vasilli07 Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Background And A Short History Founded in 1904 as the company club of the Bayer chemical company, Bayer Leverkusen has found success in many areas, particularily track & field and basketball. The soccer division was started in 1907, and everything was combined in 1928. After gaining entry to the Bundesliga in 1979, Bayer has been a consistently good team in the last 10 years. The exception was 95/96, when only a closing minute goal saved them from relegation. However, the next season, they crowned their effort by finishing as runner-up and entering the Champions League as the 2nd German representative. The greatest success is winning the UEFA Cup in 1988 over Espanyol Barcelona. Certainly Leverkusen's success in the 1990s is a testament to the benfits of corporate sponsorship. But it is also a reflection of the ability to Bayer management to scout and develop untried, young foreign players, particularily from Brazil, and turn them into stars. 1998-99 saw Bayer put together a decent season. They were pretty much in 2nd behind Bayern for the entire season, but never really threatened for the title. The next season was different. Bayer looked to have fallen out after a couple of ass kickings by rivals Bayern Muenchen, but a great late season run put them in first place. Going into the final weekend, all they needed was a draw against lowly Unterhaching to take the title. Instead, they slumped to defeat, and when Bayern won their match, Leverkusen had indeed thrown away the title. Bayer would continue to live up to their nicknames, "Vizekusen", "Neverkusen", "Luserkusen" etc., none worse than in 2001-02 when they threw away an almost insurmountable 5 point lead to choke, and then preceded to lose the DFB Cup and Champions League finals! Among others, star player Michael Ballack left. Bayer signed several expensive new players, so there was little doubt that the following year they would be decent, if not perhaps direct title challengers. Instead, they sucked and not until the final day's 1-0 victory at already relegated Nuernberg were they able to save themselves. BayArena Basic Club Information Full name : TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen e. V., Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball Nicknames : Werkself ("Factory Squad"), Bayer 04 Founded : 1st July 1904 Ground : BayArena, Leverkusen(Capacity: 30,210) President : Wolfgang Holzhäuser Fierce Rivals : FC Köln Derbies : Rhein Derby(vs FC Köln) Other Rivals : Borussia Mönchengladbach, FC Bayern, Borussia Dortmund Media Prediction : 4th Club Captain : Simon Rofles Vice-captain : René Adler Corporate Facilities : Good corporate facilities Training Facilities : Top training facilities Youth Facilities : Excellent youth facilities Junior Coaching : Average junior coaching Youth Recruitment : Extensive youth recruitment Transfer budgets : Europa League qualification - £4.3M, £550K/week, Champions League qualification - £5.25M, £600K/week, Title Challenge - £5.75M, £600K/week, Winner - £6.25m, £625k/week Honours Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vasilli07 Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share Posted November 25, 2011 Squad Goalkeepers René Adler Position : GK Ability : 4* Asst Manager Suggested Role : GK German international number 2 GK. Currently injured for the 1st 5-6 months. At only 26, he should be the number 1 GK for the years to come. His contract is ending on June 2012, remember to renew his contract. Bernd Leno Position : GK Ability : 2.5* Asst Manager Suggested Role : GK German U21 GK. Signed on loan from VfB Stuttgart for 6 months as a cover for the injured Adler. David Yelldell Position : GK Ability : 2* Asst Manager Suggested Role : GK USA international who just got his 1st cap in March 2011 against Paraguay. A new signing from MSV Duisburg. As it's unlikely to move him for now, I would suggest letting Giefer go out on loan for experience. Fabian Giefer Position : GK Ability : 2* Asst Manager Suggested Role : GK German U21 GK. Should be completing with Yelldell for the 3rd choice GK spot if you decide to let him stay at the club rather than go out on loan. Analysis With Adler out, Bernd Leno should be your number 1 for the 1st half of your season. As David Yelldell is a new signing, it's unlikely you will be able to get him out on loan or sell him. So let Fabian Giefer go out on loan for some match experience. And Adler contract is up at the end of the season, remember to renew his contract. Fullbacks Danny da Costa Position : D(RC) Ability : 1.5* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Fullback German U19 international. Daniel Schwaab Position : D(RC), WB® Ability : 2.5* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Wingback Former German U21 and a member of the European U21 championship winning squad. Signed for Bayer Leverkusen in 2009 after some impressive for SC Freiburg in the 2. Bundesliga. Gonzalo Castro Position : D(RL), WB®, DM, M(LC), AM(L) Ability : 3* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Fullback German international. A very versatile player. Would be a headache for you to decide on your 1st choice rightback as he is very similar to Schwaab. Michal Kadlec Position : D(L), WB(L) Ability : 2.5* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Fullback Czech Republic international. Attracted the interest of Liverpool earlier in the year. Analysis Castro and Kadlec should be the rightback and leftback respectively. Retrain Daniel Schwaab on his leftback position so that he can provide cover for Kadlec. With the vast number of rightbacks in the 1st team, 17 year old Danny da Costa is unlikely to see too much 1st team action, securing a loan deal will be best for him. Central Defenders Stefan Reinartz Position : D©, DM Ability : 2.5* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Ball Playing Defender German international and former U21 defender. Came through the ranks of Bayer Leverkusen youth team and only started playing in the Bundesliga 2 seasons ago, making 58 league apps so far. Ömer Toprak Position: D© Ability: 2.5* Asst Manager Suggested Role: Ball Playing Defender Former German U19 defender but decided to play for Turkey at the senior level. A new signing from Freiburg to replace the retired Sami Hyypiä. Manuel Friedrich Position : D© Ability : 2.5* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Central Defender Former German international. As 1 of the older defenders in the team, his experience will be vital to guide the younger defenders. Analysis All 3 players are good enough to start. It depends on if you want a young partnership(Reinartz-Toprak) or a young-experienced partnership(Reinartz/Toprak-Friedrich). Defensive/Central Midfielders Simon Rofles Position : DM, M© Ability : 3.5* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Deep Lying Playmaker German international and captain of the team. A ever present figure in the side since 05/06 season. Lars Bender Position : DM, M© Ability : 2.5* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Deep Lying Playmaker German international who is the twin brother of Sven Bender(Borussia Dortmund). Has established himself as a 1st teamer for the past 2 seasons since his move from 1860 Munich. Michael Ballack Position : DM, M/AM© Ability : 4* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Deep Lying Playmaker German international. The veteran midfielder is considered to be the finest player to come out of Germany in the 2000s. Came back to the club last season and try to finish what he left off in 2002. Named in "Bayer Leverkusen Squad of the Century". Hanno Balitsch Position : D®, DM/M© Ability : 2.5* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Fullback A 1 cap German international. Left the club for Mainz and Hannover respectively in 2005 after failing to enough playing time. Returned to the club in 2010 on a 2 years deal. Analysis Rofles and Bender should be the definite starters. As for Ballack, although at 35, I still think he has a big part to play at least for the 1st season. So I will named him as my starter. If he doesn't take a huge paycut, he should be let go at the end of the season. Attacking Midfielders Renato Augusto Position : M®, AM(RLC) Ability : 4* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Attacking Midfielder Brazilian international. A midfielder blessed with great pace and technical abilities. Although being plagued by injuries for the past few seasons, he is still a thorn for defenders whenever he plays. Would suggest offering him to clubs for 20m in 48 months installment deal as you can get better cheaper replacements. Tranquillo Barnetta Position : M/AM(RL) Ability : 3.5* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Advanced Playmaker Swiss international. Been with the club since 2004. A winger who is good with both feet, this allows him to operates on across the midfield area. Michael Ortega Position : AM(RC) Ability : 1.5* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Advanced Playmaker U20 Colombian midfielder who is on loan from Mexician club Atlas. Sidney Sam Position : AM(RL), S Ability : 3* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Advanced Playmaker Former U21 German midfielder. Signed from Hamburg last season. Scored 7 goals in 30 apps in his 1st season. Considered to be 1 of promising young player alongside teammate André Schürrle. Analysis Both Renato Augusto and Tranquillo Barnetta will have clubs interested in them at the start. Renew Tranquillo Barnetta contract and Offer Renato Augusto to the clubs for 20m in 48 mths installments, you should get some good offers. Sign better and cheaper replacements from Shakhtar Donetsk, likes Willian or Douglas Costa. Sidney Sam should be used sparingly(or as sub) as he has poor attributes like decisions and off the ball. Michael Ortega loan deal should be terminated as he is not good enough. Strikers André Schürrle Position : AM(LC), S Ability : 3.5* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Winger German international. Joined the club on a 5 years deal after a successful season with Mainz where he scored 15 goals in 34 appearances, breaking former Mainz player Mohamed Zidan of 14 goals. Stefan Kießling Position : S Ability : 3* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Target Man German international. The towering striker most impressive season came in 08/09 season where he finished as the 2nd top scorer in Bundesliga, just 1 goal shy of eventual winner Edin Džeko. Eren Derdiyok Position : S Ability : 3.5* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Target Man Swiss international. Leverkusen snapped the former 'Swiss youngster of year' in 2009 season he impressed for Basel and Switzerland. Scored probably 1 the goal of the season against Wolfsburg on 1st Oct. Check it out on youtube. Nicolai Jørgensen Position : M(L), AM(RL), S Ability : 2* Asst Manager Suggested Role : Advanced Playmaker Danish international. Has so far only made 20 appearances for Leverkusen. Still waiting for his 1 goal. Analysis Schürrle will be your key player for years to come, so finding him the right position will be vital. As for Kießling and Derdiyok, they are both similar players. IMO, Derdiyok is just a very average player. With a few clubs interested in him, take the opportunity to sell him for 15m in 48 months installments. Conclusion With a blend of good young and experienced players, the team really don't need much improvements for the 1st season. You should be able to achieve at least CL football. As for challenging for the title, if Bayern Munich can drop enough points, the team will have a decent shot at it. Lastly, as the stadium is small, revenue earned will be lesser as compared to other clubs. So learn to manage your finances and sign/sell smartly. 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vasilli07 Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share Posted November 25, 2011 Probable Starting XI and Formation Decided to go with a 4-2-3-1 where Ballack will be 1 of key player of the team. I hope he will roll back the years and attack the box to score goals like he did in the past. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigpapa42 Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Nice to finally see a Leverkusen thread going. I always enjoy playing as the club on FM. I gave Ajax and HSV a try first on FM12 but I have my eye on a Leverkusen game. Disappointed that Adler starts injured but such is life. Always been facinated by the unique history of the club - so far as I am aware, they are the only club to never win a their domestic top division yet with the UEFA Cup/Europe League and make a Champions League finale. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReggaeBwoy Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Bernd Leno, tbh I think has earned that jersey permenanetly, he has performed brilliantly irl and theink Adley may end up leaving if Bayer secure Leno on a permanent deal Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vasilli07 Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 11/12 Pre-Season Transfers In terms of transfers, I feel I have done well to upgrade the team with the money from Derdiyok and Renato Augusto sales. Pre-Season During pre-season, I just like to play some very small reputation teams for the team to get used to my tactic and formation. In the 1st competitive game against Emden, Schürrle scored 2 to cap off an excellent debut. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_Lane Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Hey Vasilli07 Well done for creating a Leverkusen thread =) They've been my FIFA team for a few years now but never had a save with them on FM. Going to boot one up now, and post some progress reports. Hopefully get some life in this thread =) Hows your season playing out after a nice pre-season? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_Lane Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Hey Season is under way and we're off to a suprisingly good start. Managed to hit the ground running and doign well in the league. My only signing was Kara, who provides some cover to the 2 DMC's - Bender and Rolfes. My key players so far have been the LB Kadlec and Barnetta as an AMC (AP) - both have been so solid and consistent. Barnetta has 6 assists and 3 goals, and Kadlec from a LB position has 5 assists and 1 goal to his name already. GoodLADS. Im playing the 4-2-3-1 formation: Derdiyok usually plays away games or games against tougher oppositions where his superiority in the air gives us a foothold up front. Barnetta can also drop to the CM position if needs be to cement the midfield. Sidney Sam has been wonderful, his pace and finishing provides some relief for the lone striker. Start of the season has gone well, some gentle games to ease us in. The 1-1 with Arsenal was my most frsutrating game. Sagna sent of 7th minute yet Arsenal dominated the game up to the final whistle. It was a shame, and what could have been a great victory. In terms of the league its still early days, we have not been as solid away from home as i'd have liked but we've gotten the results. Im hoping for the gods to shine on us in terms of avoiding injuries, as i feel we could be crippled, particularly if we lose key attackers. Heres hoping we're there at the end of the season. My main focus is going to be the League and Champs League, the revenue from that tournament could be key to purchasing a couple players to cement a couple of weaker areas of the squad next season.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vasilli07 Posted November 30, 2011 Author Share Posted November 30, 2011 Saint_Lane, nice start. Do you score alot of goals off corners? I set it to mixed but Friedrich is still scoring quite a number during corners. I will do my update during the winter break. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_Lane Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I've had a bit of luck of corners. I set them to far post with Derdiyok/Kiessling attacking the far post. My biggest CB challenging the keeper. Looking forward to it. My game crashed after the Arsenal game so reverted back to my auto save and have to play Napoli onwards again =( Update Played out the games again, same results except lost to Arsenal 1-0 this time round. Typical Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe__the__man Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Only just seen this, great job on the OP Vasilli. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_Lane Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Manager Wakes Up To Exciting Revelations At BayArena Face ...Desk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vasilli07 Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 @joe, thanks. @Saint_Lane, if you didn't sell any players, I guess the finance is pretty tight with the loan repayments. 95k can probably can get a loan deal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vasilli07 Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 11/12 Mid-season Update Bundesliga Good start to the 1st half of the season to create a healthy 8 pts lead. With away games to Dortmund and FC Bayern in the 2nd half of the season, this could be gone very easily. Champions League A surprise 2-0 victory at Marseille on matchday 1 got the campaign going. Then Inter couldn't deal with my set piece deliveries on matchday 3 as Reinartz and Freidrich combined for 3 out of the 4 goals, sidney Sam got the other goal on the 1st min. That pretty much seal qualification. In the return leg, we got a 2-0 win at ease, could have been a larger win if not for the woodwork where we hit it a massive 4 times. DFB-Pokal Despite forcing Bayern to a 3-3 draw after extra time, Ballack, Barnetta and Sow pks are all saved by Neuer. Crap!!! Player Stats Leno has played really well but he is too expensive to sign now. Sidney Sam has surprised me with his performances after replacing the disappointing Ballack before an a dislocated shoulder kept him sidelined for 6 weeks. Goalkeepers René Adler - 7 Apps - 7 Conceded - 3 clean Sheets - 1 MoM Bernd Leno - 10 Apps - 10 Conceded - 10 Clean Sheets - 1 MoM Defenders Daniel Schwaab - 4(14) Apps - 0 Goals - 2 Assists - 0 MoM Gonzalo Castro - 24(1) Apps - 1 Goals - 8 Assists - 1 MoM Michal Kadlec - 21 Apps - 2 Goals - 5 Assists - 1 MoM Stefan Reinartz - 24(1) Apps - 5 Goals - 1 Assists - 2 MoM Manuel Friedrich - 21 Apps - 5 Goals - 1 Assists - 1 MoM Philipp Wollscheid - 6(5) Apps - 2 Goals - 2 Assists - 0 MoM Midfielders Simon Rofles - 22(1) Apps - 3 Goals - 2 Assists - 1 MoM Lars Bender - 6(4) Apps - 1 Goals - 2 Assists - 0 MoM Michael Ballack - 5(9) Apps - 0 Goals - 0 Assists - 0 MoM Kara - 21(1) Apps - 1 Goals - 0 Assists - 0 MoM Tranquillo Barnetta - 24(1) Apps - 9 Goals - 15 Assists - 3 MoM Willian - 25 Apps - 13 Goals - 6 Assists - 6 MoM Sidney Sam - 12(5) Apps - 9 Goals - 3 Assists - 2 MoM André Schürrle - 5(9) Apps - 3 Goals - 2 Assists - 1 MoM Strikers Moussa Sow - 22(3) Apps - 10 Goals - 9 Assists - 4 MoM Stefan Kießling - - 9(6) Apps - 4 Goals - 2 Assists - 0 MoM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_Lane Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Beautiful form in the league and Champs League Vasilli. You're looking strong in all competitions at the moment, very impressed with those results against Inter Milan! Shame about Bayern but meh - if your going to lose a competition better that one than the league or ChampsLeague. I too had to miss out on signing Leno which was a shame, he seemed very promising. Good luck for the rest of the season, looking forward to the end of season report. I'l hopefully have mine up soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vasilli07 Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 11/12 Post-Season Update Jan Transfers Die Werkself has always the tradition of attracting some really talented German players(Schürrle, Bender, Sam and etc) to the team. So I will continue tradition with the signing of Leonardo Bittencourt for 1.6m from FC Energie Cottbus. Bundesliga The undefeated feat is based on the team strong and miserly defence, 12 goals conceded with 24 clean sheets. Adler was in goal for 17 of them. Champions League In the 1st KO round, we totally destroyed Ajax with an aggregate of an 8-2 score. As a reward, we were given a tough tie against Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid. In the 1st leg, Schürrle got us the lead with an 8th min goal with a left foot volley. Then in the 74th min, Barnetta struck a sweet freekick from 35m out to give us a 2-0 home victory. At the Santiago Bernabau, Arbeloa was given his marching orders for a late tackle on Barnetta. That didn't make things easy as we fail to get that away goal as despite having some decent chances. Real Madrid finally struck in the 80th min through Karim Benzema, making the final 10 mins very nervy. But with Adler giving us a MOTM performance, we held on. In the semi-finals, we were to face the best club in the world, Barcelona. For some reason, Messi was on the bench for the 1st leg. They were all over us but it's was we who stuck 1st, Barnetta scoring the winner in the injury time of the 1st half to give us the win. They had 29 shots with 15 on target but nothing is getting past Adler who produced yet another MOTM performance in Spain. In the return leg, the fairy tale finally ended. Messi started and he was just unstoppable as he got 2 goals to send Barca through to the finals. Player Stats I was kinda of afraid when Leno loan expires but Adler, coming back from his injury has came back and put in some really commanding performances. And with Sidney Sam injury, Schürrle was given a chance to shine and he did with 8 goals and 15 assists. 1 of the poorer players in the 2nd half of the season is Moussa Sow, who suffered a goal drought for 983 mins. I may need to sign another more consistant striker in the summer. Goalkeepers René Adler - 29 Apps - 14 Conceded - 20 clean Sheets - 3 MoM*** Defenders Daniel Schwaab - 7(24) Apps - 0 Goals - 2 Assists - 0 MoM Gonzalo Castro - 43(2) Apps - 1 Goals - 13 Assists - 1 MoM Michal Kadlec - 29(2) Apps - 2 Goals - 7 Assists - 1 MoM Stefan Reinartz - 46(1) Apps - 8 Goals - 1 Assists - 3 MoM Manuel Friedrich - 41 Apps - 7 Goals - 2 Assists - 21 MoM Philipp Wollscheid - 14(17) Apps - 3 Goals - 3 Assists - 0 MoM Midfielders Simon Rofles - 36(2) Apps - 3 Goals - 6 Assists - 1 MoM Lars Bender - 15(9) Apps - 1 Goals - 2 Assists - 0 MoM Michael Ballack - 5(12) Apps - 0 Goals - 0 Assists - 0 MoM Kara - 41(1) Apps - 2 Goals - 1 Assists - 0 MoM Tranquillo Barnetta - 40(1) Apps - 15 Goals - 20 Assists - 5 MoM*** Willian - 45 Apps - 27 Goals - 8 Assists - 11 MoM*** Sidney Sam - 21(15) Apps - 12 Goals - 9 Assists - 3 MoM André Schürrle - 25(9) Apps - 8 Goals - 15 Assists - 4 MoM Leonardo Bittencourt - 2(9) - 1 Goals - 0 Assists - 0 MoM Strikers Moussa Sow - 42(3) Apps - 18 Goals - 16 Assists - 7 MoM Stefan Kießling - - 14(14) Apps - 8 Goals - 3 Assists - 1 MoM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayahr Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 How can you get him at that price? I'm just trying to sign him (maybe, actually) and Cottbus wouldn't settle for anything less than €7m. However, we're still in summer 2011, not winter. Was the player listed by request or did you just make an offer at market value? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vasilli07 Posted December 14, 2011 Author Share Posted December 14, 2011 I'm just scouted him, my scout told me he would be worth 1.6m so I just bid that price. I didn't load the German 2nd division though, only the top division(Eng, Esp, Ger and Ita), not sure if that affects the price. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillyBroadband Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Wow, this thread has been very quiet. Cracking thread vasilli07, nice one. I've just started up a new save with Leverkusen and the only glaring problem I can see to start off with is that Adler won't sign a new contract and it's saying that he will be leaving at the end of his current deal which as we know finishes at the end of the first season. Is there a way around this does anyone know? Leno looks good and has a lot of potential but Adler's great. I'm playing with the latest patch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vasilli07 Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 Is that suppose to be the case in real life? If yes, maybe they did something to some of the hidden attributes that won't allow him to extend his contract. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillyBroadband Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Is that suppose to be the case in real life? If yes, maybe they did something to some of the hidden attributes that won't allow him to extend his contract. Just saw this on his Wikipedia page: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12874_7344768,00.html That's a shame. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vasilli07 Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 Leno should be on future transfer on the latest patch and will be a capable replacement for Adler. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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