An old face in a familiar place

A couple of questions

- do you look for offensive or more old-school FB's now that you play them with defensive duties?

- could you post Hassilbakns attibutes?

- what pitchdimensions do you use?

That arsenal striker looks very nice, I felt that strikers with excellent physical attributes are doing very well this FM. Combined with his finishing... you'll have your own Cavani

We're on to the semifinals of the FA Cup where we will face off against last year's winner. Much like real life, Chelsea are an aging squad with Lukaku (32) and Neymar (34) somehow still holding down starting positions with superstar Renato Gaucho.

The quarterfinal draw of the Champions Cup pairs us against old rivals Juventus. We owe them from last year where they beat us in the finals of the Champions Cup 1:0. They are led by super winger Joel Carmo, midfielder Omar Sanchez, and keeper Donovan Bossard.

# l3nnart : A couple of questions

- do you look for offensive or more old-school FB's now that you play them with defensive duties?

- could you post Hassilbakns attibutes?

- what pitchdimensions do you use?

I've always liked more defensive-minded fullbacks. My tactics don't rely on rampaging fullbacks, even though they will sometimes push up past midfield any way. I look for guys with pace and marking. Any amount of dribbling, first touch, crossing, etc. is purely icing on the cake for me.

Here's Hasselbaink:


As for pitch dimensions, I've always stuck with the standard: 111 yards x 71 yards.

# tomy : That arsenal striker looks very nice, I felt that strikers with excellent physical attributes are doing very well this FM. Combined with his finishing... you'll have your own Cavani

I fully agree. I think Caca's strength is what makes him a real problem for defenders. He can fight for the ball and get through traffic in the middle of the pitch with ease. Combined with his pace, it makes him a handful to deal with any time we're in attack mode.

And just like that, our undefeated season comes to an end.

have you ever had a perfect season?

# l3nnart : have you ever had a perfect season?

We went undefeated in 2022-2023 but had seven draws:

I feel that we extracted a bit of revenge on Juventus after handing them a heavy 6-3 aggregate loss. We had a 4-2 lead after the home leg and I was happy to see the team maintain focus during the away leg.

It was a long time coming, but we slayed the defending FA Cup champs in their house and have a date with Liverpool in the finals. The game was knotted at 1 going into halftime and it was a hotly contested affair. Caca bagged a goal in the 60th minute only to have offsides called, and it wasn't until Bamba rifled home a freekick that the game was decided.

Our semifinal date with Atletico Madrid is upon us and we're hoping to get off to a good start in the home leg. We haven't faced At. Madrid since 2024 in the 1st Knockout Round but we have the distinction of having never lost to them. We own a 3-4-0 record against them. At. Madrid are led by Vincius, Roberto, and an aging but still very effective David De Gea.

Today we celebrate seventh heaven. In eleven seasons of Premier League play we have now brought home the trophy an astonishing seven times, all of the consecutively. We have not relinquished the trophy since we first laid hands on it in 2019, and as long as I continue to get the support I need from ownership, there's no reason to think that we can't continue on this dynasty run.

are you finnaly considered a ledgend now ?

It's a good thing we built a 2-0 lead during the home leg because we will be without Caca up front due to him hitting the yellow card limit. In looking back at his history he's averaged about 12 yellows per season with Newport, and this mean streak is really the only thing I can complain about with him.

Even without our leading hit man and being the away team, I don't plan on playing any less aggressively. We'll slot Claudio Bressan into the poacher slot and recall Oliver John (snapshot below) from the reserves to sit on the bench. I figure At. Madrid will have to play aggressively themselves, and this should let us sneak in a goal or two while they're trying to press for goals.