Conquering Europe

Too upset to salvage my save in the Americas, I've decided to move to more familiar surroundings. I've decided to load the top 15 countries according to their UEFA Country Ranking (http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method4/crank2010.html) as of 17.2.2010:

England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Russia, Romania, Ukraine, Portugal, Holland, Turkey, Greece, Switzerland, Denmark, Scotland.

Loading every league from top to bottom gives me a player database size of 74000, just a hair under the recommended 75000.

Time to start anew - an unemployed coach with only Sunday League experience.

"Founded in 1963, Welling United are a semi-professional English club currently playing in the Blue Square South. The club play their home games at Park View Road and possess fairly basic training facilities and a basic youth setup. The Welling reserve team play at Gay Dawn Farm. The club is affectionately known as The Wings.

Although The Wings are enduring a twenty-three year barren spell, having not won a competition since 1986, the club still have a history of which they can be justly proud. Welling won the English 7th tier for the only time in 1986."

And so the journey begins.

I didn't spend too much time setting up shop with my new team, but we did get a few housekeeping items out of the way.

First order of business was to decide on a formation. After glossing over the players currently on the squad, I decide on a classic 442. Bland? Yes. But I've always found it to be effective.

I'll be scouring for free transfers in order to try and upgrade the squad. I want at least one playmaker either at center mid or up front at striker (the deep-lying playmaker slot). We'll also need general depth, so I'll see about signing pretty much any warm bodies that want to play on the reserves. I'll also look into signing key players to fulltime contracts.

As is typical with lower league sides, we're stuck as a semi-pro team for now. That means we have severe restrictions on coaching and scouting. I'm alotted a whopping two coaches (two plus an assistant manager) and two scouts. I moved quickly to sign the best fitness coach I could, as my training focus and style of play leans toward stamina and pace at the lower levels. I already have one (horrible) scout on board who scouts our upcoming opponents, so the second scout will be roaming the local area for players on the cheap.

The last order of business will be to secure as many profitable friendly matches as we can before the start of league play. IIRC, our media projection is 8th, so we aren't too far away from earning a coveted promotion spot into the Blue Square Premier. My personal goal will be to get promoted and/or become a professional squad within two seasons.

Here is my opening day starting 11:

[imgw]http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/2466/2009transfersstart.jpg[/imgw]

Keeper is an area that I need to upgrade.
The back 4 is ok, although I'd like a more defensive presence on the wings.
The mid 4 is ok, but we need more playmaking from these guys.
The striker pair looks promising. I have a decent playmaker in Clarke and a scrappy poacher in Lawson.

The theme is that these guys should do well in my inaugural season and will give way as soon as I have enough money to make it happen.

Here is the transfer table at the start of league play:

[imgw]http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/6196/2009tacticsstart.jpg[/imgw]

Nothing crazy here, just a handful of free transfers.

looks good so far, I would reccomend loaning youngsters in order to do well + gain their trust for possible future signings? but how is your wage budget?
but keep up the good work

Yeah, I've been looking at loan possibilities and I'm hoping to hear back from some BSP and League 2 targets soon. I'm right up against my wage budget of 7250 p/w and don't have a whole lot of options to cut from. No transfer budget to reallocate, either. :dontgetit

Recent Fixtures
[imgw]http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/2350/2009fixtures4.jpg[/imgw]

League Table
[imgw]http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/4268/2009leaguetable4.jpg[/imgw]

We had an uninspiring series of friendly matches, none of which I scheduled. I was hired too late to even address the board with my goal for the season so I didn't bother scheduling games. I was more interested in getting my players fit for the start of the season.

It took us 4 games but I finally earned my inaugural win; a 2-0 league victory at home against St. Alban's. I'm hoping the victory injects a bit of confidence into the team because we've been playing timidly to open the season. Maybe my guys will start to believe in this unknown coach, eh? :satisfied

We also got a double shot of good news after the game, as we secured the services of Alex Stavrinou on loan from League 1 side Charlton until the end of the season. Stavrinou will be my holding midfielder and he should do the job admirably. Also leaving Charlton on loan is Jack Clark. Clark joins for 5 months and we'll see how he does at left fullback before deciding on a loan extension. Both players were added in order to shore up our defense and hopefully they will do the trick.

[imgw]http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/3706/2009stavrinou.jpg[/imgw]
[imgw]http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/4557/2009jackclark.jpg[/imgw]

Recent Fixtures
[imgw]http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/4724/2009fixtures11.jpg[/imgw]

League Table
[imgw]http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/3357/2009leaguetable11.jpg[/imgw]

FA Cup
Teams defeated:
Great Wakering - 2nd qualifying round

Entering 3rd qualifying round vs Sutton United

-----

The end of September left our team gaining a bit of momemtum, and not a bit too soon as we are about to head into cup play. Normally I don't pay much attention to domestic tournaments, but I remembered an ever-important feature of those tourneys - cash to the winners!

Our opening victory vs Great Wakering netted us $7500 which I'm hoping becomes available in our wage budget soon. Our squad is doing well so far, but I'm still looking to add more quality players to enhance our chances of promotion.

I like very much your writings. Keep it up mate :beer

stam : I like very much your writings. Keep it up mate :beer

Thanks, stam! :beer

Recent Fixtures
[imgw]http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/8696/2009fixturesoct.jpg[/imgw]

League Table
[imgw]http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/7155/2009leaguetableoct.jpg[/imgw]

FA Cup
Teams defeated:
2-0 Great Wakering - 2nd qualifying round
1-0 Sutton United - 3rd qualifying round
2-1 Thurrock (BSS) - 4th qualifying round

Entering 1st round vs Vauxhall (BSN)

-----

October was a very positive month for us. We achieved a 3-1-0 record in league play which has us in 6th place and on the heels of a playoff seed (#1 promotes automatically, 2-5 have a playoff). We continue our run in the FA Cup as well, but we're having more difficulty as the competition steps up.

Recent Fixtures
[imgw]http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3832/2009fixturesnov.jpg[/imgw]

League Table
[imgw]http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/8092/2009leaguetablenov.jpg[/imgw]

FA Cup
Teams defeated:
2-0 Great Wakering - 2nd qualifying round
1-0 Sutton United - 3rd qualifying round
2-1 Thurrock (BSS) - 4th qualifying round
2-1(e) Vauxhall (BSN) - 1st round

Entering 2nd round replay vs Southport (BSN)

FA Trophy
Teams defeated:
1-0 Workington (BSN) - 3rd qualifying round

Entering 1st round vs Great Wakering

-----

November was another positive month for us, but a very taxing one. We literally had games coming every three or four days between league play, the FA Cup, and the FA Trophy.

We have climbed two places in the league table to 4th, but 1st place Lewes looks to be running away with the auto promotion; standing tall with 40 points. For now, all that matters is staying within the top 5 and securing at least a playoff spot.

Our amazing FA Cup run continues thanks to a superb win in extra time vs Vauxhall. If we manage to sneak past Southport, we will likely see our run end vs Championship side Derby.

The FA Trophy just kicked off as we barely eeked past Workington; a testament to how weary our team is becoming. We've already ousted Great Wakering from the FA Cup and I'm hoping lightning strikes twice for us.

Lastly, I'd like to introduce my latest signing and new starting striker. I did a double take when this player pulled up in my player search. So much so that I had to check that I was filtering out unrealistic targets! Lloyd Kammeron is as slow as Christmas, but he's the type of aerial attacker that I'm hoping will work out in our offense. I put myself ~50p/w over budget for now, but we have plenty of Cup money already in tow and I'm hoping Kammeron can help bring in some more! And without further adieu:

[imgw]http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/3397/2009kammeron.jpg[/imgw]

Recent Fixtures
[imgw]http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/5936/2009fixturesdec.jpg[/imgw]

League Table
[imgw]http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/4821/2009leaguetabledec.jpg[/imgw]

FA Cup
Teams defeated:
2-0 Great Wakering - 2nd qualifying round
1-0 Sutton United - 3rd qualifying round
2-1 Thurrock (BSS) - 4th qualifying round
2-1(e) Vauxhall (BSN) - 1st round
Eliminated 1-3 in 2nd round replay vs Southport (BSN)

FA Trophy
Teams defeated:
1-0 Workington (BSN) - 3rd qualifying round
2-1 Great Wakering - 1st round

Entering 2nd round vs Luton (BSP)

-----

The New Year is upon us and so are some changes. First I was glad to reach the mutual termination of two players that were dead weight against my wage budget. Now 600 p/w under budget I can look for some free transfers for some much-needed reinforcements for the stretch run. December's chaotic pace showcased just how badly we need to add more quality!

A 2-2-2 league record last month keeps us in 4th place, although we sat as low as 6th until a crucial win against St. Albans. That win was costly, however, as I lost two midfielders to injury that game - yet another sign of fatigue setting in.

Our run in the FA Cup ended abruptly against Southport. We just don't have the depth to play such a series of games, so I chose to play a heavy substitute team in order to save us for league play. As badly as I wanted to extend our run, we will certainly benefit from having a little more rest in between games.

3 days after our exit from the FA Cup, we were nearly upended by Great Wakering. It took a second half brace by Kenny Smith in order to secure a spot in the next round.

Our second half targets are in place:
1. Continue to add squad depth
2. Gear up for a top 6 league finish

Recent Fixtures
[imgw]http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/633/2010fixturesjan.jpg[/imgw]

League Table
[imgw]http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/1962/2010leaguetablejan.jpg[/imgw]

FA Cup
Teams defeated:
2-0 Great Wakering - 2nd qualifying round
1-0 Sutton United - 3rd qualifying round
2-1 Thurrock (BSS) - 4th qualifying round
2-1(e) Vauxhall (BSN) - 1st round
Eliminated 1-3 in 2nd round replay vs Southport (BSN)

FA Trophy
Teams defeated:
1-0 Workington (BSN) - 3rd qualifying round
2-1 Great Wakering - 1st round
Eliminated 1-2 in 2nd round vs Luton (BSP)

-----

The start of the new year brought some much needed space in between games after we were eliminated from the FA Cup. Unfortunately that hasn't translated into a strong run of games and we're slowly running out of time before the end of league play. We finished the month 1-3-1 and have dropped one point out of a playoff spot into 6th place.

The end of the month also brought an end to our FA Trophy run; losing a tough game away to BSP side Luton. As usual, when I'm significantly outclassed I'd rather lose a game outright instead of coming fairly close. We went into the half tied at 1, but we surrendered the back end of a Tom Craddock brace to seal the loss.

With 13 league games and no other distractions remaining, the focus shifts solely toward improving our league standing. 1st place and automatic promotion lies 8 points ahead of us and as mentioned earlier, we are only 1 point shy of a playoff spot.

Recent Fixtures
[imgw]http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3949/2010fixturesfeb.jpg[/imgw]

League Table
[imgw]http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/8747/2010leaguetablefeb.jpg[/imgw]

FA Cup
Teams defeated:
2-0 Great Wakering - 2nd qualifying round
1-0 Sutton United - 3rd qualifying round
2-1 Thurrock (BSS) - 4th qualifying round
2-1(e) Vauxhall (BSN) - 1st round
Eliminated 1-3 in 2nd round replay vs Southport (BSN)

FA Trophy
Teams defeated:
1-0 Workington (BSN) - 3rd qualifying round
2-1 Great Wakering - 1st round
Eliminated 1-2 in 2nd round vs Luton (BSP)

-----

February was our strongest month to date as we notched a 3-1-0 record. Those wins were highlighted by a fantastic 2-0 victory over top side Woking on the road. After we spun our tires a bit in January, this nice run of games has catapulted us back into 4th position. There is still very little room for error at the top of the table, however. To illustrate - as of right now there is only a 6 point difference that separates 2nd place from 9th place.

Getting back to our victory over Woking, I switched tactics from my variation of a 451 to an interesting play on a Brazilian 442 box / 451 combo. My 451 consists of a standard back four (2 defensive DCs, 2 auto FBs), an anchor man defensive DMC, two support MCs, an attacking AML and AMR, and a poacher/target man ST.

When it was time to face Woking, however, I knew we were going to be tested on defense. I decided to add an additional DMC to help mark out attacking threats. I also dropped my two wingers down into wide midfielder positions. Wanting to have some attacking options, I added a supporting AMC to help my ST. I'll add a screenshot if I remember, because I'll be using this formation more often, especially if we're going to play a heavy defensive/counter game.

The results vs Woking speak for themselves. While we allowed a barrage of shots, many of them were off target and/or long distance. With so many players (six total) dedicated to defensive duty, our best defense was a swarming group of players. Our two goals were scored on quick counterattacks; which is what I count on when we play superior teams.