FM2009 Official - Zenit St Petersburg Thread

FC Zenit Saint Petersburg (Russian: ФК «Зeнит» Санкт-Петербург) is a Russian football club from Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914 according to some Russian sources), the club plays in the Russian Premier League and currently is the richest in the country, due to the sponsorship of Gazprom.[2] Zenit are the 2007 champions of the Russian Premier League, the holders of the 2008 UEFA Cup and of the 2008 UEFA Super Cup after beating Manchester United 2-1 in Monaco.

* UEFA Super Cup:1

o 2008

* UEFA Cup:1

o 2007-08

* Russian Premier League:1

o 2007

* Russian Cup:1

o 1999

* Russian Premier League Cup:1

o 2003

* Russian Super Cup:1

o 2008

* Soviet Top League:1

o 1984

* Soviet Cup:1

o 1944

* Soviet Super Cup:1

o 1985

Zenit are not too rich in history which is one of the things that has drawn me to the game as you can write your own history and try to make this club into a great side.

Squad analysis

Goalkeepers - The two GKs that you start with seem to be pretty good for the league you are in and should do okay in europe. Being as you cant start more than 7 foreign players in your first 11 I would keep the GKs as they unless you could afford Akinfeev.

Defenders - This area depends on what style of play you are using I like a flat back 4 with attacking FBs so I use Radek Sirl and Anyukov and they seem to do well in getting forward even if they arent the best defensively. The CBs will need to be improved I play Shirokov and Hubocan they are very good for the Russian league but struggle in europe.

Midfielders - This area is probably the strongest with Arshavin, Danny, Dominguez and Denisov all pretty good players. Some areas can be improved but it all depends on finance.

Strikers - Pogrebnyak is a wicked player as a lone striker or with a partner. The only downside is he lacks a bit of composure and is wanted by alot of clubs which could upset him if you dont get rid of him. I started my game in Jan 2009 and made sure I offered him a new contract at the start as I didnt want to lose him for free transfer. I would suggest buying a backup for him as the other players are not really that good.

Arshavin is the key player in this squad, after his euro 2008 performances he will be watched by some big clubs and it really is your choice if you want to cash in on him to fund building a better squad. Here are my transfers from the first season.

http://img509.imageshack.us/my.php?image=transfersmq9.jpg#

I sold Arshavin for £28 million as it was too good to turn down. Most people tend to build there squad from the back but when I started my game I was just messing around so I went in the opposite direction. I used the money from Arshavin to buy Defour, Renato Augusto and D'Alessandro. I am sure I will be able to make a big profit on these players some time in the future. With money being not too tight you can still only offer £20k a week so I will try to bring in young south american players and sell them on for profit.

Some talented Russian youth players are Alan Dzagoev, Alexandr Prudnikov and Fedor Smolov I have not tried to sign any of these yet but soon will do.

Hope someone will come and join me as I think this could be a really interesting game and I hope my opening post is not too boring lol.

I set up a formation of GK, DL, DR, CB, CB, MC, ML, MR, AMC, AMC, ST. This is my first go at doing my own tactic and it seems to work in the league as we are top after 9 games but the league is the easy part. Beat Fenerbahce 4-2 on aggregrate in the first knockout of the champions league but were thrashed 4-1 by and Eto'o inspired Barcelona on aggregrate. Maybe I should have build from the back instead of the front. Next season I will try to bring in some decent defenders and some young russian talent.

Nice opener.

Could I ask why you loaned out Zenit's record signing? :confused:

Could I ask why you loaned out Zenit's record signing? :confused:

lol becuase he played rubbish in the friendlies couldnt sell him so accepted one of the loan offers as there are better players out there. Was hoping they would make it permanent but they only bid £2.9 million he just doesnt seem to perform for me but might give him another chance if I cant get £10 million for him.

Okay fair enough.

I was wondering how good he was, as they payed something like £24m for him?!

Can't comment on managing him, but Danny seemed very poor when I played Zenit. Lacked consistency and never shone..

£24 million is alot of cash that why I hoped with a value so high someone would bid for him but it didnt work out. Seems weird to spend that on him IRL he doesnt seem brilliant might aswell of bought 4 or 5 Brazilian youngsters. Thats what I aim to do during my game.

Loading up a Zenit game now, will look to sell Arshavin to the highest bidder. Also looking to get rid of Fatih Tekke with a possible replacement being Tresor Mputu from TP Mazembe.

Will not be selling Danny for anything less than £24m.

Finding good Russian players for decent price is pretty hard I reckon.

Danny is actually pretty good because he is either footed, very able offensive midfielder; offers a whole range of options

just start a game with zenit now. i manage to sign elano and ronaldo (the fat one) and i try hard to keep arshavin,pogrebnyak,thymoschuck as so many offers r coming. fat ronaldo is pretty good, played 4 and scores 3 and 4 assists. i play 4-4-2 formation and so far doing great on friendly matches. played CSKA Moscow away on friendly, first half 4-2 for them but at the end 4-4

Danny is actually pretty good because he is either footed, very able offensive midfielder; offers a whole range of options

Danny was pathetic for my side never did anything, glad someone can get him to play though.

FC Zenit St. Petersburg:

1st - Rosgosstrakh Championship of Russia

Won - TransTeleCom Russian Super Cup

7th Round - Rambler Cup Of Russia

*1st Knockout Round (On Going) - UEFA Champions League

Out: *(Sold By The Chairman...)

Anatoliy Tymoshchuk - (*Man United £21m)

Danny Alves - (*Bayern Munich £12.5m)

Aleksandr Anyukov - (*Man United £10m)

Radek Šírl - (*Aston Villa £7.75m)

Konstantin Zyryanov - (*Chelsea £7.5m)

Sébastien Puygrenier - (*Sporting CP £7.25m)

Oleg Kozhanov - (CSKA Moscow £3m)

Kim Dong-Jin - (Wolfsburg £2.5m)

Fatih Tekke - (Fenerbahçe £1.7m)

Lee Ho - (*West Brom £1.5m)

Fernando Ricksen - (FC Groningen £1.1m)

Oleg Samsonov - (Krylja Sovetov £900k)

In:

Alan Dzagoev - (CSKA Moscow £10.5m)

Sofiane Feghouli - (Grenoble Foot 38 £7.75m)

François Clerc - (Olympique Lyonnais £5m)

Nicolas N'Koulou - (AS Monaco £5m)

Guilherme - (Almeria £4.4m)

Rafael Carioca - (Gremio £3m)

Christian Benítez - (Santos Laguna £1.6m)

Adrien - (Sporting CP £800k)

Franco Zuculini - (Racing Club £700k)

Santiago Trellez - (Velez £600k)

Alex Teixeira - (Vasco £150k)

Antonie N'Gossan - (ASEC £140k)

I suggest you start looking for Russian players because eventually the quoata will hit you.

go through the Moscow clubs roster and you'll find plenty of quality Ruskies

I suggest you start looking for Russian players because eventually the quoata will hit you.

go through the Moscow clubs roster and you'll find plenty of quality Ruskies

Yeah Mate Just Noticed That Myself, It's Hard Work When My Best Russian Players Are Being Sold Over My Head & It's Pretty Difficult Getting Some Good Russian Players In That Were At There Level, So Far Only Alan Dzagoev Fits The Bill Although I Have Bought Two 15 Year Old Regens From FC Amkar Perm Who I Payed £3.5m & £2m Each For...

take a look at Smolov, City just forked out 24million quid on him in 8th season

take a look at Smolov, City just forked out 24million quid on him in 8th season

Fedor Smolov From Dinamo Moscow?...

He's Currently Rated £875k And Has The Potential To Be As Good As Pavel Pogrebnyak...

thats him, heres a screenie

http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fedorsmolovof2.png

Kolodin is a good defender at Dinamo! and they have another young striker there called Stavpets, although its hit or miss how he turns out

Not that anyone will care, but I'm going to resurrect this thread following a game I've recently started with Zenit.

I got about £8m to play with on 9.3.0 ("title challenge"), and have bought and sold a few players at the start of the season:

Players In:

Geoffrey Jourdren - GK - £200k

Guilherme - DL - £6.25m

Mehdi Benatia - DC - £360k

Vicente - AML - £3.8m

Keirrison - FC - £7.25m

Total: £17.86m

Players out:

Kamil Contofalsky - GK - £2.8m

Kim Dongjin - DL - £1.8m

Radek Siril - D/ML - £2.8m

Fernando Ricksen - DM/R - £800K

Konstantin Zyrianov - £4.8m

Total: £20.2m

So with a net income of £2.5m, my budget is now hovering around £11m, although I am also looking to offload Dominguez (who left for Rubin IRL on 13th March). Fernando Meira is also not in the squad, for whatever reason.

Current Lineup:

GK:Vyacheslav Malafeev

DL: Guilherme

DC: Nicolas Lombaerts

DC: Mehdi Benatia

DR: Alex Anyukov

MC(d): Anatoliy Tymoschuk

MC: Igor Semshov

MC(a): Szabolcs Huszti

AML: Vicente

AMR: Danny

FC: Keirrison/Pavel Pogrebnyak

Overall, the squad is pretty solid with the changes I have made. My long-term aim is to somehow sign Dzagoev, but in the short term the defence really needs some work. Benatia has been a cheap, solid buy, but Lombaerts is overpaid and not great, and backup through Hubocan is pretty terrible.

Ive just started a Zenit save, my goal is a total russian squad and win the champions league, think it will take me a lifetime to do tho.

i am wanting to start a zenit save just wondering when its best to start, jan 08 or jan 09?

can someone give me the breakdown of the difference with players and that etc?