Season 3 was in the books a couple of weeks ago but I have only managed to sit down and write about it now. This season was certainly one of the most enjoyable I've had playing this game for many a year.
FM is sometimes like being in a long term relationship. Sometimes you fire it up even though you really can't be arsed. Other times you are playing but it seems no matter what you do nothing appeases it and you end up not knowing what to do, but you know you still love it. Then there are the good times, those times when you are in complete harmony. Everything you do works and everyone is happy. You rush home to be together and all you want to do is be in their company, even if you aren't even doing anything. Season 3, for the most part, was one of those good times for me. Read on to find out why.
Jupiler Pro League.
We had a fantastic league campaign we won every home game as the Bosuil became a real fortress for us. We also amassed 90 points, an improvement of 25 points on Season 2. Unsurprisingly we finished top of the Jupiler Pro League.
Easy
One of the reasons I chose to manage in Belgium this edition was to experience the playoff system to determine the league winner. I believed this would give me a greater chance of success even if I wasn't one of the top sides. I'm now left cursing this same system as I see my 23 point lead at the top of the table reduced to a mere 11 points in the Championship Group.
Add to this the fact we lost the opening game of the Championship Group 3-2 to second place Standard, cutting our lead to a measly 8 points. I began starting to feel like FM was maybe cheating on me and was getting ready to dump me at any moment. Things didn't really get that much better as you can see.
Only six points across six games! We were arguing about everything and even the way FM looked and breathed annoyed me at this point.
Thankfully though, those six points were enough to bring the league back to Antwerp for the fifth time, and the first since 1957, by a rather paltry 3 points. #Good times.
European Campaign
Our European FMadventure began in the Champions League Third qualifying round against CSKA Moscow from Russia. We never really got into either leg and went down 3-1 on aggregate.
I wasn't too perturbed to be fair, dropping into the Europa League was probably for the best. I had notions of going on a long run.
We were once again drawn with Real Sociedad who defeated us rather comfortably in Season 2, inspired my Man Utd reject Adnan Januzaj. Inaugural Europa Conference League winners, Sheffield United also joined us along with Red Star Belgrade. It was an interesting mix of teams and I was confident we could qualify for the knock out stages.
We suffered a Match-day one defeat in San Sebastián to Sociedad, marking three defeats in the three games against them. We bounced back well after that and carried our good form on. We thumped Sheffield United 3-0 before a double header against Red Star Belgrade in which we took four points of the six on offer. With the group in the balance we welcomed our old foes Sociedad to Antwerp.
A nervy 1-0 win in which our best three performers were our Goalkeeper, Right Back and Centre Back says it all really. But we were now in assured of qualification. We finished the group with a nice 2-1 win over Sheffield United which meant we topped our group.
By winning the group we actually earned ourselves a bye in the next round. I wasn't aware of this before our last game in which I rotated heavily. This was certainly a welcome development and I was very optimistic about our chances now.
That was until we were drawn to play Europa League specialists Sevilla, in a one legged shoot out, in the second knockout round.
We won the xG battle so that'll do for me, but it was Sevilla who progressed and our European FMAdventure was over.
Beker Van Belgie
As reigning champions and wanting to become a domestic powerhouse I gave the cup priority. We did, however, encounter some difficulties in our opening match against second division Deinze, only winning 5-4 after some comedic defending from both sides. After that were rarely troubled despite losing the first leg of the semi final against Brugge 1-0, I felt confident we would prevail at home and we duly did 3-0.
So we had another final to look forward to. This time we were overwhelming favourites when we took on surprise package Oostende. My head to head with Oostende is not that great, in fact we had only registered two victories in the last 5 games, so I wasn't taking this final lightly.
We started well scoring twice in the opening 25 minutes and by the time Maxime D'Arpino was sent off for Oostende in the 44th minute victory was, more or less, assured. One of my Euro Rejects, Adam Hlozek, opened the scoring with this thunderbolt.
Powerful Centre Back Frank Boya completed the scoring the second half and we ran out comfortable 3-0 winners. The Beker van Belgie stays in Antwerp for another year. Make mine a double baby!
Another season has gone and I do get the feeling we are starting to become a real force domestically. My aim now is to make a mark on the European stage whether that be a Europa League win or qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League. Saying it and doing it are of course two different things!
Euro Rejects End of Season Report
We now come to our annual look at our Euro Rejects. The guys whose career we have saved by lifting them from the scrap heap of Europe and giving them a place to call home before shipping them off after two seasons for big money, hopefully.
Our Season One rejects have now been with us for two seasons and have moved on, how did they fare in their last season in Antwerp.
Season 1 Rejects
Yousseff Ait Bennasser - Deep Lying Playmaker
Some small gainz for Yousseff but nothing extraordinary. He had a steady second season with the Great Old, I always trust him in the big games. He did have a poor run in form around the autumn which saw him loose his place for a couple of months but by the end of the campaign he was back in the first team conducting business from the base of our midfield.
Appearances - 42(4)
Goals - 2
Average Rating - 6.91
Manager rating 3.5 *
Value - €18.5m
Yousseff's steady performances for us saw Hamburg come in for him and trigger his €13.75m release clause. We wish him well in the Bundesliga.
Luca Vido - Inverted Winger
A good season for Luca, he really cemented his place on the wing or as a pressing forward. He had a strike rate of almost a goal every other game which is more than enough for a wide player. Add to that eleven assists and he can be very pleased with his work. He does get a lot of small 'orange' injuries which do curtail him somewhat.
Appearances 33(9)
Goals / Assists 14 Goals / 11 Assists
Average Rating - 6.94
Manager Rating - 3.5*
Value - €16m
There was plenty of interest in Vido but none at the €16m level. In the end Koln stumped up his €10m release clause to foreign clubs and Luca was more than happy to move on to Germany where he received a hefty pay increase.
Lassana Coulibaly - Central Midfield
Not too much by way of improvement from Lassana over his two years at Antwerp. For some reason things never really worked out for him here especially in season two. I suppose technically he is at a level below what we have in similar positions but I still expected him to perform better in the match engine due to his mental and physical strengths.
Appearances 4(8)
Average Rating - 6.83
Manager Rating - 1*
Value - €11.5m
There wasn't really much interest in Coulibaly when it came to selling him. In the end we managed to tease €7.5m out of Pachuca in Mexico for him.
Hussayn Touati - Inverted Winger
Some marginal improvements for Touati despite limited game time across his two years at the club. My scouts and coaches believe him to have tremendous potential however with the club constantly challenging for leagues and cups I wasn't able to afford him the game time his development needed. Touati did manage a dozen starts this season in lesser games and did perform fairly well, including a hat trick in that strange 5-4 cup win versus second division Deinze.
Appearances - 12(9)
Goals - 7
Average Rating - 6.87
Manager Rating - 2*
Value - €775k
Again there were few suitors for Hussayn and I had to offer him out a number of times. In the end he returned to Paris with Paris FC for a paltry €350k.
Season 2 Rejects
Adam Hlozek - Inverted Winger
A pretty encouraging first season for well known FM21 wonderkid, Adam Hlozek. He pushed Luca Vido hard for a starting place on our left hand side and benefited from the former's poor injury record. An obvious highlight was the magnificent goal he scored in the final of the Beker Van Belgie. With Luca Vido moving on, Hlozek will be our starting left sided inverted winger, and I am predicting big things for him next season.
Appearances - 26(15)
Goals / Assists - 10 Goals / 3 Assists
Average Rating - 6.87
Managers Rating - 3*
Value - €12.5m
Xian Emmers - Mezzala / Central Midfielder
Despite being at Antwerp for only a season Xian Emmers has become one of my favourite players. He can basically fulfill any role in central midfield and I have been able to use him in a number of ways depending upon the game situation. I have decided given he is Belgian, he has a resolute personality, and high determination, I will not sell him after two seasons. I can envisage Emmers staying at Antwerp for a decade and becoming a club legend and captain.
Appearances - 49(2)
Goals / Assists - 5 Goals / 16 Assists (league high)
Average Rating - 7.10
Managers Rating - 5*
Value - €19.25m
Leonardo Cadellone - Inverted Winger / Pressing Forward
Leonardo was always going to be a back up player in his first season so I had pretty low expectations which he did manage to exceed. He kept Mbenza honest and any time I felt Mbenza was not performing I was confident I could call on Cadellone. He also got some minutes playing on the flanks were his all round game was an advantage. I need him to push on during his final season if we are going to command a good fee for him.
Appearances - 17(14)
Goals / Assists - 6 Goals / 1 Assist
Average Rating - 6.78
Managers Rating - 2*
Value - €11.25m
Season Three Rejects intake
Having lost a couple of influential players it was important to get our recruitment right this off season. We desperately needed a replacement for Ait Bennasser at the base of our midfield. I also wanted more options in terms of a central striker. I have noticed that Guy Mbenza can go on runs of poor form and it would be great to have someone of requisite standard waiting to come in.
My favourite day of the year had arrived 1st July. Most of Europe's top clubs have now released players they no longer want and I get to work. Priority 1 was a Deep Lying Playmaker.
Fabio Miretti - 20 years old - Italian - Juventus. Deep Lying Playmaker
Miretti had been released by Juventus and he quickly agreed to swap the Old Lady for the Great Old. I am very excited to see how he does for us, he has all the attributes to be a great deep lying playmaker and just look at his tackling, perfect for the DLP - destroyer. Perhaps some work on the mental aspects of the game are required but I am confident that as a regular starter for a champions league team he will grow exponentially.
Whilst scrolling through players released by Juventus I came across this fella who I believe could satisfy priority two - a credible backup to Guy Mbenza as a Pressing Forward.
Elia Petrelli - 22 years old - Italian - Juventus - Pressing Forward
Elia Petrelli (aka Peter) is proficient in many areas without being stand out in anything. My plan is to work on his physicality and use that 6' 2" frame to offer us something different up front when required.
As the window moved on I came across this guy who was still at Watford albeit on a rolling month to month contract. Given we lost Luca Vido and the poor injury record of our other wide players I decided to bring him in on a free.
Domingos Quina - 23 years old - Portuguese - Watford - Inverted Winger
I've taken a bit of a gamble here especially when you look at Quina's traits coupled with his attributes. He has tries tricks and likes to beat his man repeatedly, all well and good until we note he has 12 dribbling, 7 bravery, 11 decisions and 7 strength!
He does offer us something completely different and that flair of 16 might be enough to produce something for us when we need it most. I'm expecting a frustrating season with sporadic moments of brilliance from him.
So ends Season three in Antwerp. I'm hoping to get through a couple more seasons before finishing up. Playing time has been much harder to get this year and when it does comes along, firing up a laptop after spending the day crouched over one isn't as appealing as it once was.
I am in the midst of moving house too and I can attest to the cliche that it is one of the most stressful things a human being can do!
Over and out
FMEadster!