Career Salisbury The Invincibles!! - SEASON 12

[MatiasDFS]

4 hours ago, Meow said:

Unfortunately the 18.5m for a 31 year old winger, one whose physicals were already declining was too good to turn down. This is how he looks just 1 year on.

fair enough 😂

4 hours ago, Meow said:

Don't worry though, if you love your Argentinians you'll look forward to the next update. Another Argentinian will be one of 2 big name bosmans coming in. He wasn't quite high value enough to be 1st page in the screenshot for expiring players, but he was valued highly enough to have been bought for over 40 million pounds by his previous club.

ill be waiting for the next update 😎

[Meow]

Season 9 - Can We Kick On?

I've actually played this season quite some ago, but I've been a little busy to make the update.

 

Managerial Shifts - Some Big Changes

No job offers for me actually, but there were some interesting managerial changes

Spoiler

Until this season, there were only 4 managers that lasted from the start of this save till now: Pep at Man City, Klopp at Liverpool, Poch at PSG and Vieira at Crystal Palace.

Within 1 season, Pep gets sacked for finishing out of the top 4, Poch gets sacked for finishing 1 spot above the relegation zone and Klopp retires.

 

Our long time permanent mentor player Piszczek also found a job for himself

 

Transfers

IN

And yes, the player I was hinting about was Erling Haaland. He was willing to take a paycut to 95k a week as well!

Also @MatiasDFS Mariano Quiroz is the Argentinian I was talking about (see more in details)

OUT

 

Detailed Thoughts on Transfers

And one more very interesting deal

Spoiler

It actually turned out to be quite a controversial deal. Our original starlet as we climbed up the football pyramid, Connor Barnsley! He has the physicality and technical skills to be a winger. However at the top level, it's not enough to have everything but you need to know exactly when to use what.

In exchange we get a wantaway winger from the Spanish 2nd tier, probably a familiar name for most of you

 

Good player, never performed for us. We got him for free, and was happy to let him go.

 

Parma paid 40+m for him, but let his contract go to the last 6 months.

Interesting free agent I saw. 20 technique, 20 stamina. I figured I would just give him a shot, send him out on loan and see how he does.

 

Near to the end of the season, this was also an option apparently? Ended up not taking it cause Derby wanted like 12m

 

Cup Runs - The FA Cup Curse?

Community Shield

Got me real pumped for the season ahead, sticking 6 past our formal man Cordoval. Chelsea fans probably getting Kepa flashbacks.

 

League Cup

Unfortunately it was not to be

 

FA Cup

We got to the finals again actually, but the schedule seems to rearranged it pretty late. So I'll update it together with the finals stretch of results. Keeps it spicy and full of suspense as well.

 

Transfer Troubles

Gabriel von der Reith, Eric Farrington and Sascha Schieskow all had contracts running till 2032. Only in January 3030 did a manage to tie 2 of them them to a new contract to 3035.

However the last to budge is Schieskow, unwilling to negotiate a new contract. I'm less worried about him leaving, but he was a team leader and was very disruptive to our squad dynamics. I did banish him to the reserves as punishment during a run of cup games, and it seems the players are on my side as his influence rapidly diminishes (and he remains without influence for the rest of the season even after bringing him up again).

 

Premier League - We Broke the Points Record

It was almost a flawless season for us. Man City had an uncharacteristic bad season, Wolves had a surprisingly good season and Man U is slowly recovering from that disaster season 2 years ago. Leeds battled relegation again but a late surge kept them safe, as their status of a former big club slowly turns from a reputation + financial blessing to a slowly tightening noose around their necks.

Millwall manages a miracle relegation escape, dooming Watford, Blackburn and Bristol City to the Championship.

 

Also I had devised a pretty devious plan, yeeting the old League goalscorer record set in the VNS. Honestly it makes no sense that the club history holds number of goals in equal regard, anyway 

I seriously planned this too, really just kept Schieskow playing in only league games and had Haaland play all the cup games.

 

Champions League- Biggest Trophy of All

Group Stages

 

First Knockout Round

German reigning Champions Leipzig knocks out Man City, Wolfsburg surprises Real Madrid in the Bernabeu and we calmly dispatch Juventus at home.

If you think the Champions League cast is pretty sparse, it is. Spain only has 2 big clubs as Barcelona has crumbled first into a Europa club, and last season finished 9th and outside of European places. Italy meanwhile just has a runaway Juventus winning the League from 22/23 till 29/30, and the rest of the league just sucks. In France PSG has been beaten to the title twice by RC Lens (who always suck in Europe), but PSG is actually fighting relegation now so that form is carrying into Europe. They both crashed out dead last in their group. 

 

Quarter Finals

Atletico and Bayern were put to bed by Leipzig and Liverpool respectively. Ajax made a stunning comeback against Wolfsburg. We ran riot against a Porto team who just 2 years ago won the Champions League.

 

Semi Finals

Leipzig, Liverpool, Ajax and us. 

The draw is Liverpool vs Ajax, while we face a very strong Leipzig team.

We might be reigning English Champions, but surely we must have had more established clubs feel confident of a result against an team inexperienced at this stage. If there were any such thoughts however, a performance like this will permanently extinguish such any such hopes in the future.

Ajax meanwhile squeaks past Liverpool in extra time

 

Salisbury FC- On For a Treble!

Remember the Ajax match that caused the FA Cup to be postponed? We'll be playing Ajax in the Champions League finals then 4 days later the FA Cup final against Man City

Suddenly playing Man City again in a cup final isn't just a matter of revenge for the league cup final, but potentially a fight for a treble.

 

And no disrespect to the unloaded and half empty squad of Ajax, it's no secret I'm much more nervous for the FA Cup final

Now only 4 days rest, and it will be an intense battle for the treble!

 

Man City swiftly went up 2 goals via Sterling and Torres, but we clawed back to 2-2 by the end of half time. The 2nd half ended up a battle of attrition, but I only made 1 sub in the full 90.

A fresh Haaland to come on for extra time ended up being crucial, before a dizzying run from Mota from the right wing to slot it past the
keeper at the far post sealed the deal

Salisbury have won the treble!

Also Schieskow signed a new contract. Who knew winning the treble means your club is more desirable, huh? 

 

Next Update- The World Cup

Yeah with Belgium, with the hopes of winning the whole thing.

Edited September 26, 2022 by Meow

[Meow]

World Cup 2030 Update and Looking At Salisbury Academy Graduates

As mentioned we will be aiming for World Cup glory as Belgium, it is more lofty ambitions but we have the capability to do that. During the course of the World Cup we actually had a pretty good youth intake, so I thought I'd talk about the players from our youth academy.

Keep in mind that since our squad is so good, anything above 3 stars in a scout report would catch my eye. So this certainly piqued my interest.

 

World Cup - Smashed The Group Stages

Group Stages

As usual the 2 out of 3 teams getting through format meant that we never once worried about getting past this stage of the world cup

I've been really annoyed at this change in the World Cup format, but honestly given I have no personal attachment to the countries since my country will never qualify, I can skip watching the group stages of the world cup and probably ignore most of the first knockout rounds as well.

Anyway, back to FMM

Knockout Round

Our next opponents will be... Uruguay!

 

If you remember Uruguay won the last World Cup, and are the reigning Champions

 

Which means we got a pretty unlucky tie against them since they finished 2nd in their group

They did do poorly for a reason though, we handily beat them 3-0 and moved on with our day.

 

The next round we had to face Scotland

They were certainly a plucky side and though they never threatened our goal, none of our chances could find the back of the net as well. In the end, it took us till extra time in order to put one past them to advance to the next round.

 

As with most quarter final teams, they were really no real weak teams left. We had to face a really strong Brazilian side with incredible strength and depth

Even though we opened the scoring, we were helpless as a very clinical Brazil sent us home.

 

In fact, Brazil made it all the way to the Final, but lost out to Portugal in extra time

 

Aftermath of The World Cup

Honestly I'm surprised I was not sacked for it pretty sure an AI manager would be promptly sacked for a quarter-final exit, is the game more lenient to the player on this regard?

Apparently Belgium is quite a common nation to manage, I just never did stumble on this job before. Either way I never intended to stay on for that long, Belgium's best players in 2022 were on the older side so most of them have retired at this stage and I had no real connections with any of the newer players.

 

So I was looking for a international team that either still had real players or with many newer players who I had connections with. The job that fit the first description was France, and the second... well England since I am managing an English club with a particular interest in bringing though youth academy graduates.

I'd say I picked France for one reason or another, but really England were just more keen on Frank Lampard. So the move is to France and try again to win the World Cup, then England if they ever want me

Also rather exciting

That's right von der Reith had French 2nd nationality and was willing to play for us! This save just got so much more fun!

 

Our Youth Academy Graduate - Pride and Joy of the Save

As mentioned before, I thought it would be great to share about some of the talents that have came through at the club. I also do tend to have a solid amount of local players in the club, regardless of the nation I am managing in. 

In fact 53.57% of ours players are English and rising. We actually have 8 which came through our own youth ranks, 4 currently in the first team squad and 4 more I have long term plans for.

 

First Team Players

First is probably the crown jewel of our academy, one of the best players in the world and very frustratingly still uncapped for the senior side. Oh I want to become England manager and use Farrington internationally....

Came through when we were in in League Two and made an immediate impact replacing Wegkamp as Target Forward at the time. Farrington was actually the reason von der Reith ended up on the left, but he himself was slowly transitioned to play elsewhere after the emergence of Schieskow. From a metagaming perspective, I also suspect he's the only one of our academy graduates with very high PA, possibly 150-170 range?

 

Jarvis started off in our League One campaign as a backup, but he stepped up immediately to the first team very well. Incredibly well-rounded midfielder. At the time I thought he'd probably be more of a 5th choice centremid once we made it to the Premier League, but he's actually stepped up as a first team player.

He is also probably the last batch of youth academy players that can be immediately tossed into the first team. As you can see despite being very good he still struggled in the Championship and first Premier League seasons at 17 and 18 years old. I can't expect 16 year olds to do much better, however talented they are.

 

Next is probably my favourite of them all, the one man counter to long balls himself! I left him as a lone centreback once for 30 mins after a red card and he kept the clean sheet.

I honestly don't think the assist numbers or ratings do him justice. Many goals in highlights seem to start with him sending a long clearance from the opposition flying back into the opposition half.

 

The newest youngster to be integrated into the first team, Hurst is an interesting partner to Jarvis in the center of midfield. Despite 19 passing, movement, positioning, teamwork and pace, it's hard to say he is a specialist or isn't well-rounded.

He's scored quite a few stunners as well. His 20 leadership and amazing hidden attributes (he adds good professionalism, work rate, determination, morale and loyalty to the dynamics) means he's been vice captain for the longest time, though captain seems to be bit too early and would cause some dressing room upsets.

 

Future Players That Look Promising

Not as lore heavy since these players are mostly in the reserves or are out on loan, so I'll just keep it short

Spoiler

Never quite have good fullbacks coming through, but he looks like a promising one. As is with 12-13s everywhere, he is a good backup. Hope he develops more, especially his pace.

 

Always love a left footed centreback, and he's the best one around at youth level it seems. Bit worried that his decisions is still 10 at 18 years old, but he's got everything else. Worse case he could be 5th choice centerback.

 

He looks like the next Sami Jarvis, incredibly well-rounded and his mentals are increasing rapidly. He's probably going to take some time on loan to our affiliate Oxford in League One, which is where Jarvis first shone for us.

 

From the same batch as Rea, Jordan Raymond looks like he'd already be an adequate squad player for our team, if not for those physicals. He's actually the perfect sort of player to keep around the squad, give him some minutes in the last minutes against tired players.

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by Meow

[Meow]

Season 10 - Going For The Quad

As the treble winning team, the only aim higher is the quadruple. How will we fare?

 

Transfers

IN

 

OUT

 

Detailed Thoughts on Transfers

Spoiler

A massive departure would be our captain. He does have a couple of years left in him, but both him and Vagnoman are the same age. It was a really tough decision but he had to go.

It is really a positive note to end of on for him, as he not only is a treble winning captain but also is part of the Team of The Year.

 

This does mean we needed a new captain

Ah the classic Salisbury captain, everyone loves him to be captain but he acts like a schoolboy that has just been "volunteered" to help stack the chairs after school.

 

Was somewhat impressed by him in my time as Belgium manager as our 2nd choice AMC. I think he has the capabilities to do it a little further back as a box to box, and since he's free it is a relatively low risk. We do need a couple of older lads in the club as well.

 

Early Cup Runs

Community Shield

Mota isn't exactly prolific as a winger as he's more of a creative player in our system, but he does pop in with very important goals in crucial moments

 

European Super Cup

No mercy to our Europa League winner friend either

 

League Cup

We more or less played the final in the semi, as we handily beat City and they only ever looked to fight back in their own stadium. And even then not really

 

Yeah Brentford in the finals

 

Our Final Run In - Quadruple?

With the League Cup firmly in the bag, we look ahead to possibly winning the quadruple. We have gotten into the FA Cup and Champions League finals. This is the final games for the tail end of the season

Ideally we'd also have the Premier League in the bag by now, but we really haven't. This isn't the same team that stormed the league easily last season.

 

Premier League

For the amount of goals scored and our solid defense, the points tally is way too close for comfort.

Leeds actually pulling themselves away from the relegation scrap for once, but this time Spurs ended up taking their place near the bottom.

 

FA Cup

We took almost every chance we had, which left Liverpool helpless to stop us winning the FA Cup

 

Champions League

We went into the Champions League final in high spirits, but despite being the better team lost against Bayern...

 

Next Update- Nations League with France

Not exactly THE major tournament for international teams, but along with that update I have bigger plans with Salisbury to share!

Edited September 11, 2022 by Meow

[StuartM]

Great season, so tantalisingly close to the clean sweep. Still, it gives you more to aim for... if there is a consolation!

You're also smashing it in the 'trophy count to net spend ratio' metric, though we need a catchier name for that!

[Meow]

6 hours ago, StuartM said:

You're also smashing it in the 'trophy count to net spend ratio' metric, though we need a catchier name for that!

My favourite way to play the game. Even easier when you focus on lads from the youth academy

[MatiasDFS]

Great season 👏

[Meow]

Nations League 2031 Update and Building Up Our 2 Affiliates

Not usually the most excited for it, but as you would remember

On 12/06/2022 at 13:21, Meow said:

von der Reith has declared for France, and we'd have a front 3 of him, Mbappe and (a really good set piece taker) Mehdi Haller. This will be the trial run for the 2032 Euros next summer.

In addition, I have bigger plans with Salisbury building a network of clubs. Being a save very focused English players and especially on our youth academy products, having a good affiliate to sent them to is great. It also allows us to be bolder in player recruitment, as we can ultimately move them on to elevate our affiliates and still have a good career if it turns out they aren't top flight level.

 

Nations League - Von Der Reith's Debut Tournament

Group Stage

No competition here at all, we dominated.

 

Knockout Round

 

Building Up Our Affiliate Clubs - Oxford and Bath

Quite a good time to talk about it

Oxford finishes runners-up in League One and Bath are Champions of the VNL. As such our affiliates will be in the Championship and League Two in a becoming season!

 

Oxford

We have had them as our affiliates for quite some time, and we've sent quite a few players to them in hopes of this. To a point that maybe 30% of their squad is purchased from us.

@Scratch is pretty keen to see them do well. Though as a Premier League club, I'm not that incentivised to elevate them any further. Hopefully they upgrade their facilities a little more.

 

Bath

An affiliate we actually picked up this season and in the January transfer window pumped in players that can't quite break into the first team at Salisbury. 

A team more local to Salisbury than Oxford is, just one county down and started in the VNS. 

[Meow]

Season 11 - Fighting Our Inner Demons

When it comes to teams so close to achieving something unbelievable, even achieving it can result it a huge regression. But falling short of that can cause the same, with an added psychological effect

 

Transfers

IN

 

OUT

What do you mean I'm committing fraud by artificially pumping my affiliate with my 2nd string youth talents? No U.

 

Detailed Thoughts on Transfers

Spoiler

I think I have been clear that I am aiming to retain Youth Academy Players in my all-conquering Salisbury team. Obviously that means not having a whole 2 elevens of world beaters who can do everything, but players who are very functional specialists at 1-2 things competing with the best in the world.

We have been fairly blessed with DC, AMC/MC, ST and even DL. Last year we even got a winger who can play both sides. That leaves GK and DR. We already have 2 solid keepers, one English as well so just a potential 3rd choice keeper is all I need.

If we don't get a right back, then I am making one myself!

 

Early Cup Runs

Community Shield

 

January Transfer Chaos - Contract Disputes and Personal Problems

 

Spoiler

I have generally stuck with a fairly rigid wage structure and have been holding firm. I was obviously waiting for a key player of mine to start demanding ridiculous wages, but so far nothing.

Nothing except Tayo Adaramola, who don't get me wrong is a good rotation player on at left back but not a key to my plans. I let him go to back to Liverpool.

 

Pretty cheap replacement comes in for him, 3m pounds and Brighton is willing to part with their left back. A quick glance makes him seem much worse, but they are equal in pace, decisions, positioning and tackling. It's only going forward that he falls behind.

Certainly a temporary solution especially given his age. I lose the ability to rotate left backs and will rely on bringing him on to see out a game to prevent fatigue.

 

But why Mitchell? Well Adaramola was 2nd Nationality English, and I want to continuously push for even more English talent in my squad with the eye of becoming England manager. Well not that I would call up Mitchell, but this random team stat is fun to keep up lol

 

Another issue is one of our youngsters kicking up a fuss. Low adaptability perhaps. He is insanely talented, but I won't keep him. 20m and he heads to FK Austria Vienna, not bad for a 6.5m purchase the window before.

 

 

 

Our Season - Will we achieve the unachievable?

League Cup

The first domino falls as we retain the league cup

 

Run-In

 

Premier League

A record setting season for us, as we blazed through the League.

 

Spoiler

Arsenal fans having a good season, disrupting the big 4 with an unexpected 2nd place after consistently finishing midtable. They are also especially ruthless, taking the opportunity of finishing above Spurs in the entire duration of this save last season by raiding them.

 

They should also be very relieved, as free spending Hull allowed them to retain their Invincible title.

 

Another storyline is the end of an era for Leeds, who pushed into being a top 6 club in place of Arsenal. They actually take 2 of our ex-players Moukoko and Cavada with them, so I'm on lookout

 

 

FA Cup

But alas, our goal this season is not to be undefeated yet (the morale penalties for the unbeaten streak and invincible narrative is brutal)

We might not have taken (well sharing really, cause they would still have done it even if we do) their claim of Invincible, but we'll make do with taking the FA Cup.

 

 

Champions League

Explosive, exciting final as we took the first half by storm going 3-0 up. Atletico coming back by 2 in 5 minutes really kept us on our toes. As the long minutes of injury time slowly tick by.....

AND IT'S LAWAL! Putting the Champions League final to bed with his 21st goal of the season as a 17 year old

Salisbury, yes Salisbury FC have achieved the quadruple!

 

Next Update- Euros with France

The major tournament for European teams, but with most of my international time spend in Africa and North America this is actually my first Euros. Half a decade for me without international international glory, moving from Jamaica after winning the Gold Cup 2027.

Albania, Ukraine and Belgium with some success but no silverware to show for it. With France and von der Reith, I want to achieve greatness!

Edited September 11, 2022 by Meow

[Meow]

Euro 2032 Update

Winning the Euros was always the goal coming to manage France

 

The Euros- The von der Reith show

Group Stages

 

And yes, "haha you lost to England". Cause at it turns out accumulation of yellow cards means he was banned at the most critical game of the group stages

Funny how "We played Mbappe up front" really changed in meaning the last 10 years of this save. I can see why the media questioned me when I brought him along now...

 

Knockout Round

It's always scary to go 1-0 down, but we handled it well with a von der Reith hat trick

 

Disallowed goals galore, as we had to rely on penalties to get through

I would say though I was always very confident with set pieces with this France team. Medhi Haller takes a killer penalty and knows exactly how to deliver it to von der Reith.

 

Our fellow group stage buddy Denmark actually made it to the semi-finals, but hey that's as far as you'll be going

 

It seems like a fateful meeting to see Belgium again, but despite the close scoreline and stats. It never really felt to dangerous for us.

 

Aftermath of The Euros

Well England got their knockout far earlier than expected, and they aren't too pleased with Frank Lampard. He was already gone some time before the final was played, and I quietly applied.

Shortly after the victory, I was already off.

 

The dream of playing with von der Reith and the reunion with our old star keeper Cordoval was a dream of mine, but it is overshadowed by a dream bigger than that.

A dream of a club manager whose club is 60-70% English, yet only 2 players are getting called up for England.

 

And no, I don't think I'm biased. My players are actually dominating, I just don't think the top players are getting a shot.

 

Meanwhile the awards of the Euro just passed is coming in

 

🤨

Edited September 25, 2022 by Meow

[Meow]

Season 12 - What More Can We Achieve?

Yes, I have mentioned it before

On 11/09/2022 at 14:12, Meow said:

But alas, our goal this season is not to be undefeated yet

I am setting up this season to be vastly different. Monitoring morale, praising players the moment I can, criticising players I know will react well... you know the drill.

 

Transfers

IN

 

OUT

 

Detailed Thoughts on Transfers

Spoiler

You better believe I have been eyeing this free transfer for the whole 6 months, not just our former player but our academy player. Moving to Liverpool has done his career good, and he looks amazing now. I see him as the replacement for Harwood-Bellis at centre-back.

 

Our captain heads to close out his career where he started, he served us well but it's a transfer I'm comfortable with.

 

Next up is a fun one, an uncommon success story of Operation Repatriation where we bring in 2nd nationality English players. And an even rarer success of our plan before that, which was signing players from smaller nations.

 

The origin of Operation Repatriation himself, Palacios. I swear it's been season after season after season where I said, "Alright I think it'll try to move him on". Yes, he had a low work rate, but damn the 4.5 stars set piece taking and 2nd nationality England meant that time just never came... Until now...

 

Another funny story from Operation Repatriation. YOU WILL SUCCEED!

 

Hudson-Odoi is a mainstay from our early days in the Prem, but he is also 30 and a winger.

 

Early Cup Runs

Community Shield

 

European Super Cup

 

January Transfer Window- I Have Sinned

"For how cheap??" You might say

But mate, he's been having on-and-off wanting a new challenge since the 29/30 season. And he's not the only one, a big shakeup will probably occur between now and 2035.

 

Ok, I might have accidentally accepted this one in an autopilot moment and didn't realise till the next game...

 

These two leaving means 72% of my players are English, silver lining...?

 

Our Season - Are We Invincible?

League Cup

1-1 at full-time, forcing us to extra time.

It's hard to blame Frankie Dyche either, he was sent off for professional foul to deny a goalscoring chance.

I won't go so far as to say I am happy to lose, but the winning streak morale penalty on top of the invincible narrative morale penalties... I am a little relieved

 

Run-In

However, all that relies on me actually achieving that goal of being undefeated. And we have been an absolute menace, free-scoring but also rock solid defensively

 

The final stretch includes 3 away games and a very nasty run-in....

 

Premier League

Extremely hard-fought games and the pressure was on. We honestly didn't look ourselves, scoring 9 in 4 and conceding 4.

But we did it, we are Invincible.

 

Down Goes Another Top 6 Club

Spoiler

You can see why though.

 

FA Cup

The FA Cup final was horrible to sit through, a rare goal by the Mingo Mendy Mendy in the last minute to allow us extra time.

We held firm and brought it to penalties

And WON!!!!

 

Champions League

Champions League was less dramatic, but we faced RC Lens has made it so far from the French Champions who crashed out 4th in the group back-to-back years.

 

Next Update- The Club World Cup and Salisbury All-Time XI Update

The Club World Cup is an interesting one because I have never won it before. On the other hand, it's the club world cup.

It will be a good interval to have a nostalgia trip with some of our former players. There are quite a few spicy stories that I think are fun to look at.

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by Meow

[Meow]

Club World Cup 2033 And Salisbury All-Time XI Update

An interesting cup to go for in the off-season pretty much, and every game with this team is incredibly fun

 

The Club World Cup- Champions League In Disguise

Group Stages

Chivas and ES Tunis in the Group Stage weren't much of a challenge for us.

 

Knockout Round

Interestingly all the clubs that made it through to the knockouts were European clubs, which was kinda boring... but then again most of the other teams are just greyed-out players, so it's not like it would have been exciting that way either

 

A familiar foe, a familiar result

 

Solid defensive performance for us, as we beat Atletico to go to the finals

 

Finals against Chelsea, as we comfortably beat them 3-0 to lift the Club World Cup.

There's also an odd sense of liberation playing the Club World Cup with our players... I'm not sure if it's just these games not qualifying as big matches or the Invincible narrative going away. Either way, it was really fun and I am delighted to lift the Club World Cup to start the season.

 

Salisbury All-Time XI - Legends

I was thinking about what could be fun to share in this post, and 12 seasons into the save it would be interesting to showcase Salisbury's all-time best XI

What an XI as well, 8 of whom still play for us. Shows our meteoric rise in recent years and that we have kept the core of our squad.

 

Goalkeeper

Spoiler

Our reliable shot-stopper for half a decade now. Pisano came through amateur club Barzago, leaving after his youth contract expired to Serie C side Sanremese. He looked promising with a Modest Professional personality so we bought him for 325k with a loan back.

He returned as the backup to Cordoval in our 2nd season in the Premier League, before establishing himself as the 1st team keeper when Cordoval departed for 119m.

Not the most stacked keeper I've seen in FMM, but he's a solid shot-stopper.

 

 Defenders

Spoiler

From the PROUD Youth Academy of Salisbury, and firmly touted to take on the left-back slot of England. One of the first few generations of Youth Graduates who couldn't simply be added to the squad immediately. Went out on loan to our affiliate Oxford, then Brentford in the Prem.

Slowly broke into the first team as Luke Thomas and then Tayo Adaramola departed in successive transfer windows in the 31/32 season, hitting 14 assists in 37 games. His ability to take set pieces as a defender is welcome (and the primary reason he ended up our first choice).

 

The departed player and our former captain, Harwood-Bellis rejoined Man City. Frustrated from multiple loans, he left Man City for Man U in a 13.25m transfer. We managed to nick him for 12.25m from a relegated Man U side to form the bedrock of our defence, before his fated return to Man City for 63m.

 

The titan of a defender himself, Pertica graduated from semi-pro Torrese (TE) youth academy and was immediately picked up by us for 140k because..... he was 2nd nationality English HAHAHAHA

 

Graduated from Hertha Berlin's Youth Academy, we bought him for 10m for that sweet sweet versatility and two-footedness. Reckert has been a mainstay in our team for years. He's in the All-Time eleven as the right-back, but in recent years he has been used as the left centre-back.

 

 Midfielders

Spoiler

The OG Salisbury Youth Academy graduate himself, Sami Jarvis was the first batch to come through after the facilities were upgraded to State of the Art. He's been the de-facto vice-captain from 16 years old giving him the influence to exert on the club dynamics. Performances on the pitch have also been consistent.

 

Coming through at FC Emmen, we immediately bought him. One of the few cash purchases in those early years, we already knew he was a dead-ball specialist and being English meant no work permit was required. He also inspired an entire transfer policy of looking for 2nd nationality to avoid work permits, which paved the way for a whole new generation of players (2 others also being here in this All-Time XI).

He was always a character with his low work rate affecting the dressing room, but he performed and even peaked at 31 assists a season. I can't count the number of transfer windows where I said he was going to be moved on and he stayed HAHA. But Mota gradually filled the dead-ball specialist role, eventually leading to his departure to Real Madrid for 61m.

 

 Forwards

Spoiler

Ah the man who made the wide Target Man role his own... From Bad Hersfeld Youth Academy, he was one of the few players whose work permits came through on appeal and he arrived on a Bosman. He took a year to settle, but 2 prolific seasons as a centre forward saw a move out left. And the rest, as they say, is history

 

The crown jewel of Salisbury Youth Academy, Eric Farrington. The one who took the striker position from vdR, before himself being moved into the AMC role. Interestingly he was immediately placed into the team for a coach report that he is good at set pieces, he played 26 games, scored 18 and assisted 5 that season. 

 

From the crown jewel of Salisbury Youth Academy to the crown jewel of Operation Repatriation, Mota was brought from Sao Paulo for 1.2m. He was so successfully integrated into England, he played for the England U21 and went on to play for England.

Previously held in equal regard to Palacios, as the dead-ball specialist with work rate issues. They even produce similar goal and assist numbers, yet almost every single one of Mota's goals seems to be match-winning ones in semi-finals or finals. I had to do a double-take when I saw he regularly only scored about 8 goals a season.

 

The talismanic forward, the cherry on top completing the trio of Eric Farrington, Gabriel von der Reith and Sascha Schieskow. The most aerially dominant of the towering trio who tore defences to shreds. He scored a record-breaking 44 Premier League goals in 38 games and is extremely ruthless up top.

I have sold many a forward in my years of playing FMM, but none left quite the hole in my heart as Schieskow. Later I found out from @sscout exactly why, he's THE legendary player of the save scoring an OVR of 85.5 on his calculator (anything above 85 is a living legend according to him).

 

Edited October 9, 2022 by Meow

[Meow]

Season 13 - Pushing On To Be The Best Ever

It's a feeling everyone has at the peak. The feeling of wanting to leave an achievement that will never be touched, to go down in history and be remembered forever.

At least that's how I imagine the dressing would be like in my Salisbury squad. A dozen or so local lads from the same area, a handful of which never thought this would be where they would end up. A handful of players have even braved much of the lower depth of the football league.

 

Transfers

IN

 

OUT

 

Detailed Thoughts on Transfers

Spoiler

Looks like a player with a good foundation that just never took off. With a few more points in attributes here and there, he could even be a solid squad player. Mostly got him from the relegated Spurs because he was cheap.

 

The best impact sub we had for such a long time, the ratings deceive because he often came on for Schieskow and von der Reith in the last parts of the game.

 

It's quite strange because I think a handful of seasons ago I would have never considered selling an academy youth graduate. The midfield is too stacked though, he's up against 3 other youth graduates. Heck there was even Claridge who we retrained at fullback as he was versatile enough.

Not so lucky for Rea though.

 

This actually happened at the end of the season, but I have been planning the finale for some time and I will not be likely to update it past this season (though I will continue enjoying this save)

He was the one we decided to keep over Rea. Jazzi Rea was the way cooler name, but he was a better player albeit marginally. In the end, he moved to Brentford who if you remember finished 4th last season.

 

Early Cup Runs

Community Shield

 

European Super Cup

 

Our Season - It Went Better Than I Imagined

League Cup

 

Premier League

But all standard, we ripped through the Premier League like a storm. I will say though, our unbeaten streak has made the team feel sluggish at times. The morale penalties are heavy. We win, and we score a lot. My squad is so much better than some of the previous years, yet we actually scored less?

 

Champions League

Another time the Champions League comes before the FA Cup. Closer than I'd like it to be, but we pulled through.

 

FA Cup

Invincible again, and a quadruple at that!

 

Player of the Season - Goal Machine

A goal we had in mind was to break the season goalscoring record. Harder than just the League one, since I had to manage Lawal to be fit for as many games as possible.

 

And with every goalscoring record, you have his accomplice. Gilson Mota is that one player that just gets better and better. His work rate is still a red arrow though XD
He is the sort of player I think I would have let go if he came a few seasons later for the low work rate, it makes me almost wonder if I missed out on some potential legends haha

Looking at this, it does strike me that my tactics have remained virtually the same as always. A monster of a striker with a freak of nature on the left, then an incredible provider on the right to feed them both (Mota plays AMR despite the screenshot). Even Farrington as the aerial 10 is something I've dabbled with, since FMM20 (when my 442 died)

 

Yeah, this is the record list for Salisbury. A real ride I've had in this save.

 

Next Update- We End It Off With A World Cup!

England and the World Cup. I am building a Salisbury team that is 60-70% English for a reason, you know?

Time to conquer the world!

Edited October 31, 2022 by Meow

[StuartM]

Smashed it once again... Salisbury Plain sailing perhaps!

You certainly know how to put a team together, well done - surely the World Cup follows..?!

[Meow]

10 hours ago, StuartM said:

Smashed it once again... Salisbury Plain sailing perhaps!

You certainly know how to put a team together, well done - surely the World Cup follows..?!

That's my favourite part of the game after all. It was a little tough from the Championship season to the first few Premier League seasons, when I couldn't chuck good 16-17 year old wonderkids against the opposition but our team wasn't unbeatable enough to be able to afford to strip back 1 or 2 positions.

In the recent few seasons though, it's actually insane how efficient it is. Get a batch of academy graduates, and play them in friendlies against League Two opposition (filling in gaps with some first-team players). You can kinda "feel" the hidden attributes from watching the extended highlights.

As for the World Cup, I'm more confident than the Euros with France. A full dozen of the squad are players from my Salisbury team who I know are reliable like Minshull Jarvis and Hurst, as well as crazy good players like Lawal, Farrington and Mota in attack.

[Meow]

World Cup 2034 - Bringing It Home To Salisbury

12 out of 23 players in the England squad are Salisbury players

+ Alexander Hurst a third CM

 

And honestly, our first team isn't too far from a full XI

 

Spoiler

I couldn't ask for more from a B2B midfielder. He's in over Sami Jarvis, but it's actually really close and Jarvis might have been in if he didn't have a pretty bad few months

It's still insane that Dortmund lost Haaland, Bellingham and Reyna for bosmans within 2 summers.

 

Flitney is honestly a left-footed Minshull, and he comes in for him. Not quite as aerial, but he really ticks all the same boxes. The AI doesn't really rate him either, so I am guessing he has a low-ish PA.

 

Not really in over one of our players, but likely one that I will rotate with Nicky Rogers for the left winger position. Free scoring winger from Arsenal

 

The World Cup- Nepotism or Just Pure Reliability

The goal is winning, anything less would be a disappointment. I don't say that often about International Tournaments, but the backbone of Salisbury players who take on far greater teams gives me that confidence.

 

Group Stages

Relatively easy group stage

 

Knockout Round

The first big game was against our old National Team. By the time von der Reith headed the ball back to Bakwa for the goal, we've already settled the game, then scored another to make sure of that.  

 

Surprisingly tense final, we thought it was going to extra time before substitute Kobe Hartley slots it into the net in stoppage time to win us the World Cup

 

Top Scorers and Assisters

Ansu Fati already sealed the golden boot by the time it came to the final, even adding one more against us

 

4 goals 6 assists from Mota and 4 goals 3 assists from Farrington. Absolutely mind blowing performances

 

Salisbury... The Story Goes On

I'm not one to immediately get the new edition when it comes out, instead waiting for people to talk about their experiences with it. There have been instances of buggy releases and there are previous editions where bugs remained unfixed throughout the edition (and therefore remain bugged forever). 

So I am planning to continue this save further, but not really updating it on Vibe anymore. I've even been playing a massive number of friendlies while managing the World Cup, I mean just look at this mess of a team made of players who didn't make the World Cup or the World Cup squads.

Special thanks to @NguyenDucAnh for teaching me how to nickname Doug Hare btw 😂

 

Transfers

IN

 

OUT

 

And that's it! Thanks to anyone who followed and read this, as well as all the lads who see the unfiltered ranting about this save over on the Discord.

 

[StuartM]

Well done!

I've really enjoyed following this, if you could be persuaded - how about one final post once you are done with this career?

I do see your posts on Discord but sometimes its easier to follow in a longer post (probably my age 😆)

[Meow]

1 hour ago, StuartM said:

how about one final post once you are done with this career?

I'll see if there's some sort of narrative to be written. If it goes on for many more years, I could write about the entire career of some of the OG players. If it goes on for only a few more years, maybe I will write something about our 2 golden generations, Lawal and Rogers then later Hare, Neville and Fallows.

If I move to FMM23 within weeks of it coming out, then that's probably the end of it.