Stoke City and Pursuit Of The World Cup

March-May Report

We went all the way to the top of the Premier League and almost to the top of Europe. Did we conquer the Premier League? Did we conquer the Europa League? The drama was truly sickening as it was so hard to manage a squad of players under heaps of pressure. I said before the league began, that I was not here to conquer the league, however, over time I began to realise that I can win the big one now.

Completed Fixtures

After defeating Feyenoord, Catania, Everton and Wolfsburg, I had to step into the stadium against the Scottish superpower Celtic and compete for the Euro Cup. Michy Batshuayi performed phenomenally snagging 2 goals at the great side, bringing home the championship I strived out to win this season. Looking at the league, we destroyed nearly everyone apart from rivals Sunderland and Chelsea. We were unstoppable.

Key Player

Gino Peruzzi is my featured player, for one reason and one reason only, for his work-rate and commitment this season. He has broken the average rating record in the Premier League again (he set it last year also), he is getting better and better. He is showing why he is the best right-defender in the country.

Season Stats
Appearances - 47
Goals - 9
Assists - 10
Player Of The Match - 6
Average Rating - 7.56

League

1 point and we would have been Premier League champions. We defeated the champions at Old Trafford with Aleksander Mitrovic picking up the goal, however, it was not enough to be the best. Manchester United actually drew there last game against Liverpool at Anfield 2-2 with Wayne Rooney scoring in 92nd minute. You could say that, Manchester United won the Premier League title by 1 single minute.

Brilliant season mate. One point is so unlucky!

So unlucky! 1 points in it! Maybe that loss to Sunderland was the killer?

So unlucky to have only missed out by a point. I am sure with some investment you could pip the other teams to the league title!

2016/17 Award Ceremony

After a nail-biting season with it being very close between Manchester United, Stoke City, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. Manchester United walked out champions of the Premier League this season by 1 point. This season was regarded as the most competitive season thus far.

Golden Boot

Sergio Aguero is a great player, no doubt whatsoever. He was rewarded £1 million for being the Top Goalscorer this season, scoring 36 goals. He finished with a 7.51 average rating and assisted 10 goals. In 2nd place was Aleksander Mitrovic netting 22 goals and in 3rd place was Christian Benteke from Liverpool with 21 goals.

Golden Glove

Hugo Lloris has done it again retaining his position of the best goalkeeper in the country. He kept his goal from being penetrated on 20 different occasions that's over half of the games. No goalkeeper was even close to matching this with 2nd place at only 14 (David De Gea). Without Hugo Lloris, Tottenham would not have the Premier League success that they had this season.

Player Of The Year

The top-goal scorer of the season has won the Player Of The Year - Sergio Aguero. Sergio Aguero has netted a lot of goals - 33 and even when his team Manchester City didn't perform to there usual standards he still prevailed as the best player in the league. Like always, the Player Of The Year will most likely be poached by the biggest clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Young Player Of The Year

The Beligan striker Michy Batshuayi has been voted the Young Player Of The Year. He appeared 30 times in the Premier League and scored 19 goals, assisted 15 then averaged a rating of 7.44. He claimed 4 Man Of The Match awards. Not only in the Premier League but he performed exceptionally in the Europa League, scoring 2 goals in the final against Celtic.

Manager Of The Year

Louis van Gaal has re-claimed the title of Manager Of The Year. He was the mastermind behind the success of Manchester United's victory of the Premier League. He made his team play as a team, the reason why I say this is because no player stood out to be outstanding like 2 years ago when Van Persie practically carried them to the Premier League championship.

Team Of The Year

Good to see 4 players in the team!

August Report

We are capable of adding to the trophy cabinet facing super-giant and Champions League winners Real Madrid for the Euro Super Cup at the end of August. Could Stoke handle the superstars known as Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and many more? This season I am looking to just have a well balanced season to build up new talent, then pursue a goal next season.

Completed Fixtures

In a dominant victory against Champions League winners Real Madrid for the Euro Super Cup has put my squad in a very high confidence level for the next 3 months. We also defeated Burnley 5-1 in the Premier League, sending a message to future opponents on what we are capable of. We lost unfortunately to Liverpool, but, it's the first game of the season, I'm not too bothered.

Key Player

Will Hughes has been in Stoke for a while and he has shown from Day 1 that he is a top player, and even to this day (3 years later) he is proving that he still one of the best players in the club. Will Hughes is only 21 years old and is a Blue Chipper for the future.

Season Stats
Appearances - 4
Goals - 2
Assists - 2
Player Of The Match - 0
Average Rating - 7.70

League

Nothing too spectacular, it's early days to predict the table.

Decent start in the league, and great result over Madrid!

Transfers

A great pre-season, we didn't suffer defeat whatsoever and we got the results we deserved. We took 2 tours, one to Scotland and one to Italy to improve and expand our fanbase. A particular highlight is a back-to-back destruction in the "Local Cup" which we competed against local clubs.

Marco Reus!? What a signing! A massive fee but it's for a massive player, if he settles he will be unstoppable and a catalyst for dominance, good luck!

September-November Report

A fairly poor few months in my opinion, we've been poor in all competitions. We haven't got the hunger for goals like we did last season, unfortunately. We have lost to teams we shouldn't have and we have lost to teams we should have. Majority of our players haven't been performing up to the standards that they normally do, however it's a phase and we will overcome it.

Completed Fixtures

A shunning rematch against Real Madrid with a loss of 4-1. Defeats from Huddersfield, Everton, Tottenham and Basel really hurt the teams morale and demotivated them in all competitions including continental and the league. The positives however, we defeated Norwich to advance into the 5th Round of the Capital One Cup.

Key Player

Aleksander Mitrovic hasn't been at his top form recently however, he is still diamond in the rough. He's saved the team on multiple occasions, examples would be against Norwich in the Premier League and Southampton in the Premier League as well.

Season Stats
Appearances - 26
Goals - 23
Assists - 12
Player Of The Match - 0
Average Rating - 7.76

League

The League is not looking to good for Stoke City as of right now. We are sitting 8th place and we are quite far away from the zone we should be (the continental qualification zone). Manchester City is doing horrifically worst than us as they are sitting in the red relegation zone along side Crystal Palace and Fulham. Newcastle is top of the league which has surprised me especially.

December-February Report

It's been the same shaky road like the last report unfortunately. We are just coasting and winging the competitions. Which isn't how I like to play Football Manager unfortunately and will be making a huge change next season. As I said when this story began, this story is the last one I will be doing before Football Manager 2015's release. Hopefully, it can end before the release.

Completed Fixtures

We were eliminated in the Capital One by Fulham due to penalties. We were defeated and annihilated by Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City. We advanced into the FA Cup Quarter Final by defeating Watford, we were drawn against Manchester United, who defeated us 1-0 in the Premier League. In the Champions League however, we defeated PSG at Home 2-0 which gives us a comfortable lead into facing them at Parc des Princes on the 1st of March.

Key Player

Sakho has been a rock in defence these couple months. Granted the average ratings for the players are very low due to the disappointing performances but it's been entertaining to see him sacrifice a lot for the team. He has adjusted to an updated tactic which I have created which requires him to play a lot deeper.

Season Stats
Appearances - 44
Goals - 4
Assists - 1
Player Of The Match - 0
Average Rating - 7.26

Transfers

League

Arsene Wenger has been sacked from Arsenal after a disappointing season thus far finding himself in 15th and battling to stay out of relegation. Newcastle retain the top spot at a comfortable position to qualify for the Champions League next season. Norwich has shocked everybody finding themselves in 4th place. A revival of Manchester City due to the new manager - Jose Mourinho has got them out of the relegation zone.

time to finish off strong!

March-May Report

A historic season for all of Stoke fans. We have taken the club to new heights and improved the reputation by doing so. Our performance in the Premier League were shocking. Our performance in the FA Cup were electrifying. Our performance in the Champions League was trail-blazing.

Completed Fixtures

We have recaptured championship gold by taking back the FA Cup by defeating last years winners = Chelsea in the Final in a stunning 3-2 bout. We made history by claiming the infamous Champions League by stealing the Champions League from Jose Mourinho's Manchester City. In the Premier League however, we were as I said, shocking. Shockingly bad, we lost to teams horrendously frequent.

Key Player

Gino Peruzzi is my featured player, he was the man that scored the late winner against Manchester City in the Champions League final and made history! Have a look at greatness ladies and gentleman, have a look.

Season Stats
Appearances - 62
Goals - 9
Assists - 12
Player Of The Match - 4
Average Rating - 7.36

League

Newcastle has won there first Premier League title by 2 points leaving behind heavy contenders - Chelsea and Tottenham. Arsenal has risen by 1 place since 3 months ago unfortunately for them. We have stayed in a stationary position (mid-table) and I am not happy with that. Granted, we won the Champions League but we could have competed better against teams in the Premier League also.