[FM13] American Sunday League Player lost in Europe

[joshb729]

Well, I finally decided to pick up FM13. I hadn't bought the game since FM 10 but I decided it was time to get dirty again.

Decided to go with 7 leagues, Large Player Database

USA

England (All)

Germany (All)

Spain (All)

Italy (All)

France (All)

Netherlands (All)

Started out as unemployed, I get signed quickly by Mirandela in the Portuguese Second Division - North. I know virtually nothing about the Portuguese league structure so let's take a quick look. The Portuguese Second Division is in the third tier in the country behind the Portuguese Premier League and Portuguese Second League. There is also a Second Division Central and Second Division South. 16 teams in each region. 1 team from each of these regional third leagues gets promoted. Two get demoted out.

I am hired on a 1-year contract for $950 p/w. I am given a $5,131 p/w budget that is already 100% filled up. The stadium is 5,000 seat all-seater with synthetic grass. The facilities are nothing to write home about. Pretty much your typical down-in-the-dumps first job when you start as an unemployed Sunday Leaguer in these games. There's some relatively decent talent (for the Port. SD-North). There's some depth at the striker position, but elsewhere, it's pretty thin after the first-team. Luckily, all I need to do is avoid relegation (I probably shouldn't be overconfident of achieving that right now)

Instead of taking advantage of my depth at striker on the field, I plan a conservative 4-2-3-1 formation. Probably chose it because it's my favorite formation on FIFA 13. But some of my midfielders here should fit the roles nicely. With my surplus strikers, I'll look to move them for cash and add depth elsewhere.

I arrange a quick intra-squad friendly to get a look at my team and I already suffer an early pain in the neck injury as my DR Danilo (4.5*, 32) is expected to miss 4-5 weeks from a twisted knee. I have no backup DR, and no budget room yet, so my assistant finds Ruben Freitas, a 19 year old with 4.5* potential from Braga. My assistant has him down for ZERO stars as of right now, but I gotta do what I gotta do and I make the move to grab him for free for 6 months.

July ends and we're off to August and 5 friendlies as we get ready for the season. The vast amount of control over training and such in FM13 is mind boggling. I'm leaving most of it to my assistant for now. Hopefully I can get my team ready (without injuries) over the next 4 weeks before the season starts.

[BazzRose]

Good Luck with Mirandela - I lasted 3 years there!

[joshb729]

How did you do? Could you get them promoted?

[joshb729]

August/September 2012

My thin squad was absolutely devasted by injuries during the pre-season friendlies. The early cup match was nice, and the second round matchup vs Ribeira Brava was absolutely devestating. We took a 2-1 lead in 90+4 and they came back off the kickoff to send it to extra time. We took a 3-2 lead in the 99th and couldn't hold onto that either. We lost in the 6th round of penalties then.

League results have been very poor. The injuries have taken a major toll. I have had 4-5 regulars out every match, and I have various players playing out of position in order to field a legal squad. Maybe the draw in the last match will get us going, but that was against a weak side. I see they had good reason to make us 2000-1 to reach promotion.

[joshb729]

October/November 2012

Mirandela - Portugese Second Division - North

Key players are starting to get healthy as we slug through a tough part of the schedule. I felt at the time that the draw away to contender Gondomar could be a turning point for the squad. Along with improved health, morale was beginning to lift up. I felt confident going into the Fafe matchup and the boys came through with a huge performance! We're hanging in there. As long as we keep performing well against the bottom half, we should be able to avoid bottom two.

[joshb729]

December 2012

Mirandela

Portugese Second Division - North

We continue our good form with a very solid win away over Joane. But then an embarassing home loss to Vilaverdense sent us back into a little tailspin and we struggled to find our form for a couple weeks. A win against Boavista (who is VERY surprisingly struggling right now, ass they were a pre-season favorite for promotion) puts everybody back in a good mood as the transfer deadline opens up. There's still no money available, but a solid loan pickup or two could be enough to keep us up. The good news is that it now appears to be just 1 relegation spot on the board as Infesta has struggled to keep pace with everybody else. But another run of bad form could easily put us back in the 15th spot. There's work yet to be done.

[joshb729]

January 2013

Mirandela

Portugese Second Division - North

A stunning away victory over Chaves has pushed us away from the relegation zone. Nobody gave us a chance against the previously unbeaten league leaders and the win will surely go down in Mirandela history and be talked about for decades to come. Despite an early red card against Tirsense and falling behind 0-1, the boys battled gamely and grabbed a 71st minute equalizer and held stout for the draw. We have some breathing room now. We were unable to make any major changes during the transfer window. The only addition was a DMC/MC Miguel Lemos on loan from Braganca. He's not a difference maker but the 25-year old has added some depth to our squad and should help us avoid playing guys completely out of position. Adopting a defense-first approach has sealed up the leaks in the back and has been keeping us in these matches this month. I see no reason to alter that for the remainder of the season as we try to avoid relegation.