FM13: Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D.- The Flag of San Sebastian!

....To be completed....

Claudio Bravo, 29, CHI - A mainstay in Sociedad’s team for the past few seasons, Bravo has good ability in all the right areas. You would be well placed to stand by the Chilean as your undisputed no.1, until you feel better option is available or necessary.

Enant Zubikarai, 28, ESP - A passable back up option and true Sociedadan, having been bought up through the youth ranks.

Enrique Royo, 21, ESP - Young keeper I took from Sociedad ‘B’, though use strictly as a last resort.

Ion Ansotegi, 29, ESP - Towering, non-technical centre back whose killer positional ability will compensate for a lack of pace and agility. Basque is his second nationality, and his love for the club means you have a reliable player who will fight for the badge.

Mikel Gonzalez, 26, ESP - Another true Txuri-urdin, Mikel is more comfortable on the ball than Ansotegi, and possibly more rounded. He is not as good in the air, but his vice-captaincy and HG status may sway your decision as to who will claim the centre back position.

Liassine Cadamuro, 24, ALG - Lia has been biding his time with Sociedad ‘B’ for the last few seasons, but made a breakthrough in our last campaign. A decent and versatile option, but back up at best.

Inigo Martinez, 21, ESP - The young Basque defender could be a big player for Spain in the coming years, and is your undoubted star in defence. He is a quintessential ball playing centre back; his composure and passing ability gives your side a great advantage, and he has the aggression and bravery to mix it with the tougher crowd of La Liga. His weakness is obvious - at 5’11 he will find it tough against aerial opposition, although you are unlikely to find this too much of an issue in Spain. Sign him on a long term deal, his love of Sociedad will see him sign for a long time.

Dani Estrada, 25, ESP - We have a good mixture of full backs, and I would class Estrada as a strictly attacking option from this position. He’s not really a defender, and therefore use him under the right circumstances because his crossing ability is top class.

Carlos Martinez, 26, ESP - Although he lacks the offensive capability of Dani, Martinez is a solid FB. Strong tackler, brave, aggressive, and a very hard worker. His positional sense is another vital quality of his. Carlos loves his club, and will put his body on the line for you.

Alberto De La Bella, 26, ESP - Another top option, this time at Left back. Bella is proficient offensively aswell as defensively

Jose Angel, 22, ESP - The Roma loanee is probably your best option at LB, and like Bella can play the WB role to perfection. We have a 3m Euro buy-out agreed with the Italians, and should do our best to keep him at the club after his loan expires.

Gorka Elustondo, 25, ESP - Another 1st team squadee who has fought his way through this prodigious youth system, Gorka is good on the ball, and a hard working man in midfield. He suffers from a strange lack of determination, however, and is no more than a back up player.

Markel, 26, ESP - The brutal Basquean, born and raised by Sociedad, is our midfield destroyer. He may not offer the technical ability of the rest of our midfield, but he certainly has his place, at the right time.

Asier Illarramendi, 22, ESP - Proficient in the tackle, with a very good pass on him - Asier will sit infront of your defence and guard the fortress of the club he loves. At such a young age, he could become very special.

Javi Ros, 22, ESP - A good all-round CM, with ability in the tackle combined with a good work ethic. Again, he loves the club. Who doesn’t round here?!

David Zurutuza, 25, ESP - A lovely, hard-working, determined playmaker. Can play deep or more advanced. Bleeds Blue and White. Perfecto.

Ruben Pardo, 19, ESP - A future star of Spain’s midfield, young Ruben has exceptional creative and technical ability, who merely needs a guiding hand to polish a diamond. Nothing more to add.

Xabi Prieto, 28, ESP - Xabi has been at Sociedad his entire career, and as our captain should remain here forever by rights. His brilliant mentality combined with extraordinary technique means that you must always find a place for him. If comfortable on the wing and also more centrally as an advanced playmaker.

Gonzalo Castro, 28, URU - The Uruguayan arrived at the Anotea for nothing last summer, and reinforces an already excellent wide section for Sociedad. Pace+technique+great off the ball movement=devastating winger.

Antoine Griezmann, 21, FRA - You will probably have heard of this young star. Antoine is born French, yet Basque is his second him and he has risen through the Sociedad youth ranks. He can play centrally, but is obviously a wide forward of supreme calibre. Words of warning though - he has a release fee of 24m Euros, and plenty of clubs will be lining up to pay it.

Imanol Agirretxe, 25, ESP - Home-grown, tough work-horse of a centre forward, with the right composure infront of goal. He may not be your first choice, but he should be given plenty of respect and trust. Fan favourite.

Carlos Vela, 23, MEX - Ignorantly misused by Arsenal, Vela has found his true home. Lethal infront of goal, or can be played out wide to inflict mass devastation on opposition defences. True technical ability, and one of the most versatile, dynamic forwards in the game.

Diego Ifran, 25, URU - Reliable back-up. Quick, hard working and decent infront of goal.

Iker Hernandez, 18, ESP - Potential star, with some very rough edges. Yet young Iker has the potential. Tutor him, train him, play him. See what happens. Though due to the competition you may have decisions to make here as to whether you loan him out, play him in the 'B' team, or other.

Estanis Marcellan, 16, ESP - Young goalkeeper of apparent potential. Still a long way off contention.

Roberto Olabe, 16, ESP -

Eneko Capilla, 17, ESP -

Two more attacking talents to bring through the ranks, Real Sociedad style.

Nice thread!

I was wondering if a thread would appear following the article you linked plus, I think, World Soccer ran a piece on them too recently?

I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of La Liga either, and I don't really know too much about the team, but it sounds like it would be a fun, if challenging save.

probably my favourite team to play as the last couple of years (did a thread on them last season).

you get some very good youngsters to build with and can get success relativley quickly.

will leave the op to post more first, great start by the way.

will have to start up another save as now i have somewhere to share the journey

I had a fantastic save with Real Sociedad on fm11 by winning the Europa League in my second season and the League and the Champions League in my 3rd season. They have great youngsters, are not too much indebted and a nice fanbase. Probably the most entertaining save in La Liga.

My 1st 11 looked like that:

------------------Bravo/Romero---------------------------

Aurier--------Galeano-----Mikel Gonzalez---Lucas Digne

----------------Sandro-----Rodwell------------------------

Willian------------Lamela/Pastore-------------Griezmann

---------------------Benzema------------------------------

Started a Real Sociedad this morning before seeing this thread, watched them tear Valencia apart the other night which pushed me to do it.

Struggling to decide on a formation, the personnel in that formation and what roles etc.

Looking at Xabi Prieto's stats he suits AMC - Adv Playmaker but he is natural on the right wing.

Same with Griezmann and Castro, want to fit them both in as they have the ability to win a game on their own but both are natural on the left wing. Kind of want to play Griezmann in AMC as an inside forward and make the most of his PPM "runs with ball through the centre."

Decisions, decisions.

Re-train Griezmann to AMR asap. That's what I'm doing, because Castro is excellent and Vela can also play AML.

I was thinking about doing that but my line of thinking in this game especially in La Liga is that the majority of teams have attacking full backs and if I use wingers in both AML and AMR on their preferred foot, I can do some damage on the counter as they will more than likely be free.

Season 2012/13

August 18th - September 16th

So the season is into it's 4th week, and matters have gone better than expected. These first four matches were always going to be about discovering my best XI, but the versatility and performances of various players has made selection more complicated. We're playing some decent stuff and looking comfortable in possession, dangerous in attack and sturdy in defence.

Barcelona 1: Alba 62'

Real Sociedad 1: Aggirexte 72'

I had honestly expected a thrashing from Barca, and felt it would be more about damage limitation. I went into the match feeling casual, but we magnificently nullified their movement for a whole hour, if not looking quite capable of scoring on the break. Their goal cam courtesy of some poor marking as Alba stormed through into the box and drilling the ball into the bottom corner. I was disappointed that this was the attack which broke the deadlock. Barca were complacent at a set-piece however, leaving only one defender back. The titan-esque Gonzalez headed their ball away straight to Aggiretxe, who took the ball past the half-way line and to the edge of Valdes' box, before expertly chipping the ball over him and into the net. Totally reminiscent of his goal against Valencia last week! A really brilliant point to take back to San Sebastian!

Real Sociedad 2: Vela 23', 42' pen

Celta 0:

A very dominant and confident performance for 75 minutes, before conceding the majority of possession to Celta. Fortunately we had already put the game down, courtesy of a Carlos Vela brace. Aggirexte put him through on 23 minutes, and Vela cut inside from the left flank to score a perfectly placed goal. Pardo was bought down in the box just before H/T, and Vela duly converted. Gonzalez was once again magnificent in defence. I might have to hold out on buying that new centre back.

Mallorca 1: Hemed 78'

Real Sociedad 1: Aggiretxe 4'

A match in which we were dominated in possession, and the point was won by the Inigo Martinez and Gonzalez in defence, plus 3 fantastic saves of Bravo's. Aggiretxe is showing what a key player he is, scoring a point blank header early on.

Real Sociedad 3: Gonzalez 28', Angel 36', Vela 51'

Zaragoza 0:

We scored just after Zuculini had been sent off for a second offence, but in truth it looked only a matter of time before before we would have scored. Two scrappy goal mouth efforts saw the lead doubled within 8 minutes, and Vela made sure with a sly finish from inside the box after H/T

Standout players:

Vela, Aggiretxe, and the two centre back Gonzalez and Martinez have been excellent.

Rather than laboriously go through every fixture, I've decided to give half-way updates instead. This season has gone very well so far - My boys are exceeding expectations and as a club we are gaining deserved recognition as the most exciting team in the league. Our break-neck speed game is setting La Liga alight. No, we don't turn up for every match, and yes, there are one or two names who I have doubts over, but I'm so happy with this squad that I'm not making any changes until the summer.

As you can see we are holding our own in the league, and making a genuine push for a Champions League place. I worry slightly that we'll get stuck on 5th such is the form of Malaga and Madrid. Real are far ahead, and Barca clearly running away with the title.

Here is a preview of the results so far. There has been the odd game, such as Levante and a spanking by Malaga, which threatened to derail our campaign, but every single time we have come back and won. Add to that a great Copa Del Rey run - we've battled our way into the semi's and now face Mallorca, so have a good chance of making the final against either Real or Barca - and we are just about the 'surprise package' of La Liga this term.

My star performers are the indomitable Inigo Martinez in defence and Asier Illaramendi in midfield. Ruben Pardo is having a major break-through season, while Carlos Vela is a genuine world class forward. Xavi Prieto, a veteran of the squad at 29, is proving to be a major cog in this wheel, scoring very important goals.

I had concerns over Griezzmann, but his form has picked up and is becoming more effective cutting in from the left. I had thought about cashing in at the end of season, and signed Nacer Chadli on a pre-contract, but if we're playing in Europe the squad will need more depth. The extra games in the Copa del Rey have taken their toll, and my midfield are beggining to pick up injuries.

Nice thread.

I've enjoyed watching Sociedad this season.

A save may now be on the cards.

Cheer Edgar! I'm going to make a few amendments to the thread and expand it a bit, but anyways...

Try a save, they're so much fun. As you can see the squad is really workable which is just as well because there's no money really. But Vela, Griezmann, Pardo, Illaramendi, Martinez....

I was toying with the idea of Mallorca or Sociedad. I think this thread has clinched it.

Plus Mallorca have Alan Hutton, if that helps sway it anymore

Plus Mallorca have Alan Hutton, if that helps sway it anymore

True. But they have Gio too. Loved GDS

I was trying to get Gio to Sociedad actually, to play with Vela I got Chadli instead, but perhaps in the summer if he's available. Very good player(IRL too), been slightly nerfed in this FM though.

Wooohoooo, we made the Copa Del Rey final! Just had to mention this - beat Mallorca over two hard fought legs. Real overturned a 3-0 deficit to win 4-0 against Barca, so we play them in the final. Probably get spanked, they're so hard to play.

Amazing journey so far. This will give us a chance to focus fully on the league now. Results had faltered slightly recently, this squad were finding two games in a week slightly too much for now.

started a new save off after the thread turned up.

trying to sign different players this time around.

finished season 1 in 5th spot on 65 points clinching a europa league spot.

decent season and im happy with how its gone. lack of regular goalscorer hurt. top goal getter was vela with 15.

solid seasons from all the regular faces. had to fend off an attempt from spurs/liverpool to tale griz away. their buyout bids were accepted but i offered him a chunky contract and luckily he signed on. new 40mil release clause included up from 21mil.

going to have a bit of an overhaul season end. few fringe players want out due to lack of play time. will update after pre season

Good stuff Barkers. I like Griz, but because Chadli is coming in, I wouldn't say no to a 25m bid so I can rebuild. Be careful about who you sell though - my assman tells me my players would die for eachother, and that's because they all love the shirt! It's a balancing act, but I'll be moving on Elostundo, Ifran and castro(useless) at the least.

Things are hotting up my end - The race for 4th is well and truly on. We had a couple of fortunate back to back wins against Betis and Osasuna, leaving the table like this;

See how Malaga have just fallen away a bit. Think it's between Atletico, Athletic and myself for 3rd and 4th. Tight.

Aggirexte has come into some astonishing form. He's really picked up every since I started training him in the complete forward role, with goal coming out of nowhere. Just aswell because since Vela returned from his christmas injury, he is not getting anywhere near as involved in game as he was and his goals have dried up.

The problem is that I'm probably going to have to renew alot of deals in the summer. Everyone wants more money to go with our new prestige

Can't help but think I should change to a 4-2-3-1 at some point in the future - my system is not truly convincing me. Though as you can see, we've got a good defensive record, especially as ten of those goals came in two games!

Wowsers things are getting exciting now - 9 games left and second in the league! We've gone on an incredible run of games ever since we stopped having to play mid week Copa games.

We're now 6 points ahead of 5th placed Athletic, with an excellent Granada team doing us a huge favour. With two months left of the season, it's going to be a matter of keeping our cool. Our play has been more fluid in the last few games than at any point since January, and the zip has come back into our game. We'll need to consolidate our position over the net few weeks because we have some tough matches coming up - the likes of Sevilla, Grananda, Malaga, Valencia, At.Madrid and Real all have to be played before season end.

EDIT: Now my top CB, Mikel Gonzalez, is out for 6 weeks minimum. My back up Ansotegi out fro 5 weeks. One CB left, thankfully it's Martinez

Well, this is what happens when you're magnificent centre back who has been imperious all season get's injured, and you're back up one is permanently on the treatment table, leaving me no other option but to put my RB in there. Firstly we let go of a two goal lead against Malaga. No biggie I thought, they're a good team and we have a nice point cushion. Then....the horror We're leading Rayo Vallecano 3-1 at H/T. We get complacent;

Poor result. Going to Atletico Madrid is really not the best way to make a comeback, and they dismantle us with ease, courtesy of two bad mistakes from Inigo. Can't be too harsh on him, or the team. We have injuries and they're still young. Our end of season run is getting a little less comfortable. Time to calm the troops down and figure out how to get a win against Valencia next week

bad luck that. i had two cbs go down too at one point and had to have a fullback fill in. needless to say it didnt end well.

anyway, about to kick off season 2. first off here is the previous seasons table:

and transfer business:

wasnt a fan of the cbs on offer so changed them first off.

second season transfers so far:

pretty happy with how its shaping up. might bring in a bit more cover in the middle and wide right as ill need to be able to rotate with the europa league and the damn two legged cup ties.

iker hernandez is developing well. kardec is tutoring him atm to get his determination up. was 8 to start i think but now up to 12 and good prgress overall. had never tried to develop him in previous saves so no idea how he will turn out.

Sad to see you sell Mikel Gonzalez, he has been immense here. Did you get any decent youth prospects? I'm going to post a couple that I got. Nothing outstanding but v.promising.

Hernandez is looking really good aswell. I got Ifran to tutor him and his determination has gone up to 14! I just need to get his stamina up, and then work on his mentality. I don't like his work rate, or lack of it.

Edit 10101010101

I'm wanting to start a save in La Liga, tempted to go with these or someone like Granada who can also push for Europe.

Go with Sociedad obviously, but Granada have a good squad - Siquera, Ighalo etc. I might do a save with them too.

EDIT - I AM OFFICALLY AND IDIOT! So I finished off my season, making the Champions League by one point - beating Real and drawing against Deportivo in the final two matches - I have now saved over it with a file I was trying to delete but loaded instead

I'm going to have to do this over again, last time It saved was before Granada. I'm not sure I can win against Real again, so this is going to depend on other results. Oh man this is ridiculous. I'm going to save after every match now.

Champions League here we come These last two months have been an epic tussle for that 4th position between Malaga, Athletic and us. We came out on top....just. I have to admit we were very lucky because our form was atrocious. We could not keep our nerve and gave games away cheaply. It was mid-table form. Suffice to say we relied on Malaga having a tough run in, and Athletic succumbing to a last minute goal on the last day to get there, but I think we deserved it based on our form from September through to the start of April. We won it there basically and were just holding on near the end, grinding out draws in between the painfully frustrating losses. Thankfully we didn't have real quality around us, with Sevilla and particularly Valencia having sub-par seasons. Do a fuller analysis tomorrow with screenshots. For now, we sit back and reflect on making it to the promised land

Well done 30.Beast what positions are you looking to strengthen for your assault on the champions league? Have you any interest in your main players yet? I have a La liga save with Valladolid and into my 5th season now doing pretty good but still haven't won a trophy yet lol find La Liga the most trickiest out of all the top leagues.

Well done 30.Beast what positions are you looking to strengthen for your assault on the champions league? Have you any interest in your main players yet? I have a La liga save with Valladolid and into my 5th season now doing pretty good but still haven't won a trophy yet lol find La Liga the most trickiest out of all the top leagues.

La Liga is a damn hard league if you're not Barca, Real, Atletico, or even Valencia/Sevilla. First time managing here and I'm really loving it. There are tons of great saves even outside of the big boys - Getafe, Granada, Espanyol etc.

Who I can buy depends on finances. As you know anyone outside the top two get's bugger all money. I got 3.7m euro for finishing in 4th! It's a joke. But I need to qualify for CL before buying, and then have enough players to ensure another 4th place finish next season. I managed to snag Estigaribbia on a free in July, and also a very exciting Nacer Chadli. My DOF snagged some guy called Andrade from River. He's a young striker and looks quality too. I really want to get Francisco Cerro from Velez because I need a ball winner I can rely on, but they're not giving him away cheaply!

As for interest...well, the reason I went after Chadli(and paid him a big contract) was due to PSG's interest in Griezmann. They'd have no problems paying his release fee and so It's likely he could be on his way. he could be a great player and so I'm loather to let him go, even if he didn't match expectations this season. I think I'll need him. Otherwise I need a defender who's good in the air, preferably young and Spanish. But money is tiiigggght. I'm promoting Hernandez to the senior squad full time, and going to keep my eye on the 2-3 u'19s who could be the future of Sociedad.

This is a great game this year. Through three seasons now, finishing 8th, 3rd, 3rd and losing the Europa League final to Arsenal this season. The first 11 is really quite good, and currently my only real additions to the squad are Gino Peruzzi, Alvaro the CB from Zaragoza, Juan Iturbe and a couple of regens. Agirretxe is a goal machine as either a target man or advanced forward, scoring over 60 goals so far. Xabi Prieto should be retrained to CM and used as an AP. It's also well worth trying to develop Iker Hernandez, and I've got a couple of potentially world class youth intake regens as well. The 4-3-3/4-1-2-2-1 in the OP is probably the best formation to use. Your squad is much better than the 14th place media prediction too so expectations are kind to you too.

Great stuff s1111! Tell me though, do expectations get higher? I'm concerned that a 4th place finish will raise them too highly. My job went from 'untouchable', to 'very secure' just by raising the goals we went for(mid-table to Europa League). Didn't even need to do it as there's no money to spend!

I'm gonna check Alvaro out because I need cover at CB, Ion is too injury prone. Agree about Prieto, that's what I did, although in the latter part of the season I played him on the wing because Vela was injured. Great dribbler but not fast enough to make us of it. Never allow him to run with the ball! As you'll see in my screenshots later, he scores really important goals. Very good player. Have you still got Martinez, Pardo, Illarramendi and Griezmann?

I know these are large posts and probably no-one is reading, but deal with it

Seasons stand out performers: Honourable mentions go to these lads:

Just a quick line about the summer break! We've already bought in Nacer Chadli and Estigaribbia for the coming season, and due to wage structure which has been significantly increased over the season, plus budgets, it's unlikely there will be anymore buys unless I can sell. I am desperate to bring in Angel on a permanent, though it looks unlikely at present. My other target is Cerro, a great battling midfielder from Velez, and a centre back. I'll be looking to the loan market again.

ive kind of caved and gone back to an old sociedad save

just cant get in to this new one. was plagued with poor performances all season and had to win games to save my job a few times. battled back to finish 6th but wasn't happy.

old save its 2018... debating over giving this one another go or maybe another restart :/

I say restart and concentrate on the youth system

BTW It looks like my finances are screwed long term. I've basically asked the board to buy the stadium and build new training facilities. Add that to the banks loan I'm payng every month and it looks quite bad. Only 8m euro to spend this summer

Started a new game with Real Sociedad after reading about them all season. Was looking for a new save to really get into, and this seems like a great club.

La Liga is, of course dominated by Barca and Real Madrid, but European qualification should be a realistic target. Or so I thought at the start of the season.

Started my season by overhauling the backroom staff, so all the youth will be able to reach their potential. No other incoming transfers, not even loanees. Don't know all these players inside out, so they'll all have a change to show what they can do.

Had a great start of the season (apart from losing the opening match 2-3 against Barcelona). Lost my first match at the end of November, in the Copa del Rey against Granada. After that, my form got more patchy, and I started changing tactics. We were creating changes, but we struggling to put them away. Especially Griezmann was extremely wasteful.

At the end of January, we had everything put back together, playing a less adventurous tactic than in the first half of the season. By now, we were playing a defense-first 4-2-3-1 (with 2 DM's). Right now, we're 3 games from the end of the season, and it's all still very close together. Reaching a UCL qualification spot will be so sweet.

Started a game as sociedad mostlyu through my love of inigo martinez, a player i sign for almost every team i play as. Had a decent pre season managed to get a half decent training set up but not added any players. First game of the season and i get barcelona..away. Went in at half time 3-0 down and it couldve been twice that. Managed to finish the game with a respectable 4-2 loss. Since then ive gone behind in every game but won? 2-0 down against zaragoza, 1-0 against osasuna and an outstanding 2-0 win over rayo see us sitting pretty in 4th place. The passing and movement of griezman, prieto and 5 goals already for Agirretxe mean we are the team to watch in la liga. I took the advise of previous posters and made Agirretxe's training focus mainly on the complete forward role. I will update further into the season i need to tighten up at the back but refuse to lose the stylosh style of play we have displayed so far. With this probably being my last long term game before FM 2014 i want to adopt a philosophy of rather winning 4-3 rather than 1-0.

After hitting a bit of a brick wall with FM where I couldn't really get into a save, I've started again as Sociedad and I'm enjoying myself so far.

I've only played 4 games so far, defeats at Barcelona and Mallorca (both 0-2) and two home wins (Celta Vigo 3-0, Zaragoza 1-0).

There seems to be a good balance amongst the first team squad and I'm playing a 4-1-2-2-1 balanced counter attacking system.

PS- Just played the first Derby of the season and beat Athletic 3-1 at the Anoeta, my keeper Bravo saved a penalty when the score was 1-0.

In 5th now after 6 games. Barcelona running away the league already with 6 straight wins and a goal difference of 17-0.

@ heron - Did you manage to finish in the top 4 then? I'm going to be starting a save with Sociedad myself.

I did manage, just. But after that I struggled very badly in the 2nd season and couldn't get into the save anymore.

Alright, cheers for the quick reply.

Is anyone having any luck with Xabi Prieto? I am playing him as a right winger on support duty, but so far the only thing he has done is miss two penalties. I am lining up as such:

Estrada (FB/S) -------- Gonzalez (CD/C) -----------Martinez (BPD/X) ------------ Angel (WB/A)

---------------------Illarramendi (DLP/D)---------------Javi Ros (CM/S)-------------------------

Xabi Prieto (W/S)------------------Zurutuxa (AP/S) ----------------------------Griezmann (W/A)

----------------------------------- Vela (P/A)---------------------------------------------------

So far, things have gone fairly well. The only signing I have so far is to sign Wagner from Fluminense on loan. So far, results have been:

Sociedad 0:1 Barcelona

Sociedad 0:0 Celta Vigo

Mallorca 1:2 Sociedad

Sociedad 1:0 Zaragoza

Carlos Vela has scored all of my goals so far. I feel like I don't have enough penetration in the final third, I am thinking of retraining Prieto to be AMC, and then playing Castro as AMR as an IF. Does anyone have any suggestions to improve my side? I have been playing Pardo a lot, switching with Zurutuxa and Illarramendi, but because of his very low stamina stat, he only lasts half a game. I try to always play with one inside forward and one winger bu the combination of Prieto and Griezmann I don't think really fits that.

Where have people been playing Vela? As a striker or on the wing?

As a striker. I have progressed a little further from last night, now sitting 3rd after going on an 9 match unbeaten run with 6 wins. Vela has been a machine so far, with 12 goals in 13 appearances so far. I play him as a poacher when playing a 4-2-3-1 wide, but as a DLF/A when playing away from home in a 4-1-2-2-1.

One signing I would definitely recommend is Javad Nekounam. He is available to sign on a pre-contract at the start of the game, and will come in January on a 1.5 year contract. With how young the team is, he offers a lot of experience and will be great tutor, as well as still being a very able midfielder.

Markel is useless for me, I refuse to keep a central midfielder who has only got 8 for passing. Elustondo also is pretty weak, but a midfield three of Illarramendi (DLP/D), Nekounam (B2B) and Pardo (AP/A) is pretty strong.