I thought this was only going to be a post on how we did at the half way point of the League Phase in the UCL but given what happened before the international break this will be a long one.
Honestly this part of the save is a pain because I managed to clean sweep everything here in Greece. So winning everything wouldn’t add any miles so it was just making sure we weren’t walloped in the UCL while waiting for jobs to become available. We managed to make it half way to the league stage games in the UCL till a surprise dropped.
First up was a mega one in Juventus. And honestly we made our own luck somehow and it stayed a draw.
Two points to take from that game was that their shooting was horrible yes but from the highlights I watched our only shots on target were toward the very end which was a bit annoying.
Then it was Athletic Bilbao and we were seriously good.
Annoying to lose the clean sheet but we were so dominant the points were never in doubt. I was seriously scared because Bilbao still had the Williams brothers and the younger is a freaking world beater. In this game the sub striker we had was the one who was in fiery form really and is the top scorer at the moment and the main striker I wanted to see perform didn’t score till his 7th start I believe
Then it was a game we should be winning against Dinamo Zagreb from Croatia and we did.
Dominant going forward and back. Like I said this was a should win. And those guys having Bayindir in their goal made me laugh too at how easily we scored past him(Expected nothing less from United’s IRL Bandit 😩)
And our main striker finally showed up from a corner. This is why I wanted him. Physical and Aerial.
And finally it was a fairly disappointing loss to Bayern which I was expecting but it was a narrow one only
The big moment from this wasn’t an attack. It was playing a perfect offside trap on Harry FREAKING Kane. Will treasure that, doing it as Olympiacos manager 😂. So with these results we are in the playoff spots which is really what I was aiming for seriously.
So while I was going through the motions of the League season I got a surprise before the international break started.
Napoli is a MEGA job to have. They have been floundering and are far away from the Champions League qualifying spots which is where they want to aim for apparently. And their job odds look like they are aiming for Enrique, Mancini(I am still salty about him nabbing the Al-Nassr job from me 😠) and Tuchel who managed Wolves at the moment. In terms of rep I had the edge over them all. Enrique honestly is never budging from PSG let’s be real. So that’s why I said we have a chance. And also Mancini was insecure in his job at Villareal in this save anyway.
So I went for it. I said I needed a mid season job and this was the BEST opportunity. Napoli are still in the UCL so it would appear that I am skipping the Europa League in this save game which means I will not be like Jose who won all the UEFA competitions and is the only one to do so.
So I applied for it. And I did want a bit of a fall back because I should be thinking to improve somehow and my prayers were heard because Bilbao sacked their head coach. So their budget was very decent and of course they had the Williams brothers still. And of course we faced them in the Champions League so they are there.
So I put my hat in the ring for both jobs. All in secret of course because it’ll unsettle my current club
Backhanded compliments aren’t going to deter me. Thankfully I brought through my multiple languages that I learned so it can show that I can learn the language quickly.
Let’s talk through what I see in both projects from what I scouted out:
Athletic Bilbao
This is a unique team because Bilbao are famous for having a Basque only policy(It’s more of a thing they are always proud to show off). This means any player they have in their lineup is and mostly should be from the Basque region in Spain and France. Their budget is higher actually to make changes if necessary. And their team is really good but Unai Simon isn’t really a worth it keeper to me. He was shambolic against us when we played them and we locked down the Williams brothers till they scored the consolation. So their team is fairly decent bar their keeper so it should be a good team. But the main con I see is you can’t expect a deep Champions League run or a title run(Barcelona and Real Madrid do exist) and I do want to show my credentials for United to notice.
Napoli
One of the giants of Serie A who are seriously floundering beyond their expectations to always qualify for the continental competitions and got the likes of Kevin de Bruyne and Lukaku among other people. It is a surprise to see them be that far away. Their budget isn’t as big and they have a lot of their mainstays minus Mctominay of course who plays for Olympiacos now. They should be usable to have and make some minor tweaks with some proper recruitment in January maybe. A con I see a chance my reputation won’t translate to power over the players but results will. They will be the highest way to win players over.
But after a wait we have a choice to make because they BOTH came back with contract offers.
Man this seems to be a big choice to make but I want to enhance my rep because given Napoli even got back at all I want to take it with two hands and keep going there despite the unique challenge of Bilbao. So I think I will make the choice that benefits us in terms of trophy chances and the run that can happen.
So the choice was made:
And it will be S.S.C Napoli.
