Uruguay - South American lower-leagues

This is the first time I’ve posted here so will see how it goes. I seem to play FM a lot slower than most people, judging by the speed of the updates, so this maybe a thread to leave and come back to, as and when. I’m starting a lower-league career game running all the playable North & South American leagues in full; my aim is to climb the ladder to manage one of the continents top clubs, preferably in Brazil.

I’ve started out in Montevideo, Uruguay, in the second-tier. Montevideo is undoubtedly the hub of Uruguayan club football with all but one of their top-flight clubs being based in the city and the majority of its Second Division sides.

Penarol and Nacional are easily the country’s two biggest clubs, with most of the city torn between the two rivals, whilst Denfensor Sporting and Danubio are the biggest of the remaining clubs. The rest of the pack in the Primera Division are very much evenly balanced, so my aim is to break into this group and hold my own, with a club from the second-tier.

The club I’ve opted for are modest Institucion Atletica Sud America, a side tipped to finish in the lower reaches of the league.

The quality in the Second Division is of a fairly low standard, whilst finances are generally very limited. To give an indication of how little money circulates at this level, the average player at Sud America earns around £80 per week, with the top two earners on £130 p/w. My entire wage budget is £1,856, which is spread amongst a relatively large but youthful squad of 24 players (average age 21).

Sud America, nicknamed Buzones – with the team’s colours resembling that of the orange coloured mail boxes throughout the city - have minimum training/youth facilities and play at the poor standard 5000 (3,500 seated) capacity Parque Carlos Angel Fossa stadium. The club have never competed higher than the second-tier - this is something I hope to change!

Sounds very tough, as a lot of Latin American leagues have an average points system which makes survival after promotion a far harder thing to do.

JULY 2011 ~

With seven weeks until the start of the season, which commences with Rocha FC (H), I have plenty of time to assess my squad's needs and work on shape and tactics. The pre-season schedule will comprise of eight friendly fixtures, which includes the visit of two top-flight Argentine clubs, San Lorenzo and Belgrano.

The immediate issue is the need to reduce the wage bill to come in line with our structure. The club are presently £175 over, which at this level, means losing around three players. One decision is quickly made for me with Colombian second division outfit Universitario Popyan making an approach to loan striker Andres Alfonso for the season and take over his wages.

Alfonso, 20, would've definitely been in contention for first-team football but I have another four strikers who I have earmarked for first-team contention; without a future sale clause included into the deal, I hope Alfonso will return a better player next season for his experience in Colombia.

Another pressing issue is the lack of balance in the squad, with only one recognised senior left-back and just one right midfielder available, I will be required to add at least two more faces to the squad. Looking at the squad I'm initially going to settle on playing with a flat 4-4-2, a diamond 4-4-2 as well as looking at a midfield heavy 3-5-2.

Free agent Sebastian Brusadin (DLC), quickly becomes my first signing, joining the club for a second-spell. Although reports suggest he is injury prone, he will most likely start as my first-choice LB. Meanwhile, a number of potential right-midfielders are being scouted to come in on loan.

@deltablue The average points system is only used by some countries but for relegation, not promotion. I will explain the Uruguayan format when I've read through it clearly myself! I think it's fairly straight-forward.

@deltablue The average points system is only used by some countries but for relegation, not promotion. I will explain the Uruguayan format when I've read through it clearly myself! I think it's fairly straight-forward.

I know, I meant when you got sides promoted. I'm sure Uruguay do use it.

SEPTEMBER 2011 ~

Pre-season was completed with a great deal of progression being made. The squad have become more adept in a flat 4-4-2 system and lost just once in our eight friendlies [1-0 to Argentine club San Lorenzo]. Our overall record W3 D4 L1 against opposition of varying ability in comparison to ourselves suggests that we are difficult to beat.

The only concern to arise from our pre-season programme was our lack of goals, despite dominating several games throughout. Our forwards, I believe, are definitely good enough for this standard and the general lack of quality at this level [i.e. delivery, decisions] is probably the root of the problem.

Going into our first league game at home to Rocha FC, I was confident of our team’s shape and line-up and of taking a rigid, attacking game to the visitors to try and ensure possession is converted into goals.

Transfer-wise, an additional two players were added to the squad on loan, with their parent clubs covering their wages, whilst we have been unable to ship anyone out at this time. Coming into the squad were two RM’s to address our lack of strength in that position - Pablo Chapparo (Central Espanol) and Rafael Alberti (River Plate, URU). Both players fit straight into our 4-4-2 system and will contest for the wide right role.

The pair are not the only players we have on loan, with the club having confirmed two other loan details before I joined. Jorge Gonzalez (Danubio) is competent at DM/MC and at LB, at just 19-years-old. Fellow DMC/MC, Javier Favarel, 20, is also on the books from Argentine giants Estudiantes.

Segunda Division opening fixtures:

Rocha FC (H)

Tacuarembo (A)

Progreso (H)

Sounds interesting this. Good luck .

SEPTEMBER 2011 ~

Satisfied with both our transfer activty and pre-season programme, we go into the start of the season feeling fairly confident. Tipped to finish 11th in the 1- team table, I believe we will prove several people wrong and finish safely above relegation.

The Segunda Division is a 13-team league (just 24 games), guaranteeing the 1st and 2nd place automatic promotion to the Primera Division. The clubs finishing between 3rd and 10th then compete for the final promotion spot in a two-legged knock-out, with the club finishing 13th being relegated. Despite being tipped to finish outside the 3rd-10th place play-off spots, I think it would be a major failure if we didn't qualify.

Rocha FC - H

We were in good shape for our first game of the season and I had was confident we could get off to a winning start. We dominated possession early on but were restricted to very few chances, getting just one strike on target throughout the entire game - faring better than Rocha who managed just one shot in the whole match. The late sending off of Javier Favarel led to us having to settle for a point, in a very dull 0-0 draw in front of 476 fans.

Tacuarembo - A

Our first road-trip of the season saw us visit recently relegated Tacuarembo. Again we dominated possession but again we failed to threaten to score. A second-half own goal saw Tacuarembo take the lead and we were undone late on as we conceded a second on the counter-attack, just when we finally looked like we could snatch a goal. A disappointing 2-0 defeat.

Progresso - H

Concerned by our lack of goals in our opening two games, our attacking movement was worked out on during training throughout the week, whilst we reverted to a man-marking system. Whilst we didn't dominate possession as much as our previous other two games, we were certainly looking more of a threat in front of goal and finding space behind the defence. It was evident that our man-marking was allowing us to pick up the ball deep in our own half and were breaking forward time and time again. Alvaro Apolito then scored our first goal of the season, capping of a neat counter-attack before a Progresso defender put the ball into his own net from close range, again under pressure from Apolitio. Despite our two goal lead, we were considerbly inferior in terms of possession at the break and suffered an early scare after the restart when Apolitio's strike partner Ricardo Hernandez picked up a second-yellow card for dissent. Tensions were soon eased however when Apolitio grabbed a second after being played through, following a wonderful ball from right-midfielder Rafael Alberti before sealing his hat-trick from the penalty spot just moments later as we comfortably hung-on with ten-men to pick up an impressive 4-0 win.

The win was very pleasing after a tepid start in our opening two games and sees us in third place going after our first three fixtures; we'll now be hoping we can kick-on from here.

October fixtures:

Huracan del Paso (A)

Miramar Misiones (H)

Plaza Colonia (A)

I like your writing style, keep up the good work.

A Steady Start. I had a really enjoyable career in Uruguay last year with Plaza Colonia (who I see you have coming up soon), so will be following this with interest. I hope you have better luck than I did though, as it took me 6 years to get out of the Segunda, and then I never managed better than 5th in the Primera before leaving for the Nacional job...

Thanks for comments, don't get much time to play on weekends but will update on next few games very soon!

Really enjoying it so far!

@Chutney132 You did well to get to Nacional, would love something similar further down the line!

OCTOBER 2011 ~

A frustrating three games leaves us in mid-table in seventh spot...

Mirimar Misiones - A

Any hype and self-belief mustered from our successive wins against Progreso and Huracan del Paso was quickly extinguished with a disappointing defeat at top-of-the-table Mirimar Misiones. We found ourselves two-down inside the opening 24-minutes against a side which were superior in quality; although despite our bad start we were able to keep ourselves within touching distance and by the time we started to find our rhythm and play, Federico Gallego’s side-footed strike was always going to be nothing more than a consolation in a 2-1 defeat.

Plaza Colonia - H

What was to follow was our worst result of the season so far, in a rare excursion outside of Montevideo to Colonia del Sacramento for our match with Plaza Colonia. We trailed from the 18th-minute when the hosts disappointingly headed home from a corner. Two goals in two second-half minutes then sunk us, as we were handed a 3-0 defeat.

Deportive Maldonado - A

I decided to react to the successive defeats with changes to both our tactics and personnel for our forthcoming home fixture against Deportivo Maldonado. I’ve opted to put our specific man-marking scheme – which seemed to the basis of our two impressive wins last month – on hiatus, whilst our regular centre-half Agustin Lucas was dropped in favour of one of our two promising defenders, Diego Viotti, aged just 19. Left-back Ezequiel Davyt was switched to right-back at the expensive of under-performing Luis Arevalo; Sebastian Brusadin was recalled completed the back four after being forced to sit on the bench since returning from suspension.

The changes seemed to work but brought back with it familiar problems. We took a deserved lead when Rafael Alberti at the far post midway through the opening post but we were once again unable to convert our possession into goals. We opted for a more attacking strategy for spells and I expected us to put the result beyond doubt when Deportivo saw a player limp off after using all three of their substitutions, giving us a numerical advantage. It wasn’t to be however and I was furious as the visitors found their way back into the game, leaving us reliant on a solid display from goalkeeper Nicolas Medina to ensure us of the clean-sheet and take a 1-0 victory.

I remain perplexed by our inability to make our possession count and am contemplating a less rigid approach for our visit to struggling Boston River in our next match, which will kick-off at the earlier time of 10:15am due to TV scheduling, as opposed to our normal 4pm starts.

November fixtures:

Boston River (A)

Atenas de San Carlos (H)

NOVEMBER 2011 ~

A great month, albeit with just two games, leaves us fifth in the table with just goal difference separating us from third spot, nine games into our 24-game campaign...

Boston River - A

Typically unable to make the most of our possession, we found ourselves trailing to the league strugglers early after the restart when, unable to defend a corner, Sebastian Brusadin deflected the ball into his own net via the crossbar. The goal was a real blow as we’d targeted the fixture as a game we could obtain maximum points from but we responded well after pushing our defence higher up to get ourselves closer to Boston River’s goal. A long Martin Monroy throw led to substitute forward Jonathan Techera sending a looping header past the keeper to level in the 69th minute and we continued to threaten, with young centre-back Diego Viotti heading in his first senior goal five minutes from time, securing a 2-1 win.

Atenas de San Carlos - H

Three successive wins made us wary of the threat Atenas posed and with our defence again pushed higher upfield we found ourselves able to break the deadlock – Diego Viotti again on target, poking the ball into the net on 14-minutes. The introduction of Jonathon Techera again made an impact, with the 22-year-old winning penalty moments after coming on, but Martin Monroy blazed the result spot-kick harmlessly over the bar to prevent us from doubling our lead. We continued to match Atenas in all areas to hold on to record a 1-0 victory.

Playing a higher defensive line in our last two fixtures seems to be allowing us to hurt teams – although I also thought that our earlier man-marking system was doing this before being promptly handed successive defeats.

Jonathon Techera seems to be making things happen for us when coming off the bench in a centre-forward position and will be given a chance in the starting eleven shortly, young Ricardo Hernandez hasn’t been utilising his talents so far in a poacher role. Meanwhile, at the back Diego Viotti has excelled since being handed a first-team opportunity and is holding down his place in the side. Next month brings with it three games before we break off until mid-February.

December fixtures:

Juventud de Las Piedras (A)

Central Espanol (H)

Villa Teresa (A)

It looks like things are heading in the right direction. Important now to pick up some solid points in the next three games and put yourself into a good position before the break though.

DECEMBER 2011 ~

Mediocrity reigns in a winless month…

Juventud de Las Piedras - A

Our visit to Las Peidras against league pacesetters Juventud proved to be as difficult as expected but I was pleased with the performance despite being on the receiving end of a 2-1 defeat. Trailing by a single goal at the break, Juventud de Las Piedras added a second minutes after the restart. But central-defender Emiliano Orozco pulled a goal back for us as we matched the league leaders for much of the game.

Central Espanol - H

Talented forward Alvaro Apolito, playing in his regular deep-lying-forward role, notched his fifth goal of the season to put us ahead but in an evenly contested encounter, before Central Espanol hit back in the 89th minute to snatch a 1-1 draw.

Villa Teresa – A

We travelled across town to visit tenth-placed Villa Teresa in our final game before a two-month break searching for our first win of the month. In truth we’d targeted three-points but we were left empty-handed. Ricardo Hernandez finally got on the scoresheet, putting us ahead with a powerful finish but we were quickly pegged back when the hosts levelled from the penalty spot moments later. We were undone once again by a set-piece when we trailed from a corner and were denied an equaliser when Hernandez struck the upright, whilst Villa Teresa could’ve extended their lead late on after crashing an effort against the crossbar in a 2-1 defeat.

As frustrating as our form has been this month, my main concern is that I am struggling to find the route of our inconsistent form which has so far wielded a mixed campaign of Wins 5 Draws 2 Losses 5.

I believe the squad we have is good enough to compete – I don’t see many players in the league who are better than what we have got - and I am perplexed with the lack of goals from our first-choice forward pairing of Ricardo Hernandez and Alvaro Apolito, who’ve both netted just one goal each. The obvious indication is tactics, but we play a relatively simple 4-4-2 shape but seem to be undone from set-piece goals. Attribute-wise, one of our best central defenders Agustin Lucas is unable to break back into the side following the extended run of impressive form from Diego Viotti, who seems our brightest prospect right now, aged just 19.

Meanwhile, clubs from Argentina will be making the short journey to visit us for some mid-season friendlies. Fixtures with Hurcan and Nueva Chicago are already lined up as well as Uruguayan top-flight outfit Rentistas.

Segunda División Profesional de Uruguay - Half-way point. Top 2 automatic promotion, 3-10th play-off.

| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

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| 1st | | Miramar Misiones | | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 11 | +8 | 26 |

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| 2nd | | Huracán del Paso | | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 20 | 11 | +9 | 22 |

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| 3rd | | Rocha F.C. | | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 11 | +6 | 22 |

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| 4th | | Tacuarembó F.C. | | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 11 | +4 | 21 |

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| 5th | | Juventud de Las Piedras | | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 13 | +3 | 19 |

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| 6th | | Central Español | | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 19 |

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| 7th | | Plaza Colonia | | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 21 | 19 | +2 | 18 |

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| 8th | | Atenas de San Carlos | | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 17 |

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| 9th | | Sud América | | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 17 |

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| 10th | | Villa Teresa | | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 17 | -2 | 16 |

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| 11th | | Boston River | | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 14 | 21 | -7 | 11 |

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| 12th | | Progreso | | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 20 | -12 | 7 |

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| 13th | | Deportivo Maldonado | | 12 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 17 | -12 | 5 |

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Still pretty tight.