Its been a case of deja-vu (again) as my FC Andorra team finished yet another season in mid table of Division 1, although it needed a late run of wins to ensure safety. I'd got the reset squad I wanted, with a strong spine of Jesse Joronen in goal, Christian Burgess at centre back, Maurits Kjaergaard as a centre midfielder and Jørgen Strand Larsen as my beast of a striker. A 442 Holding formation seemed to be the best choice as a starting formation, although this would change a few times over the course of the season.
The opening two matchdays were against opponents I knew I would be likely to be at my level in the bottom half of the league, and it didnt go as well as I expected. A 2-3 opening day defeat to Red Rhinoceros was a terrible way to start but at least I sorted myself out and thrashed him 7-0 in the return fixture. Next was Amen Raz who I had the better of in both games in all but the only thing that counts, scoring goals. Missed chances cost me dearly and I only ended up with a point from the two games. Matchday 3 served up two defeats against eventual champion x Morriis and left me in no doubt I was already in a fight against relegation. Results got worse as my team kept falling apart in the second half of games, and I lost both games to Gardner I 8 I and then Goughii.
I think I was lucky to play Ryjones88 in his first game back in the league, and we had two very tight and cagey games, taking 3 points each. Thankfully for me Diode X and Red Rhinoceros were having a worse season than me at that point but, I needed to make some changes in the hope of improving results. I went big in a BFA and bought pacey striker Maxi Beier for 30m, then switched formation to 352 to go more attacking. It certainly made a positive difference and I was delighted to take 4 points off Hilly89. With Goughii leaving the league, the good point was that two defeats were wiped from my record, but unfortunately he'd been replace with a better player, so new boy anunnaki5 put the 2 defeats back on my record!
We were now into the final run in and my team were performing better. Matchday 8 was against Jobi Juan and two of the most fun games of the season against someone who likes to play the game the same way as me, more so because I won them both, 1-0 and 5-4 respectively. The penultimate matchday put me up against Diode X who was fighting against relegation. I had to come back from behind in both games. winning 3-2 and 4-3 to more or less condemn his Man City team to Division 3 next season. With safety guaranteed and all other games played, the final fixture meant I would have a say in who won the league. paullowes80 needed just 2 points against me for Newcastle to become champions and everyone (including me) thought it wouldn't be a problem for him. My Andorra boys didn't let that happen though, mainly thanks to some dogged defending, heroic goalkeeping and some well worked counter attacks, and I won both games to finish Season 41 on a high.
In the Eliminator the handicap made a big difference this season, maybe because the squads were so even. I started the first stage by being well beaten by Tunners1 and SweatyBananas4U, before getting surprise wins against ItsOnlyJEFF9108 and MarcTheSharc. I finished with a goal spree, beating Nuuthatch 6-2 and Emotionalworm 5-3 and I actually ended coming 2nd in my group. It had proved to be very competitive, with only 3 points separating the top 5, and Nuuthatch was very unlucky to be eliminated despite winning 3 of his 6 games. In stage 2 I was the one unlucky to be eliminated. I'd beaten Harryn9000 and put 6 goals past him, but when his games got pooled as 0-1, the loss in goal difference was enough to knock me out. I don't normally last long in the League Cup, but this season I was lucky enough to get a bye in the first two rounds, then put in my best performance of the season in beating TopCat FC 4-2. I was now into the uncharted territory of the Quarter-finals and up against SoggyCabbages from the division below me. Unfortunately for me I had an off night and never looked like winning, so Soggy deservedly got the 2-1 victory and went onto the semis.
I didn't go mad in the transfer market this season, but thanks to spending big on a decent starter squad I didn't really need to. My plan was to go for players rated about 73, as the wages were half that of a 74 rating, so the wages could be spread nicely throughout the whole squad. I was tempted to buy a couple of young Portsmouth players, hoping that the upgrades would come, but they never did so Saydee and Anjorin got spanked on deadline day. With a policy of slowly strengthening the squad, I went big in a BFA, spending 30m on the very pacey striker Maxi Beier, partly to stop the usual pace whores getting him, but he did end up being a superb signing. Some players came in and went out not long after, some like Jahanbakhsh didn't fit in, whereas others like Hyeon Gyu Oh were sold to facilitate other transfers. I'm very happy with the squad I finished the season with as I've got strength in every position for my 352 formation, but I'm toying with reverting to playing with a back 4, so I may have to do a bit of wheeling and dealing as soon as the window opens for season 42. Watch this space!
I didn't go mad in the transfer market this season, but thanks to spending big on a decent starter squad I didn't really need to. My plan was to go for players rated about 73, as the wages were half that of a 74 rating, so the wages could be spread nicely throughout the whole squad. I was tempted to buy a couple of young Portsmouth players, hoping that the upgrades would come, but they never did so Saydee and Anjorin got spanked on deadline day. With a policy of slowly strengthening the squad, I went big in a BFA, spending 30m on the very pacey striker Maxi Beier, partly to stop the usual pace whores getting him, but he did end up being a superb signing. Some players came in and went out not long after, some like Jahanbakhsh didn't fit in, whereas others like Hyeon Gyu Oh were sold to facilitate other transfers. I'm very happy with the squad I finished the season with as I've got strength in every position for my 352 formation, but I'm toying with reverting to playing with a back 4, so I may have to do a bit of wheeling and dealing as soon as the window opens for season 42. Watch this space!