Career Cockers takes on the Oldies (32+) to win the Premiership

[Cockers2505]

So as some discuss the 3000 goal challenge, I thought I would give this a go as I like to try the near impossible

So @Gazzaeverton set the age at 32+ which is ok as there are so many players still in their prime at this age and beyond. 
 

I started this with Man City due to money, and the fact they can basically bring in the best available players for this challenge and pay the wages still being asked of.

I then went for the players, there is so many past 32 years but could they last the season, and especially with the Premiership, let’s be truthful Liverpool are such a force with the normal City team pushing them, but can I cause an upset with deteriorating players…

here is the transfer I went for (as you will see this was December and then I bought many more due to constant injuries and basic rubbish displays)

 

players out so far including those coming in the new year.

Spoiler

 

 

I then started the season with what I believed to be a good first, and few reserve players, most of the team had been sold or part exchanged, but no player left in the first team was under 32 years old, even more players to add yet.

 

started well, getting some good results with the team working well together, won the Community Shield on penalties, and then my first loss after 6 games, so not bad start.

 

Then it went a bit down hill as progressed through the season, losing to Arsenal, Liverpool and Burnley consecutively, not looking good at this stage. 

 

December came, time to get more players, I have some really good player in Lewandowski, Messi, Modric

Here comes the rescue team to assist me moving forward:

Ramos, Navas, kolarov, Ronaldo and few more, now let’s see what I could do.

Spoiler

So currently I am 19 games in, sitting 3rd behind Chelsea and Liverpool with 4 losses, I am not scoring as much as them but wins are coming and more than the losses which is good so far, how far I can go, well we will see.

To be Continued…

Edited September 16, 2022 by Cockers2505

[Gazzaeverton]

Love it! Midpoint of the season was my struggle too.....cant wait to see more....well done 

[Cockers2505]

2 hours ago, Gazzaeverton said:

Love it! Midpoint of the season was my struggle too.....cant wait to see more....well done 

Thanks mate, it’s getting harder just because I’m picking up injuries for fun, and usually important players who happen to be playing well

[DanEnglish]

2 hours ago, Cockers2505 said:

Thanks mate, it’s getting harder just because I’m picking up injuries for fun, and usually important players who happen to be playing well

Good luck with this! It’s a surprisingly difficult challenge - especially as the 2nd half of the season is much harder than the 1st half.

What is success - while you are only 4 points from top, do you think you can win the league? If you can finish the season in the top 4 then I’d say you’ve done well 👍 the injuries and player declines just get worse + worse.

Just an idea - I wonder if the trick is the January reinforcements should include players who were 31 when the game started, but have turned 32 before the end of the Jan transfer window:

• GK = Neto
• DC = Nacho, Smalling, Palomino
• FB = Cheswell, Darmian, Azpilucueta 
• etc

[Cockers2505]

5 hours ago, DanEnglish said:

Good luck with this! It’s a surprisingly difficult challenge - especially as the 2nd half of the season is much harder than the 1st half.

What is success - while you are only 4 points from top, do you think you can win the league? If you can finish the season in the top 4 then I’d say you’ve done well 👍 the injuries and player declines just get worse + worse.

Just an idea - I wonder if the trick is the January reinforcements should include players who were 31 when the game started, but have turned 32 before the end of the Jan transfer window:

• GK = Neto
• DC = Nacho, Smalling, Palomino
• FB = Cheswell, Darmian, Azpilucueta 
• etc

Thanks mate, and as that does sound like a good plan, it’s not really in the context of the Challenge? The challenge set states 32+ from the beginning, so that’s what I stuck with, a majority of the new buys well over this, Ronaldo is 37 as well as Navas and Ramos so I stuck to the age limit set by @Gazzaeverton

[DanEnglish]

4 minutes ago, Cockers2505 said:

Thanks mate, and as that does sound like a good plan, it’s not really in the context of the Challenge? The challenge set states 32+ from the beginning, so that’s what I stuck with, a majority of the new buys well over this, Ronaldo is 37 as well as Navas and Ramos so I stuck to the age limit set by @Gazzaeverton

Fair enough. And you are right - what you have done is in-line with the challenge 👍 good luck for that 2nd half season - hope the reinforcements are sufficient!

[Cockers2505]

So the season comes to an end and my best score for the season is against Crystal Palace with  a 7-0 win

But the end is just round the corner, I am currently equal points to Liverpool and 1 point above Chelsea:

these are the fixtures for the last game:

me (City)as you can see went on a fairly decent run losing only in the Champions league to Milan. My last game is away to Leicester before meeting with Man Utd for the FA Cup Final

Liverpool who have had a really bad few weeks losing to Tottenham and Wolves before being knocked out of the Champions League by RB Leipzig, so they are vulnerable and have the Merseyside derby away, so who knows…

 

Chelsea on the other hand have had the fair share of bad luck losing to Liverpool in the Champions League and losing to Man Utd on penalties in the FA Cup, but a really good run in the League, they have Brentford away so again who knows…

 

1 game can decide it, the challenge is to win the Premiership with the oldies, this is the make or break last game, and yes I have the FA Cup to contend with, but that would just be a bonus.

to be continued….

 

[Cockers2505]

Here is the penultimate game for the League decider…

how did we do, I didn’t realise Liverpool needed to win and by more goals than City (if we win)

So Liverpool first, they win 0-1 at Goodson Park

 

How did Chelsea get on, 0-2 away at Brentford wasn’t enough as Liverpool won, but what did we do in our last game, it has to be a win with 2 goals or more to clinch it.

 

“They think it’s all over…it is now”

We have done it, the oldies have clinched the title, we win by 0-2, Ronaldo and Messi take the limelight, 1 goal makes the difference to clinch the title.

 

My reward is the Premiership Manager of the Year!!

 

Awards for the Season

Messi wins English Players’ Player of the Year and English footballer of the Year

Ronaldo, Messi, Mkhitaryan and Felipe get in the Team of the Year

Spoiler

There is one more thing left to do, we have clinched the League, now the FA Cup was left, a final game against Man Utd at Wembley.

1-1 final whistle, 2 more oldies score to make a draw after extra time, what a surprise Ronaldo scores against his old team, taking it to penalties, finally winning 5-4 and clinching the FA cup as well

 

Final full team with ages shown

Team Assists - Messi and Alba provided most of the assists 

Spoiler

Team Goals, not really that good, only the Defence Tactic creating plenty for Felipe as my Central Defender, next was Lewandowski getting 16 total

Spoiler

Final Avg Ratings, apart from Felipe due to all the goals, Ronaldo, Messi and Ramos did excellent for me with some really good displays

Spoiler

Final Managerial Statistics

And if anybody wants to know the formation, I played this throughout the season.

played a 3-2-2-1-2 with a CF leading the line

 

thanks all for reading, really enjoyed the challenge… thanks to @Gazzaeverton

Edited September 12, 2022 by Cockers2505

[Gazzaeverton]

Glad you had fun....excellent job! A close and exciting finish....was a tough challenge.....well done! 

[StuartM]

Nice work! Like the idea and a top effort too, well done!

[scouse_v]

Wonderful! @Cockers2505 Do you mind telling more about the tactic? Just want to try it out for fun

[Cockers2505]

21 hours ago, Gazzaeverton said:

Glad you had fun....excellent job! A close and exciting finish....was a tough challenge.....well done! 

Thanks mate, it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be

11 hours ago, StuartM said:

Nice work! Like the idea and a top effort too, well done!

Thank you mate, getting the right tactic was key

1 hour ago, scouse_v said:

Wonderful! @Cockers2505 Do you mind telling more about the tactic? Just want to try it out for fun

Nothing special mate, I played with this for sometime with other saves and thought with the players it might work, with better player you could change to BPD instead of CD, and I wouldn’t choose CF, maybe a target or poacher