[CM4] Americans in Spain v2.0

[Sloan]

In this dynasty I will be playing CM4 with EP5. I will be controlling Real Madrid as an American manager. I will try to keep Real Madrid as a world super power in soccer, but I have placed severe restrictions on myself: I can only buy American players.

Game setup:

Leagues Running: USA, Spain, England, France, Germany, Italy
My Nationality: American
Database Changes: I used an editor to make the USA part of the EU to avoid Spansih League restrictions on only having 4 non-EU players on your team.

Rules: -I can only sign American players
-I can use players currently on my roster, but I can't renew their contracts
-I have to make a reasonable effort to move out star players as I bring new ones in, I don't want to get fired right away so I don't have to sell everyone at the start
-I can only hire American staff

[Sloan]

The Real Madrid board has given me $32.5 million to spend on new players. I am currently about $800,000/week under my overall wage limit so I will have plenty of opportunity to bring over some Americans in my first year. Here are the players I am targeting right away:

Freddy Adu Am C 13 years old
Eddie Gaven M/S C 15
Ryan Cochrane D R/C 19
Cory Gibbs D L/C 22
Conor Casey S C 20
Delvin Countess GK 20
Claudio Reyna M C 29
Landon Donovan F LC 20
DaMarcus Beasley F LC 20
Brian McBride S C 30
Edson Buddle F RLC 21
Tim Howard GK 23


Here is who I have placed on the transfer list so far:

Cesar GK $6.25M (Celta interested)
Morientes SC $19.75M (Betis interested)
Tote SC $9.5M (5 teams interested)

[Sloan]

July - First Month On The Job

7-22-02 Our First Signing!
My second day on the job sees our first signing. 15 year old attacke Eddie Gaven comes to terms with us. He
said he was very keen to rise to the challenge of playing for such an illustrious club.

7-23-02 We Get Adu
Not really much of a suprise, but we do land the much sought after Freddy Adu. Perhaps the biggest prospect in the world.

7-25-02 Our First Big Signing
After a couple quiet days we get a couple of good news items. Ryan Cochrane a 19 year old defender signs
with us on a free transfer, and Claudio Reyna signs with the club. Reyna let on with the media that the chance to play in Europe was the main reason he decided to leave Sunderland for Real. Later that night fans were seen celebrating in the streets over Reyna's signing. Perhaps this American manager isn't so nuts after all?

7-27-02 Reyna Ready To Go
Midfielder Claudio Reyna arrived in camp today and announced that he was excited to meet his new teammates and was eagerly awaiting his chance to play with such world class players.

Later in the day we receive some huge news. USA national team stars Landon Donovan and Brian McBride both came to terms with the club today.

7-30-02 When I t Rains It Pours
After another couple of slow days, we have another couple signings to announce. Young defender Cory Gibbs
joined us today. Gibbs is a young fast defender with a lot of potential. Also joing us today is promising young goalie Delvin Countess.

7-31-02 A Busy Day
The last day of the month was a busy day. We had a very unexciting 0-0 tie with some club from Israel.

Neither team had a lot of scoring chances. The big news came off the field with the signings of Tim Howard and Edson Buddle. Both of these guys are young, but they should be able to contribute to the main club this year.

We also got some bad news today. Defender Cory Gibbs injured himself in training today and won't be
available for at least two months.

[Sloan]

August Preseason

8-2-03 Friendly #2
We win an easy one 2-0 against Tel-Aviv. Ronaldo gets us on the board in the 19th minute with a header off of a corner kick. The second goal was an all American goal as Edson Buddle sent a cross over from the left wing, and Brian McBride headed it home.
Americans:
Tim Howard: Played the whole game, but didn't face any shots
Brian McBride: Came on in the 64th minute and scored the second goal
Edson Buddle: Came on in the 64th minute to set up the second goal
Landon Donovan: Came on in the 64th minute and played well, had a shot on goal

8-3-03 Eddie Pope Signs
Veteran defender Eddie Pope Signs with us. He should be a great addition to our back line. Pope will be our last signing for a while. Our $32 million dollar transfer budget is now down to $1.5 million. I've put a few guys on the transfer block, but so far no takers. Several guys are well below market value.

8-4-03 Friendly #3
Another easy one. I sit Tim Howard today and play Cesar. Hopefully this will get the teams interested in buying him to move. Raul scores on a breakaway in the first half, and Edson Buddle continues his strong preseason with a goal inthe second half.
Americans:
Eddie Pope: Played a solid 90 minutes, but his conditioning needs some work.
Landon Donovan: Started and played 57 minutes. He really didn't look that good.
Claudio Reyna: Started and played 57 minutes. He has a pretty solid game and controlled the middle of the field.
Edson Buddle: Came on in the 57th minute and had a goal

8-9-03 Friendly #4
This one started out shaky for us, but Tim Howard stood his ground in goal, and by the end it wasn't even close. We end up beating Leiria 3-0.
Americans:
Pope: Played the entire 90 minutes and played well
Buddle: Continued his strong preseason with a solid 90 minute effort
Donovan: Started and played a solid 62 minutes, picked up an assist
McBride: Came on at the half, but didn't play that well
Adu: Came on for Donovan in the 62nd minute, but didn't factor that much into the play

8-12-03 Friendly #5
Today wefaced Hercules from the Spanish second division. It was a pretty boring game in which we subsituted heavily in trying to get everyone in shape for the season. The game ended up in a 1-1 tie with McBride heading in a Figo corner kick in the second half for us.
Americans:
Howard: Tim played the first half and let in what could be considered a soft goal.
Buddle: Buddle started and played 63 minutes. He did't have a really strong game today.
Donovan: Landond started and played the first half. He played pretty well in Zidane's usual attacking midfield spot.
McBride: Brian played the entire game and scored our goal.
Reyna: Reyna came in for Donovan at the half and didn't really factor into the play too much.

8-16-03 Final Friendly
This one was easy as we won easily 2-0 to another second division team. This time the opponent was Cadiz. We got our goals in the first half with most of our probable starting lineup. The second half was pretty much all subs for both sides.
Americans:
Howard: Tim played the first half but really wasn't tested.
Pope: Pope played the first half and had a really strong game.
Donovan: Donovan also played just the first half and played really well.
McBride: Brian came in at the half and had several shots on goal.
Adu: Adu came on at the half and held his own with the big boys

[atatange1]

Glad to see this back. Did you use an editor to put the U.S. in the EU?

[Sloan]

Yes, the USA is now part of the EU so now all Americans are eligible for all competitions.

Thanks for reading!

[Sloan]

September -- The Season Begins

8-30-02 European Super Cup

We travel to Monaco to face Feyenoord in the European Super Cup. This game is our first real test, which we pass. Raul scored a beautiful goal in the first minute and that goal ended up being the only goal of the game as we win 1-0.
Americans:
Howard: Played the whole game, only faced one shot on goal
Pope: Started and played 66 minutes, he played a strong game, but I took him out as his condition was dropping fast.
Donovan: Started and played well, but had to come off because of injury in the 24th minute
Edson Buddle: Came on and finished the game for Donovan, he didn't play that well.

9-3-02 Champions Cup
Today is our first game in the European Champions Cup. Today we face Lyon in their stadium. We have drawn into a pretty tough group. The other teams in group A are Club Brugge and Manchester United.

Wow, what a game! Tim Howard stood tall in goal early stopping a barrage of shots. Raul scored midway through the first half and it looked like we were on to an impressive win. It was not to be however as Lyon scored 3 straight goals. Hierro put in a PK later as we lose 3-2.
Americans:
Howard: Played well in spots, one of the goals was weak but the other two weren't his fault.
Pope: Played the whole game and played very well
Donovan: Started and played 61 minutes, he didn't play well at all
Reyna: Started and played the whole game, he played pretty well and was the captain today
McBride: Brian came in at the half. He was tripped in the box which lead to our PK and second goal. Other than that he looked pretty lost today.

Other group A action: Man U 4 Club Brugge 0

9-11-02 Spanish Cup
We tried to give some of our other guys a chance today, and that may have been a mistake. Eibar from the second division gave us all we could handle. We played a scoreless 90 minutes and no one scored in overtime. Howard stopped Eibar's penalty shot which allowed McBride to step up to take the fifth kick to win it. McBride missed it! No matter though as Howard saved Eibar's final kick to cap off an outstanding game.
Americans:
Howard: Bounced back after a shaking effort to play a great game.
Donovan: Started and played 68 minutes, didn't play that well and picked up a yellow card for the second game in a row.
McBride: Started and played the whole game, didn't do much during the game and missed a PK to win the game
Buddle: Came on for Donovan and didn't do any better


9-15-02 Game#1 Betis
At long last we come to our first league game. We face Betis in their stadium. We end up tying 0-0, but it really wasn't that close. Betis controlled the play, but Howard played great. Howard stopped 7 shots and Pope made some game saving tackles.
Americans:
Howard: Best game yet.
Pope: Played a very srong 90 minutes
Donovan: Another weak game from Landon, we took himout at the 62 minute mark
Reyna: Played the entire game, but didn't do much

9-18-02 Champions Cup
Finally our first home game. It couldn't come at a better time as we get ready to face our toughest challenge yet. Manchester United comes to town today. A loss here would put us in a huge deficit early.

The game was very, very tightly played. Howard made several point blank saves on RVN and the game ended up 0-0. We got a lot of shots on goal, but no outstanding chances.
Americans:
Howard: Looks like he is settling in now. He played very well
Pope: Another solod 90 minute effort here
McBride: Came on in the 78th minute and looked lost again
Donovan: Came on inthe 78th minute and played striker for the first time. He sponded by playing pretty well in his limited time.

Other Group A action Lyon 2 Club Brugge 1

9-22-02 Barcelona
Another big home game for us. This time we face Barcelona. This one was easy as we walk away with a 4-0 win. Raul and Ronaldo put on a show in the first half as they zig and zagged repeatedly through the Barcelona defense.
Americans:
Howard: Another shutout, he wasn't really tested though
Pope: Another strong 90 minute effort
Reyna: He played a strong 90 minutes as well
Donovan: He started the season as our attacking left midfielder, but he may have lost that spot to Solari. Today he came in at the half to play his second game at striker. He played really well and picked up an assist.
Buddle: Buddle came in at the half and scored a goal on a nice pass from Donovan.

After the game Real Madrid chairman Florentino Perez praised the team for its wonderful win.

9-25-02 Champions Cup
Another home game, and we really, really needed to win this one. After Club Brugge took a 1-0 lead into the half, things looked a little scary. The team responded to the half time pep talk and came back with 3 straight goals.
Americans:
Howard: The goal wasn't his fault, a total defensive breakdown lead to a clean breakaway
Pope: Started but only lasted 25 minutes before coming off for because of injury, we learn after the game that Pope will be out for 2 months
McBride: Came on in the 61st minute and had a couple of shots on goal, his first decent game in a while
Reyna: Came on for Pope and played a pretty strong game.

Other Group A action: Man U 3 Lyon 0
This game puts us 2 points behind Lyon for 3rd in Group A

9-29-02 Athletic Bilbao
The team is ready starting to play well now. We won this game 6-1 with 3 goals coming from our defense. Ronaldo and Raul continue to put together great passing plays up front.
Americans:
Howard: Was beaten pretty badly by a 25 yard chip shot on the goal, but he played well otherwise
McBride: Came on at the half and played pretty well
Donovan: Came on at the half and further cemented his place as a striker, not an attacking midfielder
Adu: Came on at the 60 minute mark and controlled the midfield. He attempted 24 passes and copleted 23 of them. He will be a perfect replacement for Zidane when he leaves the club.

Our chairman again voiced his pleasure after this big win.

[Sloan]

September Reserves Report

GK Delvin Countess: Delvin is the current starter for our reserve team. He started all 6 games in September and let in 4 goals with 3 shutouts.

D RC Ryan Cochrane: Ryan is also a regular starter on the reserve team. He started 5 games in September and played well in each one. The San Jose Earthquakes are showing some interest in him. They haven't put in a bid for him, but I do have Ryan as listed for loan.

M/S C Eddie Gaven: Eddie also starts, but his stamina isn't to the point where he can last a whole game so he is usually taken out sometime inthe second half. Eddie scored 1 goal, and that was in the season opening 1-0 win.

D LC Cory Gibbs: Cory spent September in the reserves in order to get back in shape after his injury. We have just called him back up to the main squad after a successful stint in the reserves. Gibbs played in 4 games and played reasonably well.

[Sloan]

October Report

International Action
The USA under-21 team faced off against Italy on October 12th for an international friendly, and several of our guys were members of the match squad. The game ended 2-2 with one of the goals coming from our own Edson Buddle. Bobby Convey, a player we will target in the coming years, scored the other goal. Ryan Cochrane strarted on defense and had the best game out of all the US defenders. Delvin Countess was the USA keeper, and obviously didn't play his greatest game in letting in two goals.

The next USA U-21 game is Feb. 11 2003 against Bahrain. The main US squad doesn't play until Feb. 2 2003 also against Bahrain.

Champions Cup Action

10-22-03 at Club Brugge
An important game and an important win for us. Raul put us ahead 1-0 in the first half but the game was pretty close. McBride came in at the half and put a beautiful cross over to Raul to put Real firmly ahead 2-0. Donovan later headed in the final goal off of a Solari corner kick, and we get an important 3-0 away win.

In other Group A action Man U lost to Lyon 2-1. We are now tied with Man U with 7 points, but they are ahead of us by 2 goals in the standings. Lyon leads all with 9 points.

10-30-03 Lyon
If there ever was a game that could thrust someone onto the world stage, this was that game for Landon Donovan. We went into the half trailing 1-0, and as I glanced at the out of town scores, I saw that Man U was down 2-0 to Club Brugge and it was looking like the game against Man U was going to decide who advanced to the next stage. We played an even 15 minutes into the second half when I decided to take Raul and Ronaldo out and put in McBride and Donovan. McBride immediately set Donovan up with a perfect pass, and Landon hammers it home to tie the game at one. One minute later Donovan fires home his second goal of the game on a mad scramble in front of the Lyon net after a corner kick. On the ensuing kickoff Donovan steals the ball and hits a 35 yard blast that bends around the keeper to complete his wonderful hat trick.

Manchester United ends up losing 2-1 to Club Brugge which leaves us alone in 1st with 10 points. Lyon is second with 9 and Man U thrid with 7 heading into the final game.

Spanish League Action
At the close of October we find ourselves in 5th place with 14 points. Betis, the leaders, have 18 points, but they have played one more game than us. We should have won our last game, but I was resting some players before the big game against Lyon.

Spansih Cup Action
No games played, next game is 11-6-02

Americans Rundown
Tim Howard: Tim had a very, very strong month. He only let up 2 goals in 6 games this month, and he was at his best in the big games. I think he has shown that he is among the best in the world now.

Eddie Pope: Injured for most of the month. He should return to us in mid-November.

Cory Gibbs: Cory got into a few games as a sub and has played very well. Our defense has been pretty solid so far so it has been hard to get him some playing time. He has played well though so I have no ualms about putting him in if someone goes down with an injury.

Freddy Adu: Did not play

Edson Buddle: Buddle just injured himself and will be out for about a week. He's been a pretty decent sub, playing up front and in the midfield and on all sides. He has created some scoring chances and has one goal so far on the season.

Landon Donovan: Since moving Donovan to striker he has played much better. He isn't ready to start there yet, but he singlehandedly beat Lyon for us to give us a great shot at advancing in the Champions Cup. A few more efforts like that and we may not need the likes of Ronaldo and Raul.

Brian McBride: Brian started the season slow like the rest of the team, but he has been playing better lately. He is still looking for his first goal, but he does have three assists so far this year.

Delvin Countess: Delvin continues to be the starting keeper for the reserve team. The reserves only had 3 games in October, and Countess played well allowing only 1 goal.

Ryan Cochrane: Ryan has started every game and played well in the reserves this year, but he injured himself in training this week and will be out for the next 2 months.

Eddie Gaven: Eddie also continues to start for the reserves, but his play has been a little erratic. Good one game, not so good the next. He is looking for his second goal after scoring in the season opener.

[Sloan]

November Report

Spanish Cup Action

11-6-02 Oriheula
Orihuela was 8th in the 2nd division so they didn't appear to present much of a threat to us so we started a bunch of guys that normally don't get to play. We end up winning 4-0 and it coould have been worse. Cory Gibbs made his second consecutive start in giving some guys some rest here and played well so I am pretty confident I can trust him in the big games. Freddy Adu played the entire second half and played very well. This kid is going to be amazing someday. Next cup game is 12-4-02 against Barakaldo who are currently rth in the 2nd division.


European Champions Cup Action

11-12-03 at Manchester United

The Americans have arived! A very important win for us. This win showed that we can play against the best, in their building, and still come away victorious. Tim Howard stopped RVN 4 times on point blank shots and Raul got a first half goal to give us the 1-0 win. This win knocks Man U out of the Champions Cup and lets us move on to the next stage.

The next phase starts on 11-26-02 for us with an away match against Celtic. The other two teams in our group are Juventus and Liverpool.

11-26-02 at Celtic
It would have been nice to get a win here, but we'll settle for a 1-1 tie. Donovan came in as a sub and had a great chance to win the game in the 89 minute from a beautiful setup by Buddle. Landon ended up shooting it wide though. Two minutes later in injury time Ivan Helguera put us up 2-1 with a nice goal, but Donovan was called offside. Our next cup game is 12-11-02 against Juventus who were 2-0 winners over Liverpool. Eddie Pope returned to the lineup today for the first time since his injury. He played the last 20 minutes and did pretty well.

Spanish League Action
At the close of November we find ourselves on top of the First Division with 28 points. Second place Betis has 27 points, but they have played one less game than we have. All in all, I am very pleased with where we stand right now. We've played a lot of matches already this year, and I have been using the league games as spots to rest our stars and to get others playing time. So far this strategy has worked pretty well, and I hope it will continue to work as we progress through our various tournament runs.

American Players Report

Tim Howard: Tim has to be considered the best performer out of all the Americans so far. His overall totals this season are 20 games played, 10 goals allowed, and 12 shutouts. If he continues to play like is, he should be up for some post season awards.

Eddie Pope: Eddie was injured most of this month. He played 20 minutes in one game and the full 90 in another. He played well in both games and is an important member of our first team defense.

Cory Gibbs: I wasn't sure what I was going to get from Cory, but he is starting to play more and more as the time goes on. His ability to play both center and left back allow me to plug him in in a variety of roles which he performs wonderfully. Cory also added his first goal this month.

Claudio Reyna: Reyna has been a solid addition to the team. He plays an important central-defending midfield spot and plays it well. His solid play allows Zidane to push forward into the attack, and Reyna also serves as our captain often.

Edson Buddle: Edson is playing better all the time, and scored his second goal of the season in a 1-0 win over Espanyol. His versatility will allow him to see more and more playing time.

Landon Donvan: Landon is also continuing to improve. He playes very when put in as strike, but he is also exceling at our attacking center midfield spot. The latter is very important as this allows me to rest Zidane more. Before Donovan showed he could play there, we really had no back up for Zidane.

Brian McBride: I am getting frustrated with Brian. He constantly looks out of position, and he is still looking for his first goal since the preseason. The emergence of Buddle and Donovan have limited his playig time even more. I may send him down to the B squad for a while in an attempt to build up his confidence.

Freddie Adu: Freddie got into two games this month. He played the 2nd half in our Spanish Cup game and played very well. He also played the last 20 minutes agains Man U in the Champions Cup. That was the first time he looked overwhelmed, but 30 year old can get a little intimidated let alone a 13 year old.

Delvin Countess: Delvin continues to get all the starts for the B team and continues to play very well. He has been letting in less than a goal a game which has led to the NY/NJ Metrostars to show some interest. Hopefully they'll ask to loan him.

Ryan Cochrane: Ryan has been injured the past month and hasn't played. He has about 4 weeks until he returns to play again.

Eddie Gaven: Eddie was starting for the B team and playing well until recently. I sent a few strikers from the first team down in order to get them into shape which has moved Gaven to the bench. He is usually the first sub off the bench however. This is probably a good thing anyway since Eddie is only 16 years old, and I don't want to burn him out by playing him too much.

[atatange1]

I know this will focus on American's but I was wondering if we could get an update on the like of Rual, Zidane...

[Sloan]

Originally posted by atatange1
I know this will focus on American's but I was wondering if we could get an update on the like of Rual, Zidane...

Sure thing, players not listed really haven't played or are in the reserves now.

Spanish Players Report

Raul: Raul has been far and away our most dangerous player. He has 16 goals so far on the season. Ronaldo and Donovan are tied for second with 6. He has added 6 assists and 4 Man of the Match which makes him an early favorite along with Howard for team MVP.

Ronaldo: Ronaldo and Raul put together some pretty passing plays that just leave you speechless sometimes. Ronaldo seems to miss a lot of easy chances however. His 6 goals have been big though, and he frequently makes runs off the ball which open up holes for Raul.

Figo: Figo has been the architect for some great goals this season. He has 3 goals and 5 assists and has been awarded the Man of the Match 7 times so far. He can be frequently see dribbling past 3 or 4 guys and putting a perfect cross into the box.

Solari: Donovan originally started the year as our attacking left midfielder. Boy was that a mistake! Donovan struggled there, and Solari has been nothing short of spectacular. Our early season scoring slump stopped as soon as Solari started playing. He is first on the teamwith 14 assists, and he has also added 4 goals.

Zidane: Zidane doesn't show up on the score sheet too often, but he is still a valuable member of the team. His job is to control the middle of the field and to distribute the ball out to Figo and Solari on the wings for their pin point crosses. He does the job expertly. So far he only has 1 goal and 1 assist, but he has played far better than those stats can show.

Helguera & Hierro: These two guys rotate with Reyna in our defensive midfield spot, and they both have been solid performers so far. The both also filled in at center defense when Pope went down with injury.

Carlos: Carlos has been solid at left back, especially in the beginning when we had no backup for him because Gibbs was out with an injury.

Cesar: Cesar is on the transfer list and has had interest shown in him since day one, but Ihaven't had any offers yet. I played him in three games recently to try and generate interest, and he posted a shutout each time but no takers as of yet.

Casillas: Casillas has only appeared in one game so far this season. I wanted to keep him around incase Howard wasn't up to the challenge, but now that Howard has shown he can play, I will probably put him on the transfer list when the transfer window opens again.

[Sloan]

December Report

Spanish Cup Action

12-3-02 Barakaldo
This one was easy. We end up winning 5-0 with 2 goals from Donovan and 1 each from Buddle, Reyna, and Solari. Buddle should have had two, and I'm not sure how his second shot did not go in. Buddle was awarded the Man of the Match for the first time in his career. Next leg at Barakaldo is 12-18-02.

12-18-02 at Barakaldo
With us winning the first match 5-0 there was absolutely no way we were in danger of not advancing so this was a match for all the backups. The game ended in a 0-0 tie with Cesar continuing his shutout streak. Someone please make a bid on him! The next game will be on 1-8-03 against Mallorca who are currently 17th in the 1st division.

Inter-Continental Cup
I don't know much about this competition, but I do know that we had to travel to Japan to face Olimpia who come from Paraguay. We end up tied 1-1 after 90 minutes so we ended up going to penalties. Reyan and Pope both made a kick, but Buddle missed his by about 30 feet. It didn't matter though as Olimpia missed 2 kicks
to give us the win.

Champions Cup Action

12-11-02 Juventus
What a fantastic game. It ends up 0-0, but both teams had a ton of scoring chances. Both goalies played extremely well, and I can't wait for the rematch. We had 2 golden chances to score in the second half. First Figo was pushed down in the box, and we were awarded a PK. Roberto Carlos ran up from defense to take the kick and shot it wide. Moments later Donovan put a perfect through ball into Raul. Raul was in all alone and chipped the ball over the keeper. The ball bounced off the crossbar back into the keeper. The next game is 2-19-03 against Liverpool who beat Celtic 2-0.

Spanish League Action
We currently sit in 5th place in the league 5 points behind the leaders Betis. We also have one game in hand so we are in a pretty decent spot for now.

Transfer Action
We just bought 16 year old defender Jonathan Spector from Manchester United. We had to pay $875,000 for him, but he is a defender with a pretty bright future.

American Players:

Tim Howard: Tim continues to play well. He played in 4 games this month and only allowed 2 more goals. His great play has allowed me to put Iker Casillas on the transfer list.

Cory Gibbs: Gibbs continues to play well. He gets an occasional start when I decide to rest Carlos on left defense. When he isn't starting, he is the first sub off the bench for central defense.

Eddie Pope: Eddie is now in shape after his long injury. His return allows for a comfortable rotation of 3 guys at the two central defender spots. I was getting worried that my other 2 guys were being overworked early on.

Claudio Reyna: Not much new on Reyna. He just goes out and takes his regular turn in the rotation and plays well every time. He scored his first goal for us in that 5-0 win against Barakaldo in the Spanish Cup.

Edson Buddle: Buddle showed why he is so valuable to this team this month. We've played a lot of games so far and Figo, Zidane, and Solari all were playing too much. Buddle was able to rotate to each position to give each guy some time off, and we didn't notice a big drop off in play. Buddle also added another goal this month to bring his season total up to 3.

Freddy Adu: Adu came on and played the entire second half in our second Spanish Cup game. He played well, and I can't wait until he is an everyday player.

Landon Donovan: Landon has now become our first choice to replace Raul and Ronaldo as a sub at striker. He also does a great job spelling Zidane from tie to time. He has shown that he belongs on the field even at the young age of 20.

Brian McBride: I sent McBride down to the B squad in hopes that he could work the kinks out of his game. He has responded by scoring 3 goals in 3 games and also adding an assist. He'll probably be called back up soon for another shot.

Delvin Countess: Delvin has started every game so far for the B team and is playing very well. Kansas City is now showing some interest in him.

Ryan Cochrane: Hasn't played this month because of injury. he is now healthy and ready for the second half. Scouts from San Jose, Kansas City, Ny/NJ, and Chicago all have their eye on him.

Eddie Gaven: He didn't play much with McBride coming down to the B squad. That is fine though, he has plenty of time to play.

[Sloan]

January Report

Spanish Cup Action

1-8-03 Mallorca
A bittersweet 1-0 win here. Solari scores by heading in a cross from Ronaldo, but Zidane is forced to leave the game in the 41st minute because of an injury. We find out after the game that he will be out for 3 weeks with a strained groin. This will be a huge test for this team. We'll see how we come together after this big loss.

1-15-03 at Mallorca
Mallorca needed to win by 2 and that is just what they did. We put together a flurry of shots to end the game, but we end up losing 2-0 and are now out of the Spanish Cup. This is the first time in a long time Howard let in more than one goal, and our team really misses Zidane in the middle.

Spanish League Action

We struggled the first few games of this month and then the injury to Zidane put us in the hole a little deeper. We are currently in 5th place, 9 points behind Valencia. We have played one less game, but we can't afford to fall behind any further. Zidane is ready to come back which should help us out.

American Players
Howard: Tim continues to be strong in net. The 2 goal loss to Mallorca was a little worrisome, but he has bounced back and has been solid ever since.

Pope: Pope has been one of our best defenders and continues to give a strong effort every game.

Gibbs: Cory didn't get to play a whole lot this month. He was still solid evertime he played though. I need to find ways to get him more playing time.

Reyna: Nothing new for Reyna, just a solid effort game in and game out.

Buddle: Edson didn't score this month, but he played some valuable minutes with Zidane out and he played very well.

Donovan: Donovan has been the main replacement for Zidane, and has done an admirable job. He has been better at striker, but his versatility is appreciated.

McBride: McBride was summoned from the B team when Zidane went down, and has played a little bit better since being recalled. He finally got his first goal in a blowout win this past weekend.

Countess: Delvin continues to play well on the reserve team, and I hope someone in the USA tries to take him on loan this summer.

Cochrane: Cochrane finally returned to his regular starting spot and it doesn't look like he ever left. He puts in a strong effort every game.

Spector: Spector was immediately placed in the starting lineup for the B team, and it looks as if it will be hard to get him out. he has played well every game so far.

Gavin: It looks like Eddie's rest on the bench has energzed him as he scored two goals this month and was a force in every game.

[Blade6119]

Who are some of the other guys you are looking at...any young ones like twellman or even beasley again...there are a lot of other solid players, and can you give us an idea of who is on your radar? Wasnt there a solid midfielder who england tried to buy but didnt get a work permit?...he was only like 23...

[Sloan]

There hasn't been a lot to talk about prospects yet for a couple of reasons. For one, the MLS is in their off season, but as soon as they start playing I'll give some status reports on guys I have my eyes on. Secondly, I have no money left to buy players! I have almost everyone on the transfer list for well below their worth, but I haven't received any bids. Hopefully I'll get some bids on guys this summer.

Having said all that, here are some guys I have my eye on:

Demarcus Beasley F LC - I want this guy badly. I love his speed, and I think he'd fit right into my team.

Conor Casey S C - A young striker currently playing in Germany. I think he'll become a good striker in a few years. Spanish 1st division good? I'm not sure.

Bobby Convey AM LC - Another young fast midfielder. Convey has the speed and the ball skills to become a very dangerous player.

Eddie Johnson S C - A monster striker prospect. I actually put a bid on him earlier, but he left Dallas and went to San Jose. It might be better for him to get 1st team experience there for now anyway.

Pablo Mastroeni D DM RC- Pablo doesn't have the skills to be an everyday player right now. He has the potential to develop more, and he could be a decent sub for a game or two right now.

Chris Brown D RC - The USA is really weak with defenders, but Chris may be able to make it for a season or two as a rotation player. He also looks like he could be a decent coach when he is done playing.

Josh Wolff SC - Josh has good speed and is a great finisher. Durability is a question, but I think he could contribute for us.

Kyle Martino M C - Kyle is a young midfielder with a lot of potential. A couple of years learning behind Reyna could really help him.


Those are some of the names. Obiously I have my eye on all the guys on the national team, and I will really be watching the MLS closely when they start playing.

[Sloan]

February Report

Champions Cup Action

2-19-03 Liverpool
A great game and a great win. Liverpool dominated the first few minutes and put quite a few quality shots at Howard, but he stopped them all. Solari, Raul, and Ronaldo put together a great passing play midway through the first half off of a Roberto Carlos throw-in, and that was all we needed as we walk away with a 1-0 win. McBride came in as a late sub and should have had goal number 2, but his lack of speed was clearly evident on the play.

In other group A action Celtic tied Juventus 1-1. We are now tied at the top of the group with Juventus with 5 points. Liverpool is behind us with 3 and Celtic has 2.

2-25-03 at Liverpool
A tough loss here. Figo gave the ball away right after halftime and Diouf streaked down the wing and blasted it by a helpless Howard. Other than that, the game was pretty tightly played. Neither team had a lot of chances with most of the play taking place in the midfield. Celtic beat Juventus 2-0 so Liverpool now lead the group with 6 points. The rest of us are all tied with 5 points.

Spanish League Action
Things really looked bad for a while. We dropped all the way down to 10th place at one point, and I thought for sure I would be sacked at the end of the season. We started to play better later in the month and have climbed back up to 6th. That isn't where we want to be, but first place Betis is certainly within our grasp if we continue to play well.

International Action
The USA U-21 team faced off against Bahrain on 2-11-03 and won easily 3-1. Countess played well in goal and Eddie Gaven managed to get a goal. Spector and Cochrane were both on the team, but did not see any action.

A day later the main USA squad face Bahrain and easily won that match 4-0. Landon Donovan scored two and Mcbride also had one. Cory Gibbs and Eddie Pope both played strong defensive games, and captain Claudio Reyna played well in the midfield. Edson Buddle did not make it into the game.

Americans Update
Howard: Tim continues to be our #1 goalie and continues to play well.

Gibbs: Gibbs didn't get in to many games this month. We were struggling and although Gibbs has had a great season so far, I felt I should play some of my bigger names to try and get out of my funk.

Pope: Eddie continues to take a regular turn at central defender, and he plays well every time. I'm going to try him out at right defender in some coming games. Center and left defense have been really solid this year, but our right side has been week all season. Mayber Eddie is the answer.

Reyna: No news is good news here. Reyna just plays a solid game every time we put him out there.

Donovan: Some bad news about Landon. He was really coming into his own, when he ripped his groin. He still has about a month before he will be ready to play again. This is a pretty big loss for us.

Buddle: Buddle is in a similar spot to Gibbs. He plays well every time we put him out there, but there are some world class players in front of him, and I felt the needed to play more this month. I have been very pleased with Edson so far this year though.

McBride: Brian is hard to figure out. Some games he looks great while others he looks lost. He clearly doesn't have the speed or the dribbling skills to beat the defenders at the top clubs we play. While he is one of the best american strikers right now, I don't think we can count on him to be a major player in our future plans.

Countess: Countess continues to start and play every game well for the B team. If he continues to develop like he is, he will be a quality backup to Howard for years to come.

Spector: Spector is now a fixture on our B team defense. He plays every game and plays very well.

Cochrane: What is said of Spector can also be said of Ryan. He just goes out and does his job every day.

Gaven: Eddie is back to starting with the B squad because of some call ups and injuries. He is doing very well and has 3 goals so far this season.

Adu: Adu was playing pretty well on the B team this month, but recently went out for a week with a leg injury. He is almost fully recovered now and almost ready to get back out there.

[tucker342]

I'm kind of surprised Adu is in the game(I don't know why)

How good is he at the moment?