Sophomore Slump, Or Come Back Of The Year

“Are we growing up, or just going down? It’s just a matter of time until we’re all found out.”

Hello everyone and welcome back to another installment of our Football Manager 24 Beta save, Sunderland Till We Die. When we last left you we had just finished our transfer window, and were ready for o0ur first games back in the Premier League. Now I was excited to be back and also a little optimistic about our chances of survival, but the media had us as this years whipping boys, which made me worry a little. I mean was I being delusional? Was last season a total fluke and we were going to come crashing down to Earth? We wont know until we play our first few games so, so let’s see how we got on.

An absolutely amazing start from the lads, with big wins against Tottenham and Chelsea, and a small cup run as well. The Chelsea game in particular was an amazing effort by the lads.

Chelsea went for it in the 80th minute, bringing on 4 subs and going all out attacking. They managed to equalize and were going for the winner when we struck on the counter, and hit them for another two goals. Now I don’t expect the team to continue on this form, and we are maybe just riding on the promotion high for now, but the players have shown in games that they wont give up. Here is how the league looks so far.

WE ARE FORTH! Now I know we will drop off and I am just aiming to stay out of the relegation battle, but we will enjoy it while it lasts. The biggest shock isn’t us though, it’s Chelsea sitting at 19th. With a team full of world class players, they just cant seem to get going this season. After a 6th place finish last season, they had a transfer window where they didn’t really bring anyone in, but also didn’t sell anyone of note either. Poch is still in charge for now but I will keep an eye on this situation and see if it is just a sophomore slump, or come back of the year. Lets see who has been the star performers so far.

Our players have been performing really well this season, with a few star players helping us turn draws into wins. As you can see our back up keeper, Okonkwo is top of the list. He had been our cup keeper, and showed he was a good performer in the couple of games we played. After our first choice keeper, Patterson had a few bad performances, I was willing to put him in for the league, but unfortunately he got an injury and is out for a few months.

This also didn’t help my case when our captain, O’Nein came to us and complained about the depth in goalkeeper position, earlier in the season. I told them it wasn’t and issue, but I should have learned from last year. Some players have been doing amazing though, and there is a new partnership in the middle of the park.

Adam Wharton has slotted straight in next to Jobe, and if I am honest, he has outperformed him so far. I have a feeling this player will have a key role in my season, and I am excited to see how he gets on. Him and Jobe are also backed up by Dack and Rigg, meaning we have quality in depth for these positions.

On a little more surprising note, Karlan Grant has turned into a goal machine for the team. Our first choice striker, Semedo wasn’t really performing for the team, and Grant took the chance to play by the horns. He is more of a poacher than Semedo, and I think this is the reason he has been so successful so far. Our next period of fixtures looks pretty favourable as well.

I think we have been really lucky with the spread of hard games this season, so hopefully this stops us from having any prolonged bad runs of games. The Newcastle, Liverpool double header will be tricky, especially as the fans want me to remain competitive with Saudi rich Newcastle. The board also have some unrealistic goals for us.

They expect us to play like prime Barce! I have had a few journalist questions about not playing attacking enough for the fans and board, but I can’t see how they will sack me for it.

Here is how we are setting up this season, with the mentality changing to Defensive against the bigger teams. This has been tweaked as I have went on with this team, we started with a 424, but changed as we were conceding a lot and not scoring as much as the 2 strikers warranted.

When we see you next, we will be at the end of January, so there may be some transfers to talk about and also our progress in the league. I don’t plan on doing any transfers but injuries and sales might change that. Thanks for stopping by and listening to a bearded man ramble on Football Manager.

“Take our tears, put ’em on ice, cause I swear, I’d burn this city down to show you the lights”