I haven't suffered the despair of being relegated since way back in Season 34 (with just the one promotion in that time too), but this was the season I finally fell through the Division 2 trapdoor thanks to playoff defeat.
It was a very good start to the season for my Lecco team with three points won against Hilly89 in some high scoring games, and then taking all points against Red Rhinoceros. In matchday 3 I was up against the toughest opponent of the season where I was outplayed by RFC Buncey, the only player who I wouldn't get any points from. Another very good player was up next, but in the second game NUFCMILLSY couldn't cope with my counter attacking and crossing and I pulled off a great but surprising 4-1 win. I was very pleased to take 3 points from preseason favourite TheAshCohen09 who make have been surprised at how tough it was down in Division 2! Matchday 6 was probably the one that defined my season, both games against ItsOnlyJEFF9108 were very close, but the FIFA gods smiled on him with fortunate goals in injury time to leave me with just the one point for my effort. Defenses were on top in my games against Blakeey91 with a tense goalless draw followed by a 1-0 defeat thanks to a single defensive error. I went into my final fixtures needing six points to avoid the relegation play-off, a tall order against payne wales who had hit a bit of late season form. New signing Alexander Sørloth scored a debut hat-trick in a great 4-1 victory and he did the same in the return fixture where I had to battle back from 2-0 and 3-1 down but could only manage a draw.
Despite only losing 7 of my 16 league games and ending with a positive goal difference, my total of 21 points wasn't enough to save me and I faced the jeopardy of the play-off against Diode X . It was a great game for the neutral, with plenty of attacking chances for both teams, but unfortunately for Lecco, the Hearts keeper Lucas Perri had the game of his life, saving everything I threw at him, making 9 saves in the game. Diode was much more clinical at the other end, scoring four goals, and despite my xG stat of 4.4, my only consolation was Ferguson scoring from a very soft penalty award. Looking at results individually it hadn't been a disaster of a season, but in a division that was so close, my team ultimately fell short and I can look forward to taking my team to Division 3 on the new game.
It was a very good start to the season for my Lecco team with three points won against Hilly89 in some high scoring games, and then taking all points against Red Rhinoceros. In matchday 3 I was up against the toughest opponent of the season where I was outplayed by RFC Buncey, the only player who I wouldn't get any points from. Another very good player was up next, but in the second game NUFCMILLSY couldn't cope with my counter attacking and crossing and I pulled off a great but surprising 4-1 win. I was very pleased to take 3 points from preseason favourite TheAshCohen09 who make have been surprised at how tough it was down in Division 2! Matchday 6 was probably the one that defined my season, both games against ItsOnlyJEFF9108 were very close, but the FIFA gods smiled on him with fortunate goals in injury time to leave me with just the one point for my effort. Defenses were on top in my games against Blakeey91 with a tense goalless draw followed by a 1-0 defeat thanks to a single defensive error. I went into my final fixtures needing six points to avoid the relegation play-off, a tall order against payne wales who had hit a bit of late season form. New signing Alexander Sørloth scored a debut hat-trick in a great 4-1 victory and he did the same in the return fixture where I had to battle back from 2-0 and 3-1 down but could only manage a draw.
Despite only losing 7 of my 16 league games and ending with a positive goal difference, my total of 21 points wasn't enough to save me and I faced the jeopardy of the play-off against Diode X . It was a great game for the neutral, with plenty of attacking chances for both teams, but unfortunately for Lecco, the Hearts keeper Lucas Perri had the game of his life, saving everything I threw at him, making 9 saves in the game. Diode was much more clinical at the other end, scoring four goals, and despite my xG stat of 4.4, my only consolation was Ferguson scoring from a very soft penalty award. Looking at results individually it hadn't been a disaster of a season, but in a division that was so close, my team ultimately fell short and I can look forward to taking my team to Division 3 on the new game.
In the Division 2 it was a quick exit for me with a defeat in my first game to NUFCMILLSY but I had a better run in the Champions League. In the first stage, the one goal handicap helped me to wins against SuitedRecluse and aaronc333 and i carried on that good form to finish the group with 9 wins from 13 games and qualify comfortably for the next stage. I was disappointed that the second group stage was scrapped as I was looking forward to some good games, but instead I played poorly in the first knockout game and crashed out 6-3 to aaronc333 who had Nico Williams running rings round my defence. I usually get knocked out very early in League Cup so a little run to the quarter finals was a nice change this season. I won close games against payne wales and Blakeey91 and nearly did the same against x Morriis but he pulled off a great comeback in the final 10 minutes to beat me 4-3.
I'm very happy with the team I've built over the last couple of seasons, finding a formation that I enjoy playing with and finding players to fit the positions. I have players like Ferguson and Beier that play much better than their ratings suggest, and as other managers notice this I've had a few transfer enquiries I've had to politely decline. As I never trial players before I buy them, I've bought players that look good on paper but I just can't get to gel in my team, Brian Brobbey being the main one, brought in for 28m and sold on a few weeks later for 23m. A good player but he just wasn't for me. Levi Garcia was my main goalscorer this season as I rotated the strikers around to find the right mix, but I think the late addition of Alexander Sørloth (thanks to the Magnicent 7 refund) will hopefully see him on the Golden Boot list for Division 3 next season. I'm happy with how the defence looks, having upgraded my centre-back pairing of Machida and Mac Allister to Kalulu and Mavropanos, and finding out what a beast Abdulhamid is at right back (and dont forget the Long Throw+ trait!).
Despite it being an unsuccessful season in Division 2 I think its been the most enjoyable on EA FC24 to play thanks to the team I've built. I'll be waiting to see what the ratings for the new game are before I decide what my starting 11 will be, or who can be transferred out of my high wage squad. See you all next season.
Written by member: Big B 1970