Whats up with Barcelona?

Hullo all,

Thought I might just as well start a new game with the 10.2 patch on board, left my old Arsenal save for what it is and for the first time in my history of FM (goes quite a few years back) I decided to play a bit with Barcelona. Not sure why I never done it before, might be because I always liked a chalange and thought that the financial power and playerbase of Barca might be a little too much. However, much to my suprise, none of this has been the case (yet) after I loaded up a sick amount of leagues on my crappy comp and got settled for the start of a long game.

Onwards...

According to the richest club charts my new home is indeed the boss of the pack with Real following closely behind. A small cheer is the result. So I open up the first few mails, among start of the season expectations and eagerly await the transfer sum available to me! I read it and read it again, right... they handed me a whooping 15 mil to spend with NO excess wage budget (so no swapping around the cash). I take a good hard look at my chairman and cannot help but think he lost his mind. Maybe next year then.

Not impressed but in good spirits none the less I check out the squad to see how much "dead wood" I can cut to raise some money for at least 1 star player. I got some targets lined up allready who I would love to bring aboard. Before I sell anyone tho I set the tactics. Had some succes with a 4-3-3 variant on my Arsenal game so I decide to use it again. Normal backline with 2 x DC and DL and DR. In the middle one deep laying playmaker (MC) and a box to box MC with an advanced playmaker in front (AMC). The three forwards will be inside cutting wingers (AML and AMR) and a complete forward as main outlet (ST). Fully expecting Barcelona to have some talent and world class players to fill most spots I begin to adjust the filters and drop some players in. I like small squads so I feel I need one first choice and one back-up for each position, who are (hopefully) almost at the same level so I don't really loose out on quality when one of em picks up an injury or when rotation is required. Not that much to ask from big mighty Barcelona right?

Hmmm... hurdle number two. Who was in charge of picking the squad before me? Surely enough I have some absolutely gorgeous players for some positions but a remotely good back-up is sometimes hard to find. Let me explain. My midfield seems okay, although looking at the injury list I have some people not quite available yet. The right winder role is a no brainer with Messi but who is his back-up? Surely the previous manager had some second choice a little better then I am left with? Nevermind, moving on. Position of left winger is perhaps better filled. I see Henry is quite useful there, although not natural but again thats about it. I know, I know... there are players able to play there but they are hardly worth a single star and are more Spanish second division material. I am starting to worry a bit now, no way I can fix that with my current budget. I guess Barcelona just didn't need to rotate before!

Lucky for me Ibrahimovic is class but again no real back-up of the same level, unless you count Henry but then my left wing is utterly lacking or Bojan who is not yet up for it in my eyes. Leaving the front end behind for now I look at my defence. Now thats better, plenty of DC's worth looking at, good amount of depth too. It is a shame two of those are also on long term injuries but I guess I will just have to accept that. Not so pleased with the fullbacks tho. The left side is reasonable with two players able to do the job but the right side is (again) a mess. First choice would be Daniel Alves, good but not natural DR (WBR is his first position) and back-up is missing. Again, not saying there are no players but they are not remotely in the same ballpark. I can understand teams have small squads and first choices but this is getting silly. What if this guy had an injury, who would you have played dear chairman? Tssssssk....

Well, seems even if I cut the dead wood I would be left with a tiny squad of first choice players and god forbid they would have to be rotated. Cutting dead wood like this is not very rewarding either, with most second choice players worth very little. Still I get to work and place most of the players I don't see playing in my squad on the list. Including Bojan because I need to get my money from somewhere right. Allready slighty over wage budget so the more people I get rid of the better. I do have to buy at least one player, as Iniesta is still out with an injury (and would like to play him as MC anyway) and I got no class players to play the AMC position! Shock and horror here, Barcelona doesn't have a player for that role unless Messi moves from the wing to center, which would leave the wing to a second rate player. Not good, not good. If only the previous manager didn't sent out Hleb on loan. He IS the back-up to most positions I seem to be lacking, but I guess that logic has been lost somewhere along the way.

With a certain feeling of drama I look to the youth squad for possible impressive players, mostly as back-up to my tiny worldclass squad at this worldclass uber rich team. Hmmm, according to my newly hired ass man (needed to fire almost all my staff because they, to be honest, were not of a decent level either) the youth is not impressive at all. The best talents get 2 stars, and he knows what he is talking about as I hand picked him for his ability to judge the team. Guess they are not going to lead the line for years to come either then...

I am still talking about Barcelona here, first class players for most first 11 setups (depending on formation, I picked a difficult one it seems) and good depth central midfield and defence but in other positions no real second choices and world class talents missing. In theory no big deal as the club is rich enough to fill spots but how can I tell share this wisdom with my chairman! Well guess the only course of action is to pull some tricks out of my sleeve myself and gamble on an even more tiny squad by selling everybody not strickly needed or good enough. Hopefully I can get something back for this, get my hands on some cheap but worthwhile talents and keep my fingers crossed my first choices will stand the test of time and learn how to ride ankle twisting and leg snapping tackles and keep their level of fitness.

I really do not know how this team used to function before I took charge. If some key players get hurt the quality of the team would drop to mid table at most. Scary huh. If this is really how the the state of Barcelona is IRL I hope they smarten up and get some good back-ups for their money next time and don't blow it all on one striker.

Leaving with a bit of good news, by selling and hard negotiation I am able to bring in Gourcuff as my first choice AMC and Ribery to fill the left wing with quality suitable to a team of Barcelona's stature. Broke the bank while doing it and still got no solid back-up for Messi or another RB. Wish me luck folks... and I need it because the first friendly allready dragged Ibrahimovic to the doctors office.

PS: Take all this with a pinch of salt as my own choice of formation got me into this mess, but I did expect more transfer money and a better balanced squad with good back-ups. Guess being the richest team doesn't mean the squad is solid from every angle. Lesson learned for sure...

Small update, due to new injuries the first real game of the season against Athletic Bilbao (super cup) is going to be played with 0 senior subs

Thought I might just as well start a new game with the 10.2 patch on board, left my old Arsenal save for what it is and for the first time in my history of FM (goes quite a few years back) I decided to play a bit with Barcelona. Not sure why I never done it before, might be because I always liked a chalange and thought that the financial power and playerbase of Barca might be a little too much. However, much to my suprise, none of this has been the case (yet) after I loaded up a sick amount of leagues on my crappy comp and got settled for the start of a long game.

Okay.

According to the richest club charts my new home is indeed the boss of the pack with Real following closely behind. A small cheer is the result. So I open up the first few mails, among start of the season expectations and eagerly await the transfer sum available to me! I read it and read it again, right... they handed me a whooping 15 mil to spend with NO excess wage budget (so no swapping around the cash). I take a good hard look at my chairman and cannot help but think he lost his mind. Maybe next year then.

Okay.

Not impressed but in good spirits none the less I check out the squad to see how much "dead wood" I can cut to raise some money for at least 1 star player. I got some targets lined up allready who I would love to bring aboard. Before I sell anyone tho I set the tactics. Had some succes with a 4-3-3 variant on my Arsenal game so I decide to use it again. Normal backline with 2 x DC and DL and DR. In the middle one deep laying playmaker (MC) and a box to box MC with an advanced playmaker in front (AMC). The three forwards will be inside cutting wingers (AML and AMR) and a complete forward as main outlet (ST). Fully expecting Barcelona to have some talent and world class players to fill most spots I begin to adjust the filters and drop some players in. I like small squads so I feel I need one first choice and one back-up for each position, who are (hopefully) almost at the same level so I don't really loose out on quality when one of em picks up an injury or when rotation is required. Not that much to ask from big mighty Barcelona right?

LoL. Okay.

Hmmm... hurdle number two. Who was in charge of picking the squad before me? Surely enough I have some absolutely gorgeous players for some positions but a remotely good back-up is sometimes hard to find. Let me explain. My midfield seems okay, although looking at the injury list I have some people not quite available yet. The right winder role is a no brainer with Messi but who is his back-up? Surely the previous manager had some second choice a little better then I am left with? Nevermind, moving on. Position of left winger is perhaps better filled. I see Henry is quite useful there, although not natural but again thats about it. I know, I know... there are players able to play there but they are hardly worth a single star and are more Spanish second division material. I am starting to worry a bit now, no way I can fix that with my current budget. I guess Barcelona just didn't need to rotate before!

Okay. You're difficult to please. I'm beginning to get irritated. Oh well I suppose . . .

Lucky for me Ibrahimovic is class but again no real back-up of the same level, unless you count Henry but then my left wing is utterly lacking or Bojan who is not yet up for it in my eyes. Leaving the front end behind for now I look at my defence. Now thats better, plenty of DC's worth looking at, good amount of depth too. It is a shame two of those are also on long term injuries but I guess I will just have to accept that. Not so pleased with the fullbacks tho. The left side is reasonable with two players able to do the job but the right side is (again) a mess. First choice would be Daniel Alves, good but not natural DR (WBR is his first position) and back-up is missing. Again, not saying there are no players but they are not remotely in the same ballpark. I can understand teams have small squads and first choices but this is getting silly. What if this guy had an injury, who would you have played dear chairman? Tssssssk....

WTF?!?! What is the point of this post? I can't take it no more . . .

Well, seems even if I cut the dead wood I would be left with a tiny squad of first choice players and god forbid they would have to be rotated. Cutting dead wood like this is not very rewarding either, with most second choice players worth very little. Still I get to work and place most of the players I don't see playing in my squad on the list. Including Bojan because I need to get my money from somewhere right. Allready slighty over wage budget so the more people I get rid of the better. I do have to buy at least one player, as Iniesta is still out with an injury (and would like to play him as MC anyway) and I got no class players to play the AMC position! Shock and horror here, Barcelona doesn't have a player for that role unless Messi moves from the wing to center, which would leave the wing to a second rate player. Not good, not good. If only the previous manager didn't sent out Hleb on loan. He IS the back-up to most positions I seem to be lacking, but I guess that logic has been lost somewhere along the way.

...

With a certain feeling of drama I look to the youth squad for possible impressive players, mostly as back-up to my tiny worldclass squad at this worldclass uber rich team. Hmmm, according to my newly hired ass man (needed to fire almost all my staff because they, to be honest, were not of a decent level either) the youth is not impressive at all. The best talents get 2 stars, and he knows what he is talking about as I hand picked him for his ability to judge the team. Guess they are not going to lead the line for years to come either then...

...

I am still talking about Barcelona here, first class players for most first 11 setups (depending on formation, I picked a difficult one it seems) and good depth central midfield and defence but in other positions no real second choices and world class talents missing. In theory no big deal as the club is rich enough to fill spots but how can I tell share this wisdom with my chairman! Well guess the only course of action is to pull some tricks out of my sleeve myself and gamble on an even more tiny squad by selling everybody not strickly needed or good enough. Hopefully I can get something back for this, get my hands on some cheap but worthwhile talents and keep my fingers crossed my first choices will stand the test of time and learn how to ride ankle twisting and leg snapping tackles and keep their level of fitness.

...

I really do not know how this team used to function before I took charge. If some key players get hurt the quality of the team would drop to mid table at most. Scary huh. If this is really how the the state of Barcelona is IRL I hope they smarten up and get some good back-ups for their money next time and don't blow it all on one striker.

...

Leaving with a bit of good news, by selling and hard negotiation I am able to bring in Gourcuff as my first choice AMC and Ribery to fill the left wing with quality suitable to a team of Barcelona's stature. Broke the bank while doing it and still got no solid back-up for Messi or another RB. Wish me luck folks... and I need it because the first friendly allready dragged Ibrahimovic to the doctors office.

...

PS: Take all this with a pinch of salt as my own choice of formation got me into this mess, but I did expect more transfer money and a better balanced squad with good back-ups. Guess being the richest team doesn't mean the squad is solid from every angle. Lesson learned for sure...

Really? All that for this?

Small update, due to new injuries the first real game of the season against Athletic Bilbao (super cup) is going to be played with 0 senior subs

Thank you.

You didn't really need to respond if you disliked reading it so much mate...

Couldn't be bothered reading the whole thing, but if you watch Barcelona play in real life, it's basically the same team for every game and they were extremely lucky last season to have no major long term injuries

You didn't really need to respond if you disliked reading it so much mate...

True, but he needed to be snide, so...

Couldn't be bothered reading the whole thing, but if you watch Barcelona play in real life, it's basically the same team for every game and they were extremely lucky last season to have no major long term injuries

Guess thats true, keeping my fingers crossed I have the same luck but it doesn't look very promising. Might be me but I really would think Europe finest would have such a risk covered?

What is THE problem? Last year Guardiola decided to put Toure to DC position, where he was simply worst player on pitch. How about Caceres instead? And no players for AMC? Weell, Barca always play 4-1-2-2-1 so no need for AMC players.

I cannot find any logic on first post

Guess thats true, keeping my fingers crossed I have the same luck but it doesn't look very promising. Might be me but I really would think Europe finest would have such a risk covered?

Well, just look at Real Madrid or Atletico. Many things on Spanish football are more "I like it more this way" than just using common sense.

Yeah I know how Barca normally play but personally been a little bored with the same old same old 4-5-1 or 4-1-2-2-1 (think we mean the same). Besides just in a writing mood, and in no way meant as a whine, I just found it a suprise that Barca had such a specific and rather thin squad. Any way you look at it that would not make it flexible or a good way to deal with injuries. Which I, as I stated above, allready witnessed due to the fact some players started injured and some joined the pack. Walking a thin line at the moment.

Also, the transfer budget thingie. The club is rich but looking at finances I am a bit puzzled where the money is at. I currently have a balance of 9 mil while the club value is quite a bit more then the player values combined. The transfer budget I had didn't seem to have an effect on this balance either, nor season tickets. I got no clue how Barcelona is running their finances at the moment, seems like I am not seeing it at least. Anyone care to update me on that?

Now I understand that normally barcelona play 41221 with wings and a dm.

Barca's use of player is a bit like that man utd game with midfield defenders. It doesn't quite work properly with FM because the game puts a lot of emphasis on the positional value.

On the right, bojan or henry can play instead of messi

on the left, iniesta plays there often

And Pedro plays on both right and left a lot. It seems that he is a bit underestimated. anyways...

puyol also plays a lot in right back.

So with Barca I just signed a DC and an AMRL, both still under 21 wonderkids, and it's working out pretty well. Just won against valencia 5-1 on away. I lost the euro supercup against shakhtar though :o

If you are gonna change the tactic, then of course you will have to change some players.

They don't have many AMC resources, instead they have more DMs.

And yeah they stupidly spent all the money on Chygrynskyi.. who i had to send on loan to buy non eu players lol

if it wasn't for that, we'd probably get just about that much added to the original transfer fund.

So I open up the first few mails, among start of the season expectations and eagerly await the transfer sum available to me! I read it and read it again, right... they handed me a whooping 15 mil to spend with NO excess wage budget (so no swapping around the cash). I take a good hard look at my chairman and cannot help but think he lost his mind. Maybe next year then.

As someone mentioned, they were forced to play Toure at CB in the Champions League final, and also asked Keita - a CM/DM - to play at LB. So, yes, there squad is thin, but when everyone is fit they have one hell of a team.

As for finances, of course theres no money to spend it all on went on Ibra. Next year you'll get some.

All good points, didn't keep track of their transfers too closely (IRL) to notice that they have indeed allready spend a large sum last summer. So the money thing seems spot on.

The thin squad is also a management choice I guess, having top players for key positions and sometimes a average player as back-up. Risky, but a strategy indeed.

Think I need to adjust to this "thinking" a little after managing totally different teams before the last few years. If only they stopped getting injured

As someone mentioned, they were forced to play Toure at CB in the Champions League final, and also asked Keita - a CM/DM - to play at LB. So, yes, there squad is thin, but when everyone is fit they have one hell of a team.

As said, Caceres was available. But he just, well, just like Hleb, he just, well...

Maybe Guardiola hates them so much.

Pointless OP

if your moaning about being barcelona ur never ever going to be happy

If things are going bad for you with Barcelona, you KNOW it is your tactics! (Not trying to be funny).

Yeah I know how Barca normally play but personally been a little bored with the same old same old 4-5-1 or 4-1-2-2-1 (think we mean the same). Besides just in a writing mood, and in no way meant as a whine, I just found it a suprise that Barca had such a specific and rather thin squad. Any way you look at it that would not make it flexible or a good way to deal with injuries. Which I, as I stated above, allready witnessed due to the fact some players started injured and some joined the pack. Walking a thin line at the moment.

Also, the transfer budget thingie. The club is rich but looking at finances I am a bit puzzled where the money is at. I currently have a balance of 9 mil while the club value is quite a bit more then the player values combined. The transfer budget I had didn't seem to have an effect on this balance either, nor season tickets. I got no clue how Barcelona is running their finances at the moment, seems like I am not seeing it at least. Anyone care to update me on that?

Mate - I understand your amazement at this. I also would have never imagined that the Barcelona squad could be that thin.

Whenever I take over a new team or start a new game I make sure I check the squad before taking the job

I'm playing as Barca, using a real 4-3-3 with 3 central strikers, and absolutely dominating. My only big buy was Dzeko , and managed to win the spanish super cup 11-0 on aggregate, without Iniesta or Xavi. Started my league campaign and the way I see it my first team is absolutely untouchable. The starting squad is light up front, but the defensive subs are of a decent standard, and the midfield is fantastic even with my 2 biggest players out.

I also brought in a 3 mil spanish striker (21 years old) to provide a touch of extra cover up front, and I'm more than happy.

With 2 purchases (only one big money), I can now play fine as long as I have 1 of my 4 defenders fit or 1 of my 3 midfielders fit. I don't quite have a replacement for everyone, but i'm a player short of a full second team that would finish 5th at worst...

Sensible squad management, a shrewd buy or two and the one big money grab has left me with fantastic squad depth.

I mean seriously, if i'm playing Pinto in goal, chygrnskyi milito [first teamer] and maxwell in defence (with chygy able to cover CB or RB as long as one is fit), Keita, Busques and Marquez (also able to go cb) in midfield and Henry, Bojan and Adrian (the 3mil buy) up front, I'm not overly worried against anyone but the very best.

Next summer I'll have to replace the aging players and bring in one extra midfielder or defender, and I have 2 "starting elevens" I'm proud to manage.

where does messi go with that tactic :o

on the right of the front 3 obviously

They've made their signings for the summer and they have debt - would't think it's such a big mystery why there's no budget left.

OP better stay away from LLM.

LLM??? whats that? and whats tbf?

LLM is the 'lower league management' forum and tbf means 'to be fair'

Pointless OP

if your moaning about being barcelona ur never ever going to be happy

Have to agree with this. It was great that your thread was on Barca (In my fourth season and only save on FM2010) but you then tear them to pieces - thats your call so fair enough!

This is the same Barca who won the treble last season beating Man Utd in the CL final and making them look average in the process. So in FM2010 they buy Zlatan for their biggest ever fee and lose Eto'o in the process, bring in Maxwell, and Dmytro Chygrynskiy ok not great players but good squad players IMO. And off the top of my head Gudjohnson and Edmilson left and Hleb is loaned out. Oh and they also bought a player in the name of Keirrson who In FM09 was not too bad!!! And is pretty decent in FM10 to have as back-up but you cannot play him for two seasons as hes out on loan.

You want to sell Bojan - bit of advise.......... don't.

Yes the AMR back-up is weak but pedro can do a job when called upon but as someone has said Bojan can be retrained and Henry can play there aswell as Iniesta.

No money - they spent a lot of money over the summer and got very money in return. Wait untill December and you should get an injection of around £30m. And next summer you should get even more. FM history shows they are one of the richest clubs in the game and as you will see this when you play a bit more.

Dani Alves is a very good attacking full back - notice how in FM10 theres something called the tactics creator - play him as automatic or even more attacking if you wish - yes he is best at WB but he is accompolished at RB.

You most defensive minded midfielder is set as box to box. IMO this is too attacking and Toure should be ball winning midfielder or even defensive midfileder mentality.

Also in relation to AMC if you have Xavi as a deep lying playmaker then Iniesta in my experiences is a very good AMC - try him there. Scout Modric and see what your scouts think of him and yourself for AML- treat yourself in the January window!

Don't spend loads on Ribery as you can get him on a bosman at the end of the 2nd season- Oh you allready have.

I'm not having a go at your OP but based on what you have said about Barca and their apparant flaws then surely every other team in the world are in a worse position than Barca!

LLM is the 'lower league management' forum and tbf means 'to be fair'

Thanks

(10letterthingy)

in fairness i notice they dont win things too noticed they finished 3rd 4th and 2nd so far in my game and 2 champ leage semi's!!!

Barcelona have the best team on the planet. BUT, both Man Utd and Chelsea, and probably a fair few more have a much bigger and better squad.

If Barcelona keep everyone fit and free from serious injury, they will dominate, ala last season. However, lose three or four first teamers and their backup squad does look very thin. They seem to have spent all their money on a world class first team and not much else.

Well they don't actually concentrate on buying players. They really only buy when they cannot find the adequate player in their own squad. And they mostly concentrate on giving the playing hours to their youth.

Well this whole thread is allready a bit out of date (see original post date) as most of the stuff I said pre season I either took another look at (see my other posts in this thread) or have been fixed by some retraining and further buys in the winter season.

In short, I am having a great time with Barca and to the people who suggested I would not be happy with any (lower) team because I had some problems with Barca's squad depth I can only say, I have ONLY played those other teams before and because it IS Barcelona I did expect the best. World class team = world class expectations right? I took/take all your points aboard, even if some were hardly constructive, and worked it out. Barcelona is world class, their squad depth was not. Nothing more and nothing less.

By the way, I don't think Bojan is all that superb anymore. He might have been an amazing talent but right now there are many talents in FM who can match him or are simply better. All depending on how the game starts of course, Bojan his PA is set, many others have the random -9.

Ribery has been nothing short of magical on the left wing so no regrets spending money on him. To strengthen the midfield depth, Gourcuff, Pjanic and Sissoko are on board as well. Hard to disagree with their level of talent I would say either. I adopted a certain rotation and retraining scheme so more then one player can do different jobs. Pjanic can also play AML and Gourcuff plays very decently on AMR. Iniesta is the first choice AMC in my team and Toure and Sissoko are now playing defensive ballwinner role. Brought in a talent for RB backup and am still retraining Maxwell and Alves to be natural LB/RB one day.

All good, no need to flame me anymore

I love playing as Barca and am currently in Feb and yeah the squad is a bit thin but the youngsters used as back up have done a good job for me so far. Scoring goals for fun in the league, ok got bounced out of the Spanish Cup and into the first knockout stage of the Champions League.

Not bought anyone and have almost 40 million in the bank ready to spend if I need to. I want to go down the Barca route of developing the youngsters to see how good they can become over time. Should be fun.

Well this whole thread is allready a bit out of date (see original post date) as most of the stuff I said pre season I either took another look at (see my other posts in this thread) or have been fixed by some retraining and further buys in the winter season.

In short, I am having a great time with Barca and to the people who suggested I would not be happy with any (lower) team because I had some problems with Barca's squad depth I can only say, I have ONLY played those other teams before and because it IS Barcelona I did expect the best. World class team = world class expectations right? I took/take all your points aboard, even if some were hardly constructive, and worked it out. Barcelona is world class, their squad depth was not. Nothing more and nothing less.

By the way, I don't think Bojan is all that superb anymore. He might have been an amazing talent but right now there are many talents in FM who can match him or are simply better. All depending on how the game starts of course, Bojan his PA is set, many others have the random -9.

Ribery has been nothing short of magical on the left wing so no regrets spending money on him. To strengthen the midfield depth, Gourcuff, Pjanic and Sissoko are on board as well. Hard to disagree with their level of talent I would say either. I adopted a certain rotation and retraining scheme so more then one player can do different jobs. Pjanic can also play AML and Gourcuff plays very decently on AMR. Iniesta is the first choice AMC in my team and Toure and Sissoko are now playing defensive ballwinner role. Brought in a talent for RB backup and am still retraining Maxwell and Alves to be natural LB/RB one day.

All good, no need to flame me anymore

Good to hear your enjoying it Mystere. Glad you took my advise regarding Toure and changed him from box to box to ball winning!!!

This post is pointless. How can 1 guy winge about not having players with the only team that has won everything in 2009??

Either the OP has lost his marbles or he thinks that Arsenal have a better team than Barcelona...