PSG: Decisions, Decisions
By: Brian |
12 Comments
Depending on how you want to look at it, either we’re Andre the Giant and the little guy represents the rest of Ligue 1, or we’re the little guy and Andre the Giant represents the top clubs of Europe. Deep, man.
What do you think? Which are we?
Since I’m trying to delay diving right into season 2 (I can be patient! I swear!), I thought I should give you a few more notes about how the 2009-2010 season went, in France and around the world.
Here’s the official French season wrap-up:
Artem Milevskyi won the Golden Boot:
The rest of Europe went pretty much as expected, save for one league:
Eredivisie
Bundesliga
Liga Sagres
La Liga
Serie A
EPL
That’s right, Spurs fans. You won the Premier League! Enjoy it while you can because this is probably the only way it’s going to happen anytime soon. Also: Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United finishing 5-6-7? Really? Thank God we made it into the Champions League. We can beat Everton (assuming they win their playoff). I would also like to thank Getafe and Espanyol for ridiculously over-performing. We really might have a shot at this thing.
We’ll probably get Group of Death-ed now that I’ve said that.
I should also add that Real Madrid spent €61.5m on 4 players in the January window, and it still bought them second place. Who’d they buy, you ask? Why, the all-star quartet of Brede Hangeland (€20.5m), Nani (€19m), Aaron Lennon (€17.5m), and Bruno Alves (a reasonable €14.5m). I’m as shocked as you are that they couldn’t dominate La Liga with additions like that.
Really!?
Hot off the heels of our Ligue 1 title, it’s time for us to rebuild and reload. We’re going to need a stronger and deeper team to withstand challenges to our title and make a strong showing in Europe. After Marseille won the Champions League, I decided then and there that we could and should win it the next year. Realistic? No, not really. Possible? Certainly. It will take a little luck (ok, a lot of luck) and some shrewd signings on my part to do it. The board asked me what I expected of the team, and since we won the league last year I told them I expected us to win it again. Cha-ching. My transfer budget, before player sales, is €41m and I have €140,000 in wages to award.
First up was an extraordinarily cheap, probable replacement for vdV.
Simon Vukcevic
Sporting put Vukcevic up for sale for €1.3m and I snatched him up. Now, depending on how our other signings and sales go, he may end up out on loan. He’s not an EU player, which hurts, and realistically I have spots for 2 or 3 non-European players. But, aside from his teamwork and determination, he has a chance to be a really special player for us. But if he falters in the pre-season or can’t fit, he’s off to somewhere to learn how to play by the rules and maybe pass a citizenship test (or however it’s done in Europe).
I haven’t added anyone else, although I did try to sign David Luiz after Ajax put in a bid. Bordeaux made an offer as well, but in the end he chose Amsterdam. Damn kids, with their drugs and their rock ‘n roll. I have, however, found some more possibilities at goalkeeper and CB and am in the process of maybe unsettling them or at least befriending their manager, to see if I can get a discount (or, in the case of Akinfeev and Srna, an actual price). I have no idea who else to look at at RB. Speak up if you have any suggestions.
Memo Ochoa
Rubinho
Victor
Memo Ochoa would cost me less than half of Akinfeev, but he’d want more in wages and is lacking European/African/exempt citizenship likeAkinfeev. They’re both rated 4 stars (by the same scout), and Akinfeev is also a little more than 6 months younger, for what that’s worth. Rubinho has Italian citizenship, and would cost roughly the same as Ochoa. Victor is the cheapest option, but, again, would be one of my foreign-born players.
Bassong
Gonzalo Rodriguez
Garay
Breno
At CB, I think my best option is Sébastien Bassong. He’s fast, he speaks French already, and PSG is one of his favorite clubs, which will give me an advantage. I have no idea why he’s interested in coming here, even if we are a favorite of his, but I won’t complain. I think he’s a definite buy. Gonzalo Rodriguez is another option at roughly the same price. I would only get one of the two, as I still want to regularly play Sakho and watch him develop into one of the best defenders in the world. A cheaper 3rd/4th option (by cheaper I mean €5m tops, rather than €16-20m) would be Ezequiel Garay, but he may be lacking the… juevos, let’s say, to feature regularly and survive in my system. He spent part of last season on loan at Celtic. For a little less than Rodriguez or Bassong I could get Breno, but he would want a high wage and, unlike the others, he would be a foreign player.
For friendlies, I’ve scheduled tours of the United States and Japan. Obviously I’m hoping to get a financial partner out of one of these trips, but if we are to somehow become one of the world’s biggest teams, we need that sort of exposure. We’ll also be visiting Porto, and I may add one more against a higher-profile team. The Bastille Day Cup is on hold until next year, as the Parc des Princes is needed for the 2010 U-19 Euros. So we’ll wait. If I’m lucky, our choices will be similar or lower reputation teams. I’m a dreamer.
I’ll definitely keep you updated on the World Cup. I’m also considering taking an international job, depending on who gets the boot after a poor showing in South Africa (I’m looking at you, Domenech).
Suggestions, as always, are welcome.
Category: FM2010
PSG: That. Just. Happened.
By: Brian | 7 Comments
England's first choice goalkeeper
With a sporadic (at best) internet connection, I went sort of balls out and wrapped up my first season. Let’s get to it, shall we?
Where to begin? Nice bounced us from the Coupe de la Ligue in the quarter finals. That disappointed the fans and the board. Pity.
Our in-game arch-nemesis is going to end up being Lille or Bordeaux. Lille has Gervinho, who has an incredible knack for using his speed to split our defense and latch onto through-balls. In fact, that seems to be Lille’s entire gameplan. Bordeaux? Bordeaux is just a ridiculously strong team, and beat us home and away 3-2 on post-80th minute goals.
We did finally manage to put one over our real-life rivals, but in an unexpected fashion. Both of our league matches with Marseille ended in 1-1 draws. But ten days after our second match at the Parc des Princes, we traveled back to Marseille for the 11th round of the French Cup. Niang scored late in the first half, but Milevskyi hit a hat trick in the first 30 minutes of the second half and we took the match 3-1.
Overall we lost 6 matches on the season. The two to Bordeaux were the only two matches where we were beaten at our best. We gave Socaux their win, and we came out completely flat in losses to Nancy, Auxerre, and Saint-Etienne. I wasn’t happy at all with our performances in those matches, and I let the players know it, but I know full well that those matches happen. Having said that, unless we win more games next year, 6 or more league losses will be considered a failure.
We also won the Coupe de France, beating Lyon at home in the semifinal and Lille 2-1 in the final. From a managerial standpoint, we would have been better off getting knocked out in the quarters or semis, though. Or at least not playing Lyon. Because of their Europa League commitments, Lyon had our match moved to 3 days before the final, and our match away to Lens was pushed to 2 days after the final, our last two matches at home to Valenciennes and Montpellier at 3 day intervals after that. From May 2nd to our last match on May 15th, we had 6 games, including the semifinals and finals of a cup.
BUT IT WAS ALL WORTH IT BECAUSE WE WON THE LEAGUE. With 3 matches to go, we were 6 points ahead of Marseille. Marseille, at that time, was in the midst of a 14-match all-competition unbeaten streak, and all of their league matches were victories. We held up our end of the bargain, though, and clinched with a match remaining. And then our reserves thrashed Montpellier 3-0 (and Koné FINALLY scored).
Marseille got the last laugh, though, in case that unbeaten streak didn’t tip you off.
Somehow, Marseille, a team that couldn’t even beat us once, won the Champions League. They beat Bayern Munich in the first knockout round, lucked into Anderlecht (!?) in the quarter final, got past Arsenal in the semi final, and beat Juventus in the final. Unbelievable. Now we have a goal and the motivation to achieve it.
As for the players, van der Vaart and Milito refused to stay and ran back to their seats on the sidelines (or, more likely, the stands) in Spain. vdV did manage to have the most assists in Ligue 1, just beating out Yoann Gourcuff.
Gourcuff is my unicorn, I think. He is perfect for how I manage, and I’m pretty sure I will pay any sum to have him on my squad. I doubt I’ll ever have the budget or the stature to get him.
Makélélé performed more than admirably for us, and he was probably one of the 3 most valuable players on the team. He managed 2 goals, but really he was the engine Zizou always knew he was. We performed better with him in the lineup, but his age and deteriorating stamina and physical skills made substitutes more necessary. From February to the end of the season, he only played the entirety of a match twice. I’m going to keep him around, and he’ll still be captain next season, but I really don’t expect him to see the pitch often. Hopefully I’ll convince him to join the coaching staff at the end of the year.
Our MVP was undoubtedly Artem Milevskyi. He was Ligue 1’s leading goalscorer, with 32, and bagged a ridiculous 38 in 40 appearances. His best performance came in a rainy 6-3 home win againts Saint Etienne, when he scored 5 goals. I don’t know how much longer I can keep him before a larger club comes calling. Hoarau was next on our scoring chart with 21, and then Erdinç with 14.
Our defense still needs work. Milito never really seemed to care, and at times Bertucci told me he was having trouble motivating himself to play for me. In the rare matches where he did try, his skill was quite evident, but on the whole he wasn’t what I’d hoped for. Otamendi and Tolói are still too untested to be paired confidently with Sakho. And so I’m still looking for a center back. I’ll list transfer targets in a bit, but my preference is for someone with some pace. Sakho isn’t the fastest, and at least one of the two has to be able to track down attackers racing through the line. And I have a problem at full back, only this time it’s on the right side. Ceará put in some great performances, and won Ligue 1 player of the month for May. But he doesn’t offer enough in the attacking third to make up for his shortcomings at the defensive end, where wingers and full backs were all too often able to run by an early and foolish challenge and cross into the box. As a direct result of that, most of the goals we allowed came on crosses. Jallet’s performances were worse, even though he probably has a better delivery when it comes to crosses. We also need someone to replace Coupet, preferably starting this season. He might have another good year left in the tank, but I think his performances would peak at “good.” I’d like “great.”
Before I get to targets, I mostly kept my word about not using those funds the board gave me for anyone new. Until it became pretty clear that vdV and Milito wouldn’t be willing to stick around, anyway. But once I saw him, I couldn’t resist. Meet “the next Riquelme,” Armando Contreras:
If he’s not a regular by the time he’s 20 I’ll eat my hat. The rest of my purchases weren’t purchases, per se, but rather free transfers. We’ll be adding Sebastián Blanco:
We also will be adding Marouane Chamakh, who chose us over Lyon. Lyon made an offer to buy him in January, and, after doing my best Will Smith “aw hell nah” I offered him a large contract and key role. I never thought we’d even get him, since his agent said he wasn’t interested. But he picked us (and still scored a winner against us after the deal was agreed). I’m not sure what that says about his character, but if he puts in a decent half or full season and gets sold, so be it. Money’s money.
I’m still trying desperately to get rid of Giuly, Luyindula, and Kezman, who make over €150,000 a week combined. Kezman will never play for me, Luyindula will fill in only in a dire emergency, and Blanco is basically a carbon copy of Giuly (but 10 years younger). I’m thinking of selling Ceará and Jallet, too. They’re both 29, clearly not the long-term answers, and neither was able to do enough to make me think that they will hold the position down until Daeseleire is ready (which may be an “if” and not an “until”). I refuse to accept that Ceará’s player of the month award was anything other than a fluke.
As for possible targets, Hart is available for €3m, but his eccentricity worries me. I really don’t want to futilely yell “for the love of God don’t do that!” over and over again. I don’t have prices on Akinfeev or Muslera. At right back, Anyukov and Srna seem like my best bets at the moment, but it’s still early. I might consider a younger guy like Diego Renan and let him fight it out with Daeseleire. And in the middle of my defense, the best two options right now are both Brazilians. Miranda will cost €10-12m, Luiz half that. The issue right now is that I don’t have any non-EU spots available. I can sell Ceará to free up one, loan out Mateus for another, but Otamendi and Tolói are holding onto the other two. If I can find enough acceptable EU defenders I might be willing to loan out Tolói.
Hart
Akinfeev
Muslera
Anyukov
Srna
Diego Renan
Miranda
David Luiz
Any other players to search out or squad recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Also, re: the format of all of this, I’m pretty sure my match recaps read like “you should have been there” stories, and I’m currently lacking the skills and the bandwidth to regularly upload video. I’ll try to learn how to do that, but in the meantime: should I do a post per in-game week (not including friendlies)? That’ll be difficult if only because I’m too involved in the managerial aspect of the game to take good notes in game, and pausing it every minute or two to make sure I record what just happened. Pre-season, pre-January window, post-January window, end of season? That seems like every post would be some tl;dr thing like this. Something else? I want you guys to enjoy this, if that’s at all possible, so I’m trying to gather how you’d like me to get to that point.
Category: FM2010PSG: Le Classique, and the Perils of Being a False Juggernaut
By: Brian | 4 Comments
(ed. note: Is anyone else experiencing a great deal of automatic quitting as the game tries to load a match or the inbox immediately after a match? I’ve had that happen a bunch now, and it’s extraordinarily frustrating. I’m running this on an older MacBook Pro with OS 10.5.8. I’ve eliminated the crowds and sky from the match engine, and turned the graphics quality down to medium. We’ll see if that helps. Anyway, on with the show.)
October 25th
I have the best board ever. When I asked for a larger wage budget, they gave it to me. When I asked for more transfer funds, they gave me those, too. And then on the 1st of October, they just handed me another €9m, because the club’s finances had improved. I decided to take advantage of the joker transfer window and for €4.5m grab Cheik M’Bengue as my longer-term solution (maybe? finally? hopefully?) at left back. Toulouse’s finances are allegedly secure, but they’ve now knocked down the prices on two of their promising youngsters by almost €10m. Gabriel Milito joined on a season-long loan at the end of the full transfer window, and so with the rest of the funds I wanted to make his loan and vdV’s loan permanent. Neither was willing to discuss a contract. I’ll be holding onto the remaining funds to try again later in the season, unless I’m offered someone irresistible.
How are we doing?
I’m tired. This entire season has felt like a gambling streak that I’m not allowed to end. We’ve been tempting fate for far too long. Heading towards Marseille, we hadn’t tasted defeat once in a game since our friendlies, and only two matches had ended in draws. We’d scored the most goals in Ligue 1 (22), while conceding 9 in our nine league matches. Our goal difference was +13, tops in the league. But after demolishing Montpellier in the opener, there hasn’t been a single match where it seemed like we were in control for 90 minutes. We won four matches in a row 2-1. No opponent’s lead has seemed surmountable, and no lead of ours has seemed safe. In our last match before Marseille, away at Toulouse, we conceded a late goal and settled for a 1-1 draw. Now, in that match I kept Sakho and Milito on the bench, to keep them from getting a yellow and thus a suspension for Le Classique. So that goal is probably on me. I’m hopeful that these are just the growing pains of what could be a really, really good team (and considering what I’ve spent it had better be), but it always feels like a dip in form is just around the corner.
But.
Larger problems are lurking below the surface. Milevskyi? 7 goals in 8 matches. However, Erdinç and Koné are both goalless thus far. Hoarau, who scored our only goal against Toulouse, hadn’t scored since he picked up a brace in his full debut against Lille on August 30th. (ed.: one of those unexpected quits? Immediately after the Toulouse match, which we had won 3-1, on a Hoarau hat trick. But he was playing in Milevskyi’s position). I want to attribute this to poor finishing because I’ve watched the matches, and I have never seen strikers so seemingly inept when it counts. From point-blank range, by head or by foot, they shoot directly at the keeper. Firing wide or high when one on one brings a little variety to the comedy of errors. It’s painful to watch. But I’m forced to admit that maybe it’s my tactics. Before Toulouse, I changed the two wing-forwards to “Advanced Forwards” in the hopes that they’ll more actively seek out scoring opportunities rather than playing others on. They’d developed a nasty habit of dribbling into the corner and then passing back to the advancing fullback. Their “wide play” instructions are now to move into channels rather than cut inside. Koné managed a MoM award against Toulouse, but didn’t score. So there’s hope, but I don’t know if I’ve hit on the right instructions yet. They’ve refused all my suggestions to focus on rounding the keeper or placing their shots, and they’re upset enough as it is. Fragile little bunch, my forwards.
Physically fragile, too. During the October international break, Erdinç broke his nose, and Milevskyi strained his groin. Both missed the match at Toulouse (hence Hoarau taking over for Milevskyi), and Erdinç wasn’t fully fit for Marseille. Artem missed it. In addition to the strikers, Armand is still recovering from broken ribs and tires quickly, Chantome strained his wrist in training and was unavailable, and Mateus was out with a sprained ankle.
I kept all of my concerns to myself as we traveled to Marseille. The huge press conference was an excellent time to make extended use of my new French skills (Peon’s been fired. I think he’s in Delaware now), and I tried to be a picture of confidence. I said I wasn’t nervous. I said that any pressure would be used as motivation, and I hoped the players would do the same. I even engaged in a little war of words with Didier Deschamps.
They would be without Kaladze (on loan from Milan), Cheyrou, and Koné, but that information wouldn’t change my preparations. Without many real options for my lineup I picked a bench of Edel, Jallet, M’Bengué, Otamendi, Clément, Capoue, and Erdinç, we started out like this:
We hit the woodwork twice in the first twenty-five minutes of the match. No one seemed nervous. Maybe I’ve been overreacting? We had a few corners, but nothing came of them. And then with the half almost at an end, Ben Arfa sprinted down the left side and sent in a cross. Armand completely misjudged the flight of the ball and let it reach Niang. Niang headed it directly into Brandão and the ball ricocheted back to Lucho Gonzalez at the top of the box. He fired in a low shot across Coupet and Marseille had a 1-0 lead. In the dressing room I told my players I wanted to see more from them. I pulled Armand for M’Bengué to see how he would do in such a pressure-filled situation, and I brought Erdinç in for Koné, as Arouna had picked up an injury.
My players charged out of the tunnel like they thought we could win. I was glad someone felt that way. I spent my time trying to figure out what I would tell them after the match, maybe something about how we couldn’t possibly have expected to keep that run going, but that we had 28 games left and it certainly wasn’t the end of the world. And then, while I was thinking that, Ceará crossed a ball to Hoarau, who headed it so hard that Mandanda could only deflect it as it went past him. We’d equalized! And… well, that was that, really. No one ever threatened again. Marseille had conceded 5 goals all season before the match, and they were content to sit back and defend the fort. I finally pulled Sessegnon, who’d picked up a yellow in the first 10 minutes, and replaced him with Clément. I thought about pushing them as the game drew to a close, to try to steal the full 3 points, but in the end decided against it. Maybe I’ve gotten gun-shy, but with a depleted squad away from home, I felt we shouldn’t press our luck and end up caught on a counter.
Final Match Stats:
I was happy to get out of there with that result, as I would prefer for the other shoe to drop when Marseille isn’t wearing it. But I couldn’t resist one last jab. After the match, I told the press I’d expected more out of Lucho Gonzalez, because aside from being in the right place at the right time, he was pretty much a non-factor for the other 89 minutes of the match. That pissed him off. Round 2 should be even better.
Some other fun things… the most expensive signing in the summer transfer window was Mirko Vucinic’s €20.5m transfer from Roma (sorry dhaw) to Man City. Second was Alan Dzagoev moving from CSKA Moscow to Barcelona for €15.5m. Man City also bought: Giovani dos Santos (€14.75m), Lucas (€13m), Hernanes (€10.75m), and Giorginio Wijnaldum (€4.4m).
Here are our upcoming fixtures, the league table, and the team/player stats thus far:
Category: FM2010PSG: The Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with One Step
By: Brian | 10 Comments
‘Twas the night before the season began, and I had visions of trophies dancing in my head. OK, so that’s not exactly how it goes, but I don’t claim to be a poet. And if you looked at our friendly results, you might think I was crazy.
First, you’ll notice I have established the Bastille Day Cup, held on July 13th and 14th. Each year I’ll invite 3 of the world’s top teams and we’ll square off at the Parc des Princes. I think it’s important to challenge the team during friendlies, and I’m also not dumb enough to turn down the chance at a €2m payout for two days of ultimately meaningless work. We will win one eventually.
In each friendly, I played the first eleven in the first half, and replaced everyone for the second. Even doing that, I think we acquitted ourselves quite well. Our only real embarrassment of a showing was against Valencia, where Villa had a hat trick and Makélélé got himself sent off with a straight red. We took Liverpool to penalties, lost on a one in a million goal away to Atletico Madrid, scored two goals with ten men and only one CB against Deinze, and held leads against Hoffenheim and Sporting with our second team. The results don’t show it, but I felt hopeful after all of those matches. More importantly, they gave the team time to get acclimated to each other and to my tactics.
Here’s the formation I’ve settled on, and my tactical file
With the extra €6m infusion the board so generously gave me, I began a search for a decent attacking left back and backup for Makélélé. I haven’t found the left back yet, thwarted at various times by injury, role/wage demands, and Marek Jankulovski’s refusal to join up on loan. My brilliant scouting network did bring back some excellent news, though. Etienne Capoue, one of Toulouse’s two excellent young defensive midfielders and the captain of France’s U-21 side, had his valuation dropped from €15m to about €6m. I snapped him up for €5.75. Won’t you welcome him?
I also couldn’t resist Dimitri Daeseleire at €1.1m
My final one or two transfer plans are these. Christian Fuchs, Bochum’s left back, is recovering from a broken rib, and if he can start light training again, I’ll snap him up. OR, and this is a big OR and the coup I mentioned previously, roughly the same scenario applies to Gabriel Milito, who would immediately become the best defender in the squad. But he might be too far away from training for me to have an opportunity. We’ll see.
In my season opener press conference, I predicted that we would win the league this season. I was upset to find out that my players didn’t take this well, because someone has to believe, right? I also promised attacking football, refused to discuss transfer matters in a press conference (something I will always do), and also had no comment about Souleymane Camara’s potential as a threat in our opening match away to Montpellier. I only talk about my players, I never criticize the opposition’s players, and I always keep internal business internal.
How did that match go? BEAUTIFULLY. We started out with this lineup, with Grondin, Ceará, Ngoyi (Tolói wasn’t fit), Clement, Sessegnon, Adrien, and Giuly on the bench:
van der Vaart got his head on Jallet cross in the seventh minute to make it 1-0 in our favor. Milevskyi did the same 10 minutes later, and I was practically giddy on the sideline. In the 27th minute, Koné took the ball into the box, but had his shot blocked. The ball fell to vdV, who had his shot blocked, and the ball was kicked around until Artem got it on his foot and put it away for his second. 3-0. I looked over at René Girard and gave him a Jordan shoulder shrug®. Just before the end of the half, they knocked the ball out of their area, where it fell to Armand. Armand passed it forward to Chantome, no one closed him down, and his “why not?” rocket ricocheted off Jourden and in. 4-0. In the dressing room I told them not to let up, but shortly after the second half began I yelled from the touchline for them to drop deeper and keep possession, and the game ended 4-0. But a 4-0 away victory in my managerial debut with 7 starters making their debuts. That’s either monumental or karma is going to turn around and slap me soon.
Our second match of the season was at home against Le Mans, and I was worried that the pimp hand of karma, strong as it is, might see fit to embarrass me at the Parc des Princes. I wanted to go with a more attacking lineup, so I brought in Sessegnon for Chantome, and Giuly for Erdinç. Giuly volleyed in an Armand cross in the 16th minute, Milevskyi bagged another goal in the 20th on a Giuly assist, and vdV converted another header in the 37th, for a first half score of 3-0. The second half went much the same as it had against Montpellier, until a freak incident. Didier Ovono, their keeper, took a freekick after an offsides and booted all the way down the pitch, where Olivier Giroud met it with his head and caught Coupet off his line, netting Le Mans their only consolation with a 20 yard header.
So far this season, Giroud’s goal has been the one blemish on an otherwise perfect start. I guess I’m mildly concerned at our failure to score a second half goal thus far, but with scores of 4-0 and 3-0 at halftime, I’m hoping the team is more concerned with keeping the ball out of our net than they are with putting it in the opposition’s again.
Upcoming Fixtures: Valenciennes (Away), Lille (Home), Monaco (Away).
Injury Report: Jallet picked up a groin strain against Le Mans, and is out of training for 11-14 days; Edel is out with a twisted ankle, also for 11-14 days; Mateus is back in training after a back strain picked up in training, and should be fully fit in 1-3 days; Zoumana Camara’s torn calf muscle will have him out for 3-7 weeks; and Guillaume Hoarau and Younousse Sankharé returned to full training just before the Le Mans match, and I plan on having Hoarau available against Valenciennes, but probably not starting.
My questions to you: how am I doing? I’m thinking my midfield should be vdV-Makélélé-Chantome whenever possible, as Sessegnon is almost a copy of vdV and I would prefer to have at least two players in midfield interested in playing defense. If that’s the case, I’ll hang onto Sessegnon as injury insurance until at least January, and then based on how things stand I might cash in on him. Any other thoughts/recommendations? Re: players, I can’t sign another non-EU player without selling Ceará, as he was the only one in the squad before Otamendi, Tolói, and Mateus.
Peon Update: He told me he was planning a trip to visit America and wanted to know where to visit. I told him Delaware was nice.
Category: FM2010PSG: First Friendly, Financial Shenanigans
By: Brian | 10 Comments
July 8th
I kicked out most of the existing staff, handing them their (very generous) buyouts and assuring them that there were no hard feelings. I’m not sure how the French press works, but they hadn’t caught wind of what had happened before my first press conference.
The press conference went fine. But that ubiquitous first question, the “how do you feel about the opportunity to manage here?” question, should be addressed now. My favorite team is Liverpool (rub it in), and if they come calling I don’t know if I can resist. So I’ll make a deal with you: I won’t leave PSG unless I’m fired or we’ve won the Champions League, and even then I won’t actively search for a new job. Cool?
Anyway, I’ve rebuilt the scouting and coaching staff, and it was a bit difficult because I had to rely entirely on the unemployed or those employed by national teams. I couldn’t afford to pay exorbitant fees for staff members and have enough left for players.
As for the players… oh my. I sold Bourillon to Le Mans for €3.5m, Baning to Nantes for €1.6m, and Jean-Eudes Maurice has gone to the greener pastures of Derby for a whopping €650k, making my total haul €5.75m.
But the players I’ve signed are the real news. Yell at me all you want for being cavalier with the finances, but PSG has no loan debt, so I spread most of these transfer fees out over 4 years. I know, I know! But even after adjusting the wage/transfer budgets to give me a €5m kitty, and with the player sales, I didn’t have enough to make any impact signings that might end our historical inconsistencies. Things could bite me in the ass if we don’t qualify for Europe this season, but I think these new signings can lead us there. I did miss out on a left-back, as Cristian Ansaldi (the one cost-effective option), chose Bayern Munich and Champions league games over us, but otherwise I’m very pleased with our additions thus far.
I added some youth and depth at the back with Vasco’s Mateus for €1m, Rafael Tolói for €6.75m, and Nicolás Otamendi for €5.75m. Armand will still partner at the back with Sakho for now, although Camara will eventually challenge Armand once he’s healthy.
Keko and Koke (I don’t care what you tell me, I’ve decided they’re twins) were brought over from Atletico Madrid (for free). I plan on giving them their own kids’ show. Jano Ananidze will be joining us at the start of the January window in 2011. He’ll be receiving some quality first team experience with Spartak Moscow until then.
The big two signings are the critical ones, though. Remember how I said I wanted a skilled dead-ball guy? Rafael van der Vaart has joined PSG on loan. It took a €1.5m initial fee and half of his wages to get him, but he will be well worth it. There’s an €8m purchase clause, but I don’t plan on exercising that until I’m sure we’re going to be competing in Europe. I also made a €10m purchase, and I believe he is easily our best player right now. I am VERY proud to welcome Artem Milevskyi from Dinamo Kiev, and I agreed with the journalist who called this signing a major coup. Look at him! He’s like a poor man’s Ibrahimovic, but with heart. I expect big, big things from Artem.
And He (capitalization intentional) delivered in our first friendly, away to Club Brugge. He headed in a beautiful Jallet cross in the first minute, and 9 minutes later burst through the defense to get on the end of vdV’s through ball and fire past their hapless keeper. The rest of the friendly was less than stellar though. I need to sort out the defensive tactics, as they scored twice against the first team, both times on plays where the CB was too eager to close down the man with the ball, leaving a Brugge player onside and with a clear path towards the goal. They gave us another goal after a freak ricochet rocketed back into the net, and the first half ended with us up one. Since it’s a friendly, and I wanted to see our new signings in action, I subbed out the entire squad at the half. Mateus scored from the penalty spot to make it 4-2, and that’s how it ended. I was very pleased with the way Tolói and Otamendi did their jobs. I know it’s one game, but Armand might have to supplant Ceará at left-back or move to the bench sooner than I thought.
I’m still waiting to see if Sporting CP’s Adrien and Sevilla’s Arouna Kone wish to join us on this glorious adventure. If I’ve calculated our finances correctly, I should have enough funds left to complete my last two “win now” moves: Ruud van Nistelrooy and Patrick Viera on season-long loans. Not good moves for our short-term wage budget, but I have no intention of purchasing them.
Peon Update: He wore a light blue tie to work today. I taught him many new English curses and insults.
Category: FM2010PSG: Day 1
By: Brian | 12 Comments
It’s June 9th, and I’ve cut my European vacation short because my agent told me a few days ago that Paris Saint-Germain wanted me to succeed Paul Le Guen. I’ve wanted a chance to manage in Europe for some time, and I quickly agreed. The details were hammered out and yesterday I signed a 2 year contract worth €11,000 per year. I get 75% of that if we get relegated this season, but I fear that’s just a formality and the actual figure will be something more like 0%.
This all happened while I was in London doing some sightseeing (Big Ben! Parliament!), and I have to admit I didn’t have any idea what I was getting into. I had a cursory knowledge of Ligue 1 football and the team, and all of that had come from the TV.
And I don’t speak French.
So now I sit in my office in the Parc des Princes, trying to get my bearings and maybe look over the information on the history of the club (translated into English by… some peon, presumably). Two men walk in. The older wears a snazzy PSG tracksuit (mental note: get one) while the younger looks nervous in his business suit. The older man says something, a whole bunch of somethings, in French, and I raise one eyebrow and prepare to tell him that I’m sorry, but I just have no idea what you’re saying, when the younger man interrupts. His accented English introduces Mr. Tracksuit as Yves Bertucci, my newly hired assistant manager. Yves has a report for me on the current squad and staff. He would also like to know if I want to see the first team trot out against the reserves. I would, and tell the peon (I’m guessing he translated the documents for me, too) to tell him so. And then I shoo them out the door so I can finish catching my breath.
Here’s what I’m starting with, according to Bertucci’s teamsheets:
What I know about the squad now: Old, slow, and lacking any real depth. Two regulars, Coupet and Makélélé, are on the wrong side of 35. Even if I wanted to sell them, and I don’t, I probably wouldn’t get any significant returns. But players will be sold. Oh yes, they will.
Accompanied by my trusty peon, I met with the board shortly after Bertucci. The board told me they expected me to at least get PSG into the Europa League, and they were going to give me a transfer kitty of €2m and an extra €50,000 in wages to get there. Well, 6th place (5th really, to be safe) isn’t good enough for me. I think I can get the squad to make a run at the league title this season, and told them as much. Now my war chest is €2.4m and I have €100,000 of wage wiggle room. Better, but still not nearly enough. Fortunately, it looks like there are teams that want some of my fringe players, and I intend to milk them for every last bit of money that I can.
Tomorrow I plan to give almost every backroom staff member the axe. I’ll keep Pauleta and Roche on as scouts, and Bertucci can stay, too. It was a really nice tracksuit. Everyone else, though, is headed out the door. It’s time for some fresh blood, and I need someone who speaks English (and has a name). Peon just won’t cut it.
As for the squad: I want a new starting left back, more and better depth at the center of the defense, at least one rotation-quality midfielder, and I’d like a better striker or two. It’s going to take some selling and some creative economics to make that happen. It would be helpful if I could find a dead-ball specialist, too.
I have no idea how I’m going to do this, but it should be fun. Tomorrow is a new day, and it will be even busier than today.
(Side note: I was hoping to have another post up tomorrow night at the latest, but today my computer decided it needed to be erased and have the OS reinstalled, so most of tomorrow might be spent updating software/reorganizing everything.)
Category: FM2010Apologies, Yet Again
By: Mike | Add Comments
So yet again, I apologize for not being around much. Since I went back to school I’ve been swamped with make up work, and I’m still finishing up. I’ve had little to no time for FM or blogging. Next week I do have vacation though, so I should be getting a little FM in and a post or two. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: FM09Off-Season/Pre-Season/Transfer Tid-Bits
By: Mike | 8 Comments
So I went into surgery at 7:30 this morning, and was home around 3:30. No big deal, just a hernia, although I am very sore and these pain killers aren’t doing very much… But onto the Footy!
Read the rest of this entry »
Category: FM09And the Season’s Over
By: Mike | 12 Comments
So the season’s over, and I’ll talk a little about it after the jump. But first, as I said in my last post, I’ll be going into surgery tomorrow morning. So this may be my last post for a while, or my last post period, depending on how things go and the conclusions I come to. I’m hoping I’ll still be able to write for this blog because I really enjoy it, but I don’t know if I’ll have enough time over the upcoming weeks (again) to maintain a steady flow of posts. But once I recover (only 3-4 days) and finish catching up in school (God knows how long…) if I can come back, I will. Now onto the end of the season… Read the rest of this entry »
Category: FM09I know, long time no see, again.
By: Mike | 1 Comment
But I’ve got more important news… (this post is just going to be a jumble of crap cause I can’t contain my excitement…) Read the rest of this entry »
Category: FM09
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