[FM09] Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. - We All Live In a Yellow Submarine

[AcidBurn]

Database - 9.3.0 Custom Update With transfers upto August 10th, although some maybe missing.

Leagues Loaded - England, Italy and Spain.

Extra Players - Brazil and Argentina.

Database Size - Large.

Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. only entered the top league of Spainish football in 1998 since then they have done well and established themselves as a team on a similar level to Valencia, Sevilla and the rest of the teams just under Real Madrid and Barcelona. They play at El Madrigal which holds only 25,000 people which is more than the population of the town itself.

Transfers

We only got a budget of £7 million so I decided to bring in Gago and Higuain on loan both have had good solid season there is an option to buy each one of them for £5 million. Gioda was brough in to provide cover at the back but he didnt play many games at all due to the excellent form of Marcano and Gonzalo Rodriguez. Riquelme was very expensive at £13.5 million but it was all they would accept as some of the money had to be paid over monthly payments. So the team for the upcoming season would be.

GK Diego Lopez

LB Capdevilla/Angel

RB Javi Venta/Angel

CB Marcano

CB Gonzalo Rodriguez

CMd Senna/Gago

CMa Riquelme/Gago

LM Cani/Pires

RM Carzola/Higuain

ST Rossi/Higuain

ST Nihat/Higuain

La Liga

We entered La Liga and I was expecting to finish 4th to 6th but we did much better thanks to the attacking flair of Rossi, Nihat and Riquelme. To finish second was great Real Madrid won their first 20 games in a row, Barcelona did well to come 3rd as 10 games in they were stuck around 6th-8th but then won lots of games in a row to shoot up the table.

The Squad Performance

As you can see the squad performed well Aquino and David Luiz were brought in Jan to boost the squad as fitness issues were beginning to take a big toll on the team. Nihat and Rossi were a great combination up front, we had to fight off interest in Jan for Nihat I offered him a new contract the day after Man City bid £18.75 million to activate his minimum fee release clause I am not sure if I would of kept him but I was glad he signed with us in the end. Nihat was very hit and miss he would play a 8 or above and set up 2 goals and score 2 himself or play a 6.3 and be absolutely garbage.

The defence is okay although we conceeded alot of goals I feel I will look for some new fullbacks next year and hopefully the CBs and GK will be okay. The wing play was good Higuain is suprisingly good at right mid, Carzola and Cani were also great but their fitness is pretty low.

Nilmar is moving on next season and Llorente will get some games as I went on holiday and he wasnt registered to play in the league.

[AcidBurn]

Cup Competitions

Copa Del Rey - Beat Cadiz 8-2 on agg in the first round, lost the away leg 4-2 to Zaragoza in round 2 but spanked them 4-0 at home, then we went out to atletico Madrid in the next round losing 3-2 at home and 2-0 away.

Europa League

All those games just to be disappointed in the final we were unlucky as Nihat, Riquelme and Rodriguez were injured. We seemed to have a real problem winning in europe away from home but strong home performances took us to the final. This was gutting for me as I have never won the Europa League or UEFA cup on FM09 or FM08.

Targets For Next Season

Well I dont think I can win the league unless Real Madrid and Barcelona had really bad seasons, this season has seen the team peak in my opinion at one point we were 16 wins and 1 draw. At one point we went 23 games undefeated and won 17 in a row, on the flip side we only went 3 games without conceeding and kept only 24 cleansheets and conceeded a goal a game. I think the fullbacks will need improving for next years so I will be looking at Azpilicueta and Monzon for RB and LB respectively. Van der Vaart is another target for when Riquelme is not fit enough, trouble is I want to sign Gago and Higuain so I will have to see what happens.

With Villarreal having such a small ground we are losing £1 million to £2 million a month so I may have to leave for a bigger club at some point but that will be in the future.

I am hoping I can get into this save as I have a few weeks off work, so I am looking for any comments and advice on my team. I started this as my Nantwich Town save had started to bore me a bit for some reason although I may return there one day, this will be my last proper game on FM09. Hope you enjoy reading.

[m1234566778]

Hope you do return to your Nantwich save. Good first season with some good signings

[MeLikeFM]

I cant believe you brought Riquelme back. Brilliant.

Good luck.

[AcidBurn]

Season 2009/10 Transfers

Players In

Rafael Van der Vaart £8 million from Real Madrid

Fabien Monzon £6.5 million from River

Hernanes £8.5 million from Sao Paolo

Giourkas Seitaridis £2.5 million from Hull City

Players Out

Robert Pires Released

Pascal Cygan Released

Fabricio Fuentes Released

Nilmar £6.5 million to Sevilla

Happy with the transfers in and out Nilmar was poor in the pre-season of first year only got a few games last season but he really is not needed. Rossi, Nihat, Llorente and Altidore are more than capable.

Van der Vaart is a good signing so that Riquelme can rest but he will also be trained to play on one of the wings to provide cover. Monzon is a great LB and alot lot younger than Capdevilla so will hopefully play alot this year, Azpilicueta had already gone to AC Milan and I only had a few million left the Greek lad was transfer listed for £8.75 million but they accepted £2.5 million. Hernanes was bought for a brilliant price as I spent alot of time unsettling him last season, provides the ability to play the defensive CM or the attacking CM aswell as cover for the wings if we get short.

Only got £2 million left dont really need anyone else but if I can get an okay winger on loan then thats what I will use some of my money for.

[Raware]

It's always going to be tough to knock Barca and Real from their dominance but with the signings you've made on top of the already solid squad you have you could have a chance. A bargain for Van der Vaart at £8 million!

Good start to life at the Yellow Submarine

[Saxonaitor]

I'm the only one still on the original career from the original set up of this forum:(

Good luck at Villareal, surely it's going to be hard knocking Real of their perch.

[AcidBurn]

Cheers for the replies guys. I am really into this game at the moment and so far this season it looks like its Barcelona to try and get as Real Madrid are currently joint 4th with me after 15 games and Barcelona are 4 points clear.

Season 2009-10 Players Out Mid Season

Gonzalo Rodriguez to Arsenal for £5 million upfront and £40 million after one international appearance

For the first few months of the season Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City, Barcelona, Roma and Inter were all unsettling him so I offered him out for £20 million and got no takers. I got annoyed and offered him out for £5 million with £40 million after one cap, 6 days after the deal was signed he played for Argentina and we got our £40 million. I didnt think the deal would go through as at the time he was the starting CB for Argentina.

Season 2009-10 Players In and Players to arrive in Jan

Tal Ben Haim £5 million from Man Ciy

Hatem Ben Arfa £13.5 million from Marseille

Diego Capel £16 million from Sevilla

Ben Haim was brought in as a rush transfer as backup for David Luiz and Marcano he is good in the air and has high workrate and team work.

Ben Arfa I offered for him and after some negoiating got the price to a very reasonable deal for my team, he is either footed and can play all across the midfield and upfront if needed. He was great when I had him at Barcelona.

Diego Capel was signed as Cani is 28 and doesnt perform that well on the wings and Carzola has problems staying fit.

Will update on the table and cups competitions when I get to January.

[AcidBurn]

Season 2009-10 January Update

January has come round and we sit in 3rd in La Liga, its a pretty decent position as I am only aiming for Champions League football again. 9 points behind Barcelona thats alot of points to try and catch up especially when its someone as good as Barcelona that has the lead.

These are the results from La Liga so far pretty mixed bag really, loses away to Barcelona and Real Madrid were expected to be honest. In the upcoming fixtures we have Barcelona and Real Madrid one after the other both at our ground that is a very important weekend last season we beat both at our own ground so will be hoping to do the same again.

Worst Result Of The Season

2-1 Home defeat against Racing, a team we should really be looking to beat but they played very well and we just couldnt bag the second goal after taking the score to 2-1.

Best Result Of The Season

Our latest results the 2-0 away win against Valencia we kept David Villa pretty quite as the mighty Marcano makred him out of the game. This was a great result as Valencia are our biggest rivals at the moment apart from Barcelona and Real Madrid, although we might have to include Racing in that list now as they motor on up the league.

We qualified for the knockout stages of the champions league, the league looks alot easier than it actually was. After losing 3-0 to Juventus away we had them at home and CSKA had Sparta Prague, CSKA were 2 goals behind us so if we lost 1-0 and they won 4-0 we woould have gone out. As it happened we did really well and bagged the win at home and went through where we will face Shakhtar, I don't want to curse myself but we really should be looking to beat them.

We wlcome in new signings Capel, Ben Arfa and Craig Gordon who was offered to us for £4.5 million, Diego Lopez is not playing to well so I accepted and brought him to Villarreal. I doubt we will sign anymore players now although we did bring in Ruben Rochina from Zaragoza for £2 million the youngster has bags of potential but might have to be loaned out for a couple of seasons before he starts playing regularly.

[AcidBurn]

End of Season 2009-10 Update

La Liga

Not a bad finish bit diasappointing to finish behind both Barcelona and Real Madrid but that is all that I can expect really. 11 points less than last season along with scoring nearly 20 goals less is just not acceptable.

Team of the Season

Goalkeepers - Diego Lopez Played brilliantly at the start but then started to faulter so we brought in Craig Gordon who couldn't play in the champions league but was decent enough in the league, these two will battle for the number one jersey next season.

Fullbacks - Fabien Monzon and Seitaridis both new signings were pretty good although another RB would be good especially if I can get a decent Spainish one, with Azpilicueta moving to AC Milan it doesnt look likely.

Centerbacks - David Luiz and Marcano - Marcano is starting to establish himself as the starting CB for Spain and had a brilliant season a constant threat from corners and freekicks. David Luiz was solid but nothing spectacular.

Center Midfield - Riquelme and Hernanes in midfield were pretty good althought Riquelme only managed 9 goals compared to his 21 last season. Hernanes debut season was a great one he held the midfield when Riquelme played and took up the offensive role when Riquelme was injured and Senna stood in.

Wings - Aquino and Carzola were in the best 11 as Ben Arfa arrived in Jan along with Capel both only played around 15 games. Aquino also went upfront due to injuries and was one of the stars of the season.

Strikers - Nihat and Rossi - Both played pretty well Nihat got 23 in 38 and Rossi got 22 in 40, both are very injury prone and Rossi was out for the last 4 months of the season he also experienced a goal drought that lasted 1000 minutes. He broke this with 4 in 2 games and then got injured for 4 months. This area might need improving.

Copa Del Rey

Fourth Round Vs Cueta we won easily against the lower league team getting 17 goals over both legs.

Fifth Round Vs Espanyol we lost the first leg at home 1-0 but in the away leg we smashed them 4-1 to book a match against Real Madrid.

Quarter Finals Vs Real Madrid we went to their ground first and came away with a 2-0 win Hernanes scored a screamer and Marcelo put one past his own keeper. The second leg at our place we held and although we lost 1-0 we went through on aggregrate.

Semi-Finals Vs Barcelona we were hoping for a break after playing Madrid but we got Barcelona who were running away with the league. We were held 1-1 at our own ground and we went on to lose 2-0 at the Nou Camp.

Champions League KnockOut Stages

Shakhar Vs Villarreal

This was an easy draw and we went away first and we drew 2-2 with the first goal from Nihat and then Altidore came off the bench to grab an equaliser. The second leg and we needed a win which we got comfortably with a 2-0 win goals from Rossi and Riquelme got us the win.

Villarreal Vs Barcelona

Once again a tough draw first leg at our place we went 2-0 up with two headers from Marcano one from a corner and the other from a freekick. Barcelona fought back to 2-2 so I threw Marcano upfront for the last 10 minutes were a brilliant cross from Carzola connected and he smashed the ball in to give us the lead in the first leg. The second leg came around at the Nou Camp and we went and got thrashed shots wise but Barcelona could not find the back of the net so after a 0-0 draw we went through.

AC Milan Vs Villarreal

First leg was at Milan and they came at us early and had most of the game and they got a deserved 1-0 victory. In the second leg at home we couldn't turn the game around and their class shone through as they beat us 2-1 to take the tie 3-1 on aggregrate.

Season Overview

We were one match from the champions league final and one match from the Copa Del Rey final. Disappointment but it was a good showing from the team. Overall we need another striker Ruben Rochina has arrived but I am not sure if he is ready to start yet. Targets are Camacho to replace the ageing Senna another striker someone like Soldado is on the radar although price could be a problem.

Any advice and comment are appreciated tactics are a problem as I cannot decide to go with a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3/4-5-1. 4-4-2 got us a brilliant first season finish and most of our points this year but 4-3-3 Barcelona style got us past Barcelona in the champions league.

[AcidBurn]

Pre-Season Update

Transfers Out

Diego Capel £10 million + £40 million after one cap to Roma

Cani £2.1 million to Real Zaragoza

Rafael Van der Vaart £12 million to Sampdoria

Josep Llorente on loan to Fulham with view to a £2.5 million move

Ruben Rochina on loan to River for some experience

Transfers In

Ignacio Camacho £14.75 million from A. Madrid

Vincent Kompany £4.5 million from Man City

Bojan £24.5 million from Barcelona

Strengthened the midfield which is needed especially with Senna's last season approaching. Bojan was unhappy at Barcelona and despite attempts to get the fee down I felt I had to bring in this excellent youngster. Still got £40 million to spend after Capel was capped for Spain the current team is.

Got to strengthen a few areas and want to keep it as Spainish as possible.

Pre-Season Results

Not the best pre-season but beating Chelsea 1-0 even at home was a great result, messing around with tactics and formations may have caused the lack of impressive results. Settled on an attacking 4-4-2 that got us 2nd place in the first season.

Champions League Draw

We were seeded first after last seasons expliots we fully deserved to be top seed.

B. Jerusalem

Zenit

AEK

These are our opponants that make up group F, as you can see from the rest of the groups we have what should be a straight forward group that we really should win. To be honest all the top seeded teams should have it easy, Barcelona have Juventus but appart from that no real trouble.

Now there is £40 million to invest in the squad and see where this season takes us.

[Raware]

Another solid season there AcidBurn which, despite you missing out on 2 finals, you must be still be happy with. I know you finished with less points than the previous season but you still finished just behind Barca and Real.

As for the new season, some excellent signings there both in and out. Capel out for £50 million Some shrewd business there and you seem to have spent the money very wisely with Camacho, Kompany and especially Bojan. With those 3 i reckon you could well be in for a title challenge this year and maybe even a Champions League challenge too.

Keep up the good work

[AcidBurn]

Cheers Raware, the good thing is we still have £40 million to bring in some new players in Jan. The squad is a little bit short so gonna look for another Spainish winger and fullback. If a player has less than a douzen caps you can often get a huge one cap clause in the contract.

[AcidBurn]

End of September Update

La Liga

Villarreal 4 A. Madrid 1 - Rossi, Monzon, Carzola and Marcano

Getafe 2 Villarreal 3 - Rossi x 2, Riquelme

Villarreal 3 Zaragoza 3 - [/b] - Bojan x 2, Riquelme[/i]

Numancia 1 Villarreal 2 - Camacho x 2, Rossi

Villarreal 3 Osasuna 0 - Bojan x2, Nihat

Champions League

B. Jerusalem 1 Villarreal 4 - Rossi x 3, Riquelme

Villarreal 1 Zenit 1 - Bojan

Nihats goal against Osasuna means he is now the record league scorer for Villarreal, I was thinking of selling him in the summer just gone but I am glad I didn't. Currently we are actively pursuing a number of new signings and have had bids rejected for Riera, Antonia Lopez, Jaoquin, Reyes and Steinsson. I am determined to bring in another RW and another RB, currently Kompany is playing at RB as Seitaridis isn't that good in my opinion. Kompany is doing really well but I want a natural RB with Azpilicueta at AC Milan there are not many quality Spainish RBs around.

[CaptainPlanet]

Seem to be leaking goals, although when you're scoring more I guess it makes for open entertaining football! Any certain type of goals you're letting in, possible tactical tweaking?

[AcidBurn]

Its mostly when the opposition winger runs down the flank on the counter and puts a low cross in and their striker hits is hard and low past my GK. I think I need better fullbacks, I have tried lots of different 4-4-2's and it seems to be a common problem.

[AcidBurn]

Season So Far

Some great results, could have done with a draw away to Real Madrid but even in losing 1-0 we still have a 4 point lead at the top of the table. It is good to be at the top but I am not sure we will hold onto it as Barcelon and Real Madrid will both go on big runs at some point in the season. Rossi has 20 goals in 17 games and Bojan has 12 in 17, Altidore has started to try and claim a first team place with 3 goals in the last 2 starts. Will still be looking to flesh out the squad a bit more Opare is arriving for 500k from Real Madrid but that is it so far.

[MeLikeFM]

Long term replacement for Riquelme would be wise.

If you need new full backs, then fudge the Spanish thing and just bring them in young enough so in a few years they can citezenship.

Looking good.

[AcidBurn]

I just prefer Spainiards but am going to have to look elsewhere. Monzon is still a bit young but developes into one of the best and Opare is a physical beast, need someone that can play on both flanks really. I also like signing players that already play in Spain as they don't have to adapt as much then.

Cheers for the replies people.

[Elrithral]

Best thread in here. KUTGW

[AcidBurn]

Back End Of the Season Update

Transfers In January Window

Ronaldinho £10 million from AC Milan

He might be 30 years old but Ronaldinho was unhappy so I decided to snap him up as I have never had him before. The best thing about him is he can play all across the midfield and upfront if needed adds some class to the team.

Luka Modric £20 million plus 15 percent future profit from Spurs

Lots of clubs interested in this guy, we offered for him a week before deadline day but the asking price was too high. Then a couple of days later Real Madrid and Barcelona offered for him at half what we were quoted and the bids were accepted. So we offered and didn't expect him to sign but suprisingly he did on 100k a week lets hope he is worth it.

La Liga

Decent run of results really in the league Rossi scoring for fun. Should have beaten Atletico though very disappointed to conceed 3 goals and we were 3-1 up at one point.

Next up was Real Madrid who were 6 points ahead of us in the league, we were the home team and this is how the game went.

Brilliant by Ronaldinho and blows the title race wide open, although we have some tough fixtures coming up which include away trips to Valencia and Sevilla. So now the league looks like this.

Not sure if we can win the league but I do know Guardiola's Barcelona job must be under threat and I think he will be sacked if they don't get into the top 4, maybe they will offer me a job?

Cheers Elithral, I just update after I play for awhile not sure if other people read this or not though lol.

[Elrithral]

Riquelme, Ronaldinho and Modric......drool, drool. I bet that makes for cracking viewing.

[AcidBurn]

End of Season Update

La Liga

A big Disappointment to lose the title on goal difference the head to head record was equal with one win each. After 25 or so games we were 6 points behind Madrid but then results went in our favour and we took the top place even beating them 2-1 aswell thanks to the magic of Ronaldinho. Then their quality shone through and our inconsistant form came through we had a few bad draws and a terrible 1-0 home loss against R. Sociedad.

Copa Del Ray

Once again we miss out on the final by one match although Madrid were easily the best team. I knew we would go out once we lost the home leg.

Champions League

Not quite the same adventure as last season, our group was easy but we finished second after Zenit somehow thrashed us 4-1 at their ground. The 1st Knockout Round put us against Rangers we went to Ibrox and lost 2-1 thanks to a screamer from Mendes and then a 93rd minute winner from Steven Naismith. At our ground though it was a different story an easy 2-0 victory booked us a place against Chelsea. We went to the Bridge with high hopes and had a cracking game which we lost 3-2, we were still hopefull of going through as we had turned around bigger 1st leg defeats in the past. Despite dominating the game we lost 1-0 in the quarter finals and went out.

January Signings

Ronaldinho - Totally class act played right wing, left wing and upfront when Rossi was injured. Overall he played 15 scored 7 assisted 3 and had 3 MoM awards along with an average rating of 7.14 so not bad at all.

Luka Modric - Signed for us ahead of some huge teams and played very well. Played 14 games only scored 1 asisted 8 suprisingly averaged 3.5 tackles a game along with an average rating of 7.32. His best is yet to come.

Player of the Season

Guiseppe Rossi - 34 goals in 40 games says it all about this player, he was injured for 6 or 7 weeks towards to end of the season which I honestly think affected our hopes of winning the La Liga title. His average rating was a 7.44.

Transfers Out

Senna on a free transfer

Nihat on a free transfer

Ben Arfa £25 million plus 35 percent sell on to AC Milan

Ben Arfa needed to go he simply didn't perform and missed numberous chances and Modric is more than a better replacement.

Transfer Targets and Signings

Christian Fernandez £4 million from Racing

Obi Mikel free transfer from Chelsea

Fazio £16.25 million from Sevilla

Fernandez is a Spainish LB and will be backup for Monzon. Obi Mikel I had been watching since Jan but he wasn't interested until towards the end of the transfer window, he rejected a contract from Chelsea so we snapped him. He is another complete midfielder that can be added to Camacho and Hernanes in that they can do it all defend and attack reasonably well aswell. Fazio was brough in to strengthen the defence he will rotate with Marcano and David Luiz unless one of them really impresses then I will do my best to keep all 3 happy.

Targets

Jose Antonio Reyes - Looking at Reyes for the wings as Carzola, Ronaldinho and even Modric to a lesser extent are injury prone. Reyes is available for £12 million just can't decide if I will get him or not yet.

Roberto Soldado - We have Bojan and Rossi upfront who are brilliant but Altidore and Rochina I am not sure about so Soldado might be brought in for £8 million-ish as backup to Bojan and Rossi he also offers more ariel threat than our other strikers.

[AcidBurn]

Riquelme, Ronaldinho and Modric......drool, drool. I bet that makes for cracking viewing.

I wish I was better at setting up tactics I use a downloaded one at the moment that has all three playing well after a couple of tweaks. Riquelme and ronaldinho are getting on but Villarreal are known to refresh players in real life so I will stick with them for a bit yet. Modric is still settling but at times down the left he would set up some great goals or get the team flowing along with Riquelme who is a class above everyone in the game at times.

[AcidBurn]

Final Transfers For The Season

Pre-Season is out of the way now and the only new signing was Jose Antonio Reyes as backup for striker and rotation for the wings. Hopefully we have a strong squad now that can cope with alot of injuries and lack of form. We tried to sign Soldado but were quoted more than other bids and the money was in installments so I left it, I will now rely on Rochina and Altidore as backup for Bojan and Rossi.