Darren: FM 2011, Newcastle’s date with destiny — end of season finals 2018/19

Hey guys and welcome to a festival of football, cup final bonanza and video fun feast. My last post concluded the EPL campaign as Newcastle ran out comfortable winners and also retained the League Cup. With those in the bag, I now have the Champions League final and FA Cup final to look forward too. Today’s post is about those two matches and those two alone.

I have two full match videos to demonstrate how ‘The Manchelona’ (my new tactic) copes in such high pressure situations. And they don’t come any harder than Barcelona in Europe’s elite after a tough tie against Manchester United in the FA Cup final. So grab a coke, tea, coffee or maybe something a little stronger and enjoy as I try to resolve those match day withdrawal symptoms. Watch both finals and I’m sure you won’t regret it. :)

FA Cup final — Manchester United vs Newcastle

Venue: Wembley

Attendance: 90,000

My first big match of two and the perfect chance for revenge after United knocked me out of Europe in the quarter-final last year. With my new tactic in full flow and the boys looking unstoppable, I had to be confident but those niggling memories from last season were still fresh. After a disaster display in defence, I feel like my key man today will be centre back Varriale.

I won’t be presenting this final in the written word, instead I’ll be relying on modern day technology and a full match video. Click the link below to hear my reactions and thoughts throughout the match.

Click here to watch full match and commentary from the FA Cup final vs Man United

What an incredible display and the nightmares of last season are officially behind me. :) Sanogo proved me wrong yet again and after a meeting I officially apologised to the lad…in my head of course. I’m starting to think Sibo was right and that Sanogo is the only exception to my Y2G system. He won’t stay until retirement but could have bought himself a few more years at Saint James Park yet.

Match stats:

Champions League final — Barcelona vs Newcastle

Venue: Vincente Calderon, Madrid

Attendance: 54,851

The match I’ve anticipated for so long, a Champions League final against Barcelona. We actually beat the Spanish giants during a Champions League final in 2013, but that victory was pure luck and I’m hoping for more than that this time around. With a full strength squad, I still maintain this match will be won and lost in attacking movement and the taking of chances. Therefore I see my right winger Anconetani as the key star to win this game.

I based my new tactics around Barcelona’s style of play and would love to prove them effective on the biggest stage. Below is the full match, including my commentary and in parts passion. I seriously recommend watching the match, lets just say it may surprise you a little. :)

Click here to watch the full Champions League final — Barcelona vs Newcastle

If the FA Cup final result was great than this was sensational. We didn’t dominate possession, but every other aspect belonged to my boys. It was a shame to see Barcelona self destruct like they did, but I don’t think they’d have beaten us today even at their best. Anconetani played his part but my central midfield three were magnificent.

Match stats:

Newcastle completed the 2018/19 season unbeaten in all competitions, in fact, if I remember rightly we won all our games bar 3 which is an incredible record. Financially we have done reasonably well also, before the FA Cup final I had £224 million in the bank and after the Champions League final the balance read almost £257 million. Not too shabby considering my shareholders took all the sponsorship money which equates to around £35 million…this is where I type a rude word, but you get the idea. :)

Well this was my best season by far, not only did we walk it to the EPL title, but we won all three cup finals by four or more goals. For those of you who watched both finals, well done and I hope you enjoyed them. My next post will take us through pre-season, but until then please feel free to ask any questions below and I look forward to reading your comments. Thanks for reading and see you soon. :)

P.S. To fulfil Jay’s screenshot request, my biography is below.