting Football Manager, The Pentagon Challenge, to win the respective continental competition in each of the five major footballing continents: Africa (Orange CAF Champions League), Asia (AFC Champions League), Europe(UEFA Champions League), North America (CONCACAF Champions League) and South America (Copa Santander Libertadores).

All this must be achieved by a relative nobody in the world of football, someone with no professional experience, somebody whose closest shave with the world of football was a kick around with his Sunday league team; in our case, a young man named Will Pairpoint.

The Lost Years

Due to unforeseen circumstances details of Will’s early managerial career are somewhat sketchy and in parts entirely non-existent. Using what little information we do have I will try and provide you with a brief summary of the years that have led Will to the position he currently finds himself in.

He started his managerial career at the steady Eddie’s of the Indonesian Super League, Mitra Kukar. Having taken over towards the tail end of 2013, Pairpoint guided Mitra to the Indonesiam Super League title in his first full season in charge, largely thanks to the goals of Ander Herrera and the midfield master class put on by Paolo Frangipane. However he soon realised that he could never fulfil his ambition of winning the AFC Champions League with Mitra due to the lowly status of the Indonesian Super League. His lifeline came when he was offered a job with sleeping giants of the Chinese Super League, Tianjin TEDA.

Could they be the team where he could fullfil his dream?

Good luck

The Lost Years cont.

From what we can tell Tianjin is a club that Pairpoint fell in love with and vice versa. He guided them from a lowly 13th in CSL to being regular challengers at the top of the league alongside Chinese powerhouses Guangzhou and A’erbin.

Although he never won any silverware at Tianjin he did manage them to a thirrd, fourth and finally a second place finish. Finishing in the top four gave him his first taste of the AFC Champions League. Tianjin's most notable run in the competition being their appearance against Ulsan of South Korea in the second round.

Perhaps Will’s greatest legacy at Tianjin was the talented squad he left behind. Players like Zhang Dexin, Cho-Moon Ki, Han Liangzong, Jia Shuo and Han Hongyou. This is undoubtedly where he forged his reputation as a builder of great squads and as someone who is incredibly adept in the transfer market.

Will’s time at Tianjin did however come to an acrimonious end when he was forced to take a break from football because of some off the field issues. The Tianjin board were less than understanding Will was sacked for unprofessional behaviour. Will was left jobless and in a managerial rut.

After boosting his reputation in Asia with Tianjin, Will was determined to find a club where he could fulfil his desire for continental glory. His opportunity came when an offer came from cash rich Shandong Luneng, positional rivals of Tianjin in the CSL. This is where Will’s career really began to kick on.

Shan-doing the business.

When the offer came in from Shandong Luneng, Will was powerless to refuse. The board were incredibly generous with their budgeting despite the fact Will had told them in his interview that he could work on a much smaller budget. Will was not one to complain however and soon got to work spending his transfer budget to build a title challenging side.

There were already some talented players in the squad in the shape of So Hon Keung, Oscar Ortiz, Gabriel Onate and Juarez Caetano. Will still felt that the squad was in need of an almost total revamp. Here is a rundown of his transfer activity in his first season, transfers out are not included as there was nothing of real note to report.



The most notable additions to the squad were: the arrival of former Tianjin player and friend of Pairpoint, Zhang Dexin; the potent striker would prove invaluable in Shandong’s push for silverware, the capture of flying Greek winger Argyris Oikonomou who formed a deadly trio with Dexin and New Zealand international So Hon Keung. Ban Guanyi would also go on to become club captain while Harold Bueno would end up playing a key role for the club. The question now was could Pairpoint get these players to gel and push for the title?

Shan-doing the business cont.

Pairpoint got off to a flying start at Shandong and didn’t register a loss in a competitive fixture until his eleventh game where he suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Ulsan, a club that Pairpoint had history with. This eleven game spell included five straight wins in the CSL, this winning streak was extended to eight games before a 2-1 loss at home to A’erbin.

Shandong qualified from their Champions League group, with three wins two draws and one loss. However their run in the Champions League came under early threat in the second round with a tricky tie against Korean outfit Jeonbuk. Pairpoint’s Shandong went down 2-1 in the away leg, their only hope coming through a late Jeonbuk own goal. The second leg back at the snappily named Ji’nan Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, was an ever nervier affair, a first half goal from Chinese winger Shen Chenghao was enough to send Shandong through on away goals.

This challenging Champions League fixture coincided with a dip in form in the league, where Shandong lost three of their next four games. Defeats to A’erbin who were fast becoming a bogey team, Beijing and Dongya saw them slip behind Guangzhou in the league.

Following the defeat to Dongya , Shandong had a long wait until their next Champions League fixture, so they filled the time by going on a run of twelve games unbeaten in the league, eleven of which were wins and included a shock 2-1 victory over Guangzhou courtesy of Piao Cheng and Juarez Caetano. The only blemish in this period was a disappointing loss in the 4th round of CFA Cup. Where would their season go from here? Could they keep up the pressure on Guangzhou or would their season crumble?

Shan-doing the business cont.

The quarter-finals of the Champions League saw Shandong face up against Korean giants Seoul. The draw had been unkind to Pairpoint but he was determined to grab this opportunity with both hands. He sent his resolute side out against Seoul in the away leg and they did him proud by securing a solid 0-0 draw, meaning a score draw or a win would see them through to the semi-finals. This would prove a tough task however.

Despite the fact that Seoul had a man sent off in the opening 8 minutes of the tie, Will was cautious about being too gung-ho. Instead he opted to play a waiting game and attempted to tire the well drilled Korean outfit. As 90 minutes ticked on by it seemed that this plan was going to backfire, however an inspired substitution made the difference, the introduction of Wang Jingqi in extra time was a masterstroke, the young Chinese striker netted in the 97th minute and then again in the 115th to secure a semi-final berth for Pairpoint’s warriors.

Meanwhile the league was nearing an exciting conclusion, on the last day of the season Shandong led the league by 3 points from Guangzhou, their opponents on the final day, the scenario was that if Shandong won they would win the league by 6 points, a draw would also have put Pairpoint’s hand on the trophy, however a win for Guangzhou would mean they retain the title, despite the fact the head to head of the two teams would have been even Guangzhou would take the title by virtue of having a far superior goal difference. One win over the biggest team in China is all it would take, could they do it?

Shan-doing the business cont.

The final game of the season was incredibly tense and for an hour it was impossible to tell where the title would end up. However two goals in two minutes just after the hour tipped the balance right into Shandong’s favour, Pairpoint’s boys managed to hold on despite a late assault from title rivals Guangzhou and secured the title and Will’s first piece of silverware in China.

This all came after Will’s team secured a place in the Champions League final in a thrilling tie with Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli. After losing the first leg 2-0 in Saudi Arabia, Shandong needed a miracle to qualify, thankfully for Will’s boys the footballing gods were working their magic. An early goal in the home leg really got the place rocking and set Shandong up for a superb comeback. An 8 minute double from the Chinese outfit just after the hour meant that all they had to do was hold out for twenty minutes to pave their way to the final. Despite a few late scares Pairpoint’s boys stormed into the final just days before securing the league title. Momentum, momentum, momentum.

In the space of just over a month Pairpoint was handed the opportunity to win three pieces of
silverware to add to his CSL title. The first chance came courtesy of the AFC Champions League final.

Shandong would take on Saudi side Al-Shabab. Pairpoint’s preparation for the biggest game of his
career could not have gone worse than planned, he had an injury stricken squad which was to be
further depleted by a number of players leaving on international duty. A total of 8 players were
unavailable including 5 of Shandong’s key men. Bringing the trophy home was going to be a tough
ask.



Despite the fact that Shandong had to field a severely weakened team, the final was a very tense
and nervy affair. The nerves of the Shandong faithful were eased as early as the 13ththat man Wang Jingqi popped up with another crucial goal. Little did the Shandong fans know they
were in for another 77 minutes of hellish anxiety as their team staved off the constant onslaught from the men from Saudi Arabia. When the final whist blew, Pairpoint and his lads had done it. They were the best team in all of Asia and half of the 64,000 strong crowd were going absolutely ballistic. A moment Will, his team, his staff and the Shandong fans will never forget.

By winning the Champions League, Shandong gave themselves the opportunity to battle it out
with their fellow continental champions from the rest of the world in the FIFA Club World Cup. Largely unfancied, Shandong went to the tournament with nothing to lose and everything to gain. Their first game in the tournament pitted them against African champions, Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca, who were swept aside in a thrilling ding-dong battle that ended 3-1 to the Chinese side.

Pairpoint’s boys had already upset the odds and marched on to the semi final, where they would
meet Brazilian side and Copa Libertadores winners, Fluminense. The team were on a real high and
played the Brazilians off the park in terms of chances and possession, however they only managed to scrape a 2-1 win thanks to a late goal from Zhang Dexin. People worldwide were now talking about Chinese football, Shandong and crucially, for him, Will Pairpoint.

The final saw Pairpoint take on the oil rich powerhouse that is Paris Saint-Germain and the most expensive player in the world, Kevin Volland. The Shandong boys but in a brave performance against the team from the French capital and created a number of chances which they should’ve done better with. However PSG’s quality was there for all to see and two clinical finishes from Javier Pastore and Kevin Volland respectively gave the French side a deserved 2-0 win. The defeat was a harsh lesson for Pairpoint and his boys but a great showing in a tournament where they would’ve expected to be dumped out in the quarter-finals.

Shandong’s final chance at silverware came in the much less glamorous CSL All Star Game, in which they faced off against the cream of the crop from that seasons CSL campaign. They cruised through the game and ran out comfortable 2-0 winners. Pairpoint did have one further opportunity to add to his growing trophy cabinet at the very start of the next season when his size faced off against Guangzhou in the Chinese Super Cup, this was a fairly drab and low key affair, in which Pairpoint and his men eventually claimed victory via a penalty shootout after a boring 0-0 draw.

Pairpoint, having achieved all he wanted to in China and as an extension Asia, spent most of the
following two seasonx looking for a new job on and a new adventure. In the process of finding a
new job he was turned down by team such as Vasco de Gama, Orlando Pirates, LA Galaxy and San
Jose Earthquakes so in the mean time he plodded along with Shandong.

The new season kicked off with a number of high profile friendly wins over LA Galaxy, Anderlecht, Hamburg and Werder Bremen. In competitive fixtures, even a disinterested Pairpoint managed to guide his team to a very respectable seconnd place finish behind a rampant Guangzhou and a CFA Cup triumph over former club Tianjin. His final season in charge at Shandong was cut short by the job offer he had been waiting for, with his side sitting in second with three games to go Pairpoint was offered a new challenge on a new continent with a team that was propping up their league. Will always relished a challenge, so it was to be the end of an era and the end of Will’s stay in Shandong and Asia as a whole but where would he end up next?

Toron-to Infinity and Beyond

Will’s new challenge carried him across the Pacific, to Canada, the MLS and more specifically Toronto FC, where he finds himself now, on a mission to reinvigorate this sleeping giant of North American football. Before we get to the here and now there is a very small bit of catching up to do on Will’s time in Toronto so far.

Upon taking the helm at BMO Field, Pairpoint found his side languishing at the very bottom of both the Eastern Conference and MLS as a whole. With just one game remaining in before the close
season Pairpoint was keen to put a marker down for next season in his first game against American giants, New York Red Bulls.

Put a marker down he did, an incredibly resolute defensive performance paved the way for smash
and grab 1-0 victory at the Red Bull Arena, courtesy of a wonderful long range strike from two time USMNT representative Will Bruin. The victory sent a real buzz around the club and sparked a belief that next season could be a fresh start

Will was keen to conduct some early transfer dealings and after getting his head around the transfersystem, the draft and the MLS wage structures he got straight down to strengthening his squad:

Transfers in:

Ethan Cooper from Toronto Academy
Rasoul Khazaei on a free
Jon Sims on a free
Nikita Gerasimov on a free
Sasa Aleksic on a free
Osman Koca on loan from Bayern Munich
Jason McDonald from Toronto Academy
Steve Craveiro from Toronto Academy
Andrew Garcia from Toronto Academy
Luis Alfonso Castellanos in Supplementary Draft

The most crucial signings of Will's first venture into the North American market were undoubtedly the arrival of Iranian centre back Rasoul Khazaei, who Will hoped would become a Stalwart of the Toronto back four. Jon Sims was another exciting signing along with Bayern Munich loanee Osman Koca.



The transfer period also saw the departure of American striker Will Bruin, who moved on too Philadelphia Union for a fee of around £400K.

Will was unfortunately taken ill during pre-season and was unable to attend any of the team friendly matches, fortunately however he was able to leave the team in the capable hands of his Assistant Manager, Oscar Jimenez. Oscar steered the side to four victories, one draw and one loss, including meeting against two giants of Russian football, CSKA and Spartak Moscow. Jack McInerney, Sasa Aleksic and Anthony Halbouni were particularly impressive during pre-season netting four, five and three goals respectively. With four straight victories going into the MLS regular season games, morale was high and the lads were playing well.



Going into the regular season Pairpoint had his team working long and hard on the training pitch to ensure that they went into the campaign fully prepared and entirely set in the way that he wanted them to play. Despite the best wishes of the Toronto board Will was determined to get his team playing what he called “the right way”; keeping the ball, fast paced short passing, with new style inverted wingers and a no nonsense in your face defensive approach. He favoured an attacking 4-3-3 formation which aimed to bulldoze teams and entirely play them off the park.



Pairpoint wasn’t known for tinkering with his tactics very often but he did ensure there were a couple of fallback plans should his main vision fail. Little did he know, he needn’t have worried about the success of his tactical approach as his team managed to pick up three wins and three draws from their opening six MLS games.

They started the season with a thrilling 3-3 draw against DC United, after taking an early lead through Khazaei, Pairpoint soon found his men 3-1 down with around twenty minutes to play, he made a few adjustments tactically and encouraged his players to get the ball forward quicker and
have a dig at goal as soon as they saw the whites of the keepers eyes. This shift in strategy paid dividends and after a sweet strike from Argentine midfielder Matias Laba, the equaliser came in the dying minutes courtesy of a DC United own goal. This was very much a draw that felt like a win for Pairpoint’s men and morale remained high.



Their next game saw them face off against Sporting Kansas City, who were predicted to struggle in the coming season and the struggle they did at the hands of Toronto FC. The game finished 3-0 thanks to a brace from Jack McInerney but it could have been a lot more, Pairpoint’s side had nearly twice the shots on goal as their opposition and considerably more possession, however they failed to fully capitalise on their dominance despite taking home all three points.

Well.. that escalated quickly...