[FM09] The Boys From Brazil - Fluminense

[NotWordsButDeeds]

Welcome To The Maracana

Please let me welcome you to Fluminense. I hope this becomes a nice read, especially for those of you who haven't experienced club football in Brazil. The thread is not intended as a club guide, merely a record of the clubs path with me at the helm; however, I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about the club, or my save in general.

Fluminense is a famous sporting club from Rio de Janeiro, it's main focus always being football. Despite being a considerable club, they've won only two national titles (1970 & 1984) since that competition began in 1959, and a national cup in 2007. However, they do have an impressive history in the prestigious Rio State Championship, winning it on thirty occassions - a record surpassed only this year by their rivals Flamengo. Some players of note from Fluminense include their top scorer Valdo, who netted 314 goals in 401 matches; the goalie Castilho, who represented the club for 17 years, went to 4 world cups, and had 255 clean sheets in 696 matches; the famous Rivellino who scored 3 goals at the World Cup for the 1970 team; and Torres, who captained that same legendary team.

For my game I've used an edited database, from 9.2. All Brazilian clubs have had there debt removed, S. American clubs with a reputation of 6000 or more have no debt too, and I've changed Fluminenses kits. I wanted the debt removed because the AI is poor enough in the transfer market, I thought them having a bit more to spend might at least help a bit. And for fairness, the clubs we might might in continental competition hav a clean slate.

I have around 35 DDTs loaded to keep the international scene lively. And a medium database should be sufficient. I have Brazil loaded down to division three, although only the top one will be on full-detail.

Transfers - there will be a strict format for this game. I can sign/buy players under strict guidelines only! These will be when I have less than 2 players for each postion who don't have at least 2/4 stars for their CA/PA or when a player reaches 35. When I do get to sign/buy a player they shall be 21 or younger, from Brazil, and they'll be someone I've found by scouting.

In this way the team will be kept quite young with the focus on regens, and will be 100% Brazilian. I should only need to sign one or two players for the first few seasons and after that maybe just one now and again. That's the plan anyway!

I hope it makes an interesting game for me to play, and for you to read about.

[NotWordsButDeeds]

About Club Football In Brazil

One of the things that appealed to me about Brazilian club football is it's just so competitive. Since 2000, 6 different clubs have won the title and another 3 have been r/u. If we compare that to England - they've had 3 different winners and another r/u. So that should make for an interesting game, with different teams challenging, and more of them for you to beat to become successful. Taking the division as a whole, I think there's even more contenders. Because if we go back to 1995, there's actually 12 different teams been in the top two - and I think that's a better reflection on how many teams could win it.

The national cup reinforces this. Albeit a rule may aid this - whoever wins the cup can't play in it the following year. This may give false indicators over a 2 or 3 year period, but over 10-15 years it definately doesn't. So in the cup, over the last 10 years, there's been 8 different winners and another 5 different runners up.

This is purely my personal opinion, but the teams who are or could be contenders are Sao Paolo, Corinthians, Flamengo, Palmeiras, Vasco, Internacional, Gremio, Santos, Fluminense, Botafogo and Cruzeiro (11). And those just behind are Atletico MG, Atletico PR, Coritiba and Sport.

So, if you consider the 3 foreigner rule, moderate (at best) finances, and a continuous player exodus to Europe, you can see how difficult it could be to dominate the league.

The Campeonato Carioca is the Rio state championship. It's one of the most keenly contested, containing several big clubs like ourselves Fluminense, Flamengo, Vasco de Gama and Botafogo. It's divided into two phases of two leagues. Two of the big teams go into one division, with the other two in a second league, and teams from lower divisions completing the make-up. The top two from each division then play-off in semis and a final. Next you'll play against every team from the other division, followed by another semi and final, so that you have a winner from that phase and one from the earlier phase - this gives you a grand final for the state championship (played over 2 legs), unless the same team won both phases and no final is played. So in the Carioca a top team can have nine matches against top-flight opposition, something which is not replicated in other state championships.

[viiralx]

Good luck m8

[NotWordsButDeeds]

Good luck m8

Thanks. I'm looking forward to it.

It may be a day or two before I get a season preview posted though.

[NotWordsButDeeds]

Pre-Season Summary and Preview

I've taken the hotseat at Fluminense in December 2007. The board want me to qualify for the Copa Libertadores, which I think is a very tall order; I've confirmed I'm looking for a top-half finish, which is more in line with the medias (still optimistic) prediction of 7th. I asked the board to improve our training facilities, but they declined due to a lack of funds. They did agree to try and find me an affiliate for our hot prospects to pick up match practice at, but I rejected their finds as they were all in Argentina and Uruguay - this is a Brazilian club! So I'm afraid that leaves me with only my initial affiliate, 3rd division Cabofriense.

The playing staff are of quite a good standard, without the first XI being terrific (just 3 players have been capped, none current, totalling 12 caps); although there is a little depth to the youths. With just one foreigner and an average age in the 1st squad of 24 I have a good base for my intentions. I've managed to get 3 of the better players (Thiago Silva, Romeu and Arouca) on long term contracts, and Luiz Alberto will be leaving at the end of the season in a £1.1m move - he's a good defender who will be seeing plenty action this season, but he'd have been getting replaced in December anyway due to his age. 13 players have been freed, 2 have been sold for small fees, and I've got 20 prospects loaned out to see some playing time.

The coaching staff really need to be seen to be believed - 3 assistants, 5 GK coaches and 3 fitness coaches! I released 3 of them to get a couple of more suitable people in; lack of finances means that'll need to do until at least next season. We're already £0.5m in debt and by the end of the season I think it'll be somewhere around £5m.

I played 3 friendlies against lower league opposition to get fitness levels up a bit before the start of 1st phase of the Carioca, and thankfully there were no upsets. We've got a few games at the start before we meet rivals Flamengo, so hopefully the players will be at a reasonable level by then.

The next update will be after the 1st phase. Before then please let me know if you think I've missed something you think I should be including. Good luck to everyone

[Welsh Wizard]

Great start I look forward to this and nice to find about club football in Brazil and the guidelines you has set make a intresting read.

[Balls4u]

keep it up, good reading so far!

[NotWordsButDeeds]

Great start I look forward to this and nice to find about club football in Brazil and the guidelines you has set make a intresting read.

keep it up, good reading so far!

Thanks lads

[NotWordsButDeeds]

State 1st Phase Update

We collected 7 points from the first 9, with hot prospect Maicon scoring his first goal for the club at 17 years of age. The only disappointment being my best striker, Washington, picking up a 2 month injury.

Next up Flamengo! We both went into this game on good form, with Fla winning their previous fixture 3-0 and ourselves with a 5-0 victory, so it looked to be a good match. Surprisingly, we started as 5/4 favourites. A 59,000 crowd watched Fluminense control the game and create several good chances without reply. Despite the domination, the match ended 0-0, with Flu regretting the absence of their first choice hitman to stick those oppotunities away.

We continued the championship in a successful manner without dropping any more points, and without conceding a goal in the 7 matches. So we finished a couple of points behind our arch-rivals, qualifying for the 1st phase semi-final, and several ahead of Boavista. The other group was topped by Botafogo folowed by Vasco de Gama. In the semi we played the winner of group 1 (Botafogo) and Flamengo played the r/u of group 1 (Vasco).

Again, we went into this big fixture as favourites at 6/4. Again however, we had most of the play without making a breakthrough, and the game finished without goals. Surprisingly, the match went straight to a penalty shoot-out without extra time! That'll teach me for not reading the rules. The first 14 spot kicks were scored in a high quality shoot-out, until our young leftback sadly missed his and Botafogo tucked theirs away for a 7-8 victory.

In a tight match, Flamengo beat Vasco 1-0 to progress to the final against Botafogo. A packed Maracana had 92,000 watch on as Flamengo beat Botafogo 1-0, courtesy of a 75th minute penalty. On this occassion though, Fla deserved the win. That means Flamengo won the opening stage and await the winners of phase 2, to be played shortly. If however they happen to win it themselves, there will be no grand final required.

Amongst these fixtures, we played the first leg of our cup match, which we won 5-0 against Bare. The thing of note here, was the distance involved - and it may give people who are unfamiliar with Brazil a view to why there was no national league until the late 1950's. We had to travel 2,100 miles for that match! As a comparison, the distance by road from the SW tip of Englan to the NE tip of Scotland is 835 miles!

The next full update will be after the State 2nd phase, but as always, please feel free to contribute. Good luck to everyone in their games

[Raware]

Good start to your new career at Fluminense. As i said in your previous thread, i'm unfamiliar with the Brazilian league's so i'll be following this thread. I still find the whole set up of the league's there alien to me but i'm slowly beginning to understand them.

I never realised there was no national league until the late 1950's. 2,100 miles! It's like playing in Europe every week if those kind of distances are travelled!

[NotWordsButDeeds]

As i said in your previous thread, i'm unfamiliar with the Brazilian league's so i'll be following this thread. I still find the whole set up of the league's there alien to me but i'm slowly beginning to understand them.

I never realised there was no national league until the late 1950's. 2,100 miles! It's like playing in Europe every week if those kind of distances are travelled!

That is why the state championships are so important there - THOSE were THE championship until the national started. The country can really be considered to be a small continent; this is the way I like to think of it - states where there are a couple of big teams could be thought of as Scotland, and the bigger ones where there are 4 big teams (like Rio and Sao Paulo) could be thought of like England or Italy. There are a dozen or more teams who could win the title so it is quite interesting. The Rio state (or Carioca Championship) is itself very competitive with a possible 9 matches against top clubs. You can compare that to nations with 4 big clubs who'll play only 6 matches against the others. That's even before the national starts! LOL

For a good outline, people interested should check this out.

EDIT: not a fantastic start to my career, but quite steady and in line with what I thought

[NotWordsButDeeds]

Newsflash

After keeping 15 cosecutive clean sheets, Diego finally conceded his first goal in the 49th minute of the cup fixture against Nautico! So he managed 1398 minutes plus injury time for all those matches.

Although Henrique has better goalkeeping attributes, his mental ones are very poor; so I thought I'd try Diego at first and he's kept his place - improving in the coaches estimation too, going from 3 stars to 4.

I was just thinking about his clean sheets when Nautico scored! We've still got the unbeaten run, but that'll probably go now that I've mentioned it! LOL

[NotWordsButDeeds]

State 2nd Phase Update

The second stage proved very eventful. In this phase we played every team from the other section once. In the 5th game of the 8 Macae were fortunate to hold us to a draw, meaning it was going to be a tight squeeze to get through, with Volta Redonda having a good campaign just behind us; and our last 2 games were against Vasco and Botafogo.

The penultimate match against Botafogo saw the opposition steal a draw, which was more than they deserved. Then in the last fixture of the league, against Vasco, when a goal up, we conceded our first goal in the whole competition in injury time, to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory! In the end we went through on goal difference against Volta. On 2 occassions during this phase, I was told by the board I should be doing better despite not losing a match! Jeez........it's tough here!

The 2nd phase semi seen us play Botafogo, who put us out the previous semi on penalties. And would you believe it - another draw led to another shoot-out. This time however Fluminense triumphed!

So in the closing phase final we met our great rivals, Flamengo. 92,000 crammed into the Maracana to watch a real tactical battle. Flu were winning the contest when Fla got one back; but they couldn't manage any more and we racked up a fantastic 2-1 win to meet our enemy again in the grand final.

Another capacity crowd turned up, to see us dominate the 1st leg - but we couldn't land a killer blow and the 2 teams went into the next leg even. Once again Rio turned out en masse, and once again Flamengo were the fancied team. They were outshone by Fluminense though, but for not the first time this year, the Tricolor couldn't get the ball in the net and the game finished goalless. With sudden death shoot-out experience behind them, Flu were favourite for the penalty kicks. But the pressure was on them immediately when the 1st attempt was missed. We never recovered from that and Flamengo won the Campeonata Carioca to add to their already impressive record in the competition.

Overall I'm satisfied with our campaign, it was just a shame that we failed at the final hurdle - unluckily I must say. And playing top flight opposition (2 of whom are predicted to finish in the top 10) 8 times without defeat should give a little confidence to the players. The championship had a positive effect on our finances too and we're not in the serious amount of debt that I thought we might be; the last 3 games against Flamengo generated around £800k alone and we're currently around the same figure in the red. Both my wingers topped the assist chart which is pleasing, with Ciel being our best player.

We also disposed of 1st division Nautico in the cup, 5-2 on aggregate. That seen us play Juventude next, and they took the 1st leg 1-2; to be honest though, I rested quite a few players for my next match against Botafogo. We recovered in the 2nd leg, winning 1-0 and going through on away goals. In the same round, Flamengo exited the cup in a shock defeat by 2nd division Ceara. The quarter final sees us face Internacional in a tough fixture.

I'll be back in a little while to update on our campaign in the Brasiliero. Until then good luck to everyone

[NotWordsButDeeds]

May - Mid June Update

It's been a fun save so far, and it continued the same way in this period.

There was an award for young loan player Edcarlos, and he was selected in the along with Thiago Silva and Washington.

Fluminense continued their campaign in the Cup with a 2-1 aggregate win over Internacional, our conquerers in the 1992 final. We controlled much of the first leg and they had the better of the 2nd, and overall it was a fair result. That set us up with a tie against Palmeiras. I was really looking forward to this one, although I was sure we would go out. I was to be proved overwhelmingly wrong! We thrashed them 4-0 in the first leg at the Maracana, with a hat-trick and an assist from evergreen hitman Washington. And we followed that up with a fantastic 3-2 at their Antarctica, coming back from a goal down to win the game, meaning an emphatic 7-2 aggregate victory! The cup final sees us play an in-form Santos team, who killed off Sao Paulo 4-2 in the other semi. Interestingly Washington is tied at the top of the cup scoring chart with Santos' Kleber Pereira on 7!

The 6 league fixtures have been a topsy-turvy affair, winning 2, drawing 3 and losing 1. Not bad though, considering we've played Cruzeiro (0-0), Sao Paulo (a good comeback 2-1) and Internacional (1-1). It was just a shame our defeat came at home to Sport Recife (0-1)! The other games were a sound 2-1 beating of Botafogo and a 2-2 with Nautico where we lost a goal lead. Those results leave us sitting in 8th at the moment. Santos, our cup final opposition, have got off to a fantastic start by winning all their first 6 and sit top of the league.

The only other thing to add is a few exits from the playing staff. Mauricio goes to Belenenses for £1m over 24 months and 50% of next sale; Fabinho goes to Iraklis for £100k; and Somalia leaves on a free to Leiria. All this shaves £11k of the wage bill. The Mauricio deal is one I felt forced into making. He is 19, couldn't impress in the 1st team, and couldn't find a loan club. So with little chance of reaching his 5 star potential here, I thought it best to move him on with a future clause.

That's all for now. Good luck to everyone

[NotWordsButDeeds]

Mid June - July Update

A poor game against Atletico PR ended in defeat (0-1), but was followed by a more exciting 2-2 draw against Goias, despite playing for 85 minutes with 10 men. Miniero were next up and took all the points from us with a single goal victory in an evenly balanced match. Our next fixture, against Vasco, ended goalless, but we really did deserve the win in this one. The 3 points came against Figueirense who struggled against a superior Fluminense, who ran out 1-0 winners. And the last match of the period seen us take on bitter rivals Flamengo. We played well, and sure enough got the points, in front of 67,000 spectators - with Washington getting the important goal. So with 12 matches played we sit in 11th place, above Flamengo and with only 2 points between us and the 5 teams above. Not spectacular form, but not too shabby either - plenty of positives to build on.

Between the Mineiro and Vasco fixtures we had the first leg of the Brazilian Cup final, at home to high flying Santos. We played well but could only create an average quality of chances on their goal, and the match finished 0-0; meaning it was going to be an exciting 2nd leg! Sure enough, it was a very tight contest. We did have the edge on them though, and took a 2 goal lead in the 1st half with Washington ending a personal goal famine. In the 2nd half though, my left back Junior Cesar gave them hope when he put through his own net, and Santos capitalised on that by equalising through in-form striker Dudu. They couldn't make any further impression though, and Fluminense lifted the trophy (for only the 2nd time in their history!), courtesy of the away goals rule. Blow the dust off the silver polish chaps! And Washington finishes the competition as top goalscorer with 8.

EDIT: that cup win means I'll play in next years Libertadores, regardless of my finishing position in the league.

[Nebu]

Interesting. I know nothing about the Brazilian league either, will be keeping an eye on this. Why Fluminese needs 5 gk coaches at the beginning of the game is beyond me though and 8 physios?

[NotWordsButDeeds]

Why Fluminese needs 5 gk coaches at the beginning of the game is beyond me though and 8 physios?

5 GK coaches, 3 assistants and 8 physios! Mad!

According to Wiki there is 1 assistant and 1 GK coach! And in fairness there is 12 people who could loosely fall under the description of physio.

[viiralx]

Many of the top teams have some crazy staff roaster.

Gremio has 9 physios in my current save (2013)

Palmeiras has 8, they also got 6 scouts.

Madness :3

[PMLF]

You have to take into account some who work for the youth players and some who are less famous (whole wiki and the likes normally only name the more famous ones).

The squads are also pretty big, so they need lots of them, what the game can't do is making of them be a "head physio" or "head goalkeeping coach" as in real life.