Going up in the world…

Well, not the Gameworld rankings. As I write this I’m down to 4th in the world after the aforementioned somewhat dodgy results in the league. However, my league form has picked up and things are starting to look better…

AEFA Premier League

After a record of 2 draws and 2 losses from the opening 4 games, I felt things had started to turn around after a rugged 1-1 draw against Theatre of Dreams. A hard fought win against One World United chalked up the points total to 4 from 5 games, relegation form in all honesty. I’d gone from being the Barcelona of AEFA to the Tottenham.

Beaulieu FC 3 – 2 Ajax FC

After going 3-0 up, I thought this would be a relatively easy match. Ajax came back strongly, and with an impressive front 3 featuring Trezeguet and the former Anchor-man Chamakh, I was clinging on by the end. A valuable three points.

Wombles 0 – 1 Beaulieu FC

A tight win against The Wombles saw Onouha snatch a goal at the far post following confusion around a corner. In all honesty, we should have had the game in the bag but just couldn’t find the finishing touches. Caceres and Onouha managed to keep the imposing Guiza at bay for most of the match, keeping an impressive clean sheet.

Beaulieu FC 5 – 0 Johnsons Users

The most impressive match so far this season saw us completely wipe the floor with Johnsons Users. The clearly came to the Anchor looking for a point, but in a 4-5-1 formation featuring the ever-potent Brandao, they were always capable of scoring. Caceres and Onouha were imperious, taking Brandao out the game. With a mean defense, their was still plenty to be done but man of the match Felipe Monteiro netted a hatrick of stunning free-kicks to ensure the 3 points.

Beaulieu FC 3 – 0 Bohemians FC

Bohemians FC are a very strong side, featuring brilliant winger Rosi, Adrian Mutu and Luca Cigriani. The return of Guilherme, from injury, was the catalyst that was needed to spur Beaulieu FC on to victory and his two goals ensured the three points.

Beaulieu FC 0 – 2 Maffe

This match was a crushing blow. Despite dominating the game, the front threesome of Guilherme, Esqcueda and Welbeck simply couldn’t find the back of the net. A deflected goal saw Maffe take a 1-0 lead in at half time after managing just 1 shot and none on target. The second half saw Maffe have more of the game as the lads went searching for the equaliser, but an Ronaldhino corner saw Adriano meet the ball at the front post and secure a big win for Maffe.

Workshop Wednesday 2 – 2 Beaulieu FC

On the back of a demoralising result against Maffe, the lads clearly looked in poor form. When we took the lead early on, through … , things were looking bright. But then came possibly the defining moment of the match as Onouha was carried off the pitch, injured. His replacement, a 17yr old, simply wasn’t up to the job. He gave away a freekick on the edge of the area which was duly dispatched by Rat. Worse was to come when, deep into injury time, brazillian giant defender Cacapa was marked only by the 17 yr old, to head home. But that wasn’t the end of the match, as with seconds to go none other than Guilherme popped up to snatch a late and undeserved, point.

Noerrebro Rangers 1 – 3 Beaulieu FC

Noerrebro were sat right at the wrong end of the table and anything other than a win would have been a terrible result. Despite being very active, the manager chose to let it go to AI, rejecting or ignoring my challenges, which makes this victory all the sweeter. The lads sat back in the second half, but there was never any real danger of not picking up the three points.

Beaulieu FC 3 – 2 AFC Carpathia

After losing to Barry Welch’s AFC Carpathia at the start of the season, this was a grudge match. In reality, Carpathia set up defensively, hoping to nick something. When we went ahead through the worst deflection I’ve ever seen following a Guilherme thunderbolt. Caceres and Onouha had a real off day against the lively Defoe, and a mistake by the former let Defoe in for the equaliser. After taking the lead again, another mistake by the defence saw him through on goal to bring it back to two all. The game was won by the young Mexican forward Enrique Esqueda who nodded home Dani Alves’ powerful cross to bring home the points.

Beaulieu FC 0 – 2 Huntsdown Villa

A tough match for Beaulieu FC. Huntsdown managed just two shots on goal, while the lads carved out two clear cut chances. Fair play to Villa, though, they took their chances and took all three points from The Anchor – a bad result.

I'm up near the top of the league now, and there or there abouts in the projected points, so I'm happy considering my awful start. Will update on some more matches that I've played in the league soon.

Cups

Having somehow lost the AI rights, Hughes duly dispatched my AI side 2-0 in the All Evening Cup Last 16. The gold cup matches are due to be played by Saturday and I face a tough opponent, with players such as De Rossi, Schweinstieger and Utaka. The Gameworld Cup has seen me progress to the Last 16, where I'll almost certainly face the imperious COYS. Not hopeful. Will update as and when matches are played.


Comings and goings…

Most of the deals done in the last week or so have been aimed at increasing the balance of money at Beaulieu FC while trying to maintain the core of the squad.

Bjorn Sigurdsen

Out - £2,000,000 + 30%.

Bjorn was the future of the strike force for a long time, but although his potential was starting to be realised, so the space in the team dried up. With the arrival as Esqueda and Welbeck, along with the ever-present Guilherme, there was going to be no space for him for the foreseeable future. With Markus Bungert really starting to come on, it was time for Bjorn to find pastures new. A bid of £2m and 30% of future profit was good enough to see him leave.

Carlos Zambrano

Out - £3,800,000

Unlike Bjorn, Zambrano was a key member of the first team, acting as first choice left back and cover for the center for a long time. Even though he joined for a hefty £3m, the market has crashed in recent times, and an offer of £3.8m represented a very hefty amount for the talented and versatile centerback. All things considered, and with money needed, it was decided that Zambrano, although he would be missed, was not integral to the plans of Beaulieu FC.

Roberto

In - £1 / Out – £500,000

I managed to find this veteran in a £1 auction, and miraculously, actually got him for that fee. An absolute steal considering his market value was approaching £800k. Within 4 days, someone was looking for a quality goalkeeper and with an eye on a quick profit, Roberto found his way off of my bench and into Chris’ starting lineup.

Natalio

Out – £425,000

Natalio was never going to be more than a squad player at Beaulieu FC, but he’d done a job, coming off the bench and grabbing a handful of goals while tearing up the reserve league. A big of £425,000 was more than enough to secure his signature.


Next update will finish up the team review.

The Team - Part 1

GK - Rogerio Ceni


The legendary 'keeper is a safe pair of hands inbetween the sticks at Beaulieu FC. Time is not on his side, but like fine wine he's getting better with age. He also packs a mean freekick and is yet to miss a penalty. With journeyman benchwarmer Roberto and hot prospect Di Giuseppe in reserve, there's plenty of competition for the keepers jersey.


DR - Dani Alves


My best player, the world class wideman Dani Alves. I've previously deployed him at RW, but this season will see him holding down his natural posistion as a rampaging right fullback. He's never averaged below 7.4 and is quite simply put, an assist machine.


DL - Andres Guardado


Technically he's a left winger, but the formation I've been playing relies on rampaging fullbacks to provide a lot of width. Guardado on the left and Dani Alves on the right provide that with gusto. A great player, with a wicked longshot.


DC - Nedum Onouha


He's lightning quick and he's good in the air. With massive amounts of strength as well, he's turned from a speedy defender when I bought him into an absolute rock, averaging 10 interceptions a match. Irreplaceable, especially on his wages.


DC - Martin Caceres


The young prodigy has turned into my defensive rock. A huge prescence in defense, he's quick and great in the air. He's also a massive threat at set pieces, contributing a very healthy share of goals. On very low wages, he's formed an immense partnership with Onouha over 2 and a half seasons that looks set to form a rock solid core at The Anchor.

The season so far..

In a word, it's been mixed.

The gold cup has gone well, with two wins and a draw from 3 matches placing me in a healthy posistion at the top of the table. In a tough group with Flux Capacitor, Dinamo, Myself and Balia FC, it'll be a real achievement if I qualify for the knockouts.

I have made it to the third round of the Gameworld Cup for the first time! I'll be playing Springfield Isotopes, who are kind of a bogey team for me, so we'll see how that goes.

Finally, in the league things haven't gone so well, with 5 played, 1W, 2D and 2L. I hope things have turned a corner, with a battling draw against top side Theatre of Dreams and a narrow win over One World.

I am down to rank 4 in the world, with my youths plummeting to rank 180. Next update will be next week and I'll hopefully post my team.

Revolving door at The Anchor..

Danny Welbeck was the big new signing ahead of the new season. Wanderley had really failed to impress, especially in this season. His wages of 17,000 weren't huge, but they were big enough compared to Welbecks' 6k. A promising youngster with blistering pace, I was especially happy to secure him as a Man Utd fan.

In other news Sebastian Ribas left for 1.3m in a deal looking to secure the finances of the club. The youngster goes down the divisions to join Oliver Thompsons Arsenal Villa.

Preparing for 1.1.1 and JP

Two updates in the world of Beaulieu FC. Firstly, I've finally managed to gain the Juding Potential skill. Currently I'm at level 3, although I plan to go to level 4. This will take me a while, as I intend on unlocking some of the infrastructure learning and then some of the infrastructure skills, but JP3 gives a fairly accurate indication when applied with common sense (someone who looks absolutely rubbish but has 4 star potential probably really IS absolutely rubbish).

Which leads on to preparing for 1.1.1. I really enjoyed the 1.1 update, with the extra information about the players during matches and the club biography and fan breakdown particular highlights. Stadiums are going to be a different kettle of fish as I think people are underestimating the impact it will have on their finances and there will be quite a few in serious financial trouble.

I'm currently one of the two highest reputation teams in Saunders at 4.5 star and I rake in a healthy 250k+. This is going to plummet unless I build a somewhat large stadium, so I'm currently working on reducing my wage bill (not easy when you have three players on 40k+!!!) and accumulating some cash. I had a peak at the Manual (which is great if you have any questions about stadiums) and I'm going to need quite a lot of cash to build the stadium I want. :D

Finally, a few new faces have found their way to Beaulieu FC, which I'll reveal in an update tonight.

Big new star joins Beaulieu FC!!

Wanderley - a pacey brazillian striker with a sweet free-kick has joined. After much searching around, I settled on this guy as the best value for money and he joins for an almosty club record of 7.5m. Unofrtunately, the day after pruchasing Wanderley, the market crashed after a huge number of good players were released from their contracts. But c'est la vie!! - this is the first time I've bought at the wrong time.

Stat increases..

One of the odd outcomes of yesterdays 1.1 update is that some players have undergone amazing stat increases. Case and point, check out the below pic of Guana and compare it to the pic uploaded yesterday. Insane.



And this is my 38 yr old GK..

Comings and goings..

Towards the end of season 2 and during preseason for season 3, I decided to really shake up the squad with a series of changes in personnel. First is first, and a summary of the players remaining at The Anchor.

Nedum Onouha, Martin Caceres, Dani Alves and Guilherme were all handed automatic contract extensions to remain with Beaulieu FC. With no other players reaching the end of their contracts, keeping these 4 players represented a key step in building the team for next season.


Out

Diego Valeri – the tricky winger had been in great form all season, but I knew that I would have to sell him as I didn’t want to have to use one of my 5 locks. I wanted 7m for a player of such promise, but in the end I had to take what was on offer in order to reinvest the money, and he left for a bargain £6m.

Rommano Denneboom – The right winger was never going to be anything more than a short term option on the right wing, but for just £100k (due to his £30k wages), I just couldn’t say no. When an offer of £2.2m came in just 8 days later, the dutch powerhouse was on his way back out.

Diego Milito – With the clinical striker about to celebrate his 31st birthday and on £40,000 a day, big things were expected of him. Despite a very healthy scoring rate, Diego failed to live up to the huge pressure on his shoulders, being outshone by his young wonderkid strike partner. With money getting tight at The Anchor, I decided to accept an offer of 6.5m and Diego left Beaulieu FC.

Alberto Zapater – ‘The Bull’ was a solid player, a real destructor in the midfield, who’d achieved a solid average rating. I was loathed to lose him, but I just couldn’t justify using a lock on him when other defensive midfielders were available. Mark Quinn put in an offer of £5m, and after some discussions, this was accepted.

Steven Pienaar – Another big departure was the South African playmaker. Although playing well, the midfield maestro just didn’t offer a goal threat – finishing 10 and long shots 12 meant he got into good positions regularly, but just couldn’t finish off the chances my team were creating. An offer of £8m came in, and although Mark Quinn had a 25% future profit clause, I felt it was simply too good to pass up.

Marco Suler – The defender had performed well and had very good stats, but he was definitely not worth a second season lock. An offer of £1m saw the defensive rock leave The Anchor for pastures new.

In





Felipe Monteiro – By luck I stumbled upon the prodigious midfielder. After enquiring about Kim Kallstrom, I ended up making a bid for the right winger instead. £4.5m represents a significant outlay, but with blistering pace, good dribbling skills and a wicked longshot, Monteiro has all the talent to make the right wing berth his own. And look at all the green arrows....







Andres Guardado – Put simply, the reason Valeri had to leave. Guardado is one of the best left wingers in the game, combining raw pace with exceptional dribbling skills and a thunderous shot from distance. Despite some poor performances for certain clubs in the past (who like hoofing the ball from defence up to fast strikers), he’s started well for me and is put simply, the very definition of world class.







Roberto Guana – The defensive midfielder comes in as a direct replacement for Zapater. On just £5,000 wages and a £3m, he is a more rounded midfielder than ‘The Bull’. He is however quite a bit older and less destructive, but his signing frees up funds for other signings and reduces the wage bill.








Julio ‘The Beast’ Baptista – Out with The Bull, in with The Beast. One of the key issues with my squad was the lack of goals from midfield, which placed a heavy burden on my strikers. Zapater’s job was destruction, but Pienaar simply didn’t chip in with enough goals, especially given the number of chances my team created for him. Baptista is something different. Slightly slower than Pienaar, what he lacks in pace he makes up for in every other department. Good in the air, a great passer of the ball, strong, with great finishing and long shots, I’m hoping Baptista will add many a goal from midfield.




===



With plenty of money in the bank, I’m hoping to add one more big signing before the introduction of FML 1.1 cuts a hole in the finances of every club. I think I’ve managed to pull together another strong squad for another title push for next season, and hopefully I’ll manage to perform slightly better in the cup competitions this time around, too!!

FML 1.1 and other thoughts…

I’m amazed, but I’ve finally managed to catch up with myself on this blog – just two seasons late. My team is currently consistently holding down the #2 spot in Saunders, with money in the bank and youth on my side things are going well.

But Saunders, and FML, is about to be shaken up, in a good way. This Thursday a new version of the game, 1.1, will be introduced. There are a few nice touches, but I think a great number of people will be unpleasantly surprised by the finance side of things.

There are four areas that are most prominent…

‘Gameworld Champion
Any team can be crowned ‘King of the Gameworld’ simply by beating the current holders.’

I like this idea as an added extra, to encourage more games. Perhaps in the future it would be good to have achievements based on the number of times you’ve defended your title.

‘Enhanced Game Analysis
To help you work out what the players are feeling throughout the match and to help you improve your team.’

I like anything that helps me see where my team is performing / underperforming, so I’ll enjoy nosing around the new stats available, although I’m not sure how useful they’ll be until I get a good look at them.

‘Fans
Clubs now attract fans with different sorts of personalities, what sort of club will you become?’

I’m really looking forward to this aspect of the game, although it’s kind of superficial until stadia are introduced in the next update some time later this month (I’m a little disappointed it didn’t make it into this update, but if it’s not here then it’s not ready). I’m intrigued to see what kind of supporters I’m going to get coming to my club and I really think this will add an entirely new aspect to the game. I have my doubts about how it’s going to fit into a Gameworld where people can already afford to buy the best stadiums, but if it doesn’t work well then I might jump ship and start afresh in a new gameworld to get the full experience of the game I hoped FML would be.

‘Updated Financial and Transfer Systems
To help curb inflation in gameworlds and to lessen the gap between the top clubs and the chasing pack.’

Put simply, this is the biggest change and will completely alter the game. A lot of people in the game have made vast sums of money by buying and selling players. By introducing all the new money sinks (signing on fees, agent fees, the such like) that simply remove money from the game, as well as the inforced sign-on percentages for the first month of a players’ contract, the buying and selling option is effectively nullified. This will make for a far, far slower game from the start of a gameworld, but I really don’t know how it’s going to play for those that have already started. I think a lot of people will find it very hard to shift their players when the money drains hit, especially the fools who are currently bidding £80k+ for average players.


In other news, I’ve made the #2 position in the rankings my own and I’m currently one of only two clubs to obtain a 4.5 star reputation in Saunders. I’ve got two matches against a good opponent in Leers OSC coming up, although his squad has been severely depleted by sales since he’s moving to Toms. Never-the-less, Flamini and Klose are two fine players so it’ll be two interesting matches.

Team Awards..

Team of the Season

GK – Rogerio Ceni

DR – Dani Alves
DC – Martin Caceres
DC – Nedum Onouha
DL – Carlos Zambrano

MR – Rommano Denneboom
MC – Alberto Zapater
MC – Steven Pienaar
ML – Diego Valeri

FC – Guilherme
FC – Diego Milito

Player of the Season

Honourable mentions go to Steven Pienaar, an incredible average of 7.38 really set him apart from other midfielders; Diego Valeri, the tricky winger was instrumental from the wings, again with a quite awesome average rating and Guilherme, the young striker really flourished this season and has turned into a real world class star.

However, player of the season has to go to Dani Alves. Playing from right back, few other players could have been as instrumental as he was. One of the highest average ratings in the gameworld from a position of low influence really shows just how good he’s been. He is, put simply, a monster of a player.

Happy New Year & 2nd season Summary

AEFA Premiership

The AEFA Premiership was a tough place to be in the second season. Great sides with great players fell by the wayside and struggled in what turned out to be an amazingly competitive division. Some of the top sides were as follows;

Matt Bunns’ Beaulieu FC – Yours truly clearly had a shot at the title, with quality players such as Guilherme, Dani Alves, Diego Milito and Martin Caceres. Possible pitfalls included a lack of a set piece taker and a lack of real power in the air.

Marc Thoms’ Theatre of Dreams – Marcs side underwent numerous transformations throughout the season, but included stalwarts such as Gilardino, Nani and Yaya Toure. Tough to break down, and bristling with talent, Theatre of Dreams were my pick of the sides to beat.

Simon James’ Wild Geese FC – Simon started with a solid side, including brilliant young forward Asamoah, talented playmaker Daniel Montenegro and young wonderkid Guy Assulin. His side pipped me to the Qualification title, and I fully expected a strong challenge for the title.

With other teams having the quality of players such as Ronaldhino, Adriano, Trezeguet, Carew, Dzeko, Bale and Kolo Toure, there was a real strength in depth in the premiership.

I got off to a terrible start in the league, getting destroyed 4-0 away to Theatre of Dreams. I then staged somewhat of a recovery, winning 6 out of the next 7. A midseason slump, starting with a 2-1 loss to AFC Carpathia, saw my chances for the title slip out of my fingers. However, after a humiliating 4-0 home loss to Wild Geese FC, I managed to pull my side together for a title charge, winning most of my final 12 games and finishing on a highly respectable 75 points.

The real surprise came from Monobrow FC. With a solid side including Bale, Dzeko and Adler, they were always in and about the top. Managing to do the double over me, they had an amazing final push which saw them finish on 80 points. The only side who could beat them were Wild Geese FC. Simon James was inactive for the entire season (which has since seen him relegated), but his side did him proud. With three games left, they needed three wins to pip Monobrow to the title, and they duly delivered. Inspired by the, quite frankly world class, playmaker Daniel Montenegro, the Geese took home the title. Unfortunately, Simons’ side is now being picked apart in the wage auctions and it looks unlikely that he’ll be making a swift return to the premiership

All Evening Cup

This was the scene of disappointment for Beaulieu FC. We made the Last 16 in swift time, where we took on Springfield Isotopes. Despite absolutely dominating the match, the blues lost 1-0 and were dumped out of the cup.

Silver Cup

An easy group stage saw my side dominate, easily qualifying for the knockout stages. Here, again, we got a relatively easy draw, but alas, it wasn’t to be. Hitting a period of midseason bad form, the side struggled to score and despite creating more than enough chances, were dumped out of the competition over two legs.





All in all, a year of so close but so far, with the squad failing to ignite in important matches. . I was happy, however, with my 3rd place finish, ensuring Gold Cup football for the following season and a firm footing for next season.