The Unemployment Challenge

August:
Murcia 2-2 Arroya – 2 Division B4
Arroya p1-1 Guijuelo – Spanish Cup 1 round

We start the season quite ok. We are further in the cup, very happy with that.

September:
Arroya 1-1 Recreativo – 2 Division B4
Arroya 3-0 Toledo – Spanish Cup 2 round
Badajoz 0-3 Arroya – 2 Division B4
Arroya 5-0 Cartagena – 2 Division B4
Arroya 2-2 Yeclano – 2 Division B4
Lucena 2-1 Arroya – 2 Division B4
Arroya 2-1 San Roque Lepe – 2 Division B4

Transfers:

Youssef Boulaouali - AMC - 24 - Free
Ruben Dario - RB/CB - 23 - Free
Almoez Abdulla - - ST - 21 - Free

Injuries:
Raul Rodrigo - 5 weeks
Ruben Dario - 3 weeks
Ernesto Gomez - 2 weeks

A fantastic season so far. Only 2 losses, this looks promising. We win the cup game, totally deserved.

October:
Cadiz 1-1 Arroya – 2 Division B4
Arroya 4-1 Almeria B – 2 Division B4
Ebro 1-2 Arroya – Spanish Cup 3 round
Linense 1-1 Arroya – 2 Division B4
Arroya 1-1 La Hoya – 2 Division B4
Merida A.D. 1-1 – 2. Division B4

Injuries:
Ernesto Gomez - 1 week

Our fantastic season continues. It goes so well that I am not completely happy even though we did not lose any matches this month. We win 3 round of the Cup, Real Madrid waiting in the next round.

November:
Arroya 1-0 Real Betis B – 2 Division B4
Jaen 4-1 Arroya – 2 Division B4
Arroya 2-1 Eclja – 2 Division B4
Arroya 1-1 Marbella – 2 Division B4
Arroya 0-3 Real Madrid – Spanish Cup 4 round Leg 1

Injuries:
Raul Rodrigo - 3 weeks
Hector Catagena - 4 weeks
Youssouf Cisse - 10 days
Fran Guirado - 3 weeks

After 8 straight games without a loss, we lose big. But I'm still happy with this month. We lose big in the Cup against Real Madrid, packed stadium for the first time this season.

December:
Sevilla Atletico 3-2 Arroya – 2 Division B4
Melilla 1-1 Arroya – 2 Division B4
Real Madrid 4-0 Arroya – Spanish Cup 4 round Leg 2
Arroya 2-1 Antequera – 2 Division B4

Injuries:
Raul Rodrigo - 5-6 months
Isma Casado - 5-7 weeks

We lose against league leaders Sevilla. We bust quite expected out of Cup, cool to finally play against a big club.

League Table after 19 games (19 games left):

1. 44P Sevilla Atletico
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2. 39P Cadiz
3. 37P Murcia
4. 35P Eclja
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5. 34P Recreativo
6. 31P La Hoya
7. 30P Arroyo
8. 30P Melilla
9. – 11. 26P
12. 23P Jaen
13. 22P Real Betis B
14. 21P Merida A.D.
15. 20P Antequera
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16. 17P Yeclano
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17. 16P Cartagena
18. 13P Badajoz
19. 10P Linense
20. 6P San Roque Lepe


What a season we've had so far, we are playing well in all the games. 14 points down to relegation zone, if we continue like now we're going to end on a top 10 position. We have scored 34 goals so far, we've scored in every game in the league. Very happy with that. We have conceded 23 goals in the league. In the Cup we have scored 6 and conceded 9. We have not lost at home in the league yet. Played 10 home games so far, 6 wins and 4 draw. Hope it can continue, important that we do at home our path to a fort.

The 3 best players so far:

1 Manolo Bleda (27)
The striker has been very accurate this season. He has 18 goals in 24 games (15 in the league). He has 3 assists and average rating of 7,24.

2. Youssef Boulala (24)
the new signing has been very good so far. He started the season very well, he has an average rating of 7.40. He has played 20 games, 6 goals and 6 assists.

3. Raul Rodrigo (24)
The right wing has been very good so far with an average rating of 7.57. He has played 14 games, 4 goals and 4 assists.




29/8/2017 – 2-1 (A) Austria U19 - U19 International
31/8/2017 – 5-0 (A)– Scotland U19 – U19 Internatioanal
4/9/2017 – (A) Norway U19 – U19 International

4/10/2017 – (H) Armenia U19 – Euro U19 Chship Quals 1 round Group 9
6/10/2017 – 10-0 (A) Andorra U19 - Euro U19 Chship Quals 1 round Group 9
8/10/2017 – 3-0 (A) Slovakia U19 - Euro U19 Chship Quals 1 round Group 9

7/11/2017 – 3-2 (H) Latvia U19 - U19 International
9/11/2017 – 0-0 (A) Turkey U19 – U19 International
13/11/2017 – 1-0 (H) Cyprus U19 - U19 International

2nd place behind Armenia in the first qualifying round. We should have beaten Armenia, but we are progressing and it is the most important. We meet Albania, Holland and Serbia in qualifying stage 2. Holland is the toughest opponent. The team that wins the group is ready for U19 European Championships.

Friendlies:
0-1 (H) LOSC Reserves
0-3 (H) AS Monaco Reserves

January:
2-2 (H) Murcia - Second Division B4
1-2 tap (H) Badajoz - Second Division B4
0-1 tap (A) Recreativo - Second Division B4
3-1 (A) Yeclano - Second Division B4

Injuries:
Juan Pablo Gargiulo - 1 week
Juan Manuel Lobato - 2 weeks
Youssef Boulaouali - 3 weeks
Youssouf Cisse ute - 5 weeks

Not completely satisfied with this month. We lose for the first time at home this year, against a team that had not won a game in 16 games. As you can see, we get a few injuries. I have extended my contract with 1 year.

February:
2-1 (B) Cartagena - Second Division B4
1-1 (A) San Roque Lepe - Second Division B4
0-2 tap (H) Lucena - Second Division B4
3-0 (H) Cadiz - Second Division B4

Injuries:
Ruben Dario – 9 days
Youssef Boulaouali – 1 week
Hector Cartagena – 2 weeks
Ernesto Gomez – 3 weeks

We are quite bad at home now. We must reverse this trend as quickly as possible. Again we get some injuries. The match against Cartagena was my 100 game as manager. Experts have said that I'm currently working miracles with Arroyo, the team that everyone thought was going to lie on the bottom of the table all season

March:
2-1 (H) Linense - Second Division B4
2-3 tap (A) Almeria B - Second Division B4
0-2 tap (A) La Hoya - Second Division B4
0-1 tap (H) Merida A.D. - Second Division B4

Injuries:
Bero – 4 weeks
Manolo Bleda - 9 days

finally we win at home again. But we are losing 3 of 4 matches this month. Luckily the teams on the bottom does not take as many points either.

April:
0-3 tap (A) Real Betis B - Second Division B4
3-3 (A) Eclja - Second Division B4
1-1 (H) Jaen - Second Division B4
0-1 tap (H) Sevilla Atletico - Second Division B4
0-0 draw (H) Melilla - Second Division B4
1-1 draw (A) Marbella - Second Division B4

Injuries:
Juan Pablo Gargiulo - 10-11 months
Almoez Abdulla - 9 days

Season's worst month, and perhaps the worst in my career. 4 draws and 2 losses. But we keep the place in the league, the last game will decide whether we are going on a 12th or 13th place.

May:
0-0 draw (A) Antequera - Second Division B4

Injuries:
Ernesto Gomez - 3-4 weeks

We draw in this season's final game. We end the season with 10 straight games without a win, not good. We came on a 12th place, very much better than expected.

League Table:

1. 81P - Sevilla Atletico
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2. 70P - Cadiz
3. 70P - Murcia
4. 65P - Eclja
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5. 65P - Recreativo
6. 65P - La Hoya
7. 60P - Lucena
8. 58P - Jaen
9. 55P - Melilla
10. 55P - Marbella
11. 54P - Real Betis B
12. 49P - Arroyo
13. 46P – Merida A.D.
14. 40P - Cartagena
15. 39P – Almeria B
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16. 34P - Linense
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17. 33P - Badajoz
18. 31P - Antequera
19. 29P - Yeclano
20. 21P – San Roque Lepe

Season's best 3 players:

1 Manolo Bleda (27) - ST
The striker has been unstoppable this season. Having scored 29 goals in 43 matches. 26 of the goals came in the league, where he was top scorer. We have a total scored 61 goals, he has scored half. It says something about how important he has been this season. He has played every game this season, the only player to have done so. He made 5 assits and has an average rating of 7.19.

2. Youssef Boulaouali (25) - AMC
The attacking midfielder who was signed in September has had a fantastic debute season. An average rating of 7.39 and he has scored 7 goals. Got most assists this season with 14 assists, best in the league.

3. Juanlu (32) - LB
The left back has been a regular on the team and delivered a number of good matches. Has an average rating of 7.11. He has scored one goal and assisted 3 times.

A very good season for us. First half of the season has been a dream, we delivered match after match. What happened after Christmas is hard to say. Maybe we got a little too high self-esteem. We came on a 12th place the league and we got all the way to the 4th round in the cup. But we finish the season very weak.

Now there will be a few weeks vacation for the whole team. The Pre-Season starts early in July. That's when the hard work starts. I'm excited about what the board expects next season. My goal is certainly that the team will get a top 10 finish. The club went on a financial loss this season. I need to exploit the Pre-Season to earn some money for the club.

I look forward to next season.

Switzerland U19 Summary:

19/3/2018 – 3-1 (H) Wales U19 – U19 International

European U19 Championship Qualifying Second Qualifyng round 2 group 6:

7/5/2018 – 2-1 (A) Albania U19
9/5/2018 – 1-3 (H) Holland U19
13/5/2015 – 0-1 (A) Serbia U19

We did not manage to qualify for the U19 European Championship . A bit disappointing, while it was somewhat expected as well. I'm going to spent a few weeks to decide whether to quit his job as national coach or not. I'm thinking that I'm going to quit his job in Switzerland after next year's U19 European Championship.

My thoughts about my career so far:

It is almost three years since I got my first job in Selånger FK in Sweden. A good club to start with. I reached the goal that season. Then it was a short trip to Russia. You remember how it ended. We were relegated. The only time I my career that I have not reached the goal for the season. I only led the team in 11 matches. I learned a lot from my first two jobs. Because of the relegation I met many closed doors. There was no one who dared to gamble on such a young and inexperienced manager.

But there was a club in Spain who wanted me, several actually. It was Almeria B. I was very happy. A team that was part of a great club. It was a 5th place that season, which was better than expected. It was my very first full season in a club. One season I learned a lot from. But I quit my job, whether it was wise is hard to say. Any manager dreams about building a club, I could not do that in Almeria. I wanted something new. A few weeks after I resigned, I got job a in Switzerland, for the U19 national team. A good opportunity to get more experience.


About a month after I got the job in Switzerland, I got a new club job. I packet bag and moved to the small town of Arroyo de la Luz. Arroyo CP was my next and any current club. It is almost one year ago since I got the job. A small club in a small town. I took the job because I felt that I could build the team from scratch. The club fought against relegation for 3 consecutive years. It should not happen this season. We came on a 12. place In the league, we were knocked out in the 4th round in the Cup against Real Madrid, the giant Real Madrid. I love being in Arroyo, this may be "my" club, I can put Arroyo on the map. Next season is going to be tough, we must work even harder if we want to climb up the table. Some good signings and we might make it.

So far I have not lifted a single trophy. Do not think I'll do it next season either. The road there is very long.

Hansen takes over Albania's national team with immediate effect. He has resigned from his job for Switzerland U19.

Albania will play European Championship qualifier in 2019 and hope that Hansen is right man for the job. Hansen will continue in his job in Arroyo.

Albania is an interesting nation to take over, let's see what you can do!

Now there's an interesting challenge, good luck!

Players in:

Benat Aleman – – DM - 30 – Free – From Pena Sport
Angel Pajuelo – – CM – 31 – Free – From Torrevieja
Jose Antonio Manzanares – – GK – 25 – Free – From Pena Sport
Olmo – – CB – 31 – Free
Stephen Babalola – – LM – 22 – Free

Players out:

Juan Pablo Gargiulo - - RM - Free - To Banfield

We have signed several good players who are going to play a lot this season. Babalola is the player I'm most looking forward to seeing. We lost Gargiulo, he was on a outgoing contract but he demanded too much salary. He was one of the best players last season. The players who were on loan last season are back in their clubs. We signed new contracts with all of the players outside Gargiulo. Interesting to see how the team will do this season, after a fantastic season last year.


0-1 (H) Naval
0-0 (H) Amarante
0-3 (H) Espanyol – Pre-Season Cup 1
2-2 (H) Deportivo – Pre-Season Cup 1
0-2 (H) Granada – Pre-Season Cup 1
1-1 (H) Getafe – Pre-Season Cup 2
0-0 (H) Osasuna – Pre-Season Cup 2
0-2 (H) Deportivo – Pre-Season Cup 2
0-0 (H) Real Sociedad
1-0 (A) Alicante
2-0 (H) Almeria
3-2 (H) Elce
2-0 (A) Colunga
5-1 (A) Cacereno

I am pleased with the Pre-Season. We play a lot of games, mostly to make money. We win against teams that plays in Liga Adelante and Liga BBVA. We've been tipped on an 8 place this season. The board expects that we will not be relegated. Due to the club's financial situation the board decided to go from professional status to semi-profisjonell status. We'll see what happens with the club. It can also be difficult to sign new contracts since we have very poor economy now.

September:
1-2 (H) Jaen – Second Division B4
2-1 (A) Melilla - Second Division B4
0-2 (H) Lucena - Second Division B4
4-5 (A) Merida A.D. - Second Division B4
2-3 (H) Almeria B - Second Division B4
1-2 (A) Murcia - Second Division B4

October:
0-0 (H) Don Benito - Second Division B4
0-0 (A) San Fernando C.D. - Second Division B4
3-0 (A) Cacereno - Second Division B4
5-3 (H) La Hoya Second Division B4

November:
1-1 (A) Cartagena - Second Division B4
4-0 (H) Eclja - Second Division B4
1-1 (A) A.D. Caravaca - Second Division B4
1-1 (H) Extremadura U.D. - Second Division B4
1-0 (H) La Hoya – Spanish Federation Cup 1st Round Leg 1

December:
2-0 (A) Real Betis B - Second Division B4
4-1 (H) Marbella - Second Division B4
1-2 (A) La Hoya – Spanish Federation Cup 1st Round Leg 2
2-1 (H) Sevilla Atletico - Second Division B4

League Table after 18 games (20 games left):

1. 42P – Murcia
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2. 37P – San Fernando C.D.
3. 34P – Lucena
4. 34P – Recreativo
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5. 31P – Sevilla Atletico
6. 31P – Marbella
7. 28P – Granada B
8. 26P – Arroyo
9. 26P – Jaen
10. 26P – Real Betis B
11. 25P – Almeria B
12. 22P – A.D. Caravaca
13. 21P – Merida A.D.
14. 19P – Melilla
15. 19P – Cartagena
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16. 16P – Don Benito
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17. 16P – Eclja
18. 15P – La Hoya
19. 13P – Extremadura U.D.
20. 10P – Cacereno

We start the season as we finished last season. 3 points in the first 6 games, terribly league opening us. We have now played 11 straight games in the league without losing. Raul Rodrigo has been the best player so far.


7/9/2018 - 0-0 (H) Estonia - European League Division C Group 3
11/9/2018 - 2-3 (A) Israel - European League Division C Group 3
12/10/2018 - 2-3 (H) Iceland - European League Division C Group 3
16/10/2018 – 0-3 (A) Estonia - European League Division C Group 3
16/11/2018 – 0-3 (A) Iceland - European League Division C Group 3
20/11/2018 – 1-2 (H) Israel - European League Division C Group 3

European League Division C Group 3:

1. 18P – Israel
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2. 10P – Iceland
3. 5P – Estonia
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4. 1P – Albania

Albania has been a nightmare so far. We meet Spain, Portugal, Scotland and Azerbaijan in the European Championship qualifiers.

January:
1-2 (A) Granada B - Second Division B4
3-1 (A) Recreativo - Second Division B4
0-0 (H) Granada B – Spanish ederation Cup 2 Round Leg 1
0-4 (A) Jaen - Second Division B4
1-1 (H) Marbella - Second Division B4
0-1 (A) Granada B – Spanish Federation Cup 2 round Leg 2
1-2 (A) Lucena - Second Division B4

February:
1-2 (A) Merida A.D. - Second Division B4
1-3 (A) Almeria B - Second Division B4
1-4 (H) Murcia - Second Division B4
4-0 (A) Don Benito - Second Division B4

March:
2-1 (H) San Fernando C.D. - Second Division B4
2-0 (H) Cacereno - Second Division B4
3-1 (A) La Hoya - Second Division B4
3-0 (H) Cartagena - Second Division B4
0-0 (A) Eclja - Second Division B4

April:
4-2 (H) A.D. Caravaca - Second Division B4
3-1 (A) Extremadura U.D. - Second Division B4
2-1 (H) Real Betis B - Second Division B4
2-4 (A) Marbella - Second Division B4
0-3 (H) Granada B - Second Division B4

May:
0-3 (A) Sevilla Atletico
0-1 (H) Recreativo

League Table:

1. 83P – Murcia
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2. 75P – Marbella
3. 74P – Recreativo
4. 72P – Granada B
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5. 68P – Sevilla Atletico
6. 66P – Lucena
7. 64P – San Fernando C.D.
8. 62P – Jaen
9. 61P – Almeria B
10. 56P – Real Betis B
11. 55P – Arroyo
12. 47P – Merida A.D.
13. 40P – Melilla
14. 48P – La Hoya
15. 35P – Eclja
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16. 33P – A.D. Caravaca
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17. 32P – Cartagena
18. 28P – Extremadura U.D.
19. 25P – Don Benito
20. 21P – Cacereno

Player of the season:

1. Raul Rodrigo (26) AMC

Rodrigo has been fantastic this season, one of the best in the league. He played every game this season and got an average rating of 7,52. Scored 7 goals and assisted 21 times, best in the league.

Albania:

1/4/2019 – 2-5 (H) Portugal – Euro Championship Quals Group G
14/6/2019 – 1-1 (A) Scotland - Euro Championship Quals Group G
17/6/2019 – 1-1 (H) Scotland - Euro Championship Quals Group G

11th place this season, one place better than last year. Satisfied with that, we reach the board's goal to fight bravely against relegation. WE are far away to relegated.

All in all a good season. The club is struggling economical, and nothing indicates that things will get better. The future is very insecure. I have a contract with the minimum wage. Has offered players new contracts with lower wages. I do not know what more I can do to try to improve the economic situation.

Albania, they have one of Europe's poorest teams. I do not know how to turn this. 9 matches, 3 draw and 6 losses. I'm going to leave Albania.

I've been thinking about leaving Arroyo and let someone else try to improve the economic situation. I am very happy to be in the club, I love the small town. The last two seasons have been the two best so far in my career. I want the club to fight for promotion, the board does not have the same ambitions as me. For them a promotion is many years away. The club struggling. We'll see what happens in the summer...

Thomas Hansen (25) has decided to leave Arroyo after two years as manager. The club has performed better than expected during Hansen's leadership. The club is in a bad financial situation, and the future is very uncertain.

The news that Hansen leaves Arroyo comes as he is stepping down as coach of Albania, Hansen takes over the Algerian national team with immediate effect. He has led Albania for almost one year, he led Albania in 9 games, there were 3 draws and 6 losses. Algeria has big stars like Riyad Mahrez, Sofiane Feghouli and Nabil Bentaleb. Algeria has a busy schedule in the coming months, with the World Cup qualifiers and two Africa Cups.

So I decided to leave Albania and move to Algeria. A much better team. A team I can win something with. Algeria has already started the African Nations Quals, they played draw 1-1 against Congo in the first match.

6/9/2019 – 1-1 (H) Zimbabwe – African Nations Quals Group E
10/9/2019 – 4-1 (A) Ghana – Friendly

11/10/2019 – 3-1 (A) Sudan – Friendly
22/2072019 – 1-0 (A) Morocco – CHAN Qualifyng North Zone 1st Rnd Leg 1
28/10/2019 – p2-3 (H) Morocco - CHAN Qualifyng North Zone 1st Rnd Leg 2
(CHAN= African Championship of Nations)

15/11/2019 – 2-0 (A) Kenya – World Cup Quals (AFR) 2nd Round Leg 1
19/11/2019 – 9-0 (H) Kenya – World Cup Quals (AFR) 2nd Round Leg 2

In the CHAN (African Championship of Nations) you can`t use any foreign based players.

20/1/2020 – 1-0 (N) Burkina Faso – CHAN Group C
24/1/2020 – 3-1 (N) Ivory Coast – CHAN Group C
28/1/2020 – 2-0 (N) Sudan – CHAN Group C
3/2/2020 – 1-4 (N) South Africa – CHAN Qtr Finals

23/3/2020 – 4-0 (A) Djibouti – African Nations Quals Group E
31/3/2020 – 2-0 (H) Congo - African Nations Quals Group E

7/6/2020 – 13-0 (H) Djibouti - African Nations Quals Group E

We lost against South Africa in the CHAN Quarter Finals, very disappointing. In the African Nations Quals Group E we have 1 game left against Zimbabwe, we need a victory to win the group.

Thomas Hansen moves to Portugal. He has signed a 1 year deal with Sporting B. Sporting B won the Portuguese Second Division last season. They wil not be promoted since the first team plays in the 1 tier. Hansen are hoping to win the league again this season. He wil continue his job at Algeria.

Interesting career moves again!

The team:
The team is pretty good. Several of the players are good enough for the first team. So I chose not to sign any players, have little money too. We are among the favorites to win the league this season, along with Porto B and Benfica B. The Board expects us to avoid relegation.

Friendlies:
8-0 (B) Almada
2-2 (H) Braga
3-1 (H) Salemitana
0-0 (H) PEC Zwolle
1-0 (B) Lus. Vildemoinhos
2-3 (B) Real Betis
3-0 (H) Leira
0-0 (B) Cova Piedade
2-0 (H) Academica
2-1 (H) Moreirense
2-1 (B) Fatima