Although I wont bore you with the friendly results, I would like to say that they were very important in getting our lads back to full match fitness when they came back at the start of February. I, however, didn’t realise this and before I could do anything we were only two weeks away from a match with Liverpool at Anfield.
Bummer, bad management. Sorry.
Excuses out of the way then, and we can concentrate on the game in hand. A first-leg match against the mighty Liverpool in the first round of the Champions League knockout stages, very tasty. My lads were fired up and wanted to get a decent result to kick start our season off.
Not exactly as I planned. In all fairness though, they completely outclassed us and I was surprised it ended up being only 2-0 in the end because it could have been plenty more. Didn’t help as well that Kemal got sent off as we were starting to get back into the game :(. Still, it wasn’t impossible to turn around a 2 goal deficit so I was quietly confident being at home..
Oh. So, we crashed out of the Champions League this year in the first knockout round! A 1-1 draw wasn’t nearly enough to dispose of Liverpool, even though we took the lead just after the half when Bastos rounded the keeper. Luciano was injured before half time and this may have impacted on the defense a little as straight after the restart, there was an almighty lapse in concentration at the back to feed in Galvan.
Still, I was mightily proud of our players for coming this far in the competition and coming top of the group was the cherry on top. Got a nice sum of £2.5mil for the adventure too which is brilliant and will help towards the cost of the new players and facilities! Happy days :)
Maybe we could spare our blushes with a Swedish super cup trophy?
Oh and we did just that, retaining it in style with a 3-0 victory over Hammarby. William Olsson with the pick of the goals, a brilliant 30-yarder that flew straight into the top corner. It might have been a bit of a nothing trophy, but you get 3x more prize money than you do with the Swedish cup. Weird I know..
Anyway, that raised the lads spirits just in time for another season of the league. I was looking forward to see how well we could cope with Bruno being sold off. Totally dominated the league with him last year and i’m sure the defense can hold tight while Kaká can find his feet. Here are the results in March:
Not bad in all fairness. Great win against Malmö helped us get off the mark, Kaká scoring on his league debut and a brace from Adam Lecomte eased us to victory.
This was before drawing 1-1 away at Mjälby. They are frankly my bogey team along with Elfsborg when playing away from home. Not sure why, but they play like Barcelona every time and always grab something out of the game. Adam Lecomte again with the goal to grab a point.
To round it off though, we thumped Örebro a good 7-0. Absoluetly brilliant that match with goals from 7 different scorers. Hope this isn’t a one off and is the kind of scoreline we can continue on producing!
Onto the news then..
Only the one piece this update and it was to do with the stadium upgrade. With this, our new capacity is just under 25,000 which is great as ill be getting just over £1mil every time I fill the stadium. Pretty decent as I didn’t have to ask them to upgrade, i think the chairman knows that I would like to see everything maxed out and i’m glad he shares my ambition!
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So onto Uruguay now..
A couple of results to show you in the qualifiers:
Peru up first then! A 1-0 win which flattered them really as we had over 20 shots on target throughout the game. Was really pleased with the way the lads performed though, especially since Peru, at the time, were only 3 points behind us. Next was the turn of Bolivia..
Easily dispatched in a comfortable 3-0 victory. If we keep this up for the next couple of games, we will be securing our qualification to the World Cup! Cant wait :)
The table as it stands on 1st April:
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Alright, thats it for this episode. The next one will be after the Champions League qualifiers in August, when we will see if the new Brazilian Adriano will have made an impact from the 1st July.
Till next time then, Hej då :D
Johnny Karp
4 мая, 2011 at 21:42
It’s good to see that you have found some new talented Brazilians to turn Swedish :) Too bad about that defeat against Liverpool, I was really hoping to see you through there… Anyway, you are doing a great job with Uruguay and I’m looking forward to another dominant domestic season and a qualification to the CL knockout stage.
Excessive
5 мая, 2011 at 23:27
Cheers Johnny!
Haha, well its that pesky ‘Home Grown’ rule so I need to keep the youngsters flowing in.
I know.. I was a little disappointed but hopefully our lads will ppick themselves up and improve on that.
Well, 3rd will get me to the World Cup and that is where I want to be :)
Fingers crossed!
Stromson
4 мая, 2011 at 22:58
Ahhhh, bummer about the Liverpool tie! Still, going down on a 3-1 aggregate to one of the most successful clubs in the world is hardly anything to be ashamed of (have they managed to win a Premier League title yet?), and your squad is continuing to improve. Keep up the good work with Uruguay, I’m really liking what I’m seeing there. :-D
Excessive
5 мая, 2011 at 23:31
I suppose it’s not! They tried their best which is all I ask :)
(Honestly not sure and the comp i’m on now doesnt have FM on.. But ill get back to you at the weekend)
Hopefully, we will be going into the World Cup! Fingers crossed :)
CsAtlantis
4 мая, 2011 at 23:54
What is MFRC? :P
Too bad you lost to Liverpool, but I suppose there was also a disadvantage there, playing knockout rounds during pre-season is never really good for your team, another problem of the Swedish leagues I suppose……………
Some nice Brazilian signings, so did you get any good regens from your own academy?
CsAtlantis
4 мая, 2011 at 23:56
Oh never mind about the MFRC, i figured it out, it’s that evil minimum fee release clause………..
Excessive
5 мая, 2011 at 23:33
Haha, too right it is! ;)
Naww thats true. But bad management on my part all the same..
Nope, nothing yet unfortunately. Our facilities aren’t up to scratch yet so hopefully in a couple of years they will start coming through :)
Sears
5 мая, 2011 at 04:12
Hey Jake,
sorry for not commenting till now, was on hol with my school year in Italy.
Shame about losing to Liverpool, but you know, there amazing… :-p
Good luck
Excessive
5 мая, 2011 at 23:35
Thats alright bud, hope you had a good time!
Haha, someone has their red tinted glasses on ;)
Alex
5 мая, 2011 at 10:52
Hi Jake,
Great signings there, the one you got now looks great as a free signing. Unlucky against Liverpool but I didn’t expect you to beat them (sorry!). Your Uruguay team looks to be doing very well, can’t wait for the World Cup :D
Excessive
5 мая, 2011 at 23:37
Thanks mate, Kaka is doing great so far and on a free you cant complain. Just looking to get some profit out of him really ;)
In the next few years maybe, but your right.. Dont have the quality at the mo.
Same! First one I will have managed in :)
Darren Smith
5 мая, 2011 at 11:55
Some great potential signings there Jake, always tough to know how quick they’ll develop but hopefully you have some real gems. The Liverpool tie was a shame, but still your edging closer. With the new seeding this could become a consistent feature. Next season you might get an easier draw. :)
Excessive
5 мая, 2011 at 23:39
Absolutely, but I trust my scouts to give good reports and as they were both rated 4 and a half stars i couldnt complain :). Just hope that they come good when they are 18!
Yeah thats true, might be a few years yet before we challenge for anything substancial ;)
Ana Garcia
5 мая, 2011 at 12:40
Oh no!!
Bad luck against Liverpool but it was a fantastic achievement to get to the knockout stage.
Some more good potential signings that should help you when they develop in a few years time, some great results with Uruguay aswell I hope you can qualify for the world cup.
Good luck!!
Excessive
5 мая, 2011 at 23:40
Thanks Ana :)
Thats what im looking for, hopefully we will see both of those turn out well enough!
Laxeyman
5 мая, 2011 at 16:33
More talented Brazillians! You’ve had a good pre season there, and unlucky against Liverpool (though they are the best!), but hopefully you can go even further next time. Good luck!
Excessive
5 мая, 2011 at 23:42
Cheers Laxey :)
Another one with your red tinted glasses soldered onto your face ;)
Only joking, they were too strong for us. Just hope that we can challenge teams like that in the next few years.
Sayam Khan
5 мая, 2011 at 21:24
Good signing there, Kaka looks very good. Unlucky losing to Liverpool in the first knockout round, hopefully you do better next time. Good Luck!
Excessive
5 мая, 2011 at 23:42
Thanks Sayam, hopefully we can do one better next time :)
hils
6 мая, 2011 at 19:42
Hi Jake,good signing there!!!!!!!!!! Good start there!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!!