Part 74: Chapter the First: Testing our mettle.

Chapter One: Testing our mettle.
July 1, 2018-August 1-2018

I still can't get over those group stage results. I'd say it's clear there's huge corruption going on, but Russia got knocked out. Since it's being held in Russia, and since I don't think Costa Rica can match their bribery budget, at least some of the games are on the up and up and merely coming out weird. But Qatar winning three games is either the game evincing heretofore unrealistic outcomes or heretofore unseen verisimilitude. Qatar even has mercenaries on their team, their best player is a Spaniard named Ramon.



Always, always with the contracts. It's interesting to compare soccer to a sport like baseball, where teams seek to lock in their best players to long term deals. There tends to be a lot more manager and front office continuity in baseball, but it's nice as a fan to know that your favorite player is going to be with the team for a long time, even if by the end of his contract he's in his late thirties and massively overpaid and you're calling him a bum because he didn't turn out to be one of the handful of players that remained great into his twilight years.




It's amazing how much our players have come into demand the last six months. Prior to the January window I had to actively try to sell players, and the only times another team asked unbidden for one was when I accidentally had left the asking price at zero. Since January we've had out of the blue offers for Todd, Upson, Tench, Read, Smissen, Simpson, Holland, and Harrison.



Make that Todd, Upson, Tench, Read, Smissen, Simpson, Holland, Harrison, and Lewis.



Hi Sampdoria, how about giving me some of those players you want to loan out. And you're only asking for £130k for a four star right back? He's a little old for me, almost thirty, but how about sending him over here as well.

At Castell Alun, July 1, 2018
Friendly


The second of our creampuff opponents, these first two friendlies are entirely about building match fitness. Everyone in the starting 11 are first team players who most need game time to get ready for the season.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack.
Starting 11: Higgs, Curran, Lewis, Mejasic, Troelsen, Holland (c), Holt, Rainey, Gorman, Pym.
Subs: Love, Smissen, Kemp, Poole, Todd, Newman, Simpson, Bailey, Shirra, Harley, Coulson, Harrison.

This isn't quite the slaughter that our first match was. It's still a dominating result, and all the better as I started a number of new players and backups. We had complete control of the match the entire way through the game. A final tally of 8-0 would have been more likely than them scoring a sole goal.

Man of the Match: Mark Holland




Castell Alun 0-4 Wrexham



No repeat for the English this time around. At least you'll always have memories of 2014. This is a surprising result, but not one that comes out of left field, England wasn't as good as their ranking in the game and Switzerland is a solid, middle of the pack European country that can do some damage if they get some puck luck.



We've been selling an average of 200 jerseys a month for the last year, and were selling about 150 a month before that. Since I've been here that comes to about 8000 jerseys, or enough to clothe one in every five Wrexham natives.



For once we're the heavy favorites in a League Cup match after three years of facing Championship sides in the first round.



Mujkic is worn down from playing soccer year round, and needs a break. I send him off for two weeks, but that will get interrupted by a callup for more international matches, and I might have to give him another break. Better to rest him and have him fit for the season than trying to determine when I can most afford to give him a vacation when the fixtures are looming right before us.



That four star fullback was asking for over £18,000 a week. He won't be joining us.



Hopp is brought on board as my tactical guru. He's got a 15 in tactical knowledge, and while he prefers the 4-4-2 to my 4-5-1 he agrees with me on the merits of playing a fast, direct game. Now I'll finally be able to make individual opponent adjustments without worrying that I have no clue what I'm doing.



We can actually get loan players to come to us? Wonderful! Tedesco is a midfield prospect, I couldn't resist bringing him in for the year. He knows some Spanish after a loan year with Tenerife, which I'm automatically fluent in as an American (heh), so I should be able to talk with him while he learns English.



I've just made a contract offer for an incredible midfielder, which if he signs with us would leave us with too many players for too few positions. West Ham made their second offer for Mark Holland the same day. If we get the midfielder I'm trying to land, West Ham is welcome to Holland.



And that's the guy I'm trying to sign. There's three German clubs seriously interested in him, one of which has made him a contract offer. None are top flight teams, but one Bundesliga team is looking into him, and I'd imagine they can blow our wages out of the water and offer a more prestigious competition to play in.



Meanwhile, outside of the bustle of the trading floor, our team has retained most of it's tactical acculturation over the offseason, though that will shift as we buy/sell more players.



Our field seems to have just enough staying power to last through a season without becoming awful.



Why must you deny me, Santoni? What makes Braga better than Northern Wales?



Ok, well that is quite attractive.




I keep telling them not to go to the Taco Bell, but do they listen to the man with experience being in his early 20s and just drunk enough to make that type of bad decision? Nooooo.



Order is mostly restored.



I'm surprised he turned them down. And pleased, it's hard to find a four star ball control U18 coach.

At Ajax, July 7, 2018
Friendly


Between Ajax, Swansea, and PSG we're playing three Champion's League squads over the coming weeks, and PSV will be in the Europa League. These will be among the toughest matches we've faced in preseason at Wrexham, and drawing any of them will be an accomplishment. Luckily, we finish up our preseason against Tackleford, so we should be able to end on a high note.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Defense.
Starting 11: Higgs, Peters, Lewis, Curran, Mejasic, Simpson (c), Holland, Bailey, Coulson, Gorman, Pym.
Subs: Love, Smissen, Kemp, Poole Todd, Newman, Holt, Tedesco, Shirra, Rainey, Harley, Harrison.

We start the game out looking dangerous, and Pym gets a chance in the first ten minutes. As the minutes tick by Ajax becomes more and more assertive, but we're hardly performing poorly and go into the half without having given them a single chance. Ajax takes firm control of the match in the second half, but we keep them off the board until the 73rd minute. It looks like we're going to finish at 1-0 until a penalty is called in the 87th minute and Ajax is able to convert. Losing two-nil is not great, but is certainly an acceptable outcome against a Champion's League side in a game where we started backups.




Ajax 2-0 Wrexham



Switzerland reaching the semis is quite an upset, as is Romania. It's Spain's tournament to win, though, they're clearly the class of what remains.



I upped my offer to Pettersen as high as it can go. If he signs with us he's getting nearly £10,000 a week and has a potentially ill considered 25% yearly raise. We'll see if it's enough.




We can now sign Bosnians and Serbs without needing to get them work permits.



I didn't have a prayer at signing him. Nottingham offered nearly triple what I did. Guess we won't be selling Holland.



The Swiss are having a magical run, one more win and they've pulled of an amazing upset. Spain, as expected, waltzed into the final.

At PSV Eindhoven, July 14, 2018
Friendly


PSV is the least of the four teams in European competitions that we'll be facing. That still means they're much better than us.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter
Starting 11: Higgs, Peters, Lewis, Poole, Mejasic, Simpson (c), Holland, Tedesco, Rainey, Gorman, Pym.
Subs: Love, Rush, Vaillant, Curran, Todd, Newman, Bailey, Shirra, Harley, Coulson, Eden, Harrison.

It's an even match, and we repeatedly see our counter attack pierce the PSV defense. We give up two goals from corner kicks, however, and we're down by one at the break. We knot the game up at two in the 78th minute from a corner kick of our own, and regardless of the last ten minutes I'm happy with the team. PSV throws the kitchen sink at us in those last minutes, and we hold on for a well deserved draw.




PSV 2-2 Wrexham



Maybe this will stop teams from pestering me about selling him.



I'm waiting to the end of the transfer window before re-signing players. Lewis is going to get his contract soon enough.



Meanwhile, congrats to the Swiss, who beat Spain one-nil after extra time. Or should I say congratulazioni! Or glückwünsche! Or félicitations! Or gratulaziuns! Geez, Switzerland, we get it, you have a multitude of different official languages. Anyways, three cheers for the Swiss team, may they all be gifted fine watches, delicious chocolate, and Nazi gold.

Oh, and an American wins Golden Boot despite only playing in three matches. Once we get that back line solved maybe we'll make it to the knockout round.



A whole lot of international managers get sacked. Germany, England, Italy, and Brazil are all seeking new leadership after their poor showings, but somehow AU-Klinsey still has his job in the US.




A live TV audience is going to watch us get trounced twice over the course of three days. Yay.




Baker and Walsh find homes for at least half the year. Their salary is covered by the loaning team, if all works out well the loans will get extended and we'll be off the hook for the entire amount.



I lock up Scott Shirra for the next four years, by the time his contract comes up he's going to be an incredible bargain.




Did something get lost in translation there?



At 33-1 you might as well put a tenner on us.



Y'know how I said that you should be careful when adjusting your budget? I didn't heed my own advice. We're stuck with normal bonuses for the season because I didn't reserve enough cash in the transfer budget to offer high ones.



Mujkic has had an awful summer playing for Australia, they don't seem to care that he's exhausted and needs several weeks off. It led to him being mediocre at the World Cup, which I'm sure galls him.

vs. Swansea, July 21, 2018
Friendly


Not too long ago being in the Championship would have given us pretty good claim on “best team in Wales.” That was before Swansea became the club they are right now. If we somehow win this, we're going to have some very nice bragging rights.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter
Starting 11: Higgs, Vaillant, Poole, Curran, Peters, Holland (c), Bailey, Tedesco, Rainey, Coulson, Pym.
Subs: Rogers, Mejasic, Rush, Lewis, Todd, Simpson, Walley, Shirra, Harley, Eden, Gorman, Harrison.

Given how many opportunities Swansea had in the first half, it's surprising that their lead is based only on a Holland own goal minutes before halftime. We can't until I sub out all three wingers and strikers, and I'm rewarded with an equalizer from Gorman. It looks like we'll hang on for the draw, or even have a chance to win it in the end, but back to back goals in the 79th and 82nd minute put those hopes to bed. Despite a weak first half we didn't embarrass ourselves against the Swans, but the real test is coming up next.




Wrexham 1-3 Swansea



AVB is your new England coach. He's only 40. I guess I can laugh at him for getting turfed from Chelsea and Spurs but he's not that much older than I am, and I'm at least two magnitudes less successful in my profession.



A fullback! Finally. I've scouted upwards five hundred fullbacks in the past year to find just two. That's a really high wheat to chaff ratio.

Claudio Siegrist
Right Back


This young Dutchman is our highest paid player, pulling in £10,750 a week for the next three years. He's also got the potential to be a solid Premier League fullback, something that neither Tench nor Peters were likely to amount to. I'll be having him work on his marking first and foremost, but I expect him to settle into the team quite well.

vs. Paris Saint-Germain, July 23, 2018
Friendly


PSG are the giants of French football. They are the fourth wealthiest club in the world, worth over a billion pounds. We're worth £7.5m. Our income last year was a record best £7.9m. PSG made £271m. If we stay within three goals and don't get shut out this will be a huge victory.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Defense
Starting 11: Higgs, Siegrist, Todd, Lewis, Mejasic, Simpson (c), Shirra, Bailey, Coulson, Gorman, Harrison.
Subs: Rogers, Peters, Vaillant, Poole, Curran, Newman, Tedesco, Holt, Rainey, Eden, Harley, Pym.

We're only down by one at half time, but that's because Danny Higgs is playing marvelously. We haven't been bad, allowing just four shots by PSG, but we also haven't been able to do anything when we've had the ball outside of one corner kick that was just kept out. The second half is more of the same, and when the final whistle blows we're able to hold our heads high and say that we hung with the class of football.

Man of the Match: Danny Higgs




Wrexham 0-1 PSG



Troelsen has been playing constantly this summer as well, he's never had a chance to settle into the club because Denmark decided it would be a good idea to force him to play constantly. I'm not pleased.



Smissen is still out for over a week. It's a good thing we signed Siegrist.

At Tackleford City, July 28, 2018
Friendly


I'm looking forward to picking on someone smaller than us again. This is our last friendly, and I expect nothing but a win. We did well against much bigger clubs, but three losses and a draw are still three losses and a draw. I don't think I'd make us 20-1 favorites over Tackleford, however.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack
Starting 11: Higgs, Vaillant, Todd, Poole, Siegrist, Simpson (c), Bailey, Tedesco, Rainey, Gorman, Harrison.
Subs: Rogers, Peters, Kemp, Curran, Lewis, Newman, Holland, Holt, Shirra, Coulson, Eden, Pym.

We get and then lose a lead in the first half, and Harrison appears to be in another of his slumps based upon the three clear cut chances he throws away. We outplay Tackleford in the second half, but it looks like we're going to be held to a draw when Pym is able to score from a lovely through ball by Gorman in stoppage time. It's the final statement of the game, and we cap an impressive pre-season that saw us go toe to toe with some of the best in Europe with a win.

Man of the Match: Ryan Gorman




Tackleford 1-2 Wrexham



Stop it. Seriously. Next thing I hear about Smissen, I'm ending this update.



I warned you!



That was a busy offseason. We've signed six first team players, sold two for the princely sum of £1.75m, and are spending more than twice as much on salary as we did last year, although still some £30k a week less than our wage cap. We went into the homes of the best Dutch teams and lost narrowly to one while battling the other to a draw, and held the champions of Europe to a one goal victory. Our success or failure this year will depend entirely on how well our young players develop, our average age at the moment is under 22 years old. But it's a brave new world we're entering, and we're not minnows anymore.