Olympique de Marseille FM 2010 Thread

The Squad

Assistant Managers Recommendation:

Gk - Steve Mandanda (3*)

DL - Taye Taiwo (2.5*)

DR - Laurent Bonnart (2.5*)

DC - Souleymane Diawara (3.5*)

DC - Gabriel Heinze (3*)

DMC - Stephane Mbia (2.5*)

MC - Lucho Gonzalez (4*)

MC - Benoit Cheyrou (2.5*)

AMC - Hatem ben Arfa (2.5*)

ST - Mamadou Niang (3*)

ST - Baky Kone (2.5*)

Goalkeepers

Steve Mandanda is one of the best goalkeepers in the game and is only gonna get better, keep at all costs. Andrade and Rudy Riou are both able deputies, and Hilario Munoz could do OK but I'd sell at least one of the three, I'd sell Andrade to free up a non EU space but he'd be difficult to shift as he's a recent signing, so instead I'd get rid of Munoz and then Andrade in Jauary. Samir Kouakbi is a decent prospect and should be decent backup in a couple of years so I'd keep him. Crespin, Ray and Boukhit can go.

This is a strong area, no signing is needed.

Youngster to watch: Samir Kouakbi

Recommended Signing: none.

Recommended Sale: Munoz, Crespin, Ray, Boukhit

Left Backs

Gabriel Heinze and Taye Taiwo are both decent left backs, but if you could get good money for either I'd sell them and get someone like Jose Angel in who I've found a cracking young player, you'd probably need to either sell Taiwo or wait until January to sell Heinze as he's a recent arrival. Cyril Rool and Charley Fomen are pretty average backup, I'd get rid, you'd still have Bonnart as backup. The two youngsters, Paoletti and Diallo aren't worth keeping

This isn't a particularly strong area but I'd rank the need for a right back ahead of the need for left back.

Youngster to watch:

Recommended Signing: Garrido

Recommended Sale: Taiwo, Rool, Fomen, Paoletti, Diallo

Right Backs

The priority position at l'OM afaic, Bonnart and Bocaly are pretty average at RB, I'd sell Bonnart and keep Bocaly as he has the potential to be a good centre back. Cedric D'Ulivo is somehow worth £2m, if you can get anything over £1m you've got a great deal, the other 3 young right backs don't cut the mustard either.

My personal favourite in this version is Gianni Zuiverloon, he delivered the goods at AC Milan and now at Marseille for me, I payed £6.5m over 48 months, he'll instantly improve the position and has the potential to be much better.

Youngster to watch: none

Recommended Signing: Gianni Zuiverloon

Recommended Sale: All except Bocaly can go

Centre Backs

Heinze, Diawara and Hilton are all good but are all 30/31, so I'd sell Hilton, Heinze provides backup at left back and Diawara is very good, plus it frees up a non Euro space.

Bocalys young and will improve so keep him, Mango and M'Bow have the potential to be decent, the other youngsters aren't worth keeping

Youngster to watch: none

Recommended Signing: none

Recommended Sale: Hilton, All youngsters except Mango and M'Bow

Defensive Midfielders

Stephane Mbia is a great DM and is young enough to improve further, Charles Kabore is also potentially very good, Edouard Cisse is decent but for the wages (£36,000) I'd get rid, Kabores not far off him and will pass him within a year. None of the teenagers are worth keeping.

Youngster to watch: Kabore

Recommended Signing: none

Recommended Sale: Cisse, all the teenagers can go

Central Midfielders

Lucho Gonzalez is fantastic and Cheyrou is good, though if you get a sizeable offer for Cheyrou I'd sell, Fabrice Abriel is decent backup but can be sold if funds are needed, otherwise I'd keep him. None of the teenagers are worth keeping.

Youngster to watch: none

Recommended Signing: none

Recommended Sale: U18s

Attacking Midfielders

Ben Arfa is good at the start and has the potential to be world class, keep at all costs. Valbuena is decent backup. Jonathan Ratsivoson is the only teenager worth keeping

Youngster to watch: Ratsivoson

Recommended Signing: none

Recommended Sale: All U18s except Ratsivoson

Strikers

Niang and Kone are both good strikers and I would keep them unless a big offer was recieved, Brandao is good backup so I'd keep him, I'd recommend selling Morientes in January as he's decent but is 33 and on £32k p/w, you have 3 strikers better than him. Andre Ayew is a good young prospect but is out on loan for the first season. Chris Gadi is a good young prospect, the rest of the youth aren't good enough.

If you can afford him and have a non Euro spot available I'd recommend signing Adriano from Flamengo, I got him for £10m over 48 months.

Youngster to watch: Ayew, Gadi

Recommended Signing: Adriano

Recommended Sale: All the youth except Ayew and Gadi

Right then, my game.

I'm in early July atm, I've signed Gianni Zuiverloon for £6.5m over 48 months and am currently negotiating with marek hamsik after offering Napoli £11.5m over 48 months.

Cool thread mate, well done.

Thanks

Anyhow a transfers update, I quit last night just before my first Ligue 1 game so I'm on 7th August.

I've spent £36.5m, all over 48 months. I adjusted my budgets to give me a maximum transfer budget and sold Rodriguez and Valbuena for £3.4m, whilst Vomer went out on loan.

My first transfer was Gianni Zuiverloon, who came in for £6.5m over 48 months, he'll step right into the right back position and should be first choice for a good few years. Next, Marek Hamsik came in for £11.5m over 48 months, he is top class at the beginning and has the potential to be world class so getting him for £11.5m is a fantastic deal. Jose Angel was the third signing, coming in from Real Sporting for £6.75m. (48 months) The final transfer was a big one. Adriano, on fire at Flamengo came in for £1m upfront and £10.5m over 48 months, he ripped up the Premier League when I played with Everton, hopefully he can do the same in Ligue 1

Great work Roberto

Will be interesting to see if you can overthrow the mighty Lyon as the dominant force in French football (last season was a minor blip )

I like the 48 monthly instalments as it means only a quarter of the overall fee comes out of your budget, so effectively you can spend 4 times your budget

Yep, means I can get the likes of Hamsik and Adriano

I've literally only just noticed that the game highlights the attributes that are important for roles

Don't think i've noticed that either, where is it?

in the tactics screen where you're choosing player roles (advanced forward, trequartista etc.) it highlights the attributes that are key to that role

Great work Roberto

Will be interesting to see if you can overthrow the mighty Lyon as the dominant force in French football (last season was a minor blip

I like the 48 monthly instalments as it means only a quarter of the overall fee comes out of your budget, so effectively you can spend 4 times your budget

It will bite you in the following three seasons though.

Yep, means I can get the likes of Hamsik and Adriano

I've literally only just noticed that the game highlights the attributes that are important for roles

Didn't know that!! Is it turned on immediatly or .... and what colour does it have?

I'm using the classis tactic creator which is probably why I haven't seen it :o

I've just linked this to my Transfer Budget thread, so anyone viewing that can access this thread directly from there.

Immediately, it's a light shade of grey.

I don't mind tbh, Hamsik, Zuiverloon and Angel would most likely be out of my price range in the future as they end up being much more expensive I'd assume, and most of the signings are young so I won't need that many transfers over the next few years

It will bite you in the following three seasons though.

I know, but after the first season as Lyon you shouldn't have to spend too much.

As long as you win Ligue 1 & have a decent run in the Champions League most of the costs should be offset anyway.

The pedant in me likes to point out you have put up a picture of last year's away kit? Current one is this.

meh, just picking holes because l'OMs the best team in France.

Trust Hopey to spot that

And you seem to have Everton players in here also, Rodwell? Anichebe?

These are my French team, looking forward to a game with them.

@ roberto922

thanks about the screen that shows the key attributes for each position and role.

very much appreciated.

cheers

Apologies Oba, I used the template from my Everton thread and must have forgotten them, I'll remove it now

Cracking thread here mate. The only team to beat me with my PSG team 4-0 disgustingly.

Wouldn't dream of going them, but nice thread none the less

And you seem to have Everton players in here also, Rodwell? Anichebe?

These are my French team, looking forward to a game with them.

Haha.

Anyone else managing them in the full game?

After 18 games I sit at the top of the table with 14 wins 4 draws and 0 losses. In the champions league i only finished 3rd in my group behind the mighty inter and barcelona. i still managed to get 10 points but even that wasnt enough to go through.

i brought in van nistelrooy who has 15 goals in 18 games. unfortunately i cant get niang to score many

but ben arfa is my star player and he sits in the amc role where he has 12 goals and 6 assists

my formation is 4-3-1-2

Did you start at OM based on seeing Niang Wasma? Niang is abit under-rated in FM, he's best as a squad player, can be very effective cutting in from the wings though.

Cant believe FM never mentions Raymond Goethals as legend.

Mentioning it every year on these forums but they never put him in the game.

Did you start at OM based on seeing Niang Wasma? Niang is abit under-rated in FM, he's best as a squad player, can be very effective cutting in from the wings though.

Oops hi forgot to reply

In truth I hadnt played fm since around my last post but i did continue on and won the season by a single point. Yep been quite impressed with Niang this season in the cl. Obviously paid more attention because their group games are interesting with those 2 other big teams present.

As for fm i did eventually win the league winning with 80 points, 1 above 'your' team Lyon. I brought in a young guy called sofiane feghouli who seems to be a good prospect. my cl group again is tough with barcelona, juventus, me and standard liege. slightly concerned because both niang and van nistelrooy are getting old now. i might continue my game again as its been good fun:thup:

Thought i would bump this thread!

Im in my third seasons at OM and enjoying some good time. Won the leage the first 2 seaons and the leage cup. Got eliminated in the CL tho at quarter finals against chelsea so progress further in CL will be my biggest goal this season. My squad is fairly young and a mix between french and african players.

GK: Mandanda (Brilliant keeper) and subs Thuram and Areola (progressin alright and will be ready for first team action soon)

DL: Taiwo, Dabo

DR: Bocaly, Dabo

DC: Sakho, Diakethe, Mbia and N´koulo

DM: Sissoko, Asamoah, Mbia and Cheryrou

AM: Feghouli, Gourcuff, Ben Arfa, Doiuf, Obasi

ST: Chamakh, Ba

About the signings: Gourcuff was tricky to get but a while into second season i was able to sign him for about 35m euros, hes the highest paid player in the squad. Chamakh and Dabo came as Bosmans and particualry Chamaks is shining. Sissoko was also bought second season for around 30m euros. Asamoah came from Udinese start of third season for 20m euros. Trickiest signing was indeed Sakho. I Kept scouting him once every 2 month and the reports always come back that he wouldnt be interested. Then at the end on second season all the sudden the scout said he would wanna come. Since i didnt had that much money i had to sell som player but managed to get enough to get teh bid accepted and altho he comes from the biggest rival hes really shining. A monster at the back and alos scoring from corners.

I Play a 4-2-3-1 system without wingers.

So anyone else playing OM and hows it going?

Just started as OM, been playing a few friendlies. But i cant find a formation that Ben Arfa fits in ?

I play him in center of the 3 attacking midfielders set as treqatista and works wonder for me. He has the igest avarage this season.

Just started as OM, been playing a few friendlies. But i cant find a formation that Ben Arfa fits in ?

AMR, AML or AMC, take your pick?

Ben Arfa has been on fire! With 5 assist in 7 games Playing as Advanced Playmaker support

I am playing with Ben Arfa, Gorcuff and Feghouli as a 3 men AM force, got me the CL.

Right then, I decided to start a game with OM because I have never managed in the French leagues before and would like to take a club to domestic and European glory.

Only one signing in the Summer, Rafael van der Vaart for £7.5m. Gonna take a look at Zuiverloon at RB in January.

Had a pretty decent start to the season, haven't lost a game and won 6 of first 8, currently sitting in 2nd behind PSG. Had some cracking results too, the one that stands out is a 5-1 hammering of champions Bordeaux, won first game in Champions League but I have a tough group in Sporting CP and AC Milan, the other team which I already beat is Red Bull Salzburg, if I go out I can probably console myself with a Europa League place though.

Good luck safcrhys.

Well an update. Just startin season 2013-2014. Won the leage for the 4 time and also the CL last season, which was as my second CL in a row. Only lost the french cup that season. Just lost the supercup so guess i have to wait one more season to aim to break barcas 6 titles in a season =)

Did you played over a hundred seasons?

Hehe, ops. Bit tired when i wrote that.

Roberto: Nice thread ....

Jose Anigo (OMs scout) cool that they have a marseille mafia member as a scout, and roberto u got balls for firing him Haha!

Hey, with a name like mine what makes you think I'm not a mafia member too? And I'd have the advantage of not being forced by my heritage to wave the white flag in combat that a French Mafia would.

I am in my second season with Marseille and doing very well currently. I have made som major signings (Drogba etc) and the club's finances are great.

In my first year I made some good signings including Fernando Gago, Romano Lukaku, Nicolas Otamendi, Abdoulay Konko. I won the league and reached the semifinals of the CL. Christian Zapata joined OM in the January window for a cool 15M. Before the second season I was given 22M to spend, despite having already lined up Lavezzi and Drogba for 6M and 17M respectively. I didnt really have to use the money and sit with 22M currently in un-used budget.

Transfers in/out 2009/2010:

Notable results (highlighted) 2009/2010: I was able to get to the semis of the CL thanks too sqeezing by Chelsea in the group stage of the CL. Real Madrid also played in the same group and it was very tough, obviously:

Table, first season:

Niang was fans´ player of the year and is hard to keep out of the side (although Drogba and Lukaku are my preferred two strikers):

Transfers in/out summer 2010:

Drogba re-signs for OM! Even at 32, he can score:

Lukaku is starting to come of age, he has Drogba as favoured personell even before he came to the club so I can see some promising tutoring here:

This is my current first 11. I have one of the best DC-pairs in the world:

Notable results 2010/2011 season: I am not doing very well in the CL, we must win our last game against Copenhagen to qualify for the Europa League. Juventus and MUTD were too difficult this time:

Finances are looking very good, despite Drogba´s 100k per week contract:

I can upload more ss upon request :-)

Drogba in season one? Wow, how'd you manage that :-P How did you get that much to spend season one?!?

I did a Marseille game not long ago, got second in first sesaon (only just) with Lyon running away with it then i nseason 2 got sacked when in third after 10 or so which was a bit annoying. Might try with them again and be cleverer in the transfer sector...

Drogba arrived July 1st 2010, so technically he was a signing for the second season.

Both him and Anelka became interested in joining Marseille (Bosingwa + other Chelsea players also) late in the first season (I knocked them out of the CL). I could have signed Robinho too, but he ended up on loan at Fenerbahce in the second season. Kinda realistic since he went out on loan to Santos IRL.

About the money, I think I was given like £5M or so in transfer budget in the first window. I was able to make signings on installments (Lukaku was my priority here) and I was surprised to see how far those 5M could get me. Then before the Jan window i was given 15M more. :-)

I manage O.M for about 3 year now.I have won a ligue 1 and a french cup(the major one).The bad thing is that i only have been in Europe in top 16 in chl.Here is my team,i play them with fluid mentality,has worked pretty well so far.

And here is the development of Bocaly...He is pretty decent atm.

I am first in ligue 1 atm in January of 2012 and i have qualified in top 16 in chl.I also have about 40mils to spend on transfers:D

Update on my Marseille save:

I am in Feb 2014, also in charge of a very interesting Belgium national team that I will lead in the WC finals later this season.

I have been able to win the Ligue 1 4 years running and various domestic cups with it. In the CL I have been able to reach the final once (last season) but so far this year I am unbeaten and beat Bayern 4-1 away in the first Last 16 game.

My squad is very strong, although I just lost Dzeko to Barca for £40M:

GK: Mandanda

DR: Aurier (Konko)

DL: Taiwo (Peredes regen)

DC: Fazio (Bassong)

DC: Zapata (Papadopoulous)

DMC: Moussa Sissoko (Gago)

MC: Lucho Gonzalez (Karpenko regen)

AMR: Rakitic (Naingolan)

AML: Özil (Ben Arfa)

SC: Lukaku (Chrisantus, Zigoni)

SC: Le Tallec (Özdemir regen)

I tried tio sign long term target Neymar from Leverkusen when Dzeko left, but even at £28M they wouldnt sell. However, the negotiations must have unsettled him, because now he beacme transfer-listed and he will arrive at OM in the sumer for 8.5M :-D

Other notables:

Rakitic is amazing when retrained at AMR and played as advanced playmaker (tried winger first but he was not at all as good). He cuts inside constantly and has broken all kinds of assist records.

Özil arrived before the current season and he reminds me of Rakitic, let's see if he can become a legend too. I play him as an inside forward at AML even though he is left-footed. Works really nicely so far.

Lukako is a monster and you all know about him. I am yet to receive an offer for him but media have speculated than Barca were willing to pa a staggering £86M for him. But then they bough Dzeko off me instead. Lukako was 2nd in World Player of the Year after Messi in 2013 and was voted European Striker of the Year (if I remember the name of the award correctly) at the age of 20. Still labeled as a wonderkid, but that is just semantics as he is probably the best striker in my save, already at his tender age.

Zapata missed out on te World Team of the year for the first time in 2 or 3 seasons. He is immense too, but scores less on corners now which has hurt his rep, I reckon.

Otamendi was sold to Inter after he complained. He looked awesome stat-wise but never performed over 6.80 in a season. Replaced him with Fazio and I havent looked back.

Even though the Champions League is very tight and there is some luck involved (two legs donät really give a lot of room for mistakes) I now feel that I have th ebest team in Europe and consider myself favourite to win it this year. All in all, my chances are perhaps only 50% of doing so considering the fierce competition, but then, that's never gonna change.

Real Madrid have a regen called Liverani and he is the best regen I have ever seen in any of my saves (striker). He was voted 3rd in World Player of the Year (or whatever the award is called). Maybe he will be my nemesis. he has a buy-out clause of 24.5M and I have been waiting for him to become interested in OM, but no luc so far.

Started my OM game earlier on today, just been trying to get in the best staff I can really, haven't looked to in depth at a signings as I believe the squad is pretty good as it is on the latest patch. Brandao looks like an awesome target man now.

Going to use this system in the friendlies and see how it goes:

Shame that Lucho is injured for a bit at the start but I'm sure he'll be a key player for me during the season. Only area I may look to improve is RB, either signing someone to eventually replace Bonnart or getting someone in as first team RB straight away. Corchia looks like a good bet either way.

So yeah, will give another update when I finish the transfer window.

Good luck ObaMartins09. I think to get the best out of HAB you need to play him on the wings, but he should be okay there.

Thanks Hopey.

Yeah, his teamwork, work rate and decisions are what lets him down and probably means he favours a wider role. Will see how he does this season. I like to play symmetrical tactics though and we don't really have a winger to play the other side, as I like Niang in a central role.

Not really sure what changes I want to make to the squad, if any. Might just wait until January then analyse the team based on the first half of the season.

Well, I wasn't particularly impressed with our pre-season, although we didn't once concede and scored in each game.

The formation seems to be taking a while for the players to adjust to, especially the AMC role, which neither HBA or Valbuena have settled into. I'm happy with the defensive side of it but we haven't been great on the ball.

As far as transfer business goes, I've made my one signing - Rod Fanni joining from Rennes to play at RB. That will probably be all the dealings in this window.

We kick off the season away to Grenoble.

August is done. No more additions or anyone leaving, just some results to report back.

Pleased that we're unbeaten and that we're now playing much better than pre-season. Injuries are doing my head in though - loads of my important attackers have had niggly injuries, including HBA who only played the Grenoble game (getting the MOTM award too) and M'Bia who is a key part of my midfield.

The game against Bordeaux was great. Kaboré after that has become one of my favourite players. Set him up in the DM role to nullify the threat of Gourcuff and he did exactly that, Gourcuff ending with a rating of 6.5.

Champions League group was drawn during August as well and we're in Group E alongside:

Man Utd

CSKA Moscow

Unirea Urziceni

Going to be quite tough but I'm confident we can grab 2nd in that group.

Roll on September.

And the last update of the night from me. September is all done and it was another fairly successful month for OM.

Never expected us to win at Old Trafford, so that wasn't a shock. We really struggled to finish the games off against both Le Mans and Valenciennes though which is worrying. Crucial win against CSKA set us up for November.

Koné is proving quite a good impact player for me and HBA is showing some of his class from AMC.

Next update probably tomorrow - hopefully someone else might post soon too.