FM11 – 2020-2021 Season Summary: Another Great Season
We also signed five new players and let go of four. Javier Esparza, Jean-Paul Stephan, Joe Brookes, Hamza Ben Ahmed, and Mário Oliveira joined the club while Danny Welbeck, Martin Tomlinson, Eddie Deans, Daniel Kofi Agyei left for greener pastures.
Since Ben Ahmed and Oliveira were signed during the winter window, they didn't really have time to show their full potential (although Ben Ahmed made a great impression on the fans). I didn't even want to sign Ben Ahmed during the window since his contract was expiring in June but Manchester City tipped my hand by making a bid for him. City had already signed one of my targets during the summer so I didn't want to lose another one to our rivals. Esparza was signed as a back-up fullback to cover for injuries and consequently didn't play too much. Stephan and Brookes though quickly made a name for themselves as you can see below.
Key Players:
1. Marc Cruz (Striker)
It took several seasons but Cruz finally won the English Premier Division Top Goalscorer award with 24 goals to his name – 41 goals in all competitions. He also set a new average rating record with a rating of 7.87 for the season.
2. Juan Francisco Buyo (Winger)
After a brilliant debut season where he broke the club's assists record, Buyo's form dipped in the next three seasons. I gave him the right wing spot this season, starting Sánchez only when Buyo was tired or injured and the Spaniard reacted well with 18 goals and 32 assists in 32 games. He won Best Player of the Champions League, slightly edging out Marc Cruz for the award.
3. Francisco Olalla (Defender)
Olalla was healthy for much of the season this year and it made a big difference in our backline as we conceded only 25 goals in the league. I feel like I'm repeating myself but when he's not there, our defense leaks like a sieve.
4. Kevin Reiß (Midfielder)
This guy wildly exceeded my expectations in his first season and became a permanent fixture of my starting eleven this year. With 43 appearances total (1 as a sub), he played the most games on the team – yes, more games than De Gea. His 6 goals and 9 assists aren't amazing stats but his versatility allows me to give him different roles in the heart of the midfield, be it Defensive Midfielder, Anchor Man, Ball-Winning Midfielder, Deep-Lying Playmaker, or Advanced Playmaker. I'm pretty sure that I'll give him the captaincy in a season or two.
5. Antoine Griezmann (Winger)
Again, Bébé got injured for a long stretch of the season and again Griezmann stepped up. He and Buyo have been tearing up the wings this season. Hopefully, he keeps it up next year even though he has reached his thirties.
Revelations of the Season:
1. Joe Brookes (Midfielder)
I've been keeping an eye on Joe Brookes since he was 16. At 18, he was unhappy to be listed for loan by his club because he thought he was too good to be loaned out. I was wary, but impressed by his confidence at such a young age. I bought him from Wolves for £7.5 million. It was a robbery. Although he scored only one goal and got only 8 assists in 37 appearances, he knows how to control the tempo of a game and works well with his teammates. Nuñez should watch his back.
2. Jean-Paul Stephan (Winger)
I initially thought that I had overspent on Stephan, giving Lorient £19.5 million for his transfer but a six-month tutoring period by Alexis Sánchez turned him into the player I thought I was getting. He is similar to Sánchez but more incisive. I will probably give him more minutes next season to see if he is the real deal.
FM11 - 2019-2020 Season Summary: Doin' It Like It's 1999
We comfortably won the Club World Cup in December only to come back to the league with back-to-back defeats against Aston Villa (0-2) and Manchester City (0-1). City were a considerable foe this season. After they hired Rafa Benítez in January, they were neck and neck with us for the title until a disastrous run at the end of the season where they won two games in the last six matches. I like to think that our 3-0 win against them in the FA Cup semifinal was the catalyst of that breakdown, but their 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa in the Europa League semifinal probably didn't help morale either.
Much like the Premier League, our Champions League campaign wasn't easy either. The group stage was pretty straightforward as we easily dispatched Rangers, Werder Bremen, and M. Tel Aviv. The knockout stages were much more complicated. We managed to grind a 1-0 win away from home against Juventus and that away goal turned out to be the difference as we drew 1-1 at home. Cruz was our lone scorer in both games. The same story repeated itself in the quarterfinals against Atlético Madrid. We drew 0-0 at home and went on to beat them 2-0 at the Vicente Calderón. The semifinals were... interesting, for a lack of better term. We were pitted against Inter Milan, Paulo Henrique's team. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'd know that Paulo Henrique was probably the worst transfer of my tenure and I practically gave him to Inter after buying him for £50 million. To the surprise of no one, he was instrumental in the first leg, giving the key pass that would lead to Inter's winning goal and our first loss in Europe.
Since neither our 4-1-2-2-1 and 4-3-2-1 were able to break through Inter's defense, I took a gamble in the second leg and set out the team in a 4-1-3-2. If we were going down, we were going down swinging. The extra players in Inter's half of the pitch made all the difference. We were up 2-0 by the half-hour mark thanks to a brace by Marc Cruz. Griezmann added two more goals right after the halftime break. Inter came back with one goal but it wasn't enough. Sánchez and Coeff finished off the job with two more goals and we won 6-2 on aggregate. What a ride!
But wait, there's more! Another old friend was set to face us in the final as Sergio Agüero was Barcelona's lone striker in a repeat of the 2009 final. With our best defender absent due to injury, we were gonna have our work cut out for us.
Agüero had a field day against us in the first half. Constantly threatening our defense and forcing De Gea to come up with some big saves. Our goalkeeper wasn't going to survive an onslaught like this for long, and he finally broke – twice – before halftime as Agüero put his team up 2-0.
In the second half, I instructed Darren Knox to mark Agüero tightly. I was risking having a hole in defense every time the Argentine came back deep but he was the most dangerous player on the pitch and I needed someone on him. I subbed off Bébé and Cruz shortly after the hour mark as they were completely ineffective and replaced them with Griezmann and Rooney. I instructed Rooney to swap with Silva every once in a while and the move immediately paid off. Three minutes after Rooney came on, Silva scored our first goal, reducing the scoreline to 2-1. Game on! I instructed the team to attack, attack, attack in the final 15 minutes, and they duly responded. Darren Knox brought the score level to 2-2 in the 80th minute!
We were looking good. Only one more goal and we would win our 12thChampions League. Then, tragedy struck. Riccardi picked up his second yellow and was promptly sent off in the 86th minute. We had to finish the game with ten men. Thankfully, I had one more sub and used it to replace Vidal by Coeff. Coeff would not only take Riccardi's place in the heart of defense, but his play-making abilities meant that I could place him as a Ball-Playing Defender and consequently launch our attacks from deep. At the end of 90 minutes, the score was still 2-2. We were going to extra-time with tired legs and one man down, a tough ask for any team in the world. But not this team.
It wasn't the first time this season that we had to come back and beat the odds. We came back from 1-0 down to 2-1 to win the FA Cup against Wolves. We came back from 2-0 down to beat Ipswich 3-2. We beat Reading 3-0 after picking up a red card in the opening minutes. Granted, none of these teams are Barcelona but it could be done. And it was. In the 99th minute, we got a penalty. Kevin Reiß – a 22 year-old midfielder who quickly became one of the key members of the squad in his first full season at the club – stepped up to the plate and coolly finished it off. 3-2. 12thChampions League title. 8Th consecutive Champions League trophy. See you next year.
Key Players:
1. Marc Cruz (Striker)
Not as prolific as last season but still THE man as far as our team is concerned. Voted Best Player of the Champions League and Golden Boot winner. He was also our Best Player at the Club World Cup.
2. Michele Roma (Defender)
After Fábio's transfer to Juventus, Roma was the only healthy left-back we had until Sergio Castillejo's arrival. His performances didn't drop at all despite the fixture congestion and he's looking like a serious candidate for the captaincy next season.
3. Stefan Ulrich (Defender)
In his first season at the club, Ulrich easily made the right-back position his own. His indiscipline is a concern but he more than makes up for it with crucial assists and intelligent crosses.
4. Kevin Reiß (Midfielder)
Also in his first full season at the club, Reiß pushed both Vidal and Coeff out of the starting line-up with great defensive plays and crucial goals including the winner in the Champions League final.
5. David De Gea (Goalkeeper)
If De Gea hadn't been healthy for the entire season, we would have been in serious trouble. Indeed, squad limitations forced me to register only 2 keepers for the season and Rob Hird broke his ribs midway through the season, leaving us with only one goalkeeper for the final stretch. De Gea might have conceded more than the previous seasons, but he did the job when it mattered.
Revelations of the Season:
1. Stefan Ulrich (Defender)
See above.
2. Kevin Reiß (Midfielder)
See above.
3. Lamine Badji (Winger)
I wasn't planning to play him much this season but he showed that he was able to keep up with the big boys. His hat trick against Reading was one of the highlights of the season.
Disappointment of the Season:
Jack Wilshere (Midfielder)
Was injured for long stretches of the season. What good is a depth player if he can't stay healthy?
