FM14: Borussia Dortmund - Echte Liebe

[Midfield Triangle]

Was thinking that but my only targetman is my main striker. Going to make a few changes to the set up I think to make it my own.

[Bigpapa42]

Haven’t really been able to find “that game” yet in FM14. Bounced around a lot, often between games with Lokomotiv Moscow and PSV. Randomly decided to give Dortmund a try. Like a lot of things about the club. Restarted after buying too many players I didn’t need.

On the restart, I’ve just made it through the pre-season. Won the DFB-Supercup over Bayern with a 1-0 scoreline that was very flattering to them. Lewandowski was shocking in that match, missing a handful of wonderful CCCs. Won the 1st round DFB-Pokal match quite easily and opened the Bundesliga season with a 5-0 win over Werder Bremen, where Lewa was lethal. Go figure.

I’m using a 4-1-2-2-1 that is working quite nicely. Nothing fancy. Its Fluid-Control with a couple of shouts. The Tactical Familiarity is well below where I would like because, despite playing a ton of easy friendlies, signing a host of new players at the start of July killed the familiarity I had built to that point. It doesn’t replicate the genpressing of Dortmund at all, but it generates some lovely pass n’ move football that is obviously effective with the level of quality in the squad.

Spent the 20m I got for transfer funds. Mostly bought “for the future” players. Only Kevin Kampl and Lucas Romero are truly of enough quality to play immediately. With injuries to Błaszczykowski and Aubameyang right now, rather glad to have Kampl. A bit clogged with midfield prospects now. Same up front. I grabbed both Richairo Živković and Giovanni Simeone as the eventual replacement for Lewandowski, but I’m unsure now why I was so concerned with finding someone in the first window – while those two are great prospects, neither will be ready to handle the role by a year in. Not at anywhere near the level as Lewa.

Reached the point where Mkhitaryan is back, but he needs match fitness. Quite looking forward to having him fully healthy and fit.

Haven’t sold anyone at this point. Had offers come in for Błaszczykowski and Schmelzer but chased them both off with outrageous negotiations. If a big club like PSG comes back for Kuba, I might be tempted to sell. I did a watcher game on this patch recently and he seemed to decline pretty quickly. By about 2016 or 2017, he was back playing for a club in Poland, and not one of the bigger ones. Even if I don’t really need the money, it’s hard to turn down 25m or 30m for a player I might only get more really good season out of.

I’m quite enjoying the save. Despite that, already getting temptations – whether to try another club with a more defensive approach (Cleon’s tactical posts always get my attention) or restart with Dortmund again but with even fewer signings. Need to play a few more league matches, though.

[Ryan377]

Great signing in Lucas Romero, he'll be a top player for you for the next decade

[Bigpapa42]

Great signing in Lucas Romero, he'll be a top player for you for the next decade

Indeed. Which is why I gave in to the temptation and bought him. I lack self-control when there is money to spend - I will find players to buy. Hard to regret buying a young player with the talent of Romero.... but he's just not really needed. There is Gundogan, Mkhitaryan, Sahin, Kehl, and Bender in central midfield, plus Jolic and Dudziak are good prospects. It makes Romero a luxury buy. But at least he is a tactical luxyur buy, as he is a box-to-box midfielder that no one else in the squad really is. Others can do it but are truly a bit more specialized - kelh and Bender are defensive mids, Sahin is a DLP, etc.

Played a few more matches last night and into September. Undefeated so far into the Bundesliga. Only notable win is over Leverkusen. Drew a reasonable Champions League group - Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, and another club out of the 4th pot that wasn't too frightening (can't recall off hand).

I just realized last night that Živković has agreed to move to Ajax in real life, and Sahin has been permanently signed. Between those and signing a few too many players, I may end up restarting rather than continuing on. But Dortmund is definitely a fun and interesting game.

[Ryknow]

After playing a long term save with Glasgow Rangers and winning everything I decided I needed a change. I accepted the Argentina job, (previous spells with Cameroon, Scotland U19's and Belgium), and then applied for the Dortmund position. I was successful in my interview and will look to implement my system at BVB.

What's happened

In 2026 Dortmund have enjoyed great success domestically, winning the title 7 times, including 3 in a row. Bayern and Dortmund continue to dominate the Bundesliga, but Stuttgart (Werner still there and World Class) and Schalke are not far behind. Last team to win the Bundesliga outside Bayern and Dortmund is still Wolfsburg though (2009).

My time at Rangers saw a self imposed player wage cap of €40k pw, meaning I could never afford the top stars despite having the budget available. Instead my focus was on buying youngsters and developing them, with a major focus on Scottish players, mainly my academy players.

So fast forward and the team is hugely successful and I need a change. I had a long term save with Dortmund on FM13 and knew I'd eventually do one with them on FM14. I started one but never got into it due to my Rangers save. By making an alternative save, it means I still have my Rangers save if this goes balls up.

Aims

- I intend to focus on German players, particularly home grown ones through the academy (60-70% of total first team)

- Majority of signings outside Germany must be from the nine countries that share Germany's border. Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, France, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland and Denmark. Plus Turkey (20%)

- Other signings can be from Brazil or Argentina (5-10%), then one off's such as Japan, USA, Australia, China, South Korea, etc. (1-2%)

- No British, Italian, Spanish (Unless special circumstances - I brought my favourite Rangers player with me. HG academy Scottish goalkeeper)

- Player wage cap of €150k pw. Might get adjusted as I have no idea on player demands at this level. Highest earner at club is on €135k pw. Overall it's easy to make money at this level so as long as the wage bill is sustainable then I won't be too strict. Certainly no-one over €200k pw though.

- Turn Dortmund into a European powerhouse. They haven't won the UCL, but did win the Europa League in 2021. Bundesliga only has 3 UCL spots, need to increase this.

What I take over

- I walk into an already successful side (domestically), it is full of strikers due to previous manager playing 3-4-3. However, every single striker can play at least one other position (LW, RW, CAM). Useful considering I use 4-1-2-2-1 (4-3-3) and 4-2-3-1.

- A good amount of German players, especially considering Bayern's side. Very promising youngsters in U19 and BVBII. However, everyone seems on huge wages. Few 20 year olds on €60-80k pw, wage bill at €3.5m pw.

What I've done- First Season

- Taking over in late July meant I missed the DFL Super Cup and proper preseason. In addition, certain players were sold that I wouldn't have sold and certain players were bought that I would no have got.

- Slashed the wage bill from €3.5m pw, to €2.5m pw.

- Increased the German player ratio to 50% of total first team.

- Brought some of my key staff and favourite players from Rangers.

- Due to the purchases before I arrived the final 'transfers in' cost €165m, I offloaded €165m including a €40m fee for a star CB, whom I sold to Dortmund from Rangers. Poor guy, must hate me but was too good to turn down as I was only given €14m to work with.

- Moved on the stupid amount of strikers in the squad.

- Extended deals for key members and promoted the best youth.

Quick 2026/27 Season Cap

Started off great, but due to no preseason the players took ages adjusting from 3-4-3 to my 4-3-3. My normally extremely solid system kept leaking goals from crosses and corners. The fullbacks (a HG newgen RB below, and a 33 year old Alaba - not my signings) were horrible for parts of the season. Completely switching off. Not to mention a crazy injury patch. Had three key players sustain torn hamstrings, one getting hit so hard he went from a value of €25m to a measly €7.5m. After the season ended I had to offload him for free, just to get his €150k pw off the wage bill. I adjusted the system throughout the season and eventually found something that worked. However by this time we were 4th, and in serious trouble of not making the UCL (1st-3rd). We remained unbeaten in our last 7 games (6 wins, 1 draw) to claim 2nd spot, beating a very in-form Schalke side. Bayern ended up winning the title by 7 points.

Bayern 74pts

Dortmund 67pts

Schalke 65pts

Gladbach 61pts

Wolfsburg 58pts

Stuttgart 55pts

While I wanted to win the league I welcome the competitiveness after managing in the Scotland for 13 years. I'm hoping the rules I put on myself will maintain that competitive nature in the Bundesliga.

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UCL

Got out the group, but beaten by Chelsea in the first knockout round 4-4ag. Expectation was just to get out of the group.

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Won the DFB Pokal 1-0 v Gladbach. Last time Dortmund won it was in 2016. Bayern have only won it once in the last ten years. Stuttgart (3) the most in that period, with Wolfsburg (2) following. Very competitive cup.

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Inherited Players - Some of the Germans

Club captain, HG academy player.

Born in Brazil but must of had dual nationality.

BVB bought him from Bayern 4 years ago.

BVB poached him from 1860.

HG academy player

BVB poached him from 1860. On loan at Barca for two seasons. Frees up his large wages.

There are plenty more great Germans, with many having been poached from 1860. Might have to keep an eye on their products.

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What I Signed - Just notable Germans

Splashed the cash immediately on this guy from Wolfsburg. Cost me a whopping €48m in a structured deal, but that was offset by sales. I will build my team around him.

Brought him with me from Rangers. Didn't play much at Rangers for me, was loaned out, but I plan on using him as a LW inside forward.

So with the elderly Mats Hummels and İlkay Gündoğan calling it a day after my first season, I will look to build a side in the same ilk as Dortmund's team IRL from the past 5 years. Alaba's deal (been at BVB 11 seasons) expires in a month, but at 34 years old he still wants over €120k pw. Not worth it and I have replacements, even though he made 28(11) appearances this season, all comps.

[Ryknow]

New season signing. Splashed the cash on this guy. Brought him back to Germany from Manchester City. He was keen to come, and I got Man City down to €34m with 50% of next sale...I'm not going to sell him. My midfield three is now pretty potent. He comes in as my highest earner. Along with other signings I still managed to keep the wage bill at €2.5m pw.

[Bigpapa42]

Gunther is one hell of a nice player. His international strike-rate is outstanding for a midfielder. How frequently does he score at club level?

I've restarted with Dortmund. I signed Lucas Romero and Kevin Kampl again, and a bunch of 16 and 17 year olds to develop. Negotiated fees for a few but many I just offered contracts to and "stole". Into mid-August. Thumped Bayern 3-0 in the SuperCup, though they did have a fair number of injuries. Won my first three Bundesliga matches comfortably and the first round DFB-Pokal as well. My only real tactical concern at the moment is that Reus and Lewandowski seem to trade matches for doing well. One will excel in a match with a couple of goals but the other will seem uninvolved. Then they switch it up the next time. I don't think they are negating each other. Something I'll have to watch.

[kontermann]

Günther looks a real veteran

[Ryknow]

Agreed, he certainly is a beast. Not on FM atm but his goal record is pretty good at club level from what I remember. I'll be using him as a CM (APa) though. He has the PPM, comes deep to get ball too, and from what I've seen in the first 5 games he looks very talented. Played Bayern in the Super Cup and they failed to get a shot off at goal. My midfield trio just controlled the game. 3 games in the league and still to concede so a big turn around from last season. I've learnt German now, so maybe it's just my players needed a full preseason with me as they are playing a lot like my Rangers side did.

Back on Günther, I monitored him while I was at Rangers as he went in a big money move from Bayern to Man City. He was one of the few superstars I know off as generally I stayed in my 'budget bubble'. If they couldn't fit my wage budget then I didn't need to know about them. It's great for me now as I have tonnes of players to scout and check out. Also, Brazilian and Argentinan players don't move to the SPL, almost impossible to sign them as a Scottish club, so I'm enjoying checking out the talent over there. Serious talent from those nations. Got an outstanding 24 year old LB from Brazil, deal had 12 months left so I got him for €8.5m, and few months later he's worth €27m with us. Brazil's main LB and world class. Great capture.

Finished my 2027/28 summer signings with re-signing free agent David Alaba. He wanted €120k pw while still at the club, upon release and a free agent he still wanted the same. I offered a trial and he only demanded €25k pw, so he's rejoined as back up. At 34 years old he's still a good player.

As a result of managing Argentina we went on and won the 2027 Copa America v Brazil. First international trophy, as I normally don't stick around long enough. This save is following my BVB FM13 one closely as I was the Argentina boss then too, and won the Copa America, before the World Cup. Hopefully I can do the same. I'd love to take the Germany job, but Klopp is in that role so I don't mind him sticking around for a while.

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I've had that issue you mention about player negating each other. A few tweaks to their roles can make a big difference. Difficult to get that balance right. As you say, just keep a close eye on them during games. Might be getting in each other's way.

[Ryknow]

Günther looks a real veteran

I have screenshots of him beforehand. He had brown hair with a hair band. Not sure why he suddenly went grey, as no other player changed hair styles.

On a side note, re his goal record, he was the top scorer in the 2026 World Cup with 7 goals in 7 games, iirc. Beast.

[Bigpapa42]

Agreed, he certainly is a beast. Not on FM atm but his goal record is pretty good at club level from what I remember. I'll be using him as a CM (APa) though. He has the PPM, comes deep to get ball too, and from what I've seen in the first 5 games he looks very talented. Played Bayern in the Super Cup and they failed to get a shot off at goal. My midfield trio just controlled the game. 3 games in the league and still to concede so a big turn around from last season. I've learnt German now, so maybe it's just my players needed a full preseason with me as they are playing a lot like my Rangers side did.

Back on Günther, I monitored him while I was at Rangers as he went in a big money move from Bayern to Man City. He was one of the few superstars I know off as generally I stayed in my 'budget bubble'. If they couldn't fit my wage budget then I didn't need to know about them. It's great for me now as I have tonnes of players to scout and check out. Also, Brazilian and Argentinan players don't move to the SPL, almost impossible to sign them as a Scottish club, so I'm enjoying checking out the talent over there. Serious talent from those nations. Got an outstanding 24 year old LB from Brazil, deal had 12 months left so I got him for €8.5m, and few months later he's worth €27m with us. Brazil's main LB and world class. Great capture.

Finished my 2027/28 summer signings with re-signing free agent David Alaba. He wanted €120k pw while still at the club, upon release and a free agent he still wanted the same. I offered a trial and he only demanded €25k pw, so he's rejoined as back up. At 34 years old he's still a good player.

As a result of managing Argentina we went on and won the 2027 Copa America v Brazil. First international trophy, as I normally don't stick around long enough. This save is following my BVB FM13 one closely as I was the Argentina boss then too, and won the Copa America, before the World Cup. Hopefully I can do the same. I'd love to take the Germany job, but Klopp is in that role so I don't mind him sticking around for a while.

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I've had that issue you mention about player negating each other. A few tweaks to their roles can make a big difference. Difficult to get that balance right. As you say, just keep a close eye on them during games. Might be getting in each other's way.

Did the game change his chair color? If so, that's awesome.

Actually, South American and African players don't like to move directly to Germany. Its a database setting. The size and profile of Dortmund should override that, especially for players from South America. But I still have issues signing African youngsters. They just don't want to, yet will happily move to a much smaller club in The Netherlands in other saves.

Nice job on getting Alaba to sign on again for less money. Slick.

I'm really not sure if the Reus-Lewa thing is an issue or not. Too small of a sample size. But its the one thing that is concerning me a bit about my current tactic. Its nothing fancy - a 4-3-3 with both FBs as CWB and both wingers as IF-S with individual instructions to sit inside more. The midfielder trio is 2 CMs and a DM, with the roles changing depending on who is playing where. Mostly using the right CM as CM-A with Gundogan and the left as either B2B-S (Romero) or DLP-S (Sahin). Lewandowski is a CF-S. Its Fluid and Attacking, with a few instructions such as Work Ball into Box, Shorter Passing, and Push Higher Up. Although I was tempted to try to replicate the counter pressing style, I avoided the Hassle Opponents shout to maintain the defensive shape, but have Individual Instructions to my front four to press more. I don't know why Lewa and Reud would occpy the same space, and the B2B shouldn't be causing issues. I'll watch the situation to make sure. Also considering dropping the Mentality to Control or even Counter.

[Ryknow]

Yeah, for some reason my OLT Hairpack changed his hair, and no others.

Found a screenshot I took when I first saw him. 19 years old, contracted to Bayern. And regarding goalscoring prowess, he's never scored over 8 in a season at either Bayern or Man City. Only scored 38 goals in leagues during his time. I plan to change that as my CM at Rangers scored bucket loads. Despite the opposition being stronger, I suspect I'll get him over the double figures (all comps). With Klopp as manager of Germany he uses the same system he used at Dortmund, and Günther plays in the CAM role, so that explains the high scoring rate.

His hair changed only about 12 months ago. At least it didn't suddenly go red or something.

Haven't tried scouting Africa that much but I know about the problems with German clubs attracting players from there and South America. The latest patch was supposed to fix that and in my game it has. Of the players based in South America, around 85% are 'realistic targets', and willing to join me. Even the super stars at Brazilian heavy weights. The problem is negotiating with the clubs. They are very firm in holding onto the world class players, but once they put in a transfer request it's fine.

[Bigpapa42]

So made it to January of 2014. Not that far, I know, but given how many times I’ve restarted games with Dortmund, I’m quite happy. Topping the table by a wide margin, similar to Bayern this season in real life. Still undefeated and haven’t even drawn yet. Alternate between the occasional tight win and smashing opponents. Just steamrolled Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 away and it should have been a far wider margin.

The entire squad is performing. Standouts have been Lewandowski, Reus, Hummels, and Blaszcykowski. Lewa has about 17 or 18 goals now, so he’s hitting about 1:1. Yet he feels inconsistent and misses a lot of chances. He was really wasteful against Leverkusen until he scored the 3rd on a ridiculous solo run from midfield. Guess I can’t really complain given the result. Reus got injured for 3-4 months (actually back in a few weeks) but was doing very well. Kept watching for the issue between him and Lewa and didn’t seem to be consistent. Hummels has been magnificent as a ball playing defender. Kuba is a bit inconsistent match to match, but he just scored 4 in a league match, so yeah…

Just downed Werder Bremen in the DFB-Pokal and I have a Bundesliga.2 club next.

Drew a fairly easy Champions’ League group: Steaua, CSKA Moscow, and Olympique Lyonnais. Finished top and will face Zenit in the first knockout round.

Didn’t get much in the way of transfer funds for the winter window but don’t really need. The squad has adequate depth across the board and I spent most of my summer funds on younger players to develop. I’ve got a few 17-18 year olds that I’m trying to give match time to. Definitely going to need to buy a Lewa replacement this summer. Haven’t settled on a specific one yet.

[Ryknow]

Wow, nice work on your form.

I've just hit the winter break of my 2nd season, 2027/28. The team is getting to the point of being my squad. As of yet I haven't settled on one particular formation and switch depending on the opponents. However, as of late my 4-2-3-1 system is working a treat. Dominating games with some great attacking football. Still, each match requires tinkering. Using it much more than when I was at Rangers.

Iirc, the table after 17 games is Bayern on 45 points, us on 44 points. Enjoying being pushed by Bayern as my FM13 BVB save Bayern were really poor after a few seasons, evening hiring Moyes. Considering it's 2028 now, I'm glad to see that they are capable of good squad building, mainly thanks to their millions. Actually most of the top 6 have really good squads.

So in the winter transfer window I splashed the cash on an Argentinian CB wonderkid whom I've brought into the Argentina setup. He's already good enough to be a regular in that sublime squad and feature in the team. However, he only signed a deal until 2030 on €80k pw, and wanted €160k pw if I locked in 5 years. I'll wait 10-12 months and see if I can offer him a new deal. At only 20 years old, and no percentage of sale clauses, my aim is to sell him to one of the powerhouses when a solid German CB comes along. I'll post screenies of his glorious mullet when I get a chance.

On another note I signed a Brazilian AMC/MC from Wolfsburg to provide cover for Günther, as now we are using 4-2-3-1 a lot more. Has German second nationality as he's been in the country since a youngster, formally at BVB. Hopefully he gets called up by Klopp.

And to cap everything off I decided to talk to the board to see what options there were. I noticed build a stadium was greyed out and hovered over it. It said one was being built. I quickly checked the club facilities and in June 2028 Dortmund will move into Klopp Stadium, a 101k seater stadium! Nice treat and glad Klopp go it named after him.

[Bigpapa42]

Well, there was a rage quit in there at one point, and at least two game crashes (one of which was after a big win, but still...). I've been helped by Bayern being average. Both wins over them (Super Cup and Bundesliga) were 4-1 and they weren't close. They've suffered with injuries and Guradiola has been under pressure. They are currently 8th and will need a good run in the second half of the season to salvage the season.

[Ryknow]

So this was the Argentinian wonderkid I splashed the cash on, and as you can see he's well worth it. I bought him in a structured deal for €30m (includes addons). I can see him developing really well, and hopefully gain the interest from big spenders like PSG, Monaco, Real Madrid and Manchester City down the line. All depends on whether I find a top German defender in the next 2-3 seasons though, if not I might keep him for 5+ seasons. I've worked with him at international level so I know what I'm getting.

[Ryan377]

He looks absolutely top drawer. With that determination he'll only get better too barring any injuries.

[Bigpapa42]

That is a truly brilliant mullet. Just fantastic. Helluva player too.

[Ryknow]

So things didn't start well for Pizarro aka 'The Mullet', as he gave away a penalty (first this season) and ended his debut with a rating of 5.5. Luckily we came back and won the game, but poor showing from him considering his form for me with the national team. However, it seemed a one off and since then he's performed pretty well. I'm not judging him that much as he signed in the winter break and has been thrown in as a starter next to Tufi. That aside, Tufi seems to be working well with him and playing like the captain that he is.

My last signing of the winter break was Mello. RB has been a struggle for me as Dreher (above screenies) just doesn't perform. He seems terribly inconsistent and always has an error in him. For some reason PSG put this wonderkid up for sale/loan listed on the last day of the window. I've been monitoring him closely but PSG wanted around €50m for him. They listed him at €12.5m on the last day and I immediately put in a loan offer until the end of the season, with a €12m clause. Accepted! So he should be mine when the season ends, especially as he already likes me as I gave him his first cap for Argentina. Seems a bargain considering the options I've been looking at in the market. Very difficult to find an affordable RB atm, whereas affordable LB's are plentiful.

To top it off he also performs to the level I want. Including scoring on his third Bundesliga match. Played a one-two and cut inside into the box (between the CB and FB) to chip it over the keeper.

Also, this: A man of the match performance with a rating of 8.8, no goals or assists, but tackle central. Nullified Zenit's left flank with 15 out of 16 tackles being successful, 4 being key. Would have lost that game if Dreher was playing, I'm sure of it.

[Ryknow]

So after a season settling in I was able to flex my muscles with the squad and make it my own.

2026/27 Winter window

Bringing in Garry Williamson from my old club, Rangers, in the winter break was the best thing I did. He shored up the defence with his ability to organise the back four, despite not knowing German. It didn't take him long to learn it though. He only cost me €6m for some weird reason, as Rangers then went on and spend €32m on one of the academy keepers I sold. Weird considering Williamson is Scotland's number one and has been since he was 18 years old. I brought him through the academy in 2015 at Rangers where we went on to win a tonne of trophies including the UCL, so I allowed him to be my exception to the 'No British players' rule. Despite not having massively high attributes in reflexes, positioning and handling he's one of the best and consistent keepers I've had on FM. I'm hoping a top potential German keeper comes through the BVB ranks soon though, so Williamson can tutor him.

2027/28 Summary

Super Cup

Dortmund 1-0 Bayern

Bundesliga

Bayern 79pts

Dortmund 74pts

Schalke 62

Gladbach 62

Wolfsburg 60

Stuttgart 58 (Massively underperformed considering the squad. Blanc got sacked. He left a safe life at PSG for that move)

The season was really enjoyable. Still fiddling with tactics but settled on an attacking 4-2-3-1. We really take the game to the opponents as opposed to my Rangers side that would invite pressure, absorb, and then initiate incredibly fast counters. We were back and forth with Bayern but one too many slip ups in the final few games meant it fell away from us. A loss on the final day to Hannover didn't help the tally, but by then Bayern had won.

DFB Pokal

Final: Dortmund 4-1 Eintracht Frankfurt. Good game, second DFB Pokal in as many years.

UCL

Wasn't expecting this though.

Was a great run as we just attacked the opposition and didn't fear anyone. Away goals was our friend, but in most of the games a quick counter added a safety net. Was not expecting anything from the final as Man City have a tonne of top players, but I think we took them by surprised. Pressed hard and played quick in the first 30 minutes and had 3 goals to show for it. Then we just shored things up and their goal was only a late consilation as we controlled the game.

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2028/29 Season

Start of next season we only were given €50m transfer budget, which is peanuts to sign German players. Really needed a striker, but the two I was looking at are priced €51m-€70m and the other is recommended to cost €105m-€120m, so I might pass on that. The biggest fee in my save occurred in this window. PSG failed to get a UCL spot so all their big stars wanted to leave. Valencia went in and bought a striker I sold PSG. He went for €71m (including addons). Previous was only €54m. Really want to win the league over Bayern, but they strengthened even further bringing in more pace and creativity. Will see how it goes, might need more player sales.

Probst is developing pretty well.

As is Pizarro. He extended his deal after impressing last season. Formed a very solid partnership with club captain Tufi.

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One of the new signings

I got him, another DM from Argentina, and a bunch of youngsters who are mainly German. Oh, and plugging the striker gap is a 32 year old Timo Werner! He finally left Stuttgart to join us, and he scored a hat-trick in his first game.

[Ryknow]

Another season past, but this time I found a way to get the best out of Günther. Playing in the CAM position, as an Advanced playmaker(A) he scored 30 goals, 27 assists in 43 appearances. Epic.

Bundesliga

1. Bayern 82pts

2. Dortmund 78pts

3. Wolfsburg 70pts

4. Schalke 60pts

5. Stuttgart 59pts

Basically we failed, as we lost two more matches than we should have meaning we would have won the league. We beat Bayern, but failed against other sides. To make it worse we scored 100 goals in the league and conceded 30, making us have the far greater goal diff (+20 more than Bayern). Seem to always fail in the last two games of the season. Something I need to look at. Luckily for Germany's coefficient and Schalke (Only top 3 teams get UCL), Bayern went on to win the UCL as well.

UCL

Yep, finally met my old team, Glasgow Rangers. We faced off in the quarter final where they pumped me 8-5(agg).

DFB Pokal

Met Bayern in the final to make it three in a row. Went all the way to penalties, with our keeper Williamson stepping up to the plate and saving two.

DFL Super Cup

Dortmund 1-0 Bayern

Club World Cup

Dortmund 4-2 Cruzeiro

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Season 2029/30 Signings

Finally got this guy. Signed him during my time at Rangers, where he spent a season on loan at Schalke. He likes Schalke, so found it hard to join us. Added to the fact Rangers simply didn't want to sell him. Despite a tonne of interested parties we got in quick after a €28m bid was accepted. He has Scottish nationality after living there for the required amount of time, meaning he doesn't take up a foreign player spot in the DFB Pokal.

Made some big sales, including a €50m fee for an Aussie CAM I brought with me from Rangers for only €2m. Still finding it hard to fill my German percentage quota. Youth players are still someway off being fully ready and players from other clubs will cost me a fortune. Still sitting around the 55% mark.

[Ryan377]

Borussia Dortmund season review 2027/28

Just completed my fifteenth season as Dortmund boss and what an incredible season it was, we managed to do the quintuple!

I've started to grow a tad bored of this save now after winning everything possible in two of the past five seasons but some of the football we played over this season was the best since I've been at the club. We were comprehensively beating teams while also being solid at the back, the unbeaten season looked to be on until we travelled to the Allianz Arena in March and were thumped 5-0 by a poor Bayern side (they finished 2nd in the league but were twenty points and fifty goals behind me). This absolutely battered the players confidence and in the next few weeks we were beaten by Juventus in the CL quarter final and also suffered embarassing league defeats too Leverkusen and Freiburg. Before the Bayern game we had only lost one game all season (including friendlies) and that was a meaningless Champions League group game against Benfica when we had already won the group.

Bundesliga table -

We've now won the Bundesliga eleven seasons in a row but are yet to complete an unbeaten season, this is the aim for next season. I feel if we had avoided defeat at the Allianz we would have done it this season as confidence was sky high before that game.

DFB-Pokal cup -

Our path to the DFB Pokal was quite a straight forward one with us coming up against Union Berlin away (4-1), Mainz away (2-0), Hannover home (3-0), Hertha Berlin home (0-0, 8-7 on pens), Ingolstadt home (3-1) before beating Koln in the final.

German Super Cup -

We got the season off to the best possible start by beating Bayern in their own back yard. We dominated most the game and the scoreline suggests the game was a lot closer than it really was. Just a shame we couldn't repeat this scoreline in the Bundesliga fixture.

European Super Cup -

Quite a comfortable victory over Paulo Fonseca's Chelsea who only managed to finish fourth in the Premier League this season. Eoin Ryan was a player signed from Arsenal the season before last and he collected the MOTM award in this game with a well taken brace.

Club World Cup -

We eased to a win against Brazilian side Internacional, seemingly taking our foot of the gas when we scored the fifth just after half time. We beat Korean side FC Seoul 5-0 in the semi final where my second string really impressed, albeit against a much weaker side.

Champions League

The major disappointment of the campaign was going out the Champions League at the Quarter Final stage to an inferior Juventus side. We were asleep for the first half of the first leg when Juventus raced into a two goal lead. Although we managed to turn around the deficit and win the home leg 3-2 it was always going to be a challenge for us at the Juventus stadium and we were beaten 2-0.

[Ryan377]

Anyone still currently got a Dortmund save going? Got a bit bored of mine going into the 2025/26 season.

[Jean0987654321]

Anyone still currently got a Dortmund save going? Got a bit bored of mine going into the 2025/26 season.

Nah...I might dive into it. I would loove to clear out all of their physios and fitness coaches

[jackane24]

Hey,

I've just started one. My beginnings are in this thread - http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/403092-FM-15-Creating-Klopp?p=9977331#post9977331 - but I'll gladly continue here instead. Finding it to be a lot of fun!

[jackane24]

I've set Blaszczc as a winger this time owing to his rubbish performance against Mainz as a DW-S in the RM slot.

1-0 down at HT. Owing I think to Sahin as DLP-S having close down less activated. I've now changed that to neither more nor less. Was a wave - Sahin missed the tackle, Papas came out to tackle and missed it, which pulled Hummels out of position. Simple goal. I've been badly bullshitted though in true FM style. Should be 1-1 at the very least. In any case I do not have enough players getting forward at the moment. The attacking prowess has been badly blunted by turning it into a 4411. I've moved Blaszczc up to RAM. Grosskreutz still ML. Mkhitaryan has been terrible as SS-A. I've changed him to AM-A.

Bang, straight away 1-1. 1 minute into the 2nd half. Created down the left. 54 mins, 2-1 to me. Stunning Lewandowski goal. Blaszczc assist. I think his more advanced position works a lot. 70 mins, 3-1. Lucky goal for me. Rebound from a deflected shot onto the bar. 4-1, deflected shot.

Blaszczc was like a different player in the 2nd half. 6.8 to 8.3. Jung also benefitted by 1.0. Mkhitaryan also benefitted greatly from changing to AM-A. Infinitely better.

Obviously these changes will be permanent. I worry about the BWM-D role. A player was getting into a lot of space as the BWM pushed up to attack the player on the ball. I'll therefore change him to a CM-D.

[jackane24]

Lewandowski's form

My current set-up.

I got rid of 'ease off tackles' for the full-backs. I did that in the last game actually but I forgot about it.

I'm waiting to see if Rode/Bender are dirty players. If not, I might ask them to tackle harder (CM-D).

I've conceded 5 in 5 - 2 of them keeper error, 1 of them ME error, 1 of them my error and 1 of them owing to Jung's poor jumping reach (I presume - he didn't even bother jumping and it barely went over him). I'm very happy with this. 4/5 of them are fixable.

Also Bayern have dropped 5 points from their opening 3 games!

Lewandowski top scorer & joint-top assister I'll be sad to see him go

p.s. I've noticed Jung getting a couple of chances so far. He should've scored 1 he had a couple of games ago but his finishing is only 7. I've therefore asked Meulensteen to train him to blast the ball.

[jackane24]

Augsburg away. 1-1 at HT. Rubbish. Lost 2-1.

This is where the game was lost;

Jojic and Jung were pitiful.

I'm caught in 2 minds about Bender. CM-D is not aggressive enough, BWM-D is too aggressive. So I'm going to try this;

At least then if it goes wrong with Bender (it will), the DLP-D is still there. Also will help out the passing completion rate for my CBs.

I've just realised my CBs aren't set to mark tighter. They are now.

I've also told my FBs to close down more. An awful lot of missed interceptions in the last game.

[jackane24]

Wow, you really do get FM'd a lot playing either as Dortmund or with these tactics. The amount I dominate compared to how much I win is not connected in the slightest. CPU always scores at least 1 of their 2-4 shots per game and it's rarely more than 2. Some of the stuff I'm seeing is just ridiculous, yet the goals I score are all goal of the season contenders. Nonsense.

Anyway I think I've gone into way too much detail. After I see something go wrong, I make a change to 'make it right', but it might just have been a mistake by the player. I also think I've made a mistake in signing 'immature' players. Horn is not good enough in goal yet. Rode is not good enough for Dortmund yet. These are players I didn't need to get for this season - could just have easily have signed them up for next year but I brought them in and I think leaving them at their clubs for a year would've been better, especially in the case of Horn.

Also my formation is highly irregular. Mid-October and they've still not learnt it 100%. And the midfield balance is proving incredibly difficult to get right, because it's not just them but also the defence which needs to be right as well.

Anyway despite my relatively poor start to the season (not been that horrible), Bayern's start has been even worse. So hopefully by the time I get my issues ironed out, I'll still be ahead of them in the league.

[jackane24]

A 3-0 win at home to Schalke, my first clean sheet in 2 months. A result I think of removing 'mark tighter' from my CBs and CMs.

I've given my LCM (BWM-S) 'hold position' and 'fewer risky passes' PIs. Reus' rating has taken a hit since I made my LCM a BWM-S. Need to make sure Reus has space to cut into. My DLP-D has no instructions.

I get fed up of seeing my CBs run up to a player, ready to make a tackle or interception but then for some reason they stop. Might ask them to tackle harder.

[robterrace]

Took over at Dortmund in one of my games, just after Christmas.

Currently on a lovely little unbeaten run as we try to catch Bayern at the top, although, Gundogan has just scored this in the Europa League.

[sveibuen]

Hello.

Will this work on Fm15? And do u have a download link?

[..Valhalla..]

Hello.

Will this work on Fm15? And do u have a download link?

I've viewed this post several times now, and read the thread for clues, but still can't quite fathom what you mean.