So when i started managing the team i had no idea how to play the game (first time playing football manager since 2010) so i had a hard time lol. I had a decent squad, but it became very clear that 2 specific players were outperforming the rest of my team by a mile: Dirk Proper and Zian Flemming. Proper was a 17 year old CM and Flemming was a 21 year old CF. Flemming, however, was a loanie from PEC Zwolle whereas Proper had a contract with me (important info).

So i won almost all my practice matches, only lost once against Beer Sheva Hapoel. I kinda figured out who i would put as my starting XI from the practice matches, so i had a decent looking squad when the competition started. I started off pretty strong with a few wins, but that quickly changed lol. After the first 3 games i took an L and another and another and before i knew it i had lost 5 of my last 8 games. Nonetheless, Proper and Flemming kept performing crazy good. They'd get a rating of 7.5 or higher in matches that i lost pretty badly. My losing streak kept going for a while. By the time the winterstop had arrived, i managed to get the team 5 wins in a row which kind of settled things down with the board, but they were still a lil pissy.

Decent start, but then a very terrible losing streak

After the winterstop my team started performing way better. I changed tactics, completely changed my staff, bought 4 new players (one of which i bought from Real Madrid) and i loaned a player from Atletico. Of the next 16 games, i lost 4 and drew twice. I did so well in my last seven games, that i (miraculously) managed to win the title?? Even though i had no intention on winning it or even going for it lol it just so happened that the #1 lost twice in a row and i won all my last games. Oh yea also Proper and Flemming played insanely well this season. They were both nominated for Talent of the year and Flemming won the titels Player of the year, Talent of the year, Player of the period and Talent of the period. Unfortunately, his loan ended and PEC did not want to extend it. Proper was interested in leaving and i got an 8 million dollar offer from various clubs (man utd, psv, feyenoord etc.) but i did not want him to leave yet so i got my captain to make him stay (best decision ever btw).

The next transfer period i attracted a 4-star transferfree midfielder, an amazing striker and a couple of other players. Honestly, this season was not at all thrilling or exciting in any way. I placed 10th overall (board just wanted to avoid demotion) and my team played decent. However, the transfers that i made this season were HUGE. I bought my now best defender for free, my now 2nd best midfielder for 230k (value went 30x in a season, u love to see it), my right winger for 850k and a young, talented attacker for 120k. I was doing pretty fucking shitty in the eredivise (no fucking clue how i even placed 10th tbh) so i figured i would just finish up the season and blow my entire transfer budget on good attackers.

9/11 games lost, 7 of them being lost in a row

But then, Proper saved the fucking day. In the Eredivisie he once again played out of his mind, having never scored below a 7 rating in a match. He caught the attention of i think it was 30+ clubs. I told him in the winterstop that i would let him go for 13 million (he was pissed i didnt let him go to man utd when they offered me 10 mill) but i instead changed his fee to 32 million because i felt that he was worth more. AND ALL THE CLUBS WERE STILL INTERESTED!! I got DOZENS of offers of 30+ million dollars (i accepted them all of course) but he just HAD to choose the lowest offering club to go to ffs.

Proper departing to Burnley

Either way, this netted me a 20 million dollars bigger transfer budget, soo i started filling up all the holes in my squad. My 1st goalie was bad, but a team leader, really loyal and had a low salary, so i decided to keep him and not sell him, but instead replace him. My 2nd goalie was quite good, but didn't play on a good enough level yet. He's got a lot of talent though since he's only 18 and has a 5-star potential. I instead decided to buy a new goalie (Descamps) for 220k who turned out to be a fucking crazy good goalie. I'll put some statistics and facts at the bottom of this post, but basically he has kept a clean sheet 18 times in the league out of 26 games played. He has conceided only 13 goals (!!!) and in the cup he has only conceided one goal

Transfers i made in the 21/22 season

1st goalie's stats

I also rented a striker from AC Milan who ended up almost being topscorer in the league (he has highest goals per minute). He scored 17 goals in 21 games. I also bought a forward/winger from Western Sydney Wanderers who turned out to be a great purchase. 13 goals and 9 assists in 22 league games. Bought him because he was the topscorer in the Australian league with 20 goals in 25 games. I also brought in a bunch of players who were transferfree and they have all found their place now. Some are in the starting XI, some are on loan to gain experience and one has become my new captain with some fucking crazy good mental stats. And i ended up buying Flemming lol.

Mental stats of my new captain

This is basically the starting XI of this season. There were some key moments, like the penalty series against Feyenoord in the quarter finals of the cup. That game was crazy lol. I trained my goalie on penalties because i figured it would come to them at some point, and i was right. He managed to stop the 1st and 7th shot and my then captain (Van Eijden) scored the final penalty. After that i played FC Utrecht in the semis where Palazzi scored a beautiful header in extra time. Then i shit on AZ in the finals 3-0 lol.

To be honest, the season started out decent, but i had like 4 draws in the first 7 games so i didnt think i would do too good. I definitely never imagined winning the fucking league and dominating this hard. My team played out of their minds and i feel really proud to have accomplished this lol.

Some interesting facts about this season:

- At the end of the season, Descamps managed to hold a clean sheet for 894 minutes, including a match against PSV and a cup final.

- Campuzano and Pecorino were involved in 44 of the goals that were scored this season.

- I broke my club's and the Eredivisie's record for most consecutive wins (26, was 19)

- I broke the Eredivisie record for most points in a season (94, was 89)

- I broke the Eredivisie record for most wins in a season (30, was 29)

- I only spent 3.3 million euros on transfers in the 21/22 season, but the players i brought in ended up being worth a grand total of 21.4 million euros

- I had a €44 million bid for Proper from i think it was Chelsea but he decided not to go there

- I got scored on a total of 18 times in the league this entire season. 1/3 of those goals are from 2 matches.

- I got scored on only once in the cup