Well well, here we go again. It's been a long while since I've written anything, but with the horrible situation we find the world in currently I have more free time than I know what to do with, so why not break out the keyboard and share my latest adventure with Japanese side Tokyo Verdy.
The database that I'm using can be downloaded from here: https://fm-j-league-pack.firebaseapp.com/
This introductory post is going to be a quick overview of everything that has happened so far, as we've just made it to opening day of season 5 in game.
SEASON ONE
Emperor's Cup: 2nd Round - Lost at Home to
V-Varen Nagasaki 1-1p (5-6)
Top Scorer: Kim Ho-Jin - 16 goals
Thoughts: We were expected to sit around mid table and did exactly that, albeit a position below our season prediction of 9th. I started the save with first transfer window disabled and we didn't really the money to do much anyway, so it was very much a season of mucking in and extracting what we could from the squad we inherited. We struggled at times to break sides down which led to a lot of draws in winnable games, and a lot of tweaks tactically led to some very disjointed performances. On the whole though a solid start and a platform to build on going forward.
SEASON TWO
Emperor's Cup: 4th Round - Lost Away at Gamba Osaka 1-2
Top Scorer: Kim Ho-Jin - 21 goals
Thoughts: Far more like it! With a chance to get rid of some dead-wood, mostly ineffective wingers, and bring in genuine strength in depth we were a far more threatening outfit. We didn't start amazingly, with 5 draws and 3 defeats in the first 15 games, so we changed the system and went on an incredible run of 25 games without defeat in the league, sealing the title with 2 games to go. Promotion brought a whole new challenge, but I felt that with the right additions we were in good shape to stay up, even if I did think it would be tough.
SEASON THREE
Emperor's Cup: Semi-Final - Lost Away at Jubilo Iwata 2-5
J.League Cup: Topped group of Sagan Tosu, Consadole Sapporo and Nagoya Grampus.
Lost in Playoff to Kawasaki Frontale - 0-1 H, 1-4 A
Top Scorer: Kim Ho-Jin - 17 goals
Thoughts: We we always in the relegation conversation without ever really being in the battle. The lowest position we ever fell to was 15th, but the bottom half of the table was so tight that we didn't truly feel safe until it was sealed with a couple of games to go. We went on a truly horrendous run of form after an opening day win, so another tactical change saw us move back to a back 3, and that made us more capable of winning games, but they were very sporadic as we struggled for consistency.
SEASON FOUR
Emperor's Cup: 4th Round - Lost at Home to Kawasaki Frontale 1-3 AET
J.League Cup: Final - Lost 2-3 to Vissel Kobe AET
Top Scorer: Yusuke Kikuchi - 11 goals
Thoughts: A season of massive over-achievement really, owing to, you guessed it, a tactical change half way through the season! The shape remained the same, but we became more willing to concede the lion's share of possession and allow teams to come onto us, knowing that we were more threatening on the break (wheyy). This season also saw an influx of big signings mid-way through the season (who you'll meet once I properly introduce the squad in the next post), finally spending some real money after a few seasons of relying on frees and loans, plus selling some prospects from our highly productive youth intakes.
So that's a general overview of the save so far, unfortunately I don't have any screenshots to really go into as much detail as I'd like to, but going forward we'll have a look at the current squad, learn a bit about the club, and get into some action. We have our (but not the club's) first ever AFC Champions League campaign coming up, an adventure I'm looking forward to as I have no clue how the competition works or runs!
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