Real Sociedad Challenge 2009

[Jack F]

Even if big money came I would be tempted to keep Wagner kova, I'm gonna try and get back into this later

PS - the 1000th reply in this thread

[ArmageddonAsh]

i have a massive update. i finished second in the league and won the Spanish Cup and retained the Super Cup screenshots will be coming. my update is 3 pages long

ive started the 3rd season with 4 wins out of 4. Racing i won 2 - 0 with goals from 2 of my new boys: Bradley Mathebula and Axel Witsel. i came back from 1 - 0 down to an Eduardo goal to beat Arsenal in the Champions league 2 - 1 with another goal from Mathebula and another goal from a new guy Steven Defour. next i won 3 - 1 against Sevilla with 2 goals from Walter and yet another goal from Mathebula but we conceded an own goal and finally i beat Villarreal 1 - 0 with a goal from Fabian Monzon.bigger update coming!!!

[ArmageddonAsh]

Well my first season in La Liga is over and i have 3 players to thank for my Spanish Cup, Super Cup and 2nd place La Liga finish. Sergio Asenjo was great in goal and despite some people thinking that i made the wrong move in signing him but in 37 league games he conceded 30 goals and had 16 clean sheets with 3 man of the match awards – he was also voted in the team of the season. Mata scored 7 and got 17 assists and 3 man of the match awards in 33 league games – Mata was also voted in the team of the year finally Trejo he scored 24 got 5 assists and 7 man of the match awards in 33 league games and he was also voted in team of the year.



Other players and need praise Walter who i got in January transfer window scored 7 goals and got 5 assists and 2 man of the match awards in 10 games but he also helped in the Spanish Cup with 4 goals in 3 games another player im pleased with Burno Formigoni with 3 goals, 7 assists and 3 man of the match awards in 21 league games De Cerio also helped in the limited amount of games he had with 8 goals, 2 assists and 3 man of the match awards in 6 games.

But thanks has to go to Betis for allowing Ansotegi and Elustondo to stay til the end of the season which i wasn’t really expecting to happen but thank god it did as they helped alot especially Elustondo with 4 goals and 3 assists in the Spanish Cup

I think the proof that i have Trejo, Mata and Asenjo is to thank for my league position is in the last 4 league games with only Mata out of the 3 available for the last 4 games and the results i got shows how important they are to the team with very close wins against Deportivo (2 – 1) and Almeria (3 – 2) but poor performance against Zaragoza losing (2 – 1) and an even more disastrous performance against Villarreal losing (4 – 1) just shows how different the season could have gone had i not signed them.

Several of my players got awards with Asenjo coming 3rd in Goalkeeper of the year and i was voted second best manager of the year with Schuster coming first – that was expected with them winning the league and Sociedad was voted most improved team of the year after coming second when we were predicted 12th. Mata was voted 3rd in the league player of the year but im disappointed he got a higher average rating then both Sneijder who came first and Xavi who came second and he also got the most assists and got more goals then Xavi, but Sneijder did get more goals 15 compared to Mata’s 7. Trejo got the Top Goalscorer award with 24goals in 34 games, V. Nistelrooy came second with 19 in 32. Oscar Trejo was voted best signing of the season and Mario Gomez £24million move to Barcelona was voted the worst signing of the season

Im delighted that i finally managed to win the Spanish Cup after coming so close last season. I had Zaragoza in the 4th round and did well with Trejo scoring both goals in a 2 – 1 win in which we came from behind and the second leg was even better with Mata scoring 2 and Aranuru. I just had to smile when i saw who i got in the 5th round – Real Madrid the first leg was great with us taking the lead twice through Barazite and Aranburu but getting pulled back to finish 2 – 2. The second leg was also close with a final score of 1 – 1 but this time i had to come back from 1 – 0 down but Mata got the goal to send us through.



I got an easier Quarter Final match in Getafe with new signing Walter scoring twice but Getafe got a 90th minute goal and the second leg also finished 2 – 1 thanks to Trejo and Elustondo goals to send us through to the Semi Final and i just knew who i was going to get- Barcelona and Trejo got us off to a great start but as typical they got the equaliser in the 93rd minute to make it finish 1 – 1 and in the second leg got another early goal from Walter that sent us on our way to the final with a 2 – 1 aggregate win and i was delighted to see who i got in the Final, Athletic but with Trejo and Asenjo getting injured before the game i was really worried but i didn’t need to be with a 4 – 0 win with goals from Formigoni (9), Elustondo (15), walter (34) and Aranburu (87) secured the win.







Transfer Saga

Depending on how much i get to spend in my 3rd season could be make or break for us with several of my key players wanted by other clubs im going to have to try my hardest to keep them with Mata wanted by Chelsea, FC Bayern, Werder Bremen, AC Milan, Roma, Juventus, reggina, Zaragoza and Valencia and Trejo wanted by Manchester City, Roma and Fiorentina while Asenjo is wanted by Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea its going to be hard to keep hold of them all and it will take massive amounts of money to let them go.

As i expected the transfer window opened Juventus was the first to make an offer for Trejo with an offer worth up to £13.4million – which i rejected and then came Roma with a offer worth up to £16.1million which i also rejected. Juventus then made an offer worth up to £11.5million which i rejected i just hope they don’t make an offer which the board will intervene and accept. Now AC Milan have made a offer of £14million for Mata the first offer with all the money up front, im still turning it down though.

Real Madrid were the next team to make a offer for Mata at a tempting £16.5million it was kind of hard to turn it down but i have – hes too important to the team for me to let him go, if he must go i expect that i could get more then that next they came back and they came back with a 11.5million offer which is stupid! If i don’t accept a £16.5million why the hell would i accept a £11.5million offer. Then AC Milan came in for Mata and made a £13.75million offer for him which i turned down – im determined to keep hold of him.

Real Madrid came back for Mata again with another offer for £16.5million which i again rejected and im worried Mata will request a move if clubs don’t stop making offers for him. Out of nowhere Real Madrid want Walter as a replacement for Raul and just have made an enquiry which i rejected they then came back with a £10.5illion offer which i rejected with less then a week til the transfer window closes Real Madrid have come back with a offer worth up to £16.7million for Walter which i turned down.

With just 1 day to go in the transfer window and Real Madrid have come back for Walter with a £20million offer which i could negotiate but i turned it down again, great offer considering i paid £10.5million for him but hes only 20 and i think he could be key to us challenging for the La Liga title and in Europe.

As for targets i have a few already with Bradley Mathebula (AM RC) but i plan on using him in right midfield and Federico Laurito as another striker. I know im going to need cover for Mata for where i use him in AMC instead of LM and i need a replacement for Aranburu and a backup player for Mathebula if i manage to get him without having a RM. I have already signed Maximilliano Merlo on a free transfer from Boca – he looks very promising and is only 18 and the fans seem pleased that him as a good prospect for the future.

I was delighted to see that i was a potential replacement for Pellegrini of Villarreal and Schuster of Real Madrid though i wasn’t really expecting either side to come for me but a team did try and sign me after their manager got the sack and that was Espanyol and even though i didn’t even think about taking the job to see that they had got relegated and wanted me was really funny – why would i leave Sociedad with a Super Cup title and a Spanish Cup title and getting to Europe.

With several key players willing to leave on free transfers i had no choice but to sell them or lose them for nothing i sold Xabi Prieto to West Ham for £14million, Mikel Gonzalalez to Benfica for £10million Carlos Martinez also went to Benfica for £3million Riesgo went to Portsmouth for £500thousand and Markel went to Austria Wien for £1million Ion Anstegi (£3million) and Gorka Elustondo (£6million) will both be joining Betis at the end of the season. But i lost Imanol Agirretxe and Xabier Castillio on free transfers as well as Borja Viguera but im not too bothered about Viguera and Agirretxe but disappointed that i couldn’t sell Castillio

I got Nicolas N’Koulou (£4million) and Cedric Mongonu (£5million) from AS Monaco FC and i got Daniel Carrico from Sporting CP for £6million and Bruno Formigoni from Sao Paulo for £3.7millio and Fabian Monzon from Boca fro £9million i finished off with the signing for Walter from Internacional for £10.5million. i have been very happy with Formigoni, Monzon and Walters performances so far for me and im glad the risk on Walter paid off considering what i paid for him. Nicolas N’koulou struggled to begin with but ended up with some good performances as did Mongonu and Carrico.

After the great season we had last season i went for Continental Qualification through league finish as my start of season expectations which has given me £18.5million to spend but as we are spending only £189thousand a week on wages i think im going to reduce the £400thousand a week limit we have to add more money to the transfer budget with a few tartgets i have in mind i think that we can get into Europe again next season maybe even go one better and win the league after coming close this season being 5points behind Real Madrid in 1st but being 14points ahead of Barcelona in 3rd as long as we keep Asenjo, Mata and Trejo but also add a couple more quality players i think we can do well again

Well so far i have sold mikel Labaka to Ferrol for £2.5million and sent Giovanni Sio and Rual Estrada out on loan for a combined fee of £285thousand. The first of my targets im going after is Mathebula is beginning to annoy me as they want too much, but i really want him so i have no choice and it looks like i will have to pay £13million+ for him.

I finally gave in with a £14.1million deal (£6million up front and £8million over 24months) but with a transfer budget at £21.16million and with the potential of another £9million if i reduce the wage budget i think im going to be okay. On the very last day of the transfer window i got the deals for Steven Defour (£12.3million) and Axel Witsel (£13million) from Standard De Liege i had to reduce the wage budget in order to get them but im pleased, i could get another £2.1million if i reduced the transfer budget even more.i think i will wait to see if i can get anymore in January before deciding what im going to do. The purchases were also helped by the sale of Daniel Estrada for £2.5million

Im also going to look into the midfield as i think we are weak in midfield. Im looking at Andrea Mazzarani for the right side of midfield and he could be used as a right defender as well i think im going to go for 2 more players with Andrea Mazzanrani for the right midfield and another striker to replace De Cerio. I have finally got Mathebula cost me £14.1million, i now have £10.8million left to spend but im hoping to make another couple million from selling a couple of players.

I now have Real Madrid in the Super Cup and im hopeful despite the 2 – 0 we had when we last played them in the league but we knocked them out of the Spanish Cup so im hopeful that we can get a good result and retain the Super Cup. The home leg has finished and we won 2 – 0 thanks to a Mata goal and a Pepe own goal i used my 4 – 5 – 1 formation which i should have used in our 2 – 0 defeat to them but with Asenjo and Trejo out injured i went defensive and lost.

The second leg came and wow Real Madrid improved alot in the first leg we did very well but we just couldnt get hold of the ball and went 1 – 0 down on 24minutes thanks to Raul and Thiago Neves scored on 68 minutes to make it 2 – 0. It finished 2 – 0 and we went into extra time and both sides had chances to score but neither side could get the goal and so my first penalty shootout came and it was against Real Madrid and i wasn’t expecting us to come out on top.

It was Sociedad to go first and it was Bradley Mathebula to take a Pen for us and he scored, Raul took the first for Madrid and i was delighted to see Asenjo save it making it 1 - 0. Fabian Monzon stepped up and slotted away, Fernando Gago was the next to take a Pen for Madrid and he scored, to make it 2 – 1. Next Oscar Trejo stepped up and scored next forReal Madrid was Wesley Sneijder skied his making it 3 – 1. Mata then took his Pen but it was saved but thankfully we still won as Thiago Neves was the next to take a Pen and he also missed – which meant we won 3 – 1 on Pens and won the Super Cup for the second year in a row but it was alot closer then it was against Barcelona.



Well the Champions League draw has been completed and im in group D with Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk and Spartak Moscow so i think its going to be very hard, but with the players i have im hoping to get about 6points from the 6 games i think i should do well against Spartak Moscow and hope to do well enough to get a couple of draws against Arsenal and Shakhtar but we will see what happens my first game is against Arsenal which is just my luck but to my suprise we did great and though we had to come back from behind we managed to snatch the win in the 87th minute.

---------------------

well thats my update complete

[kovacevic]

ASH - OH MY GOD!!!! What an update and what a brilliant 2nd season you had!!!!! That has to be the most amazing update i have ever seen! There are too many things to comment on but to finish 2nd, win the Spanish Cup and the Super Cup is incredible (i will sort the points out later). I will be scouting those players that did well for you for sure.

I myself am having a bit of an epic end to season two -

Beat Espanyol 3-0
Beat Real Betis 3-1
Drew with Osasuna 1-1
Beat Tenerife 2-1

League with 3 Games Left-

Getafe away
Recreteavo home
Mallorca away

As you can see i'm up to 6th with some fantastic results and with 3 very winnable games left a place in Europe is in sight!

Jack i will definitely be keeping Wagner mate he has been incredible for me and carried the team on his own at times. Good to see you are gonna be giving it another go.

[ArmageddonAsh]

thanx. i will post screenshots of them as well so you can see what they are like, but Trejo was Sensational for me i couldnt believe it as was Asenjo only concededing 30 goals in 38 games, but remember i lost drew 3 - 3 with Madrid and lost 4 - 2 against Villarreal so i could have been better. the only down point of the season: losing 4 - 2 on final day to Villarreal. winning the Super Cup was nervous, from 2 - 0 up in the first leg to take it to penalties

my new formation seems to be working okay with wins over Arsenal and Sevilla.

[kovacevic]

Well i just jumped out of my seat in what was the "punch the air moment" of the season - Get in there Ben Sahar!!!!!

[Jack F]

Nice kova, good luck, hope you get Europe!

[kovacevic]

Nightmare! Just when i was sitting back thinking i was on easy street against Recreativo at home i only manage a 2-2 draw with a brace from Ben Sahar (will be sorry to see him leave). Need to beat Mallorca away i think to stand any chance cos i could slip to 8th with a defeat. Feeling nervous!

[ArmageddonAsh]

thats a bummer is Sahar on loan?

[kovacevic]

Sahar is on loan Ash yeh but his form lately for me might temp me to put in a cheeky bid for him he is the best striker i have had so far. Saying that i still want Stancu and Aquino so he is well down the pecking order. Just away to play Mallorca now will update asap.

[ArmageddonAsh]

You should check out Trejo - he was amazing for me last season and got the Goal Scorer of the season award


Heres the formation im currently using Formation

Heres the player stats for last season with Pics

Sergio Asenjo
37 Appearances, 30 Conceded, 16 Clean Sheets, MoTM

Nicolas N'Koulou
15 Appearances, 1 assist

Fabian Monzon
17 Appearances, 1 goal


Daniel Carrico
18 Appearances, 1 Assist

Cedric Mongongu
13 Appearances, 1 MoTM

Walter
14 Appearances, 7 Goals, 5 Assists, 2 MoTM

Oscar Trejo
34 Appearances, 24 Goals, 5 Assists, 7 MoTM

Juan Manuel Mata
33 Appearances, 7 Goals, 17 Assists, 3 MoTM

Heres The New Signings I Have Made

Steven Defour

Bradley Mathebula

Maximiliano Merlo

Axel Witsel

[kovacevic]

Not what i had in mind - as the stats show i dominated them but weren't lethal enough up front!


But............ incredibly i did enough to get into Europe by finishing 8th!!!!!!!!!!



And won the most improved team award!!! Yeeeeehhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaa!!



Thanks for all those screenies Ash the three players - Asenjo, Trejo and Mata were amazing for you! I will be doing my end of season update later i think for my blog but i can safely say after the drama i have just went through i am well and truly back into FM 2009.

[ArmageddonAsh]

ah Trejo scored against you hes great
well done to get into Europe.

i won the most improved team as well
who got voted the best and worst signing of the season?

[Jack F]

Congrats kova! Hopefully I can get Top 8 in Season 3.

[ArmageddonAsh]

hopfully i can win the league in season 3
came so close last season

[kovacevic]

I have just shut the game down as i have stuff to do now but will update on the best and worst signings in my big update later. If Wagner doesn't get signing of the season i will eat my hat.

Ash i'm still in shock at how well you did in season 2 if you win the league in season 3 it would be incredible.

[ArmageddonAsh]

and i have Trejo, Mata and Asenjo to thank for my position. in the last 4 games without Trejo and Asenjo i was poor scrapping wins and getting hammered 4 - 2 by Villarreal.

i think we are weakest in Defense and Attack. i was rushed into the defenders i got but Monzon is great and im delighted i got him. we are a bit weak in attack as well with just Trejo, Walter and De Cerio as out and out strikers but De Cerio has barely played for me since i got promoted but Trejo and Walter are great - Mata does okay upfront if needed as well so thats a plus

[YNWALFC]

Ash that is one hell of a update. You should put that in your blog. What a second season. Finishing second in the league already in amazing you are quite right to try and win the league next year and if you do Paine will have an even harder challenge than first thought. Well done and good luck for next season

[ArmageddonAsh]

thanx. yeah im think of adding it with the smaller updates that i had made but with a complete fixture list and scorers

[YNWALFC]

Yeh probably best to do it in smaller updates