Career A Defender's Story: 250+ Goals

[BatiGoal]

You're right @danovic78 can't replicate a club's success using the same formation with a nation but I think I have little choice here. If I needed any sort of success I'd go with a formation that suits the squad but this 5-2-2-1 is the best thing I've got to get a defender to score. 

But you're right, 5 ITN games in and no goals yet for Bazoer. Dilemma's..

[danovic78]

8 minutes ago, BatiGoal said:

You're right @danovic78 can't replicate a club's success using the same formation with a nation but I think I have little choice here. If I needed any sort of success I'd go with a formation that suits the squad but this 5-2-2-1 is the best thing I've got to get a defender to score. 

But you're right, 5 ITN games in and no goals yet for Bazoer. Dilemma's..

Dilemma's indeed but I am sure you are the man to find a way....

[Ashez]

I never bank on an ITN job for results while using a "gimmick" tactic. ITN is ruthless and one slip up is usually your end so it's always an extra/bonus to me. 

[Scratch]

Catching up - congrats on getting the ITN job. A long wait, but they've finally seen the light!

I've had mixed success with the international job - winning the Euros, but largely meh apart from that. I played my club formation because that gave my striker the best chance of scoring, but at times it lead to under achievement (and was quite frustrating). Can't wait to see how you approach it!

 

[Fish18ish]

International results always seem a bit random and unpredictable compared to club ones for me, but I've found it best to be very defensive tactically because you can't afford little mistakes which would ordinarily have little impact over the course of a season. Best of luck!

[BatiGoal]

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm quite busy atm with all sorts of stuff but will try to squeeze in an update of season 10 by tomorrow.

What was supposed to be a great season, getting the Holland job, refreshing the Benfica squad, being in his prime etc, has turned into a disaster. Not a complete disaster perhaps as we did manage to close the 6-point gap and qualify for the World Cup but Bazoer did goal-wise really really poorly for some reason. At club level, he's just not scoring free kicks anymore and the referees are refusing to give us any penalties this season. For Holland, the 5-2-2-1 formation is simply not effective at all to get Bazoer the goals since it's loaded with defenders, something Holland is severly lacking. Having average teammates near him isn't creating any chances for him to go forward or even score. But why he's failing in Portugal this season is beyond me. Bit of a bumpy spell since his injury, let's hope it's just an off season cause I can't afford many of these. And I'm certainly in no mood to create a new tactic for him. Maybe he'll shine on a bigger stage, WC Mexico 2026, gotta remain optimistic in darker days too.

[Mr.Manager]

Just caught up. Congrats on the international job! Bit of a worry with the slump though. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out dude

[BatiGoal]

4 hours ago, Mr.Manager said:

Just caught up. Congrats on the international job! Bit of a worry with the slump though. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out dude

Thanks. Got my work cut out for me next season. A good World Cup performance could still somewhat save our season.

[BatiGoal]

Season 10

Benfica

The grand idea for season 10  was to do a revamp and refresh the team for BPD Bazoer to get him another 15-20 goals, or maybe even more being in his prime and all.. things turned out quite differently..

Mini Revamp

Problem was I couldn't find great replacements for the current guys so I decided to get just 2 quality defenders who'll start as subs and soon replace the two CD's alongside Bazoer, and a top flank player from Dortmund who'll go straight into the starting team.

 

2 Days Later..

A decade of waiting finally meets its reward. The bad BG in me thought "ahh screw yourselves go find someone else, you're a decade too late buddies"..but wth..I need to get Bazoer those extra goals. And the ITN job's a nice little distraction. So...

There we go. We got the Holland Job. Let's get the season underway..

 

Quick look at the World Ranking made me nearly fall of my chair..man..the nation is in a terrible state..

 

I'm not going to waste much time on formations and tactics as my mind was pretty much set from the start that I would use the exact same tactics with Benfica as with Holland..well..a couple slight modifications in terms of player roles due to the types of players on the pitch..

5-2-2-1

This is the formation that's going to bring us to the World Cup in Mexico..that's the plan..and goals for Bazoer as a bonus.

 

Riechedly Bazoer

Spoiler

Bazoer's on 3 ITN goals. Any additional goals from now on will count for his total in this challenge. Let's hope it's a handful by the end of the season.

 

Bazoer's Benfica Journey

Spoiler

 

What a struggle it's been. Lucky late goals, very few penalties, 5th shoot-out we lost in-a-row..goals were hard to come by this season.

 

Bazoer's Holland Journey

Spoiler

No screenshots other than the final group standings. That's because he failed to score in any of his 6 games. We came in 2nd from bottom with 6 games to play and half a dozen points behind the leaders Austria. We got the tactics right as we flew to the top but Bazoer had unfortunately very few chances to get his name on the scoreboard. We nicked it in the end and secured a ticket to Mexico so we should be delighted with that. Hopefully Bazoer gets his first ITN goals under my management on the biggest stage of all.

 

Bazoer Goals Season 10

Yes, all we got is 9. 9! 9 is all we got.  Sigh..it's actually not even that bad for a defender of course but it's disappointing coming off 9 wonderful seasons and especially those 21 big goals two seasons ago. It just wasn't to be. I still do believe in this tactic but I gotta re-think a few things. I may try new things but don't think it's wise to change things completely due to one not so great season. I think the most important thing is looking closely at all the players and get new guys in to make the team as strong as possible. There's lots of transfer funds left so I we have a lot of options for any squad modifications. 135+9=144 goals. Not bad.

 

Progress

 

So we got just 9 goals with Bazoer for the season..but hold on a moment..the season isn't over yet. We qualified for the 2026 WC so there's still a small chance to somewhat save this season. The games begin in a fortnight and I've just sent in the names that need to bring Holland the success they painfully missed out on in the finals of 1974, 1978 and 2010. We can't mention these dates too often as every Dutchman that is reminded of these horrible numbers could burst into tears for valid reasons any non-football loving person will never understand. So we'll use 'em as our top motivator to do well and bring the Cup home for the best fans in the world, the 'Oranje Supporters'.

 

World Cup 2026 - Mexico

Group F

Spoiler

Next..

 

Comments Support Love Welcome. Thank you!

[mcandrew003]

Well done getting the Holland job and a pretty good season, unlucky with only 9, it will get better! Also, nice to see that 9-10 years later a lot of the real Holland squad is still there, El Ghazi is a great player! Good luck!

[BatiGoal]

@mcandrew003 yes it's nice having some of the old lads still in the team such as Klaassen, Depay, De Vrij, Tete and few others. Once it becomes a team full of regens it loses its appeal for me.

[Fish18ish]

2 hours ago, Eogtuc0910 said:

How old is robben

Dead I should think

[BatiGoal]

5 hours ago, Eogtuc0910 said:

How old is robben

This is a different Robben. Same name, new player, not as good unfortunately.

[Ashez]

It says something when 9 goals for a CB is seen as a poor season haha, hopefully he's back to his best soon! 

Good luck with Holland  

[BatiGoal]

@Ashez thanks, expectations are thru the roof at the moment hoping for 10 gls/season at least so a single goal at the WC would do it for us.

[BatiGoal]

World Cup 2026

 

World Rankings

Spoiler

World Int. Comp.

Spoiler

WC Past Winners

Spoiler

I think we got some of our favorites in. Obviously current European Champions Germany being the holders and reaching the finals on all 3 ocassions, they are the huge favorites coming in to this tournament. England as well being last year's finalists and Argentina winning it in 2018 and perhaps Portugal for being the highest ranked team.

 

Let's look at the 3 group games for Holland:

• Holland - Brazil
• Algeria - Holland
• Holland - USA

 

Game 1: Holland - Brazil

Spoiler

Great win versus the toughest team in the group. Winning this one meant a tremendous confidence boost and finally Bazoer's first ITN goal from the spot.

League Table after 1 game:

Looking great for us already. One more win and we're through surely.

 

Game 2: Algeria - Holland

Spoiler

That's it. Solid game and another 2-0 win sends us trough to the knock out rounds. Very dominant performance.

League Table after 2 games:

Couldn't have looked better for us after 2 games. I may play a few new faces for our last game vs USA.

 

Game 3: Holland - USA

Spoiler

A third 2-0 win brings us the maximum points. USA absolutely zero chance, well done, Dutchies! Bring on the next opponent.

 

Group A - H Final Standings:

Spoiler

Some crazy results..most notables ones surely Italy and Brazil crashing out of their groups.

 

Knock Out Round: Holland - Honduras

Spoiler

That's the 4th clean sheet in-a-row. And a 2nd goal for Bazoer. Another penalty. We'll take those any day. On to the Quarters..

 

Quarter Finals: Holland - Portugal

Spoiler

2-0! 5 clean sheets. This defence seems unpenetrable at this moment. Not a fantastic game of course against one of the favorites imo, especially looking at the stats which don't look pretty for us, but with some key players out the subs did ever so well to hold on to a result.

 

Semi Finals

1. Germany - Holland

2. England - Argentina

 

• Germany: World Cup Winners 2014 and 2022, Runners-Up 2018, European Champions 2024
• England: World Cup Runner-Up 2022
• Argentina: World Cup Winners 2018, Runners-Up 2014
• Holland: -

To Be Continued..

 

Comments Love Encouragement Welcome. Thank You!

[BantamHD]

Funny that Argentina beat Germany in WC Final 2018...seems to be a recurring theme in pretty much every save I do!

[Mikee1984]

Come on mate you can do it, loving the rock solid defence no goals conceded so far is great going KIU.

[BatiGoal]

9 hours ago, Eogtuc0910 said:

So tense c'mon

I'm afraid to play on..

8 hours ago, BantamHD said:

Funny that Argentina beat Germany in WC Final 2018...seems to be a recurring theme in pretty much every save I do!

What's the recurring theme for 2026? 

8 hours ago, Mikee1984 said:

Come on mate you can do it, loving the rock solid defence no goals conceded so far is great going KIU.

Now that I think of it it's actually not that surprising. Bazoer didn't do great in the WC qualifiers so I decided to bring De Vrij back. He hadn't featured at all in the qualifying stages but at 34 he's still quality. He's my captain. And Riedewald is a very good performer too so I dropped him a line from mid to def. With a much stronger defence things are a lot more balanced overall.

[Taff]

Great going so far dude, but stop being a chicken and go lift that cup

[Scratch]

Doing well mate! Hope you win the World Cup - you're so close!!!

[Ashez]

Germany are a pushover on this game, it's an automatic win  

[Taff]

6 minutes ago, Ashez said:

Germany are a pushover on this game, it's an automatic win  

I agree with Ashez, if there anything like they were last year then you'll have no problem (hell I beat them something like 8-0 with Wales so you should do it no worries)

 

[Ashez]

27 minutes ago, Taff said:

I agree with Ashez, if there anything like they were last year then you'll have no problem (hell I beat them something like 8-0 with Wales so you should do it no worries)

 

They've been a joke for as long as I can remember on FMH. It's one the easiest ties to have, granted they sneak the odd surprise but Germany are a team I openly want to play against lol. 

Bati will smash them 5-1. 

[Taff]

15 minutes ago, Ashez said:

They've been a joke for as long as I can remember on FMH. It's one the easiest ties to have, granted they sneak the odd surprise but Germany are a team I openly want to play against lol. 

Bati will smash them 5-1. 

It's crazy because they are always winning the WC or EC but as soon as I've played them in the past they have been a cake walk

7-0 to @BatiGoal

[Jack.Holt]

I'm loving this career, @BatiGoal. No idea how you do it (well, some idea as I'm reading this thread!) but you're doing really well. Not sure I'd do much more than shove a player on pens if it was me!

[Ashez]

52 minutes ago, Taff said:

It's crazy because they are always winning the WC or EC but as soon as I've played them in the past they have been a cake walk

7-0 to @BatiGoal

Spot on, I'd say this is 98% Bati's tie. Only reason it's not 100% is due to a gimmicky formations and how the OME does like to screw you, even then though I don't recall hardly ever losing to Germany. 

The final however will be some match to call! The regen power of both countries is outstanding. 

[Taff]

37 minutes ago, Ashez said:

Spot on, I'd say this is 98% Bati's tie. Only reason it's not 100% is due to a gimmicky formations and how the OME does like to screw you, even then though I don't recall hardly ever losing to Germany. 

The final however will be some match to call! The regen power of both countries is outstanding. 

Yeah the final will be a tough tie but I'm confident in @BatiGoal's ability to kick butt

[BatiGoal]

3 hours ago, scratch99 said:

Doing well mate! Hope you win the World Cup - you're so close!!!

Thanks mate, update tonight..

1 hour ago, Jack.Holt said:

I'm loving this career, @BatiGoal. No idea how you do it (well, some idea as I'm reading this thread!) but you're doing really well. Not sure I'd do much more than shove a player on pens if it was me!

Thanks. Before I embarked on this journey I didn't think I could get 10+ goals a season but it's not so hard apparently

1 hour ago, Taff said:

It's crazy because they are always winning the WC or EC but as soon as I've played them in the past they have been a cake walk

7-0 to @BatiGoal

That's what's happened to me as well but looks like the German players aren't as weak as they used to be. Won't say too much until tonight's update but I can tell there won't be a 6th consecutive clean sheet..

51 minutes ago, Ashez said:

Spot on, I'd say this is 98% Bati's tie. Only reason it's not 100% is due to a gimmicky formations and how the OME does like to screw you, even then though I don't recall hardly ever losing to Germany. 

The final however will be some match to call! The regen power of both countries is outstanding. 

I had a look at the other two semi finalists and they look pretty good. Especially Argentina with a 32yo Dybala up front with a regen.. 

I remember now why I don't play ITN careers often..nerve-wrecking man!!

Thanks for the support everyone.

[BatiGoal]

World Cup 2026

Semi-Finals

Germany Vs. Holland

England Vs. Argentina

 

Germany - Holland: Match Report

Spoiler

Chance for HOLLAND

GOAL!!! The first attack of this semi final and it's Langeler who heads it home after a fantastic Bazoer free kick.

Chance for HOLLAND

Bazoer comes close to his 3rd ITN goal but his free kick goes inches over the bar. It remains 0-1.

Chance for GERMANY

First time the Dutch goalkeeper is put to the test and he saves a decent Nieper shot from outside the box.

Chance for HOLLAND

Dutch striker Langeler with an enormous chance to put Germany in serious trouble but the Heerenveen hero misses power.

Chance for GERMANY

A great effort from Meyer but it's once again v.Rhijn who prevents Germany from finding an equalizer.

Chance for HOLLAND

Another powerful Bazoer free kick but he misses the target for a second time. Good effort tho from the Benfica man.

Chance for HOLLAND

GOAL!!! 2min into the second half and it's the sub Viergever who shoves the ball into the near corner after Langeler's assist.

Chance for GERMANY

0-2 down Germany need to get back into the game but v.Rhijn's having none of it.

Chance for GERMANY

GOAL!!! 1-2 and Germany are back into the game. Terrible defending from the Dutch side and Bender takes full advantage.

Chance for GERMANY

What an opportunity to make it 2-2 but Bazoer stands in Leno's way to give v.Rhijn an easy save and send the Dutch to the WC Final.

Oh yes, we're in the final. Very decent performance from the lads and gotta give credit to GK v.Rhijn for his brilliant saves. Bazoer failed to score in this one but he had a great game helping on both ends of the pitch. So who are we playing in the WC final?

 

England Vs. Argentina

So it's the Argentinians who beat the English by the narrowest of margins to set up a Holland - Argentina World Cup Final.

 

The Line-ups

Holland

The 5-2-2-1 has proven very solid so BatiGoal is taking no chances and sticking with his 5-def formation which has been getting BPD Bazoer the needed goals.

 

Argentina

Now this is a very interesting defensive line-up from the Argentinians as well and BatiGoal had the following to say: "I'm definitely smelling my chances here. First I gotta say that their striker partnership is scary for any worldclass defender. Dybala at 32 is a real powerhouse and his buddy Insua as deadly a poacher as they come. But I see chances on the left. Clearly the right side is defensive-minded with a FB + WM but the left flank can definitely become exposed when you look at the WB + W combination and specifically Peruzzi who's starting the match at 70%. On top of that he's got Diaz, a BWM on left centre to his side, which will leave their left side exposed with lots of space for me to exploit. If that wasn't enough there's also 2 BPDs playing in centre back so it's a defensive line-up with "too many" att.minded roles on the left. So my tactics are going to be to try to exploit Argentina's left side by playing through my right and making sure I continue to do that intensively throughout the game".

 

Holland - Argentina: Match Report

Spoiler

Here we go.. I was quite nervous for this one tbh but I really feel good about my tactics. Let's take full advantage of the weak spot and hit their left flank hard. We go balanced as they're coming out att.minded so a little caution but our attacks go via our right flank.

Chance for ARGENTINA

A quick start from Argentina as expected but it's our top GK v.Rhijn who holds on firmly to prevent a terrible start to the final.

Chance for HOLLAND

A Langeler header but it goes well over the Argentina goal.

Chance for HOLLAND

A great build-up over the right from El Ghazi but Rulli saves Langeler's shot. It remains all square.

Chance for HOLLAND

Another great attack over what's becoming more apparent Argentina's weakened left side but Langeler misses a sitter. 0-0.

Chance for HOLLAND

GOAL!!! 1-0. A deserved goal from the Dutch and they're in the lead in this one-sided final.

Chance for HOLLAND

Bazoer almost made it 2-0 just before half-time but his free kick goes just wide. Argentina need to come up with answers during the break or they'll be smashed.

Tea.

Keep doing what we're doing. Despite just being 1-0 up we're creating a fair amount of chances and Argentina are forced to waste all their energy on defensive duties. So we're subbing the right flank players for fresh legs. Vilhena's got blistering 20 pace and a fresh right FB for support. Viergever is a great AP so his energy will be a good asset too in the final 45min. Tactics remain the same. All out attack over our right flank.

Chance for HOLLAND

GOAL!!! Not as many chances as we'd hoped for but at last we seal it deep into the second half. And it's the sub Vilhena who uses his pace to go past his man and hit the ball in the far corner. Absolutely fantastic performance from the guys.

I'm overjoyed with the World Cup win Champagne and cigars for the lads.

I have to say that was a very welcome distraction to my regular career. It cost me a bit of time and energy to post an extensive report on the World Cup but I enjoyed it. Plus it refreshed my motivation to continue my Benfica career and the challenge to score goals with Bazoer. So can't wait to have a go it this again and post my progress in season 11. And it wasn't all for nothing as Bazoer scored 2 goals in the World Cup and upped his tally from 144 to 146 goals. It's a small bump but all these bits add greatly in the end.

 

Progress

Comments, Love, Support Welcome. Thanks!