FM2009: Official Real Club Deportivo La Coruña thread - the fading Galician giants

(sorry, no graphics as I may not post any attachements, it seems)

BACKGROUND (bear with me :-))

Real Club Deportivo La Coruña is a Primera Division club from La Coruña, Galicia, in northwestern Spain. Galicia is rich in culture and the Kingdom of Galicia was one of the first kingdoms in Europe (5th cent.) and due to its interesting geographical position, the area has been part of Spain, Portugal and France at different times throughout history.

The club is a fierce rival of fellow Calicians Celta Vigo, although they currently do not play in the same division. Deportivo is the only Galician club in the Primera Division 2008/2009. Apart from Celta, Compostela and Ferrol are other well-known galician clubs.

In 1902 a local Galician returned to La Coruna after studying in England, bringing the idea of football with him. Soon the exotic sport of football got a firm foothold at a gymnasium called Sala Calvet and in 1906 the club was founded. In 1908 the club was given the mark of royalty by King Alfonso XIII. The stadium where they played the games was already known as Riazor, which is the current name as well.

The colours and the badge; The badge depicts a knight's belt encirceling the original banner of Sala Calvet Gymnasium. The crown symbolises the monarchy of Spain, as seen in many Spanish clubs' badges (Real Madrid, Real Mallorca, Real Betis, Espanyol, Recreativo and Villarreal etc). 'Real' indeed means Royal and is part of many Spanish club names. The blue and white striped shirts have been official since 1912 and have never changed.

Spain did not have a national first division until 1928, but Deportivo failed to qualify at first, playing in regional Galician leagues. As late as 1941, Deportivo finally made an entrance on the national scene, when they won promotion for the first time.

It would be fair to say that Deportivo have endured many years without any success, but during the 90s the club suddenly emerged as a major force in Spanish football. They became affectionately known as 'Superdepor'. Arsenio Iglesias guided the club to a sensational 3rd place in the league in 1993, followed by successive 2nd places in 1994 and 1995. Stars of the side were Bebeto, Mauro Silva, Donato, Fran, Manjarin and Djukic. Especially the 1994 campaign became legendary as Djukic missed a penalty in extra time in the final match of the season against Valencia to lose the championship to Barcelona. Had Djukic scored, Deportivo would have been the shock-winners of La Liga. In 1995, the club won its first ever trophy when lifting the Spanish Cup.

John Toshack took charge in 1995 and the club stagnated somewhat. The fans protested againt Toshack as the club finished 9th in 1996. However, a lucrative contract with Canal+ made Deportivo a rich club and the club bought players like Rivaldo (24 yrs, scored 21 goals in his first season), Naybet and Songo'o (won GK of he year-award) and Martins. The club finished in 3rd in 1997. 1998 became a disappointing season with Brazilians Djalminha, Falvio Conceicao and Luizao performing only so-so. Hours before the transfer deadline in 1997, Barcelona used the buy-out clause in super-star Rivaldo's contract and signed him for 25M euros. Together with the departure of Djukic, the defensive stalwart for the last 7 years at Depor, the club failed to impress. The club was called the United Nations due to the mixed foreign legion of stars at the club. Depor finished 12th.

In 1998, Depor struck gold as they decided to appoint fierce rival Celta's talented manager Javier Irureta as their new manager. The Basque master-mind quickly signed Manuel Pablo, Schürrer, Turu Flores and Pauleta. Depor finished 6th in 1999 but were looking better and better. In 1999 the club won its only La Liga championship ever after signing Roy Makaay and performing with remarkable consistency. The success also meant that Depor had qualified gor the CL for the first time ever. The players most frequently uses in this campaign deserve a special mentioning:

Songo'o - Romero, Naybet, Donato, Manuel Pablo - Turu Flores, Mauro Silva, Flavio Conceicao, Victor Sanchez, Djalminho - Makaay.

In the next four years Depor finished 2nd or 3rd every season. In 2001 they reached the quarters of CL only to lose against a similar success-story from England, Leeds. The team had begun to shape-shift with Spanish players Molina, Valeron and Tristan quickly becoming key-players. In 2002, Depor won the Cup again but again lost in the CL quarters to an English side, this time Man Utd. In 2003 and 2004 the club showed signs of losing quality, albeit doing well in the league and reasonably well in Europe. Makaay left the club in 2003 and the club became much more carful in the market, presumebly due to financial reasons. Pedro Munitis signed for free from Real Madrid, for example. A remarkable 3-8 loss away to Monaco in the CL in Novemer 2003 signalled that the CL campaign was going to implode, but Depor managed reached the CL semis thanks to a remarkable 4-0 win against AC Milan at Riazor after losing the first leg 4-1 at San Siro in the quarter finals. In the semis a certain Mourinho guided Porto through to the final after keeping Depor goalless over 180 minutes. The stars were now Albert Luque, Jorge Andrade, Diego Tristan and Walter 'el Rifle' Pandiani.

From 2005 and onwards, Depor finally 'leaves the elite' and Irureta leaves. Successors Caparros and Lotina have not been even close to emulate the great Irureta's success, but neither have they had the financial backing. Stars of the years 2005 to present are Sergio, Coloccini and Duscher in addition to the aforementioned. The club finishes 8th, 8th, 13th, 9th.

Interestingly, few stars of Depor have managed to reproduce their excellent Depor-form when moving to new clubs. With perhaps Rivaldo the exception, Albert Luque, Diego Tristan, Flavio Conceicao, Jorge Andrade, F.Coloccini, Makaay have all struggled at new clubs.

CLUB INFORMATION

Full Name: ArR.C. Deportivo de La Coruña S.A.D

Nickname: Depor, Superdepor

Founded: 1906

Manager: Miguel Angel Lotina

Major Rivals: Celta

Other Rivals: Compostela, Valancia

Affiliates: Deportivo B, Vecindario, Negreira, Viveiro, Laracha, Naron, Montaneros, Vilalbes

Club Legends: Javier Irureta, Augusto Cesar Lendoiro

Clubs Icons: none

Favoured Personnel: Mauro Silva, Jacques Songo'o, Jorge Andrade, Bebeto, F.J.G. Perez, Donato

Media Prediction: 7th

Club Captain:

Club Vice-Captain:

FINANCES

Budget: £800k

Wage budget: £444k p/w

STADIUM AND FACILITIES

Riazor 34611 all-seater

Corporate Facilites: Very good

Training Facilities: Adequate

Youth Facilities: Average

FIRST TEAM SQUAD

GK: Aouate, Aranzubia, Munua

DR: Manuel Pablo, Barragan, Laure

DC: Lopo, Pablo Amo, Ze Catro (on loan), Adriano Lopez

DL: Filipe, Guardado

MR: Christian, Lafita, Pablo Alvarez

ML: Guardado, Filipe, Christian, Lafita, Riki

DMC: De Guzman, Sergio, Antonio Tomas (B-team)

AMC:Valeron, Lafita, Juan Rodriguez, Verdu

SC: Riki, Omar Bravo, Mista, Taborda (B-team)

Loaned out players worth looking at: Aythami has usually been a talent in previous FMs. Adrian is a promising striker out on loan at Malaga. Rodri is an average DC out on loan too. Ruben Castro looks distinctly average.

SQUAD ANALYSIS

This will be done with no particular formation in mind. I’m going to cover all positions on the pitch and leave it to you to decide how you would like to play. However, I will suggest my best line-up and formation for Depor after the analysis. First of all, Depor is probably one of the worst equipped sides for a media-predicted top 8 finish in any of the big leagues.

Goalkeepers: A strong part of the squad. I advice you to use Aouate as he is very solid and I made him my captain as well. Aranzubia seem to think he should be first choice (as IRL), but for me he is the back-up. Munua could be sold for at least £2M (Man City)

Left Backs: Filipe is one of the best players you have, so keep him and use him well. You don't have much back-up, so I highly recommend a dip into the transfer market. I loaned Fabio from Man Utd. Of course, you can use Guardado in emergencies, but he is better used in midfield.

Right Backs: Manuel Pablo is a living legend at Riazor and you should hang on to him. He is quite good too! Again, no real back-up available. I loaned Saunier from Bordeaux. Barragan is out until january with an injury.

Centre Backs: Lopo is very good, but other than that you are very thin in this area. Ze Castro is OK, but a bit too weak physically and not so strong mentally. I pair them, though, as Pablo Amo has been poor when I have used him. DC is one of the problematic positions at Depor and I pray Lopo doesn't get injured. Colotto is a decent player, but he occupies a 'foreign slot' and I loaned him out for 250K to Den Haag. Time to get players like Coloccini and Jorge Andrade that ruled this area a few years back!

Central & Attacking Midfielders: This is an area which is very well covered without being spectacular or particularly good. I usually pair De Guzman with Rodriguez in central midfield, but Valeron is still pretty good, especially at taking corners. Verdu often disappoints for me. Lafita too, but I tend to use him on the wing. Sergio is an ageing decent/good player and he plays pending injuries. Don't put any money here since you have limited resources.

Wingers: A good area! Guardado is your best player and he WILL attract big clubs early on, so decide if you wanna take the cash (at least £20M, WARNING! He has a realease fee clause that you might wanna re-negotiate if you want to keep him) or build you team around his talent. Christian has been surprisingly good for me on the right. Use Lafita and Riki to rotate. I sold Pablo Alvarez for a good 3.1M.

Strikers: A weak area of the team. Mista is on a huge contract and I have been unable to sell him. Mista has been a first choice for me despite my atempts to sell him. He has been avereage, getting a mere 5 goals in 20 games. Riki is your best striker and he has gotten 10 goals for me in 12 games in the first season. I have signed Jonathan Cristaldo from Argentina for £1.6M, but he has so far been average. He is more a signing for the furture, I guess. I have not tried Bodipo, so I cannot judge him. Taborda could be promoted from the B-side and when played he does an OK job, scoring once in 6 games. I hope Adrian develops into a decent striker for my second season once back from loan.

RECOMMENDED FORMATION & LINEUP

I use a 442 with five different variations ('Control it', 'Attack', 'Standard', 'Defensive', 'Close Shop', I think it is called Matts-something) and it is working really well. I have beaten Barcelona at home and am currently in 6th place in December 2008.

Many clubs are waiting to make offers for Guardado in January, which looms on the horizon

RECOMMENDED TRANSFER TARGETS

These players have striked me as feasable targets for Depor (mind you, I HAVE NOT signed all these players!):

Jankulovski, DL, ML (loan, Milan)

Daniel Opare DR (trf, R.Madrid) there is a rumour on these forums that he develops his skills very fast!

Ebondo, DR, MR (trf, Toulouse)

Mazzarini DR, MR (trf, Udinese)

Jorge Andrade DC (trf, Juventus) Injured for a long time, but a former star of Depor

Emerson DMC (loan, Milan)

Zapater DMC, MC (trf, Zaragoza)

Enoh, MC, AMC (trf, Ajax) cheap?

X.Prieto, MR, AMR (trf, R.Sociedad)

J.Guzman, MC, AMC (trf, Feyenoord) Brother of your DMC Guzman, but probably very expensive

Huszti, ML, MC, AMC (trf, free transfer summer 2009, Hannover)

Daniel Aquino ML, SC (trf, Murcia) Future spanish star

P.Munitis AML,AMR, SC (trf, Racing) Played three years at Depor in mid 2000s

Van der Vaart, AMC (trf, if he falls out at R.Madrid)

Celso Borges MC, AMC (trf, Saprissa) cheap option if you have foreign space left

Rivaldo AMC, SC (trf, Uzbeki club) One of the biggest stars in the history of Deportivo

Keirrison SC (trf, Coritiba)

Lewandowski SC (trf, Lech) cheap-ish

Milevskiy SC (trf, D.Kiev) I really want this guy!

Ronaldo SC (free) when injury-free

V.Iaquinta SC (trf, Juventus) transfer-listed in my game in december

R.Oliveira SC (trf, Zaragoza) playing in a lower division

A.Paloschi SC (trf, Parma/Milan)

Diego Tristan SC (trf, West Ham, usually transfer-listed) Legend at Depor

Albert Luque ML, SC (trf, Malaga, found him transfer-listed) Former star at Depor (BTW: must be the wrong pic on him in the game?!

KEY STRATEGIES

The main issue at Depor is definitely getting transfer- and wage-funds. As the club doesn't have that many valued player assets, the options shrink. Selling Guardado could be the easiest way to raise £30M which can be spent on 4-10 players that would make Depor world-beaters again. Other player that may attract money-bags are Filipe, Sergio and potentially in the future also Adrian due to reasonable PA. Filipe has a min.rel.fee of £16M and Sergio will get you nothing but peanuts due to his age, but still. I managed to sell Munua for £2M to City and Pablo Alvarez for £3.1M to Hoffenheim. I was unable to flog Mista and Omar Bravo.

Good Luck!

Nice opener, but fwiw Fabricio Coloccini has not struggled at Newcastle

So, finished the first season in 9th place, missing out on Europe to Racing and Valencia in 7th and 8th place, respectively. Funny thing is that I had the best goal difference (+16) and I don't understand how the AI can distunguish three sides on the matches played between them. The rules state that when two teams end up on the same amount of points, the matched between the teams decide which will be the higher placed team. But three teams?

Anyway, my team is getting really intersting and I am very excited about the 09/10 season. I need a left back really bad since Filipe left for Villarreal.

Some of these numbers are installments etc, but I just state the overall value of the deals. The transfers occured either in the first transfer window, in the winter or summer 09.

IN:

Milevskiy 10.5M

Lewandowski 1.4M

Aquino 3.5M

Mazzarani 4.1M

Lugano Free¨

N'Kolou (sp?), DC/R from Monaco 11M

Elano 7M

Zapater 6.5M

Van der Vaart 3M

Leo Franco Free

Noteable Outs:

Guardado, Milan 30M

Filipe, Villarreal 15M (chairman accept)

Pablo Alvarez, Hoffenheim 3.1 M

Munua, Man City 2M

Amo Free

Sergio Free

Omar Bravo, PSV 2M

Ze Castro, back to Ath.Madrid after loan

Aouate 3M, unhappy, negotiaing w several clubs

I hope to off-load Mista as he is on a monster contract.

I really need a DL, so any suggestions are welcome! I am in a financial pickle, ans have very little money, but it is all good.

Probable line-up:

GK Franco

DR M.Pablo/Mazzarani/Barragan

DL vacant

DC Lugano

DC N'Kolou/Lopo

MR Elano/Christian/Lafita

ML Aquino/Riki/Lafita/Christian

MC Zapater/De Guzman

MC Van der Vaart/Elano/Juan Rodriguez

SC Milevskiy/Riki

SC Lewandowski/Aquino

Hi I was thinking about starting with Depor once i'm bored of my current save

Just a few questions....

What is thier realistic season aim with the squad they have?

You say they have very little money, and selling Guardado would bring in extra finance but its not an option I would want to take as he is one of the best players htere. So realisitically what can they expect in the 1st season with the team they currently have?