FM15: Valencia CF - The future was dim, now it's brighter with Lim!

[Ty]

TY - I sold Vezo for 1.5m as he could barely get into my team.

Wow, why so low?!

He is a great player, I knocked back bids of £15m first season, but £23.5m met the release clause, so I had no choice again.

[Ty]

I'm starting the Europa League Final with Vezo, Ruiz in defense while Alacacer, Cartabia, Romero & Otamendi are all out... Ha.

That better be Salva Ruiz!

He is developing into a great player on mine, don't feel bad dropping Gaya when he needs a rest anymore.

[Hoarau]

That better be Salva Ruiz!

He is developing into a great player on mine, don't feel bad dropping Gaya when he needs a rest anymore.

Victor...

[Hoarau]

That's season 2 done, will start a wee write up today.

Just been offered an interview with Dortmund..

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Vezo was complaining all the time that he wasn't playing, so I sold him for his value at the time, I had Balanta and Mustafi and they were formidable, I wasn't going to tamper with that, I would of sold Vezo for more if they offered more, I offered him out for 5m but nobody wanted him so had to sell him cheap.

[Ty]

I don't know what has happened...

Just went to load up FM today and I am at June 4th, end of the second season... rather than around August, about to start the third season where I was earlier! :confused:

I have lost all my signings, no more Paco or a couple regens that I signed. Ergh.

[Ty]

I don't know what has happened...

Just went to load up FM today and I am at June 4th, end of the second season... rather than around August, about to start the third season where I was earlier! :confused:

I have lost all my signings, no more Paco or a couple regens that I signed. Ergh.

So it looks like this was actually my own fault :o I was deleting my rolling save files to clean up my folder and I got the wrong one, I forgot I did this yesterday. Idiot Ty.

Out of anger, I have made some rash decisions and to be honest... I may have either done something magical or started the demise of Valencia we'll see! I am excited, I'll get an update up soon!

[Ty]

Just incase you're wondering...

What have I done? :o

[dino]

What a marvelous thread. I am thoroughly enjoying reading everyone's updates.

Valencia looks like an intriguing team and with the dominance of Real and Barcelona to break (some seem to be finding that easy ) combined with the tight transfer budgets given, there is definitely some longevity about the save.

Personally, I would love a save with Valencia but in recent FMs, I have found motivation hard to come by to play as a Spanish team. Let's hope this year is different.

[Hoarau]

Just incase you're wondering...

What have I done? :o

What have you done!?

And how have you done it!? £125m! Wow.. I can only dream of that, sold off my first big "stars" for big fees last night.. Tough to do.

[Ty]

All upfront as well, as I don't ever use the 'over xx months' payments So I haven't put us further in debt, don't worry!

Sold a lot of players, think it is something like purchased £200m and sold £300m over the year!

[Hoarau]

:0 that's incredible man, I'm very envious of your wheeling and dealing!

I thought I'd done well getting £41m for Feghouli and £26m for Piatti. Selling all that only just got me enough to buy Ruben Neves and agree an end of season deal for Gaston Gil Romero.

I can't wait untill 2019...

[Ty]

I still haven't bought Ruben Neves, although he seems to have joined for a third season on loan? I never agreed to that, he never left at the end of the second season and he seems to have just stayed, looked at the contract and he is here until 2017. Jackpot.

His contract runs out in 2017 too, so I can approach to sign him for free in January...

[Hoarau]

Oh wow now that would be pretty epic! I decided to just snap him up, he's so vital to me and his partnership with Romero is too key.

Rodrigo is proving the tricky one, Benfica have gave me him for a third season on loan but they want £16m and I just don't have it just now.

[Ty]

I really need to do an update, but I am nearly in the third season so forgotten about a lot of last season already... will do a breif one with a lot about the new transfers!

Currently retraining Neves to CM, as he is too well rounded to just be stuck at CDM. Going to make him either a B2B or roaming playmaker, can't decide what role to play next to my advanced playmaker.

Rodrigo was a bargain at £8m, should of got him at that price.

Currently knocking back bids of £53m for Vallejo from Dortmund, they can clear off, even if Vallejo is my third choice now behind my brand new shiny CB pairing

[john1]

Wow! that's crazy Ty Looking forward to see who you brought in.

[Ty]

Season Review 2015/16

Transfers

My transfers for this season were done in previous posts, the pre-season transfers post can be found here.

The January window transfers can be found here.

League and Competitions

We was head to head level on points with Real Madrid, up until we beat them and took a nice 3 point gap over them, another high scoring season and plenty of goals!

Little bit jealous of Real Madrid's defensive record, and 6 of those 17 goals were shipped against us the big surprise was Betis' season and their taking of 4th! Atletico crashing down in 7th.

Rodrigo managed to get the top scorer award, and Adama took the most assists. Great little coup for the Valencia lads!

In the Champions League, as screenshots before showed... we went out to twice in a row winners, Barcelona. This is how our campaign went; Fixtures. I am hoping this coming season, we can go that step further, I will be happy with semi-finals, any further and I'll be extremely happy.

The Copa del Rey saw us get revenge on Barcelona after our Champions League exit. We had to see out the last 10 minutes with 10 men after Pereira got himself sent off. A 77th minute winner from Bakkali was enough to see us lift the trophy!

Another cup I had forgotten about, the most annoying, the Supercopa in which we spanked Real Madrid 5-0 and then won 4-3. Quite amusing start to the season, but it was annoying the fact it is over 2 legs, ergh.

Next Season?

I feel confident going into the third season, a quality which only really lacks a top quality RB but hoping for a solid season from both of Peruzzi and Zaldua. I really want to progress in the Champions League further, after getting knocked out by Barca in the quarters.

- Challenge title again!

- Replace sold players (Already done again!)

- Reach semi-finals of the Champions League

- Try and not sell all my players :o

[Sapačko]

You are doing really good job at Valencia, damn!

[Hoarau]

Ty I'm in October of the third season and the difference between our saves is insane. What a season again man, you're true ku a Thorne in the Madrid/Barca sides.

Traore proving again to be inspired business, well in man.

And stop teasing us with these £125m worth of signings!! Spill the beans..

[john1]

Another superb season there Ty

[Ty]

Transfers 2016/17

Transfers Out

Well, another £129m comes into the club as I rip the squad apart again, this is a terrible habit that needs to stop BUT the squad is starting to look good. It is young and full of potential, with a couple of wise heads at the back. I feel the selling will stop after this season![/b]

Start of with Bakkali who spent a season at us, playing on both wings. He joined last season on a free and this year leaves for £30m, not a bad way to turn a profit. I had no real attachment to him, so when Chelsea came sniffing I thought I'd try and get the most out of him. Negredo was the next person to leave the club, for £25m. Yes, £25m. I couldn't believe it when I offered him out and Southampton came in with an offer like that. That is a £5m profit in a year, from a guy who could barely manage 15 league games all season due to injury... his replacement also cost £25m, so felt like a straight swap of players in the squad.

Here is where our backline gets torn apart, Otamendi and Vezo leaving for £37.5m and £25m. Further down, you're going to see who I replaced them with and incredibly... the two players I brought in, cost £6.5m less. Oustanding bit of business! Vezo I like, he is quality and could of been good for us, but when the offer came in (his release clause) I didn't bother offering a new contract as his replacement I had lined up had a release clause himself of £26m. Otamendi, one footed and prefers to play on the wrong side of the defence to suit his foot strange guy. He leaves for an amazing fee of almost £40m, thanks Chelsea. PSG payed us £60m last year and Chelsea have payed us £67.5m this year.

Both Barragan and Pereira leave on free transfers, and their replacements were found months ago for a combined £11m. They were both getting on and younger, better replacements were found.

Gomes and Yoel both complaining about first team football, so I allowed both of them to leave. Dissapointed with Gomes' fee but was only fair to see him leave the club after rare chances in the first team. Yoel never really got a chance, so let him leave and found his replacement as a 22 year old free transfer who was happy to be backup.

I know how much potential he has, but Savitskiy just couldn't shine for me whenever he was given a chance. He just never impressed, couldn't even ship him out on loan either so he had to be sold for a mere £6m that'll come back to bite me. Odegaard wasn't needed this season and to help aid his development, he is off to Everton for a season of first team football.

Transfers In

You lot probably didn't either read the transfers out bit did you?

Too busy trying to see who I signed! Well, we spent £127m, £2m profit this season... after selling £129m ha!

As with the old save which I deleted, I brought back Paco! This time instead of spending £33.5m, I got him for £25m. Not sure what changed? Spain didn't progress as far in the Euros but Paco scored more instead... either way, SO happy to have him back. He will be the starting striker for sure. Speaking of strikers, the young Kiko [screenshot] is the regen we brought in just in case either Rodrigo/Paco got injured there would be backup. Not going to set the world on fire straight away, but solid enough to have on the bench in worst case scenarios. He was bought for his minimum release fee of £2.1m.

Javi Martinez the new club captain, the new monster at the back. I am going to be retraining him to CB to partner his namesake and new vice-captain Inigo Martinez. I got Javi for an incredibly cheap price of £30m, £7.5m million less than Otamendi and he is Spanish and younger (just). Couldn't believe Bayern entertained my offers but I am rather happy with him, what a coup. Shows the direction the club are going! Inigo was the replacement for Vezo, and he was a long term target for just £1m more than what I sold Vezo for. He accepted fairly cheap wages of £45k cause he wanted to join (same can't be said about Javi and his £150k a week). What a CB parternship, with Vallejo being the other option.

Zaldua and Peruzzi were the new RB's to the club. With no RB in sight and both the others leaving on a free, these two joined for £5.5m each and have room to improve. Carvajal still isn't an option, so for now, these two will battle it out for that RB slot.

I have had this regen transfer sorted for a few months, around the same time as Peruzzi. Munoz [screenshot] joins as Sergi Samper's backup option at CDM, but remember we also have Ruben Neves/Javi Martinez that can also play there when needed naturally. I am quite excited by him, and looks the part already with bravery, determination, aggression, stamina and tackling/heading... he provides a different option than Samper, when the you need to grind out a result in future.

With Bakkali leaving the club, I realised the wings was looking bare. So £15m new man Keita comes in to prove cover on both wings when needed (Rodrigo can also cover LW naturally). Another Spaniard who joins the club, which makes it 16/22 Spanish people in the squad. Something I am really pleased with! Youri Tielemans joins after every club in Europe activated his release clause and I didn't want to miss out, with the new tactic of using a roaming playmaker and advanced playmaker, I feel he will glide in this tactic with ease. He is still only 19 and can do everything. I have him on my Arsenal save and he averaged 8.5 one season and won the Ballon D'or. £13m? Yes please.

Last but not least, the two back up guys come in. These are Mammana and Herrero, covering the CB and GK spot respectively. Herrero is everything you want in a backup GK... he is happy to be backup, £3.5k a week and young. Obviously I'd love the regen from Betis, but they wont budge on their £30m price tag/release clause. Mammana isn't anything special on my save, doesn't look to have that high potential that he could randomly have, but he will be a nice backup option if injury hits our back line...

Here is the new star man himself;

[Ty]

You are doing really good job at Valencia' date=' damn! [/quote']

Thanks man, I am addicted to this save. It is so damn fun

Ty I'm in October of the third season and the difference between our saves is insane. What a season again man, you're true ku a Thorne in the Madrid/Barca sides.

Traore proving again to be inspired business, well in man.

And stop teasing us with these £125m worth of signings!! Spill the beans..

Happy now? Finally updated, and I can get back to playing my game. You've managed to overtake me!

Traore is incredible, I have started forcing a lot of attacking down the right side in games now.

Another superb season there Ty

Thanks I need to break Barca's European dominance though.

[Ty]

Team Lineup 2016/17

GK

Kevin Trapp - Alfonso Herrero

Trapp is solid and haven't noticed much of a difference between him and Alves. Hopefully I can bring in Courtois or long term target De Gea after European success!

RB

Gino Peruzzi - Joseba Zaldua

I can't really comment yet, as I haven't got much playing time with either as it stands. Both solid, but not the best... this is my main area of concern!

LB

Jose Luis Gaya - Salva Ruiz

I am very, very happy with side of my defence. Both home grown, both still young and both will be here for a long time. That is for sure!

CB

Javi Martinez - Inigo Martinez - Jesus Vallejo - Emmanuel Mammana

Not much more you can ask for really? Two of the best defensive Spanish players on the game, backed up by one of the best Spanish prospects.

CDM

Sergi Samper - Moises Munoz

Two different types of players, but hopefully tutoring from Javi will help Munoz grow into his potential faster. Samper has made this position his own.

CM

Ruben Neves - Gaston Gil Romero - Oliver - Youri Tielemans

Major problem here, as I only play 2 CM's but they are all fantastic. Gaston may have to take a lesser role in the team this year, as I move from a B2B midfielder to a roaming playmaker. Youri is too good to keep on the bench and the same could be said about Oliver. Decisions.

RW

Adama Traore - Balde Keita

Adama has the physicals to play every game, each season but I don't want to burn the little guy out. I haven't got in a true RW, but Keita will provide suitable cover when needed, while trying to earn a place of his own in the team.

LW

Fede Cartabia - Balde Keita - Rodrigo

Fede is the Spanish man now, after choosing them over Argentina. He is fantastic and will be hard to drop, but if performances slump then Keita and Rodrigo will be fighting over his shirt.

ST

Paco Alcacer - Rodrigo - Kiko

Fantastic players in both Paco and Rodrigo. Goalscorers who aren't going to be happy about being on the bench, any drop in form and the other will get his chance. Kiko will provide good back up and wont complain about lack of football.

[Sapačko]

Look at Traore. Beast winger!

Cant wait till my Barca promote him to first team in real life. So excited about that

[Quinby]

Hey Ty can you please post your tactics or update the OP with a tactics section?

Keen to start a Valencia save but unsure how to set up. Been a 4231 man for a while but noticed you use 433.

[stevetranmere]

So I took over Valencia again after my last save died.

I was looking to completely change things at the club again as I did the first time around, out went anything or anyone I considered to not be good enough, staff and players. My aims for the first season are to finish top 4, and try to break up the big 2. My main rivals judging by the first few games other than Barca and Real will be Sociedad and Sevilla.

I looked to build a tactic that was hard hitting, fast and lethal, although I changed this after one game in but well get to that later..

First up, Here is my outs and ins for the season.

Mathieu Flamini is a cover for My DM position.

Joel Campbell picked up a season ending injury in the first pre season game so that loan was cancelled.

Felipe Augusto massive potential and hopefully when not injured will keep Parejo out of the team, plus I don't like Parejo moaning at every opportunity.

Felipe Anderson is cover for the LW position.

Lewis Macleod is a signing for the future.

I went a bit crazy with my staff ins and outs, and my Director of football also went a bit crazy sacking my new assistant after 3 days and replacing him with Johan Neeskens, that's the last time I give him hiring/firing privileges.

My starting 11 consists of the following with these tactics. And as you can see im not exactly lucky in the injury stakes either!

As I said above I was looking to play a hard hitting, fast and lethal tactic, as you can see from the first game against Sevilla, this was the result.

I tried to play a high defensive line, fast, direct passing game. Plan a all the the way to plan z couldn't have saved that performance!

next up was Malaga, I changed the instructions to a more simple passing, slower build up play and we couldn't have played a whole lot better than I wanted. Great result!

2 games in and hopefully this tactic can develop a whole lot more and I can be a lot more consistent as I was in my first save!

[Hoarau]

Valencia Season 2 : Review

This season was almost a complete replica of last season..

The domination of the big two here in Spain is something I'm finding really tough to break, we're having good results against them at times it just seems that I lose or draw to silly teams while they both go on these looooooong unbeaten runs several times through the season. That said the fun of this save is in that challenge, it's proving very testing but it's a test I'm right into.

League Review

This is the same story as last year..

Copa del Rey Review

This competition hates me, two season and two semi final defeats against Barcelona. I really need to address my dreadful away performances as it costing us silverware each year now. Disappointment again.

Champions League/Europa League Review

Now this is where the season took a turn for the interesting..

A real group of death drew us against Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal and big spending Monaco. As soon as I watched the draw I was gutted, I knew it'd be hard to get points at home against those three and with my terrible away form getting anything away was the stuff of dreams. What followed was pretty much as expected by me at least, although a couple of decent results saw us finish up the group sitting 3rd which meant we drop Into the Europa League...

Now then.

Europa League

When the draw was made it perhaps favourable to us so I was pleasantly content until I looked at some of the other teams still in the competition, the likes of Inter, Wolfsburg, Manchester United, Lyon and Atletico Madrid.. Again I was overcome with a sense of dread and a admission of defeat already. That was not to be!

Transfer Review

So boring again, the deal to sign Negredo is hard coded into the game so you have no choice, I was sceptical at first due to Alvaro having a quietish first season(most of that being down to my tactics) so I wasn't overjoyed with paying out such a large fee especially with finances as tight as they are here currently. How wrong was I? If I ha the choice I'd pay it for him every time, the big man leads my line like a Spartan, he's became a real favourite of mine and we've built up somewhat of a relationship that may well see him stay at this club beyond his playing years. Aside from that prearranged transfer the only business I conducted was to bring in a covering left back in the Italian De Ciglie, he was on a free and played well in a couple of pre season friendlies so he'll provide experienced back up to Gaya, he probably won't stay more that a season or two.

The only real "coups" I'd consider was the renewal of both Ruben Neves & Rodrigo's loan deals, I've actually enjoyed not having any money in this game, or well bags of money anyway, it's meant I've had to work with a small, modest group of players who I've became attached to and am happy to have and plan to keep together. As soon as I can raise the the funds required I plan on making both Neves & Rodrigo permanent members of the squad. Aside from that not much happened,

Transfer Review

This season was somewhat of a mixed bag, there were some stand out performers, some players who just cruised along and some new faces really grabbing the brass ring.

Alvaro Negredo

The big man is my new hero, really played out his skin and made me eat my hesitancy of the fee the clubs payed for him. I'm absoultly delighted to have the big fella leading my line now with Paco & Rodrigo picking up his scraps.

Luciano Acosta

When Dani Paerjo left is for Manchester United I was as gutted as the fans, not only cause we lost our talisman but the board has set our precent of transfer at about 40% so we actually only gained crumbs from the fee. With the small amount left I identified a player I've been eyeing since I started this game, he reminds me of former Valencia star man Pablo Aimar, he's slight but full of skill and flair. It took him a while to settle but he started showing glimpses towards the end of the season of being the player I hoped he could. He's started off season 3 as one of our main men now. Delighted to have nabbed him.

Nicolas Otamendi

What can be said, same a Negredo for me, this man is Valencia. He's a commanding centre back, the type I love, never shirks a challenge but is susceptible to a booking or two. A lot of interest in him, managed to stave of a pitiful bid of around £30m from Manchester United.

Ruben Vezo

I'm delighted with how he's developed, he's now forced me to adopt a 3 man CB formation to accommodate him. hoping he'll stick around and continue to improve.

Paco Alacacer

Im actually disappointed I couldn't give him more games, with the form of Negredo and the real pick up in form of Rodrigo. He still scored a handful of goals in really important games, will definetly be looking to involve him more.

Rodrigo

As you can see he's part of the reason Paco didn't feature as much as he could have. His new found partnership with Negredo is proving very fruitful, the only negative is two fold... A) Benfica want close to £18m for him currently and B) I have no way shape or form £18m... One of my main objectives is to raise the funds to get him on a permanent.

Pablo Piatti

A decent season from one of our "veterans", his value has really rocketed and the interest in him is proving hard to wave off, this could be his last season.. god servant aswell.

Dorin Rotariu

Not a full season but I wanted to ease him in as he's one ive got big plans for, there were moments when he really shone and gave a glimpse of whats ahead, another I have high hopes for.

Lucas Romero

He played a mighty amount of games and despite not showing great stats, I watched him do the dirty work an put in a real graft. The boys our engine and despite my intention of spinning him for a large profit I now think he's becoming engrained in the club.

[Hoarau]

Man.. I love Negredo..

Away

Home

5 Min Hat trick

Vs Andorra

(My first game as manager of Spain)

FIFA Award

(He was in the running for the Ballon D'Or)

FIFA Award for Dorin Rotariu

(This leads to a sad story ill expand upon when I do my season 3 update, lets just say it involves Bayern Munich & Rotariu's release clause )

[Jogo Bonito]

Awesome updates Hoarau!

Negredo really is a beast - I have to say that I wouldn't have paid the £20m for him if there was a choice, but seeing those returns make it easier to swallow! I'd planned to make good use him for one season, and move on to a younger and/or cheaper player - but perhaps it's going to be a blessing not to have that option.

I'm in my pre-planning stage of this one, which means that (as usual), I'm identifying the players I want to acquire before cracking on - I've not even taken control of the club yet! One of the other things I like about Valencia is that they have a few of their best former players - from the good old days when I followed them much closer - as staff members here.

Keep up the good work all of you, it's a great read.

[Hoarau]

Thanks Jogo, can't wait to see what you do if and when you start a Valencia save.

Honestly, if you missed it either a fee posts up or maybe on the last page I was exactly the same, even Ty was trying to convince me about him but once things settled down and I got a steady set up the big man just won't stop. I had the exact same plan as you, play him for a season and then hopefully move him on to recoup the £20m then replace him with Rodrigo(who's another absoultle gem) and Paco, but Negredo really has become my main talisman.

I'm coming to the business end of season 3 and everything is still to play for, hopefully get the season done tonight or tomorrow. Made some exciting signings, well for me at least, so I'll have a whack to talk about..

[Gungner]

Started a Valencia save... Adama Traore wasn't the slighest interested in joining, and Porto would not loan out Ruben Neves. Now that's no fun at all.

[Ty]

I may have lied when I said I wouldn't sell anymore players, after being at the club for 6 months and costing me £10m... Gaston Gil Romero leaves the club for £50m to Dortmund. The same price and release clause of Lucas Romero!

I brought in a transfer listed Denis Suarez of Barcelona for £1.2m to replace him, Suarez will be retrained to CM. The profit is strong!

[Ty]

A huge transfer update in January 2017... Ruben Neves will be joining at the end of the season on a free transfer after 3 seasons on loan at the Mestalla!

Oh, and another who feels like joining us from Barcelona ANOTHER, free signing! So happy with this, a true rotation option with Adama Traore.

That now makes;

- Adama Traore

- Denis Suarez

- Sergi Samper

- Gerard Deulofeu

All of which have made the switch from the Nou Camp! For a combined price of just under £15m. BARGAINS!

[Hoarau]

That's an awesome turnaround with Gil Romero, nice replacement.. Thought you might have kept the theme going and brought in Kranevitter for the same kind of turnaround..

That's an amazing bit of business with Neves, it's something I'm trying to do with Rodrigo, I'll have had him on loan for 4 seasons when his contract starts to run down so hoping I can pick him up on a Bosman. I've also agreed a Bosman deal with Delafeou aswell as FC Bayern CM Thiago!! Really delighted with those two free transfers for season 4...

I've got 4 games left of season 3 and they are the biggest 4 games since I started this save, these games are gonna define how we go forward, could be huge!

[mattydev8]

Man.. I love Negredo..

Away

Home

5 Min Hat trick

Vs Andorra

(My first game as manager of Spain)

FIFA Award

(He was in the running for the Ballon D'Or)

FIFA Award for Dorin Rotariu

(This leads to a sad story ill expand upon when I do my season 3 update, lets just say it involves Bayern Munich & Rotariu's release clause )

Hi Hoarau, what instructions are you giving to Negredo? Are you playing a lone striker up front?

[Hoarau]

He's playing as a false 9, which I know doesn't suit him but he's supported by two IF who seem to gift him chance after chance. Ill post some Instructions when I'm home tonight.

[Jogo Bonito]

Ty - assembling a great squad there. Buy cheap (or free) and sell for multi millions - then repeat again. It's a brilliant business plan! Just one question. If you follow this strategy of buying and selling on quickly, do you ever feel a little bit 'detached' from some of your players?

Hoarau - your squad looks very impressive too, building in a similar way to Ty - but it looks like you're keeping more of your guys around the club for a bit longer?

[Hoarau]

Yeah Jogo, definetly one of my aims is to keep around a lot of the originals, I'm glad of it with the success of Rober.

I'd like to keep the mantra of buying young, relatively unknowns and try to develop them, my latest succes being Luciano Acosta from Boca who's currently worth £22m after being bought for £4m. In starting to get the interest of "bigger" players like Bayern's Thiago and Barcelona's Delafaou but it's a conscious decision that I don't want to become a club who just buys and buys you know?

[Ty]

That's an awesome turnaround with Gil Romero, nice replacement.. Thought you might have kept the theme going and brought in Kranevitter for the same kind of turnaround..

That's an amazing bit of business with Neves, it's something I'm trying to do with Rodrigo, I'll have had him on loan for 4 seasons when his contract starts to run down so hoping I can pick him up on a Bosman. I've also agreed a Bosman deal with Delafeou aswell as FC Bayern CM Thiago!! Really delighted with those two free transfers for season 4...

I've got 4 games left of season 3 and they are the biggest 4 games since I started this save, these games are gonna define how we go forward, could be huge!

I keep looking at Thiago, but I really don't need him Oliver, Tielemans and Denis Suarez all fighting over the advanced playmaker spot (with Odegaard to come back!). Great bit of business for you though, can't think of many bosman's better than Thiago ffs!

I love how Spanish my squad is at the moment, with only Trapp, Peruzzi, Neves, Mammana the only non-Spanish players in the squad.

Ty - assembling a great squad there. Buy cheap (or free) and sell for multi millions - then repeat again. It's a brilliant business plan! Just one question. If you follow this strategy of buying and selling on quickly, do you ever feel a little bit 'detached' from some of your players?

I don't sell on my Spanish players so quickly, so it isn't too bad. I am working towards a full Spanish squad, so as long as it is the Argie's or whoever that gets sold on, I don't mind

Little bit worried as Paco has just broke his leg in Decemeber, now in January... I feel I am going to need a 6 month replacement. Munir is unhappy at Bayern...

[Ty]

In starting to get the interest of "bigger" players like Bayern's Thiago and Barcelona's Delafaou

Without winning a Champions League yet, I have Neymar, Suarez, Pogba, Hazard etc. interested in joining and I have no idea why? :confused:

Not that I can afford any of them ... (he says while sitting on a £70m transfer budget)

[Gungner]

Great for you guys to assemble such great squads... However, I can't even get Adama Traore to talk to me, and Porto refuses to loan out Ruben Neves

[Hoarau]

Without winning a Champions League yet, I have Neymar, Suarez, Pogba, Hazard etc. interested in joining and I have no idea why? :confused:

Not that I can afford any of them ... (he says while sitting on a £70m transfer budget)

Oooh get you!!

I'd imagine Valencia start out with a decent rep and with your breaking of Barca and Real's domination must have had an affect?

I'm on the verge of a truly epic end to season 3!!

[john1]

Wow another good signing there Ty

Looking forward to more update Hoarau

[Ty]

If you haven't already (and you definitely should have by now)... look to promote Salva Ruiz and give him some game time. He is really pushing on for me, and have no worries what so ever whenever Gaya needs a rest these days

[Ty]

Also, I am taking Rodrigo off penalties...

[Hoarau]

Well now..

**EDIT**

Check the values after it..

[Ty]

Congrats Hoarau, I am hoping to get that elusive Champions League trophy myself coming towards the end of the third season.

Words can't describe how amazing my team are playing right now, mid-April and here are the top two scorers in the squad phenomenal.

Here are a couple of the latest results as well...

Changing up my tactics this season has been a revelation, I think I have created a super tactic. Attacking more down the right hand side to really influence the game through Adama Traore... just scoring so many goals, as you can see in the league. The crazy thing is, Barcelona are only 2 points behind if they win their games in hand...

[Evair]

I've started a Valencia game, i'm now 17 games in and i'm absolutely loving my team!

This is latest match from today:

[Hoarau]

^ Nice result Evair.

... Lucas Romero has just left the club.. I'm gutted, even with a fee of £67m coming into the club.

[Hoarau]

Valencia Season 3 : Review

A season that started out with so little optimism ended up being a year ill probably never experience again. From the very start we knew it would be a dramatic campaign with the juggernaught of Real Madrid really setting the pace early doors and forcing me to keep up, oddly Barcelona had a "poor" season finishing a number of points behind ourselves and Madrid back in 3rd spot, In fact it was so poor it had Luis Enrique on a shaky peg for most of the second half of the season. Preseason for me was keeping the squad together and we managed to just about do that after resisting bids for Paco, Otamendi and Mustafi. We did have a couple of departures, both weren't easy decisions but both benefited the club on a couple of different levels.

After a really poor summer at the European Championships where Span exited at the hands of Romania, more exact by the boot of Valencia's own Dorin Rotatriu! In the first knockout round. This led to the departure of Señor Del Bosque. About 5 international jobs popped up after the tournament ended that really interested me but Spain was the stand out, as soon as they approached me I jumped at the chance. The squad still has that core of older, wonderfully talented players like Silva, Mata etc but there's this new wave I'm getting the chance to introduce and build something with like Moreno, Paco, Munir, Isco and many more. That's something I'm really excited about, I've deliberately not flooded the national team with my own Valencia players as of yet because of the wealth of talent, only Negredo starts for me but Gaya, Roberto, Asensio, Rodrigo and Paco are all knocking on the door.

League Review

Right to the wire! And it wasn't convincing in the slightest, Infact the only reason we won the league was due to Real Madrid inexplicably dropping points in one of there last four games(something they hadn't done for 19 games before it). To be fair we had some good results against Barcelona and picked up points at the tough away trips like Bilbao, Sevilla and Atletico. Again we struggled away but not nearly as badly as the two previous campaigns, I feel like we can beat anyone at home given out pretty decent results at the Mestilla against Real and our 7-0 demolition of Barcelona.. It's something I always find important, making your home ground an intimidating fortress.

I'm really proud of not only the amount of goals we scored but the defence was exceptional, Madrid just had to get that one goal more than us eh? It would have been gret to break the 100 point mark in La Liga but as I said the league win wasn't a lock so I shouldn't be too harsh on myself or the team.

Copa del Rey Review

Need I say more? I've said it the last two updates.. And I'll say it again.. This competition hates me.

Next season you will be mine, oh yes you will be mine.

Champions League Review

Group Stage

This years draw was slightly better than last years, BATE being the poor souls in the group that was completed by the huge bank balances of Manchester City and seemingly our new Euro rivals Monaco. I lost ot Man city and Monaco away but won all the rest to finish 2nd in the group.

Last 16 Vs : Schalke

This was a weird two legged affair, we dominated them in Germany and picked up a 2-0 victory to take into the home leg where we struggled to a 1-1 draw.. odd.

Quarter Final Vs : Real Madrid

Loved this result, Big Neg to the rescue, Madrid hate him...

Semi Final Vs : Bayern Munich

Sneaked thourgh on away goals after a dramatic 2-2 draw

Final Vs : Juventus

Most nervous ive ever been for a game, we scored relatively early and had to hang on for long spells, Vidal's card helped a lot. Absoultly delighted.

Transfer Review

Total spent - £19m

Total Recieved - £99m

Ins

Nicolas Taglifico - Banfield - Free

With back up left back leaving young Gaya would've had a really busy season so I lined up a lad I'd been scouting the first couple of seasons but never pulled the trigger on. With a second nationality of Italian there was no concern with work permits and a bunch of impressive enough stats he came in and settle well enough. I think he'll do better his second season as I've noticed most from South America do, I'm happy enough with him.

Oriol Romeu - Southampton - Loan/£1m

A surprising signing for some but he's a hard worker with some solid stats. He's still at a good age and I like to have as many Spaniards as I can, he impressed enough during the first half of the season in loan that come January I approached Southampton about making it permanent and they asked for a minuscule £1m, done. He's covered everyone one of my 3 central midfield positions as well as covering at right back for a handful of games. I love players like him, a real knuckle down workman.

Ruben Neves - Porto - £17m

After two years on loan I had to pull the trigger as soon as I'd raised the cash, easily my biggest outlay in this save so far and I don't regret it one bit. This boy oozes class,

Daniel Dionisi - Deportivo Cali - £775k

A young Columbian striker that my scouts found, seems full of promise. Sent out on loan for the season where he's done rather well, will probably go out on loan again next season.

------------------------------------------

Out

Sofiane Feghouli - PSG - £31m

He's been really good for two season and when PSG and all their backing came knocking I was on to a lost cause trying to keep him. If I'm right with the other clauses the deal works out about £39m so I'm happy enough to get that kind of money in.

Pablo Piatti - Schalke - £26.5m

This was similar to Feghouli except that he throw a bit of a strop when I told him I'd only let him join Schalke if they met my value of him. Well after he came to me and demanded I let him move to the Bundesliga I just couldn't risk ruining the good atmosphere within the camp by having him moaning to the squad.

Dorin Rotariu - FC Bayern - £32m

This really gutted me as I hadn't noticed his minimum fee release clause was so low and Bayern stepped right in with a full up front bid to match it, I tried to offer him a new deal but his head was turned and off he went to Germany. As I said I was gutted because he was just coming into his own with some wonderful performances and he had so much development left in him. The only silver lining is that its taught me the harsh lesson of being on top of all the members of my squads contracts and clauses..

Plus a handful of players that added up to around £10m.

Player Review

Rodrigo

I've really been lucky with Benfica allowing me to keep him here on loan for 3 seasons now, we've agreed for him to stay for 4th as well. It doesn't matter of he's played up top or out on the left he still always turns in outstanding performances. He will definitely be signed on a permanent this season as he's part of our culture now and the fans love him.

Alvaro Negredo

The level of man crush I have on the big man is reaching dangerous levels! Another top season from him In terms of goals but he seems to have added a new aspect to his game with a decent amount of assists as well. It's not just the quantity if goals Alvaro scores it's when he scores them, if there's ever anyone I need to step up in a big game or a moment of need he is at the front of the line, a true warrior. He's turned 31 and I intended to see him wear the Valencia shirt for as long as I can, the success of this season is in a large part down to him. A legend.

Lucas Romero

Another fairly solid campaign, its a shame because when you watch the game you can see all the work Romero does that doesn't get reflected in his rating, he's a great team player who seems to be getting more and more attention from Europes elite.

Ruben Vezo

I'm actually really proud of how Vezo is turning out, his performances are really starting to kick on and he's really pushing Otamendi & Mustafi for a full time starting spot.

Luciano Acosta

Wow, what a player. He's been a revelation since I brought him around to replace Paerjo. He's so silky to watch, full of tricks and flicks. Some of the goals he's scored are unbelievable, im expecting another big season from him.

Sergi Roberto

The midfield is so packed its hard for anyone to nail down a regular place but Roberto is a favourite of mine, can get forward when needed, can hold the ball up and spray a pass and he's not afraid to put in a shift tracking back.

Andres Guardado

This lad has been a real surprise, he spent the first season out on loan and when he returned I had every intention of selling him, that was until he had a good pre season so I kept him around. Two solid seasons later and he's a really valuable squad player to have. Had a fantastic campaign this year.

Ruben Neves

The future of Valencia, not a spectacular season but similar to Romero in that what I see him do ad what his rating says are two different things. He's such a classy player and being so young he's gonna just keep getting better.