King Pietersen
International Captain
Second season done, and mission 1 accomplished, win the league. 31 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses - 96 points winning the league by 7 points over Chelsea, with Spurs and United making up the Top 4. We then topped that off by beating Shakhtar in the Europa League final to do the double. Solid 2nd season.
The change in system worked miracles. Using either Ozil, Cazorla or sometimes Ramsey as an AMC Attacking Playmaker completely transformed the team. We dominated possession against most teams we faced losing only to Norwich, Tottenham, City and Everton in the league season. Having the more advanced playmaker also meant we created a lot more chances and as a result scored a heck of a lot more goals. As a comparison, first season with a DMC in place we scored 74 and conceded 30, second season we scored 95 and conceded just 23, so a massive improvement all-round.
The signings made in the summer worked superbly. Mayke rotated with Bellerin perfectly in the right wing-back position with both performing excellently; El Shaarawy was superb staying fit all season and contributing 31 goals and 15 assists in all competitions; Stones was rock solid at the back and formed very strong partnerships with Koscielny and Balanta throughout the season; the best signing of the season though was probably the most risky, £22m signing Enner Valencia. Came in with a pretty average goalscoring record, but was a revelation. In 52 games in all competitions, he scored 45 goals and contributed 12 assists leading both the Premier League and Europa League scoring charts. Turned out to be a fantastic signing and did the job I was hoping Higuain would do in the first season.
Going into my 3rd campaign I've made some more big signings. Ozil, after a fairly average season has been sold, moving to Dortmund for £33.5m and to replace him I've bought in James Rodriguez. I also noticed that El Shaarawy had no back-up in the AML position so picked up Julian Draxler for £37m (£20m up front), and then replaced David Ospina with young German keeper Timo Horn. Squad looking incredibly strong and hoping to add the Champions League to the trophy cabinet.
Strongest XI going into season 3:
-----------------------------Cech------------------------------
----Mayke---------Stones--------Balanta--------Silva----
----------------------Bender--------Ramsey-----------------
--Alexis------------------James------------------El Shaarawy---
---------------------------Valencia------------------------------
The change in system worked miracles. Using either Ozil, Cazorla or sometimes Ramsey as an AMC Attacking Playmaker completely transformed the team. We dominated possession against most teams we faced losing only to Norwich, Tottenham, City and Everton in the league season. Having the more advanced playmaker also meant we created a lot more chances and as a result scored a heck of a lot more goals. As a comparison, first season with a DMC in place we scored 74 and conceded 30, second season we scored 95 and conceded just 23, so a massive improvement all-round.
The signings made in the summer worked superbly. Mayke rotated with Bellerin perfectly in the right wing-back position with both performing excellently; El Shaarawy was superb staying fit all season and contributing 31 goals and 15 assists in all competitions; Stones was rock solid at the back and formed very strong partnerships with Koscielny and Balanta throughout the season; the best signing of the season though was probably the most risky, £22m signing Enner Valencia. Came in with a pretty average goalscoring record, but was a revelation. In 52 games in all competitions, he scored 45 goals and contributed 12 assists leading both the Premier League and Europa League scoring charts. Turned out to be a fantastic signing and did the job I was hoping Higuain would do in the first season.
Going into my 3rd campaign I've made some more big signings. Ozil, after a fairly average season has been sold, moving to Dortmund for £33.5m and to replace him I've bought in James Rodriguez. I also noticed that El Shaarawy had no back-up in the AML position so picked up Julian Draxler for £37m (£20m up front), and then replaced David Ospina with young German keeper Timo Horn. Squad looking incredibly strong and hoping to add the Champions League to the trophy cabinet.
Strongest XI going into season 3:
-----------------------------Cech------------------------------
----Mayke---------Stones--------Balanta--------Silva----
----------------------Bender--------Ramsey-----------------
--Alexis------------------James------------------El Shaarawy---
---------------------------Valencia------------------------------
