How much for Messi? Even if Barca accepted the offer, I can't believe he would accept the contract tbh.
My managerial career has gone a long way since the last time I updated haha.
Liverpool went very well. Went on a massive winning streak, and the title was a very outside possibility. But then a few bad results ended that chance. Finished 3rd in the end with Fergie winning the title in his last season, and Chelsea 2nd (under Mcleish). Managed to win the FA Cup though which was great. It wasn't really a special road to the final, just won every game quite comfortably and won the final v Man Utd.
For some reason Mano Menezes left Brazil just before end of the season when Brazil automatically qualified for world cup (hosting), and finished runners up in copa america. I applied, leaving England for a better country (no loyalty i know haha) . Got the job and started off with 2 shaky wins vs Denmark + Japan.
Left Liverpool at the end of the season, and Inter manager had also been given the sack. I applied and got the job. Managed to sign David Silva for 8m, Hamsik for 7m and Edinson Cavani for 25m. I know that sounds a lot of Cavani but he's one of my fave players right now, and he becomes a beast in the game as well. Things hardly went well at Inter though. A loss, followed by a loss, followed by a loss etc. Long story short, I left half way through Jan in 12th place and out of all the cups. Just couldn't get things going. Saw glimpses of some good performances, but most of the time we were toothless.
So without a job, but not for long, as McClaren was finally given the boot by Wolfsburg. I saw it as a good challenge, and they were in the latter stages of the Europa League so I thought i could win that. Got the job and things went well at Wolfsburg. Never really had a set formation, mixed it up a lot but also kept an attacking mentality. Mandzukic was a beast all season and won striker of the season for bundesliga.
Europa League semi final vs Fiorentina. First leg was an absolute classic where we drew 5-5. Unfortunately I was at home so Fiorentina had a serious away goal advantage. Second leg I was playing for the win, and scored early on. I kept on pushing on because I wasn't safe with the 1 goal but no real chances were made on either end. In the final it was another classic, against CSKA. They went ahead from the first attack so I changed to push up and attack (was playing quite conservative to start), Mandzukic equalises in second half. Then Miguel torres gets sent off and I have to play last 10 mins + et with 10 men. Chances at both ends as we were quite open, but in 119th minute, the legend Mandzukic hits the ball on the half volley from a decent cross in, and hits the back of the net! In the league I finished 4th and got a chance at Champions League.
Now for the big one, the World Cup. Had USA, Belgium and New Zealand in my group. Started with 2 wins vs USA and NZ but neither were convincing. Then a shock loss to Belgium 3-2 who finished top of the group. Had Uruguay in the 2nd round and I was very lucky. Took an early lead with pato, but was on the back foot all game and cavani equalised. Somehow withstood the pressure and it went to penalties, which I won.
Quarter finals against Ukraine which I was expected to easily win, but we were completely toothless and failed to create any chances. Fortunately ukraine weren't much better and a dull game went to a penalty shootout that I won.
Then the semi finals against England. I knew I had to change my tactics as they clearly weren't working. Went from a 4-2-3-1 with two DMs to one with two CMs. Also changed my whole strategy to a more attacking, higher pressing one. I dominated the whole game and I was 2nil up (could've been about 4/5) until Bent scored in the 92nd min. We held our cool and got to the final.
Now for the final, against bitter rivals Argentina. Neymar had got injured and would miss the game, so brought back Robinho who'd had a shocker of a tournament. What an inspired choice that was! He took on 3 players and put it in the back of the net, raising the roof off the Maracana. Game continued and eventually fizzed out, made some defensive changes and the final whistle blew. I won the world cup! Left the next day and set out for a new challenge.
Had to wait a few months before I got another job. Arsenal manager (wenger had retired and a spanish manager took over, can't remember which) got the sack in November with Arsenal in 8th. I was offered the job and took it as I was getting a bit bored of not managing anyone. Couple of games in and won 2, drawn 1 and lost 1.
Wow that was a long post
