Part 164: Prologue: A quiet window.

Prologue: A quiet window.
June 9, 2024-July 21, 2024

Our turnover at Wrexham is nearly one half of one percent of total Welsh GDP.




Our offense is loaded. I literally don't have room on the pitch for all the attacking talent we have. There's only a few players in the world who I could bring to the club that would make more than a marginal improvement in our attack. Thiago, Aarts, Stringel, Shirra, Unsal, Taborda, and Mujkic are all world class players, and Collett and Parr are both solid as well. Cirjak, Taffarel, and Reed are menaces as wingbacks, the three of them accounted for 25 assists last year. We throw seven men into the attack when we're in possession, and play so widely that the opposition is forced out of their compact, defensive shape to close us down. That's great when it comes to scoring goals, we tallied 152 in 62 matches last season, but it also means we only have three men back to deal with trouble.

We're susceptible to a good counter attack when we lose possession, and while they only happen a couple times a match we give up goals at a surprising rate considering the number of chances we allow. One reason for that is that we don't have someone who can play the Makélélé role at a world class level as neither Mair nor Bailey have the defensive nous for the role (Morvan had some, but not enough so as to make him untouchable). Compounding that problem is Hammatt not being particularly fast, and the same being true to a lesser extent for Laux. That leaves us exposed to quick wingers and strikers who are capable of latching onto opposition through balls. Quiboulaz does have burner speed, and is the type of player who can recover and catch an opponent after they scamper behind the defense. In a couple years he'll likely be my first choice at the position. Lastly, while Kovacevic is an excellent shot stopper and very good at distributing the ball and starting attacks, his ability to stop one on one's is hindered by his hesitancy to rush off his line and close down the counter-attacker. He's got the agility (16) and balance (16) to keep from being deked out by an opponent, and is good at reading his opponent (One on One attribute of 17) but too often sits back and gives them too much time to take their shot (Rushing out 11).

As such my shopping list includes a defensive midfielder and a centerback suited to handle a high pressing , and look around for a keeper who's as good as Kovacevic except better in the air (his other main weakness) and better at playing a Manuel Neuer style game.



I inked this kid to a contract the same month I took over as the USMNT coach. He didn't turn 18 until this spring, so he was stuck at the IMG Academy until then. He's going to take a few years before he can really show what he can do, but my scouts think he could become the next Shirra. He can still play this year in the U18s, after that he'll spend several years on loan.




Good game. Slapass!



That's a lot of money for Aarts, but he's finally reaching the point where he's an excellent option along with Thiago.



Come back and brag about it after you do it in a real league.



I would be pissed off, but it's nice to see our players refusing to go to Norwich instead of the other way around.





I felt it wasn't necessary to bother the board with these requests, given how they've been rubber stamped in the past.



That would be a lot of money for a player we picked up on a free transfer, but I think Allan can get really good and I have no interest in selling him to our biggest rival for trophies.



Try all you like. I'm not selling him to you.



We're still going to be in the second pot when they pull the groups for the Champions League, probably, but that's OK. One more year and we'll have a top five coefficient and not face such tough group stages. Give me Videoton and Stromgodset!



As I write this I have the Scottish Referendum results in another window. It looks like Scotland is going to stay in the UK, which is too bad because otherwise I'd make a joke about this being the worst English defeat since Scotland dumped them.



I know I said we're stacked on offense, but this guy is better than Aarts and probably as good as Thiago. He's going to challenge for the EPL Golden Boot, and is a great pickup for Arsenal.



Note that The Racecourse Ground is now a famed location where newly promoted clubs dream of playing.



Make good use of him, Sky Shadowing. I expect you to stay up this year.



Meanwhile I see that AJ_Impy is dropping big cash on his main striker. He only had 13 goals last season, he's not worth that price.



We're going to have 9-10 players loaned out this year, and Gabbianelli is off to get some Champions League experience with Monaco.




Sixth isn't that bad. Flamengo is ahead of us due to winning the Copa Libertadores four times in a row and seven out of the last nine seasons. I don't know what's up with Barca, they've only won the league once in the past five years and haven't won the Champions League or Europa League since 2019.



17 of Manchester City's 22 first team players are unhappy and on the transfer list by request. It's a fire sale!



Well deserved. “Rocky who?” the fans sing when Thiago scores.



Nine of our all time Best 11 are still on the team. But it appears that Billy “the Kid” Harrison has retired...



I was right that he wasn't good enough for the Premier League, but he's still better than Jozy Altidore. He definitely could have kept playing in the lower leagues. I remember when we signed him on 800 a week from Northern Ireland.



Oof, we start and end the season in Manchester. We'll also play Manchester United twice in a row, seeing as we have the Community Shield to contest on August 11th.



Stop giving me more money, it just makes more work for me to fix it!



Chelsea and United are making a wise choice, Selimovic has been a big reason why Stoke have been a top half club for three of the past four years.



An Asian tournament held at a reasonable time of year? Wow, I didn't know one existed!



It must be June 25th, because a whole bunch of players are getting raises.



The capacity is 28,000 and can't be expanded further. So you can see why the board took it upon themselves to start planning a new stadium.



I'm an idiot. Williams was the holding midfielder I was looking for, and I was waiting to sign him on a free as his contract expired at the end of June and it would cost £3m to sign him on a pre-contract and risk the other big clubs jumping in if I offered Everton a transfer fee of £500k. I didn't think he was going to re-sign with Everton, but clearly I was wrong.



Chelsea couldn't bigfoot United, even with Champions League football back on offer.



Wales is becoming a pocket dynamo in Europe. Thanks, SI coders. Way to show how impartial you are.




Hah, take that United!



The Golden Boy has the skills to make this preferred move effective, with 17 Off the Ball and 16 Anticipation.



Suffice to say, they don't offer £55m.



I bet they're going to win the whole thing. The game loves England this time around. Or they'll go out in the quarterfinals after penalty kicks. They're still England after all.



Ain't no Brown without Williams. It's the bromance of the century.



We've got two tuneup friendlies, against China and Australia, and then a full week of rest before heading to Morocco for the Summer Games.



Well that's uncommon.




There are rumors linking us to just about every player of note in the world, because I have a gigantic shortlist of about 300 players who I want to keep tabs on. Also, that Hammatt rumor must be in the Metro, because that's just not happening.




Boo. England are going to win, aren't they?



Hmm. I might have an idea about how to improve our defense.




Especially since Witt will be far too expensive for us and not fill a need. I'm smarter than Louis Van Gaal and Barcelona. I'm not going to keep adding attacking players when I have real needs on defense.



You say that now, but you just rejected their contract.



“Groin tear” is the injury that makes me cringe most when reading injury reports.



Looking good, USA.




It's coming home!



I guess I'm partly to blame for England winning at the Euros. I just gave them too many good players.



This is our big signing of the summer, the best young defender in the world. Since he's not good enough to play regularly for us yet, he's going back for another twelve months of finishing with his current club.

Dramane Tounkara
Central Defender


Look at that speed! He's immediately our second quickest centerback, and he's got a 15 or better in every defensive attribute except Jumping Reach and Anticipation. And he's only 18! I can't wait to get him back next year, and I've started training Matthias Laux as a holding midfielder so that I can get him, Quiboulaz, and Tounkara on the pitch at the same time.



It was all subs by the time Australia scored, and we bossed the game. I'm cautiously optimistic about our chances.

USMNT U23


We're as ready as we will be for the Olympics. Our draw isn't that difficult, but that means nothing if we don't execute. An Olympic medal is the thing I want most in the world right now, and we're going to have to carve a bloody swath through some of the best young players in the world to obtain ours.