Happy new year, dear readers! And what better way to celebrate the start of 2020 than by… erm, going back to the summer of 2001!
Yes, folks – it’s time to begin the third season of my Bayer Leverkusen project on Championship Manager 99/00. If you’ve not yet read Part 6 to see how we ended the 2000/2001 campaign, make sure you’re up to speed before stepping into 2001/2002.
PRE-SEASON TRANSFERS
So here we are – my final season at the BayArena. We had nothing to show for our efforts in the previous two campaigns, so the pressure is well and truly on me to deliver some success this time around. It really is, as the story title goes, now or Neverkusen.
The board are again expecting silverware and maybe won’t tolerate another year of near-misses. They offered me an initial transfer budget of just over £15million – but before I show you how I spent it, let’s go through those players I’ve sold:
After two mediocre seasons, we sold attacking midfielder Bernd Schneider off to 1860 München for £1.5million. ‘Die Löwen’ also offered to take defender Torben Hoffmann off our hands for £1million, but they couldn’t afford the fee.
We made some more money through selling striker Ersin Demir – who wouldn’t renew his contract – and reserve midfielder Andreas Voss. Right-winger Frankie Hejduk returned to America after his contract expired, while bit-part full-back Mario Nacev also moved on.
Let’s now look at the new boys. All these screenshots were from before our first Champions League qualifier, so we’d already played through the DFB-Ligapokal and our pre-season friendlies. You could maybe guess at how we got on through reading the stats:
We needed more depth at centre-back, so I’ve brought in Stephane Henchoz. After four seasons in England with Blackburn and then Liverpool, the strong stopper wanted to move closer to his native Switzerland. While Henchoz’s attributes aren’t amazing, he’ll provide fine cover when we’re short on defensive options.
Next up was Danish dynamo Martin Jørgensen, who agreed a £5.5million transfer from Udinese. I love an attacking midfielder who has plenty of stamina anyway, but this guy is very versatile, not to mention comfortable with either foot. CM99/00 players might prefer his kid brother Mads, but Martin’s not too shabby himself.
Here’s a player who’ll be familiar to any Villans who read the blog. For the last two years, Juan Pablo Angel had averaged nearly a goal a game in the Argentine league. River wouldn’t sell the Colombian for less than £8.25million, but that’s still a good price for a complete forward with his work ethic, physicality and finishing ability.
My other cash signing was 20-year-old midfielder Udo Schrötter, who cost us an initial £550,000. Finally, we welcomed a 16-year-old Portuguese centre-back called Joaquim Hélder to our reserve team.
SQUAD & TACTICS
There’s the senior Leverkusen squad as it stood when we began our Champions League adventure. I’ll explain why so many players were unavailable – and also why it was so problematic – a bit later, but let’s quickly go through each of them first.
Massimo Taibi has remained a solid presence in goal for Leverkusen, thanks largely to having very high scores in almost every keeping attribute. Holger Hiemann hasn’t disgraced himself as a backup either… and yes, Frank Juric is still in the reserves.
The brave and versatile Stefan Schnoor has had a strong positive influence on our defence since his arrival last year. The 30-year-old will be our starting right-back ahead of Boris Zivkovic. Markus Happe begins his 11th season with Bayer as our first-choice left-back once again, as Vratislav Gresko‘s development continues to stagnate.
In our lion-hearted captain Jens Nowotny and the fearless Robert Kovac, we have one of the toughest – and most wanted – centre-half partnerships in Europe. I value Jens and Croatian Bob at £15million each and won’t consider selling them for less. New signing Henchoz is also aged 27 and can easily deputise if needed, while the slightly younger Hoffmann is still knocking around as fourth-choice.
Combative midfielder Emerson will literally be at the centre of our team this season. With his incredible work rate and tactical understanding, the Brazilian will be given a roaming role in our new 4-3-3 system. That is a role I reckon Carsten Ramelow could also fill, though he’s more at home being a ball-winner in a 4-4-2.
Michael Ballack showed signs of progress during his second season with Leverkusen but needs to be more creative to make a lasting impression. If he can’t, that could open the door for Schrötter to make his mark. Adam Ledwon is surplus to requirements and will be playing reserve football this season.
The board keep saying they believe Ronaldinho “is an invaluable member of the team”, and it’s time he showed why. The technically superb attacking midfielder hasn’t developed as quickly as expected, so he’ll need to ‘buck’ up his ideas to oust Zé Roberto from our left wing. Darioush Yasdani‘s contract expires next summer, and I probably won’t use the Iranian very much before then.
Right-winger Robson Ponte became the last of our four Brazilians to earn international recognition last December. Ponte too has the potential to light up the game with his dribbling skills, and the arrival of Jørgensen can only spur him on to become even better.
Like Schnoor and Ronaldinho, Andri Sigþórsson moved to the BayArena last summer… and he made an instant impact. The energetic Icelandic forward helped himself to 13 goals last season – just one short of the tally managed by evergreen 35-year-old Ulf Kirsten.
Oliver Neuville was a huge disappointment last term. There will be pressure on the pacey poacher to replicate his 1999/2000 form, especially with Angel providing additional competition. As for our speed king Thierry Henry, who scored 7 goals in 23 games after signing from Arsenal last November… [sigh] I’ll get to him later.
My main tactic this season will be a bog-standard 4-3-3 – or, as I called it on FM19, the “CHEAT TACTIC”. There are no fancy player or team instructions at play here, though I may change certain things up game-to-game. While bullying newly-promoted Aachen with a high press and hard tackling might work, doing the same to Bayern might not.
If the 4-3-3 does have an obvious weakness, it’s against quick wingers, so I’ve kept the standard 4-4-2 as my ‘Plan B’. The diamond was a disaster and has now been dropped, probably for good.
JULY 2001
On 6 July, we were thrown straight back into competitive action, thanks to that pesky DFB-Ligapokal. The Quarter Final draw paired us with Schalke 04, whom we would face at the Stadion am Zoo in Wuppertal.
Of course, I was only halfway through my squad rebuild at this point. With the team in a state of flux, this had the potential to be like a particularly chaotic chimps’ tea party – or even one of those old PG Tips adverts.
SCHALKE 04 0-2 LEVERKUSEN (DFB-Ligapokal – Quarter Final)
Did I say, “Chimps’ tea party?” No… this was a well-orchestrated sea lion show. Emerson got our fans clapping after just three minutes with a killer header from Ponte’s corner. We then survived a barrage of Schalke shots before Sigþórsson came off the bench to double our lead on 66 minutes.
Unfortunately, Nowotny sprained his wrist and would miss the Semi Final – against Bayern München at the BayArena. The other Semi took place in Kaiserslautern, though a penalty shoot-out win for Dortmund had denied the Red Devils a home meeting with DFB-Pokal holders SC Freiburg. That match also went to a shoot-out, which – ironically – Dortmund lost.
Three of our Brazilian internationals were also absent against Bayern, because of some little old competition called the Copa America. Fortunately, that also meant Ottmar Hitzfeld was without his top two strikers in Giovane Elber and Roque Santa Cruz.
LEVERKUSEN 2-1 BAYERN MÜNCHEN (DFB-Ligapokal – Semi Final)
We didn’t have the same issues up front. Some great link-up play between Kirsten and Henry resulted in the latter putting us ahead after just 12 minutes. Ulf also got his name on the scoresheet just before half-time, thanks to a wonderful assist from Ponte.
Bayern did play more like their usual selves in the second period. Brazil striker Paulo Sergio – essentially a poor man’s Elber – had a goal disallowed for offside in the 74th minute, though his strike partner Emanuel Bentil did score eight minutes later. Despite that, we held on to knock FCB out of the Ligapokal for the second year in succession!
Our reward was a trip to Berlin’s Olympia-Stadion. Only Freiburg stood between me and a first trophy as Leverkusen manager. Having failed to win any of our last four encounters, though, I knew it wouldn’t be straightforward – especially not with Richard ‘No’ Golz between their post.
SC FREIBURG 2-1 LEVERKUSEN (DFB-Ligapokal – Final)
We are destined to be ‘Neverkusen’ forever, aren’t we?
Freiburg enjoyed the brighter start, and they grew more confident when Sigþórsson hurt his shoulder and came off midway through the first half. Though Emerson did put us ahead against the run of play in the 41st minute, Alexander Iashvili ensured that our lead wouldn’t last very long.
Having started the match with a 4-3-3, I switched back to a 4-4-2 early in the second period to try and expose Freiburg down the wings. That didn’t work, as they recovered from the loss of an injured Iashvili to steal victory late on. Right-winger Ali Günes’ delivery into the penalty area was finished by Tunisian forward Adel Sellimi, and manager Volker Finke snatched another trophy.
Ah well. As Chumbawamba used to say, “I get knocked down, I get up again…”
We rebounded with a 4-0 friendly thrashing of second-tier M’gladbach, in which four different players – including Henchoz and Jørgensen – got on the scoreboard. That form didn’t carry over to France, where we only put ONE goal past amateurs Draguignan before a last-minute winner from debutant Angel saw off a stubborn Toulouse.
Angel dug us out of another hole in our first home friendly. Trailing 1-0 to Porto, the big Colombian fired a shot past the visitors’ goalkeeper (and future Chelsea bench-warmer) Hilário just before half-time. Neuville then pinched a 2-1 victory to leave Porto boss Fernando Santos looking particularly glum.
AUGUST 2001
Our final friendly was also at home – to Serie A runners-up Inter. This was Argentina international Javier Zanetti’s first match back with the Nerazzurri since returning from an 18-month stint at Barcelona, and he marked it with an early goal. It would also be the only goal.
Ending pre-season with a defeat was disappointing enough… but this also happened.
Four months. Four piggin’ months.
While Henry’s season was delayed, ours was about to begin in earnest. I wanted a nice, simple Champions League qualifying draw, so we could sail into the group phase without any fuss. Naturally, UEFA’s drawmasters pitted us against Claudio Ranieri’s Atlético Madrid – the 4th-best team in La Liga.
Both legs of the qualifier would coincide with CONMEBOL’s World Cup qualifiers, because South American national teams can apparently play each other whenever they want. With three Brazilians heading off to Colombia, another three players injured, and Hoffmann suspended, I could only name six substitutes for our first-leg trip to Madrid. Christ almighty.
ATLÉTICO MADRID 2-1 LEVERKUSEN (Champions League – Qualifying Round 3, Leg 1)
What a frustrating match. First, Neuville had a goal disallowed for offside. Then a similar decision went against Atlético striker Mauricio, only for his captain Hugo Leal to score on the stroke of half-time. Neuville responded by equalising with a 61st-minute penalty, with the referee pointing to the spot after Julen Guerrero fouled Sigþórsson.
Unfortunately, Hiemann later messed up a free-kick, allowing José Mari to find the net for the hosts. Fortunately, an offside flag had already gone up against Mauricio. Even more unfortunately, Atlético clinched the win anyway through an 87th-minute volley from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Yeah, yeah… I don’t know why I started Hiemann in goal instead of Taibi. That’s probably the second-biggest mistake I’ve made with Leverkusen – the first being turning down a £21million offer for Neuville before he stopped scoring goals from open play.
I still felt annoyed when we opened the Bundesliga campaign against Hertha BSC, who finished a respectable 6th last season under Jupp Heynckes. With former Bayern man Carsten Jancker now leading their attack, they were sure to be even more dangerous.
HERTHA BSC 3-0 LEVERKUSEN (Bundesliga – Match 1)
They weren’t just dangerous; they were dominant. Dariusz Wosz, Kjetil Rekdal and Sebastian Deisler all scored in a blistering first-half display from Hertha. Taibi had such a nightmare that I replaced him with Hiemann at half-time and fined him a month’s wages.
The second half was a complete anti-climax, and we started the season in the relegation zone. Oh, and next on the horizon were Dortmund, who put five goals past Aachen in their first game. Things were only likely to get worse before they got better…
LEVERKUSEN 1-0 DORTMUND (Bundesliga – Match 2)
…or maybe not! Dortmund shot themselves in the feet after five minutes, when Lars Ricken sent both of his towards Ballack’s shins. Despite that, their 10 men survived the first half and were happy to coast through the second. That was a mistake, as Sigþórsson struck on 65 minutes to earn us three points from a match where absolutely nothing went wrong for us.
So Henry and Nowotny are out until December. Lovely.
I was so convinced there was a curse at the BayArena that I wanted to send Barry Fry over to take a leak on our corner flags before we hosted Atlético Madrid. Alas, Peterborough had a Worthington Cup match at Bournemouth, so we just had to get on with erasing our first-leg deficit.
LEVERKUSEN 1-0 ATLÉTICO MADRID [2-2 agg, Leverkusen win on away goals] (Champions League – Qualifying Round 3, Leg 2)
It’s goalless late in the first half of a match that your team has to win. What do you do if you’re Leverkusen defender – and stand-in captain – Stephane Henchoz? You pick up two yellow cards and get sent off. Obviously.
It’s early in the second half, and your team is one goal up on aggregate and one man up on the night. What do you do if you’re Atlético defender Santi? You commit a professional foul by pulling on Ponte’s shirt and get sent off. Obviously.
With both teams down to 10 men, the game was anyone’s for the taking. Then, on 68 minutes, we were literally saved by an Angel. Ponte volleyed the ball long to our new Colombian ace, who dribbled into Atléti’s area before firing a rocket home. We then held on for the next 20 minutes or so before grinding out a narrow victory on away goals.
Leverkusen had once again qualified for the first group stage of the Champions League. With us in Group E were National Bucharest (before they went bust), Leeds (before they sold the goldfish to avoid going bust) and Inter (after they busted Henry’s groin).
WERDER BREMEN 1-3 LEVERKUSEN (Bundesliga – Match 3)
We’ve got a new fan favourite! Angel roasted Frank Rost twice in the 21st and 24th minutes – first by squirming a shot underneath the keeper, and then by rounding him after collecting a through-ball from Siggi. Rost did deny him a hat-trick in the 35th minute, but Ramelow converted the rebound to give us a 3-0 half-time lead.
Though Marco Bode did score for Werder early in the second period, the game was already up, and we climbed to joint-7th with our opponents. Schalke 04 led the early frontrunners with maximum points from three games, while the only team still waiting for their first goal was… Bayern München! [Snigger]
I certainly wasn’t laughing come the end of the month, as yet more injuries ravaged our squad. Taibi had hurt his shoulder to sideline him for a few weeks, while Henchoz twisted his ankle and was out for two months.
“Hello, Peterborough? Could I speak to Barry Fry, please?”
SEPTEMBER 2001
To kick off September, we played host to Wolfgang Wolf’s Wolfsburg, who had lost their opening two fixtures. In all honesty, it looked like the men in green would already face an uphill battle against relegation.
LEVERKUSEN 2-0 WOLFSBURG (Bundesliga – Match 4)
Mind you, if they were to go down, it wouldn’t be without a fight. Though we were comfortably the better team throughout, Wolfsburg goalkeeper Mathias Schober made some great saves and held out until the 37th minute. That was when Jørgensen powered in his first Leverkusen goal, from a Ponte cross.
Ponte also set up our second goal in the 72nd minute, as Kirsten opened his league account for the season. Unfortunately, the afternoon hadn’t gone quite so well for Angel, who strained his knee ligaments just eight minutes after kick-off.
A few hours later, I announced another new signing to provide cover for Nowotny. As I’d spent nearly all my transfer budget, I couldn’t really buy anyone, while there weren’t any attractive free agents. However…
…Leeds – one of our Champions League group rivals – had made their young Welsh international Matthew Jones available for loan. Here’s a lad who was physically strong, great in the air, and who played with plenty of Celtic passion. Jones went straight onto the bench for our Group E opener against Inter.
LEVERKUSEN 1-1 INTER (Champions League – Phase 1 Group E, Match 1)
Things had looked ominous when Inter sweeper Laurent Blanc put them ahead after just 10 minutes. Ponte came to the rescue in the 70th minute, scoring a direct free-kick after Siggi was wiped out by Christian Panucci. Though Jones had a shaky half-hour cameo after coming on, we held on for a 1-1 draw – a scoreline which Leeds and National replicated in their opener.
LEVERKUSEN 4-1 AACHEN (Bundesliga – Match 5)
Talk about dominance! Kirsten put Aachen to the sword, netting a first-half hat-trick – including two injury-time goals – while Ramelow added his name to the scoresheet. The visitors did ‘win’ the second half by getting a goal back through midfielder Markus Von Ahlen, but to be fair, Hiemann was nursing a stubbed finger. It didn’t really matter either, as a fourth straight league win lifted us to 3rd.
NATIONAL BUCHAREST 1-2 LEVERKUSEN (Champions League – Phase 1 Group E, Match 2)
Our good form continued in Romania, though we made heavy work of National. Their goalkeeper Tiberiu Lung was constantly gasping for air after producing several saves, but he couldn’t deny Neuville in the 32nd minute.
Panic then started to set into our team after Ovidiu Vancea drew the hosts level early in the first half. After several failed attempts to win the game, an embarrassing 1-1 draw loomed until a last-minute drive from Sigþórsson secured us the points.
Next up for us was a home game against Leeds, who were also on four points after beating Inter 3-1 at the San Siro. Before that, Taibi returned to goalkeeping action as an old rivalry was renewed.
HSV 2-1 LEVERKUSEN (Bundesliga – Match 6)
New season, same old Hamburg. We were a decent pressing team ourselves, but that lot just wouldn’t allow us to breathe. And then there was Anthony Yeboah, whose poacher-like instincts earned him goals in either half. Ronaldinho pulled one back in the dying moments from Ponte’s EIGHTH assist already this season, but it wasn’t enough to keep us in the top four.
LEVERKUSEN 0-0 LEEDS (Champions League – Phase 1 Group E, Match 1)
Dirty Leeds tried to rough our players up, not least when their enforcer Lee Bowyer left Happe with a wrist injury late on. Even so, we survived a wave of Whites attacks, with both Michael Bridges and Darren Huckerby guilty of big misses. While we couldn’t convert any of our own chances, a draw was still a respectable result…
LEVERKUSEN 7-0 DRESDNER SC (Bundesliga – Match 7)
We finished September by putting SEVEN goals past former sleeping giants Dresdner, who probably wished they’d never woken up! Ponte dominated the first four minutes, teeing up an opener for Sigþórsson before finding the net himself. Robson netted again just before half-time to make it 3-0.
The second half saw our domination continue, as Ballack, Kirsten and Zé Roberto all contributed goals. Dresdner’s disaster hit a new low in the final minute, when goalkeeper Andreas Menger was sent off for a professional foul on Siggi. Neuville put the penalty past replacement Thomas Weidner to round off my biggest win with Leverkusen.
I think that’s a good time to take a break. Please come back next week, when we’ll finish off 2001 by hopefully making further progress in the league and in Europe. Let’s hope we don’t have any more dodgy groins to deal with, eh?
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