FM11 - Santos FC - Home of the fish.

Santos Futebol Clube - The Peixe

A little history of Santos

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Santos hail from the relatively small Brazilian city of Santos, a seaport in the state of São Paulo which gives their nickname "Peixe" meaning "Fish". Since being founded in 1912, they have formed a rich history in Brazilian, South American and World football.

Santos' prominence in football can be traced back to 1956 when a certain Pele started his career, aged 15. Pele stayed with Santos for 17 years and brought unrivalled success having achieved:

* 2 Intercontinental Cups;

* 1 Recopa Intercontinental;

* 2 Continental Championships (Copa Libertadores);

* 6 National Championships;

* 13 State Championships.

Santos have been unable to replicate that illustrious history of late, but the signs are encouraging having won 2 Serie A titles, 3 State Titles and the Brazilian Cup in the past decade.

The Santos squad

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--- The 'Keepers

Santos are blessed with 2 promising keepers in Rafael & Felipe. Both similar in stature; both relatively young, both steady with plenty of room to improve. The Assistant Manager & Coach reports state they're about equal in their potential terms and both should go on to become very good Brazilian Serie A keepers. No need to improve on this area at the moment.

--- The Rear guard

Centrehalfs are aplenty in the Santos squad, with Durval and Edu Dracena the standout partnership with the two Brunos providing steady backup. In the fullback slots, the ageing Leo still has some juice left in the tank and should provide an excellent tutor for the emerging Alex Sandro who could go onto become a very good Serie A fullback. Danilo and Para fight it out for the right-back slot, with Danilo being rated highly by the Santos Coaches.

--- The Engine room

Where it really gets interesting for Santos is in the middle of the park, where Paulo Henrique makes his name. Touted as a potential world-class talent and well on his way to achieving that, he's one of the best players in Brazil according to the Coaches and the standout performer in the Santos squad. Blessed with the ability to use both feet adeptly, a keen eye for a killer pass and a great work rate, he should be pulling the strings in the Santos midfield and you need to make sure you use him wisely.

Alongside Paulo, is the equally industrious Arouca, although on the short side, his all-round game brings balance to the midfield. Throw in the flair of Marquinhos and you have a creative, yet hardworking midfield. Roberto Brum and Rodriguinho provide depth to the midfield, with Brum bringing a steady head and excellent leadership qualities. Looking to the teenagers, we see Zezinho and Alan Patrick and the Coaches rate these two as some of the best prospects in the squad. Not quite ready to nail down a first team place as yet, but Zezinho should make the left wing his own in years to come while Alan Patrick could follow in Paulos footsteps.

--- The Forwards

The Santos attack has speed in abundance and is where you'll find the other of Santos' exciting duo, Neymar. Just like Paulo, he's touted as potentially world-class and shouldn't have any problem achieving this. Finishing isn't his strong point and would probably better serve as an Inside Forward playing out left, or as a link-man playing as a Deep Forward or Trequarista. Kerrison is on loan from Barcelona and is an obvious starter, given his finishing and movement, which is lacking in the attack. Madson deserves a mention for his speed, dribbling and flair and could be a starter out right as an Inside Forward. The two Tiago's are the brightest prospects in the attack according to the Coaches and could be used as backups for Kerrison and Neymar/Madson.

My recommendations

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I decided to set a 4-5-1 with Inside Forwards, Advanced Forward, Advanced Playmaker Attack, Central Midfielder Automatic, Defensive Midfielder Defend and the Defence as default.

Theres no need to sign a GK at present, Felipe and Rafael can rotate if necessary and if developed properly should be comfortable playing at the top of the table. Fullbacks aren't a worry but you should look at potential replacements for next season since Leo's contract is expiring and i wouldn't renew it given his high wages and his age. Centrehalf isn't really a problem, but theres no future talent here, so i'd take a look at Sebastian Coates from Nacional who can be picked up for around £3m. He's a bit on the slower side, but should develop nicely.

Centre midfield is a bit weak, especially in Defensive Midfield, so take a look at Egidio Arévalo Ríos who should leave Penarol on a free-transfer on 1st January 2010. He's good enough for Santos and should walk into a Def-Mid slot. Coates' teammate at Nacional, Mauricio Pereyra, is a great young midfield talent and should be signed on a free-transfer as soon you start the game. Longer term in Midfield, you need to be looking at Bernardo from Cruzeiro, who's a fantastic all-round midfielder with a penchant for long-distance shots. Also at Cruzeiro, Dudu, who should become a very good right-winger in a few years.

You need an out-and-out striker. Theres a lot of creative and speedy forwards, but theres no reliable goal-scorer to put the ball in the net. Diego Tardelli is one possible target, but he won't leave Atletico Mineiro at the moment.

What happens in Brazil?

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Brazil is a great country to manage in! Not only do you compete in the National Division (Serie A), theres also the Regional Championship, the Sao Paulo State Championship. The season officially kicks off in January, with 19 games (a pot-luck draw of home or away) of the Sao Paulo State Championship against some poorer teams and some of the bigger teams like Sao Paulo, Palmeiras and Corinthians, effectively a 4-way tussle! The Top-8 will enter a playoff into Quarter Finals, then Semi's and a Final to determine who wins the State Championship. This usually runs into May.

The National Division starts in May and has 20 teams, with 38 games from May to December, with no playoff. The top 5 will enter the Copa Libertadores, which is similar to the European Champions League featuring teams from across South America.

The Copa Libertadores is the premier Cup competition of South America and is world-reknowned and features a Group-Stage of 4 teams and subsequent knockout rounds. The competition will take place during the later weeks of the State Championship and continue into the first weeks of the National Division.

The winner of the Copa Libertadores will enter the Semi Final of the FIFA World Club Championship.

All in all, theres at least 70 games a season if you reach the Final of everything, with a small break from December to January.

How much do i get? Well...

Brazilian Serie A (National First Division)

- Winner gets £2,741,000

Sao Paulo State Championship (Regional Divison)

- Winner gets £1,360,000

South American Recopa (Super Cup)

- Played between the winners of the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana

- Winner gets £190,000

- Runner Up gets £128,000

Copa Libertadores (Champions League)

- Second Round teams get £103,000

- Quarter Final teams get £133,000

- Semi Final teams get £182,000

- Runner Up gets £182,000

- Winner gets £909,000

FIFA Club World Championship

- Winner gets £3,030,000

- Runner up gets £2,424,000

Finally, some tips to get by in Brazil

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1 Load the Brazilian and Argentine Leagues all the way down to the lowest division, but don't add the other Leagues from South America, or it'll make it very expensive to sign their players, like Peruvians, Colombians etc. I always add the European Leagues in case i feel like moving clubs later on, but thats your choice.

2 Try and get the best Coaching and Scouting setup you can. As soon as you load up the game, search for Scouts with high Potential and Current Ability ratings, 16+ will do. There are plenty of these around and signing staff from other SA countries will improve your Scouting knowledge from that country. There are some good Colombian Coaches available for free, but check out Cruzeiro too, who have some excellent Coaches. Look for high Motivation, Determination and Discipline when signing Coaches.

3 Take a look at this this thread with the dates of when new players are created (newgens) in other South American countries. Make a Manager note and set the date to each SA country and set it to remind you yearly. This way, you'll get a news item every year saying that new kids from Uruguay have been added to the game so you can send your Scout to Uruguay to get them early. This is very, very important.

4 From my own experience with Santos, the excellent youth system produces some great talents and it's exciting when you come to January and see who's been brought into the youth teams. You should look to offload most of the Reserve team, even for free if necessary, simply to lower the wage bill. Making £500,000 here, £250,000 there, can really make a difference. You cannot afford to keep a big Reserve side and a big Youth side.

I'm currently in the summer of 2014 with Santos, having gone from strength to strength through the years.

4 x Copa Libertadores

3 x Sao Paulo State Championship

2 x National First Division

1 x Club World Championship

The highlight of the season is undoubtably playing in the Club World Championships and testing your team against the bigger European sides. We beat Inter 1-0 but went on to lose 1-0 to Real Madrid and 2-1 to Chelsea in subsequent years.

The squad i've assembled is pretty special and is the strongest in South America.

Alex Sandro

Bernardo

Dudu

Gary Medel

Neymar

Rafael Toloi

Sebastian Coates

Mauricio Pereyra

Paulo Henrique

Ganso and Neymar

Nice thread

Hopefully someone else takes up the Santos mantle... not many people seem to want to manage outside Europe!

Anyways..

Neymar and Henrique are worth over £23m each now, nobody has put a bid in yet and i doubt they will now. Henrique made some noises about moving early on, but seems commited to Santos for now.

Board are looking into building a new stadium for us, should find out in 6 months. Selling Tiago Alves to Shakhtar Donetsk for £20m was a good deal for me; Tardelli is on form and a regen i've signed is potentially world-class so it's given us the funds to look at a new stadium.

On course for our 3rd title in the 4th season

Brazilian League has overtaken Ukraine and Russia now, so most of the Brazilians in those countries want to come back to Brazil

Tried to sign Wagner Love, but he wanted too much money

Prize money of the Brazilion National First Division has increased to £2,741,000, so theres a little extra for the bank

Sao Paulo State Championship format has also changed, but i'm not sure in what way. Guess i'll have to wait until it starts in January!

Prize money of the Brazilion National First Division has increased to £2,741,000, so theres a little extra for the bank

Sao Paulo State Championship format has also changed, but i'm not sure in what way. Guess i'll have to wait until it starts in January!

It's quarter-finals, then semis (both one-legged) and a two-legged final.

Nice thread, by the way.

Thanks dude

Bit dissappointing that the top 8 now enter the playoffs, 2 extra games

Board are now building a 36,000 seater "Santos Stadium" for us, completed in 1 year, with a 20 year sponsorship deal of £200,000 a season!

Hopefully we can go from strength to strength and become the largest club in Brazil

Lost the World Club Cup against Bayern Munich 1-0, despite all the match highlights showing our chances, then 1 Bayern chance which they scored.

£51m in the bank for the 2015 season, don't think i'm going to make any major signings, probably try and scoop up some more regens though.

Doesn't look like anyone else is tempted

Midway through the 2015 Sao Paulo State and we're leading comfortably by 9 points. Despite having a lot of money, the other teams like Sao Paulo and Corinthians aren't really strengthening, so it looks like Santos will carry on dominating South American football

How hard is it to hold on to Neymar and Paolo Henrique?

Great OP been thinking of playing in Brazil for awhile now.

Not that hard really dude

Paulo Henrique was making noises in his first season about wanting to move, so i always said "I want the club to grow" etc and he was professional enough to agree. Thankfully, the club did grow as we won Leagues and Cups and he hasn't complained since.

Neymar has never asked for a move.

Both are now "Worldwide" and worth over £20m each and nobody has ever bid on them (i'm in 2015).

Managing in Brazil isn't as "obscure" as it might appear, most FM'ers probably have more knowledge about South America than any continent outside of Europe, so you already know about clubs and players

As soon as I get FM11 I'm starting as Santos. Anyone got any tips of managing in e South American league? I've never managed there before, but I imagine that you have no money for signings and you pretty much rely on young prospects to play well?

If you read the last 2 sections, i've tried to go into the outlines of playing in South America and given some Prize Money for SA competitions

Most Brazilian clubs have good sponsorship deals so you see around £15m-£25m coming in every January depending on who you are managing; iirc Sao Paulo have the most, but Santos, Corinthians and Cruzeiro are up there too.

Theres no Season Ticket money, so you'll see Membership fees of around £1m with Santos under "Fund Raising". TV Deals are around £4m for the State Champs and around £4m for the First Division.

I've spent big on some 48month deals and gotten some big players in, so you're not relying on youth players at all, but having the youth recruitment just means that you won't have to spend that much.

I've gotten a world-class Centrehalf through my Academy, a very good Inside Forward and a good Midfielder which mean i don't have to spend too much on wages, signing fees etc.

Just got this lad through in the first youth intake. I don't think he can play until he is 16 though assman has 16 for JPP and rates him at 5 stars that's the same as he rates Neymar. Anyone developed Tiago Alves? He is highly rated and has interest from Real Madrid, Inter and Barcelona. I also got two 4 and a half star rated regens through.

That regen looks pretty sweet, does Santos always have good youngsters coming through? On FM10 I was at Roma for 10 seasons and not once had a decent young player come through naturally, always had to buy young players from different clubs.

Santos have some of the best ratings for Youth Academy, Facilities and Youth Recruitment in the game and i've seen at least 1 good prospect come through every season.

Just got this lad through in the first youth intake. I don't think he can play until he is 16 though assman has 16 for JPP and rates him at 5 stars that's the same as he rates Neymar. Anyone developed Tiago Alves? He is highly rated and has interest from Real Madrid, Inter and Barcelona. I also got two 4 and a half star rated regens through.

Managed to send him on loan to Shahktar Donetsk for £1m loan fee and a £20m future fee... and they bid it 12 months later

He's developing very well, won't reach the level of Neymar or Paulo, but will become a leading Brazilian First Division Forward. Definitely one to keep, or sell for big money.

Also, if you're short of cash, might be an idea to offer out the reserve players, but don't forget a 50% future fee clause. I've gotten a fair bit of cash from players being resold

Robinho's (31) contract is up in a few weeks (2015) and he's interested in joining us, time to bring Robinho back home

He's on £215,000 per week at Milan, which isn't something we can match, but hopefully £30,000 per week will make him happy

Hey guys, few questions here. Is there any kind of rules saying that you can only sign South American players to Santos? Just how high can you get the reputation of the Brazillian league? I got FM11 yesterday and have just installed strongly considering starting with Santos. Thanks

You can sign anyone you like, from anywhere, but the match day squad can only have 3 non-Brazilians. It also takes something like 15 years to gain Brazilian citizenship.

Getting the Brazilian League rating to increase depends on how well Brazilian clubs do in the Continental competitions (Libertadores and Sudamericana).

I've won the Libertadores every year, the Recopa every year and appeared in the World Club Cup every year, but the Argentine Premier Division is rated higher, because they're clubs have performed collectively better in the competitions than the Brazilian clubs. Think of it like European co-efficients for the Champions League. The better the English clubs do, the more places they get in Europe and the higher the English League rises in the rankings.

Also, Brazil is rated as a Developing country, which will limit how far the League can progress. I'm not aware of anyone who's seen a nation change from Developing to Developed.

Thanks, I went them anyway. Sold a few players due to the massive squad and loaned out a few more, got my youth graduates and a couple looked very good especially one named Evandro a versatile defender. In addition there are tons of good youths i nthe U20 squad already. Really is a great foundation. Is a fair comparison that the Sudamericana is the Europa League of South American football and the Libertadores the Champions League? Thanks

Yeah i'd agree with that

Libertadores winner enters the World Club Cup at the Semi Final stage and has more prize winners money. You'll need to win it to keep Neymar and Paulo happy

I cleared out ALL the reserve squad, signed the players i mentioned in the first post; Pereyra, Coates and Rios and promoted a few kids

And another thing, it can be tough in the First Division because every club has star players and some poorer squad players, but if you persist for a season or two, you'll begin to dominate

you know if jean carlos chera has been introduced to the game yet.think he is 15 now.

Wasn't there as of Patch 11.1, might be introduced in the Data Update next year though

I started a new game with Santos. Only played a few matches so far but they have gone pretty well, apart from losing to Sao Paulo. I'm not very good at the game and I'm pretty sure I will do terribly when the first division starts later.

Done 10 games just over half of the Sao Paulo championship so far. Really can't get Nilmar going. 2 goals, 4 assists and a 6.84 av rating in his 10 appearances so far :-( tinkered the formation a fair bit currently doing a narrow 4-3-1-2 realyl didn't know Elano has joined Santos so that was a welcome surprise but again his av rating is below 6.8, Paulo Henrique is the only guy doing much if im honest, 3 goals 1 assist and a 7.15 av rating in his 8 appearances (injured for 2) in the Sao Paulo state so far. I'm 5th and only 2 points off the top with 7 wins and 3 defeats but don't feel like it's gone too well so far for some reason. Definitely a fun save to do though glad I chose it as my first and hopefully it'll be going for a long time!

Most of the teams you'll come up against will play a narrow 4-2-2-2, so if you play narrow down the middle too, you're going to run into problems because players won't find space

I played a wide 4-5-1 like in my opening post at the start and once i had better players, i switched to a 4-4-2 with high wingers.

I've also set instructions in-game to "Shoot on sight" and "Play wider".

On a plus note, we've just won our 5th Copa Libertadores, 8-0 win over Gremio after losing the first leg 2-0

The youth system at this club is unbelievable, and has been for quite a while in FM.

This is the latest one for me, after only one season...

So keep an eye out

Looks brilliant him Tubey. I haven't had anyone that good yet, 1 or 2 who could make first team only. In talks with Everton?!? What's the fee?

Sorry to double post... but I have just been knocked out of the Sao Paulo State play-offs... after drawing 1-1 with Palmeiras?!?!?!??!! What the hell is that "Palmeiras go through because they are the higher seed" rule all about? I finished 5th with Palmeiras 4th, we drew after 90 minutes. No extra time, no penalties, no replay... Game over they win as they are higher seeded?!?!?!? Ridicolous! They injured Zizinho, Marquinhos and Ganso forcing me into three injuries as well, Rage!

Looks brilliant him Tubey. I haven't had anyone that good yet, 1 or 2 who could make first team only. In talks with Everton?!? What's the fee?

I'm Everton - pre contract of £2.2m, so poaching him. I always poach off Santos every FM.

Robinho comes home

£26,000 per week, which is a bit much for a 31 year old, but having moved to a 4-4-2, i'm in need of experienced forwards.

Shouldn't have bothered.

Wrapped up the 5th season in 2015 with another League win, Copa Libertadores win and Recopa win.

Going into the Semi Final in the WCC against Pachua, other is Osaka against Real Madrid.

Diego Tardelli finished the season with 38/49 and is on his way to Fiorentina on a free transfer as i try to free up wages and look to the youth prospects

And we won the World Club Cup, 2-1 win over Real Madrid

Dominated the game with 22 shots to 13

Such a shame that despite being one of the best teams in the world, the game doesn't recognise us as such we're still "Continental".

Sorry to double post... but I have just been knocked out of the Sao Paulo State play-offs... after drawing 1-1 with Palmeiras?!?!?!??!! What the hell is that "Palmeiras go through because they are the higher seed" rule all about? I finished 5th with Palmeiras 4th, we drew after 90 minutes. No extra time, no penalties, no replay... Game over they win as they are higher seeded?!?!?!? Ridicolous! They injured Zizinho, Marquinhos and Ganso forcing me into three injuries as well, Rage!

Yes, this is the format in real life, the team that finished in best position in the league stage have this advantage.

And we won the World Club Cup, 2-1 win over Real Madrid

Dominated the game with 22 shots to 13

Such a shame that despite being one of the best teams in the world, the game doesn't recognise us as such we're still "Continental".

Congratulations.

off topic but swisso, who's the best regen who has come out of your academy so far?

Probably Marcinho who came along in my second season.

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8063/marcinhoprofileattribut.png

Excellent on the physical side, a little low on the mental. Scored 33 in 121 the past 2 seasons

I've just got an AMR whos rated at better than Dudu, so this guy must be in the Messi bracket because Dudu is already an excellent player

He's fb tbh. 20 in positioning

Went with a 4-2-4 for the 2016 Sao Paulo State and finished 2nd behind Palmerias. Scored more than we've ever done with regular 5-0, 6-0 wins and even a 7-0, but lost a few games to Palmeiras and Sao Paulo. Won overall though through the Playoff system.

Decided to revert back to the 4-5-1 when away from home against tough teams, but keep the 4-2-4 at home every time.

Stadium delayed until 23.12.2017 which was a ballache, especially as it was only a 3 month delay at first. Seems like a bug, because the Facilities screen has us moving out in August 2016

No sign of us moving up the Competition rankings, seems like Brazil will stay where it is

Through to the final of the Copa Libertadores, again, leading 2-0 from the 1st leg against Estudiantes.

Just starting the First Division and Gary Medel wants a new challenge (aka give me a new contract) but he can leave for all i care. Offered him out for £9m and there were plenty of takers

And we wrap up our 6th Copa Libertadores with a 6-0 and 2-0 win over Estudiantes

Hasn't done anything for the League though or for the Club

Looks like the dynamic league is going to take some time....

i am just about too go santos on 11.2 never managed in brazilan league any tips

i am just about too go santos on 11.2 never managed in brazilan league any tips

Load up all the Brazilian Leagues and the Argentinian Leagues, but don't load up any other South American Leagues. Also add a custom field and load up all South American players with a National Reputation.

If you start in December 2010, try to sign Egidio Arévalo Ríos and Mauricio Pereyra straight away on free-transfers, they offer some depth to the midfield.

The first season is tough, because most of the teams are fairly equal, but after 1 season you'll have more money to spend because of big sponsorship deals. So hang in there for 1 season and don't give up

Does anyone else find that every offer put in for a young player with good potential somehow gets leaked?

I found 2 or 3 youngsters in Flamengo with the potential to be great but Real Madrid always triple my offer after it gets leaked. Very frustrating.

Hasn't really been a problem for me dude, best advice i can give for regens is to assign a Scout to Brazil and set Under 18's in the fliter on 28th December.

That way, he'll get himself prepared and ready to go on season update day, 2nd January

Should give you a couple of days headstart before the European clubs come in.

Hasn't really been a problem for me dude, best advice i can give for regens is to assign a Scout to Brazil and set Under 18's in the fliter on 28th December.

That way, he'll get himself prepared and ready to go on season update day, 2nd January

Should give you a couple of days headstart before the European clubs come in.

I found these guys myself while browsing youth teams (Flamengo have some awesome talents by the looks of it).

And it's not a matter of getting there first cause I've been first every time and placed an offer but a certain 'mole' in my coaching staff likes to leak this information to the press. Not sure why though :\

So we finally moved into the Santos Stadium with a capacity of 35,000, but an expansion capacity of 65,000 (i had to cheat and look on FMRTE )

Gate Receipts are much bigger, previous record was £325,000 for a Copa Lib final, but i've just got £425,000 against Sport Recife at home in the League

Also sold Ramires to Barcelona for £14.25m as he wanted a new deal, so he follows Gary Medel out (£9m).

what advise can you give onbwhich players are worth keeping? the sqad is too big and there ar many kids that im told can be leading players. i know they wont all be good so some advise will help. i also lack much knowledge on south american football as i stick to european players.