Season 3 saw us surprise everyone by not only avoid relegation comfortably but by also Winning the DFB-Pokal which sent us straight into the Europa League group stages.
This is going to add a huge extra workload on one of the smallest squads in the league this season, with the dreaded Thursday night games coming thick and fast.
Budgets
To be able to compete in the League and in Europe we were going to need some investment.
Not bad. We are going to need to go bargain hunting but we have some budget to work with.
Transfers
In
As I eluded to previously we needed to be smart with our cash. I spent some time scouring for bargains from all over the world. lets See what I came up with
Lets start at the top.
Antonio Blanco was our first signing coming in on a free from Real Madrid. He can play in multiple roles through central midfield and will offer lots of versatility.
Sandro Cruz was on loan with us last season on loan and played well at left back. I jumped at the chance to resign him, again on a free.
Luca Cortijo is the first of two signings from River Plate. He is an Argentinian U20 international and will go straight into the starting 11. Very excited about his potential .
Leonardo Cayuman is the second signing from South America. Another Argentinian U20 international who will offer strong competition for places on the right wing for Chong.
Sekou Mara was the signed from Bordeaux for the largest upfront fee. He has phenomenal potential and we fought off some bigger clubs to secure his signature. Some real competition for Medina up top.
Tayo Adaramole, Nohan Kenneh and Romeo Lavia are all young players who have all come in on loan from Premier League clubs. These guys will act as squad rotation.
Out
No Massive surprises in departures as three leave on loan for first team football and a couple of squad players who were surplus to requirements after other purchases were made.
Pre Season & Season Preview
A Solid pre season performance against a selection of smaller reputation teams. But that is what pre season is all about right?
Still ranked near the bottom. Lets prove some people wrong.
August 2021
After are historic win in the DFB - Pokal last season we has the honour of competing the the German Super Cup against the Bundesliga champions, which were of course Bayern Munich.
This will be the first game of the season, hell of a way to start.
Lets see how August went.
Well as expected we were second best in the Supercup as a rampant Bayern Munich score 5 to lift the first trophy of the season. Medina and Valenzuela with the consolations.
We moved straight into the early rounds of the DFB Pokal as we eased passed lower league opposition.
The first three league games were the definition of average. 1 win, 1 draw and 1 defeat. Tomas Medina picking up exactly where he left last season with 4 in 3 in the league.
September
September was another month of firsts as we embarked on our first ever European. The draw for the group stages saw us in Pot three which could lead to a very tricky draw.
It wasn't the horror show I was expecting. Lazio will be favourites for the group but Besiktas are no mugs so will be favourites for the 2nd place spot and qualification. Lets see how September went.
We started the season with a defeat in the league. But we will focus straight away on the Lazio game.
What a result as we stun Lazio 2-1 in the opening game of the Europa League group stages. Medina and Cayuman, His first for the club saw us grab all three points.
This seemed to instil some confidence in the boys as we then went on and won our next two league games. Medina (Of course) was on the scoresheet in both and there were winning goals from Mara and Kenneh, both their first for the club.
October
Months like October are the prime example of the extra workload on a smaller squad like ours.
With two Europa League games and the DFB-Pokal second round it almost doubles the fixtures over the 4 weeks. Lets see how we cope with this new fixture congestion.
It looks worse than it is. The worst result this month arguably is the Arminia Bielefeld loss. It did follow our first away Game in the Europa league which ended In a hard fought draw. We made changes and it cost us our momentum in the league.
Defeats to Bayern and Dortmund are expected (although we gave them both a run for their money) sandwiched a wonderful away performance in Turkey to win our second Europa League game.
A stunning Cayuman hatrick stole the show.
Then to round the month off we progressed into the third round of the cup with a win in the Second round. Could we retain our title?
November
The focus in November was on stabilising performances in the league as well as competing in the Europa League. We are notorious for a midseason dip in form as show in the last few seasons.
November strikes again. We have a winless month as we lose three in the league taking us to 6 defeats on the bounce.
2 draws in the Europa league leaves us in a strong position to qualify with one game left to play.
December
There was no let up in December as another 6 fixtures came rolling in think and fast. Lets hope for some festive cheer from our opponents.
TOMAS MEDINA! The man has carried us through December like a God.
He grabs himself 10 goals in 6 games, including two hattricks. I have no idea where this club would be without him.
The league form improved to 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats but its the Europa League game and the ramifications i would like to focus on....
With that win is a huge achievment. Not only qualification but also finishing top of the group and getting a bye in the next round.
Half Way League Table
We need to pick up our league form. Its a long way from the form that saw us finish comfortably midtable.
It is clear that the extra games has has a adverse effect on the league form, maybe a dip into the transfer market in January will help.
January
Clearly we have no issues scoring goals with Medina in the form he is in so I was on the look out for some defensive back up to sure up that leaky defence.
We stumbled across this little bargain.
Signed for free from Columbia, Gomez will offer some stiff competition for what has been described as an aging central defence.
Back to the action and only 3 games to contend with.
A rested squad with no distractions shows where we have been having issues. An unbeaten month with 2 wins and a draw. Medina again at the heart of the goal scoring ably assisted by Blanco and Chong.
A much better month!
February
February with a reminder of our upcoming intake.
Not much to write home about at all. Our facilities really need improving , but I have been focussing on improving the squad.
The aim in February is to keep there up turn in form going.
*Sigh* That did not go to plan,
Lets cover the Cup Exit first. Its neve nice going out of the Cup. But to go out to your fiercest rivals, after taking the lead in the 71st minute is crushing.
We had played well too but two late goals saw us bow out in the 3rd round.
The league results were poor and something is going to have to change if we are to match our position last season. If not we could see ourselves in a relegation scrap.
March
March saw the return of the Europa League as we enter back into the competition in the 2nd round. The draw was drawn at the start of the month.
Nice and easy one......
March itself wasn't going to be an easy one as we start the month away to Bayern in the League, followed by visits from Dortmund and Leipzig.
As expected The league results were poor. As expected we lost to Bayern, Dortmund and Leipzig. The Stuttgart result was hard to take, we were 2-0 up and cruising and to draw was difficult to take.
Now lets check out how we got on in the Europa League knockout round 2.
OH WOW. What a couple of results we have here. The away leg was a shock as we capitalised on the minimal chances we created.
We secured qualification in extra time of the home leg thanks to a piece of medina magic.
Its onto the Quarter Fi
nals for the European debutants.
April
April was a HUGE month for the club as we faced an unexpected fight for survival as well as a European Quarter Final.
We will cover the league results first.
What a much needed run of results! 3 wins out of 4 did exactly what we needed and secured our Bundesliga status for another season. Too close for comfort if i am honest.
Now lets check out the Europa League quarter final
We fall at one of the final hurdles as Wolfsburg turn over a one goal deficit.
It was a great run and one we should be really proud of.
May
There was nothing to play for in May as we had secured survival previously and seen our attempts at European glory come to an end.
Lets check out how we finished the season anyway.
Lost another Local derby to Eintracht Frankfurt, bit a strong end as we beat Augsburg 2-0.
Final Table
Well below where we finished last season. But after seeing the extra pressure added to the squad it was no surprise. We go again next season.
Season Review
A mix and match season and definitely one to work on. We were short n squad numbers for a good rotation. That needs to be addressed in the transfer window.
Hope to see you again for season 5.
Cheers
Panda
If you have enjoyed this episode and want to see some of our adventures from FM21 you can see them below.
You can start on our Wycombe Wanderers Journey way back at the beginning here - The Wycombe Wanderers Journey sadpanda333.co.uk
We also recently had our turn in a joint save with other FM creators called "The Far East Express. Please check out our episodes with the link below. One hell of a journey going on in that save.
We also have an fascinating International save going as we attempt to take Jamaica to Gold Cup and World Cup glory after acquiring some new recruits who have been ignored repeatedly by England
