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The Beautiful Quest: An Association Football Quest

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Corvus Black said:
A case for my plan.

England had a ton of great midfielders during the 2000s, but had no great forwards to partner with Michael Owen. Note that when Michael Owen came back to England after playing for Real Madrid, he specifically chose Newcastle so he could play alongside his former England striking partner, Alan Shearer.

Shearer retired from international football after the Euro 2000 competition. Imagine what England could achieve during the 2000s if Owen had a striking partner that was only a year younger than him.
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Yeah by the time Rooney appeared, Owen was already struggling with injuries. Someone to partner Owen in 2000-04 that's not Heskey or Darius Vassell would help England. In my opinion though, England's problems under Sven were twofold - not having a consistently good Goalkeeper and Sven not knowing what to do with Scholes, Gerrard and Lampard.
 
KingArthur said:
Yeah by the time Rooney appeared, Owen was already struggling with injuries. Someone to partner Owen in 2000-04 that's not Heskey or Darius Vassell would help England. In my opinion though, England's problems under Sven were twofold - not having a consistently good Goalkeeper and Sven not knowing what to do with Scholes, Gerrard and Lampard.
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We would be that perfect age to partner Owen in the early 2000s and Rooney in the late 2000s.

And yeah, like I said, lots of great midfielders. No need to make it more of a headache.
 
Corvus Black said:
A case for my plan.

England had a ton of great midfielders during the 2000s, but had no great forwards to partner with Michael Owen. Note that when Michael Owen came back to England after playing for Real Madrid, he specifically chose Newcastle so he could play alongside his former England striking partner, Alan Shearer.

Shearer retired from international football after the Euro 2000 competition. Imagine what England could achieve during the 2000s if Owen had a striking partner that was only a year younger than him.
Click to expand...
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You've convinced me.

[X] Plan - English Marco van Basten
 
[X] Plan - English Marco van Basten

btw this is awesome cause I've never seen any other football/soccer quests her on sv can't wait to see where this goes!
 
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[X] Plan - English Marco van Basten

I've never seen a football quest surprised , since I learned how to bet propetly I've always been grateful this sport exists.
 
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[X] Plan - Facing Forward
[X] Daniel O'Connor
[X] Forward

Daniel and Michael seem the most interesting characters and forward seems to suit Daniel's personality more than a midfielder.
 
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Getting Scouted
  • Threadmarks
    • Getting Scouted​

    It is a cold Saturday morning in November 1991. You are playing for Beechfield United Under-12s, your local youth side, in the U12 League. Playing as a forward, you have a very good game, scoring a hat trick as Beechy wins 5-2. After the game, you and your parents are approached by a man you haven't seen before. He introduces himself as a talent scout for...

    1. Manchester United. Once the best club in England when they were managed by Sir Matt Busby and fielded stars like Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best back in the 1960s, they have not quite reached the same heights again. Managed by another Scotsman, Sir Alex Ferguson, who has won the FA Cup but not brought the league, they have a strong team with players like Welsh striker Mark Hughes, former England captain Bryan Robson and some exciting young prospects like the Welsh winger Ryan Giggs waiting on the sidelines. With the youth team having performed very well recently thanks to coaches Eric Harrison and Brian Kidd, this could be an exciting opportunity to join the best academy in the country.
    2. Manchester City - Forever in the shadows of their neighbours, City are past the glory days of the 70s and 80s but are certainly a force to be reckoned with under manager Peter Reid. They finished fifth last season, above United and other illustrious teams like Nottingham Forest, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur. Their academy is not as good as United's but City are certainly a top club and a great place to start, and even finish, your career.
    3. Blackburn Rovers - Located about a 40 minutes drive from Salford, Rovers are an old club who look to have a bright future. Currently challenging at the top of the Second Division, steel baron Jack Walker, a Blackburn boy, has bought the club and who knows where they could go with his considerable fortune backing them up?
    4. Bolton Wanderers - Based on the northern edge of Greater Manchester, they are a 20 minutes drive away from your home. The glory days of the Nat Lofthouse-inspired side of the 1950s are long gone, and Bolton are currently trying to push for the Third Division play-offs under manager Phil Neal, a former Liverpool player. They are in a less advantageous position than either of the Manchester clubs or Blackburn but it will be easier to secure a spot in their Starting XI due to their lack of talent compared to the other three clubs.
    5. Salford City - Currently playing the Northwest Counties League, part of the 9th tier of English football, Salford City, recently renamed from Salford Central, are the closest club to your house, only a few minutes walk away. Their team will be the easiest for a young player to break into, but their facilities are the worst out of these five clubs and they are an amateur club so will be unable to pay you any wages.

    Attributes (Pick 2)
    1. Pace - This will allow you to adapt easier to playing on the wing if a manager ever decides to do that, and will improve your ability on the counter. Despite the traditional English centre forward not possessing much pace and focusing on physicality (Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney for example), other English forwards do have great pace and are lethal on the counter, like Michael Owen and, in more recent times, Jamie Vardy.
    2. Power - Power, whether it be physical strength or the strength of the shot, is a seemingly essential attribute for forwards in England.
    3. Heading - Another common attribute among English forwards is heading. Strikers need to be able to score goals with both their feet and their head, which is a reason why academy coaches and scouts tend to pick taller strikers.
    4. Flair - Flair is not a usual attribute for English forward, although many midfielders ranging from Stanley Matthews to Paul Gascoigne possessed it. On the other hand, flair is essential for forwards abroad, with players like Diego Maradona, Romario and Eric Cantona possessing bags of it. Having flair will certainly make you stand out much more against the average English forward.
    5. Set Piece Taking - Forwards are often called upon to take Penalties as their finishing skills mean they are among the best penalty takers in the side. Forwards taking Free Kicks and Corners is much rarer but not unheard of.
    6. Passing - Not usually a skill associated with Forwards, passing is still a very useful skill for a player. If you end up playing in central midfield at some point in your career it will certainly help you and if you play under a manager who uses Total Football philosophies, it will help you adapt to that. It will also enable you to make a lot of assists and be a provider as well as a scorer.
    7. Intelligence - Intelligent positioning and good off the ball work means that you will be caught offside much less and your work will be easier when you are on the ball. It will also make you a better manager if you decide to go down that route when your playing days are over.
    8. Leadership - Not often a trait found in forwards, but some like Alan Shearer and Eric Cantona have been successful Captains. Greater leadership will increase your presence in the dressing room and make it more likely for you to be picked as Captain.

    Stats
    Name: Andy Watson
    Age: 11
    Height: 4ft 8in (142 cm)
    Weight: 85 lbs (38.5 kg)
    Position: Forward
    Current Team: Beechfield United Under-12s
    Youth Career:
    • Beechfield United (1987-)
    Senior Career:
    International Career:
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Also something to bear in mind about Bolton is that by the time you will start trying to push for the First Team they'll be in the Premiership and on the verge of their glory days under Big Sam.
     
    KingArthur said:
    Also something to bear in mind about Bolton is that by the time you will start trying to push for the First Team they'll be in the Premiership and on the verge of their glory days under Big Sam.
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    All I remember about Bolton is that they kept yo-yoing between the Premiership and Division One in the late 90s. Amusingly, what I really had in mind were the Cups. Every year, the Cups.
     
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