Season 31 Week 3 processing...

Brazil

Vasco 9 +6
Santos 7 +6
Cruzeiro 7 +2
Flamengo 6 +3
Fluminense 6 +2
Goias 6 -1 unmanaged

Vasco top after three games but can they stay there ?

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Brazil

Vasco 9 +6
Santos 7 +6
Cruzeiro 7 +2
Flamengo 6 +3
Fluminense 6 +2
Goias 6 -1 unmanaged

Vasco top after three games but can they stay there ?

Disappointing to lose but was a tough away game as they will all be this season in Brazil. A very competitive league will go right to the wire I’m sure! 

Again, loving the Kevin keegan approach to games from my boys. Goals for and goals against columns will be something else come the end of the season!!

Premiership

Charlton 7 +2
Aston Villa 6 +3
Plymouth 6 +2
Arsenal 6 +1
Man United 5 +1
Liverpool 5 +1

Charlton already looking strong at the top and have their noses narrowly in front of the chasing pack, whilst Man City drop into the bottom three after a huge rebuilding program during the close season...

Congrats to Rob - hard playing Barca away. Plymouth work to do - played CAT for the first time and then switched but did have 2 players out so lets see...

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Premiership

Charlton 7 +2
Aston Villa 6 +3
Plymouth 6 +2
Arsenal 6 +1
Man United 5 +1
Liverpool 5 +1

Charlton already looking strong at the top and have their noses narrowly in front of the chasing pack, whilst Man City drop into the bottom three after a huge rebuilding program during the close season...

Early season - disappointing to lose but long-way to go here...

France

Monaco 9 +4
Nantes 6 +4 Champions
Marseille 6 +3
Paris 5+2
Lille 5 +2 unmanaged
Etienne 4 +1

Monaco top after three games will please their boss...

Germany

Frankfurt 9 +7
Bayern 9 +4 Champions
Cologne 6 +3
Schalke 6 +3
Gladbach 6 +0
Stuttgart 4 -1

Great start for Frankfurt but can they maintain their form against the top sides ?

Italy

InterMilan 9 +7
ACMilan 9 +4
Juventus 7 +7
Napoli 6 +5
Fiorentina 5 +2
Lazio 5 +1 Champions

Inter yet to concede a goal sit top on goal difference from arch rivals AC...

Scotland

Celtic 9 +6
Motherwell 9 +5
Falkirk 7 +3
Dundee Utd 5 +1
Hibs 4 +1
Kilmarnock 4 +0

Looks like a two horse race already although the other big sides have plenty of time to improve...

Spain

Betis 7 +7
Valencia 7 +7
Zaragoza 7 +6
Barcelona 7 +4 Champions
Espanol 6 +7
Atletico 6 +5
Sevilla 6 +2

This is probably the most competitive the spanish league has ever been and I look forward to seeing how the drama unfolds this season...

MLS

Chicago 9 +10
Tampa 9 +8
Harrisburg 7 +8
Kansas 7 +5
NewYork 6 +4
Cosmos 6 +2 Champions

Plenty of goals in this league as the top six all have a chance...

Transfers now...

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Argentina

Argentinos 9 +10
River Plate 9 +5
Estudiantes 9 +3 Champions
Independente 6 +4
Boca 6 +2
Belgrano 6 -2 unmanaged

Early doors yet but looks like the top three will take some stopping...

I'm working on it Paul...

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Spain

Betis 7 +7
Valencia 7 +7
Zaragoza 7 +6
Barcelona 7 +4 Champions
Espanol 6 +7
Atletico 6 +5
Sevilla 6 +2

This is probably the most competitive the spanish league has ever been and I look forward to seeing how the drama unfolds this season...

Real have had the hardest start so I’m expecting some bounce back!!

Overall a pretty positive start for the clubs so far - given all of them needed rebuilding at the end of last season, have made some progress. A few tweaks needed tho at some of the clubs.

Delighted tbh with Twente so far especially - Ribery seems to have made an immediate impact. Hopefully one more ageing legend in this turn to add to the mix...

Early season form for Watford is a concern. Beaten both away games this season, but doesn't bode well for the defending champions. Maybe will need to look at a different away tactic

Genk, keeping things simple. Score goals and don't concede. 

Leverkusen, pleasantly suprised with there early season form. Long may it continue! Hopefully a few more recruits on there way to support. 

Botafogo, finally some points on the board!! But a long season a head. Match reports will be interesting and look forward to digesting this week. 

Not even top half for Watford or Botafogo. Maybe the players complacent after last seasons haul... atleast only way is up haha

Not sure what to make of Chelsea, scoring for fun and conceding for fun as well  good to have a strike finally scoring goals

Emelec should be par for course as half the league are apprentice players.

It’s still very early in the season so really hard to tell much so far. Match reports are vital and the detail of what happens important. I’m finding that what I learn in those is dictating how I approach the team. 

Barca - happy to have played Real (away) and Atletico and not lost even with a series of injuries. 
Nacional - the Immobile - Maxi Gomez partnership could make the season.
Akranes - lots of goals but there’s a huge beating coming at some stage. Probably in Europe.
Hannover - early days but avoiding relegation key.

There were no world class deals this week as managers continue to let their changes settle in but the biggest deals saw Lucas Tousart leave Real Madrid for Saint Etienne for £10millions and Genk's Andreas Christensen joined Leverkusen for £10millions. Ipswich spent a bit of cash when they splashed out on Doucoure and Afelley for £5million each and Luke Daniels for £500k. Plenty of youngsters were drafted into the top clubs this week, full details on the TP special action list as usual.

Coaching now...

Finances then printing in the morning then I'll send out the email turns. Thanks for your company today.

Yep Paul Hemmings wrote:

Finances then printing in the morning then I'll send out the email turns. Thanks for your company today.

All good fun as always Paul, look forward to trying to figure out my defensive woes

Email turns all sent out, any issues let me know.

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Email turns all sent out, any issues let me know.

Let the autopsy begin

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Email turns all sent out, any issues let me know.

Thanks Paul as ever for a great week.

One slight issue I noticed at Plymouth was with tiredness. Most of the players got tired on 70 mins in the league game despite having 2 rest periods between the two games and starting the week on high stamina. One of them didn't play the first game and had 2 rest periods but still got tired (he started on good). 

Have I misunderstood how to mitigate against tiredness - thought 2 rest training periods mitigated against any stamina issues across the two games? Also have luxury coach which should have given an extra stamina point?

Apologies if am missing something here - didn't happen the week before with the CL games – just keen to make sure doesn't happen again in double match weeks.

Thanks

Ben

Ben@Plymouth wrote:

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Email turns all sent out, any issues let me know.

Thanks Paul as ever for a great week.

One slight issue I noticed at Plymouth was with tiredness. Most of the players got tired on 70 mins in the league game despite having 2 rest periods between the two games and starting the week on high stamina. One of them didn't play the first game and had 2 rest periods but still got tired (he started on good). 

Have I misunderstood how to mitigate against tiredness - thought 2 rest training periods mitigated against any stamina issues across the two games? Also have luxury coach which should have given an extra stamina point?

Apologies if am missing something here - didn't happen the week before with the CL games – just keen to make sure doesn't happen again in double match weeks.

Thanks

Ben

I'll check Plymouth to see what went on and let you know.