A Brief History Of Time (In The Superliga)

INTO THE TOP FLIGHT

So far I’ve really not looked too hard at the Kolding Squad, partly because our amateur/semi-pro status meant that tweaking it has been a relatively easy job and partly because I harboured ideas of moving on quickly; Kolding IF just being a first rung on the ladder.

Eight weeks isn’t a lot of time to sort ourselves out for the top flight, and with no guarantee that my interest in jobs elsewhere will come to anything it would be seriously daft to not make plans.

Two Strikers, Or Not Two Strikers, That Is The Question

Hi folks, it’s been a while since there was a Karlsruhe update, in fact it was back before the World Cup (remember then?).

In that post I talked then about the possibility of farming out Jimmy Marton on loan, to try and make a dent in his much-needed development. The thing is that Champions League Qualification gives me a bit of a headache with the loan plan, as I need to include a number of home-grown players including four who’ve trained at Karlsruhe.

Marton is an obvious choice, but that still doesn’t solve the issue of getting him regular first team action. The alternative would be to continue to seek a loan for him, and include players in the CL squad who will realistically never play but are just there to make up the numbers.

If you’ve been following the blog you’ll be aware that I took a recent diversion to the World Cup, where I intended to just see how an experimental tactic would work out, but ended up as the toast of Mexico when Carlos Fierro inspired us on a run through the knockout phases and to the top of the tree.

I promptly loaded my Karlsruhe save back up and proceeded to check in on Fierro.

“Just forget about him son, it’s better that you just forget”  

Expectations Exceeded, To Say The Least

Last time out you’ll recall that we’d reached the winter break in a lofty 3rd place, courtesy of one of the best scoring records in the league combined with a surprisingly effective defence – Ryan Donk making his mark in style.

Coming out of the break we’d suffered a league defeat, and then a DFB Pokal exit at the hands of FC Bayern, and I’d expressed concern that we were in danger of getting onto a bad run as we closed in on a trip to Dortmund. The slide, such as it was, was slowed by a goalless draw at home to Nürnberg but we made it four games without a win despite scoring twice against the title contenders.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, momentum – in either direction – plays a big part in FM and I was conscious that we were in danger of getting on the wrong side of the curve. Cue the visit of mid-table Köln and a game that couldn’t have gone much better...

A Brief Update on Performances, and Making Changes (or Not)

Last time out I talked about trying Henri Lansbury out in the central midfield slot, the Central Winger of sorts. Marcel Büchel was performing well, but it was noticeable that he wasn’t delivering what was probably the key part of @JLAspey’s original idea – i.e. the penetrating runs on the ball; Büchel was averaging less than one successful dribble per match.

I dropped Lansbury in for a few games to assess how he would perform, and what impact his absence might have on the flank. Our form continued through three league games – Lansbury in the centre for two of them, as well as our DFB-Pokal 3rd Round tie as a late substitute. Averaging over two dribbles per game was an improvement, although when reverting to the flank he made three. He made two or three key passes without registering an assist, and netted a couple of goals to help extend our scoring run – earning me Steam’s “Attack!” achievement in the process (‘Your team scored a goal in 20 consecutive competitive matches’).

Nosebleed Time

Last time out I covered the new additions to our squad, and then raced excitedly into the new season. After the previous campaign, the big question was whether we'd make a better start this time.

The short answer: Yes!

For the longer answer, read on...

How Did It All Go So Right?

First up, the headlines. Did we make it into European competition? No, we did not, thanks to SC Bastia’s inability to beat PSG in the French Cup final. Despite their 15^th place finish, the fact that they got to the final gives them the final qualifier spot for the Europa League. Had they somehow won, we would’ve been in, but I suspect that they never had any intention of actually trying, why bother? They'd already stolen our thunder. 

Selfish bunch of wasters.

How Far Can A +9 Goal Difference Take You?

So here we were, embarking upon RC Strasbourg's first season in the top flight since the run of eleven successive defeats that saw them relegated at the end of the 2007/08 season - a record for post-war French football. Not only had the intervening time seen them drop further still, but liquidation of the club in July 2011 saw them removed from the league - later reinstated in the fifth tier. 

This was our chance then, a chance to return the Alsatian side to the French elite and, hopefully, battle hard to stay there. 

Are You Ready For The Big Time?

Warning: Minimal tactics. Or detail, for that matter.

Per my previous update, I'm trying to give a reasonable overview of the time elapsed in game, whilst bringing the blog up to date to match my current game state.

So, after achieving promotion via the Ligue 2 title, it was time to think about...