FM16: Bayer 04 Leverkusen - Neverkusen? No thanks.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball

Brief History

Bayer was founded in 1904, and nowadays is known as one of the strongest sides in the German Bundesliga. However, believe it or not, they never won a single championsip in their history!

Their best period was also their worst, in some sense. Do you remember the infamous Neverkusen? In season 2001/02, a strong team led by the likes of Michael Ballack, Carsten Ramelow, Zè Roberto, Dimitar Berbatov and Lucio came very close to win an historic treble, only to lose everything at the last moment (lost UCL final to Real Madrid, DBF-Pokal final to Schalke and Bundesliga to Dortmund, despite finding itself with a 5 point lead with only four fixtures remaining).

In recent times, Leverkusen has never been strong enough to compete with Bayern Munich, not even when the Bavarian side was repeadetly beaten with the marvelous Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund. Speaking of European football, Bayer has not been able to record any significand progress in the continental competitions.

Team Overview

Facilities

The BayArena is a modern and beautiful-looking stadium. However, its capacity is only 30,000, a realtivly small number for a club with Bayer's ambitions, but nonetheless adequate for the small industrial city of Leverkusen (with a population of 160,819). Training and youth facilities are more than satisfying for the time being.

Why choose Bayer Leverkusen?

I can see at least three valid reasons:

1) Giving Bayer supportes the joy of a deserved Bundesliga title, especially after what they had tu suffer in that damned 2001/02- And why not, try to compete at top levels in European competitions.

2) Trying to stop Bayern Munich dominations, having also the chance to compete in a very fun and equilibrate League such as the Bundesliga. Think about Dortmund, Wolfsburg, Schalke...

3) Getting advantage of the extremely talented squad, with a great mixture of hot prospects (Brandt, Jedvaj, Tah, Wendell) and experienced players (Leno, Kramer, Javier Hernandez).

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The next point will contain a detailed overview on the first team

First team overview

Torhüter

Leno is obvioulsy your starter and one of the best keepers in the whole Bundesliga. He has still some potential to develop and he can play very well in the Sweeper Keeper role, which is great if you intend to play with an aggressive high d-line (the famous German Gegenpressing).

I haven't included screenshots for the other two keepers, Yelldell and Kresic, because of the forum limitation of 21 images per post. Anyway, they are equally decent: I suggest dumping one of the two and buy a young, promising keeper to develop under Leno's wing.

Abwehrspieler

Here we have Jedvaj and Tah who, if they grow up well, can both become world class defenders. You wouldn't need to spend a single pence for your future defensive pair if you manage to make these two lads reach their potential, so do your best! There is also good old Papadopoulos, which I remember being a must-buy in previous FM versions, mainly thanks to his insane tackling and marking; he is still decent, no doubt, but far from being the previous years' beast. We also have Omer Toprak, who in my database stars severely injuried, and Andre Ramalho, who in my opinion should be played only as backup players and sold as soon as someone offers decent money for them.

Your starter left back should be Wendell, who has the potential to reach the top level for Bundesliga; his reserve should be the experienced Sebastian Boenisch, who can do a solid job when employed. On the right our options are rather lacking: Hilbert is mediocre, and his reserve Donati is not adequate for our glorious ambitions (in my database he's scheduled to leave in January, anyway).

Overall, we have five players for the CB spots, which should be more than enough. I suggest investing on a good attacking rightback, especially given the fact that wingbacks are sooo OP in FM16. You can also consider replacing Omer Toprak if he's injured for you as well, maybe with an experienced high-reputation centre back who can tutor Tah (his Determination is very low).

Mittelfeldspieler

The star here is undoubtely Hakan Calanoglu, which is a quality player who can pass well, shoot with both feet, and is a threat on set pieces. The only issue I have with him is his low determination (9) and that it can't be improved due to his squad status of key player.

Lars Bender is the best of the Bender brothers and would make a decent captain.

World champion Kramer is a quality player, more all-rounded than Bender; you should keep him and make him a regular starter for your team.

Kevin Kampl is a new arrival from Borussia Dortmund: incredibly versatile and technically gifted, a solid option by all means.

Aranguiz is a really good complete midfielder, but he is suffering from a very serious injury and will miss the entire first season. It's up to you whether to keep or sell him, depending on how much his attributes will decrease.

Stürmer

Here we have the only one player of the original team who, in my modest opinion, you should NEVER EVER EVER sell. I am talking about young gem Julian Brandt, a classic inside forward who can play on both wings and has loads of potential. He is already described as a Wonderkid and can be a starter right away, even at his young age, plus he will be a clubgrown in three seasons time: keep him at all costs.

Amir Mehmedi is a decent deep lying forward/false nine, so a very good option if you want to play with this popular roles. I personally don't...at least for now.

Bellarabi is a great inside forward, but again that 9 Determination...it's really a shame, sell him if he doesn't develop.

Club icon Stefan Kiessling has been around for a while now, and at 31 years old he's no longer a regular starter in the team. However, he can score and he is very detemined and experienced, I am sure that he will be able to help you if you intend to play with a target man and for tutoring your young strikers.

And last but definitely not the least...we have Chicharito, who y'all know well I'm sure. He MUST be your main striker, he will score for fun in the Bundesliga.

Jugendliche

Henrichs looks like an exciting prospect, make sure to tutor him and take personal care of his individual training.

I also think that Yurchenko is ready to be promoted to the first team straight away.

Take a close look on Hesseler and Tin Becker as well.

Players on loan

I think that the most interesting player here is Levin Oztunali, who is very versatile and with great potential. Fortunately, Werder Bremen has good training facilities and should play him regularly.

Coaching Staff

As you can see here, you'll need to invest some money to hire some new coaches, otherwise your players' development might suffer. Bartlett and Vollborn are great, make sure to keep them.

Speaking of scouts, you have many and most of them are good. It shouldn't be a problem to hire new ones anyway, as the club has already a high reputation and there are several great German scouts available (i.e. Karl-Heinz Korbel and Thomas Kost).

Tactics

I will be using these two tactics. The second is more counter oriented, more suited for difficult away games. If you want to play Hakan C. in his natural AMC role, by all means move him there.

I personally believe that Chicharito cannot play with another striked alongside him, so I will only use one striker formations.

I have not included Brandt in these starting lineups, but I believe that he already posesses the attributes to challenge Bellarabi and Kampl for a place in the starting lineup.

Consider using Jedvaj instead of Tah when the former recovers from his injury, as he's more ready for the first team.

Potential transfer targets

You don't have a high budget at your disposal, though it might be possible to buy some cheap talented players in the first transfer window, especially if you manage to get rid of some deadwood. Anyway, you only have 22 regular members of the first team (not including youngsters from the Under 19), and with three competitions you should at least aim to have 23 in total.

Here are some potential interesting players that you might consider scouting:

- Bartolomej Dragowski: young Polish keeper that can be snapped for a low price early in the game, make Leno tutor him and watch him become world class.

- Ionut Nedelcearu and Robert Moldoveanu: these two young Romenian gems (respectively a centre back and a complete forward) both play for Dinamo Bucharest, and they are really worth investigating.

- Sime Vrsaljko: strong rightback who plays for Sassuolo in Italy, it might be tough to convince them to sell him.

- Davy Klaassen: even though it is unlikely that Ajax will sell him for a bargain price, this lad is awesome and you should at least try to sign him. I mean, look at these mental stats! He's good with the ball as well, he reminds me of a more mobile Kevin Strootman.

- Louis Schaub: cheap Austrian advanced playmaker, in my previous career he ended up playing as a starter for Arsenal. Definitely worth scouting.

- Philipp Schobesberger: another interesting prospect from the Austrian league, the lad is a cheap, pacey and versatile winger with some potential as well.

- Enes Unal and Rui Pedro: both these young players have a contract with big teams (Man City and Porto), which may decide at some point to put them on the loan/transfer list. That's the time to get them at a bargain price

- Gökhan Töre: this Turkish right/left winger has grown up in Leverkusen, it might be a good idea to sign him at some point to fulfill the requirements for the European Cups with a quality player.

- Carlos Fierro: he is probably more famous in the FM world than in his own town , he used to be one of the best strikers of previous FMs. Now he's still good, I would sign him even just for the fact that fellow Mexican Chicharito could tutor him and make him his heir.

Final considerations

Overall, your squad should be strong enough to finish in the top 4 (meaning: UCL qualification). Your main aim should be trying to develop your youngsters and buying some more on each transfer window, but don't forget to also add a couple of more experienced players here and there to keep a good balance in the team. There are LOADS of great German player in the game, make sure to keep an eye on them.

You might be able to ask the board to enlarge the stadium (or even to build a new one), depending on how you are doing financially and if your team plays well, filling the 30,000 seats every weekend.

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Well, I believe that this is it, I hope that you have enjoyed this guide and that some of you will start a career with the mighty aspirins! I will keep this topic updated from time to time with the progress of my own career.

Please forgive me if you find something that I wrote that sounds weird, but English is not my mother tongue.

Cheers!

Good thread mate and you've convinced me. Leverkusen here I come.

I have been through the first part of 2015/16 season, and I must say that I am definitely enjoying this save!

This is probably also due to the terrific performance of my team, which is currently sitting first in the league, with only two losses (and totally undeserved). I have also already played both Bayern and Dortmund away, coming up with a point. This is the ranking as it stands:

The Champions League group did not include a big team such as Real Madrid or Barcelona, but it wass wery well balanced and uncertain till the last matchday. It's a shame that we will face Manchester United in the next phase, even though we won the group, but we will do our best nevertheless:

Here's the draw of the DFB-Pokal. So far I've got pas a lower league team, Nurmberg and Koln (the last two both on penalties!):

And this is what I've been doing during the transfer market:

I can't believe that Spurs gave me that much money for Mehmedi, who has been playing really badly and constantly complaining about lack of first team play (of course, you suck...). Schaub has been very good so far, I have been playing him mostly on the right side as an inside forward. He's on low wages and with bags of potential.

Rossbach is a young, super cheap Norwegian keeper who can reach Leno's potential, at least according to my scouts.

My plans for the winter transfer window, since Donati is leaving for Mainz, is to get either a new right back or an extra centre back, moving Jedvaj on the right. These are my main objectives:

Glik and Lovren could provide my defence with a lot of experience, both being also a threat on offensive set pieces. I should be able to get one of them for around £8-10M. I am only concerned about their lack in pace, as I like to play with a high d-line. Alternatively, I could try to snap Mario Fernandes from CSKA, altought this might prove to be a bit more costly. Bernat would be a dream transfer, I can't believe that FC Bayern has transfer and loan listed him!

I am pretty happy with the rest of the squad, even though I'll have to renounce to our star player Calanhoglu until March for an annoying injury that has already been keeping him out of the field for the whole month of December.

Speaking of which, these are my best player stats:

Calanhoglu is a real MONSTER, he's been immense, scoring and assisting for fun. He's won the European Golden boy and I offered him a new deal, which he accepted. Unfortunately, he insisted putting a minumum release clause of £40M.

I've also been delighted by Julian Brandt's performances on the left wing. He really is the man worth building the team around! Becoming my top-scorer playing on the wing, and not even always as a starter, is truly remarkable! A new deal is coming for him as well.

Chicharito has been ok, scoring 10 in all competitions. I expected more tbh, but so far I could live with it. Bender and Kramer deserve to be mentioned too, as they form a rock-solid partnership in my midfield. They might not be the best technically speaking, but they never get tired and as long as they keep stealing the ball from the opponent and giving it to their more technically gifted teammates, I'm a happy manager

Great season so far for Leno, Papadopoulos, Wendell, Kevin Kampl and Bellarabi as well, the latter is even wanted by Real Madrid and Bayern Munich! He's a rather one-dimensional player (pace, pace and only pace), so since it is unlikely that I'll resist if they make an offer, I've already signed Ezequiel Lavezzi and Andrjia Zivkovic on a free for the next season

Good thread mate and you've convinced me. Leverkusen here I come.

Great! Let me know how are you doing

What an unforgettable season this has been for me and my boys, I can proudly say that it couldn't possibily have gone better!

The board seems to be quite happy with the season

And the Bundesliga prizes prove how well we did!

Our team was simply the most consistent in the league and we snapped the title with two fixtures in advance! We also triumphed, albeit with a bit of luck, in the German Cup, beating holders Wolfsburg on penalties in the final. As for the Champions League, I have not too many regrets as we were inferior to most of the other teams remaining...obviously, we were unlucky to pick Man Utd, the strongest possible adversary at that point, and to be honest with you we deserved much more than losing 1-3 on aggregate. Moreover, it is curious how it was Bayern Munich to win the Cup in the end (beating Arsenal in the final), the same Bayern Munich who finished 3rd in the Bundesliga after me and Dortmund.

Speaking of the former Jurgen Klopp's team, they possibly represent my only regret of this season, as they defeated me both home and away with the same result (0-1) and both times with me controlling the game, wasting chances and conceding the goal with a stupid counterattack. My first objective for next season will be crushing them!

Anyway, this is the final table for the Bundesliga. Notice the incredible season of Inglostadt and the relegation of Borussia Monchengladbach, with Stuttgart also being in constant danger for the whole season, in the end avoiding it.

Despite the long injury of our best player, Calhanoglu, the team managed to play even better in the second part of the season. Chicharito Hernandez, in particular, started to score with more consistency, especially thanks to the many assists of Brandt, Juan Bernat and Bellarabi. Unfortunately though, I am afraid that I will lose the latter two due to a new deal signed by the Spaniard with FC Bayern (he was just on loan to my team) and to the £20M release clause for the German international. I tried to offer a new deal to him, but he refused saying that he wants a bigger club...well, screw him, I have got already Lavezzi and Zivkovic coming, I'm just pissed to lose him for less than his value.

On the other hand, Brandt and Calhanoglu have both signed new deals with higher release clauses (£100M for Brandt ), so I can count on them for the next seasons.

These were my best player stats:

Now, onto the next season. Transfer-wise, I'll have to sign a new, experienced centre back to partner him with my youngsters. This is where most of my trasfer kitty will go, probably, as I'm quite happy with the other areas of the team and anyway, the club is not too rich. I have already signed two hot prospects for the future: Polish keeper Dragowski and Brazilian wonderkid Lincoln: they will arrive in the next two market windows.

Can you post your team and player instructions?

Season 2016/17

After winning the German double, the objective is to confirm our leadeship in the home soil against strong and richer Bayern and Dortmund sides, also preventing ambitious outsiders such as Schalke, Stuttgart and Wolfsburg getting too ambitious.

Nevertheless, we should not neglet Champions League, the best source of monetary income. We might be not strong enough yet to compete for winning it, but we can certainly give a tough time to the bigger teams.

These were my movements in the summer transfer window:

Lavezzi, Zivkovic and Dragowski were all expected signings. Then I spent most of my transfer kitty to strenghten my defence with the experience of Benedikt Howedes, former Schalke captain. I also signed rightback Vrsaljko, wanted by many big European clubs, and young, promising German midfielder Julian Weigl (on loan, but with a buyout clause of £14M) and Marko Marin to replace Bellarabi. He, as expected, left when Madrid came with an offer which covered his release clause...this disappointed me as the winger was one of the best players of Euro 2016 (incredebly won by Slovakia!) and was valued much more. They also bought Kampl who was not a starter for me, so no regrets here.

I am currently in the winter break, and I must say that the season is going pretty well. My only regrets are the injuries: I am constantly experiencing serious injuries for my players, after Calhanoglu and Aranguiz (again) last season, this year it was the turn of Pohjampalo, Wendell, Diekmeier and Schaub (respectively out for 5, 3, 4 and 6 months!). Anyway, this is the league table at the moment, with Bayern with two games to catch up due to the Club World Championship:

In the Champions League, our group included Basel, Barcelona and an unknown team from Azerbaijan. We won the group brilliantly, with four well-earned points in the double confrontation with the Spanish giant:

We will now play against PSG in the next phase...again, we were very unlucky with the draw.

Unfortunately, things did not go equally well in the German Cup, where as holder we disappointed our fans losing at home against Koln in the last 16 (however I choose to play with many reserves, so I am not too concerned):

Speaking of possible new signings, I have to replace the long term injuried Schaub and Pohjanpalo. I was thinking of Brazilian wonderking Lincoln, who I can buy for a reasonable £10M, and a more experienced striker such as Benteke, Guidetti or even Podolski, who might want to come back to Germany. Speaking of players out, 32-years old Kiessling has already signed with Everton for £1M, and I'll probably also try to offload Omer Toprak, as I have more tnah enough defenders and his wages are too high for a reserve.

Almost all my players are having a great season except for Johnatan Tah, who likes to moan and play bad when employed, and Calhanoglu, who seems not to be the moster he used to be before the bad injury of last season. Fortunately enough, Brandt and especially Chicharito are making up for this, with the latter who's having and INSANE season. Have a look at his stats, he only needs 3 goals to even his last year's record, and we are in December!

Can you post your team and player instructions?

Hello mate, and thanks for asking.

I hope not to disappoint you, but I use a very standard 4-2-3-1 with inside forwards, as I believe that it's the most suited formation for my players. One thing I usually try to do is adapt individual roles to my players' attributes. For example, I initially wanted to play Hernandez as a DLF, to ensure my inside forward score and assist more, and initially it worked. However, since I've changed him to a more suited AF-Attack, his performances skyrocketed and my IFs are still playing well

So, you don't play 4-1-2-2-1 like in first season?

So, you don't play 4-1-2-2-1 like in first season?

You nailed it. I assumed that H.C. would be kinda wasted playing that deep, so I moved him forward

But you had such a great results in first season with that formation..

But you had such a great results in first season with that formation..

No, no. I changed it after like 2 months (game time). If you have another look on the opening post, I suggest that andavncing H.C. is a possibility worth considering

Are u planning to start a save with Bayer Leverkusen anytime soon? If so, please let me know.

I am really enjoying mine, as the Bundesliga is a great league to play in ans il literally filled with potential wonderkids, German and not.

Yes, I would like to start a new save with Bayer but I can't make right tactic. I'm so bad tactician and I'm so frustrated. Can I see your tactic?

excellent season especially when looking at their performance irl...

I wouldn't want to copy your tactics but ... what kind of backgrounds pack are you using there?

I can't remember my friend, sorry. I downloaded it like 5 years ago and I've been using it for all previous FMs as well...I'm sure you can find a decent one in the Steam workshop

Yes, I would like to start a new save with Bayer but I can't make right tactic. I'm so bad tactician and I'm so frustrated. Can I see your tactic?

MP

I can't remember my friend, sorry. I downloaded it like 5 years ago and I've been using it for all previous FMs as well...I'm sure you can find a decent one in the Steam workshop

MP

Won't you be able to send him a link as you must have it if you're using it?

Yes, I would like to start a new save with Bayer but I can't make right tactic. I'm so bad tactician and I'm so frustrated. Can I see your tactic?

Ditto. trying to pick between this and a bigger challenge with 1860 and would be really interested to see what you went with.

You have a MP

You inspired me to start a game in Leverkusen.

I've just finished my second season. Miraculously I won the Champions League, with a 1-0 win over Liverpool in the final; but I've finished a distant second in the Bundesliga, almost 20 points behind Bayern. That's my focus for season 3.

My team:

GK - Bernd Leno - can't fault him at all, his attributes aren't as scary as say Neuer's, but he performs really well.

DL - Wendell - continues to be a great attacking full-back

DC - Jonathan Tah - as you described, he develops into a great player

DC - Niklas Sule - £15m signing from Hoffenheim. Worth every penny

DR - Jedvaj - I focused on his pace and crossing and he's developed into a fantastic option here

DMC - Lars Bender - captain and anchor

MC - Kramer - midfield workhorse

MC - Leon Goretzka - £25m signing from Schalke. Absolute monster

AML - Julian Brandt - scores goals for fun from the wing

AMR - Gabriel Barbosa - £11m signing

FC - Mauro Icardi - £29m signing from Inter. Great poacher

My main bench players are Ochoa, Toprak, Oztunali, Bellarbi, Calanoglu...

I funded the upgrades to the squad with the sale of Papa, Kampl, Aranguiz and Hernandez (£35m from Bayern of course), with a number of other backups moving on too.

Having got bored of arsenal save I have started with Bayer 04 and into February, 23 games unbeaten and leading Munich by 5 points whom I play at home next. I have made changes to the team and my only concern now is being able to hold on to players, as I have couple already wanted new contract and on lower release clause and havent got the funds to give them contract.

Gk- Leno/Kresic

Rb- Mayke/ Jedvaj

Lb- Wendell/(i have to add a cover in summer) currently using Ten becker

CB- Tah, toparak/ ramalho,Papadopolus - think I will be selling both of this, go with Taj, Jedvej and have Toparak as cover and find a young CB

CM - Kramer, Oztunali (who I recalled from loan and now he has become a top draw DLP)/ Bender and Benrancur (on loan with a fee to buy of 3.5 mil)

AMR/L Bellrabi (had been phenomenal but his RC is a huge worry 10 goals, 8 assists) Kampi, Brandt, Zvkovic

AMC -Chalanoglu (unhappy asking new contract and cant afford) Kampi

CF- Barboosa (23 goals in all competitions so far) Hernandez 11 goals

CL Last 16 playing roma, first leg away 1-1

That's great guys, keep it up! The UCL result is umbelievable, I was never managed to win it unfortunately

I dropped the save anyway, I started playing The Witcher 3 and got completely sucked into it hehe..what a great game that is!

Now however I think it's time to get back to good old FM, I'll probably start a new save in Spain.

You inspired me to start a game in Leverkusen.

I've just finished my second season. Miraculously I won the Champions League, with a 1-0 win over Liverpool in the final; but I've finished a distant second in the Bundesliga, almost 20 points behind Bayern. That's my focus for season 3.

My team:

GK - Bernd Leno - can't fault him at all, his attributes aren't as scary as say Neuer's, but he performs really well.

DL - Wendell - continues to be a great attacking full-back

DC - Jonathan Tah - as you described, he develops into a great player

DC - Niklas Sule - £15m signing from Hoffenheim. Worth every penny

DR - Jedvaj - I focused on his pace and crossing and he's developed into a fantastic option here

DMC - Lars Bender - captain and anchor

MC - Kramer - midfield workhorse

MC - Leon Goretzka - £25m signing from Schalke. Absolute monster

AML - Julian Brandt - scores goals for fun from the wing

AMR - Gabriel Barbosa - £11m signing

FC - Mauro Icardi - £29m signing from Inter. Great poacher

My main bench players are Ochoa, Toprak, Oztunali, Bellarbi, Calanoglu...

Scary team, really! Don't ever sell Tah and Brandt, not even for £100M as they're simply unreplaceable. In my save they became world class players (and their player descriptions said that too).