Previously on Rio de la Plata, Ángel Bastardo turned boys into men.

Intro

The Rule of Three is a writing practice that assumes that a trio of things are more memorable to the reader, even if we don’t consciously notice it at the time. As a Blogger, using the rule of three makes me appear [somewhat] catchy and relatable (lol). An example from this blog series is Hugo, Ruslan and Ángel kicking off the FM20 blog, or the start/middle and end of most of my blog posts. Using the Rule of Three is also specifically applicable to today’s blog post which takes a look at the Uruguayan Premier Division, where the rule of three is demonstrated it its structure and design. The 3 stages of Opening, Intermedio and Closing offer managers a classic Latin American experience. Effectively three attempts to win a league title. If you don’t win the Opening, don’t worry, there’s always the Closing; and if you don’t win either: just be consistent through the mid-season Intermedio and hope to top the Overall table.

This is all topical for the generic save update you’re about to read (if you stick with me), where the rule of three remains present throughout…

Season 2022

Domestic

We began our 4th season with a nervy penalty win Vs Boston River to win our 8th trophy: the Uruguayan Super Cup. From then on though, I can’t really fault the first two and a half months of our league campaign. But FM can be cruel sometimes, especially in Uruguay’s bitesize league chunks…where a couple of bad results see us miss out on the Opening Stage win. AI controlled Nacional going unbeaten, which included a gut wrenching win in our own stadium. Sickening and equally unacceptable.

Until now, Bastardo’s Peñarol has won each of the last six possible Opening and Closing stages (and therefore three straight titles). So, Nacional’s unbeaten stage has come as a real surprise and perhaps highlights some complacency creeping into Uruguay’s most successful club. We needed a big Intermedio campaign…

Intermedio

Six wins and one draw saw us hit form in the mid-season tournament. But the complacency once again manifested itself with a wasteful draw, and subsequent penalty loss, against Montevideo Wanderers in the trophy showpiece. I can’t quite put my finger on what’s missing, perhaps it’s Mauro Zárate’s big game heroics or a lack of fibra when it matters. Something I would need to address in the Transfer Market before going into the Closing Stage.

Continental

At one point in the Copa Libertadores we looked like we were in trouble of not getting out of the group. But we finished strongly with two wins to see us qualify for the Copa Libertadores Knockouts, which is now the Board’s minimum requirement. Our reward is a re-match with Boca Juniors, who knocked us out at the Quarter Final Stage two years ago.

I’ve put weekly friendlies in place in the lead up to the end of July fixtures and it’s probably a good time to face an Argentine club like Boca Juniors, seeing that it’s in their early pre-season. Fingers crossed for a Peñarol upset!

Rule Of Three [Competitions]

What we have in Uruguay are three distinct competitions that feed points into an overall table: Opening, Closing & Mid-Season’s Intermedio. The reason for this is that you can have various winners through the year, that then play one another in the final stages in order to crown the ‘Annual Grand Champion’ (I wrote about this in a bit more detail here).

Until now, I’ve never had to worry about it. My Peñarol side have won outright by winning every Opening/Closing stage and topping each Overall Table. But Nacional’s 2022 Opening Stage win changes that, and Bastardo’s Bastards are preparing for end of year drama this time round. Additionally, 2022 could possibly give us the unique situation of three winners battling it out. Nacional have their place as Opening Stage winners, but their total collapse in the Intermedio (dropping 14 points) and our rise to form…mean we have an 8 point lead in the Overall Table (see below).

The Closing Stage could add a third team into the mix, which would make domestic football exciting again, at least for the neutrals. Or it could simply mean Nacional and Peñarol fight it out for supremacy.

One thing is for sure though, Bastardo isn’t going to cede his crown easily…

Rule Of Three [Free Transfers]

I alluded to the point previously that I needed a bit more fibra and proficiency in the big games. It just so happens that the moves to correct this deficiency also aligned itself with the Rule Of Three: Schunke, Fernández & Blandi all joining from the Argentine Superliga on Free Transfers. This brings the total number of concurrent Argentines in the Peñarol squad to six, which is three more than the First XI quota for domestic games. Nothing exceeds like excess, right?

Estudiantes de La Plata ally Jonathan Schunke is by no means a first choice CB, but he offers professionalism and experience and will be welcome in our setup. Julián Fernández, on the other hand, is a fibra machine. Strong mentally and at the peak of his physical powers, he’ll be the perfect Half-Back to compete with Agustín Álvarez, who I praised last time out on the blog. The signature of Nicolás Blandi is reminiscent of Lucas Viatri, who I inherited when kicking off this save. Like Viatri, Nicolás Blandi is ex-Boca with good movement and finishing - something I am hoping to see in the upcoming Copa Libertadores knockout games.

Rule Of Three [Months]

The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar (which I will blog as Uruguay’s National Team manager) means that the domestic and continental club calendars end a month earlier in October, which produces a congested fixture list…where the games come thick and fast over three months. I believe, with the youth coming through and the aforementioned Argentine reinforcements, Peñarol can mount a defensive and retain our league title from the clutches of Nacional.

Strap in for the ride…

As always, thanks for reading/sharing/caring.

FM Grasshopper