Season 6 So Far - Division 1

As we’re now around 1/3 of the way through Season 6, I think it’s time for some reflection on the campaign so far. Starting with D1 & hopefully others can find time to recap their divisions for everyone on the news feed before we perhaps gather all posts as a collective for the blog.

A quick recap of the history in D1 of Winners; Bayern S5, Bayern S4, Barca S3, Barca S2, Man Utd S1 & Top 5 finishes; United x2, Real x5, Bayern x5, Barca x5, Juventus x4, FC Porto x1, Liverpool x1, SSC Napoli, Chelsea.

So now S6 in Division 1 after 12/13 games, things has gone as expected at the top within reason as the top 5 spots are contested by squads whom have all finished within the top 5 previously whilst also being first team squads that look to be somewhat a level above the rest of the division.

Chelsea are of noticeable improvement in recent seasons having for the first time in S5 finished in the Top 5. The Chelsea squad saw some major changes over the Post/Pre season between S5 & S6 as James Mckenzie appeared to take a similar approach to challenging the top spots to that of brother Scott. 

Both Chelsea & Barca squads are now immensely strong in regards to major ratings however both are somewhat small on the side of depth at first team level with CFC having fourteen 88+ players, whilst Barca, notorious for their small but dominant squad have thirteen 88+ players. 

Current back-to-back Champions, Bayern, under new management this season after the departure of Gursimran to Anderlecht & appointment of Ruts, have started well in their push to become the first team to win D1 on not only 3 occasions but back-to-back-to-back occasions & along with Scott’ Barca side are one of only 2 unbeaten teams remaining in the ever competitive D1.

Ironically these two ever competitive sides are not only both back-to-back winners in the past & joint record winners of D1 but additionally occupy #1 & #2 spots in the division currently. Bayern in contrast to Barca have seventeen 88+ players in their squad of which Ruts’ one major transfer came in the form of veteran Thiago Silva arriving whilst Kostas Manolas departed in a 3 rating CB swing.

In a final interesting comparison between these two title contenders, both were recently knocked out in the 2nd round of the T100 Shield as both appear to once again arguably be suffering from squad depth or debatably focussed D1 intentions.

D1s nearly-men, Real Madrid are once again flying high in D1, the 3rd & final team to have always finished within the Top 5 D1 spots every season thus far. Roy Keane’ side, who often fight on all fronts for glory, have as ever been competitive & active within the transfer market, seeing no less than 30 total transfers in & out of the club, most notably being arrivals of Bonucci & Muller whilst Ronaldo, Aguero & Modric have all departed.

Madrid’ eighteen 88+ players once again show intentions to challenge on all fronts & remain in all T100 competitions at this time. T100’s current Shield & Cup holders & debatably consistent league underachievers in eyes of some, Juventus, have the biggest number of 88+ players within the Top 5 in D1 this season with twenty-two. 

Unsurprisingly, of the current Top 5 teams, the two squads with the biggest number of 88+ players are the only 2 teams to still be challenging on all fronts this season, however they additionally occupy 4th & 5th spots, Madrid some 5 points off of 1st placed Barca, who of course have the smallest 88+ squad, whilst Juventus actually look to be out of contention already at the 1/3 mark having amassed a 10 point gap.

The Top 5 spots, ever competitive & often seeing newcomers for 5th, season in, season out, are once again headed down that path. Arsenal, Spurs, Porto & Atletico are all currently just 1 point behind 5th placed Juventus in the battle for what already at this early stage looks to be challenge for 5th due to the gap opened up between those clubs in 4th & 5th spots.

Of the 4 on the heels of 5th spot, only Porto have ever finished in the Top 5 previously whilst previous Top 5 finishers; Liverpool, Manchester United & SSC Napoli find themselves having average seasons so far, all sitting within the 11-16th placed bracket in D1, SSC Napoli the debatably biggest underachievers so far having only achieved 11 points so far in Season 6.

Of the contenders for a Top 5 finish there is a vast difference in managerial approaches to the transfer market which as ever provides little concrete information as to the best approach within Top 100/SM. 

At Arsenal, Michael Bowes as ever remains busy in the market. The one time, managerial stipulation failure is edging closer to a completely Premier League based first team which has seen 7 recent arrivals all within the domain. It’s with no surprise that Arsenal are contesting such a position within the league currently with their squad of twenty-one 88+ players. Perhaps we can expect to see Arsenal finishing within the Top 5 in the near future.

Spurs, under the management of David ‘The Fox’ Piero remain ever quiet, steady as ever & almost forgotten. Spurs, a contrast to their transfer happy North London rivals, have not yet stepped into the transfer market this season, neither buying nor selling any players from the squad. Spurs with a good eighteen 88+ players are another whom will not surprise too many to be in contention of a Top 5 finish at this stage.

The slightly more busy, André & his consistently well placed, FC Porto, are once again on the heels of the Top 5. An evidently content manager, André has yet to make any major changes to the first team squad this season, a squad which as ever is competitive with seventeen 88+ players. 

The first surprise challenger to the Top 5 & last within a point at this stage is Doc’ Atletico side whom are now on mass moving towards peak ages within their careers in regards to making it as established world renowned players. The youth project at Atleti has seen both positive & negative remarks over the season having won the first ever Youth Cup in T100, been relegated to D2 & since returned to the big time.

Doc’ squad is now looking healthy as challengers to the Top 5 with a total of fifteen 88+ players. Quiet in the market since the early advances for ‘hot prospects’ Doc has seen one major deal completed in Madrid in S6 so far & that was the departure of Dele Alli to Barca, whilst Thomas Lemar & Aymeric Laporte arrived to provide good depth & continuously valued youth in the squad. 

Overachievers to be competing for the Top 5 at this stage however debatably expected Top half competitors with a squad which has been treated well in ratings changes over the past 12 months in which they have been to D2 & back. Ever busy in the market, Paddy D fills the last of the Top 10 spots & still remains within just one fixture of a potential Top 5 finish in D1. 

Manchester City have started the season in good goalscoring form, taking a +7 goal difference at this stage however have drawn too many games at this stage, the 3rd most in the division in fact with 5. Liverpool, on joint points with City & the last remaining side within one games results of a Top 5 place are under new management this season after Gordon departed, feeling he had achieved all he could with the side, including of course a previous Top 5 finish.

Wayne Bullough has looked to make changes to the side to make them his own & completed a major deal with AS Roma early in the season which saw the arrivals of De Rossi & Szczesny whilst Keylor Navas departed for the Italian capital. In no doubt what will be a middle of the row season for Liverpool & their squad of seventeen 88+ players, it’s early doors for Wayne & his task of putting Liverpool in contention at the top.

As the quantity of 88+ players seems to start dropping once more, Manchester United sit in a below par 12th position with their fifteen 88+ player squad which however contains five 93+ players, perhaps evidence for their believed below par positioning at this stage of S6. Rahul made plenty of changes in his time at United & put them back in contention in S5 by securing only their 2nd Top 5 finish.

United of course have been consistently poor by their reputable standards over seasons in Top 100 having actually won D1 in S1. Greg Owen now in charge has just this game week made his first major move in the market by sending top GK, De Gea, on his way to PSG whilst potential riser Areola comes into fill his spot between the sticks along with Angel Di Maria. 

A side to keep an eye on in the 2nd third of the season, perhaps further moves in the market are in store as well as an improvement in league position. Fourteen 88+ players lineup within the newly promoted Wolfsburg squad in S6. Heath Brown, in this season after his time at PSV, actually replaces Greg whom departed for United. 

Heath has clearly decided the squad has more than enough to stay up this season & nobody could argue with his perceptions so far as Wolfsburg sit in 13th. Debatably however there’s trouble afoot as the German outfit are actually only 1 point ahead of relegation spots in what’s as ever a tough fought battle towards the bottom of the table.

Arguably it’s time to make moves for Heath as with the likes of Roma, PSG & Napoli all sitting below Wolfsburg currently but expected to climb the table, things could soon be headed south. Speaking of Napoli, they sit in 14th currently, underachieving compared to Rob Ryan’ usual strong campaigns in Naples.

Rob has made moves this season, bringing in Walcott, Milner & Feghouli whilst departing players of weaker ratings would have suggested improved results. That however has evidently not been the case so far however it’s predicted that Napoli will soon climb into more familiar positions in the league, sixteen 88+ players in their ranks.

The forever climbing Villarreal have now summated the Top 100 pyramid having started in D5. Andrew has never been one for getting too involved, especially in the transfer market & now has thirteen 88+ players within his ranks. Sitting safe in 15th but only on goal difference, it’ll be interesting to see if those values might change over the season or into next season should Villarreal escape the drop or even sacking positions this season.

Michael H’ Dutch giants, Ajax, are another to have veered away from transfers between S5/S6 despite their flirting with relegation throughout the last campaign & it looks like they’re planning on fighting their way out again this season. Their seventeen 88+ player squad puts them in a healthy position statistically but with nothing changed from the last season, you wouldn’t be betting on the being safe currently.

Roma have changed hands a couple of times recently but are now under the stewardship of Beddows 2.0, otherwise known as Ryan Chisholm. Evidently what these two have in common is they don’t do well in D1 as Roma sit on the fence of relegation at this stage. Their 4 92+ players & star man Diego Costa will need to hit top form to rescue the otherwise small quantity of thirteen 88+ players from the abyss. 

With a fairly good core squad a belief amongst many that Roma had underachieved last season by narrowly avoiding the drop, the pressure might well soon be on for Ryan to prove otherwise before Roma start to be accustomed with the reputation of fighting relegation within D1 season in, season out.

Feargal has taken charge of surprise D1 side Sunderland this season after the achievements of Wayne Bullough last season. The squad is contested by a surprising seventeen 88+ players which puts them in a strong position to be able to compete for points week in week out but may be short of 90+ players to take advantage in close contested fixtures.

The strength of having 2/3 of their 89+ players in forward positions could well see them score enough to survive this season but at this stage of the season with some big names still below them & presumably likely climbers, the task will remain a tough one & everyone will be surprised to see them survive despite the credentials of gaffer Mr. Hickey. 

The divisions biggest underachievers thus far, PSG, have managed managed to attain only 6 points after 12 games with just the one win. A squad with fifteen 88+ players & plenty of 90+ talent would suggest that anything below a Top 10 finish even with the start they have had would be a poor season for Gary’ lads. 

It would appear that Gary has identified the issue to be between the sticks & has decided to part with 2 players to bring in De Gea to stop the rot. The presence of Higuain & Reus whom provided 94 ratings in the final third will have no doubt harmed the team at the other end of the pitch however in Lukaku they have a strong forward to rely on. 

A team that many have expected to push for a Top 5 finish in recent seasons is in transition currently but will Gary do as many expect & turn things around to see PSG claim the expected Top 10 finish? The -19 goal difference being fixed in the acquisition of De Gea could be a step in the right direction. 

Propping up the table are Valencia, now under the management of once relegated from D1, Malcolm. Malcolm has made moves to strengthen the side at the back by acquiring the sturdy Ghoulam from Anderlecht whilst allowing Koziello & Mina to depart. The loss of midfield strength was quickly accounted for as the experienced Hutchinson arrived for cash in a very smart move. 

The Spanish side however might well be missing the influence of one senior in particular as David Senior’ previous side whom are accustomed to middle of the table finishes are now some 6 points off of getting out of the relegation zone, let alone finishing mid table. With the Valencia side looking strong in attack but still a little weak at the back an intriguing decision on transfers might well be looming.