Hi everyone! :)
Welcome back to my Pentagon challenge which has seen four champions league out of five secured as we are on the last leg trying to claim glory in South America.
Last time I left you I unveiled my new side that of Velez and after a bad start we managed to claim the runners up prize allowing us to challenge in the Copa Sudamericana (abbreviated to C Suda for easier typing! ;)), so far I am enjoying Argentina and as I showed you last post, teams from my new league have really dominated the Copa Lib so am hopeful I can conclude the final part of this journey.
So lets get on with it and have a look at how my season went.
Managerial C.V
— Black Aces (June 2011 – June 2018)
African Premier League : 2016
Super 8′s Winner : 2015, 2016
First Division : 2012
South African Knockout Cup : 2016
The African Champions League : 2017
— New York Red Bulls (January 2019 –December 2021)
U.S. Cup : 2019
MLS : 2020, 2021
North American Champions League : 2020
— FC Seoul ( January 2022 – December 2025)
K-League : 2023, 2024
Korean FA Cup : 2022
Korean League Cup : 2024
The Asian Champions League : 2025
— Arsenal (July 2026 -June 2028)
The Premier League : 2027, 2028
The Europa League : 2027
The FA Cup : 2027
The League Cup : 2028
The European Champions League : 2028
— Velez Sarsfield (December 2028 – Present)
Nothing Yet.
International Career
— U.S.A (May 2017 – July 2021)
Nothing.
— Spain (July 2024 – Present)
——————————————
Expansions and Things!
So a bit of money was spent on an expansion, well not an expansion really just adding seats as only half our stadium is seated. The problem is that due to the work we now have to ground share with River until April so we wont really have a home stadium until then.
The second is an upgrade to the training facilities which I didnt feel were that bad but another £925k was taken to improve those bringing us up to four star levels.
Club Information and Finances
So we did lose a bit of our estimated value mainly down to the improvements and we did pay back a tiny bit of our £5 million pounds debt.
Nothing really has changed too much.
So no surprise to see our money drop a little due to the improvements which seem a bit unnecessary I would have rather have kept it for new players so again it seems I will have to sell to buy to try and improve my squad this season.
Transfers In and Out — First Window
So I tried to keep my spending as low as I could whilst trying to get rid of my poorer players and keeping hold of my better ones.
I did fail to keep Mauricio Lopez, Alexis Castillo and Martin Romero but all left for Europe so I really could’nt do anything to keep them. I made lots of new signings which at first trying to focus on youth with the problem being price.
Most quality Argentine youngsters are worth as you would expect quite a lot of money so I had to re-work my plan buying the best that was available, so a lot are over 25 some even closer to thirty but should do well for at least a couple of seasons.
Martin Fernandez
Juan Preito
Jorge Rosales
So a selection of my better buys in my opinion, Fernandez was bought to replace the departed Castillo in the center of our midfield whilst Prieto was bought to hopefully score some goals which we lacked last season.
Rosales was on-loan last season and had a buy clause in the deal which I activated as I felt he was really good last season so I made that move permanent.
Opening Stage Results and Table
Yay!!
We won! River put up a great fight but we played so well trough the opening stage and in my opinion deserved to claim the stage, a highlight being a 5-1 victory at River!
Remember we are ground sharing with them so essentially we beat them 5-1 at home!!
Infact we are fantastic at are adopted home only dropping two points against Boca with this we qualified for the Copa Libertadores (Copa Lib) which will be posted in the cup competitions bit below.
Closing Stage Results and Table
Hmmm, so a pretty bad closing stage.
A win-less run of four games then another defeat meant we never really looked like we could win this stage Tigre beat Boca in a playoff for the title due to them finishing on the same amount of points.
The curios things is that we lost away at teams that we should be beating but I wasnt too disappointed as we just hit a bad patch of results which can happen we did improve to win our final two league games but by then we really had to chance to clinch the title.
Our defense was just fine the problem was scoring goals as we are just too wasteful at the moment.
Cup Competitions
Copa Argentina
So out on penalties at the first hurdle! This is the domestic cup in Argentina similar to the FA cup or Spanish cup I guess, how we lost I will never know but it happens I guess. :)
Copa Sudamericana
So we never got going and were out in the first round to Argentinos, first leg was near disaster losing 3-1 and at home we were even worse as we created very little losing both legs and were deservedly knocked out.
Copa Libertadores
Out in the quarter finals!
We had a good go but in the end we just didnt have enough as we wasted far too many chances losing on, yes you guessed penalties! :(
We should have won both games in the second and quarter finals far more easily but we couldnt convert any chances so we were out.
Final Player Ratings of the Season
So a look at the ratings and I was delighted with all my players in all honesty.
Barreto was a star, bought for the future as he is only 19 but I played him on the wide left in my formation and he was very impressive scoring 10 times in an injury hit season.
Fernandez another new face had an excellent debut season scoring but more importantly assisting from center midfield.
Garza may have been the find of the season bought in on a free transfer he is a very talented Mexican full back aged 21 and another fine debut season. Prieto did score goals but I cant help feeling he should have gotten a few more but Saccani is now wanted my AC Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Man City and my former side Arsenal, it will be a huge struggle to keep a hold of him for next season.
Star Man of the Season — Miguel Angel Barretto
End of Season Finances and Save Game Status
Wow!!
A loss of £35 million! Honestly I cant understand where its all gone….
Lets try and break this down a bit :
Ok this does not make any sense, I mean we have a far smaller squad yet payed MORE in players wages?
Bonuses fair enough we did have a pretty decent season, loyalty bonus about the same but staff wages went up despite me losing five or six and I didn’t replace them?
Non football cost fair enough about the same, players bough fair enough I did spend a bit but I did re-coup most of that with selling players agent fees £3 million!
I guess they see me coming but I do take out bonuses like higher earner clauses and % yearly wage rises so that must save us more money over time as I seen it happen during my journey so far.
How we ended with almost £50 million lost is a complete puzzle I mean we lost almost £20 million more than last season despite making profits on transfers and competing in the Copa Suda and Copa Lib!
I Hope my chairman isnt pocketing any extra money for himself. :)
End of Season Round-Up
So that was the season as it happened, and its fair to say that it was an ok season nothing better than that.
I guess I was blending lots of new players together but I cant really use that as an excuse as we won the opening stage yet fell away in the closing one. Our cup competitions were a near disaster falling at the first hurdles twice then losing the quarter final of the Copa Lib to an inferior side a game we should have won easily.
This part of the challenge may be more trickier than I expected as most sides are very close and anyone can beat anyone on any given day, throw in the fact we are losing vast amounts of money every season with no real way of stopping it except selling our best players. They dont add up at least from what I can see maybe a glitch or something as I have literally cut as many players and staff as I could yet we are paying even more?
It does not make sense, we dont sell out our stadium so finding that money to get back on a positive bank balance will be very hard and I will have to sell my better players again to hopefully find a solution.
But I guess thats half the fun right! Battling declining finances is always a tricky thing especially as we dont get that much for entering and winning things but losing my star players will be annoying as good replacements are usually quite expensive.
So once again thanks so much for reading and following, it will be interesting too see what you think about my season and the future, I think a Copa Lib win may be a few seasons at least until I can get these finances sorted.
So until my next post, bye bye for now! :)
David Wiggins
16 апреля, 2012 at 00:21
A big surprise seeing you lose to Cerro Porteno even if it is in the 29-30 season!
I think you called it right when you said it was an ok season. Next season will be a huge one for you especially with the way the club is bleeding money! You may have to win the Copa Lib before losing a load of players and going backwards
Ana Garcia
17 апреля, 2012 at 20:23
Thanks David! :)
I know, we made hard work of both or knockout games against inferior opposition but we did have a load of injuries but I still did expect better.
That’s my main fear at the moment and it may be unavoidable but to sell our better players in order to balance our finances which means constant re-building until we are self sufficient money wise!
David Wiggins
18 апреля, 2012 at 00:43
Have you looked to see if the other Argentine teams are in a similar position?
Ana Garcia
19 апреля, 2012 at 21:56
The bigger sides are super rich, infact Argentinos bought a forward from Europe for £24 million.
River also have been spending big am still not sure whats going wrong with our finances at the moment.
saltwater
16 апреля, 2012 at 00:22
Thanks for the quick post, I didn’t expect it so early. Anyway I’m beginning to really enjoy this story. As you said the league seems incredibly tight and that shows seeing how in the second part of the season you finished 5th (only 5 points off the champions though) in contrast to the first part, but that does make it more interesting to read :). Unlucky in the domestic cups, I hate when I can’t aquire a good cup run so i’m sure it must have been fustrating being knocked out on penalties (AGAIN!) when you have enough talent to win it. But all in all a very entertaining season as this is a real test of your managerial skill.
Good luck!
Ana Garcia
17 апреля, 2012 at 20:26
Thanks and your welcome! ;)
We began the season so well and really eased the opening stage but ever since we moved back to our home stadium results dropped and performances were poor.
Its tough to see what went wrong but its a tough league so I put it down to just a bad run.
Penalties have always annoyed me! I have had more luck in them on this game but still lose more than I win but i really like Argentina so I dont mind staying here for a few more seasons. :)
Tegar Triemanudigdo
16 апреля, 2012 at 00:36
Ah, it wasn’t too bad at all, though I’m still pretty curious about the loss you’ve got there. Nah, I think it can be sorted out later on.
Anyway, I hope next season you can achieve at least one cup (either Libetadores or Sudamericana).
Ana Garcia
17 апреля, 2012 at 20:29
Thanks Tegar. :)
Just a bad run of form I think, I get them quite a lot. We didn’t qualify for the Copa Sudamericana as we finished to low in the closing stage but next season if we can win the opening stage we will qualify for the Copa Lib so that’s my aim! :)
Malhar Bhadbhade
16 апреля, 2012 at 01:33
hey ana,
you had an awesome run in the first half of the season. and congrats on that…the players you signed were also quality and that young striker Barreto looks like he could be a real beast at his peak. hopefully you can hold on to your best players. good luck in the copa lib next season! cant wait for the next post!! cheers!!
p.s.- Tottenham Hotspur 1 — 5 Chelsea!!!! Wembley here we come! :D
Ana Garcia
17 апреля, 2012 at 20:32
Thanks Malhar! :)
I was very pleased with Barreto at first I though of giving him a few games as he was bought for the future but he played so well then got injured! But he bounced back well and had a very encouraging debut season.
Holding my best players seems impossible (you will see next post! :P).
Ha! Yeah we watched the game am just so happy for Juan Mata he looks like he has settled so well in England, fingers crossed he can continue his form for the upcoming Euro’s! :)
CsAtlantis
16 апреля, 2012 at 02:23
Hey Ana, congratulations on winning the opening stage, Barreto and Garza have come into the team and done extremely well, better luck in the Libertadores next season, I think your team probably did not expect to get knocked out by Cerra Porteno
Some of your expenses became much higher (esp. players bought, match day expenses (probably all the extra games from the two Copas? and the always mysterious «others» expenses)
There is something fishy about your wage bill, might be time to check up on your chairman’s bank account ;D
Ana Garcia
17 апреля, 2012 at 20:40
Thanks!! :)
Garza was brilliant, he was one of those where an agent brings him to your attention and I was pretty impressed with him in his first season.
Well we were on a bad run so I guess the defeat wasnt that expected but we created so many chances I just knew we would lose on penalties I have seen it so often! :)
Well we did buy a few new players but we did also sell a lot to balance it out or at least I thought but we didn’t get lump sums instead are getting payed over x amount of months, other is very annoying I would really like to know what that includes.
If I was losing money in real life and my statement said ‘other’ I would straight on the phone to find out exactly what that meant!
Kevin
16 апреля, 2012 at 07:26
Hi Ana
Well I’ve been over in the UK (which you will see in my post) so I’m a bit behind in your story and just jumping right in here. I don’t understand your financail difficulties either but if anyone can turn a negative into a positive it’s certainly you. Sorry, i’m a bit confused. You won the first half and Tigre the second half — is there an overall champion? Anyway, it looks like you have a fairly good season overall and hopefully you can keep hold of Barretto to imporve your fortunes :)
Ana Garcia
17 апреля, 2012 at 20:58
Thanks Kevin!
Its two separate leagues, think of the premiership you play each team once thats the opening stage with a champion then you play each team a second time thats the closing stage with a champion.
So there are two champions in Argentina a little bit like Mexico where I managed last year but no overall champion.
Barreto is a massive player which is surprising as I only bought him as one for the future so fingers crossed I can keep hold of him!
TheZiggy
16 апреля, 2012 at 11:00
This league is definitely confusing, being in two distinct halves. Sad to see the dreaded penalty shoot-out claim another victim. The financial situation is also somewhat weird, especially as you’d done quite a few things which should have brought about an improvement.
Having to sell players just to break even is never a good situation, but I’m sure you’ll turn it around in the end.
Ana Garcia
17 апреля, 2012 at 21:03
Thanks Ziggy!
Its looks confusing but think of it as two separate leagues where you play each team once for the opening stage then play every team again for the closing stage.
Then you have two champions, the opening stage champions qualifies for the Copa Lib, and the closing winner qualifies for the Copa Suda.
Finances are confusing as I felt I had done well in reducing my squad and saving money, yet we are losing more money than ever. I may have to sell my star names as I have no other choices at the moment! :)
Johnny Karp
16 апреля, 2012 at 16:03
Hm, those finances are looking quite bad but I guess things can be brought back on track if you sell one or two of the top earners and replace them with hungry youngsters :) Anyway, it wasn’t a bad season overall and my fingers are crossed for a better Copa Libertadores showing next season!
Ana Garcia
17 апреля, 2012 at 21:06
Thanks Johnny! :)
I did sell most of my high earners and replaced them with youth yet we are still losing money! It seems (not 100% sure yet) that when we sold those players we are still paying their wages.
I think it may be a glitch but hopefully it was only this season other wise we will be losing so much that I will never recover.
Me too! :)
Dan
16 апреля, 2012 at 16:56
Ouch, nasty finances there but I’m sure they’ll improve. All in all I wouldn’t really say you had a bad season, it seems it was difficult and at times very frustrating though. Hopefully next season your team can step up and win (or at least make progress) in your final Champions League! :)
Good luck!
Ana Garcia
17 апреля, 2012 at 21:10
Thanks Dan. :)
That sums it up nicely! Frustrating with missed chances but am pretty happy with my defense which is a first for me!
Well we got to the quarter finals of the champions league so that’s a bench mark I think, we should have progressed though as we were against weaker opposition just hopeless finishing costing us!! :)
Laxeyman
16 апреля, 2012 at 21:08
Pretty decent Ana, your side were fantastic in the 1st half of the campaign, and despite falling away slightly, you did well to get as far as you did in the Copa Lib, and were unlucky in the cup. If you can keep hold of Barreto and add a couple of quality players then I reckon you could have a great season next year :) Good luck!
Ana Garcia
17 апреля, 2012 at 21:13
Thanks Laxeyman! :)
I agree, first half we were brilliant but second we did fall away and struggled for goals and with my formation we should be scoring a lot more.
At least I have a good defense for once!
Adding quality will be tricky with the finances as they are, I may have to sell some star names in order to buy anyone! :)
Darren Smith
16 апреля, 2012 at 21:45
Hey Ana,
I think that was a decent season and with a little more strength in depth could really challenge on all fronts. I just can’t get my head around those finances. You usually have a great grip in that area and from what we’ve seen it is impossible for all that money to go adrift…very bizarre!!!
Ana Garcia
17 апреля, 2012 at 21:19
Thanks Darren! :)
We have a pretty good squad but its just missing chances that’s costing us at the moment. We are at our foreign player limit and good Argentine youngsters are pretty expensive am going to have to sort my finances before I try and buy anyone.
I agree! I always feel confident balancing my finances its never been that much of a problem for me but this is crazy at the moment! It seems the more I try and reduce the higher it goes!
But it turns out, I think that we are still paying the wages for the players that we have sold. Am hoping its just a one season glitch other wise I could be in big trouble financially!
Sears
17 апреля, 2012 at 16:23
That was a good enough season Ana, you were brilliant in the opening stages but seemed to dip in the closing stages, which was a shame .. Good luck next season :D
Ana Garcia
17 апреля, 2012 at 21:20
Thanks Sears! :)
MRDNRA
17 апреля, 2012 at 21:06
Not a bad season as such unlucky in the cups. Barreto seems good although a lot of his mental stats seem quite weak to me. Hopefully you can get those finances sorted but that does seem really weird to lose that much.
Ana Garcia
17 апреля, 2012 at 21:22
Thanks! :)
I agree, but Barreto is still improving so hopefully some of those stats will increase over time.
I think the problem is because I sold my players in installments I am still paying their wages for some strange reason. I thinks its a glitch or something and am hoping its just this season otherwise I will be losing a lot more money in the future! :)
Rod
18 апреля, 2012 at 08:56
Ana! I have to say that i’m not surprised at all, as you can imagine, i always play in Argentina, and with almost every team you have to struggle against finances, i usually sell 1 or 2 good players and replace them with youngsters from the team (los juveniles son lo que más tenés que aprovechar en esta liga). Haha, and there are a lot of chairmans who steal a lot of money here in Argentina (Football Manager is the real deal!).
And i have to say, i manage to sell my best players at no less than 10M Euros (sometimes 20M), so you will have to fight a bit more in the negotiations, it’s possible to earn more.
Anyways, that was a good Apertura (first stage), it’s not easy to win everything in this league, and you didn’t have luck, so next season i’m sure it will be one to remember.
Mucha suerte!
Ana Garcia
19 апреля, 2012 at 22:05
Hola Rod!! :)
LoL! I think my chairman may be one who likes to ‘borrow’ from our finances! :)
Knowing that then I feel a little better, its just in my game River and Argentinos are super rich spending upwards of £20 million on players whilst I lose more money than I’ve ever seen!
I have been promoting some younger players from our academy, some are even four and a half stars of potential which is encouraging and I have been trying to get more money for my players too.
I really like Argentina though, I like the league and how competitive it is and I really like Velez (except my chairman!) luck was against us but we also had some pretty poor performances so I hope for better next season.
Gracias por la suerte!! :)
silva
18 апреля, 2012 at 17:47
What will u do after u have won everything in Argentina
Ana Garcia
19 апреля, 2012 at 22:07
Hi Silva!
Hmmm I dont know yet! I guess I will take advice from my readers and see what they think or might some leagues I havent tried yet! :)
Mohammad Sadek
18 апреля, 2012 at 20:53
All in All it’s a good season , But i think the club’s loss is 12 million not 35 million .
Ana Garcia
19 апреля, 2012 at 22:10
Thanks Mohammed! :)
I was talking about our total loss which was even worse than £35 million at almost £50 million it was not the gross loss which is our income minus our expenditure which was 12 million.
Am still trying to figure out why we are losing so much money! :)
Acss
19 апреля, 2012 at 09:12
First part of the season was great :) And that makes the season a good one, ’cause you qualified for Copa Lib., this gave you another chance to complete your challenge. Think if it would have been otherwise, if you finished 5th in the Opening Stage :P
What I don’t understand about finances…you bought players for a total of 10.25M but in that expenditure report it says 14M. Is this from buying players in previous seasons with that clause on 24/48 months? «cause I can’t find any other reasons for that difference. And how did you sell those players? Did you receive 19.5M in full or you are about to receive them during the following seasons? There can be a lot of tricks behind that financial loss, I know it happened the same to me at Chavdar, I didn’t understand why I was losing money but then I saw I had basically no income :) Anyway good luck for next season, I hope for a better one!
Ana Garcia
19 апреля, 2012 at 22:18
Thanks Acss! :)
Very true! But we should have progressed further in the Copa Lib as we are a superior side, just like last night Barca had all the play hit the bar, the post, missed two tap ins and Chelsea score with their only attempt!
Just bad luck I guess, no you are correct most of our transfers out were sold in 24/48 month installments which is probably crippling the club at the moment.
Our income wasnt that bad as we made about £7-£8 million profit than the previous season and that was not playing at home for the opening stage and some of the closing also.
But losses were almost £30 million more than the previous season!!
Am still trying to figure out just whats going wrong. :)
vaibhavc
20 апреля, 2012 at 18:06
The Copa Lib is the champions league tight? Or is it the Copa Sudamerica? You didnt do that bad in the second stage, it was only the win less run of four games that cost you.
Ana Garcia
26 апреля, 2012 at 19:58
You are correct the Copa Lib is the champions league I thought the Copa Suda was the Europa league equivalent but that is wrong.
Am not sure what it is but my aim is to win the Copa Lib! :)
True but we didn’t play well during that spell but it wasn’t a disaster I guess. :)