Career chewkaiwen Attempts the Six-State Challenge

[Dave994]

I think you'll get the targets next season. Good luck.

[chewkaiwen]

Cheers mates, am definitely hoping to do so and get on with the challenge! Stage 4 looks difficult to be honest, should be an interesting challenge to do!

Edited September 7, 2018 by chewkaiwen

[chewkaiwen]

Season 13: Records Broken at Last?

Almost done with this challenge, but time is not on our side and Rojas is not getting any younger, so will we complete this stage this season?

Transfers

Spoiler

 

Some small movements as I have already settled down on a rather decent squad! 

All round midfielder which looks rather decent, brought in just in case Courtois decides to leave, him being rather loud voiced and noisy in the recent few months.

Bilic's replacement, not as fast or as clinical as him stats wise, but still young and with plenty of potential to improve!

A real bargain of a player! Not sure how I managed to steal him for just 1.3m but I'm definitely not complaining! Slots in rather nicely in the winger position!

Backup midfielder who came in on a free from Chelsea. Rather decent and all round stats with good pace as well!

 

Cup

Spoiler

 

NACL

Easily won 5-1 at home, which gave us the momentum and plenty of opportunity to rotate the squad for the return leg. Herrlich with a debut goal, brilliant for the young wonderkid.

The return affair was a much more dull affair, but it didn't matter too much as we made it into the next round without too much disturbances. 

A 5-0 lead in the first leg meant we went into the 2nd leg with a huge advantage, and once again, yet another chance to rotate and rest my players!

Went totally riot in the 2nd leg, despite fielding an almost all reserve squad! The tremendous result meant we would advance 12-0 on aggregate, a brilliant result for us!

Took a 5-0 lead, but sloppiness saw us concede 2 goals in the 2nd half. 5-2 by no means is a bad result, but the 2 away goals means that anything could still happen in the return leg!

However, our fears would not be realised, as we utterly dominated the return leg to take a 2-0 win and advance to the final with a 7-2 win on aggregate!

We faced off against local rivals FC Dallas, and we showed them who is the best with a 2-0 solid win at home, Rojas and de Sart getting the 2 goals that we needed!

We then went to their home to face them off, and did not let go of any steam. A 3-1 win was sufficient to see off Dallas and give us yet another NACL trophy!

US Cup

Our reserve team started off with a 6-2 win against Indy Eleven, a rather good result though I would definitely be annoyed that we conceded 2 penalties, courtesy of a poor performance at left back by Chaveste. Shout out to Manotas, his first appearance for 2 seasons and he scores a goal!

\

We then get a much more difficult tie away at San Jose, but goals from Walls and Bilic was enough to see us through to the next round despite Miller equalising for them in the 36th minute!

An early goal by New England stunned us, but we did well to make it 4-1 by half time. A late own goal by Maistrello brought us to panic stations, but luckily we were able to hold on for the win!

With 2 non-league teams facing off against each other in the other semi final, this was one match both sides did not want to lose. Unfortunately for Minnesota, they were unable to break through against my team, as 2 Arribas goals with a Cruz own goal sandwiched in between saw us make it to the final with a 3-0 win!

Jacksonville might be a non-league team but they gave us a run for our money! We failed to make a breakthrough against them in the first half, and things got from bad to worse when Law was sent off 9 minutes after coming on! Luckily, a Maretti goal and a goal from the spot by Schwall saved us the blushes as we lifted the US Cup!

MLS Cup

De Sart and Bodavarsson gave us a convincing 2-0 win away from home, though it required us to make it to the second half before we could find the breakthrough.

The second leg was much more open, and it required a late Casiple goal to give us a 3-2 win and entry into the Western Conference Final!

Against local derby rivals FC Dallas, we showed them no mercy at their home as we humiliated them in front of their own fans! De Sart and Rojas both scored braces, while up and coming superstar Herrlich got a goal for himself as well as we went 5-0 up by half time.

Cries of "There's only 1 team in Texas" could be heard throughout the match as we easily got a 3-1 win at home to sweep FC Dallas aside and make it to the MLS Cup Final!

An extremely action-packed, nail-biting match was present for all to witness! After Boly had a goal ruled out for offside, Arribas had given us the lead but Boly scored an equaliser just 6 minutes later! It would be heartbreak for Orlando, as Moar accidentally knocks a ball into his own net to give Houston the 2-1 win and the MLS Cup!

Club World Cup Championship

We represent North America yet again on this world tournament and we open it with a stunning 4-1 win over Sydney FC! The man advantage definitely played a huge factor as they played with 10 men for almost the entire match and just could not contain us!

We followed that up with a 4-2 win against River Plate, but we won't be happy with this result, as complacency got the better of us and after going 4-0 up, we conceded 2 goals in the second half and could be in an even worser shape had Fernandez's penalty not been saved.

Our reward? A final against Sevilla! We took the early lead through Clough, but Sevilla then managed to get the upperhand in the match and made a comeback to get the 3-1 win against us, and inflicting upon us our first and only loss of the season! Disappointing, but still plenty of positives to take away from this match!

 

League

Spoiler

 

Definitely overjoyed with going the entire season unbeaten as we totally bossed the league this season! Much progress has been made in the past 4 seasons and this its a proud moment to see how the team has improved since then!

 

Fixtures

Spoiler

 

 

Player/Targets

Spoiler

 

Just a bit more to meeting the requirements for Rojas, but did we manage to do it in reality?

Well, Rojas is getting old but his attributes has yet to show that sharp decline so we still have a bit of time on our side! He is still helping out in scoring and creating the goals consistently as well so thats a good thing!

Targets

• 90 MLS Goals by Rojas (Current: 101)
• 85 MLS Assists by Rojas (Current: 86)
• League
•  Cup

Well we have done it! And with that, Manuel "Mexican Messi" Rojas has became the first ever Mexican to be on the MLS All-time Goals and Assists charts! And with that, we can start to focus on Stage 4...

State 4 - California 

The home of rap music in the 80's and 90's, California was the place to be for that brand of music. And for many, it still is the place to be, with 39.5 Million residents currently occupying the state. Shame that number is so high for you though....

State 4 Challenge: Sell as many players as you can to get as close as possible to a transfer budget of £39.5 Million. Then, you can only spend 30% of that (£10.7 Million) to revamp your squad. Win a North American Champions League. 

Clubs Available: San Jose Earthquakes, LA Galaxy

Difficulty: Medium

Looks like a really interesting challenge and I can't wait to get started on it!

 

Miscellaneous

Spoiler

 

Well, after having had to wait a long wait to get my next club for the past 2 stages, lady luck finally shone on us! I didn't notice it explicitly but apparently, the US National Team coach retired at the end of this season, and the LA Galaxy manager moved over to take the role, thus opening the job that I needed!

And of course I applied...

 

Given my stature in MLS football, who could resist me? And so, the offer came in soon after!

And I accepted the job!

And so begins stage 4! Just yet again, a recap of what I have to achieve here...

State 4 Challenge: Sell as many players as you can to get as close as possible to a transfer budget of £39.5 Million. Then, you can only spend 30% of that (£10.7 Million) to revamp your squad. Win a North American Champions League. 

To make this challenge tougher and more exciting for me, I am going to define a couple of rules for this stage! I am going to stick strictly to the 10.7 million budget. Meaning that until I win the NACL with LA Galaxy (which could very well happen in 1 season or in 10 seasons), I will not be allowed to spend anything beyond the 10.7m. Free transfers are allowed, but no spending on anything beyond that!

After I have won the NACL, I will be allowed to spend however much I want to!

And so begins Stage 4...

 

 

 

 

[chewkaiwen]

Season 14: Hollywood Style

Ahh...there's nothing like the cameras and the flashing lights...welcome to Los Angeles, where dreams are made and shattered all in the same place. It is also here where we begin Chapter 4 of our 6 states challenge, with the ambitious goal of being the one to transform the wanna be stars of LA Galaxy to actual world beaters. But how long will it take? And how much must be sacrificed to realise that goal? Continue to stay tuned to find out...

Transfers

Spoiler

 

Before we start off with our buying spree, lets fulfil the first part of the required clause in this challenge: 

Sell as many players as you can to get as close as possible to a transfer budget of £39.5 Million.

In my case, I had made the transfer budget £0, meaning I had to sell till I got £39.5 million. And thats exactly what I did, breaking my heart in the process as I was forced to sell certain players which would have been definite key players should I have played them...

But yes, as you can see, I did manage to hit the exact 39.5 million that was asked of me! And with that, I went into the 2nd part of the statement:

Then, you can only spend 30% of that (£10.7 Million) to revamp your squad.

With that in mind, I started rebuilding my squad. The rebuilding came in 2 phases, the Jan phase (cash spending phase) and the Jul phase (Bosmans)

PHASE 1 (Jan-Mar)

GOALKEEPERS

My main goalkeeper, nice signing and was a small fee too so quite happy with this. 

Backup keeper. A rather decent looking player when it comes to being a backup and he was transfer listed by Valencia anyways, so why not swoop in for him?

DEFENDERS

Can play in both left back and right back, and has quite decent stats too. A bargain steal in my opinion.

Right back player, and was one of the only decent looking right backs on offer that was willing to come to the club and for less than 500k!

For just 120k, this is a steal definitely. He has the stats needed to be a strong, hard tackling defender and he can be the proven backup defender that I need in the side.

Bought in on a free transfer, he will be a backup left back/right back for me. 

Already from LA Galaxy.

Already from LA Galaxy.

Already from LA Galaxy

MIDFIELDERS

Bought from Real Madrid for 525k, he has the attributes required to be a decent CM, if not a Box to Box midfielder. His relatively younger age also means he has a bit more room for improvement.

All round midfielder who has decent stats, and seems suited to play as a ball winning midfielder. Not that old either so he definitely can still improve, and he will fit in nicely as a backup midfielder.

Already from LA Galaxy

Already from LA Galaxy

WINGERS

My most expensive signing at 1.5m, but with good reason. He is a versatile player who can play throughout the wingers positions as well as central mid if needed and he has rather good looking attributes to be very honest, with the potential to develop even more. I love wingers who has plenty of pace, stamina and creativity, and he fits right into the style of winger that I want.

Backup winger, and having spent 1.2m for him, it is quite clear which area of the squad I find is the most vital to making my team work. Bersart has the strong crossing and dribbling abilities which coupled with his pace and strength definitely will make him an impact sub should I need to find a goal in the dying moments of the match. 

Already from LA Galaxy

STRIKERS

I like this lad a lot. He only cost me 250k but he has both the pace of a poacher and the aerial skill and strength needed for a target man. This makes him a brilliant backup striker who can fill in the gaps whichever part of the starting lineup he is needed in.

Not as pacey or as strong as Churlinov but he does seem better all round in general. He can still be counted to play as a target man if needed though. Backup striker for me.

Already from LA Galaxy

Already from LA Galaxy

PHASE 2 (Jun)

Yet another striker, he is another pacey yet strong player who I can rely on as a super sub.

One of 3 players who came in on a Bosman from Napoli. A good looking CB who is still young, and hence can still have much room to improve. Likely to be a sub in the first season, but a great improvement should see him become a likely starter in the future.

Poached from Arsenal, I always fancy full backs with a strong pace and stamina as well in addition to tackling ability. This young lad has it all and will be a starter for me in the LB position.

The second of 3 players from Napoli, he is a all round midfielder. Will play in the CM role and with pretty strong mental attributes, I feel he is one that can be trusted to play at the heart of midfield to create the chances I need and turn defence into attack. Again, young with potential to develop!

The final of my 3 Napoli Bosmans would be this lad. He already looks a strong goalkeeper and only at 20 years of age! With Nyman and Le Celso both being called up to their National teams when the season started good and proper, this young lad makes a very solid backup goalkeeper that I can rely on.

This is 1 of 3 players which I paid cash for in the July window. Another goalkeeper you might ask? Well, he only cost 30k and my youth scout identified him as a 5* potential so why not. Was loaned out immediately but in the future, this could be one to look out for!

Bought for 350k, this was another player highlighted by my youth scout as a high potential player and given he was able to be bought for a low price, I went in for him, as he could serve a rather decent backup for my midfield which needed a bit more depth.

With quite a bit of money spare in the bank, I decided to spend 1.2m on this lad, also recommended highly by my youth scout. Decent looking right back who can surprisingly play right wing as well, and could serve as a backup initially until he improves where he likely can hold the first team spot for the right back position.

And I'll show you my transfers in page...8.25m spent and I think I am a very happy man after the 2 windows of wheeling and dealing!

 

Cup

Spoiler

 

NACL

With an entirely new lineup, it took some time for the players to gel, especially my defence, and it could be seen as we laboured to a 4-2 win in the first leg thanks to our leaky defence.

The second leg back at home appeared to be a much more comfortable victory, however, I was definitely annoyed when we still conceded a goal against Aguila in the 53th minute. We do advance though 7-3 on aggregate in the tie.

We faced a much sterner test in FC Dallas in the 1/4 Finals, and we did well to take a 2-0 lead early on. However, we collapsed afterwards, with 2 Culbertson goals pulling them back level with us. It took us a late Cristaldo goal to take a slender 3-2 win back to home.

It was much more comfortable back at home, but also frustrating where we had 2 disallowed goals and the majority of our goals coming from penalties. 

By the time we faced Chivas though, we have became much more settled and this was evident as we breezed to a 4-1 win against Chivas away from home, giving us a huge advantage for our home match. 

The return leg was equally as dominant for us, as we gave Chivas no chance. We advance to the final with a stunning 8-1 win on aggregate against our Mexican counterparts.

The final saw us pitted against Cruz Azul, yet another Mexican side. The first leg was once again dominant in our favour, with goals from Cristaldo and Maidana giving us a beautiful 2-0 lead to take to our home leg of the tie. The NACL seemed even closer now, and it seemed even more likely that we can complete it this time round in just 1 season!

And we do it! It wasn't as good a match for us, and Cruz looked like they wanted the win more than us, but we did manage to hold on and win the tie 3-1 on aggregate! And with that, we complete the main requirement of this stage, that is to win the NACL!

US Cup

The US Cup could not have started in any better way for us, as we took a 5-1 victory against local rivals LAFC to advance to the next round. There is no better way in qualifying for the next round than humiliating your local rivals in the process, and we done just that.

The next round saw us drawn against a tough FC Dallas team, and while they did score first though Davis, our dominance coupled with a brace from Maidana was sufficient to see us through into the next round.

The 1/4 finals was a breeze for us once again, as Portland were swept aside 4-1 by us. This is turning out to be a great season for us!

The Semis saw our new players take to the field to the first time, and they destroyed San Jose 4-0. San Jose could only muster one shot on the LA Galaxy goal the entire day and it was a performance that was truly world class by us, as we advanced to the final!

No mercy once again as 2 early goals sunk Minnesota early on, and we held on for the rest of the match to win the US Cup and add yet another trophy to what is looking set to be a breakthrough season for us!

MLS Cup

We faced off Sporting Kansas City in the Semis, and we took a slender 2-1 lead thanks to goals from Berry and Cristaldo. 

The return leg however went more to our favour, and some clinical finishing saw us take a 3-0 win and a 5-1 win on aggregate, sending us to the conference final!

Where we faced off FC Dallas! The first leg was a rather dull affairs, with a lack of really good chances for both teams. Besart got the LA Galaxy fans (and me) out of their seats for a moment when everyone thought we had scored, only to find out he was offside and the goal disallowed. So it ends all square as we return to our home for the second leg...

...where we totally destroyed them! No chances were given today as our team played well and did well to go 5-1 up at the end of the first half. It was too much for FC Dallas to come back from and we could celebrate going to the MLS Cup Final!

Our opponents were NYCFC, and while we dominated the match, we could not find that decisive goal that we needed. Everyone was preparing for extra time, when suddenly out of nowhere, Cristaldo manages to score a rocket of a shot from outside the box, and that was enough to get the fans inside the stadium dancing! LA Galaxy have done it! They are the MLS Cup Champions, and have won a treble this season!

Club World Cup Championship

A reserve lineup was thrown onto the pitch for the 1/4 finals, and they certainly did not disappoint. The only annoying part to take away from this match is that we conceded 2 needless goals, but even that seems small given the nature of the win and how we dominated the match that day. 

The Semi-Finals were a much more difficult match to have to play in though, and Corinthians did manage to take the lead early into the 2nd half after the first ended scoreless. The LA Galaxy players decided to up their game then and we managed to turn defeat into victory, winning this match 2-1!

A rollercoaster of emotions for this match to be honest. Twice in the first half we took an unlikely lead against Real Madrid, only to be pegged back by a Deulofeu equaliser. However, just as I was pushing men forward to try and win it for us, Deulofeu manages to score a stunning goal in the 72nd minute which broke LA Galaxy hearts and any dreams of a potential upset today.

 

League

Spoiler

 

Never thought that I would have been able to better the unbeaten season of Houston the last season, but how wrong I was. LA Galaxy steamrolled their way through the league this season as we finished unbeaten, my 2nd time in 2 straight years, and beating the points record we scored last season as well!

Interesting fact, its nice to see that of the other 4 teams in the top 5, 3 of them (NYCFC, Orlando City and Houston) were managed by me before. I am definitely creating a legacy here!

 

Fixtures

Spoiler

 

 

Targets

Spoiler

 

So first season down, and a very successful season as well...just how much of our targets have we achieved?

Targets

• Sell as many players as possible to get a transfer budget of £39.5 Million (Sold: £39.5 Million)
• Use only 30% of that value (£10.7 Million) to revamp the squad (Spent: £8.25 Million)
• Win a NACL Title
• League
• Cup

All done in 1 season! And with that, we can start waiting for the next job to be available, as we prepare ourselves for the next stage...

 

State 5 - Oregon

Oregon, located to the West of America, was the source of much interest hundreds of years ago as the British and Americans both fought to gain control of the state. 

State 5 Challenge - Sign an Englishman, Scotsman and Welshman for your chosen club, and score 300 goals between them, which will enter all three in the top 10 scorers in MLS History.

Clubs Available: Portland Timbers

Difficulty: Hard

The journey continues...

 

 

[Kanegan]

Fantastic job mate. You have been doing a great job with this challenge. I had tried this as my first challenge of FMM 2018 but that was a disaster. So, i am very very happy to see you smashing through this. Is the Portland job available or you need to wait??

[chewkaiwen]

5 minutes ago, Kanegan said:

Fantastic job mate. You have been doing a great job with this challenge. I had tried this as my first challenge of FMM 2018 but that was a disaster. So, i am very very happy to see you smashing through this. Is the Portland job available or you need to wait??

Will need to wait this time round sadly. He is insecure in the job after a poor season but the worrying thing is that after a season reset it no longer matters and I would need him to do rather badly once more in the new season  

[Kanegan]

Ok, chug along with LA then.

[PilgrimAsh]

Just caught up with this and wow your doing great. What a long challenge with many things to think about, it really is a great challenge, that really tests you. I’ve never written managed in the mls and thus has been great reading through your Career so far. Best of luck with the rest of it and look forward to following along.