The SAF Challenge

Cup Finals

Europa League final



This final was so comfortable and relaxing. We scored early on through a Kompany own goal, and from there on, we just relaxed and defended. After the own goal, there was absolutely no highlights beside the final whistle highlight. But i did not really care because it meant i won my first trophy as Everton manager and i was extremely happy.

FA Cup final



After the first half, and going 2-0 down, I thought our FA Cup dream was over. Then in the second half my team finally showed up, and Chelsea went to sleep. First goal was a near post tap in for Marcus Rashford from a Deulofeu cross. Second goal was an Own goal that came from a Coleman cross. And the third one, just when it looked like we would have to play Extra time, came from a short Chelsea back pass, and Rashford was there again to tap it home

The New Signings

Kostas Manolas
Avg. Rating of 7.27
He has been superb and has done really good job at replacing John Stones. He even made it into the BPL team of the season.

Timo Werner
Avg. Rating of 7.02
With 13 goals and 7 assists, he has done well. Hoping now that his settled in, he will score some more goals, but with the next signing scoring goals as well, we might just be ok.

Marcus Rashford
Avg. Rating of 7.06
He has scored 14 goals and has 6 assists, he also won us the FA Cup. Him combined with Werner has giving us almost one Lukaku. And i am hoping now that they both settled in, they will kick on, and we might have two 20 goal per season strikers.

Riechedly Bazoer
Avg. Rating of 7.15
As our defensive midfielder he has done well to get 2 goals and 3 assists. He has passing and tackle completion ratios above 80% and completes about 5 tackles and 8 interceptions per game. All in all he has been a really good signing and is only 21 years old.

Vaclav Cerny
Avg. Rating of 7.02
Used him half the time as a sub and half as a starter, so his average rating might be a bit low. He has scored 4 and assisted 5, and has looked really dangerous when he has played. He is another one who is only 20 years old, and is definitely one for the future.

Marcelo Meli
Avg. Rating of 7.4
He is our bargain of the season. At only 6 million pounds he has scored 7 and assisted 8, and has become the perfect partner for Ross Barkley. My midfield three looks so solid now, and all of them are under the age of 25.

Gino Peruzzi
Avg. Rating of 7.58
He was voted signing of the season by my fans. Initially bought as backup, he played Coleman out of the team and I struggled sometimes to rotate the two of them enough to keep them both happy. But in the end i think the competition brought out the best in both of them. Coleman had an Avg. Rating of 7.41.

Pione Sisto
Avg. Rating of 7.57
He is just to good for words. He has scored 9 and assisted 11. And with teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona interested, i don't know if i will be able to hang on to him. I want to become less of a selling club, but its hard when all of your players want to leave.

Leon Goretzka
Avg. Rating of 7.23
With Barkley and Meli, he found it hard to get into the first team. But the fact that he was a natural at both roles in midfield really helped as he provided really good cover for both of them. He also chipped in with 1 goal and 4 assists.

Lorenzo Insigne
Avg. Rating of 7.18
Another one who struggled to break into the first team with the performances of our other players. He did provide really good cover though and also chipped in with 4 goals and 4 assists. Might look to cash in on him at a profit if clubs come in for him.

Sven Bender
Avg. Rating of 7.00
He was bought as cover for Bazoer, and he did really well when he played. He was really solid defensively with a tackle ratio of 89% and he also completes 4 tackles and 6 interceptions per game.

Jamaal Lascelles
Avg. Rating of 6.92
He was cheap, so i was not to worried about his performances. He did play really well next to Manolas when both Lisandro Lopez and Winston Reid were either injured or off form. There are some lower tier BPL clubs interested, so if i can sell him at a profit, that would be good.

David Pickwell
Only played 3 times this season, and is still only 17 years old. He played in the semi-final second leg away at Fenerbahce and did really well, so he is definitely one for the future, and the media is touting him as the next Joe Hart.

Best Player

Ross Barkley
Another superb season for him, and he is now classified as world class midfielder. His release clause is now 80 million pounds, so i remain confident that i will hold onto him.

Top Goalscorers and Assisters



We have had goals and assists from all over the pitch, which has really pleased me, as in previous seasons it was only Lukaku scoring, and Barkley and Delofeu Assisting.

Looking Forward to season 4



I have another big budget to spend, but just really don't know where to spend it.

What we need
We might be losing Sisto and Horn, so we might need replacements there. But i know who i want should Horn leave.
I also think we need a CB to partner Manolas as Reid and Lopez can be inconsistent at times.
Might also go after another striker should a good one become available but i don't really need one, so i won't be looking.

Expectations for the season ahead

I guess after last season, a league title challenge is what i want, but i won't be too disappointed with just another top four finish. I am hoping to get out of our CL group, but that all depends on who we draw, as we will most likely be seeded in the 4th pot. Hoping for another cup run, but that's not on the top of my priority list, I think this season the league is number one priority.

Season Pre Season and Transfer Window

Transfers

Been a rather quiet transfer window, not much has happened, as i did not think we needed much strengthening really.

We first sold Jamaal Lascelles. He was not really getting into our team and with me trying to bring another CB, i thought why not sell him. We got about 3 times what we paid for him, so I was happy with this deal.



Next we bought that CB i wanted. He was expensive at 32.5 million but he could be another important youngster for our future. He is also Dutch so I am hoping him and Bazoer link up well in the Center.



At this point i thought our transfer business was done, then Gerard Deulofeu went and got himself injured with a broken leg and is out for 5 to 6 months, so we needed to replace him, and with the money I had i thought why not go big, and I did. He cost me 25 million, but he is another player who could give us more than at least 5 good years of football, and he counts towards our home grown quota for the Champions league.

Pre-season Friendlies and Curtain Raiser Cups



Pre-season went okay i guess. I know we won most of them but the quality of our finishing really worried me. In those final three friendlies we had a total 82 shots, only 34 on target, and hit the woodwork a total of 9 times. What worried me is that most of these shots were inside the area and not just long shots. Was happy with our creativity and style of play though.

Community Shield

Who cares about winning this right? That's what i thought until we scored a late winner to beat the reigning BPL champions. The good thing about this game was that even though we were down for Most of the game we mostly outplayed Arsenal.



Uefa Super Cup

I just did not want to get outplayed in this one. Real Madrid are two time Champions League winners and I definitely thought we would get beaten. We took the lead straight from kickoff, and I thought maybe, just maybe we could win this. Then they scored not to long after and took control of the game. After some Timo Horn heroics we survived till half time at 1-1. They scored first in the second half and i thought that's, that. Then we scored immediately after they scored and scored late on in extra time to win the cup. Vaclav Cerny really stepped up in this game, and this was his best performance to date.



These to cups showed me that my team had fight and spirit, we looked down and out in both ties continuing our pre-season lack of scoring. But when we really needed it they pulled through and picked up 2 massive victories, especially the one against Real Madrid.

Some World News and Champions League Draw

World News

England won the world cup, and are now ranked #1 in the world.



Also, we are now the 9th richest club in the world, and have surpassed Manchester City, and are only narrowly behind PSG and Chelsea. After winning the BPL Arsenal jumped up the rankings.



Uefa Champions League Group draw

We were seeded in pot 3 and i was hoping for an easy draw in our first season, but I got the exact opposite. This will surely be a baptism of fire for me. But after we beat Madrid in that Uefa Super Cup, anything is possible i guess.



Funny thing is after the draw, this email came through.



I believe the bookies knows something I do not and we may well be in for a big surprise this season, although two of the teams with better odds than me are in my group, so maybe not.

Very tough group there, hopefully you can cause a shock and get through.

ScottT - yeah I am hoping so too, just played away at Juventus and came away with a 2-1 win., in our first game, so who knows..

Talk about the Group Of Death

Season 4 - Halfway Mark

Starting with the BPL
Started off not so good with 5 draws in a row, should have won every game, except Arsenal where we stole a draw. After that, we went on a run and we have certainly picked up the pace, and are now realistically in the title race.




In this run of form, if it had not been for that bad start, we could have been nicely clear of Arsenal. But they have also been really good, so i can see this being a really close race, until the end.
Also, Rashford has been in amazing form recently. Timo Werner got injured, and Rashford stepped up to the plate scoring 10 in his last 12 league games.

Next up Champions League

Started with a nervy away win at Juventus, they had like 25 shots, but Timo Horn was just in amazing form.

Then we had Bayern at home, and we lost to a 93rd minute Thomas Muller goal.

Next was home to Lisbon and we through the win away, conceding late on.

Then we went away to Lisbon, and it was one of the best back and forth FM games i ever played, with Barkley getting a hat-trick in this one.

We then had Juventus at home, knowing that a win would seal qualification, and Marcus Rashford stepped up again scoring the winning goal.

Lastly we had Bayern away, and all we needed was a draw to secure top spot in a difficult group. We went 2-0 up by halftime, but Bayern stormed back to 2-2, and we just about managed to hang on for the draw to finish top of the group.




After winning our group, the only team we needed to avoid was Real Madrid, and we managed to do that drawing Basel in the next round. I am fairly confident after our group stage display, but this is FM and anything can happen.

Other News

Amazing Barkley



This is the first time, since i have played FM, that one of my players has won the Ballon D'or. Although he was somewhat helped by England winning the World Cup and him having amazing performances there, but he has been superb for me as well. At the start of the transfer window now, and we have had some inquiries from Bayern and Madrid. But now that we have kind of reached their level of play and reputation in the game, i'm confident he will stay.

My new contract



I have also gotten a new contract with Everton, keeping me there till 2023, and with my school summer vacation coming up soon, I am hoping to continue this save and do updates more often, so we can get through this save quicker.

Insigne has left the Building

Lazio came in with a 20 million pound offer, and seeing that we bought him for only 12.5 million from them, and we just got Grealish, I decided to let him go.

Great start in the Premier League and the Champions League! congrats on the new contract!

There's a shock to the system... well done Barkley!

Thanks are looking great for the other side of Merseyside