[FM13] Werder Bremen - Greener and younger than ever before.

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Welcome to

The SV Werder Bremen FM13 Thread

What? At least we HAD Diego, Ozil, Marin, Pizarro, Klose, Mertesacker, Naldo, Wiese and Frings at one point....

5 reasons to play a Werder Bremen save.

Going to put this at the top again, so those without a lot of time, can just read the top part and skip my long winded ramblings below.

1. Elia/Arnautovic/de Bruyne : All fast, can all dribble, have lots of flair, makes for some potentially pretty football.

2. Youth : The current first squad has an average age of about 23. Last season Tom Trybull, Florian Hartherz and Niclas Fullkrug all showed signs of developing into potential stars.

3. Room for change : The squad is good to start, but there are a lot of places it could be improved, quickly and considerably.

4. Expectations : The board expects continental qualification, in Germany, that means top 7. With proper management, this squad shouldn't have too many issues with that, so there shouldn' t be a huge amount of pressure to start with.

5. You have a rich club, built to attack, with loads of potential to get better... what more could you want?

Quick Analysis

This is the quick version for anyone interested that doesn't want to read through the long version below, or perhaps this might suck you in and make you want to read it, who knows?

The squad is built for a typical 4-5-1 formation at the moment as shown below. You start with about 870k pounds in transfer funds and have about 20k available in the wage budget. Possible early sales are Marko Arnautovic and Mehmet Ekici, but if you decide to keep them you should have a good attacking squad. Left back is a little weak currently, but Florian Hartherz could develop into something special there. The squad is young, with an average age of about 23 in the first team squad, and doesn't comprise too many players that the fans will riot over if you decide to do a full cleanout.

In reality most of the “name” players were cleared out in real life over the summer so there's lots of room to stamp whatever mark you would like on the club. Oh, and your board expects you to make it into the European places.

Team History.

SV Werder Bremen were founded back in 1899 when a group of 16 year olds won a football as a prize in a tug of war competition. Originally named FV Werder Bremen, the expanding sporting interests of the club led them to rename the club Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 in 1920. At the end of World War II the club was dissolved and merged with other Nazi-banned clubs before being renamed to SV Werder Bremen a couple of years later.

In 1961, the club celebrated its first German cup victory and in 1963-4 played its first season in the Bundesliga. A year later in 1964-5 the club celebrated it's first Bundesliga Championship. The club stayed in the Bundesliga for years after this, never quite replicating that championship, and then at the end of the 1979-80 season, a poor 17th place saw them relegated.

It only took a season for them to return to the top flight, and with Otto Rehhagel as coach, the team began to return to the top. With players like Rudi Voller and current manager Thomas Schaaf, the club returned toward the top of the table, twice finishing runners-up on goal difference, in 1983 and 1986.

In 1988 the drought was finally broken as the club claimed the German Championship. More success would follow as the team claimed the German Cup in 1991, and the following year, the European Cup Winners Cup, beating Monaco in the final. More success followed in 1993 as the team once again won the German Championship, and in 1994, they won the German Cup again. In 1995 Rehhagel finally resigned as coach in Bremen and moved to Bayern Munich.

A transitional time followed, with mid-table mediocrity the order of the day, until things went slightly sour in 1999 and with the club facing relegation, Felix Magath was sacked, and current manager Thomas Schaaf took over, guiding the team to safety.

Schaaf steadily built the team on playing offensively, and the 2003-4 season was to be the big year as the club won both the German Championship and the German Cup. The club finished runners-up again in 2006 and 2008. The club won the German Cup again in 2009, finishing runners-up in the UEFA cup after losing the final to Shakhtar Donetsk.

The last couple of years have seen Werder fall back to the pack somewhat, selling off players such as Diego to Juventus, Mesut Ozil to Real Madrid, Per Mertesacker to Arsenal, and more recently Marko Marin to Chelsea. After falling from Champion's League football to 13th place at the end of 2011, Werder climbed back up to ninth in the table last season, still well below the continental placing that was expected of them after an horrendous second half of the season which saw them collect a total of 9 points after the winter break.

Following the end of the season a clean-out of sorts has taken place, with the high profile departure of Marin also accompanied by the departures of star striker Claudio Pizarro, top goal keeper Tim Wiese, long time central defender Naldo, as well as the departures of Markus Rosenberg, Mikael Silvestre, Sebastien Boenisch and Tim Borowski.

Incoming players include Eljero Elia to replace Marin, Kevin de Bruyne and Nils Petersen on loan, Assani Lukimya and Joseph Akpala add some physicality to the side, whilst Theodor Gebre Selassie has been bought after a string of impressive performances at Euro 2012.

For a more detailed history of the club please see the following links, which are also where I've drawn most of the information for this history from :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SV_Werder_Bremen*

http://www.werder.de/en/club/ueber-w.../1899-1947.php*

Stadium and Facilities

Original image link :*http://www.football-pictures.net/dat...Wallpaper2.jpg

SV Werder play at the Weserstadion, so named for its idyllic location on the banks of the Weser river in Bremen. The stadium was constructed in 1925 and whilst this may seem to make it old, it has undergone a series of upgrades over the years, the latest of which is aimed at turning it into a true football arena. Also contained in the stadium is a museum chronicling the history of Werder, dubbed the Wuseum.

The club has a separate reserve stadium, top training facilities and good youth facilities. Of note : in FM2012 I found the club was generally looking to expand or build a new stadium within the first couple of years, I'll be interested to see if this is the same in FM2013.

Fans and Club Culture

Over the years, Werder's fans have become known as a respectful group on the whole. Even whilst the team has endured some terrible runs of form in the past two seasons, the general consensus has been that Schaaf should not be sacked, having been an exemplary servant of the club right throughout his playing and coaching career. In all likelihood Schaaf will be coach until he decides its time to leave Werder, out of respect for all he has done for the club.

As a club culture, Werder are well respected as somewhat of a feeder club, a place that is good at identifying young talent, developing it, and selling it for a profit.

Club chairman Willi Lemke, Director of Football Klaus Allofs and all the managing directors have been involved with the club for a long time, some as players and others as administrators, and this stability is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

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Club Analysis

It's hard to really discuss and analyse the squad as a playing group without first analysing where the club is at as a whole. Most fans would know Werder mostly as “the place that sold Mertesacker to Arsenal,” or “the place that sold Ozil to Real Madrid,” and more recently “the place that sold Marin to Chelsea.” This isn't far from the truth.

Mertesacker and Naldo formed the backbone of the club that almost won the 2009 UEFA cup, giving stability at the back whilst Ozil and Diego provided the creative spark in the middle of the park. Of those 4 none remain as a new generation of players is being ushered in at the Weserstadion.

The club has always had a culture of identifying young players and bringing them in, helping them grow and then selling them for a profit later on. Marin, Ozil, Pizarro, Torsten Frings, Mertesacker, Miroslav Klose and Diego are all examples of players bought from other clubs at a young age and given first team opportunities before being sold for profit. It also means that young players have a chance at Werder, with Tom Trybull and Florian Hartherz featuring heavily in the second half of last season.

The club is expected to push for a European place again this year, and the squad should be strong enough to do it with loanees De Bruyne and Petersen hopefully providing enough of a spark to see the club get back into Europe. Attacking football will always be the way to play with Werder, and the squad exemplifies this.

A point of note : the squad is versatile as well, players like Hunt, Schmitz, Fritz, Bargfrede, Ignjovski, Junuzovic, and De Bruyne can be played in multiple positions, or quickly retrained to cover other places as well.

Squad Analysis

Goalkeepers

Sebastien Mielitz : The new number one at Bremen. His stats are nothing to write home about, yet, but he is only 22 and has done an admirable job in his Werder career thus far. He should be sufficient to achieve the boards wishes, but as with most positions, you can upgrade here if you want as well.

Raphael Wolf/Christian Vander : Wolf was purchased in the off season, and has become the default number 2, at 24 he could also improve, but really both are backups.

Defence

Werder Bremen have always been a club that prides itself on attacking football, and as such defence has never been their strong point. The departure of Naldo in the off season has opened up an opportunity for Sebastien Prodl to partner Sokratis in the middle of defence, with new boy Lukimya pushing for a first team birth as well, it remains to be seen if these three will form a long term bedrock from which Werder can grow.

On the flanks, Clemens Fritz, Theodor Gebre Selassie, Lukas Schmitz and Florian Hartherz provide a lot of pace and forward drive, without being the sort of guys you'd want trying to hang on to a 1-0 lead in a cup final.

Central Defence

Sokratis : He's big, he's Greek and he's probably the first name you'll put down on your teamsheet (and if you're like me you'll just call him by his first name cause, well, Papastathopoulos is a bit hard to say at times). Great pace for a centre back, combined with good strength and defensive skills make him the 1st choice at centre back.

Sebastien Prodl : A physical centre back with a good aerial presence, Prodl will likely be partnered with Sokratis when he is fit. There are better defenders out there, but if you choose, he can hold the fort well enough to get the club into the continental places.

Assani Lukimya : A new arrival, Lukimya is in many ways similar to Prodl in that he is a big strong centre back, neither will ever be a great ball player, but at Werder, there's enough ball players that these guys can get away with being one dimensional stoppers.

Francois Affolter : On loan until the end of the year, with a 1.7M buyout clause. Affolter is mostly cover in case of injury, but at 21 he has good pace, and better ballplaying skills than any of the other centre backs. Might be worth giving him a shot and seeing if he has any real potential, if he does, 1.7M might be a steal.

Full Backs

Clemens Fritz : Current club captain. The game lists him as a defensive midfielder first and a full back second, but Fritz has spent the bulk of his Werder career patrolling the right flank. With the arrival of Gebre Selassie this might mean a bit of juggling, but he can adequately cover on the left or in the DM slot.

Theodor Gebre Selassie : A new arrival at Werder, he's one part defender, 4 parts winger. His high pace, good dribbling and crossing, all point to him being a wing back, defensively he has low tackling, poor positioning and average marking, but in case you missed my comments earlier, this team wasn't meant to grind out 1-0 results. From a squad point of view, he presents some unique opportunities which will be expanded upon later.

Lukas Schmitz : The default left back, Schmitz is actually listed as a left midfielder who can play at the back. His high pace and good crossing once again probably make him best suited as a wing back, and if you use him at the back, be prepared to cover for the defensive deficiencies.

Florian Hartherz : At 19 he's breaking into the first team setup, in real life injuries meant he started 10 games last season at left back, and whilst Werder had a bad second half, the first team experience will be invaluable to his development. Long story short, he should get some first team time as he's definitely the left back of the future.

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Midfield

This year has marked somewhat of a departure for Schaaf, as he's taken to playing more with 5 midfielders and a lone striker as opposed to his more traditional 4-4-2's. A lot of the start of the season has been played with a 3 man central midfield of Junuzovic in the holding role, with Hunt and De Bruyne deployed in front of him, with Arnautovic and Elia on the wings. In FM terms this isn't exactly ideal, but I'll go into that further down in the tactics section.

Defensive Midfielders

I'll preface this pair by saying that in my main game in FM2012, both wound up as full backs and did a fantastic job for me. Both Bargfrede and Ignjovski are extremely versatile guys, and can plug pretty much any gap in the defensive half other than perhaps central defence.

Philipp Bargfrede : His mental attributes and stamina make him ideal as a ball hawk in the centre of midfield. He's never going to be a great creator, but he can be great in front of 2 central defenders, allowing the full backs to push forward.

Aleksandar Ignjovski : Similar to Bargfrede in that he has good stamina, and defensive attributes, he has played a lot on the left side for Werder, filling in at both left back and left midfield, technically not that great, but fantastic as a ball winner or in front of the back four.

Central Midfielders

I'll make a note again here, I'm lumping all these guys together, but Junuzovic, Hunt, and de Bruyne can all play in the hole behind a striker, or on the wings if necessary, even Ekici, when retrained, was a great winger for me in FM2012.

Kevin de Bruyne : We'll start with the loanee from Chelsea. There is no denying he's a star of the future, and Chelsea have probably done the right thing by getting him some first team football at Werder instead of allowing him to sit on the bench behind Lampard, Hazard et al. Technically gifted with a lot of creativity and flair, he is likely to be the creative fulcrum of Werder whilst he is on loan.

Aaron Hunt : Current club vice-captain. He has injury problems, I can say that from experience, he gets a lot of niggling injuries, and his determination sucks, but he's quick, creative and can finish. Plays well in the hole, and is gifted enough to play as a trequartista if you so chose.

Zlatko Junuzovic : Came to Werder in January last year and has established himself in the first team. Has a great amount of stamina to go with great teamwork and a high work rate. Not as much creativity or flair as Hunt and de Bruyne, but his enthusiasm in the middle of the park can't be denied.

Mehmet Ekici : Not as much pace as de Bruyne or Hunt, but Ekici has great technical skills, being a gifted passer and crosser. A solid central midfielder, there's still a few places where he needs to improve if he is to fulfil his potential. Annoyingly comes with the “plays no through balls” ppm.

Tom Trybull : Another youngster who was pressed into first team service the second half of last season. At 19 he has a lot of room for improvement, but time and space should be found for him in the first team, as he has far too much potential to waste. Another versatile youngster who can be shaped and molded to suit whatever your team needs.

Wingers

Here's the rub, Elia and Arnautovic can rip teams apart. If you don't believe me, just go and watch the game between Werder and Borussia MGB on October 20th. But just as often, they'll disappear.

Marko Arnautovic : Whether or not he has talent has never been in question, but his consistency and off field behaviour have always been in question. IRL he seems to be settling down a little, but in game, he'll still be an unpredictable son of a gun. Physically and technically gifted, with terrible mental stats, I sold him straight away in FM2012, this time around I think I'm going to give him a shot and see what happens.

Eljero Elia : What happens when you're a winger, and you sign for a team that then decides not to play mostly without wingers? That's pretty much what happened to Elia at Juventus, so now he's Marko Marin's replcement at Werder. Lightning quick, great dribbler, and good finisher, obviously let down by his lack of determination, anticipation and teamwork, still if you play both he and Arnautovic you only need one of them to have a great game....

Florian Trinks : Youngster with issues. Great dribbler and free kick taker who is inconsistent and a little bit on the slow side, has potential, but might be better off selling him for money in the bank.

Strikers

Somewhat of a weakness in the team, but really, could any team replace Claudio Pizarro? Nils Petersen will be the first choice most likely, with Akpala backing him up and Fullkrug given game time to develop as a possible future first teamer.

Nils Petersen : Bought in on loan from Bayern Munich because lets face it, he wasn't going to displace Mario Gomez or Pizarro anytime soon. The most well rounded striker on the team combining solid physical attributes with some good anticipation and finishing. Looks like he would make a good poacher getting service from the likes of de Bruyne, Elia and Arnautovic.

Joseph Akpala : Where Petersen is well rounded, Akpala is not. He has a body and he knows how to use it, he's quick, strong and has good mental stats. He also has no technical ability whatsoever, and at 25 you'd have to hope he's a late bloomer. Poor man's Emile Heskey?

Niclas Fullkrug : Really pleasing to see the bump he has received this year. For a 19 year old he's quick and good in the air, given some first team football, he might turn into a solid first team striker in the future, definitely give him a chance though.

Youngsters

In case Fullkrug, Hartherz and Trybull aren't enough for you, here's a few more youngsters floating around at Werder who may or may not develop into something special.

Johannes Wurtz : Another off season pickup this youngster fits the Werder mold of being a young and skilled player bought in to be developed at the club. His physical stats are a little on the low side for the bundesliga, but other than that he appears to be a well rounded attacking player of the future.

Levent Aycicek : Another with lower than ideal physical stats, Aycicek's techincal skills make him a potential attacking midfielder of the future.

Cimo Rocker : Currently in the first team squad in real life, Rocker has a very well rounded game possibly making him a decent DL/ML for the future.

Felix Kroos : Toni's brother hasn't made any huge gains in the past twelve months, but still has the skills to potentially be a solid central midfielder.

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Opinion on how to play them in game.

Everything hereafter is opinion, that means if you want to argue that I have no clue what I'm doing, I'd love it, that's what these threads are here for. I think that this year, given the state of Werder's rebuilding project, the team is a little more settled than it has been in the past.

It's also versatile and inflexible at the same time. There really isn't the depth at central defence to try a 5 man or 3 man back line, so 4 is pretty much what you'll have to play, and currently, Nils Petersen is really the only first team striker. If Elia and Arnautovic play, they have to really be on the wings, hence you're left with 3 guys in the middle of midfield, see, inflexible.

But for versatility, if we get creative and retrain a few guys, things can change a lot.

If Arnautovic commands the same price as he did in FM2012, it will be very tempting to sell him straight away and use the money to reinforce other area's of the team. Left back is a question mark until Hartherz proves he can do the job, as is goalkeeper. Prodl and Lukimya may or may not be up to the task in central defence, and the central midfielders are all good without there really being a stand out star. Up front, if anything happens to Nils Petersen there isn't a lot behind him.

Tactics

The Schaaf way :

It's readily apparent that Thomas Schaaf wasn't going to be able to play a version of the 4-4-2 this year. He's recognised, as most have, that Arnautovic is better used out wide than in a central role, and as such he has embraced a 1 striker formation this year mostly playing in a 4-1-4-1 formation. The results have been mixed thus far ranging from the bad (losing 3-1 to Augsburg, dropping a 2 goal lead to draw with Stuttgart), to some respectable battling performances (the defeats to Dortmund and Munich), to the powerful (shattering MGB 4-0). It seems as if the players themselves are still finding their feet within the system, but this seems to be what he has preferred thus far.

The strengths are obviously in attack, with the combined creativity of de Bruyne and Hunt mixing with the pace and skill of Arnautovic and Elia to dangerous effect. The weaknesses are obvious too, Junuzovic is never going to be a great defensive midfielder, and whilst he's great to have starting attacks at the back, Werder have been exposed defensively on numerous occasions.

The more traditional 4-5-1:

I think this exploits the strengths of the squad a bit more. I like Bargfrede as a holding midfielder, I think with his workrate and defensive skill he can shield the back 4 better, and leaves Junuzovic and de Bruyne to do the creative work ahead of him with Elia/Arnautovic and Petersen to finish off in the final third. If something happened to Petersen, Hunt could even be deployed as a trequartista at the top.

The 4-2-3-1:

Once again I think this actually offers a little bit more stability, and could even be played as a deep version with the two cm's as dm's. The work rate of Junuzovic and Bargfrede in the middle should help keep the team in most contests.

The 4-4-2:

Cause everyone needs a 4-4-2. This I would probably play without Arnautovic, putting Bargfrede in the right side as an almost defensive winger, and allowing Gebre Selassie to overlap, alternately on the otherside, I would play Ignjovski as the left back to cover Elia's deficiencies.

The 5-2-3:

Ok, this is the crackpot formation, but if you retrained Bargfrede, it could work, couldn't it? Told you this team was versatile.

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My Save

So after a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth, I decided to run with the squad basically "as is" to start with, using this formation :

I'm using the 4-1-3-1-1 basically because it's my interpretation on what Schaaf is/should be doing in real life. Defense isn't the strong point of this team, and in fact, the chairman specifically requests that this team play attacking football. It seems odd to throw the wingers into the ML/MR slots and that's fine, but as poor defensively as this team is, having more bodies behind the ball is a priority, even if they suck at actual defensive work.

Junuzovic is going to be played in the DM slot, simply because of his superior workrate and ball skills, he isn't great in the tackle, but I'm not asking him to be, his job is to get the ball from the defense to either the CM or one of the wingers. Up forward, Hunt is thrown in as a pure Trequartista, because I'd rather have him floating around possibly doing something crazy, than sitting in a rigid formation where I'm expecting something consistently from him. The wingers push forward when we attack, creating a 3 man frontline, with the fullbacks pushing up wide to add some width and depth to the attacks.

The squad itself isn't huge on depth, but I'm also hoping it won't be needed as the only competitions we're in are the league and cup, hopefully that will see us through til christmas and at that point I"ll re-assess the squad, and if we need to bolster it, we'll do it then.

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[SRL88]

Excellent start dude

[Purefun]

I love it.

De Bruyne.

[Gooner88]

Great work, Elia and De Bruyne make Bremen a lot more appealing this season.

[23drd23]

You might want to change the heading of your OP. It says FM12

Otherwise great thread that might convince me to start a game as them

[Seule]

You might want to change the heading of your OP. It says FM12

Otherwise great thread that might convince me to start a game as them

Thanks, its what i get for putting it together late at night after studying all day.

[sorensonisawesome]

Just a quick question. I hope someone can answer. I have all these ideas about tactics, but for some reason Im not too well versed in the jargon of the FM Tactics world and thus im not entirely sure how, if at all this can be implemented.

You mentioned that the Fullbacks you would use are more like wingbacks, great pace and crossing, and that the CMS that have good defensive attributes, have been filling in for you at Full back? I think thats correct?

Anyway, this is my idea and I need your guys' help:

Is there some way that we can get the team to transition into attack like this...

Starting Formation.

--------------------------------GK----------------------------

----FB------------CB----------------------CB------------FB----

------------------DM----------------------DM------------------

------------------------------AM-------------------------------

---WG--------------------------------------------------Wing---

-----------------------------ST--------------------------------

To then attack and subsequent defensive shape of....

----------------------------GK----------------------------------

----------CB-------------------------------------CB------------

-------------------DM--------------------DM-------------------

--FB-----------------------AM--------------------FB-----------

--WG----------------------ST---------------------WG----------

Im thinking Rigid defending for the four defenders, maybe even a high line and buy a sweeper keeper, (Whats the transfer budget like in 13 for Bremen?)

Have them block the out route of the other team, and use short sharp passing, high flair a lot of dribbling and a leathal penalty box finisher for when we break the line.

Any thoughts? Help? Advice? Would be fantastic.

The full backs would push up to Box the opposition in to their own half, with their crossing and passing stats could be a lethal thing to do. Having the two Wide players pushing the Full backs up in their half, hopefully eliminating the threat of a break away down the side, then just keep the ball around the area until bang we play through and hopefully bosh, goal.

All sounds fantastic in theory....

Then as we surge forward the Centre backs expand or contract and the Dm's sit further back into either a wider position of stand in full backs or stand in centre backs?

This was literally put together in teh old noggin about 5 mins ago.

Just wanted to get initial thoughts.

[Seule]

it's entirely possible, if you hang out on the tactics and training forum long enough you'll find out that most things are possible, with enough time to work out the kinks I played a save with Werder last year that used a 4-2-3-1 and in attack it basically became the second formation you have above, except I used inside forwards so they ended up a lot more centralised with the full backs outside them.

Defensively the thing to remember is that there are always like to be anywhere from 1-4 opposition players sitting up on your last defensive line, the CB's will naturally stay toward the middle to cover this, and if anything comes down the flanks, it's really on the DM's to get out to it. As far as boxing the other team in their own half, I think this is possible too, was able to do it, using a 3 man back line with 1 CB and 2 hyper attacking fullbacks, but if the opposition did ever get a ball out of their half, it was either a clear cut chance or one of my guys sent off for bringing down a guy through on goal, but it did score a lot of goal s

Tactically I say anything is worth trying, what's the worst that happens? You get sacked, go and try again

[sorensonisawesome]

Thanks man. Just started the game up now so i will head in and have a look see at what I can do! Cheers mate! Hoping this becomes my main save.

[london boy]

Bremen are a great team to manage, and this is an interesting time to manage them in what is a season of transition. There is certainly great potential there. Hartherz, for one, has great potential. A couple of seasons into the game and he made his debut for Germany & Dortmund snapped him up for £9m.

[Seule]

Thats good news to hear london boy. The inconsistencies displayed in real life drive me nuts as a fan, but as an FM player they also make me sit down and say "well what would I do with them." There's a lot of guys you "could" move on if you so chose, and the lack of European football in the first season is actually an advantage in that it lets you operate with a small squad if you want to, and then spend a bit later on to expand it how you see fit.

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General question to anyone out there that has started a Werder save, if you sold anybody straight away, who was it? I'm umming and erring at the moment, I'm fairly sure ekici could be sold pretty quickly, maybe arnautovic if he wasn't hurt to start, but outside of that, not really seeing a good way to generate immediate cash at the start, other than sending de bruyne/petersen home and using their wages as transfer funds.

[Lorezhno]

Haven't even bought the game yet (got exams too) and have never managed Werder before, but my plan is to sell Vander (one back-up goalie is enough for me), Arnautovic (plan on buying Wellington Nem, assuming the min. fee release clause is still there), Fritz and Hunt (wages too high and not in my starting eleven). Will also try and bring in Kweuke and Dzagoev as well as a couple of free transfers (Drenthe, Grygera, Vanden Borre, Marques and Jonatas) to give me a solid squad. Though I'm not sure it'll be financially feasible.

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Be warned then, Arnautovic starts the game with an injury til about a week before the end of the transfer window, but if you're not too worried you can edit it prior to starting. Getting Kweuke sounds like a good deal, on the full game Dzagoev won't be available as cheaply as he was (funny how they fix stuff like that really damn quick, but other stuff just sits there for ages). Klaus Allofs looks to have pretty good stats for a DoF if thats any help.

[Diego_Werderdona]

I've had two attempts to get past the first season, finding the CL-qualification minimum requirement (plus E1 million transfer budget and very limited wage budget, not to mention my awful tactics) quite the challenge. Had been trying to do it without any transfers, but am prepared to give that up and look to sell Arnautovic, Hunt, Ekici, Vander, maybe Fritz - anyone had luck selling those?

I'm playing FMC, I should mention.

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on beta i was able to sell ekici/hunt/arnautovic (arnautovic can bring in 10-12 million) i think fritz is probably sellable as well, I'm finally done with exams, so I'll be starting a traditional save in the next day or two, I am currently considering going no transfer budget in the first window just to see how the team plays "as is." Tactically I think it will be a challenge to get them going early on, if you shake things up at the start its going to take time to settle, if you don't... well just look at RL, they aren't exactly a model of consistency.

[Seule]

So I started my season as above (see post #5) and we've just made it into November, and here's how things stand currently with the squad :

You'll notice there is no Nils Petersen on the list, that's because of two reasons : 1) Fullkrug and 2) this :

I don't have a whole lot of time for kids with issues, and well, he was being paid far too much to just sit on the bench and hence has been return to Munich where he is currently transfer listed, good luck to him.

Results wise, we had a fantastic start, but the last two games have resulted in losses to Munich and Dortmund, with some big games coming up.

If you look closely, the unprofessional members of my squad seem a little annoyed at me, Hunt/Ekici/Elia took offense to me telling them that I wasn't overly happy with the showing in the second half against Furth, but hey, what can you do, maybe they'll sort themselves, if not, will make it easier to be rid of them at christmas. Speaking of which, my board let me know a few days ago that they have more transfer funds for me :

Not a fortune, but better than nothing, something to work with, still sitting top 6 in the league, so hopefully we can push on toward christmas now.

[tyro]

First off. Nice thread.

Secondly, I started a Wolfsburg save in the full version and then went and tried FMC with Werder. I went very quickly and loved the pace except for really wishing I could sometimes do team talks for morale and opposition instructions for some games. I can definitely do without the media questions.

As to my save. I set up 3 formations 4-1-2-2-1 (4-5-1 with Dmc, 2xMc, wingers and one striker), 4-1-4-1 and 4-4-1-1. Pre-season went horribly even against weak teams mostly because my guys had so many friendlies scheduled and half the team came to training only mid July. So we played with 70% condition starting the game. The first DFB round went really well though against TeBe Berlin 8-0 and I thought things finally will take off. But we kept losing always just by a slight luck. And by our inability to convert any chances. Nils Petersen did not impress me at all. 3 goals in 14 games. Elia and Arnautovic not much better but at least Elia showed sometimes brilliance. The only outstanding player was Hunt. He was the reason for not being sacked earlier.

Anyways, after being 16th, 17th, then 18th I finally worked myself up to 11th but then lost to Dortmund to drop to 14th and the board had enough. I felt I was finally getting somewhere as the last 5 games showed me as being on 6th so we definitely had improved. I think I would have achieved continental qualification in the end.

I am thinking about restarting it but I'm not sure whether on FMC or full game. FMC is just so much faster. I was in November after 2 days. Normally it takes me a week to do one game month. But turning around bad results is really tough without team talks and being able to influence morale.

[Seule]

Yeah Hunt is surprisingly a freak. I would definitely say try FMC again, the issue you'll have with trying to get these guys to turn around is the sheer lack of determination, fullkrug/hunt/elia/arnautovic are all under 10 to start with so they aren't the type to come back from 3 goals down at half time, but if you get ahead, they can be good, if you use the instant result on FMC, I would imagine that at home would always be play for win/big win, and away from home smash and grabs.

I deliberately haven't played the 4-5-1 with wingers as I'm playing full game and I flat out need at least 8 guys defending, even with their poor tackling skills, Arnautovic and Elia can pick up a good number of interceptions. I've actually just sold arnautovic to reading in january, and now have Gebre Selassie as my right winger and bargfrede as my full back. The scheduling of friendlies at the start is just an absolute mess up, on the full game I started in Germany, and it had me playing 3 friendlies in 3 days, so i restarted and it scheduled the same thing again, so I restarted in Russia and it made things slightly better to start.

I think the board ask a lot for the first season, I'm sitting top 4 at the moment but am in no way comfortable with the way I'm getting results, of course that's half the fun of the game, scraping through by the skin of your teeth. I "think" it will get better if you can make it through the first year, Werder start the game with a really good rep, comparable to a top 5-6 premier league club, so if you can get through the pain and make it out the other end with some transfer funds, you can start to change things. If I make it through to the end of this season I'm going to test the waters on what I can get for Elia/hunt and try and use the money to bring in a bit more grunt.

As much as I would love for everyone to try out this team, at the end of the day, its a game and it's gotta be fun, for me, it's more fun cause I sit up until the early hours of the morning to watch these guys play from the other side of the world, so I have a vested interest. I would say try FMC again with your knowledge, and see how it goes, if it's not fun, then no one is going to think less of you for walking away to find something more fun to do

[tyro]

I did start a new save on FMC.

One change I made was making myself international footballer instead of automatic. They respect me much more from the get go. The starting friendlies were still a mess and it is reflected in the scores. All in all things are much better this time around as I know the players better.

I tried to sell Arnautovic to be able to afford an excellent striker but no one wanted him. I hope Petersen does better this time around.

Pre-season:

They decided to do a tour of Austria and here are the results (all away games):

Wiener Neustadt 0-0 boring game with my guys at low conditon

Sturm Graz 1-6 well they rolled over us. Was just 2 days after the previous one and my players were at 60% or less starting.

Linz 2-1 things started looking better

St.Pölten 1-1 back to boring but they were lucky

Ried 1-1 more of the same

Jena 2-0 much better almost at full conditon

Innsbruck 2-0 we seem to have figured it out but small teams nonetheless

Ankaraspor 3-0 better

Man city 0-2 not my choice for Pre season and I didn't expect much but it was much closer than the score line suggests

SonderjyskE 5-1 finally what Pre season should look like

DFB pokal first round

Vs Zwickau 3-1 (it looked for a long time that we would lose till Elia leveled second half. In extension time Elia got 2 more for a hattrick. He's playing fantastic right now)

Bundesliga

Game 1

Vs Dortmund away 2-3 (I wasn't expecting much. Reigning champions and an away game. But we played well. Mielitz had fantastic saves. They got lucky twice. But Petersen who I put I for füllkrug in the second half scored right away. Elia got another beauty in the 92nd minute. Not a terrible start. Played well. Draw would have been possible. I hope it doesn't continue this way now.)

Nürnberg next at home.

Transfer deadline passed with no one bidding for Arnautovic. So he will play now. Would have liked another striker. Maybe füllkrug is better than Petersen or Petersen actually does well this time.

[Seule]

Glad to see you gave it another shot, I really hope it works out for you. I've had a lot of draws in my first season, which I guess is better than losses, but if you can get a good vein of form going hopefully it will hold through to the new year, it's probably not a bad thing that you got the Dortmund game out of the way first, they're always going to be a tough team to beat, especially early in the season when your guys are just getting to know each other etc.

[tyro]

A draw would be nice at this point

I will keep going to see if they sack me again. If they do I switch to full version to have a bit more control.

Nürnberg @home

1-2, we started out well with Prödl pumping a header in from a corner. Then it went bad. From out of nowhere they converted a free kick and Mielitz must have been watching TV or something it went through his fingers. Then they got a penalty but they missed it. Finally another screamer from outside the box and they won. An undeserved loss.

Fürth @away

2-3, what a game. Within 8 minutes they were 2-0 up. Asamoah did the same goal within 2 minutes by just standing in the box and the ball somehow bouncing off his leg. Bad bad start because we were clearly better. Well I went all out attacking and we clawed our way back to 2-2. And then, 91st minute, I thought it was over, they get a penalty. And of course converted. 2-3. Grrr... We can't catch a break. A win was definitely possible. A draw after going down 2-0 was epic but then to lose this way was annoying.

Leverkusen @home

1:2, Leverkusen is a strong team so I set up defensively with defending positioning training. And it worked well. Until again they got a free kick in and then we were chasing the game once more. We equalized only for Kiessling to put in another for our 4th loss in a row.

We aren't playing badly at all. We have chances but don't convert them. It is definitely better playing than last time around. We even are able to fight back in most games. But we just get unlucky. I think almost every game there is a penalty against us.

As I said I'll continue until I'm sacked and start the full version if that happens. The various games show we are adjusting and fighting back. But at the same time the defense seems in shambles often. I really would have liked to sell Arnautovic for a better striker. Petersen is doing ok but I can't rely on him. It's Elia, De Bruyne, and Hunt who are my stars in offense. Defensively it's Prödl surprisingly with top performances each game. I need to be better defensively while having a better strike team. Not happening this first season without budget. Champions Leeague qualification is a tough task.

But. We could've won each of the games. Especially Fürth and Nürnberg.

[Seule]

The loss to leverkusen I would take on the chin, but yes the other two likely should have been wins, it's hard, but at worst they sack you, and you've learned a bit for whomever you choose to manage next time. A lot of people are struggling with the new match engine at the moment, so don't think you're the only one.

As far as your comment on Prodl, he's just wound up as my fans player of the year, he really has been class through thick and thin for me this year. I think Champion's league qualification is a rough ask the first year, I've just managed to squeak it in but I finished the season with a LOT of draws finishing 4th. Defensively I found that it seems more important to have bodies behind the ball than have any great skill in actual defense, as far as scoring, I've now played a full season and all I can really say is that I got lucky, I really think looking back on season 1 that I scored goals because someone did something special more than because I had any great tactical set up, which is probably also why I wound up with far more drawn games than I would have liked.

All that said, I'm enjoying it, I've re-shaped the squad at the end of the first season, if you make it to January, take a long time and look at all the guys who's contract's come clear at the end of the year, I've been able to pick up some legitimate improvements for nothing that will hopefully allow me to open up and play a bit differently and maybe start to feel like I'm winning games cause we're good as opposed to lucky.

[tyro]

Ok well, I'm expecting the sack soon.

I feel similar to you in the sense that you say you keep winning by luck. I feel I keep losing by bad luck. So far I don't feel superior to any team. In fm12 I knew I'd beat a team or I would lose - most of the time. Here I feel it's very random so far.

Wolfsburg away: 1-2 (Petersen)

Jonson was unplayable. He headed in 3 actually but one was not given. This was actually the first game where I thought we played badly. Score looks better than it was. Horrible game.

Frankfurt home: 2-2 (De Bruyne x2)

We always chase the game. Again they went 2 up right after the break within minutes. I went attacking and de Bruyne saved us for the first draw - woohoo 1 point.

Bayern away: 0-1

This was a close game. I didn't expect that at all again. We really were unlucky not to score. The one goal came from a bayern corner and mielitz fumbled in the box and Selassie put it in the net - alas the wrong one.

Mainz home: 1-2 (Arnautovic)

Home game. Against Mainz. Who has lost all games so far. The only team worse than us. Can only be a win, right?

Wrong.

The first goal was a beauty. They outplayed us and them Soto was alone and scored. No problem. We played well. Lots of chances. It was only a matter of time. Until Polanski gets the ball almost in the middle of the field and shoots at our goal. Where was Mielitz? Sleeping? I'm starting to think its a goalkeeper problem. He keeps fumbling and allowing long distance shots to come in. Anyways 2-0 at that time. I went attacking after half time and we were dominating. But it was offiside, fouls, and super keeping from the opposing goalie until Arnautovic (oh yes he's still in the team) scored a beauty from inside the box curled. That was the 84th minute. Too little too late. Lost against terrible Mainz.

What's next? We are end of October. HSV next then DSB pokal against Frankfurt. This was when I got sacked last time and I was much further up the ladder with some wins. So I expect it to be after the HSV game unless we win.

If I do get sacked I'm tempted to start again but in full mode or continue my Wolfsburg save in full mode where I actually win games. I had started a game with Newcastle in FMC to see if one can win and it does work. I think the Bremen board asks too much with too little to provide.

But I like the team and want them to succeed. A new start full mode might be the way to go about it.

Edit:

HSV away: 0-2

Horrible game.

Frankfurt away (DFB pokal 2nd round): 2-5 (Ekici, de Bruyne)

It started out really well with Ekici slotting in an early goal. Then they scored a ridiculous goal from mid line (it was supposed to be a cross and it crossed into our goal). At that point they fought and got the 2-1, then 3-1. De Bruyne got one back but too late and they scored some more as morale was broken.

Hannover home: 1-0 (Elia)

That's right. We won. We played better and Elia had a nice goal after dribbling past 3 defenders.

Augsburg away: 2-4 (Elia, Junuzovic)

Started brilliantly. Elia 11th min and Junizovic 16th shortly after. Then they scored one. And got a penalty. So it was 2-2. And they scored another and another. Haha.

Board sacked me. I think I either start a new one full version or play my Wolfsburg full version game. I can't influence the team enough without team talks and opposition instructions. Also private chats after games can improve the morale a lot. The analysis tools are also more helpful and not as limited.

Edit 2:

After i got sacked I saw the Stuttgart job available. They are currently 17th while Werder is 18th. So I applied and got it. My first game ironically was versus Werder, which resulted in a 1-1, which was fine, however the Werder players defended better than under my stewardship.

The next game with Stuttgart saw me win 3-0 against some team I can't remember for euro league.

Then back in the bundesliga I played Leverkusen and got destroyed again.

I saved, a bit frustrated, and decided to stop FMC and try the full game.

I was torn between continuing Wolfsburg, starting with Werder again or even Stuttgart as they have a nice squad, or making a return to the premier league but then decided on HSV which I never managed before and seems to have interesting players now.

To make the story short, morale management is much easier with the talks. Most of my friendlies were wins. My 1st round pokal game vs Cottbus was a bit hard with a penalty shoot out but we won in the end. And my first bundesliga game vs Hannover resulted in a 1-0 victory with tight defending. Lets see where it goes but I feel again being able to "manage" better.

I might start an actual Werder save again in the full version to see how it goes but again - champions league quali with that team is hard. Defense isn't great. Goalkeeper is new and he really costs you those vital points. And attack is just not strong enough to compensate for the defensive downfalls. The strong point in this team are the midfielders. De Bruyne, Hunt, Elia, Bargfrede, Junuzovic are all excellent. And there is a lot of potential if you can make it through the first season.

[Seule]

I'm probably most glad to hear that you haven't rage-quit like a lot of people are. As I said I managed to make it out of season 1 with a 4th place finish, and I still think it was more based on luck than anything, I do agree that it gets better after the first season though. I've read comments today that there is going to be another match engine patch in the next few weeks I hope this sorts stuff out for people, from what I'm reading on the tactical forum and such, mostly it's boiling down to 1, can't defend with any effective regularity, and 2, if they can get a defense working, it winds up with a lot of 20 shots to 2 and still losing the game. And honestly I can agree with that really. This is the end of my first season :

I got to the Dortmund game and thought "I've finally cracked it," and sure enough, the rest of the season was scraping out draws. The number of times I sat there and thought I should have won those games instead of drawing, and in all honesty, with what I'm reading here and elsewhere, I think I've been pretty damn fortunate.

And I'm not going to complain, I think if the match engine gets to a point where it feels like there's less random and the user has more of an effect then I'll be pretty pleased with what we have for FM13.

[Doolinho]

Im giving Bremen a try!

[tyro]

Yeah. They just need to tweak it a bit. I'm happy with a target man actually working and some of the movements are much better as well as goals.

[tyro]

It has been quiet here lately, but, I have restarted a game with Werder (3rd attempt). I hadn't been sure if the board had asked for Euro league or Champions league qualifications so I really thought hard when I saw it was Champions league qualification. But, it has to be possible. Seule, you showed it is, so I just need to really tweak my tactics.

As I said I had started a HSV save on full mode and its great but it took me 6 hours to even get through the friendlies and set everything up. I want FMC to succeed. Which means tactics focus as I don't have team talks. I spend quite a bit of time in the tactics forums reading posts and I throughout hard about my own tactics.

I also considered your suggestion of just putting bodies behind even if they don't know how to defend. So I came up with these 3 tactics:

Rigid, Counter, 4-1-4-1.

Schaafs formation. Rigid because they need to stick together and follow my instructions. Counter to be able to use my wingers (Elia and Arnautovic) to get some goals in. The full backs I set to FB with support and if need be set to defense. The CB I set both to defend (i used to play with stopper, cover, but people in the tactics forum suggested some strikers can exploit the gap). I also considered another observation of not throwing in all my youngsters into the line up. People seem to do better and play more consistently when they have experienced players playing.

2nd formation:

Balanced, Control 4-5-1. It worked out well last time a s I'm keeping it. It uses most players well and I can use it as a bit more attacking formation with the wingers up front.

3rd formation

Balanced, Standard 4-2-2-1-1. Similar to Seule's formation but instead of the MC another DM. Since defense is a problem having two DMs and the wingers as LM and RM should make this a nice formation. We also have lots of possibilities for DM. Hunt or De Bruyne can play as the heartbeat in AM with Elia and Arnautovic flanking slightly behind.

Pre-Season went well with all games but one won. Didn't play big clubs but the last friendly was vs Wolfsburg and we won 2-0. So it's going well. Petersen is unfortunately out for 6 weeks with an injury so I use Akpala now as a poacher and he's doing brilliantly. I would have used Füllkrug but I'm going with my policy of slowly giving youth play time. Schmitz is also injured which leaves me with Ignojvski as left back as again I don't want Hartherz to be a starter yet.

My goal is to play for the draw. I'm thinking if I draw most games I get at least 30 points. Throw in a couple of wins and I might get there. The important thing is not to lose. And to be able to stay in the job until December as I noticed both times that my team gels exactly at the time when the board sacks me. If I can make it through the first half the. I think we can push for wins.

If it doesn't work this time around then I will try with another team that only asks for Euro qualification. I think Bremen would really be much easier if the board would be reasonable and only ask for that. Champions league is very ambitious in a year when the team is rebuilding and lost key players.

[Seule]

The other thing to remember is that everyone else seems to be damn inconsistent too. In my game Dortmund finished 8th, Schalke 9th, currently in the second season Borussia MGB is sitting second after finishing 13th previously, and Bayern are in 8th having finished 2nd in the first season.

I think I'm getting there. In my second season I've bought in some really talented guys and they seem to be getting it done. Got Carlos Villanueva, Mattia Destro and Federico Casarini all on free transfers, sold Ekici and Elia, replaced them with Steven Defour and Ezequiel Munoz. My scouts tell me that Destro/Defour/Munoz all have injury issues but Destro is the only one to have gone down for any significant period so far. 10 games into season 2 and I'm scoring a lot more goals, and Defour/Casarini have provided me with a hardworking determined central midfield to build everything else around.

Hopefully I'll get a bit further through this weekend, been a busy week so I haven't had much time to play since the end of season 1, but we're ahead at the moment, managed to squeak into the group stages of the Champion's league by stealing a 1-0 away win at man U then holding them to a 1-1 draw at home, both times I had about 40% possession but we managed to hold on. I really hope someone else out there is going ok with these guys, the murderous frustrations of the first season seem to be settling down a bit in season 2, I know for a lot of people season 2 is a lot harder than season 1 but I think with Werder its the other way around, but I"m happy with where my game is at, even have a few good youngsters on the books to build into a good long term save.

[Lorezhno]

Just started my Werder save. First had to sack all the staff, because they weren't very good. Decided not to try and sell my higher valued players at the start of the season as hardly any teams have money to spend and if I have a good season they'll hopefully be worth more. I like to play with three at the back so brought in Hübschmann and Leandro Almeida on loan. Currently ten games into the season 26 points 4 and 6 points ahead of Dortmund and Leverkussen respectively. Last match was away at HSV (16th) which we won 2 - 4 which caused Fink to be sacked.

[Seule]

Just started my Werder save. First had to sack all the staff, because they weren't very good. Decided not to try and sell my higher valued players at the start of the season as hardly any teams have money to spend and if I have a good season they'll hopefully be worth more. I like to play with three at the back so brought in Hübschmann and Leandro Almeida on loan. Currently ten games into the season 26 points 4 and 6 points ahead of Dortmund and Leverkussen respectively. Last match was away at HSV (16th) which we won 2 - 4 which caused Fink to be sacked.

Good to hear its going well, I too replaced all the staff, if you take the time to search carefully there's a lot of good free/very cheap staff out there, I always take the time to set up staff on the first day, you can get an awesome scouting system set up with free staff that will last for years into the future.

[tyro]

Nice Lorezhno, seems like you've figured it out.

I'm slowly progressing. Slowly, as I'm watching each match fully now. I actually just wanted to see the first 20min but then it keeps me interested and on edge so I end up watching all.

DFB pokal vs Freiberg (Away): 4-2 (Akpala x3, Fritz)

We played really well. Petersen is injured so Akpala is his replacement. Doing well. They had no shots on our goal but each time we scored they got a free kick inside our half and each time it found the head of one of theirs for a goal. Frustrating but fortunately in extended time Akpala sealed the deal.

Bundesliga day 1 vs Stuttgart (away): 2-1 (Akpala)

We were the better team. Stuttgart had many shots but all long range. They got a penalty for 1-0. Akpala equalized. In the 92nd minute they scored the 2-1. We had 4 clear cut chances but didn't put them in. Akpala got inured in the last 5 min.

This led me to look for a loan signing in the ST position on the last transfer day. Both Petersen and Akpala out for weeks and I needed someone in addition to Füllkrug. Most didn't want to come but I got an ok replacement - Wellington Paulista. Good mental and physical stats and ok finishing. Good all-rounder. And I put him in the starting 11 right away.

Bundesliga day 2 vs Hannover (home): 2-1 (Wellington, Pinto o.g.)

We dominated completely. Arnautovic made his first appearance so I abandoned my 4-1-4-1 for the more attacking 4-5-1. We had 70% possession and had many chances. Arnautovic had the best right in front of their goalie but didn't convert. Elia was causing havoc and Wellington was showing that he was worth the investment. After a nice low cross from Arnautovic, Wellington slid in and got his goal.

Hannover equalized shortly after (its crazy how their behavior changes after a goal, I think the AI really switches to attack or overload). We still had good chances. I gave füllkrug his first start as Wellington picked up a yellow for diving.

In the end De Bruyne's free kick and some struggle between Sokratis and Pinto ended in Pinto netting in his own goal.

De Bruyne, Hunt, and Fritz had been outstanding again. Ignovksi as left back is playing well.

Next up will be Augsburg away. It's looking better than last time but I do need to shut down these quick counter attacks after I score.

[Lorezhno]

It does appear that 4th is too high a goal; just finished a season with WBA and to my surprise this was their final league position :O

[Seule]

Lorezhno that actually doesn't surprise me, in my game Schaaf took over Stuttgart in February of season 1 and was gone by November, so I'm guessing he doesn't have a lot of luck as a manager in game.

[Seule]

New patch = match engine update, kinda glad I just finished season 2 last night, gives me a full pre-season to figure it out.

[Seule]

Figured it was time for a bit of an update on how things are rolling, I've just finished season 3 and managed to squeak out the double, league was fairly comfortable this year mostly because I managed to buy Stevan Jovetic and he absolutely tore things up. But if you wanted to hear about Jovetic, well, there's a lot of real life pundits who talk about him.

Instead I wanted to post a few screenshots of how some of my players have developed in 3 years to give you a bit of comparison with the above screenshots.

Bargfrede

Physically he's lost a step of pace, but he's my current right full back, great anticipation, concentration, teamwork, work rate, with really good positioning, marking and tackling, about 2 weeks after this screenshot he earned his first cap for Germany.

Trybull

I'm still not sure about this one, I've yet to get the best out of him, his average rating sits at about 6.9 doesn't get too many assists, and has only scored 2 goals in 3 seasons. Have had him tutored by Junuzovic, Bargfrede, Casarini and finally Steven Defour (the last of which saw a 4 point jump in his determination). He seems to work best as a deep lying playmaker, this season will probably be make or break for him, if he doesn't do well, I'll probably sell him.

Hartherz

Now to the good stuff, 22, and a regular in the national team with 11 caps already he's developed into an awesome fullback, with him on the left and Bargfrede on the right, I've got the basis of a defence that has allowed the least number of goals in the league for the past few years. His pace acceleration and strength tend to make up for any shortcomings in his positioning, marking, and tackling.

Fullkrug

Last but certainly not least. This guy has 49 league goals in three years for me, when you combine his 20 in all competitions with Jovetic's 40, I've got a really good strike force. Worked hard to get his composure up, and tutoring helped bring his determination up as well, he's played most of this season on the right wing for me and done really well running at the defence, obviously still scoring a lot even when he's not an out and out striker, I've been really pleased with how he's turned out.

So yeah, that's how some of those guys turn out, there's a lot of randomness involved as always in FM but hopefully someone else is out there enjoying a Werder save

[LilSaint]

great thread. Thinking about starting a save with them. Mainly because of De Bruyne & Elia

[connort787]

I'm going to give Bremen a try and i'll keep you's up to date!!!

Thanks

[Seule]

So the real life season has ended, and Werder finished disappointly down in 14th place after an horrendous second half of the season. Coach Thomas Schaaf has parted ways with the club having been part of the club as both player and coach for 40 years. Schaaf has been head coach of the club since 1999 and now the search to find his replacement begins.

[W I L M]

Amazing thread mate!!

My uncle served in the Army and was posted in Germany, he ended up meeting a German woman (My aunt now) and stayed out there. He is a Bremen supporter, so I have always thought about doing a Bremen save, just never got around to it. But I thought I'd check this thread see if I fancied it this time and your thread has sold me mate, started a new game.

I have managed to get Eduardo from Shaktar in on loan, hopefully if he stays fit he can grab a few goals for me.

I really dont like Arnautovic's stats. But from what you said in this thread about giving him a chance, I'm going to risk it.

[W I L M]

Didn't pay off, before the season even started Eduardo injured for 4 months -_-

[Seule]

going to be an interesting off-season RL Robin Dutt has been bought in as the new coach, Sokratis has departed already for Dortmund, and Cedric Makiadi has been bought in to give a bit more oomph to the middle of the park. The club is really into a rebuilding phase and it will be interesting to see who they bring in and how Dutt looks to make things happen.

On Arnautovic : I hate his stats in game, have bought this up with the researcher's for Germany too, they seem set on leaving him as a petulant impulsive waste of space in game. IRL he settled down a LOT this past season, stuff like having your first child will do that to you. If you look at his season 26 games, 5 goals, 6 assists, he was a lot like the rest of the team, had a good-ish start and just collapsed after the break, I'm hoping they fix his mental stats significantly but I doubt they will.

[Aaust]

Just started a save with Werder (my first on FM13; didn't by it before yesterday!) and have played the first match of the Bundesliga season against Bayern. Got absolutely stuffed. Not in terms of scoreline, we "only" lost 0-2, but we had 35% of the possession and zero - 0 - shots on target. Good God! Pre-season wasn't good either, as we only won narrowly against amateur sides and lost comprehensively against the likes of Brøndby and Go Ahead Eagles. I hope for improvements!