iLandslaget - Swedish team

[MightyOri]

great team, good luck on league mate

[PeterMeter]

Great to see that you are doing well

great team, good luck on league mate

Thanks guys! Been a very good season so far apart from the early Cup-exit, the league title is secured and the Champions League final tonight will be against one of the teams from my group, beat them twice in the Group but they've improved quite a bit since then!

[PeterMeter]

Tonight marks the end of this, the fourth, season for iLandslaget. It's been a season of mixed fortunes for the high flying team, starting with the failed Cup adventure ending with a knock-out on away goals against Italian team Cristian FC rated at 35.3*. Results 3-3 at home and 1-1 away highlighted defensive worries in the team which had to be adjusted.

The team responded admirably though, winning the opening tie 7-0 away. iLandslaget went undefeated for most of the season, drawing with Glory United in the fifth week of the season but otherwise claiming the 3 points in every League game. It took until the 27th week of the season until iLandslaget found themselves on the losing side of a League Game, losing 3-1 away to JustLeet FC, who ended up finishing in the 2nd place. The League title had been secured in the 24th week of the season so players were rested, and substitutes given a chance to shine. There were worries if the players' morale would drop in the build up to the Champions League final which was to be played that same night.



On the other side stood a team that advanced from the same group that iLandslaget won, Vaegina SC. Two wins left room for the Swedish team to maybe underestimate the Indonesian team led by Nanok Blank.
iLandslaget dominated the proceedings though, and the strike partnership of Gerailton de Souza Rodrigues and Gary Clancy which has proven so successful during the season led the team again. Gerailton opened the scoring in the 24th minute, assisted by Clancy, and the Swedes had a firm hand on proceedings dominating the shots on goal and the possession. In the 52nd minute new signing Jonas Jörgensen was given a chance to shine. Gary Clancy added to the scoring in the 82nd minute, unassisted. It would be Gerailton who closed the game and the scoring though, again assisted by Clancy, burying the definitive winner in the 89th minute with iLandslaget bringing the trophy back to Stockholm for the second consecutive year!

The Champions League in stats: a goal difference of 43-11 showed a somewhat tighter competition. iLandslaget lost two games, both replays in the knockout-phases with a 0-1 defeat to Dalibor FC in the Quarter Finals and then a 3-4 defeat to Mete FC in the Semi Finals. There was also a draw in the Group Phase against Barcelona.

The team saw some changes in the latter half as well. Two players were brought in and four players left. Patrick Ponce, a U-21 graduate was deemed not worthy and was sold for 324,000 shortly after having gained promotion to the senior squad. Gregory Bennet, the french back-up keeper, who had one of the longest patches of bad form ever, was eventually sold for a fee of 1,710,000. Jonathan Fullerton, the right sided defensive midfielder, was let go as well for a fee of 2,150,000. Lubomir Skukalek, the czech defender and defensive midfielder who was one of the longest serving members of the team, was eventually let go for a fee of 1,660,000. Last but not least, on the eve of the final day of the season, young Romanian left-sided attacking midfielder Viorel Mesaros left the club for a fee of 1,940,000.

Two new additions were made in the last few days of the season; danish defensive midfielder Jonas Jorgensen was added for a fee of 3,680,000 (4T) while valued at 4,810,000 and Juan Gamarra, a young argentinian striker, was added for a fee of 4,840,000 (9T) on the 27th day of the season.

The squad on the last day of Season 4:


Gerailton de Souza Rodrigues picked up most of the Individual Prizes this year, winning the Golden Shoe, the Assist League as well as the PA's Player of the Year-Award.

[PeterMeter]

Season 5 - Concise Cup Update

Much like last year iLandslaget were seeded into a pretty tough draw in the Cup. The small squad did wonderously inspite of a failure on the manager and board's part to get some new signings in for the start of the season. Carrying as little as 15 players into the first draw of the Cup meant there was little room for error when the team travelled to Italy for the first tie.

Without a right wingback we were forced to shuffle the formation slightly to accomodate for the changes. This meant we played a narrow back 3, with Laba sitting in front while also supporting Sogaard and new signing Amougou in central midfield. Bouzgarrou and Kuchar played out wide in an advanced position putting pressure on their back 4. Gerailton and Clancy started up front.


It was an eventful game that saw iLandslaget take an early lead in the 29th minute through Alex dos Santos. By the 42nd minute Sogaard had received his marching orders through a 2nd yellow card. In the 66th minute Jorgensen, who had just minutes earlier replaced Laba added a 2nd goal for iLandslaget.
Then followed a chaotic 5 minutes that could have spelled disaster for the Swedish team. In the 70th minute Cordero opened the scoring for the home team in front of the maximum capacity crowd, 31,000 strong.
Just 3 minutes later Hovdevik levelled the game for the hosts, finishing a beautiful team move. Umberto FC continued piling on the pressure on the 10-man iLandslaget and it seemed they would eventually grab the winner.
Against the run of play, in the 77th minute, new striker Gamarra scored and put his team in front again. Just 5 minutes later Amougou added to the lead, to put iLandslaget 4-2 up with just 8 minutes of regular time left to go.
The Swedes then saw out the game and grabbed a deserved, and much needed, 2 goal margin for the replay.

-------
For the replay Umberto FC made some changes to their starting line-up, and a few of their star players who had been rested for the first game were re-introduced to the first eleven.
Joakim Sogaard would serve his 1-game suspension following the sending off in the previous game.

The game started off at a brisk pace, and frayed nerves saw the iLandslaget' manager running the line of the technical area for most of the first half, shouting encouragement and orders to his team.

It was a generally slow first half that saw the teams line up in much the same way as in the first game. Two yellow cards were dealt, Iaboni and Motamedaria both from Umberto FC on the receiving end. At the start of the second half, in the 48th minute, Dähne opened the scoring for the visitors and they were quick to build on the momentum.

iLandslaget tried to break up the pressure by making a substitution in the 58th minute when Gamarra replaced Clancy.
In the 70th minute the substitution had an effect, but likely not in the way either manager had expected. A new foul by Iaboni on Gamarra meant Iaboni received his 2nd yellow card and he was duly sent off.
iLandslaget were quick to seize on their numeric advantage and in the 71st minute Laba scored the equalizer assisted by Gerailton.
Shortly after Gerailton, in the 77th, was taken off in favor of another defensive midfielder and Jorgensen was allowed to enter the pitch. In the 85th minute Amougou added to the scoring, putting iLandslaget in front with just minutes to go.

Desperation saw Umberto FC make a last substitution in the 88th minute to at least try and get an equalizer, and in the final minute of the game Eyimofe salvaged some of the Italian team's honor by levelling the game at 2-2.

In the end iLandslaget progressed to the next round, at the expense of lvl7 team Umberto FC, much to the joy of their fans.

[PeterMeter]

The proper start of Season 5, Level 5 post:

There were worries for Season 5 as the European financial climate finally caught up with iLandslaget. It was made clear after the high expenditure of last year that the owners would not invest further funds into the team until such time as they could see a let up in the general economic climate. iLandslaget and their manager were left to fend for themselves, and to manage resources as best they could to get the most out of an already small squad for this year.

CUP
It's been a hard first few days of the season for the team, even if they've managed quite well on the pitch. They managed to knock italian Umberto FC, a lvl7 team, out of the Cup in the Preliminary Round and won the first tie in the Qualification Round against czech team Albanie FC (also lvl7) 3-0 at home in front of a capacity crowd of 8,500 ecstatic supporters.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
iLandslaget were seeded into Group H of the Champions League this year. In the same group are chinese team Khanh FC (26*), fc juventus 2013 from Italy (30,2*) and then an old acquaintance from last year's CL playoffs; the croatian team Dalibor FC (28,6*). The Swedes managed to see off Khanh FC in a 2-0 victory under the watchful eyes of a filled stadium, in spite of many visiting supporters. They are top of the group and play their 2nd game in the tournament later tonight, away to Dalibor FC who won their first game against fc juventus 2013 with a 1-0 margin away.

LEAGUE


We are now two games into the fifth season of iLandslaget, and things are still looking up inspite of the lack of investment and small squad. We've had two games, one at home to Regenerados which was won 3-0 with Bouzgarrou, Gerailton and Sogaard scoring one each, and Gerailton nabbing the only assist. Nils Liljehook received a yellow card when 2-0, something that was never really going to affect the game. With the game already at 3-0, Bambara of Regenerados received his 2nd yellow of the game and was sent marching.

The second game was played yesterday, away to a thai team (thailetteringFC) and sister club to iLandslaget since last season. In front of a near enough empty stadium iLandslaget triumphed in a 4-0 victory that saw Gerailton score a brace in the 2nd half, while also managing to assist Gamarra for his goal and Kuchar for his. This put him on 3 goals and a shared 2nd place in the Golden Shoe for season 5, in 1st place for the Assist League on 3 assists and also in 1st place for the running of Players' Player of the Season Awards with an average of 9.00. An injury to Sogaard looked to upset the team for a few games, but first scans showed it to be less of bruising on his neck and back and he should be fit for the next game.

This afternoon sees the team travel to France, for their game against Adel FC who have lost their first two games and are firmly lodged in 12th place. iLandslaget does this without steadfast central defender Alex dos Santos who will be out with a calf strain after a hard exercise in training.

I'll give a further introduction of the teams in the league as we reach the halfway point when I know more about them, and can make out which one seem to still be active.

[PeterMeter]

We are now into day 15 of this, the fifth, season of iLandslaget's forays into the world of football. They have shown a formidable force of will and clear ambition in making this season a memorable one for fans, players and management. We are still waiting on the full analysis of the League and it's teams but iLandslaget has kept an impressive pace throughout, leading the league on 27 pts with a 9-0-0 streak and scoring an impressive 55 goals while only letting 2 so far.

The Champions League have been a different story. While the team sit happily at the top of Group H they have drawn 2 games, both against fc juventus 2013 incidentally, while winning 3. With one game left of the group stage they have already secured first place, and with it the advancement into the knock-out rounds. iLandslaget have struggled here though, only scoring 9 and letting 3 in five games, disappointing form when compared to the League. Here's to hoping they get a manageable seed anyway.

The Cup run has been a bit of a surprise this year, as neither fans nor the team thought they would survive more than a round or two as they have been seeded into a Cup where 95% of the teams are one or two levels about the Swedish team. Tonight marks the start of the Cup's 1/8th-finals and iLandslaget are among the last 16 for the first time in years.
Their first game will be at home to Ralu FC, a romanian team of similar standing but ranked at lvl 7. They play a traditional 4-4-2 which should suit iLandslaget's more adventurous style pretty well, but world-class goalkeeper Krivushonkov and scouted players Madsen (DL), Fernandes (DC) and Georgiev (MC) are more than capable of spelling trouble for the team.

There's been some movement in the transfer market as well, following injuries to some key members of the squad as well as rivalling teams taking an interest in iLandslaget's fringe players. After hard negotiations Tiago Valente, the portuguese left sided defender/wingback was sold for 3.95m and 8T giving the team a profit of 1.11m according to his valuation (and 1.36 and 2T on what iLandslaget paid). He was shrewdly replaced with greek left-sided defender Polychronis Karademitros for 6.25m and 7T while valued at 6.5m.

With the injury to goalkeeper Ochej iLandslaget were forced to hunt for a goalkeeper and after a concerted search they came upon young brazilian keeper Jose Carlos Bertoni Monteiro Ribeiro and he was bought, finally, for 4.97m and 9T while valued at 4.39m.
Somewhere in the midst of the search for a back-up goalkeeper the management received an impressive bid for right-winger Vaclav Kuchar, and after some consideration they let him leave to fulfill his dream of first team football for 4.04m and 7T while valued at 3.04m. Kuchar was bought back in season 4 for 3.02m and 7T.

Finally, this morning, iLandslaget made another foray into the transfer market looking for another defender. And just before his contract was renewed at previous club, iLandslaget made a bid of 4.61m and 1T for talented german right-sided defender Cem von der Gathen which was accepted!

Cem was valued at 5.7m and joins the team with a firm chance of being in contention for a starting berth in today's games.

[Ljepoje]

I see somebody is doing quite well - both on the pitch and outside. Also it seems that everybody is having troubles in one of the tournaments they still compete in. I´m having troubles in the league, but I do well in the CL & CUP. Perhaps the engine thought that it was time for us to get a trophy in the CL&CUP as well, since we won 4 L-trophies so far

Anyway, good players you managed to get from the TM/negotiations . I think your 18yr old DR could be a back-bone and a future star if you decide to PT him or lear him a SA/multiple role.

Good luck in tonights CUP - game!

[SimplySimon]

Looks like a nice team, perhaps update the first post with current team stats?

The updates and season story make entertainig reading :-)

[PeterMeter]

I see somebody is doing quite well - both on the pitch and outside. Also it seems that everybody is having troubles in one of the tournaments they still compete in. I´m having troubles in the league, but I do well in the CL & CUP. Perhaps the engine thought that it was time for us to get a trophy in the CL&CUP as well, since we won 4 L-trophies so far

Anyway, good players you managed to get from the TM/negotiations . I think your 18yr old DR could be a back-bone and a future star if you decide to PT him or lear him a SA/multiple role.

Good luck in tonights CUP - game!

Thanks! Yeah, hopefully it's time, you've been overdue for Cup-success! I lost the replay, but managed to score an all-important away goal to make it 2-1. I was 0-2 in the last 15 minutes so it was a bit nervy. They next match-up actually looks easier but I've no room to rest anyone. Need the money the Cup brings!
Had big hopes for von der Gathen but he doesn't seem to train as fast as I had hoped. I'm at something like 12T at the moment after burning them on Green Packs for Liljehook's and Jorgensen's SAs..

Thank you SimplySimon, will do. Am looking at writing together a Season 5 Halfway Update today as well!

[lucky7]

great squad, great formation, and great manager.. I'l waiting your next trophy