RSL in the WSL Part 31
We’re back with more action after a layoff of a few in-game weeks for international matches. I can’t say that we’re well rested, but at least we’re back. We had a few friendlies, mostly for the sake of earning money, and we managed to lose all of them. Some things never change.
Today we are going down to Mexico City to take on Club América.
34 hours in that rickety bus is never fun, but we’re used to it by now. América are struggling, stuck in 13th place and not really that far away from where we are now. An upset is unlikely, but still possible. Hey, anything is possible.
Tactics
Fonseca at the AMC position is our only real tactical surprise today. I’ve probably been overusing Holm, which is why I stuck Fonseca in there. On paper he should be good enough for this level, though he’s really lacking in experience.
As I mentioned in the beginning of today’s video, the Mensah crisis still has things stirred up among the other players. Football Manager’s quick pick option wanted me to start him up top, which I think is absolutely insane. Mensah started in both of the friendlies we played in between, getting a 6.4 rating in both games and doing absolutely nothing. He’s not going to see any action for the rest of this season, and I’m planning on loaning him out once we hit January.
Match Reflection
Well, it wasn’t a great match, that’s for sure. We looked awful in the first half. It wasn’t until Rodriguez came on to score a wonder goal for us that we mounted any sort of offensive threat.
We’re going to keep having ups and downs for the rest of this season. However, scoring a goal on the road against a team of this caliber is a good sign. I think that we will manage to avoid relegation in the end, though I worry that it will be close.
I’m in a pretty rough place with Tonin at the moment. He’s our leading scorer, but he clearly has a consistency problem, and it’s not getting any better with time. Carmona and Rodriguez seem much more likely to score goals, largely because they are fast enough to get around defenses. At this point I’d actually start Birus over Tonin, to be honest.
We’ll see how it goes. We do have a few players coming in on January 1st. It’s not going to be enough to completely make the squad over, but it might help give us a boost in a few weak areas.
Analysis
Another bad game for Marco Cruz, who seems to really dislike playing in the left back position. We hired him to play there, and we train him to play there. I hope that this is just due to his youth; he is still only 16, after all.
39 fouls is incredible. 39 fouls combined with only 38% possession is like a joke. We only completed 180 passes to their 437 – and yet we lost by only one goal? Interesting match.
Dirkner had yet another poor role in the DMC position. I’m not sure what to do other than just starting Cardozo there again. We really don’t have much to choose from.
Carmona also played poorly. As with our other young players, I really want to be careful that I don’t push him too hard.
Shehu is on holiday for a week after looking exhausted at the conclusion of this one. Ørsahl simply looked tired today; I’m guess that he’s fatigued as well. And Fonseca looked awful in that Holm quarterback role.
And yet we still only lost by 1.
I should also mention Sabangeanu’s excellent game. At 20, he’s the oldest of our young players; he’ll be the elder statesman once Onuoha retires on December 1st. That forward pass he made to Rodriguez was simply remarkable, and he had a number of other excellent offensive plays today.
You can pinpoint the moment when Holm came on to play. He sparks our offense like nobody else. The trick is rotation and rest – things that are easier said than done.
Standings
I’m like a broken record in this section. We didn’t get the full points, yes. We only have 14 points in 16 games, I know. But we’re not doing that poorly. A single win propels us back around 15th or so, and a small winning streak might see us rise as high as 11th.
There seems to be quite a bit of parity in our league, which plays right into our hands. Santos Laguna, Tigres, and Chivas are all clearly excellent teams that deserve to be in the promotion race. However, none of them are so dominant that they are obliterating the rest of the league. We’re not going to catch the front runners, but we just might be able to rally enough to move closer to the middle of the pack.
Football Manager News
Jreid666 brings us a fully accurate Scottish Pyramid.
Meanwhile, gdb96 brings us an expanded Italian league system, complete with playable youth teams.
Omarhuitron891 brings us an expanded mod for the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.
Blog Roundup
Coxie FM finishes just outside the European spots in his Denmark save.
Channel Watch
FM Scout replayed Lionel Messi’s career, with massive surprises.
It’s time for another journeyman save – this time from Bood FM.
The board is going after CaptainGoodspeed – as is the comments section.
FM DNA brings us a lower league transfer special, which is always fun.
Oisty FM brings us the easiest cup run ever.
Finally, Lollujo gives us his corner strategy. I know it’s a different version of Football Manager, but I’m going to give this a try in my save – can’t hurt.
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