FM13: Borussia Dortmund - Echte Liebe.

[Safce]

I wasn't expecting the following result, baring in mind that Leverkusen came third last year and have strengthened there squad with a few decent players over the summer.

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Not a bad result for my return to the save after a month of other started and stopped saves with numerous teams.

[john1]

Lucky you! I dislike the rule but can see its benefits IRL. I have just started 2nd season and there's a 19 yr old German newgen who Bayern signed from Münster. I must have ticked add players where needed, or whatever. All the rest are 16 max atm. My top talents that I want to give game time are only 15 yrs old. Long way to go.

Anyways, season started amazingly with Kiyotake dominating in the AMC role. However, we met Leverkusen's 4-4-2 at home and lost 2-0. They didn't dominate, it's just we couldn't string 3 passes together or tackle. Lost nearly every 50/50. From then on there has been a few draws and a loss to PSG in the group stage, led 2-1, lost 3-2. The main culprit is Lukaku simply isn't firing yet. Trying to fit into squad, and learn German. Volland has helped though, but I probably should have had an 'old head' around. Can't believe I missed out on Pizarro. I saw he was free, and had been approach but then I forgot to offer him a contract. Only wanted £25,000 and still looks deadly.

Still need to work on my formation/tactics. First few games we were amazing, then it seemed like everything was going wrong even though I hadn't changed anything. Eg. The AMR/AML players sitting on the fullbacks, despite being on support, while possession is in my half. Way too far ahead, I need them hovering in front of the fullback, closer to the midfield until we get more in their half. Means passes to them just get intercepted. Then suddenly it seemed we went back to previous patch as they just kept running with the ball and not passing. Gah, so frustrating. Few tweaks to those positions and it should be fine, along with my front man scoring.

Defence is good, but only 8 or so games in (all comps) and we've given away 3 penalties! Even though he didn't save any of those, ter Stegen has been immense.

I noticed Marcel Schmelzer tends to give away stupid penalties I would switch the AML/R to Attack

[john1]

I wasn't expecting the following result, baring in mind that Leverkusen came third last year and have strengthened there squad with a few decent players over the summer.

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Not a bad result for my return to the save after a month of other started and stopped saves with numerous teams.

Impressive

Welcome back, have you missed playing this save?

[numero uno gunner]

@john1 - Cheers for the recommendations. I didn't pay attention to the date and continued through the end of the transfer window, which forced my decision-making at least. Kawashima is now my number one, with Weidenfeller his back up. At right-back, I've made a ridiculously bold decision in going into the rest of the season with the 17 year old Loustau as first choice. I was limited to free transfers for back up, so Patrick Ochs has come in on a fairly cheap wage until the end of the season.

@Ranquelme - Good luck with the pursuit of an all-German (bar one!) squad, it'll be an impressive feat if you manage to create it and remain competitive on all fronts. I've gone more down the Arsene Wenger route, not caring about where the players come from, but bringing them over at an early age so they can be moulded into what I want them to be. My long-term dream would be a squad of fully home-grown / club-grown players, which is why I was asking about the age boundary.

@Ryknow - Good decision going for Lukaku, definitely a long-term option as well. I'm disliking the over-17s only rule as well, I've got a 16 year old striker, Karanka, who I am positive would score goals already, yet I'm going to have to wait another year to find out if my judgement is right.

@ Sacfe - Good to see you back in here. Thank you for pointing me towards Maupay, the lad oozes class.

Right, my save. 10 games into season 4, and the Bayern juggernaut just keeps on rolling. 28 points so far, leaving me trailing 6 points behind. I've got to just keep plugging away picking up points, because surely there is no way that they can keep that record up all season long.

In Europe, I've been drawn with Arsenal, Olympiakos and AIK. 7 points from the first three games is a solid enough return, although if I want to top the group I'm going to have to go to the Emirates and come back with all three points.

I've finally found a place for Volland to make an impact. Reus was injured early on, and Volland has stepped up, playing AML (IF-A) and has been performing well, with 5 goals and an assist in 8 games so far. Maupay has 5 goals and 2 assists in the same period, whilst De Jong has 6 goals and 3 assists in 6 games. Yet despite all this, Halilovic has been my outstanding performer for the opening part of the season. He is keeping Gotze out of the side, with 5 goals and 4 assists in 11 games. The lad's stats have increased, and he will be even better in years to come. At the back, Gusmao and Gunter are fast becoming my first choice centre-back pairing, both averaging over 7.75 so far this season.

Needless to say, I'm blooding the youngsters well. I've played 14 games including the Champions League and German Cup, and every one of the youngsters in my first team squad has made at least 5 appearances. Must admit I'm happy with that, just need to keep it up now.

Onwards and upwards!

[john1]

I'm going to take a break from my Dourtmund save and manage in Argentina.

Good luck with your saves everyone!

[Safce]

Glad to be back on this save, probably rotate it with my lyon save. I'm looking forward to bringing through the batch of regens I have in the u19s. For some reason I have too 4 and a half star English youngsters that have cone through my own intakes over the years. One 15 year old centre mid looks to have a rather bright future ahead of him. Not sure if he'll be quite as good as di francesco who's just recently broke into the first team to challenge nayantaki at attacking midfield. He faired rather well in la liga helping sociedad to 4th at 17 years old notably scoring past real hehe.

[Ryknow]

Good luck John!

13 BuLi games into second season and things aren't great. Well not by my standards.

Sitting second in the table but have had 5 draws and 2 losses out of the 13. Lukaku has been a failure so far in the Bundesliga, only scoring 3 goals, 2 of those were penalties and 1 from a corner. Seriously shocking tally, yet he still is rated well averaging around 7. I still am struggling to find a role that gets the best out of him, as I'd expect more than 3 goals playing with the creative talent behind him. I guess I'm expecting too much, but his attributes suggest he should be doing well. Probably a combination of errors on my behalf. I still pick him though, waiting for him to come good.

He's not only to blame though, as we struggle to play a 4-2-3-1 formation. Had no great problems last season with the system with Lewandowski, but maybe his goal scoring feats hid the problems. I find the oppositions are too hard to break down due to congestion, our passes are horribly square or the defence has a brainfart, or all of the above at once. Whenever I change to adapt to a problem another arises. Also, doesn't help having Kuba out for 4 months. Lacking a right winger, as Jung's long term injury prevented Piszczek playing there.

Considering using my trusted 4-1-2-2-1 again as I need a DM in front of the defence, a position that Bender dominates at. Dominated European football in my Rangers save with this quick countering formation, but with the huge amount of CAM talent I have, it may not work out well.

I used a 4-1-1-3-1 for a bit, basically 4-2-3-1, with one CM moving to CDM, so it looked a zig zag, CDM, RCM, CAM. Worked for a while, then problems arose from getting anything out of the front 4.

Anyways, it's a different story in the Champions League for BVB and Lukaku. We top the group of PSG, Real Madrid and Fenerbahçe. 4 wins, 1 loss so far (PSG 3-2 loss), still to face PSG again, but guaranteed top spot. Lukaku key in both Real Madrid wins.

What formations do you guys use, as I don't want to get away from BVBs real style. I'm considering 4-1-2-2-1 away, and 4-2-3-1 at home, maybe using DMs instead of CMs?

Do you fiddle with the player roles that much? What's your front three roles?

Hopefully, Honda arriving in the winter break will turn our draws into wins. Considering bringing Klose in, or Berbatov as short term option. Or break my policy and buy listed Falcao for €40mil

[john1]

What settings do you have Lukaku as?

I'm using 4-2-3-1 with Dortmund with Reus as IF - A and Allione on Winger - Attack. and Jovetic on DLF - A

I would suggest 4-4-2 away

I'm back to my Dortmund save, just couldn't get going with my Newell's save.

ECHTE LIEBEEE!!

Having mixed feelings with my pre season. Somehow lost 2-1 to Troyes AC Despite outplaying them. Currently in pre season tour in China

Chairman finally got me a merchandise club and I picked guangzhou fc.

Will do pre season and transfers update when I have finished the pre season.

[Ryknow]

I had Reus as IF attack, striker as DLF on attack and the winger attack for Kuba, now IF support/attack due to Kubas injury.

I hate 4-4-2, although it makes games very attacking and massively open, eg. 442 v 442, it doesn't suit my style and the players I buy/train fit the 4-3-3 mould.

Lukaku drops deep to get the ball and moves it on, he just doesn't seem to score. He's not missing heaps of chances, as he just isn't shooting. Admittedly he's had a few hit the post, but he's not shooting enough. For example he's not getting the ball and running with it like Volland does, or Lewy did. I'm not sure, I'll check his stats so far and look at his average shots per game. I think I'm tweaking too much in game. Whenever I see a problem I want to fix it, but what else would you do when your losing or drawing...

[john1]

Or you could go for 4-4-1-1, It works for me

[Ryknow]

4-4-1-1, with LM, and RM? Limits my options atm with the players I have. I'm aiming for in the long run to sign newgens capable of RM and RW, and LM/LW, so I can have a 4-5-1 (with a DM) whenever needed. Atm though I'm suffering from only having 25 man squad, and multiple injuries. Shot myself in the foot being blinded by signing talent and not addressing lack of depth. See with no age limit at least a 16 year old could be a sub to give players a rest, but gotta wait until 17

[Ranquelme]

Why is it so hard to get a feeder club! The board deny me every time.

Slaven Billic's Bayern are pretty bad compared to Pep's. They're 12 points behind me and a lot of the players are alienated due to the managers team talk. I could get Gotze back if I stump up £40m

[Ryknow]

Why is it so hard to get a feeder club! The board deny me every time.

Slaven Billic's Bayern are pretty bad compared to Pep's. They're 12 points behind me and a lot of the players are alienated due to the managers team talk. I could get Gotze back if I stump up £40m

What season are you? I only have 2 so far, just 2. Bundesliga sides. Tried getting a commercial link with having two Japanese players, they agreed but then couldn't find one. Pfft.

[numero uno gunner]

I've finally reached the winter break in my season. Bayern are 9 points clear at the top, although I've got a game in hand to reduce that lead to 6 points. Safe passage so far in the German Cup and Champions League, although the draws against Bayern and Barca in the next round could have been a lot kinder.

I'm happy with the performance of the squad so far, although it is interesting to see none of my players have hit double figures for goals yet. De Jong would have easily but for a 4 month injury lay-off, as he had hit 9 in 10 before that. Halilovic has 8, Cuenca, Maupay and Volland have got 7 each. Its quite good that I'm not overly reliant on one player for a change.

My decision to go with Kawashima as my first-choice GK has been a good one so far. Although he has conceded 21 in 25, he has had 11 clean sheets. My tactic is attack-based, which means he has more of a challenge in keeping clean sheets, so 11 in 25 isn't a bad return at all.

I've just been scouting through the players who will be out of contract in the summer. I reckon I could easily build a squad capable of being successful just from these players. Most notable players who will be out of contract are Lamela, Mollo, Grenier, Smalling, Weiss, Romero... the list goes on and on. Never seen such a top quality list of free transfers before. Unfortunately, no decent German / Home-Grown options, which is disappointing.

I'm currently on the look-out for a replacement for Thiago, as his agent hates me and he won't sign a new contract. Well, he will, but wants £180k a week, and there is no way that is happening, even though I am £500k under my weekly wage budget. His replacement will ideally be German / Home-Grown, and no doubt will cost me a bomb. If I can get a replacement for roughly what I sell him for I'd be as pleased as a pleased person living in pleasedville. We shall wait and see there.

In the summer, I'm thinking it will be time to let Kuba go (he's out of contract), Ochs (he was a temporary measure), and Santana, although that will pain me as he has been consistently outstanding. The issue I've got is that without letting him go, I can't give the game time I need to my plethora of extremely talented centre-backs (Gunter, Gusmao, Moreau and Peter). I'm also considering letting Allione go, as he has failed to step up and challenge Cuenca for a starting spot this year, and also won't become Home-Grown. I've got Vukasinovic coming through, and I'd like to give him more time playing as well.

I've realised that I'm actually not that far from having a completely Home-Grown (in Germany at least) squad (or will have when some of my newgens have been here long enough), although the fact Halilovic and Kawashima won't become Home-Grown is annoying. I'm reluctant to let either go after putting in the time developing them, so maybe I'll have to settled for a 90-95% Home-Grown squad. In terms of non Home-Grown players I've also got Cuenca, Allione, De Jong, Kuba, Santana, Kawashima and Thiago.

The January transfer window and the summer one will need to see me commit fully to my project, both in terms of who comes in and players leaving. I reckon in two seasons I could reach my target. Then its all about being competitive on all fronts...

[john1]

Why is it so hard to get a feeder club! The board deny me every time.

Slaven Billic's Bayern are pretty bad compared to Pep's. They're 12 points behind me and a lot of the players are alienated due to the managers team talk. I could get Gotze back if I stump up £40m

They always **** me off with that!

[numero uno gunner]

Yeah, the feeder club issue is certainly frustrating!

I've just managed to convince Man Utd to let me have Schurrle for £15m and he has agreed on £62k a week. That's a deal that I'm biting their hand off for. A Home-Grown front four of Reus, Gotze, Schurrle and Volland could rip teams apart for years to come. Throw in support from Cuenca, Halilovic, Bittencourt, Maupay and De Jong, with youngsters Vukasinovic, Eggert, Brendel and Karanka all coming through, and the future could be very bright.

That said, I was on the look-out for a replacement for Thiago...

[john1]

Pre season

Not happy with our pre season at all Dominated most of them fixtures but still lose the games. Went on tour to China to generate money

Transfers

Massive clear out, decided to sell couple of my first teamers so the young players get more game times.

Cornelius wasn't at his best last season and decided to sell him up.

Brought in Yassine Benzia to boost more strikers, might bring in one more player.

Brought in for cover and currently playing for U's19.

Currently got 96M to spend but have no intention to spend the money. Will raid African/South American clubs for cheap players

[NorthernGooner]

Raul Albiol for £35mill?

Not the best of pre-seasons but hopefully you got the bad form out of the way. Good luck in the coming season

[john1]

Raul Albiol for £35mill?

Not the best of pre-seasons but hopefully you got the bad form out of the way. Good luck in the coming season

Yup, he was probably our best performer past 2 seasons with Hummels, I decided to give Gunter the opportunity to play more and progress.

It wasn't at all. Against Fulham we absolutely battered them and yet we lost.

[john1]

Shaun Noble just picked his first cap for England

[numero uno gunner]

@john1 - Excellent news on his call-up. Fingers crossed your new signings blend into your squad seamlessly. I'm a fan of Goretzka, he's been excellent back-up to Bender for me so far this season. I can't believe some of the transfer fees you have received, fantastic business.

Thiago is no longer unhappy, which is good as I'm struggling to decide on a replacement for him. Kevin De Bruyne is available for £3.8m, and I'm seriously considering making a move, as its the final day of the January transfer window (Jan 2016). That would mean Thiago could potentially leave in the summer if he starts making excessive demands again. What do you guys reckon? I've also noticed Paredes, who I brought to Newcastle at the start of my save, and he looks to have developed well. What I would give to be able to have some of these as Home Grown options...

I'm 20 games into the season, and am still 6 points behind the unstoppable force that is Bayern. They've only dropped 5 points all season, and 3 of those were when I beat them! I'll keep plodding on, but really need them to start dropping a few points.

[Ryknow]

For £3.8m I'd jump at the chance to pick up de Bruyne. However, depends if his attributes have declined due to lack of game time at Chelsea. Should still be a good option until you find a newgen though.

Crazy transfer fees John! That's a nice return.

[numero uno gunner]

@Ryknow - Decided against going for him, as I am determined to keep to my policy of developing youngsters or bringing in Home Grown talent, such as Schurrle.

Just had our best performance of the season, nay, of my time at Dortmund, beating Barca 5-1 in the Camp Nou. We were unstoppable, and it capped off a 7-1 aggregate victory. The draw hasn't been kind though, giving me Bayern in the quarters. Although I beat them in the league, they thrashed us 4-1 in the cup, so I'm not looking forward to it. That said, I was also pessimistic about our chances of beating Barca, so stranger things have happened. Incidentally, I'm also playing them at the same time in the league, so will have three out of four games against them shortly.

There are 6 games left to go in the league, and I'm 6 points behind them. I'm going to have to take maximum points, including beating them away, and hope they drop some more points along the way. Fingers crossed...

On a side note, I've also taken the Brazil u-20s job. Bit of an odd one, but I'm approaching the summer of 2016, and they will be playing in the Olympics, in Rio. In my head, I am now aiming for a gold medal, and to become a hero in the eyes of the football-mad Brazilian population, particularly as they have never won the Olympics.

[numero uno gunner]

So, finished my season, eventually.

Bundesliga

We finished runner-up in the league, amassing 75 points in the process, a total that would have won me the title for the past three seasons. That total should have been even more, but I decided to field a whole team of youngsters in my final three games, when it was clear Bayern had won the league. 1 win and 2 defeats (both by the odd goal) meant that I could have hit 81 points and still not won the title. I'm pleased to have hit a record points total, but need to get closer to Bayern, who were the very definition of ruthless efficiency throughout the season.

German Cup

Less said the better really. Romelu Lukaku tore us apart as Bayern knocked us out in the quarters. We were abysmally dreadful, and deserved to go out. It proved to be the turning point of our season though...

Champions League

After finishing runner-up in our group to Arsenal, we were drawn against Barca in the last 16. A remarkable 7-1 aggregate victory, including the 5-1 win in the Camp Nou, set up a quarter final tie with Bayern. A thumping 3-0 home leg win, with Gotze, Volland and Reus all scoring, was followed by a crazy 4-4 draw at the Allianz, and it was auf wiedersehen to Bayern. The last 4 saw us, Arsenal, and both halves of Manchester. Fate seems to have decided that us and Man Utd are to be forever linked, as this was the third time we have been drawn against them in Europe in the last three seasons (We beat them in the Europa League final 2 seasons ago, they knocked us out of the Champions League last season). A 2-2 drawn at Old Trafford, with Hernandez grabbing a stoppage time equaliser for them, set up a very tense second leg back in Dortmund. To say it was a crazy match would be an understatement. A Rooney penalty put them 1-0 up, before a De Jong equaliser, Hummels header and Goretzka penalty put us in pole position in the time. Our two goal lead lasted a mere 30 seconds, as Nani pulled one back. 3-2 at half time became 4-2 just after, with a Volland beauty, and Bender added a fifth 7 minutes later. Tie over? No, of course not, we like to make things difficult for ourselves. A minute after Bender's goal, Bale pulled another back for United, and 10 minutes later Jones hit a 35 yard thunderbolt to ring the game back to 5-4 (7-6 on aggregate). We were now hanging on for dear life, as Kawashima pulled off save after save to keep us in it, and as the final whistle went, it was relief more than triumph.

Man City edged past Arsenal in the other semi, leaving a very interesting final. I had decisions to make regarding selection, most notably up front. Volland or De Jong? Both had been scoring freely and playing well, but I opted for Volland. 10 minutes into the final, he put us ahead. Suarez equalised on 24 minutes, before the turning point, a horrible challenge from Yaya Toure on Volland, leaving him injured, and being replaced by De Jong, but, more importantly, leaving City with 10 men as Toure was given his marching orders. From here on in, we should have dominated, but we didn't. City still had most of the possession, but our counter-attacking was causing a few issues. With quarter of an hour to go, Gotze popped up to smash one in from just inside the area, and 2-1 it stayed until the final whistle. My Mourinho-style slide on the living room carpet completely perplexed my wife...

Players

Its hard to single anyone out when it was a team effort that lead to being crowned Europe's finest (despite the fact we probably aren't even the best team in Germany to be honest!). Kawashima has firmly established himself as number 1, with a string of fantastic performances, and the same can be said for Loustau at right back. The established stars were effective, particularly the attacking ones (Volland hit 21 in 30, De Jong 16 in 17, Gotze 9 in 26, Thiago 11 in 30, plus 20 assists), but it was the progression of the youngsters which excites for the future. In addition to Kawashima and Loustau, Gunter was exceptional, and Gusmao pushed him all the way for the third-choice centre back spot. Ademola is now a decent choice as left back cover, whilst Goretzka and Leitner were outstanding in the middle of the park. However, Halilovic was the brightest star of all, with 13 goals and 9 assists in 30 appearances. I also sent a few youngsters out on loan, and Vukasinovic played well for Espanyol, Bittencourt forced his way into the starting 11 at Gladbach, but most interestingly Moreau was a key figure at centre back for a Montpellier side that finished fifth in Ligue Un. Exciting prospects.

Now for the summer decisions...

(Just realised this was really long, sorry!)

[john1]

Congrats on winning CL Shame you couldn't add the league or DFB Pokal to your CL.

Going to fire up my Dortmund save

[numero uno gunner]

@john1 - get it fired up, I was getting lonely in here on my own!

Pre-season has been finished, and a few more regens have come in. A German attacking midfielder, Lazarou, and Volpicelli, an Italian goalkeeper, have joined Bertani, who has finally joined us from Boca to provide some much-needed back-up to Loustau at right back. I haven't decided if I'm going to bring in a more experienced option, depends if I can find someone suitable. Going into the season with two 18 year olds at right back might be dangerous, even though Loustau is exceptional. All three of the newbies will eventually become home-grown, as that I my policy for the youngsters.

My squad is pretty settled now, with very few changes from last season. Weidenfeller and Kuba left on frees, and I've decided to let Allione go to Wolfsburg for £9.5m after he failed to produce last season. A fair amount of the youngsters have gone on loan, including Moreau, Adam, Lewandowski, Lazarou and Uner. I need them to be playing first-team football to make more progress, and I can't offer them that yet.

I plan on using a few more youngsters in and around the first-team squad this season, with Peter, Karanka, Vukasinovic and Eggert joining Kawashima, Loustau, Bertani, Ademola, Gunter, Gusmao, Goretzka, Leitner, Halilovic, Bittencourt and Maupay, all of whom are 23 or under and contributed extensively last season (bar new signing Bertani and Bittencourt who was out on loan).

A 5-0 first round cup win and 3-2 home win over Kaiserslautern have kicked off the season, and we have just beaten Chelsea 3-2 to land the European Super Cup to the trophy cabinet. Hopefully this will be the first of several this season, particularly if my attacking players continue to rip teams apart in the manner they have so far.

Reus, Gotze, Schurrle and Volland - the Four Germigos!

I'm aware that most of this post requires screenshots of the regens to make sense, so I will aim to pop some up, probably tomorrow.

[phoenixemperor]

Has anyone had any luck convincing Sahin to sign permanently?

Almost at halfway point in season 2013/14 and he flatout refuses to talk. Not that he's exactly irreplaceable, but that combination of First Touch, Creativity, Decisions and Passing is hard to find

[Ryknow]

Has anyone had any luck convincing Sahin to sign permanently?

Almost at halfway point in season 2013/14 and he flatout refuses to talk. Not that he's exactly irreplaceable, but that combination of First Touch, Creativity, Decisions and Passing is hard to find

I'm in the exactly same spot. I haven't played for a week or so, but last time I tried to offer him one to see what he wanted and he wouldn't even negotiate. Not sure what the deal is as he gets plenty of game time, and IRL he's 99% going to sign permanently with Dortmund.

[john1]

Has anyone had any luck convincing Sahin to sign permanently?

Almost at halfway point in season 2013/14 and he flatout refuses to talk. Not that he's exactly irreplaceable, but that combination of First Touch, Creativity, Decisions and Passing is hard to find

I'm in the exactly same spot. I haven't played for a week or so, but last time I tried to offer him one to see what he wanted and he wouldn't even negotiate. Not sure what the deal is as he gets plenty of game time, and IRL he's 99% going to sign permanently with Dortmund.

I would terminate his loan I did it straight away as I had Bender, Kehl, Bittencourt, Leitner and Ilkay Gundogan.

[john1]

Just been made favorite to win DFB Pokal this season, I'm hoping to win it

[NorthernGooner]

Good luck; planning on having a BVB save a long with my Arsenal one. Always been my favourite German team.

[Ryknow]

I would terminate his loan I did it straight away as I had Bender, Kehl, Bittencourt, Leitner and Ilkay Gundogan.

Kehl is rarely fit, and Bender for me is great but has a knack of having a long term (at least a month) injury each season. Sahin is great for me and scores some amazing free kicks, but now I have Kiyotake and Honda I'm not sure I need him, especially as Leitner is coming along well. The end of this season I'll need DM cover as it'll only be Bender left. I have some Denys Garmash coming in on a free, who looks quality cover for DM role.

I brought in Sokratis in Jan (2nd Season) as Subotic is bad for me, and Bruno Martins Indi hit some bad form for a while despite progressing amazingly attributes wise. Sokratis has proven a good partner for Hummels so far.

Kuba's long term injury hit his attributes hard, and at a value of €13mil I think I might offload him as much as it pains me. Subotic will join him.

Main issue at end of season (2nd) is addressing the lack of depth. Looking at getting Hoffman and Ginter in, but they're pretty expensive.

My target of 70%-80% German born players/or declared for Germany by end of 3rd Season looks short of the mark so far. I'm expecting the promotion of all my newgen talents to sort that out though.

Only played 3 matches today and won all 3 so it's helped me get back into it. First two were against Gladbach and Leverkusen, who are in the chasing pack with me, and then Union Berlin who join the pack in 5th spot at Feb! I beat them 5-0 though after changing my formation according to what they were weak against, using Reus and Volland as a front line partnership, overall was an off centred 4-4-2. Worked really well.

Bayern are 10 points ahead so not sure I'll catch them as we simply aren't good enough this season. Poor season in the Bundesliga so far.

[john1]

Bender does get injured few times for me but not a lot. I sold Subotic to Arsenal in first season and replaced him with Raúl Albiol. I also sold Kuba as he wanted a lot of wages and his age was the factor as I brought in Allione to replace him.

[Ryknow]

Bender does get injured few times for me but not a lot. I sold Subotic to Arsenal in first season and replaced him with Raúl Albiol. I also sold Kuba as he wanted a lot of wages and his age was the factor as I brought in Allione to replace him.

Yeah I'm not looking forward to renewing contracts of the big players, eg. Reus, Götze, Hummels. Luckily once they are signed to a long deal you can pretty easily turn them down if they ask for an increase. I have Volland on €30,000pw, and back room team are saying he might approach me about a raise. His contract runs out in 2018, so no rush. It's fine if they want €50,000pw, but when a player demands €80,000-€120,000 when they are on €20-30,000 and a rotation player it means bye bye.

I looked at my Rangers save not long ago and had an amazingly talented squad, top top players (newgens) and the highest wage was £26,000pw (10% YI). So hopefully keep Dortmunds around €80,000-€100,000 for real players (Götze/Reus), and lower for new gens.

I hate when an average joe asks for €40,000pw (+€1/2mil bonus and agent fee) when he's leaving on a Bosman, yet joins another Bundesliga club for €20,000pw.

[Ryknow]

So as I have previously said in this forum, my second season was going pretty bad. I got to the winter break, and took an actual break myself due to being frustrated with it, and also Uni commitments.

Anyways, so past few days I got back into it, and changed the system and a few other things. Got to say really enjoying it now. Strange how this game works.

In the 16 games I have played since the just after the winter break, we have only lost one. That being away against Bayern in the UCL Quarter Final first leg 1-0. In that 16 game period we went 9 games without conceding, not sure if I thank Sokratis, the new system or ter Stegen being a god...maybe all of the above. So overall conceding 5 goals in 16 games isn't too bad but the main bonus is I got Lukaku scoring. Finally.

As I said, our only loss was against Bayern, but we got them back in the second leg, in a game that was great to watch. My new pressing machine didn't give them much hope at playing from the back, and the attacking threat of Reus, Lukaku, Volland and Götze tore them apart. They still had their chances as you can see from the stats. ter Stegen made 3 huge saves, but throughout the match it looked like we would never concede.

I have Porto in the Semi's so I'll see how I go there, but tbh UCL isn't a priority, more of a luxury. Still 10 points behind Bayern due to having a terrible start to the season. We were hovering around 3rd-5th play for a while (so many annoying draws), so it's a good turn around.

I got Dresden (my affiliate) in the German Cup Final, so at least I will win some silverware if all goes to plan.

On another note, I'm looking forward to these lads turning 17.

[john1]

You got promising youngsters coming up I like the look of Lepper's stats.

What system are you playing? 4-3-3?

[john1]

August 2015

Perfect start to our season, would have been awesome if I didn't concede. Will play Hannover in DFB Pokal 2nd round.

Decided to ditch my 4-2-3-1 and went for 4-5-1 and seems working brilliantly for us.

Table

Transfers

Brought him in and shame I can't use him til he's 17 Looking to offload Romario.

I have also said farewell to Harald Strohmann, think he would have benefited more by playing away from Dortmund. At.Madrid signed him for 575K plus 50%

Champions League Group A

Seems I can't shake off Manchester clubs! Definitely doable for us and hoping to get our revenge on Man City.

[Ryknow]

You got promising youngsters coming up I like the look of Lepper's stats.

What system are you playing? 4-3-3?

A variation of 4-4-2, pressing everywhere to get possession then going straight for goal, no passing around holding possession. Move the ball fast, plus quick players means tonnes of chances and so much space.

I think you suggested a 4-4-2 before, and I offhanded it. Felt weird, like using a 4-4-2 with Barca.

Anyways, it's the same back four, and two CM roles as my 4-3-3. But the LW is moved to LM (wide midfielder, cut inside), RW stays as inside forward. The extra centre midfielder, was an AMC is moved forward as a deep lying striker next to an advanced forward. Started using Reus as the DLF, and Volland as advanced striker. Now it's Volland as DLF and Lukaku as Advanced striker, with Reus on the right. Works well as the LM arrives late, so often sneaks past the fullback to score.

I'd like to have a 4-2-3-1 but I just couldn't get the AMC playing consistently. But most importantly there wasn't enough space/movement, so players often had 1 pass option and we'd get disposed, etc. My 4-2-3-1 worked fine with Lewy, so I might go back to it next season.

I still use my 4-3-3 (4-1-2-2-1) formation in the big European games, and difficult away games. But, atm my 4-4-2 is just creating so many chances and attractive football.

[Ryknow]

August 2015

Transfers

Brought him in and shame I can't use him til he's 17 Looking to offload Romario.

I have also said farewell to Harald Strohmann, think he would have benefited more by playing away from Dortmund. At.Madrid signed him for 575K plus 50%

Do you have to wait for him to turn 17 or does it work like U17/U23 tournaments if you were born in a certain year you qualify.

If not, does that mean your guy will turn 17 in a month but the window and registration will be closed so you can play him? Basically he'll be 17 and can't play until the winter window/registration opens.

[john1]

According to rules in Bundesliga that Under 17 can't play in the league. So I have to wait til he turns 17.

[john1]

A variation of 4-4-2, pressing everywhere to get possession then going straight for goal, no passing around holding possession. Move the ball fast, plus quick players means tonnes of chances and so much space.

I think you suggested a 4-4-2 before, and I offhanded it. Felt weird, like using a 4-4-2 with Barca.

Anyways, it's the same back four, and two CM roles as my 4-3-3. But the LW is moved to LM (wide midfielder, cut inside), RW stays as inside forward. The extra centre midfielder, was an AMC is moved forward as a deep lying striker next to an advanced forward. Started using Reus as the DLF, and Volland as advanced striker. Now it's Volland as DLF and Lukaku as Advanced striker, with Reus on the right. Works well as the LM arrives late, so often sneaks past the fullback to score.

I'd like to have a 4-2-3-1 but I just couldn't get the AMC playing consistently. But most importantly there wasn't enough space/movement, so players often had 1 pass option and we'd get disposed, etc. My 4-2-3-1 worked fine with Lewy, so I might go back to it next season.

I still use my 4-3-3 (4-1-2-2-1) formation in the big European games, and difficult away games. But, atm my 4-4-2 is just creating so many chances and attractive football.

I'm also using 4-3-3 with 2 MC and AMR/L and seems to fit in perfectly for the team. But I think 4-2-3-1 get exposed with the gap between the defence and midfielders area.

[phoenixemperor]

Try setting the defensive line to sit a bit deeper then

[numero uno gunner]

@Ryknow - Excellent win against Bayern. Hope you go on to the lift the trophy! Mohrle and Lepper look like they could be real stars in the future. I'd try to get them as much game time as possible as soon as you can.

@john1 - What sort of 4-5-1 are you using? I'm tempted to try a version of it for my tougher games, most notably against Bayern, as my form is patchy (to say the least!) when I play them.

Apologies in advance for all the screenshots that are coming. These are all my talented youngsters that I've been talking about. I've not included any of the 'real' players, such as Gunter, Leitner, Halilovic and Maupay.

I've just reached the winter break, about to go on a tour of Malaysia, as apparently we are very popular over there! We have added the Club World Championship to the European Super Cup, with a 4-1 win over Monterray in the semis followed up by a 5-0 thrashing of Corinthians in the final. De Jong got 6 of our goals in the competition, and followed that up with a brace to knock Hoffenheim out of the cup as well. Furth beat Bayern on penalties, so added incentive to go on and win it now. We've topped our Champions League group above Spurs, now waiting for the last 16 draw.

Its the league where we aren't as lethal, falling 7 points behind Bayern, although we do have a game in hand to cut that down to 4.

Sitting on a transfer kitty of £47m, and an excess £680k in the wages, but will again be on the lookout for talented youngsters in the January window, providing they can still become Home Grown in the future.

[Ryknow]

Nice work on the other trophies.

What's your current wage bill? If your £680k under. I increased my budget to €1.5mil, but my wage bill is currently €1.2mil pw. Should reduce each season as newgens are promoted and older players are sold.

Great newgens there, I especially like Brendel. What a talent! Great attributes for his age, and 5 star potential.

Kawashima is coming along really well, and looks a top keeper. How is he only valued at £1.4mil?!

Are any of the others key members, or first team regulars? Loustau looks great and Moreau is well balanced (tech/mental/physical) for his age. I love DC's with high mental stats, and he looks like he could turn into a world class DC due to the level of his attributes already in key areas.

I'll try and do an update either tomorrow or the weekend. Mainly post summer transfer update.

[numero uno gunner]

@Ryknow - Wage budget is £1.75m, so spending just above £1m on wages at the minute. I've only got 7 members of the squad on more than £50k a week, which has proved a massive help.

Brendel has come on leaps and bounds this season, and I'm hoping to get him out on loan somewhere for the second half of the season to aid his development further. Same goes for Karanka, and Moreau is already on loan at Rapid Wien, and is a key player averaging almost 7.5 from 25 games so far this season.

Kawashima and Loustau are first choice players, with Gusmao and Ademola getting regular game time as well. Vukasinovic and Eggert have also played in the first team, but not as much as I'd have liked this season. I've also incorporated Gunter, Leitner and Maupay (although the latter is starting to complain about a lack of game time. He has played in my recent three friendlies and, although the opposition wasn't massively strong, he did net 6 times, so maybe I should be playing him more.)

Onwards and upwards. Really hoping to narrow the lead on Bayern over the next few games.

Oh, and whoever makes the Champions League draw officially hates me. Despite topping my group, we've been drawn against Real Madrid. Yeah, cheers for that!

[Ty]

Started a Dortmund save. Fed up of having my name in the hall of fame, as there is 3 different ones in there. So put my name through a "Make my name German" thing...

Leopold von Rothstein... the new manager of Dortmund

[numero uno gunner]

@Ty - loving that! Good luck with your save. Any long-term ideological plans in place?

[Ryknow]

Started a Dortmund save. Fed up of having my name in the hall of fame, as there is 3 different ones in there. So put my name through a "Make my name German" thing...

Leopold von Rothstein... the new manager of Dortmund

I was thinking of doing the same before I started my save. How'd you get that picture? Did you make it in facegen?

I've just got a newgen face I took 3-4 FMs ago, but kind of sick of it now.

[Ty]

I found it in the Skinning Hideout... it is actually Christian Bale but he looked like a German 32 year old to me!

[jaybert]

Hi fellow BVB fans! I started new Dortmund save since my last one got crashed after 5 seasons :/ In my first season I didnt really do very well ended 2nd in the league and got owned by Barca in first round knockout. However I have won Pokal and Supercup atleast. Currently finishing 2nd season which goes much better! There is very little chance to finish 1st in the league but I am again in final in cup and waiting for final of CL with Bayern! really looking for it cause last match they owned me 4-1 at home so my vengeance is awaiting! I suffered two hard and long term injuries for two players of my first XI. Marco Reus for 4 moths out and Gundogan even for 5 months but substitute players caught their chance and performed very well

My current first XI is:

Weidenfeller

Corchia - Santana - Hummels - Schmelzer

Bender - Sahin

Gotze - Isco - Reus

De jong

For the summer transfers I need to replace Sahin because of his ending loan. I hope Xabi Alonso will take my offer and join me in the summer!

Cheers!