FM10: Official Athletic Club Bilbao Thread - The Lions of San Mames

[Parker]

This is ridiculous though! This has to be a bug. I mean Bojan...WTF...Bilbao...WTF. Please tell me this is a bug...

It's not a bug, I just said that you could make a bid for Bojan, although he has never accepted it. It has to do with his age, so he might be too old this year. Any player who is under 19 and has a spanish nationality can sign for Bilbao. The Bojan thing was last year too, I haven't tried this year.

[PaleThinBoy]

black regen basque players.

Additional query, there's no option for 2nd nationality for us to be a basque? and we can't load all basque players from the start of game?

This has already been covered in a thread on General Questions forum, search for 'Adding yourself as a manager'.

[ArranoBeltza]

It's not a bug, I just said that you could make a bid for Bojan, although he has never accepted it. It has to do with his age, so he might be too old this year. Any player who is under 19 and has a spanish nationality can sign for Bilbao. The Bojan thing was last year too, I haven't tried this year.

You can't put in a bid for Bojan this year. I tried it just to see (I knew I wouldn't have enough money and he wouldn't sign) and it gave me a message saying I can only sign Basque players.

black regen basque players.

Additional query, there's no option for 2nd nationality for us to be a basque? and we can't load all basque players from the start of game?

What's wrong with black regens? (take a look at this).

You can load all Basque players if you load all from Spain and France. I just loaded Spain, though, cause there aren't many French-Basques in the game, especially ones of quality.

[Mustard]

Here's my season so far:

Started off playing 4-1-2-2-1 like this (sorry if I gets the names spelt wrong, these Basque names are hard sometimes!):

Iraikoz

Iraola - Ustaritz - Amorebieta - Castillo

Orbaiz

Martinez - Elustondo (3mil)

Xabi Prieto(3.5mil) - Susaeta

Llorente

Smashed everybody in preseason, won the first league game against Tenerife and then I hit the wall. No wins in 6 games left me second bottom and out of Europe. A change of tactic was needed, and this is when I turned to the god that is Muniain aswell as using Tugs training method. Orbaiz was dropped with the impressive Elustondo entering at Defensive midfield. I lost one of the central midfielders and put an extra player upfront - Muniain (Toquero never plays well and De Cerio is perma-crocked). 11 goals in 10 starts (+6) and players coming into form got me as high as 8th, aswell as a 6-4 Aggregate victory over Sevilla in the cup. Currently sitting 14th after some annying injuries, had to play Ramalho at one point, but it's very close in the mid-table area. Wish me luck!

[PaleThinBoy]

What formation have you changed to now then?

[Mustard]

I now play 4-1-1-2-2 like this:

Iraikoz

Iraola - Ustaritz - Amorebieta - Castillo

Elustondo

Javi Martinez

Xabi Prieto --------------------------- Susaeta

Llorente(Target Man) - Muniain(Poacher)

Just finished my first season in 10th place which I was very pleased with. Llorente top scored with 34 goals in all competitions, making him the 'Top Spanish Goalscorer' in La Liga. Might sell on Yeste, who hasn't played much, and bring in Ander from Sociedad. Also want to bring in another Centre Back but there isn't too many good ones around at the moment.

[ArranoBeltza]

Sorry I meant Yeste of course.

I actually sort of plaoon Yeste and De Marcos on the left side- De Marcos plays a little bit more because he's not declining like Yeste is.

[ArranoBeltza]

Alright- finally finished my first season (ended up starting a new game, computer crashed so I had to). I ended up 4th and qualified for the Champion's League. In the Europa League, I did great but fell to Lazio in the secon knockout stage, and Sevilla knocked me out of the Copa del Rey in the quarterfinals. Llorente was killing again for me. De Cerio also had a good season and Muniain is coming along nicely. I think Llorente could have scored a few more, but he suffered a dip in form the last 5 games of the season- his only slump. Some screens:

League table

Llorente info

De Cerio info

[fighting irish]

I have decided to start with a different formation, 4231 with 3 central attacking Midfielders:

SC Llorente ------ Target Man, Attack

AMC(L) Yeste ---- Inside Fwd, Attack

AMC Etxeberria --- Advanced Playmaker, Support

AMC® Suseta --- Inside Fwd, Attack

MC(L) Munoz ----- Deep Lying Playmaker, Defend

DMC® Gurpegi ---Anchor Man, Defend

DR Iraola ---------Wingback, Attack

DL Castillo --------Wingback, Attack

DC® Ocio ------- Limited Defender, Cover

DC(L) Amorebieta - Central Defender, Defend

This takes advantage Yeste looking to run through the cdenter and cut inside and Etxeberria's tendency to look to pass instead of score. The intentional omission of wide players encourages Castillo and Iraola's tendency to get forward. With so much attacking from the AMC and fullback positions I wanted to keep a deep presence in the center. Gurpegi who likes simple passes is the anchor and Munoz is a deep playmaker to encourage him to stay back but find one of the 5 options in front of him.

Exteberria is retiring so I am training de Marcos to take over as the advanced playmaker.

The second XI to rotate in looks like it will work nicely with the 4231 formation as well:

SC de Cerio or Torquero

AMC® Lopez

AMC de Marcos

AMC(L) Gabilondo

MC(L) Martinez

DMC® Orbaiz

DR Zubiaurre

DL Koikili

DC® Ustaritz

DC(L) Etxeita

I have Barcelona coming up in the King's Cup and I intend to go 442 much more defensively and rigid against the strongest 5 or 6 sides in the league.

[fighting irish]

Barcelona came out in a 451 Mourinho against Bilbao in San Mames. I decided to change to a 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation because that seems to cause the 451 problems marking:

4321 Balanced, Control, Direct, Disciplined, Press More, Cautious Tackling, Default marking (see below), Float Crosses, Stick to Position

DR Iraola - FB, defend, man mark AML

DL Castillo - FB, defend, man mark AMR

DC Amorebieta - central defendr, defend, man mark SC

DC Ocio - limited defender, cover

MR Lopez - wide midfielder, support, man mark MC

ML Gabilondo - wide midfielder, support, man mark MC

MC Gurpegi - deep lying playmaker, support

AMC Etxeberria - attacking midfielder, support, man mark DL

AMC Yeste -attacking midfielder, support, man mark DR

SC Llorente - target man, attack

With this set up I beat Barcelona 2-0 at home and held them to 0-0 for the first half at Camp Nou. In the second half at Camp Nou Barcelona switched to a 5-2-3 with three tight strikers to counter my tactic and destroyed me 3-0. So back to the drawing board for next time.

[ArranoBeltza]

Barcelona came out in a 451 Mourinho against Bilbao in San Mames. I decided to change to a 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation because that seems to cause the 451 problems marking:

4321 Balanced, Control, Direct, Disciplined, Press More, Cautious Tackling, Default marking (see below), Float Crosses, Stick to Position

DR Iraola - FB, defend, man mark AML

DL Castillo - FB, defend, man mark AMR

DC Amorebieta - central defendr, defend, man mark SC

DC Ocio - limited defender, cover

MR Lopez - wide midfielder, support, man mark MC

ML Gabilondo - wide midfielder, support, man mark MC

MC Gurpegi - deep lying playmaker, support

AMC Etxeberria - attacking midfielder, support, man mark DL

AMC Yeste -attacking midfielder, support, man mark DR

SC Llorente - target man, attack

With this set up I beat Barcelona 2-0 at home and held them to 0-0 for the first half at Camp Nou. In the second half at Camp Nou Barcelona switched to a 5-2-3 with three tight strikers to counter my tactic and destroyed me 3-0. So back to the drawing board for next time.

Just wondering- have you tried a 4-1-3-2? In my opinion it's vital to have two strikers, if for no other reason than to give Muniain some games against weaker opposition.

A couple questions/comments:

Why the choice of Gurpegi above Martinez, or even Orbaiz- Martinez is the best midfielder on the team and usually does well for me. Why start Etxeberria- he's not that great anymore, IMO, and De Marcos should be given playing time, although Etxeberria makes a good backup.

Still, looks like you may be on to something- how far are you into the season and how are you doing overall in the league and in the Europa League (if applicable)?

[fighting irish]

I just can not get the two striker thing to work on either FM09 or FM10. One of the two ends up doing nothing and gets 6.3 to 6.6 ratings every game.

I am only about 1/3 of the way through the first season sitting 9th at the moment. Llorente is top scorer in La Liga, Etxeberria is playing well for me, but Gurpegi and Munoz are below average in the center. On your suggestion I switched to Martinez and Orbaiz and they are playing better. Koikili is playing better than Castillo at DL.

I started with the 4231 formation because I had the best success on FM09 that way, though I typically managed in Ireland where everybody plays 442. 4231 creates lots of problems for 442 teams. The setup I detailed above is working great in the Europa League and against weaker 442 teams.

This is my first time managing in Spain and I am seeing more variety in opponents formations. I had another game against Barcelona and again used the Christmas tree formation to open to good effect. When Barca switched to 523 in the second half I had a 4141 waiting for them trying to funnel my possession to the MR/ML where they were weakest. I lost 1-0 giving up a penalty but I was happy with the strategy.

So far I can handle everything except when the opponent plays 4231. Whenever I see the France formation the games are high scoring and I lose with a scoreline like 4-2. I am trying to solve the marking problem with some combination of 5 at the back. I tried the 442 you outlined but was still having problems at the back.

[the--dud]

I've found that to combat the 4-2-3-1 formation it's often efficient to play with two DMCs. Eg, 4 flat backline, 2 DMC, ML, MR, 2 ST. Or 4 flat backline, 2 DMC, 3 MC, 1 ST if you want to play even more defensively and narrower. As long as you have 2 DMCs sitting infront of your backline to break up all the play outside your box...

[BigCisHere]

Hope noone minds me coming in. I noticed an annoying amount of teams I am coming up against are playing the 4-2-3-1, but so far I think I am coming out on top. Currently in 9th place after 14 or so games.

I am playing what is basically a 4-4-2. Iraizoz in goal, Iraola, Ustaritz, Amorebieta, Castillo in defence, then I am playing Orbaiz in a left sided central DM role - basically right infront of Amorebieta at DC. Then I have Martinez in a right sided CM role. Susaeta and Yeste are playing as AMR and AML, with Llorente and Muniain up front for most games.

Llorente has scored 26 goals in 26 games in all competitions this season. Although he is pretty much my only player scoring. But that is probably because I have Muniain playing with him.

Also into the First Knockout Round of the Europa League, 4 wins and 1 draw vs Benfica, Amkar Perm and FC Twente with just the Dutch team left to play in the groups.

Managed a 1-1 draw with Barcelona playing the tactics that I am, also ran them close in the Super Cup at the start, losing 1-0 and 2-1. Only big defeats were against Real Madrid 4-1 and Sevilla was 3-0. Which is the only league game I failed to score in so far.

Quite a few of the teams have come at me with a 4-2-3-1 vs my system, and I often seem to fend them off pretty decently.

[ArranoBeltza]

So far I can handle everything except when the opponent plays 4231. Whenever I see the France formation the games are high scoring and I lose with a scoreline like 4-2. I am trying to solve the marking problem with some combination of 5 at the back. I tried the 442 you outlined but was still having problems at the back.

I had trouble in the back as well. I did well, but conceded more than I wanted to. However, in the second season I signed a regen center-back from Osasuna and he's doing great with Amorebieta in the center and I'm conceding much much less now and still scoring.

[ArranoBeltza]

After this, my record against Real Madrid is 2-1 and I'm in first place in La Liga at half-season:

[ArranoBeltza]

In the second season I have played Muniain more because he's been performing better than De Cerio and he single-handedly won me the last two league games. In the Valencia match, I brought him on as a sub for De Cerio late in the game, and he assisted on Llorente's goal to tie it, then added two more late goals of his own. Hell yeah!

[ArranoBeltza]

My second season is over! This time, I managed to finish third, a one-place improvement from my first season. For the second season in a row, I have qualified for the Champion's League- hopefully I can progress another stage beyond the first knockout round (got knocked out in the 1st knockout stage on away goals by ManU).

2010-2011 La Liga table

This time, there are four players I would like to take note of:

First, I was able to get (regen, who was in the game for the first season) Pablo Alonso from Osasuna for $16million. A pretty high price for Athletic, but worth it- he's only 18 and is looking good, and he's done great for me so far. He missed some time due to a long-term injury, but still was solid defensively, adding on four goals for my team.

Another good transfer I made was the purchase of Arteta. He was also expensive, but was outstanding for me, getting a decent number of goals (most of which were superb long-range shots) and adding a number of assists.

Once again, Llorente did great for me. He probably could have done better, but suffered a dip in form towards the end of the season (although he snapped it in the last couple of games. However, I am worried because his attributes declined.

This year, Muniain finally made a good impact for me. I decided to start him in some early games and he did well, so I kept him alongside Llorente. He is inconsistent, but looks like he's turning out well. He also stopped scoring towards the end and, unlike Llorente, wasn't able to snap the streak.

So, going into the next season, I will probably sell Toquero because he really didn't play at all. I will be trying to find another left winger (had to sell Yeste due to unhapiness, Ander and De Marcos are platooned but are inconsistent and have poor morale very often- I'll sell one if I can find a good left winger). I also want another left-back, Koikili and Castillo are decent, but if I want to progress beyond 3rd/4th, I will probably need another left-back. If I find one, I'll probably sell Koi. Currently, though, there aren't any significantly better Basque LBs and no impressive Spanish U19 LBs. Finally, I have my fingers crossed that my regens will be better- the ones I got were crap, so I had to buy a few from other teams.

Just in case anyone's interested, I have made my tactic available for download.

[fighting irish]

Thanks for the help guys.

2 DMCs is working pretty well nullifying the 4-2-3-1 teams. And as my season progresses the old players - Munoz, Gurpegi, Etxeberria, Ocio and Gabilondo - are all deteriorating rapidly, so I can see why you went with the younger guys right away. Unfortunately Martinez just got injured for 2 months and combined with the older guys the center of my midfield is pretty thin.

As a public service announcement, having Amorebieta attack the far post with an in swinging corner to the far post is very nearly a cheat tactic for me. He has 11 goals and I am only in February of season 1.

I went on a great run and am currently clinging to 2nd behind Barcelona and just beat Real Madrid 1:2 in the Bernabeu and topped my Europa group.

I am working Munian in and he has 4 goals in 4 appearances and Real Madrid is starting to make offers for him.

How much transfer money can I expect at the start of season 2? I am trying to find some replacements for the aging quintet and would like to know how high I can go?

Also, will Azpilicueta (DR, Osasuna) ever be willing to come to San Mames?

[ArranoBeltza]

Thanks for the help guys.

2 DMCs is working pretty well nullifying the 4-2-3-1 teams. And as my season progresses the old players - Munoz, Gurpegi, Etxeberria, Ocio and Gabilondo - are all deteriorating rapidly, so I can see why you went with the younger guys right away. Unfortunately Martinez just got injured for 2 months and combined with the older guys the center of my midfield is pretty thin.

As a public service announcement, having Amorebieta attack the far post with an in swinging corner to the far post is very nearly a cheat tactic for me. He has 11 goals and I am only in February of season 1.

I went on a great run and am currently clinging to 2nd behind Barcelona and just beat Real Madrid 1:2 in the Bernabeu and topped my Europa group.

I am working Munian in and he has 4 goals in 4 appearances and Real Madrid is starting to make offers for him.

How much transfer money can I expect at the start of season 2? I am trying to find some replacements for the aging quintet and would like to know how high I can go?

Also, will Azpilicueta (DR, Osasuna) ever be willing to come to San Mames?

Very nice results with Amorebieta- I may give that a try.

Muniain is a good player- in my game I play him as much as possible, but he's inconsistent so maybe I'll start him two games, leave him out for three, then sub him, then repeat the cycle. He should develop nicely though- try to stave off Madrid as long as possible, at least until you can make lots of money from him.

In the second season you should get a good amount of transfer money, especially if you keep up the good results. I don't remember how much I got exactly, but I was able to bring in Arteta (recommended, he's great for me) and still have enough cash left for loads of U-19 players. As for Azpilicueta, it should be easier to get him second season, but he'll be expensive still. Then again, Osasuna got relegated in my game so their players are fairly easy for me to buy (although, I haven't yet bought Azpilicueta).

Oh, and old players are definitely a problem as far as their rate of deterioration. I sold Gabilondo and Ocio. I got an outstanding regen CB from Osasuna so he replaced Ocio, and I never really had a use for Gabilondo as I have Yeste, De Marcos, and Ander to play on the left side. Definitely try to hire scouts and poach regens your second season and, you'll hopefully get some good ones yourself (mine were crap second season, got some decent ones third season).

[Marchena]

Best title win ever!

Than penalty shoot-out was just freaking heartbreaking! On the way i beated: Sevilla, Villarreal and Barcelona so this was an amazing archivement for me.

Now that was in 2nd season. I'll just recap the first 3 I've had so far:

1st: League 6th - Uefa Cup last 32, Copa del Rey last 16, Spanish supercup win

2nd: League 7th - Uefa Cup last 32, Copa del Rey winner!

3rd: League 15th - Uefa Cup last 32, Copa del Rey semi-final, spanish supercup lost

The 3rd season was awful! I was so close to getting fired, but kept my job, but I don't have lots of time in the new season if things don't change.

My team: (Note I haven't bought players in for the 4th season yet!)

Muniain + a couple of other youngsters will probably make the team next year.

[DirtyACE]

I'm currently making my first ever foray into the Basque football and am confused about some things. I know the clubs in this region are limited to signing just Basque players, or players that are not necessarily Basque but who have played in the youth systems of their clubs. Now what I'm a little bit confused on is what players I can get outside of the Basque country. I've noticed that I can sign any player of Spanish nationality (but not Basque second nationality) as long as they are 16 years-old or younger. If they're older, then the game wont allow me to sign them. Is this how the system really works in real life?

[fighting irish]

I completed season 1 tied for second on goal difference with the following lessons learned:

1. I only loaded the Spanish leagues which made winning the UEFA Cup relatively simple. I only played against three teams that had a full roster of non-grayed out players. In the final I beat Lazio who only fielded 7 real players and 4 gray players.

2. In the end, a standard 442 was the formation I went with for my last 25 games or so and I never had to look back.

3. Yeste played better than de Marcos on the left. I am looking at Ander as a purchase for season 2 as Yeste is nearing the point of no return (though he was fabulous with 22 assists).

4. Lopez played better than Susaeta (who can't motivate himself to play for a manager of my experience) on the right. I am looking at Xabi Prieto or Arteta as an upgrade for season 2.

5. I rotated all of my central midfielders who each had periods of being awesome and below average. I want a new player to buy for MC but I can't find any that are worthwhile.

6. Munian was perfect as the 70th minute substitute for the second striker, even in major games.

7. Orbaiz has been mad at me all season for my lack of discipline for not fining a player who got red carded early in the season...even though we won the game. I would have fined him if we lost.

8. After selling Gabilondo and Ocio to relegated basque rival Osasuna in the close-season my fans are upset that I sold them to a rival...0% popularity...even though I made $2 million on players who were not going to see the field ever again.

9. Near the end of the season once I noticed performance dipping, I started giving 1 or 2 days off whever I had a 7 day period with only a single game, and I believed this helped eliminate the end of season fade.

10. Start at Standard...if the opponent gets a highlight with a good build-up switch to Counter...if the opponent gets another highlight switch to Defensive...if I score a goal switch to Control.

11. Get Ball Forward was working well for me even at the end of the season when my reputation had improved.

12. I ended up ignoring the media and it worked out well.

[Marchena]

Sounds a little extreme to be 2nd in La Primera and winning the Uefa Cup the first year, great job.

[ArranoBeltza]

I'm currently making my first ever foray into the Basque football and am confused about some things. I know the clubs in this region are limited to signing just Basque players, or players that are not necessarily Basque but who have played in the youth systems of their clubs. Now what I'm a little bit confused on is what players I can get outside of the Basque country. I've noticed that I can sign any player of Spanish nationality (but not Basque second nationality) as long as they are 16 years-old or younger. If they're older, then the game wont allow me to sign them. Is this how the system really works in real life?

Actually, you can sign any U-19 players from Spain. The reason for this is that Athletic considers any player Basque who learned his football at a Basque club. For example, David Lopez is from La Rioja, but is eligable for Athletic because he trained at Osasuna's cantera.

[Shrewnaldo]

Question - given that we have managed to edit the Basque so that it is now a bona fide country capable of entering international competitions and calling up players etc, we are facing an issue:

Athletic are hard-coded to only be able to purchase players whose second nationality is Basque. As soon as any given player is called up by the new Basque national team his first nationality becomes Basque and he is now inelligible for Athletic. Any ideas on how to alter this requirement in some of the config files? Any help would be much appreciated.

[dfgrigg]

Actually, you can sign any U-19 players from Spain. The reason for this is that Athletic considers any player Basque who learned his football at a Basque club. For example, David Lopez is from La Rioja, but is eligable for Athletic because he trained at Osasuna's cantera.

This doesn't seem to be true for me anymore. As of the latest patch I can only sign non-Basque Spaniards if they are 16 or younger. Have you found the same?

[Marchena]

Javi Martinez entering the the Athletic record books.

I'm in my 12th season. I've stabilized the team, but have yet to win a major trophy. My best is two times Euro League final and 3rd in La Primera. Atm I'm leading the league though

[ArranoBeltza]

Well, it's my third season and I got sacked.

It's okay though- my computer was broken for about 2 months so I forgot what I was doing. I'm about to start a new game as Athletic, though, and we'll see how I do this time around!

I'll miss Pablo Alonso

[dangerpuss]

I'm starting a new game with Athletic and one thing in particular is worrying me, almost none of the Athletic squad has anything approaching decent mental stats, only Gurpegi has over 15 determination. Is there a reason for this?

[ArranoBeltza]

I'm starting a new game with Athletic and one thing in particular is worrying me, almost none of the Athletic squad has anything approaching decent mental stats, only Gurpegi has over 15 determination. Is there a reason for this?

Not too sure why this is, but the best explanation I can offer is that Athletic have always been considered at least decent, but haven't broken into the top half of the table for a few seasons. I guess that's how the game represents a decent team who can't win. Regardless, though, in the game it isn't hard to do at least a decent job with Athletic.

[dangerpuss]

Yes, they have some great players, Yeste and Llorente in particular.

A decent back-up (or first-choice) keeper is Asier Riesgo of Socidead. He's available for €1.1m. Sendoa and Barkero are useful at left midfield and Javier Garrido is available on loan.

[Falahk]

oh yeeeeh, 8 goals from my guys at the start of session two, in the spanish u21 team

[dangerpuss]

Everton want €56m for Arteta. I had a good laugh at that and he's interested in signing for me too. I'll have to unsettle him.

[crowsus]

Question - given that we have managed to edit the Basque so that it is now a bona fide country capable of entering international competitions and calling up players etc, we are facing an issue:

Athletic are hard-coded to only be able to purchase players whose second nationality is Basque. As soon as any given player is called up by the new Basque national team his first nationality becomes Basque and he is now inelligible for Athletic. Any ideas on how to alter this requirement in some of the config files? Any help would be much appreciated.

don't think the config files will help you mate. You will need FMRTE or another save editor to add Basque as these players' second nationality (the game does allow the same 1st and 2nd nations!). Its a bummer when youve gone to the trouble of creating the national team, been there myself, but its just the wa the game finds players for Athletic. It's pretty hard-coded into the game programming as far as im aware, same as changing competetion prize money etc.

[crowsus]

This doesn't seem to be true for me anymore. As of the latest patch I can only sign non-Basque Spaniards if they are 16 or younger. Have you found the same?

it was definitely the case that you could sign under-19 Spaniards in version 10.1. I think the 10.2 patch must have changed this to under-17. I think this is much better, it reflects the real rule a little better - not many 16-year-olds are going to go straight into the first team. They will have to wait until they're about 20, which would mean that they are closer to being 'formed at the club' like Athletic's (vague) policy states. The reality is that 'formed' in Spain means the real youth teams, 13 and 14-year-olds. Since FM doesnt even have any players that young, I don't see why it is not a case of 'not Basque, can't sign for Athletic' because if they are at the Basque clubs at 16 they are being formed there already, and if not they are really too old to be considered...?

The example of David Lopez was given above, I haven't been able to find any proof since his records at Osasuna only go back to when he was 18, but due to the proximity of Logrono to Pamplona I would imagine that he could have lived in La Rioja as a boy and still played for the Osasuna youth teams from an early age. I doubt he suddenly became a very good player at 18 without being linked to any professional team! And there is a good chance that the club(s) he played for were based in Euskal Herria. That makes him more of a legitimate signing target for Athletic than almost all of the Spanish under-17s in the game.

[Falahk]

Everton want €56m for Arteta. I had a good laugh at that and he's interested in signing for me too. I'll have to unsettle him.

do you really need Arteta thought? Ander is probebly a better central mid option, while Yeste or Gabilondo can cover the left for the first few years (heck Yeste can do a similar job in the center mid as Arteta should it be needed)

[dangerpuss]

do you really need Arteta thought? Ander is probebly a better central mid option, while Yeste or Gabilondo can cover the left for the first few years (heck Yeste can do a similar job in the center mid as Arteta should it be needed)

I ended up getting Ander but I'll play him in the AMC or AML position. Yeste is brilliant at AMC, scored 16 goals and got 10 assists for me in the first season. I play Martinez and Gupegi in CM but I'm finding it very hard to find any good Defensive Midfielders, Gurpegi does very well but he's old. Aritz Lopez Garay seems the only option at Celta.

[Falahk]

I ended up getting Ander but I'll play him in the AMC or AML position. Yeste is brilliant at AMC, scored 16 goals and got 10 assists for me in the first season. I play Martinez and Gupegi in CM but I'm finding it very hard to find any good Defensive Midfielders, Gurpegi does very well but he's old. Aritz Lopez Garay seems the only option at Celta.

maybe i got a bit spoiled by geting a good regen in my youth intake that will replace Orbaiz after 1-2 sessions, otherwise Xabier Etxeita may very well be the best option in a long term perspective for a defensive fielder (unless you really need him on center back), Ander Iturraspe also have some potential i supose....other then that....raid other spanish teams for 16 year old regens

[grimness]

I don't get why nobody plays Muniain form the start. In few of my saves he starts scoring from the beginning. Don't let stats fool you as with other clubs I've had players with average attributes perform better then stars which left me wondering even with knowing that two-footednes takes away from the attributes.

Usually I have Llorente as target man on support and Muniain as poacher and from the start he scores often. These two are really good attacking combo regardless of philosophy from the start and only worry is how much will your defense leak.

[Falahk]

I don't get why nobody plays Muniain form the start. In few of my saves he starts scoring from the beginning. Don't let stats fool you as with other clubs I've had players with average attributes perform better then stars which left me wondering even with knowing that two-footednes takes away from the attributes.

Usually I have Llorente as target man on support and Muniain as poacher and from the start he scores often. These two are really good attacking combo regardless of philosophy from the start and only worry is how much will your defense leak.

how much have llorente scored for you in a suport role?

[grimness]

First season on 10.2 34 games, 19 goals, 8 assists, 4 man of the match with average rating 7,25

Muniain was 35 games, 14 goals, 6 asts, 2 MoM.

[zink]

having struggled to find an enjoyable game on here, i'm currently loving playing as athletic. the youth development is cool. i had an amazing looking player come into the youth ranks at the start of the second season. trumpeted as 'potentially one of the best players of his generation' mon.

[grimness]

I've just brought Laraudo in first season. He has excellent stats for defensive ball-winning midfielder only minus is low determination but everything else needed for that role is very good. He is 34 years old so he will do his job for one season I'm sure.

Seems that Athletic is having injury crisis in all of my saves, just as in real life so 25 decent players are needed. Good thing is that youngsters don't need registration.

[Falahk]

First season on 10.2 34 games, 19 goals, 8 assists, 4 man of the match with average rating 7,25

Muniain was 35 games, 14 goals, 6 asts, 2 MoM.

you should probebly be able to get slightly more out of him if you put him on targetman/attack then, you really should have him leading the line and spearhead attacking moves, to get the most out of his ppm "break offside trap", heck he even scored 2 goals vs sporting in last game of the session on long goalkeeper kicks from aranzubia in my game

he neted 25 goals, 9 assists and 7 MotM in the first year on 34(1) league games

and 29 goals 11 assists and 8 MotM on 34(2) league games in the secound year for me

(top goal scorer in spain, top marksman in europe, for the secound year)

in all competitions over 40 goals each year

[Falahk]

since i have not wrote much about my own game yet, i will do so now, i started this game on the 10,2 patch but have since the last pair of moths of session 2, used the 10,3 patch

Session 1:

i pretty quickly decided to settle for a flat 4-4-2 formation, and used the following as my starting line up

---------Iraizoz

Iraola-Etxeita-Amorebieta-Koikili

Lopez-Martinez-Orbaiz-Yaste

-----Llorente-Muniain

i had Susaeta rotate a fair bit with Lopez

transfers in:

Aitor Andueza (DCL, start of the game regen, Alaves)

Mikel Irondo (DR, start of the game regen, Eibar)

Ignacio (DR, start of the game regen, Jaen, im now retraining him to DL)

Manuel (DCR, start of the game regen, Betis)

Jorge Galan (ST,Ousasuna), brought in as a back up for Muniain

outs (i also ditched a few yougsters i see no need to mention here):

Iñigo Díaz de Cerio (HSV)

Xabier Castillo (Lazio)

Iker Seguin (Torino)

Ustaritz (Porto)

Ion Vélez (Zenit)

Iñaki Muñoz (CSKA Moscow)

Aitor Ocio (LOSC Lille Metropole)

Mikel San Jose (loan terminated), did not see the need for him, since i got in some prospects that i wanted to rotate, and i also had Gurpegi that could play center back in times of need

when the smoke had settled and the session was over i was siting on a comfortable 4th place (oh yeah! champions league here i come), I went out to Fiorentina in the first knock out round of the euro, i got trashed by barca in the supercup, but i did manage to win the spanish cup on total fluke, I was very lucky with my match up's here (and Tenerife managed beat Real on away goals in the semi)

all in all, a very good session considering the players i had to work with, and thankfully i did not suffer any long term injuries on key players, Llorente was the man of the moment scoring many important goals, and was the one who made the difrence betwin a midd table finnish and european glory, Jorge Galan however was awefull, dispite having the stats all in the right place for the role as poacher back up, he faild to score a singel goal for me and sufferd from the longest goal drought i have ever seen on football manager

[grimness]

Which leagues do you people usually load? I've just loaded all Spanish with all Spanish players. 19000 people loaded with small database for others. I hope it won't go too slow

[Skinaldo]

Sounds class fun

[jsdceltic]

Javier Gariddo is Basque so if you want a left back he is your man

[grimness]

I've loaded all Spanish leagues with all Spanish players and staff and while checking something with FMRTE I've noticed that youth squad has better potential then in all other games. Interesting. Unlike in other saves it's really worth keeping everyone but 2-3 players who could still become decent.