Career Raven9 - The Flying Dutchman, a first 1k try

[Raven9]

Hi all

This is my first ever try to reach 1000 goals with one player. 
 

Team and player

I chose to manage the german giants Bayern Munich. And to replace Lewandowski I have chosen the dutch wonderkid, Joshua Zirkzee.

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Season 1

The first season was a bit up and down, and have changed formation a few times. 
 

Transfers

Not a fan of doing alot of transfers from season to season, but a big fan of wonderkids. Needed to upgrade the midfield after the departure of Thiago. In came Gravenberch, Camavinga and Luis before the season, and Pedri and Berrenetxea in January. 
 

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Results

Started quite bad, and was 6 points after Gladbach at one point. But after some months it turned, and I managed to win the league comfortable. 
I also won the German cup, World Club Championships and Euro super cup. 
In Champions League I got knocked out in the semis by Morata, who scored 5 goals at Juventus Stadium.  
 

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Tactic

As mentioned above I changed the tactic a bit. I ended up playing an attacking 1-2-3-3-1 providing alot of crosses in the box. 
 

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Zirkzee and stats

Zirkzee developed nicely, and is already a really good target man. I chose to play him in allmost every game, and sub him off, around 60-70 mins where the schedule were tight. He played 55 games and scored 62 goals, which I consider as very satisfying. 
Most of assists came from crosses from Sane and Coman. 
 

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Conclusion

A great first season (I think). As the team, Zirkzee started a bit slow, but finished really well. Hopefully his form will continue  going in to season 2. 
Season 1: 55 games / 62 goals

Thanks for reading

 

Edited November 28, 2020 by Raven9

[Rich]

Fantastic first season mate, 60’s first season can only mean good things, good luck for the coming seasons 😁

[broodje kip]

Great season! 60s in the Bundesliga and first season is massive. Zirkzee is a very great player in my career too 😁

[Scratch]

Yeah, that's a a great start. Zirkzee is class and will get a whole heap better, so to score in the 60's already is fantastic!

[Rob]

Excellent season.

Quote the Raven, nevermore.

[geordiekrispy]

Great start to the 1k attempt!

[Raven9]

On 28/11/2020 at 23:38, RichD said:

Fantastic first season mate, 60’s first season can only mean good things, good luck for the coming seasons 😁

 

On 29/11/2020 at 00:28, broodje kip said:

Great season! 60s in the Bundesliga and first season is massive. Zirkzee is a very great player in my career too 😁

 

On 29/11/2020 at 12:58, Scratch said:

Yeah, that's a a great start. Zirkzee is class and will get a whole heap better, so to score in the 60's already is fantastic!

 

On 29/11/2020 at 19:14, Rob said:

Excellent season.

Quote the Raven, nevermore.

 

On 30/11/2020 at 03:49, geordiekrispy said:

Great start to the 1k attempt!

Thanks all. 
Season 2 started with some good news. Holland was knocked out of the Euros in the Quarter finals, and offered me the manager job. That also meant international debut to Zirkzee, in which he scored a hattrick. 
Season 2 is almost done, and Zirkzee is on fire. More to follow...
 

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[Raven9]

Season 2

As mentioned above, season 2 started with Holland offered me a job. It was a great season both for Bayern, Holland and Zirkzee

Transfers

Sold quite a few Bayern legends (Lewandowski, Muller, Boateng). Also sold Alaba, as Davies was my first choice on LWB. Bought in Saka as backup. My transfers in were all backups except Upamecano, who replaced Sule at the back, as I prefer pacey defenders. 
 

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Results

Bayern

Won every competition. Won the league with ease being in front from start to finish. Biggest disappointment was that I didn’t manage to score 100 goals (Zirkzee actually missed a penalty in the last league game 🙈).

In the Champions League I won the final over Liverpool. But more important I managed to get revenge on Juve, beating them 8-3 on agg. in the quarters. 
Note that in the Club World Championships I only played 1 game before the end of the season. 
 

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 Holland

Not much to say here. Qualified with ease to the World Cup in a very weak group. 
 

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Zirkzee and stats

Zirkzee had a great season. He scored 75 goals for Bayern and 20 goals for Holland (helped by playing against both Andorra and San Marino). His development has slowed a bit, but hopefully he will develop further in the coming seasons. 
Coman and Sané was again the main assisters, and Sané was awarded with the Best player in Europe Award. Pedri also had a great season, unfortunatly he is homesick, so might have to move on.
 

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Conclusion

As mentioned a great season from Bayern and Zirkzee. 95 goals in total makes it 157 goals in 121 games after two seasons. Hope he will continue his form in the coming season. 

Thanks for reading. 

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[broodje kip]

Massive season mate. Glad to see my boy Leroy’s performing for you too

[Scratch]

Oh yeah, that's a good season, you'll have this done in only 10 seasons I reckon. Great going!

[Raven9]

@Scratch @broodje kip Thanks for the comments. Much appreciated.

Season 3

Not much time to play FMM lately, but finally managed to finish season 3. And what a season...

Transfers

A very quiet transfer window. Only bought a couple of backups (Skipp and Ihattaren). Sold a few including Müller to Fulham 👀.

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Tactic and starting 11

I still play a 1-2-3-3-1 formation. Changed the instructions a bit from time to time. Below you can see my preferred starting 11. As you see, still a very young team, so hopefully I am only getting better from here. 
 

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Results

Bayern

Due to the Qatar World Cup the schedule in season 3 is very tight, which meant I had to totale a lot. 
For the second season in a row a won everything. Started the season by winning CWC beating Liverpool 5-2 in the final.
I won the Bundesliga easily, but once again I bearly missed the 100 goal mark. 

In Champions League I beat Benfica in the final helped by 4 goals from Zirkzee Zirkzee won the Golden boot third time in a row scoring 17 goals in all seasons.

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Holland

As mentioned above season 3 is World Cup year. I qualified easily from the group with 7 points against Denmark, Ivory Coast and Argentina. In the first knockout round I won over USA without problems. In the Quarter Final France was waiting. A team who had beaten me 4-1 a month earlier in the Nations League. This time it could easily have been the same result. But I was extremly lucky and managed to win in penalties after an equaliser in the last minute of extra time by Zirkzee. After beating Belgium in the semi, Spain was the team to beat in the final. Once again it went all the way to penalties. And once again I won. I won the World Cup. Less surprisingly Zirkzee won the Golden Boot. 
After the World Cup I started the qualification to the Euros. Won the first 4 games in a weak group, so should qualify in style.

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Zirkzee and stats

An absolutely amazing season from Zirkzee ended with 98 club goals in 59 games. Really close to the 100 goal mark. He added 21 goals for Holland, which makes 119 total goals in the season. Much better than I had ever imagined. Zirkzee also won World Player of the Year. 
Also great seasons from Coman and Sané providing 33 and 31 assists. Sané were named Best player in Europe for the second season in a row (despite Coman and Zirkzee having better seasons imo). 

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Conclusion

Best season I have ever had from one player. With 119 goals in season 3, Zirkzee have now scored 276 total goals after 3 seasons. This is very satisfying. 
Thanks for reading. 
 

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[Rich]

What a brilliant season mate, this could be a massive score if this carries on like that 😁

[broodje kip]

Brilliant! 100 goals already 

[Scratch]

Great stuff mate, gonna be a big score! 

[Rob]

Massive season. So close to the 100 Club.

[Woody]

Very very close. Your smashing this though so far.

[Raven9]

On 11/12/2020 at 21:20, RichD said:

What a brilliant season mate, this could be a massive score if this carries on like that 😁

 

On 12/12/2020 at 00:04, broodje kip said:

Brilliant! 100 goals already 

 

On 12/12/2020 at 01:15, Scratch said:

Great stuff mate, gonna be a big score! 

 

On 12/12/2020 at 10:44, Rob said:

Massive season. So close to the 100 Club.

 

On 12/12/2020 at 20:28, Woody said:

Very very close. Your smashing this though so far.

Thanks all. Much appreciated. So close to the 100 club. Hopefully he will reach it next season. Actually I have finished season 4. So I know 😊. Will do the write up in a moment. Stay tuned...

[Raven9]

Season 4

After scoring 98 club goals last season, the goal was clear. Reach 100 goals. 

Transfers

Not much to tell here. Bought in Reece James to rotate with Kimmich, and two regens. 
 

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Tactics

Still playing a 1-2-3-3-1 formation. But after scoring under 100 league goals per season the first 3 seasons, I decided to try playing with overload mentality (also inspired by @RichDs goal bonanza tactic). I have considered it before, but was afraid of two things. 1) defence being too leaky. 2) wingers and midfielders “stealing” goals from Zirkzee. Happy to say: I was wrong...

Results

Bayern

Once again I won everything. And second season in a row I had zero losses in the league. The overload change helped getting over 100 league goals (127). Leaked a bit more, but nothing to worry about. 
In Champions League I won the final against PSG helped by an early red card. 

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Holland

Not much fun here. Qualified with ease to the Euros, and played only 1 match at the Euros before the season ended. 
 

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Zirkzee and stats

Did Zirkzee reach 100 club goals or did his teammates steal to many goals from him? As it turns out nobody steals goals from Zirkzee. He scored incredible 114 club goals in 55 games. Adding 12 goals for Holland makes it 126 goals in total. This was much more than I had ever imagined. He also won World footballer of the year and Best player in Europe (finally managed to beat Sané). 
Once again the main assisters was Sané (36) and Coman (24). Also great seasons Pedri and Davies. Actually the whole team plays very very well. 
 

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Conclusion

Easily the best season I ever had. 126 goals in the season makes it 402 goals after 4 seasons. Over 100 goals per season is amazing. Again, thanks for reading

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[Rich]

Awesome season mate and a massive score, well done on getting to the 100 club as well! Overload works very well in some set ups 😁

[broodje kip]

Massive one mate! I might actually try overload sometime soon

[Rob]

Well done.

[gunnersaur]

Fair play man keep it up 

[Raven9]

On 18/12/2020 at 21:27, RichD said:

Awesome season mate and a massive score, well done on getting to the 100 club as well! Overload works very well in some set ups 😁

Thanks mate. Overload worked like a dream for me. 

23 hours ago, broodje kip said:

Massive one mate! I might actually try overload sometime soon

Thanks mate. Do it. I have had a lot of fun during this season

8 hours ago, Rob said:

Well done.

Thank you. 

7 hours ago, gunnersaur said:

Fair play man keep it up 

Thanks. 

[Scratch]

Great stuff mate. Like I said before, this is gonna be a big score. Better swap that 1K in the title for 2K. 😄

I use Overload a fair bit of the time, but swap it out for Attacking at times (as sometimes Overloading doesn't work so well for me).

[Raven9]

On 20/12/2020 at 02:39, Scratch said:

Great stuff mate. Like I said before, this is gonna be a big score. Better swap that 1K in the title for 2K. 😄

I use Overload a fair bit of the time, but swap it out for Attacking at times (as sometimes Overloading doesn't work so well for me).

Thanks mate. Not sure I will continue beyond 1 k with so many interesting challenges/badges on here. 
Overload is working very well in this save, but I have a world class team, which makes it easier. 

[Raven9]

Season 5

Season 5 is done. And another great season from Bayern and Zirkzee. 

Transfers

Neuers potential was dropping a bit last season, so decided to replace him with Donnarumma. Also got a nice offer for Kimmich, so replaced him with Hakimi, who is rotating with Reece James. 
 

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Results

Bayern

Not surprisingly I won everything. Have not lost to a German team in 3 seasons 👀. In the league I scored 132 goals and conceded 28 goals, which is our best goal difference to date. 
In Champions League we drew Liverpool, Barcelona and Juventus in the group stage. Managed to qualify to the knockout stage, where I knocked out Dinamo, Real Madrid, Dortmund and Milan in the final. 
 

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Holland

Starting the season with Euro 2024. Had no problem getting to the semi final. Unfortunatly we lost 4-3 to Spain, who (together with France) are turning in to my main rivals. Almost always have problems with Morata. 
Later in the season we started the qualification to the 2026 World cup. Won the first two games, and should be able to qualify easily. 
Finished the season winning the Nations League beating Spain 5-1. 
 

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Zirkzee and stats

Clubwise Zirkzee could not compete with last seasons huge goal amount. He ended up scoring 101 goals despite having a bad run in of games in April and May (5 games without a goal). Also had a couple of minor injuries, so can’t complain. 
On the other side he had his best year for Holland scoring 28 goals in just 13 games. 
Again Sané and Coman was two of my main assisters. But this season Ander, who rotates with Coman, also jointed the two on top of the assist list. 
On a “personal” note I simple can’t seem to beat Diego Simeone as Coach of the Year, which he has won 4 years in a row without winning either Champions League or Europa League. 
 

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Conclusion

129 goals in season 5 is actually 3 goals better than last year, which is absolutely amazing. All in all he have now scored 531 goals in 5 seasons, and I am over the halfway point of this challenge. 
Thanks for the comments and thanks for reading. 
 

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[Rich]

Awesome again mate, neatly half way there at the age of 24, brilliant!

[Aaron Thornton]

This is incredible mate, to do it in the Bundesliga aswell with 34 games a season is even more impressive, great work so far, you'll have this done and dusted in 10 or less years mate

[Scratch]

4 hours ago, Raven9 said:

Thanks mate. Not sure I will continue beyond 1 k with so many interesting challenges/badges on here. 

Haha, I know. I really want to do a longer save, but I only got 1.5 seasons through it before I stopped to do a badge one! 😄

Anyway, another great season mate! I know what you mean about coach of the year, I never win that. It's always Guardiola or Simeone, no matter what I do...

[Raven9]

On 21/12/2020 at 21:49, RichD said:

Awesome again mate, neatly half way there at the age of 24, brilliant!

Thanks, mate

On 21/12/2020 at 21:55, Aaron Thornton said:

This is incredible mate, to do it in the Bundesliga aswell with 34 games a season is even more impressive, great work so far, you'll have this done and dusted in 10 or less years mate

Thanks, mate. Actually 34 suits me (and Zirkzee) fine. More time between games and Christmas break. 

On 22/12/2020 at 00:42, Scratch said:

Haha, I know. I really want to do a longer save, but I only got 1.5 seasons through it before I stopped to do a badge one! 😄

Anyway, another great season mate! I know what you mean about coach of the year, I never win that. It's always Guardiola or Simeone, no matter what I do...

Thanks, mate