FM Pentagon Challenge Thread

[treva]

THE PENTAGON CHALLENGE THREAD​

Welcome to the Pentagon Challenge Thread. Anyone can take part with any version of Football Manager.

Aim: To win all 5 Champions Leagues (Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and North America).

Rules: Not many, just have to start unemployed with a reputation of 'Professional Footballer' or lower. The lower the harder it will be. No cheating, that'll just ruin it.

Hope someone else joins me, would be good to compare. Don't have to post your updates in story style, just as much or as little detail as you want.

I will keep everyone's progress on this first page.

---------------------

Treva

Version:
FM15

Current Leagues Loaded:
Brazil, China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, United States.

Current Team:
Universitario (Peru)(11th July 2014 - present)


Achievements:
Peruvian First Division Winners 2014

____________________________


Hedger

Version:
FM12

Current Leagues Loaded:
Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Spain

Current Team:
Altamira FC (Mexico)(July 2012? - present)

Achievements:
​

 

[treva]

Things started with a surprise, having been rejected by Young Boys and Dnipro, both teams in European competition this forthcoming season, I decided to give it time and see what offers popped up. Took no time at all as Roy Hodgson swiftly offered me the vacant England U20s manager post ahead of the U20 World Cup in Colombia. I bit his hand off at the opportunity to jump into a worldwide tournament straight away.

Had to wait around 20 days for the opener against Mexico, with Argentina and North Korea also in our group. My first duties were to pick the squad.

| Pkd     | Inf     | Name                    | Position              | Club           | Height  | Weight  | Age     | Value   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Jack Butland            | GK                    | Birmingham     | 194 cm  | 75 kg   | 18      | 1.3M   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Dean Santangelo         | GK                    | Reading        | 186 cm  | 71 kg   | 17      | 500K   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | John Flanagan           | D (R)                 | Liverpool      | 181 cm  | 75 kg   | 18      | 3.1M   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Phil Jones              | D (RC), DM, M (C)     | Man Utd        | 180 cm  | 71 kg   | 19      | 16.5M  | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Jack Robinson           | D (L)                 | Liverpool      | 168 cm  | 64 kg   | 17      | 2.7M   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Luke Shaw               | D (L)                 | Southampton    | 180 cm  | 72 kg   | 16      | 775K   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Kyle Bartley            | D (C)                 | Swansea        | 191 cm  | 77 kg   | 20      | 2.6M   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       | Bid     | Steven Caulker          | D (C)                 | Tottenham      | 191 cm  | 77 kg   | 19      | 4M     | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Callum McNaughton       | D (C)                 | AFC Wimbledon  | 187 cm  | 78 kg   | 19      | 70K    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Robbie Cotton           | D (C), M (RC), AM (R) | Blackburn      | 174 cm  | 65 kg   | 16      | 2.1M   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Jack Rodwell            | DM, M/AM (C)          | Man City       | 188 cm  | 80 kg   | 20      | 5.25M  | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Matt Phillips           | M (R), AM (RL)        | Blackpool      | 183 cm  | 81 kg   | 20      | 1.7M   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Ross Barkley            | M (C), AM (RC)        | Everton        | 189 cm  | 77 kg   | 17      | 3.3M   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain | M/AM (RLC), ST        | Arsenal        | 182 cm  | 70 kg   | 17      | 12M    | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Zeli Ismail             | M/AM (R), ST          | Wolves         | 162 cm  | 58 kg   | 17      | 1.7M   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Ravel Morrison          | AM (RLC)              | Birmingham     | 176 cm  | 70 kg   | 18      | 300K   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Raheem Sterling         | AM (RL)               | Liverpool      | 173 cm  | 71 kg   | 16      | 1.8M   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Connor Wickham          | AM (RL), ST           | Sunderland     | 191 cm  | 90 kg   | 18      | 8M     | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Wilfried Zaha           | AM (R), ST            | Crystal Palace | 181 cm  | 67 kg   | 18      | 2.2M   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Marvin Sordell          | ST                    | Bolton         | 178 cm  | 80 kg   | 20      | 3M     | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | Mason Bennett           | ST                    | Derby          | 180 cm  | 75 kg   | 15      | 1.4M   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|         |         |                         |                       |                |         |         |         |         | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Only noticeable absentee is Jonjo Shelvey, who I think is an absolute dire player, and was left out on principle. We look strong up top and in midfield, particularly through the wings. Zaha, Wickham, Rodwell (vc), Jones (c), Oxlade-Chamberlain, Phillips and Sterling would be our key players, along with rising star Jack Butland in goal.

Here's how we got on in the group stage.

| Date           | Time     | Opposition            | TV       | Venue    |          | Result   | Competition                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Fri, 29.7.2011 | 17:30    | Mexico Under 20s      |          | N        |          | 2 - 1    | U20 World Cup Grp F                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mon, 1.8.2011  | 20:00    | Argentina Under 20s   |          | N        |          | 4 - 2    | U20 World Cup Grp F                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Thu, 4.8.2011  | 17:00    | North Korea Under 20s |          | N        |          | 2 - 1    | U20 World Cup Grp F                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Tue, 9.8.2011  | 20:00    | Guatemala Under 20s   |          | N        |          |          | U20 World Cup 2nd Rnd                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|                |          |                       |          |          |          |          |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

And the group table looked like this:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team        |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | England     |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 8     | 4     | +4    | 9     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Mexico      |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 5     | 3     | +2    | 6     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Argentina   |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 5     | 7     | -2    | 3     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | North Korea |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 2     | 6     | -4    | 0     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|       |       |             |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

We got a great draw in the next round against Guatemala. Very confident we can make it through to at least the semi's. Spain, Brazil and France will be very tough to beat though.

The performance against Argentina was an absolute beauty, one of the best I have witnessed. Went 2-0 down and just ripped them to shreds for about 65 minutes. Could have been 10-2.

Now for the knockout stages...

 

[treva]

We brushed aside Guatemala with ease, winning 4-0 with Zaha continuing his scoring run and Phillips also bagging a brace. We were once again fortunate with the draw, as we set up to face Ecuador, who had beaten Portugal in extra time thanks to a late comeback. We absolutely destroyed them, once again with a 4-0 scoreline, Zaha with two more and Rodwell and Sordell chipping in.

Now we faced our first big test - a semi final encounter with Brazil. We were underdogs but played them off the park, keeping our third clean sheet in a row and coming out 2-0. This came despite the tournament leading goalscorer Zaha being suspended after picking up 2 yellows, as well as centre back Steven Caulker.

France caused somewhat of an upset against Spain in the QF, winning 1-0 thanks to a late goal and then went on to beat Saudi Arabia to make the final. They came out looking strong against our attacking, direct mentality. We took the lead thanks to that man Zaha again, but they started to control the game and within the space of three minutes took the lead. It was looking ominous as I chucked on Raheem Sterling and pushed Oxlade-Chamberlain up front. It worked as we got them on the counter attack within the final 10 minutes, Zaha slotting passed their keeper, becoming the second highest goalscorer in a single U20 WC tournament with 9 goals. That took the game to extra time and goals by Sterling and then a penalty by Caulker put one hand on the trophy. They pulled one back but it wasn't enough. We were the 2011 U20 World Champions, the first time in England's history. Not bad for my first month in football management.

| Date           | Time     | Opposition            | TV       | Venue    |          | Result   | Competition                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Fri, 29.7.2011 | 17:30    | Mexico Under 20s      |          | N        |          | 2 - 1    | U20 World Cup Grp F                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mon, 1.8.2011  | 20:00    | Argentina Under 20s   |          | N        |          | 4 - 2    | U20 World Cup Grp F                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Thu, 4.8.2011  | 17:00    | North Korea Under 20s |          | N        |          | 2 - 1    | U20 World Cup Grp F                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Tue, 9.8.2011  | 20:00    | Guatemala Under 20s   |          | N        |          | 4 - 0    | U20 World Cup 2nd Rnd                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Sat, 13.8.2011 | 17:00    | Ecuador Under 20s     |          | N        |          | 4 - 0    | U20 World Cup Qtr Final                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Wed, 17.8.2011 | 17:00    | Brazil Under 20s      |          | N        |          | 2 - 0    | U20 World Cup Semi Final                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Sat, 20.8.2011 | 20:00    | France Under 20s      |          | N        |          | e 4 - 3  | U20 World Cup Final                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|                |          |                       |          |          |          |          |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Stats of the final: France 3-4e England

| Statistic      | France Under 20s |                |                | England Under 20s | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Shots          | 17               |                |                | 13                | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| On Target      | 6                |                |                | 5                 | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Possession     | 47%              |                |                | 53%               | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Yellow Cards   | 3                |                |                | 3                 | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|                |                  |                |                |                   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Here's the highlights of the final:

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

well done, I've never cracked international management, I'm not the most adaptable manager. I usually join a club, sack the backroom staff and bring in new guys and make everyone play my way even if it involves benching all the best players and then slowly changing the squad to suit my style. I can never quite get the hang of having to make the best of what I've got.

I'm interested to see what job opportunities come your way managing at U20 international level. I applied to take over barcelona's B team this game but was shot down.

slightly offended by the fact you tried to walk into Young boys bern with no experience, I'd have slit my wrists for their budget when I was managing in switzerland with locarno.

 

[treva]

Haha, I just took a shot with Young Boys and Dnipro. I hoped maybe with a 'professional footballer' reputation they'd take a chance. Was very surprised to be asked by Hodgson to manage the U20s having been rejected by those two. The only other league clubs were mainly Chinese or Brazilian in the lower leagues, wanted something a little better than that.

I'm going to keep it realistic and stick to one club/nation at a time, unlike in previous saves where I've managed both. Going to just stick with the U20s and see if any offers come my way. If nothing pops up I'll aim for the WC, Olympic and Euro treble, haha.

I'm a pretty good manager of clubs in the middle/lower divisions, just never been able to crack the top leagues with the clubs I get promoted though.

 

[treva]

After more than half a year of waiting to see what jobs would become available and what teams would have me I finally had an application accepted. Wasn't the best of clubs I could have gone to but it was by no means the worst. My new club was NK Zagreb of the Croatian First Division.

They sit 9th in the First Division, just 2 points above the relegation play-off places on 26 and way off the pace of the top team Dinamo, their city rivals, who have 51 points. There are 10 games to play.

The contract offer was for a three year deal with ?1k a week. I cut this down to just a year to keep my options open after my first full season. First objective will be to safely guide Zagreb to a respectable mid-table position in the final 10 games.

As a side note, I've removed and added a few leagues that come into effect at the end of their respective seasons.

Added: England (Prem, Champ, L1 and L2), Germany (Bundesliga), Italy (Serie A, Serie B).

Removed: France (CFA), South Africa (Prem, First Division).

 

[Manly]

Got a bit of time on your hands mate? Haha

 

[treva]

Got a bit of time on your hands mate? Haha

tweaking loads mate, haha. Mel in Florida, I'm back home, literally nothing to do but FM.

 

[treva]

I knew this would be a challenge but my god, Zagreb are absolutely terrible. In all fairness we've had a serious tough set of fixtures, playing 2nd, 3rd and 4th, as well as a team who had won 3 in a row. We've not picked up a single point, throwing away a lead against Hadjuk and conceding some appauling goals. Our defending is embarassing and our finishing, which should be fairly good with a set of strikers who have 13 and 14 ratings in that department, is shocking.

It doesn't get any easier, we have rivals and 1st place team Dinamo up next. I don't think I'll be staying beyond this season and I'm not sure we'll survive relegation either.

 

[treva]

April was once again another horrid month, saved only by a win from nowhere at the end. We played well against Dinamo, coming within seconds of a draw only to conceded in the 92nd minute. We were poor in our next two games, once again conceding late in our loss to relegation rivals Sibenik. My first win as manager (first non-loss too) came with a brilliant 4-0 win over 10th placed Inter Zapresic. Top goalscorer Niksic finally helped out and netted twice.

We are now just 2 points from safety with 2 games to play. We take on the team below us and then the 6th placed side. Croatia have a harsh system - all of the 5 bottom sides get relegated.

 

[treva]

We fought hard in the final two games but the inevitable relegation couldn't be avoided. We ended up finishing 14th, 3rd from bottom, with a draw on the final day. We had led early on, only to go behind conceding two goals in two minutes before equalising in the second half. We also needed Istra 1961 to lose and they drew anyway, so there wasn't anything that could have been done.

I can't see myself staying, despite being one of the favourites to bounce back up. The team is pretty average and everyone wants to leave, feels like just too much hardwork for very little gain. A pretty horrible way to start my managerial club career.

 

[treva]

Decided to leave the Zagreb during the Summer and head for a new challenge. Didn't seem like many clubs would look to take me on, at least not successful clubs, so I decided to just see who would take a chance. After a few months of waiting Tianjin in China came calling, halfway through their 2012 season.

They sit in 10th out of 16 in the Chinese Super League, having finished as runners-up the past two seasons. We're pretty safe from the relegation zone so it's all about rebuilding for next season and mounting a title challenge. The league is renowned for bringing in a number of good Brazilians or Africans (Kanoute, Adriano, Drogba and Anelka all play in the league) so I hope I can attract some decent talent, even with a smallish budget.

Let the Chinese adventure begin...

 

[treva]

We reached the end of the season in 8th having lost just one game since I took over. We started brilliantly with three wins and a draw in our first four games, but the next two draws stopped any hope of finishing 4th and picking up the final Champions League spot. A loss to rivals Beijing was very annoying, going 1-0 up and losing the game in the final minute. We ended on a high with a 2-0 win and we now finish the season with the Chinese FA Cup. We take on Beijing again, hoping that we can win the competition to gain an automatic Champions League place.

Injuries cost us dearly, with star attacking midfielder Fan Zhiqiang being injured after being detrimental to our winning performances. Our leading goalscorer Sjoerd Ars also missed out for a while.

The team are pretty well set and I don't really understand why they underachieved so much this season. Having said that, we didn't get to test our ability against the comfortable league winners Guangzhou.

A few signings in the Winter and we should be able to mount a challenge for the top few places, if not the title, next year.

 

[treva]

An absolutely brilliant victory against our rivals having lost to them just a few weeks before. Ars was brillaint, scoring twice, and we responded brilliantly after the scored to pull it back to 2-1.

Underdogs once again but another sublime performance. We managed to keep Anelka at bay after he scored 4 in the previous round and we just soaked up the pressure ater taking the lead. Possibly the best performance of the season.

Finally favourites and we bottle it. We hadn't lost to Hangzhou in the last four games but we threw away a 1-0 lead and ended up being embarrassed 4-1. The scoreline flattered them as we pushed for goals in the last 15 minutes, but a very disappointing result. Should've been our name on that trophy.

 

[treva]

2013 Pre-Season​

Had about ?600k to spend, but with the wage budget already quite tight I decided not to splash out on too many improvements, especially as I felt the players had enough quality to challenge for the title anyway. I did pick up three players though.

Liu Yu - A Chinese international, decided it was worth spending a little on this guy to strengthen our back four. The fans immediately detested the signing, God knows why. He didn't help my decision, getting sent off in his first game but he should be a solid player.

Fagner - Replacement for our leading goalscorer last season Ars, who ended his loan spell and didn't want to return on a permanent deal. Looks like he could be a fantastic acquisition having scored 6 goals in 6 pre-season friendlies. His natural fitness should mean we have a consistent scorer up top for most of the season.

Du Zhenyu - Wanted to get in a quality attacking left winger after playing a number of players not suited to that position last season. Has looked good in pre-season, scoring 3 (2 penalties) and creating 2 goals.

Our pre-season was extremely easy against pretty poor opposition. Gives us good confidence after a disappointing season for the club last year and I hope it means we can hit the ground running in the league. After an awful start to pre-season, where we conceded 3 goals in the second half to shocking opposition, our defence was solid, not conceding a single goal.

I turned down an extension of my contract just so I can see where we are come the end of 2013. Our expectations are a title challenge.