Gaming The SM RedCafe League

Damien

Self-Aware RedCafe Database (and Admin)
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Yeah, my squad depth is wafer thin. I do have a fairly young squad and a very good strikeforce/midfield so hopefully that will keep me up.
Yeah. Liverpool have one of the best avg. XIs and were in a relegation battle last season while Cardiff, Middlesbrough and Bournemouth finished in the top 10 so anything could happen.
 

Ravelation

Krump at me Bro
Joined
Mar 8, 2011
Messages
1,433
Location
South London
Division 1 clubs ranked in order of avg. first XI rating (takes 10 strongest outfield players regardless of position + keeper)

RankTeamAvg. RatingStrongest Player*# 90+
1​
Manchester United​
93.8​
Antoine Griezmann (95)​
22​
2​
Everton​
93.5​
Neymar (96)​
16​
3​
Nottingham Forest​
92.6​
Robert Lewandowski (96)​
16​
4​
Liverpool​
92.5​
Kevin De Bruyne (96)​
13​
5​
Manchester City​
92.2​
Sergio Aguero (95)​
13​
6​
Arsenal​
92​
Eden Hazard (95)​
15​
=​
Aston Villa​
92​
Lionel Messi (99)​
11​
8​
Darlington​
91.9​
Thiago Alcantara (94)​
13​
=​
Newcastle United​
91.9​
Jan Oblak (95)​
15​
10​
Fulham​
91.4​
Raphael Varane (94)​
10​
11​
Middlesbrough​
91.2​
Mats Hummels (93)​
16​
12​
Cardiff City​
91.1​
Luis Suarez (94)​
12​
=​
Sunderland​
91.1​
Mauro Icardi (93)​
16​
14​
Bristol City​
91​
Cristiano Ronaldo (98)​
9​
=​
Southend United​
91​
Andy Robertson (93)​
11​
16​
Wolverhampton Wanderers​
90.9​
N'golo Kante (94)​
13​
17​
Southampton​
90.8​
Saul Niguez (93)​
10​
18​
Bournemouth​
90.7​
Alexandre Lacazette (92)​
11​
19​
Hereford​
90.3​
Marcelo Brozovic (92)​
6​
20​
Ipswich Town​
90​
John Stones (91)​
9​

*in case of multiple players on same rating, uses first alphabetically
I think it's even more impressive that I had no problem staying up last season, I was in contention for the top 10 for the majority of the season.
 

spontaneus1

Hamster, damn!
Joined
Dec 19, 2012
Messages
3,359
Location
In Hiding
Division 1 clubs ranked in order of avg. first XI rating (takes 10 strongest outfield players regardless of position + keeper)

RankTeamAvg. RatingStrongest Player*# 90+
1​
Manchester United​
93.8​
Antoine Griezmann (95)​
22​
2​
Everton​
93.5​
Neymar (96)​
16​
3​
Nottingham Forest​
92.6​
Robert Lewandowski (96)​
16​
4​
Liverpool​
92.5​
Kevin De Bruyne (96)​
13​
5​
Manchester City​
92.2​
Sergio Aguero (95)​
13​
6​
Arsenal​
92​
Eden Hazard (95)​
15​
=​
Aston Villa​
92​
Lionel Messi (99)​
11​
8​
Darlington​
91.9​
Thiago Alcantara (94)​
13​
=​
Newcastle United​
91.9​
Jan Oblak (95)​
15​
10​
Fulham​
91.4​
Raphael Varane (94)​
10​
11​
Middlesbrough​
91.2​
Mats Hummels (93)​
16​
12​
Cardiff City​
91.1​
Luis Suarez (94)​
12​
=​
Sunderland​
91.1​
Mauro Icardi (93)​
16​
14​
Bristol City​
91​
Cristiano Ronaldo (98)​
9​
=​
Southend United​
91​
Andy Robertson (93)​
11​
16​
Wolverhampton Wanderers​
90.9​
N'golo Kante (94)​
13​
17​
Southampton​
90.8​
Saul Niguez (93)​
10​
18​
Bournemouth​
90.7​
Alexandre Lacazette (92)​
11​
19​
Hereford​
90.3​
Marcelo Brozovic (92)​
6​
20​
Ipswich Town​
90​
John Stones (91)​
9​

*in case of multiple players on same rating, uses first alphabetically
Makes my relegation last year a bit more stomachable.
 

Ravelation

Krump at me Bro
Joined
Mar 8, 2011
Messages
1,433
Location
South London
Absolutely. Was just the last few games where you tailed off but I don't know if that was due to your fixtures or not
I lost quite a few games which i should've taken a point from at least, i seem to have a problem with the second half of my season every season.
 

Damien

Self-Aware RedCafe Database (and Admin)
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Messages
97,233
Location
Also won Best Gif/Photoshop 2021
2:0 victory away to Bristol City. Very tough match.

De Gea (93)

Elvedi (90) Ramos (95) Kimmich (94) Alaba (93)
Pogba (93) Kroos (95)⚽➕⭐
Mbappe (94)⚽ -- Sancho (91) -- Sterling (94)➕
Griezmann (95)

Subs: Gaya (91), Boateng (91), Kovacic (91), Goretzka (91), Dele (92), Pulisic (90), Brandt (91)
Suspended: Eriksen (94)
Did not travel: Christensen (90), Dias (90), Zakaria (90)

Key:
⚽ = Goal
➕ = Assist
⭐ = MOTM
= Subbed off
= Subbed on


Next three games:
CCGBG1: Paris Saint-Germain (H)
MD02: Southend United (H)
MD03: Everton (H)

Manchester United v Bristol City fixtures this season

GameUtd PossBristol City PossUtd Shots (SoT)Bristol City Shots (SoT)Utd GoalsBristol City GoalsUtd SoT Conv.Bristol City SoT Conv.
19th Apr: Bristol City v Utd​
59%
41%​
19 (9)
11 (3)​
2
0​
22.2%
0%​
Combined
59%
41%​
19 (9)
11 (3)​
2
0​
22.2%
0%​
 

harshad

Play the odds, not the man - Poor man's Harvey
Scout
Joined
Jan 23, 2010
Messages
11,883
Location
On a long road that returns to Old Trafford!!!
2:0 victory away to Bristol City. Very tough match.

De Gea (93)

Elvedi (90) Ramos (95) Kimmich (94) Alaba (93)
Pogba (93) Kroos (95)⚽➕⭐
Mbappe (94)⚽ -- Sancho (91) -- Sterling (94)➕
Griezmann (95)

Subs: Gaya (91), Boateng (91), Kovacic (91), Goretzka (91), Dele (92), Pulisic (90), Brandt (91)
Suspended: Eriksen (94)
Did not travel: Christensen (90), Dias (90), Zakaria (90)

Key:
⚽ = Goal
➕ = Assist
⭐ = MOTM
= Subbed off
= Subbed on


Next three games:
CCGBG1: Paris Saint-Germain (H)
MD02: Southend United (H)
MD03: Everton (H)

Manchester United v Bristol City fixtures this season

GameUtd PossBristol City PossUtd Shots (SoT)Bristol City Shots (SoT)Utd GoalsBristol City GoalsUtd SoT Conv.Bristol City SoT Conv.
19th Apr: Bristol City v Utd​
59%
41%​
19 (9)
11 (3)​
2
0​
22.2%
0%​
Combined
59%
41%​
19 (9)
11 (3)​
2
0​
22.2%
0%​
 

Damien

Self-Aware RedCafe Database (and Admin)
Staff
Joined
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Messages
97,233
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Also won Best Gif/Photoshop 2021
5:0 victory at home to PSG.

De Gea (93)

Christensen (90) Dias (90) Kimmich (94) Gaya (91)⚽
Pogba (93) Kroos (95)
Pulisic (90)⚽⚽ -- Goretzka (91) -- Sterling (94)⚽⚽➕➕⭐
Griezmann (95)➕➕➕

Subs: Elvedi (90), Zakaria (90), Kovacic (91), Dele (92), Sancho (91), Eriksen (94), Brandt (91)
Injured: Mbappe (94), Alaba (93)
Suspended: Ramos (95)
Did not travel: Boateng (91)

Key:
⚽ = Goal
➕ = Assist
⭐ = MOTM
= Subbed off
= Subbed on


Next three games:
MD02: Southend United (H)
MD03: Everton (H)
CCGBG2: Roma (A)

Manchester United v PSG fixtures this season

GameUtd PossPSG PossUtd Shots (SoT)PSG Shots (SoT)Utd GoalsPSG GoalsUtd SoT Conv.PSG SoT Conv.
20th Apr: Utd v PSG​
74%
26%​
24 (12)
5 (1)​
5
0​
41.7%
0%​
Combined
74%
26%​
24 (12)
5 (1)​
5
0​
41.7%
0%​
 

CrackersJr

cum covered cherries
Joined
Jul 21, 2013
Messages
1,138
Location
Southampton
I'll be a happy bunny if Vardy is as prolific as he was at Cardiff! But 2 goals in 2 games and 1 MOTM is a promising start!
 

BenitoSTARR

One Minute Man
Scout
Joined
Sep 1, 2015
Messages
13,601
I'll be a happy bunny if Vardy is as prolific as he was at Cardiff! But 2 goals in 2 games and 1 MOTM is a promising start!
He’s a machine! Definitely him and Sarr got me promoted 2 seasons ago and he fired me into the top 10.
 

Ravelation

Krump at me Bro
Joined
Mar 8, 2011
Messages
1,433
Location
South London
I've like 5 percent understanding about whats going on with the whole transfers and loan and swap saga.
But i would just like to say to people... it's just a game.

The reason I play SM with you guys is because I find it fun, The player hoarding or whatever is what it is, but ultimately it's not that serious.
If we are really annoyed by player hoarding in the game and it's such a big deal, why not just decrease the global FFP by a certain amount like 10 percent.

This way everyone is affected by the FFP in the same way.
 

BenitoSTARR

One Minute Man
Scout
Joined
Sep 1, 2015
Messages
13,601
The issue is as follows. Teams are artificially inflating the market making cash useless as they are ‘selling’ players to smaller clubs and then buying them back at a higher price. This removes the need for the smaller club to organically grow by scouting well and selling for profit (something Southend United managed to do just fine!). By doing this it it removes the ability of all other clubs from using their cash to buy players from clubs slowly building up to higher divisions. This then stifles the transfer market betIt also means when there is a draft the smaller clubs have no concern about where the money for the best player comes from which shouldn’t be the case.

So market inflation aside there is another issue. Selling a player to another club only to buy them later is essentially parking that player and also taking up FFP space at another club allowing the ‘selling’ club an extra FFP slot which, had they just used the loan system to give a struggling club a good player, they wouldn’t have. So it allows the big club to take risks on talents more if they wanted to or even have a temporary work around for their FFP.

Now believe it or not I don’t care if it stays the same or changes as I don’t do it but when people are saying you shouldn’t be able to swap GKs with concerns to keep them in your squad it then becomes incredibly hypocritical as both things do have an impact on the market and give teams a way to get around concerns or FFP.

So my argument is either both are ok and while a bit naughty something we accept and don’t criticise others for or neither of them are as they impact other managers not just those in the deal.

I would be very happy with a reduction in squad sizes to be fair as it would make things a lot more interesting on the market!
Apologies for the long post and hope everyone’s doing well!
 

Damien

Self-Aware RedCafe Database (and Admin)
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Messages
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Also won Best Gif/Photoshop 2021
3:2 victory at home to Southend without Alaba and Eriksen, and Mbappe at low fitness.

De Gea (93)

Ramos (95) Dias (90) Kimmich (94) Gaya (91)
Pogba (93) Kroos (95)
Sancho (91) -- Pulisic (90) -- Sterling (94)➕
Griezmann (95)⚽⚽⚽⭐

Subs: Elvedi (90), Christensen (90), Kovacic (91), Zakaria (90), Mbappe (94), Dele (92), Brandt (91)
Injured: Alaba (93)
Suspended: Eriksen (94)
Did not travel: Boateng (91), Goretzka (91)

Key:
⚽ = Goal
➕ = Assist
⭐ = MOTM
= Subbed off
= Subbed on


Next three games:
MD03: Everton (H)
CCGBG2: Roma (A)
MD04: Bournemouth (A)

Manchester United v Southend United fixtures this season

GameUtd PossSouthend PossUtd Shots (SoT)Southend Shots (SoT)Utd GoalsSouthend GoalsUtd SoT Conv.Southend SoT Conv.
23rd Apr: Utd v Southend​
58%
42%​
14 (8)
9 (3)​
3
2​
37.5%​
66.6%
Combined
58%
42%​
14 (8)
9 (3)​
3
2​
37.5%​
66.6%
 

2mufc0

Everything is fair game in capitalism!
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Jan 8, 2014
Messages
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Dragon of Dojima
It's really tough when you don't have a decent GK because the concern system is fecked up, since i started playing SM i haven't been able to get a long term highly rated keeper (even then the keeper i do have is not as highly rated as the top tier keepers). In my situation i'm forced to chose between a GK with potential and a higher rated GK who is getting on, imo preventing GK hoarding is a good thing and i support it, but in situations like this for me i'm not trying to hoard and still getting punished. If only SM sorted out the concern system, 88 is too low in division 1 to start demanding a first team slot.
 

BenitoSTARR

One Minute Man
Scout
Joined
Sep 1, 2015
Messages
13,601
It's really tough when you don't have a decent GK because the concern system is fecked up, since i started playing SM i haven't been able to get a long term highly rated keeper (even then the keeper i do have is not as highly rated as the top tier keepers). In my situation i'm forced to chose between a GK with potential and a higher rated GK who is getting on, imo preventing GK hoarding is a good thing and i support it, but in situations like this for me i'm not trying to hoard and still getting punished. If only SM sorted out the concern system, 88 is too low in division 1 to start demanding a first team slot.
I’d happily do swaps so you can keep your 88 rated keeper as I have Lafont in the same position? I think if they get to 90 there’s not reason whatsoever but at 88 most teams in the league wouldn’t want to have that player starting.
 

2mufc0

Everything is fair game in capitalism!
Joined
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Messages
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Dragon of Dojima
I’d happily do swaps so you can keep your 88 rated keeper as I have Lafont in the same position? I think if they get to 90 there’s not reason whatsoever but at 88 most teams in the league wouldn’t want to have that player starting.
I'm not going to do anything that will break gameworld rules, i actually support rules against constant swapping of GK's to prevent hoarding, however i do believe in certain cases agreements between clubs should be allowed and through regulation hoarding can still be prevented. So i would propose the following:
  • Only one active swap allowed
  • You are only allowed to swap a GK <88 rated
  • Once the GK returns you can't swap him again to remove any concerns
This should allow enough time to see whether the GK will develop if not he will just have to be sold/retained.
 

green_smiley

:lol:
Joined
Mar 30, 2014
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Southend Utd (soccermanager)
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#Justice4Wang!
You still see deals like Jovic for Aguero done, or Pjanic for Umtiti and Correa. I've been openly touting Eriksen, Dele, Stones and Boateng for the past few months just for a CB and there've been no takers.
Those are reasonable deals imo. And you have just gotten Dias, on top of Zakaria and Konate that you already have, and the best attacking prospects in the league
 

The Taurean

looks like a chipmunk
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Nothing is so common as the wish to be remarkable.
You still see deals like Jovic for Aguero done, or Pjanic for Umtiti and Correa. I've been openly touting Eriksen, Dele, Stones and Boateng for the past few months just for a CB and there've been no takers.
Everyone wants to build. You can see correlation for players you are exchanging and getting return(age,rating. Clubs.
Although I do agree deals are getting tougher by the day.
 

Damien

Self-Aware RedCafe Database (and Admin)
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Those are reasonable deals imo. And you have just gotten Dias, on top of Zakaria and Konate that you already have, and the best attacking prospects in the league
I agree. It was a reply to you saying "I wonder why" - I was explaining that there were still being reasonable deals done but not involving me (Dias notwithstanding).