Top of the world..

A small post, just to immortalise the first time my team has reached the pinacle of the Gameworld. Much has happened, with the second season drawing to a close, and I will update shortly...

Season 2 comings and goings..

Before the season started, much wheeling and dealing was done in order to refresh the squad;

OUT

Christian Villagra – the young fullback was a solid enough player, but I had always intended to sell him this season as he was definitely not good enough to be locked next season. A whopping bid of £900k came in and the Argentine defender was shipped out, already replaced by Olson.

Massimo Gobbi – Massimo played fantastically well in the first season, averaging 7.15. However, with Leandro Lima in the side, he was being forced to play defensively – despite having mostly attack orientated stats. Finally, he was no spring chicken, being one of my older players at 29. An offer of £2m and 25% of any future profit, and Massimo was allowed to leave.

Leandro Lima – The biggest shock was the exit of Leandro Lima. The midfield maestro was in the top 20 average rating for players in the first season and literally ran my midfield. However, despite his high average rating, over 500 games he only managed 100 goals and 100 assists. After playing around in preseason, I decided Pienaar was only really effective through the centre, which left Leandro on the bench. I decided a whopping offer of £3.7m was too good to turn down for a bench warmer, so Leandro left to link up with compatriot Jo and a guaranteed starting place.

Marouame Chamakh – Regulars at Beaulieu FC games won’t have been surprised at this move. Chamakh had performed well, but had never really set the world alight since his move to The Anchor. A lethal ability to head the ball (heading 17) was all but negated by his inability to win the ball in the air (jumping 13), and without great pace this left him easily marked out of many a game. An offer of £2.8m saw Beaulieu FC pocket a cool profit of £2.2m.

Other players to leave The Anchor included Kaio and Mateus for a combined £700k. Kaio had performed admirably, but with other posistions needing strengthening, I decided to let him go. Mateus had been frankly awful and only managed a solitary assist in 15 games in preseason. I was amazed to get a bid of £350k, and as quickly as he joined, he left The Anchor.

IN





Alberto ‘The Bull’ Zapater

After selling Gobbi, I move swiftly to secure Zapater. Clever, pacey, a solid passer of the ball and strong into the tackle, Zapater exceeded his predecessor by having amazing teamwork and workrate attributes. A much more defensive option for the midfield, I hope he’ll be the workhorse to combine alongside Pienaar’s flair in a formidable midfield. I’d expect nothing less from the player nicknamed ‘The Bull’ by none other than Maradonna.





Diego Milito

With money in the bank following the exits of Leandro Lima and Marouame Chamakh, I decided I needed another high profile striker to take the goal scoring burden off of the young shoulders of Guilherme. I sent informal enquiries to a lot of managers regarding their players, but in most cases I was met with blunt ‘Not for sale at any price’ messages. After touting around for a striker, Milito’s manager approached me and a deal was done. He offers a great presence upfront, with amazing stats in both finishing and composure combined with a modicum of pace and good aerial ability. At a whopping £5m and £40k a day wages, a lot will be resting on Diego’s striking boots.

With money in the bank, the Beaulieu FC squad is looking very strong for the upcoming season.

Youth

With Guilherme in my side, I decided it was foolish not to at least have ANY youth side. I used the wage auctions to pick up a number of players of varying ability and potential. The best player I managed to pick up is 18 year old Icelandic wunderkid Bjorn Sigurdsen. He’s already had a great impact for my youth side and regular features for the senior side off of the bench, although his high wages were somewhat of an extravagance for such a youngster. He’s been developing well, with his pace and acceleration shooting up, so I’m hopeful I have a young superstar on my hands.

The other player I personally rate is the fantastically named Markus Bungert. The German striker has bags of pace and good finishing, but at just 16 could have great potential.





Beaulieu FC’s youth teams are doing well, currently residing well within the top 100 and reaching a top ranking of 19th.

Silly season...

Silly season arrived with the start of the end of contract wage auctions at the end of the first season. This saw many managers throw caution, and common sense, out the window when bidding on players. Spanish legend Raul ended up going for £140k a day, which was soon topped by Robinho at £150k a day. Moreover, distinctly average players routinely ended up being bought at £50k a day or more.

Fortunately, Beaulieu FC were in a good position. With only 4 contracts up for renewal, I even had a lock to spare for next season! I wanted to use this period to sign a left winger in the wage auctions, but in the end the majority of my big business occurred through private transfers. I bid on dozens and dozens of players, but most of the time lost out to huge offers from other clubs. Most of the time I just chose not to tie up my money as ideal targets such as Giovinco (85k), Downing (67k) and Anelka (97k) went for far more than I could afford.

I was looking for reliable backup for club vice-captain and Silvio Proto when I stumbled upon Brazillian legend Rogerio Ceni for sale. A snip at £200k despite his age and wage, the commanding ‘keeper joined as first choice. Silvio was obviously unhappy at being demoted to the bench, and quickly found first team football with … for a fee of £650k.

Marc-Andre Kruska had flattered to deceive and, despite recent improvements in both his performances and his stats, I felt it was the right time to move the youngster on. Forja Bajen exercised his instant buy amount to acquire the young defensive midfielder for £650k.

The final bit of big business saw Steven Pienaar arrive at The Anchor. I’d been desperate for a player capable of playing down the left wing, Mark Quins’ The Wombles moved to All Evening from Xtreme and were looking to drop their wage budget. A hefty £2.5m saw the South African midfielder swap the lower leagues for the All Evening Premiership, becoming Beaulieu FC’s most expensive player in the process.

I also managed to pick up a few good squad players in the wage auctions. Kaio is a very attack minded midfielder with explosive pace, while Roger is a more rounded creative midfielder. Dabrowski adds some steel, and height, into my midfield and is joined in defensive duties by Garcia, a young, balanced defensive midfielder. Mateus was brought in to add depth to an otherwise sparse frontline, but is only expected to sit on the bench. Finally left back Olson arrived to stake a claim for a regular spot at left back. Although on big wages, he’s made a solid start and at just 21 has plenty of time to improve.

I also managed to pick up a large number of youth players, the pick of which can be seen in the next post.

Unoffical competitions

Throughout the course of the season, Beaulieu FC entered into a number of non-official competitions with a fair degree of success. A win in the ’10 team easy league’ represented Beaulieu FC with their first taste of silverware, but more was to come.

Beaulieu FC managed to win the WYBU Open, featuring some of the best sides in the world. Dale Holeness’ FC Coconuts started slowly but then hit blistering form, pushing me all the way. 12 wins and a draw in the final 11 matches of the league saw Dan need three wins in his last three games to take the title on goal difference. Fortunately for me, he fell agonisingly short, drawing the final game to leave me winning by two points and taking home £70k in prize money.

Other highlights included winning the Who Ate all The Pies cup competition and finishing second in Goldenballs Cup.

End of season awards..

Team of the Season

GK – Silvio Proto

DR – Nedum Onouha
DC – Marco Suler
DC – Martin Caceres
DL – Christian Villagra

ML – Diego Valeri
MC – Massimo Gobbi
MC – Leandro Lima
MR – Dani Alves

FC – Guilherme
FC – Hugo Rodallega

Player of the season

Hounourable mention goes to Dani Alves. He was immense for the second half of the season, ending up both in the top 5 overall performers and the top 5 dribblers of the ball in the gameworld (check out who else was at the top over at Wild Geese’s Simons James’ Blog http://wildgeesefc.blogspot.com/).

However, one player stood head and shoulders above everyone else throughout the season – Brazilian magician Leandro Lima. A creative force from midfield, he was regularly coming up with crucial goals and carving open defences time and again.

First season in saunders.. a summary

Beaulieu FC chose to play in the All Evening Football Association and were entered into one of the tougher qualifying groups. Alongside other good teams like Marko’s Magicians and Workshop Wednesday, my main aim was simply to qualify for the premier league for the next season, requiring a finishing position of 5th or higher.

Initially, Marko’s Magicians took the lead, but the signings of Guilherme, Dani Alves and Diego Valeri galvanised my squad and pushed me into first place for most of the second half of the season.

However, Wild Geese FC, powered by young striker Asamoah and playmaker Daniel Montenegro, reeled my team in. This included a disappointing 2-2 draw at The Anchor, with Guilherme guilty of missing a hatful of chances. Although I was disappointed not to win the league, I fulfilled my aim of reaching the premiership and exceeded in managing to qualify for the Silver Cup in the UFFA by finishing as one of the best second place teams.

After breezing past Kaos FC 3-0 in the first round, a tough draw saw Beaulieu FC play the Buonanotte inspired IK Svane. In a match that saw three red cards, I was ultimately defeated 2-1 after extra time.

Beaulieu FC performed slightly better in the All-evening cup. Getting a bye to the second round was a bonus, but solid wins against Clark Utd, Pickwick Town and A1 United saw Beaulieu progress to the quarter finals. A tough match against Deuce United saw a scrapped 2-0 win, their reward a trip away to FC Census. With the assistant in charge of the home side, I struggled and came away with a highly disappointing 1-0 loss to the eventual winners.

So all in all, the first season was a case of so close yet so far when it came to official silverware.

Comings and goings at The Anchor..

The first signings for Beaulieu FC attempted to add some steal to a relatively weak midfield. Versatile Italian midfielder Massimo Gobbi (top) joined for a bargain price of £85k, while promising, tenacious German midfielder Marc-Andre Kruska joined for a paltry £50k.

With the initial 7 day window passing, a few players found themselves out of the door. Marcelo Tavares had been a worrying presence at CB, making a number of mistakes and giving away far too many free-kicks in dangerous areas. The fantastically named Wang Dong had barely got a look into the midfield after the Gobbi signing and was surplus to requirements. Otacilio had struggled to break into the team past the impressive Donnet, so when an offer of 70k came in the pacey Brazilian left. Old favourite Dida was unimpressive and quickly found a home at Neil Baldwins Workshop Wednesday for £65k.

Next to find their way to The Anchor was lightning-quick defender Nedum Onouha, who can play at both CB and RB. I have high hopes that he’ll grow into a great CB, but throughout the first season he was deployed at RB due to his relatively small stature.

Hugo Rodalleha had been in stunning form, with 108 goals in 150 games, but when an offer of £400k came in, the powerful Colombian forward was regretfully let go for an offer too good to refuse. Beaulieu FC fans were worried that without their talisman, the team would struggle to score goals. However, I managed to engineer a stunning double transfer coup – the signings of wonderkids Guilherme and Martin Caceres. Guilherme is an explosive striker of great potential, while Caceres is a rock solid central defender, both good in the air and blessed with pace.

With Beaulieu FC struggling to raise funds for another big signing, two regular first team members found themselves heading for the exit. Roland Linz had never really performed and, with Hoarau in favour and playing well, found himself in the cold and out of the door for £400k. Mattias Donnet had performed well patrolling the right flank, but yet another offer of £400k was too good to turn down for the Argentinian winger. Glauber had never performed brilliantly, with a very low return of goals and assists, so when an offer of 190k came in, I had to let him go. The last and toughest depature came inthe form of young midfielder Felipe. £250k represented a good bit of business, with the youngster forced out of the team by Lima, but it was hard to let him go.



Money in hand, two big signings entered Beaulieu FC. First came explosive Argentinian winger Diego Valeri (below). Able to patrol either flank, the youngster has great pace and fantastic potential. However, the biggest signing was of Brazillian superstar Dani Alves (above). Able to be deployed either at RB or RW, the maestro is a creative force for Beaulieu FC.



The final two bits of business for the season saw 2 players leave and another two join. Utility man Sidnei had struggled to break into the first team all season and had decided to leave at the end of the season. Despite having good stats, he simply didn’t perform when on the pitch. I wanted a player who could cover all the same posistions, so ended up striking a deal for Maddisom, a 21 year old pacey brazillian, with Sidnei and 65k going in the opposite direction.

Finally, the last of my initial trio of strikers left The Anchor in a deal for Moroccan international Marouane Chamakh. Good in the air, Chamakh has made a decent start to life at Beaulieu FC but some fans are grumbling he still hasn’t justified his fee of £300k, with Hoarau moving the other way.

All in all, there were a fair number of comings and going through The Anchor, but most signings were improvements on their predecessors.

Initial squad selection

Going into my initial selection, I knew that I’d want to be playing at least 2 strikers in most games, probably in some variation of 4-4-2, and that I wanted a mixture of youth and experience.

My number one target was Diego Buonanotte, but he was unfortunately still locked when I selected my squad. I moved on and managed to bag talented, young Brazilian playmaker Leandro Lima. With pace to burn, Lima is going to be my playmaker, linking my strikers to the rest of the team.

I quickly moved to pick up a number of quality players, including solid ‘keeper Silvio Proto (reportedly the only practising ventriloquist in Belgian league football!), young Argentinean fullback Christian Villagra and defensive rock Marco Suler.

The rest of my money went on three quality strikers – towering targetman Roland Linz, powerful forward Hugo Rodallega and the immensely promising French sriker Guillaume Hoarau. Spending the bulk of my money on attack minded players represents a risk, especially considering my wages are a hefty £55k a day. However, initial signs are promising with a good starting record and a very impressive opening match – an 8-0 win over :



Beaulieu FC:

A late kick-off...

This blog will chart the fortunes of Beaulieu FC, a team in the Saunders Gameworld of Football Manager Live, while hopefully offering a little insight into the game. This is an incredibly belated start, with Saunders about to enter its second season, so the next couple of posts will attempt to retrospectively summarise all the goings on during the first season.