MerlionMaple96

MM96 and Samhardy Present A H2H Battle Season 1.5 Hi guys, I'm back with my third update of this H2H. In the last update we saw Sam continue his terrific start to this challenge after replacing Elneny with N'Zonzi. Already a solid 200 points behind, I really had to dig deep to keep pace. But was able to do that? Let's find out! My Team The Sale The blue kit would soon become all too familiar for Rose Vibe had its say after my last update and it decided that Danny Rose would be the one to follow Harry Kane as the next member of the squad that would be axed. In my opinion wing backs are the hardest players to replace in this challenge as there are so few good, reliable wingbacks out there to begin with and since they don't sell for too much you don't have a lot at all to spend on their transfers. This was the problem with Rose as well. He was only valued at 11 Million Pounds and try as I might, I wasn't able to get any club to bite for higher. The only two interested parties were Liverpool and Leicester and neither were willing to offer more than his listed valuation. In the end I decided to let him go to Leicester as I didn't want to strengthen Liverpool even further after I had just let Kane go there in the last window. The Replacement As I said, replacing wingbacks is devilishly difficult and there were simply no reasonable wing backs in my price range. Well...none bar one. Sporting had listed Johnathan Silva on the transfer list and with his valuation only being 2.3 Million Pounds, I was hoping they would be willing to part ways with him for less. Unfortunately for me, they actually wanted MORE than that so I was forced to abandon that idea. Thankfully for me if I'm known for anything, it's being flexible as a manager and as such, I had an ace up my sleeve. Many people, including our very own, @Ashez were wondering why I had picked Eric Dier instead of Victor Wanyama in my starting XI. Well one reason was because I knew he was able to play at centre back! And with Jan Vertonghen able to play at left back as well, I decided it was time for some good ol' tinkering. Making these changes allowed me to bring the one stand out player that was available for a free transfer! None other than Super Mario himself, Mr. Balotelli! A physical specimen indeed. Starting XI As I said, I merely slid Vertonghen to left back, Dier to center back and played Mario up front with Cummings! The Season (So Far) Despite all the build up for Mario, he suffered two reasonably long injuries during his first four months at the club: This is one reason why his attributes in the screenshot above are so underwhelming. He had just returned from his second injury. Injuries in general really hurt the team during this half-season as Dier, Vertonghen, Son and Alderweireld all spent a month or more on the sidelines at various times. Community Shield What a game this was as we came from 3-1 down to win it on penalties! Premier League Unbeaten but seven draws is utterly woeful! League Cup Another absolutely mental game that went back and forth all the way! Champions League No drama here this time as we qualify comfortably Individual Performances A huge surprise on this front as: And the best part of this is of course...you guys can't replace him!! Player Stats Well that's all from me folks. Despite the injuries (especially the one to Balotelli), I think we did absolutely brilliantly to top the table at this point. And with him hopefully featuring more regularly, I can only assume we'll improve! Anyways, do let me know what you think of the season so far. And who do you think should be the next to go. Will Eriksen or Son finally bite the dust? Will it be one of our superb defenders? Or maybe young Dele Alli? I'll link the strawpoll below for your votes. http://www.strawpoll.me/14166600

Yeah that's because your 1KC standards are garbage! Harvey Barnes and his 60 goals a season. LAUGHABLE @scratch99 What tactic are you using mate? Perhaps you are not getting the most out of it.

Poll will be closing later today so get your votes in lads! (Though it sure looks like Bellerin will be leaving) My update will follow tn

We are in the semi finals where we will face Derby over 2 legs after defeating Watford, Southampton and Notts Forest - Are you FUCKING kidding me what kind of joke is this??? How do you get such easy fixtures???

Walker-Peters is a total beast! Definitely develops into one of the best wingbacks in the game. And yes, Gustavo Gomez is terrific as well, too bad he's a little pricey Hopefully it IS just a blip. Harry has all summer to rest up and regain his sharpness though so I'm not worried. Haha, I can confirm that I got the good model Yes that's my hope. Hopefully we can continue to beef up the squad a little next season as well.

Season 2: Citizen Kane Tackles Europe Introduction Transfer Update This was the first real transfer window in which I had the riches of PSG at my disposal to go out and spend frivolously. And boy did I ever spend it frivolously! I went out and signed four new players for a total of 98.5 Million Euros! Who did I purchase for this lump sum you ask? Well, the most expensive purchase of the four was none other than Yannick Carrasco, the flamboyant Belgian winger. It took a total of 40 Million Pounds to pry him from the grasp of Atletico. He would slot in as my main choice on the left wing while Draxler would play on the right wing. In addition to Carrasco, I also bought Gustavo Gomez for 31 Million Pounds, Kyle Walker-Peters for 20 Million Pounds and Andrea Poli for 7.5 Million Pounds. Poli in particular was quite the bargain as he slotted right into my starting XI alongside Krychowiak and Verrati in midfield. Wrong badge buddy! Incoming Player Attributes The Starting XI All but one of my new signings slot straight into the starting XI The Season Unfortunately I forgot to take screenshots before I overwrote the save file, so I only have the manager history to go by as to how the season went. As you can see it was absolutely stunning season as we won every trophy that we could possibly win, scoring 100 league goals in the process! Too bad I don't have more screenshots of the season to share with you guys, considering how much of a success it was Individual Performances Player of the Season Again, there were terrific candidates all over the pitch for this award. Last season's winner, Serge Aurier however, was not among them. He saw a dramatic dip in production as his 17 assists in 2016/17 dropped to just 6 assists this season. Making up for that was newboy Andrea Poli, who registered a superb 14 assists and 57 appearances adding a great deal of consistency to the best midfield in Europe. Centre back Marquinhos was also massive as he martialed the back four to a season in which they only conceded 30 league goals while providing a 6 assists as well! However, the award has to go to Angel Di Maria, who despite falling out of favour with the arrival of Carrasco and improvement of Draxler and Ziyech, still produced a gargantuan 22 assists and 9 goals in just 36 appearances! Simply stunning! Maybe I would be calling on the Argentine more next season Citizen Kane Let's take a look at the main event, how Kane performed. But first, his stats! Stats Performance An unfortunate drop in performance for Kane who picked up a month long injury just before the end of the season and never really recovered his form after. Still 78 goals in 53 games is nothing at all to frown at! Games: 111 Goals: 169 That's it for now guys! How did you guys think the season went? Will Kane improve next season? Can he complete the 1k? And how about the signings? Good, bad or ugly, I want to hear everything you guys have to say

@Taff @FuddledFox @Ashez Yes it's quite unfortunate that Sam stormed it. Yes, 20 goals in 25 games is not too bad for a Championship striker. @samhardy We're only 1 CL and 1 FA Cup behind and there's still 5 seasons to go!

MM96 and Samhardy Present A H2H Battle Season 1.0 Hi guys, I'm back with my second update of this H2H. In the last update we saw us crash out of the Champions League and Sam followed up by winning that competition, the Premier League as well as the FA Cup. It will be quite the tall order to stay on his heels after his blistering start. My Team The Sale Kane applauding the fans in his last game for Spurs Vibe had its say and the majority of votes were cast for none other than Harry Kane. Being forced to sell the best striker in all of England would be a massive blow for my team but could I deal with it? Well, let's first talk about how much I was able to get rid of him for. Unfortunately for me, although he was valued at over 45 Million Pounds, the frugality of the January transfer window meant that very few clubs were willing to discuss a deal for him after I had transfer listed him. The only two teams interested were Liverpool and Leicester City, and both were quite inelastic with their offers. Both clubs started off by offering me 35 Million Pounds and Leicester soon dropped out as I upped my asking price. Eventually Liverpool made a final offer of 39.5 Million Pounds and fearing that I would not receive any other offers, I agreed to let him go for that bid. The Replacement The initial replacement that I had lined up for Kane was a young Argentine by the name of Lucas Alario. He plied his trade at River Plate and my South American scouts had told me good things about his finishing and dribbling. We agreed a deal worth 3.9 Million Pounds for the lad with River but the transfer was thwarted at the last minute by a denied work permit! With only a few days left in the transfer window me and my team worked furiously to find a quick plan B. Eventually we settled on Jason Cummings, a Scottish striker who had only recently signed for Wolves from Hibernian. We were absolutely thrilled with the signing, as arguably Cummings was a better natural finisher than Alario AND given his age still had room for improvement. The final price of the transfer was 3.9 Million Pounds Cummings would be wel-cum with open arms Starting XI The Season Premier League Top of the table and only a few points worse off than Sam tbh League Cup Of course City score with their ONLY shot on target to knock us out FA Cup Liverpool were just far too potent on the counter attack Europa League We REALLY had to draw United??? Come on this competition should not have us facing such tough teams Individual Performances Player Stats Scoreboard Sam: 482 MM: 243 Final Thoughts All in all a decent season. For the first term in charge of any top English club, winning the Premier League has to count as a job well done. If only Sam had not made such a freakishly good start surely this season would go down as a resounding success. But as it played out we're well behind already and it's only been one season! My my... Either way do let us know what you thought of my performance this season? How good of a replacement is Jason Cummings and did you think he performed well? What about the rest of the squad? Who was the stand out player for you? And who should go next? Eriksen? Son? Rose? Dier? Vote below: http://www.strawpoll.me/14144681

Sam: "His fitness is being managed" Me: *glances at age, sees he's 26" What in the world?? Let's take the man at the peak of his powers and manage his fitness?? LET HIM LOOSE I SAY!

LOL what team are you managing? And what season is it?

God please not Giroud! I KNOW for a fact that Balotelli is available for a free during this window. It would be a total freebie if he had to sell Giroud

I'm sure losing Harry Kane is always going to hurt but probably not as much as losing certain other players Ashez may have mentioned.

Alright poll is now closed! Looks like Mr Harry Kane will be leaving the club.

Yeah hopefully we can ship the Europa League and get some points for that. Kane would make sense since we did vote out an attacking player for Sam Yes everyone vote for Vetonghen! But he doesn't fit in the system Rose would be really damaging tbh. So would Dembele I think. How do you know where to hurt me like this Ash??

Same here tbh. I thought it was hakuna mattata after I peeked to see that Bayern were up 2-0 at the half haha. But I guess I counted my chickens before they hatched Haha, replacing one of the team's spine is always going to make a big impact.