[FM15] Avenir Beggen - a Luxembourg Youth Challenge (take two)

[ManUtd1]

Tremendous progress, man. Great to see. Very impressed.

[tyler16]

Think I'm finally going to stop trying to micromanage every little detail and put my faith in a long term obscure country save. You're still using IR, correct? I'm reading back from the beginning and find it interesting you suggest wanting to react to a larger sample before making changes because while I 100% agree with and think this way in real life, something about FM makes me the results based manager I can't stand in real life.

You may be on to something. That and it's nearly impossible to get anywhere if *only* playing five or so matches a day on full detail. 

[BoxToBox]

Amazing!

[noikeee]

I think that was the easiest Europa League group I've ever seen.  Nevertheless, extraordinary progress to make it past a group stage for the first time. Congratulations!

[Ceching You Out]

18 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

Tremendous progress, man. Great to see. Very impressed.

12 hours ago, BoxToBox said:

Amazing!

Cheers! Glad to have both you still following along.

 

13 hours ago, tyler16 said:

Think I'm finally going to stop trying to micromanage every little detail and put my faith in a long term obscure country save. You're still using IR, correct? I'm reading back from the beginning and find it interesting you suggest wanting to react to a larger sample before making changes because while I 100% agree with and think this way in real life, something about FM makes me the results based manager I can't stand in real life.

You may be on to something. That and it's nearly impossible to get anywhere if *only* playing five or so matches a day on full detail. 

Yeah, for at least the last decade in game I've been using IR for everything but European games and games against domestic title contenders. There was also a season or two where I played out the last few games once I realized the title would come down to goal differential. Since I knew this was a long term, incremental project from the start, I try not to get too caught up in the minutiae. I'll dive in a few times a season to check player development and then tactic revisions or deep analysis only happens every few seasons. I also intentionally chose a country with a shorter schedule -- 26 games + no more than 5 in the cup is certainly doable.

Also, do it! I'll definitely follow. I think playing with an obscure country gives you a different perspective on playing FM and I love seeing what others are learning in Andorra, San Marino, Iceland, etc.

 

9 hours ago, noikeee said:

I think that was the easiest Europa League group I've ever seen.  Nevertheless, extraordinary progress to make it past a group stage for the first time. Congratulations!

Hence my optimism after the draw . I had hoped to sneak second so challenging for first far exceeded expectations. Thank you, sir!

[Ceching You Out]

I don't even know how to adequately capture the rollercoaster ride of this tie. We won 2-0 at home against ATLETICO FRICKING MADRID in a very balanced match. No smash and grab.

So we went to Spain with a bit of optimism. We give up an unsurprising goal in the 34th but continue to soak up pressure and dodge a few bullets. With the finish line in sight, our defense caves again. In extra time they have a man sent off and then drop down to 9 after an injury. Delight! We can at least shepherd this to the lottery of a shootout... No, a Santos (44A) mistake yields a penalty with only a few minutes left on the clock. Despair.

[BoxToBox]

Harsh!

What a result at home, though!

[Ceching You Out]

What's that Lassie? Timmy has fallen down the well yet again? Why yes, I also get tired of repetitive experiences. Glad you asked -- we keep getting superb DCs every year instead of a little variety to actually fill out a team. That's a horrible segue and I should feel bad about myself? No, YOU'RE the one that's a horrible segue!

Ahem, where was I going with this again? Right. Youth intake day, also known as regen Hannukah or Santa Baby Please Don't Bring Me Another Central Defender Day. You'll notice that the jolly man ignored our Christmas list and instead gave us two more of the big fellows in the back. Anyway, Pleimling (47A) looks a great prospect, Rosa (47B) is horribly injury prone, and Mustafic (47C) will need to improve physically if he wants to break into the first team.

 

 

 

[ManUtd1]

Amazing result against the Spaniards!!!

It's a shame that RNGeebus send to have decided that, having lost, you may need more defenders. Logic.

[tyler16]

One of these days you're going to get the 5* CA striker from an intake who takes you over the top.

[Shevchenko]

I know that feeling #AtleticoM #AvenirB  

[BoxToBox]

Start training everyone to play as strikers just to spite the HOYD.

[noikeee]

I'm sure you can figure out a formation with 3 CBs and 3 liberos to use all of your biggest talents. 

[Ceching You Out]

On 12/7/2016 at 18:24, BoxToBox said:

Harsh!

What a result at home, though!

On 12/7/2016 at 21:08, ManUtd1 said:

Amazing result against the Spaniards!!!

It's a shame that RNGeebus send to have decided that, having lost, you may need more defenders. Logic.

On 12/8/2016 at 02:18, Shevchenko said:

I know that feeling #AtleticoM #AvenirB  

Our best win to date despite dropping the tie! Something to hang our hat on, even if we've got our eyes on something more stylish in the future.

 

On 12/7/2016 at 22:33, tyler16 said:

One of these days you're going to get the 5* CA striker from an intake who takes you over the top.

It's happened once, but it was cruelly short-lived following Hasanovic (38B)'s PA-decimating injury. Perhaps with the right sacrifice to the FM gods...

 

On 12/8/2016 at 03:11, BoxToBox said:

Start training everyone to play as strikers just to spite the HOYD.

"That's it, lads. Everyone in shooting training today. We've got a lesson to teach here!"

 

17 hours ago, noikeee said:

I'm sure you can figure out a formation with 3 CBs and 3 liberos to use all of your biggest talents. 

Ahh, the classic 3 SW - 3 DC - 3 DM -1 ST formation. Forget parking the bus, we've dug trenches and foxholes.

[Ceching You Out]

Avenir Beggen - 2046/2047

 

League

 

Squad

 

Keep it quick.

League - won
Cup - won
Europe - Europa League 1st KO round

 

Anything else noteworthy?

Three of our coaches left for high profile manager gigs over this season: Meloccaro to a struggling Pescara (who we have history with and were relegated on the ultimate day after failing to beat the side just above them), Niccolini to Sampdoria, and Piwowarski to Stuttgart. I'm surprised to see that their few years with us has been enough to make them candidates for these kinds of jobs.

A Training Facility upgrade completed during the year and both Training and Youth Facility upgrades set for next year. League jumps another 6 spots; Youth Recruitment can't be that far away now, can it? Everything is moving the right way.

 

Except for this. In real life an ACL tear isn't as severe as it used to be, so fingers crossed that he doesn't lose any of the highest potential at the club with this injury.

 

I'm flattered Inter, especially after you just won a title, but my heart is in Luxembourg. Maybe I should've taken the interview for leverage with the board.

 

W to the O to the W. That is by far the highest sale I've seen in three decades. A sign that Jeunesse Esch may be starting to make wise use of their transfer budget.

 

Solidarity payments

Dudelange makes it back on the list of donors. Although woops, haven't payed out in 2 years. That means I'm on the hook for $200K + $400K plus next years payment.

 

Luxembourg Clubs in Europe:

Avenir Beggen - out in EL 1st KO Round. See previous posts for more info.

Jeunesse Esch - beat Banants 6-0 aggregate, then out 0-4 aggregate to Chornomorets in EL 2nd Qualifying Round.

Dudelange - beat Víkingur Gøta 4-1 aggregate, then out 0-8 aggregate to Zürich in EL 2nd Qualifying Round.

Differdange - beat Valleta 5-0 aggregate, then out 0-4 aggregate to RMP in EL 2nd Qualifying Round.

 

Recordkeeping:

[Adonalsium]

Oh my, what is up with that exceptionally low average attendance? 2001? Who let the dogs out?

[Slipky]

2 minutes ago, Adonalsium said:

Oh my, what is up with that exceptionally low average attendance? 2001? Who let the dogs out?

I think he meant 20001. But that's just me.

[Bedese]

Superb stuff in Europe  

[Ropotas]

Great results my friend..And selling so high is the key for me..Good luck il be watching this...

[Adonalsium]

21 hours ago, Slipky said:

I think he meant 20001. But that's just me.

Damn, just one attender away from a perfect 20k avg attendance.

[Ceching You Out]

On 12/10/2016 at 08:13, Slipky said:

I think he meant 20001. But that's just me.

That would be a good guess .

 

On 12/10/2016 at 14:56, Jupjamie said:

Superb stuff in Europe  

Cheers! Hopefully it's the start of repeatable progress, not just a fluke.

 

On 12/10/2016 at 17:42, Ropotas said:

Great results my friend..And selling so high is the key for me..Good luck il be watching this...

That sale was actually by my biggest title competitor; good for the league though! Glad to have you following along.

 

18 hours ago, Adonalsium said:

Damn, just one attender away from a perfect 20k avg attendance.

Surely there's an OCD sufferer among the attendees we could've convinced to stay home . 

[Ceching You Out]

These draws should be uneventful from here on out considered we're seeded.

 

And the results should be automatic as well. But this? Well, you come into someone's home and pound them into oblivion under any other circumstances and there's a warrant out for your arrest.

 

I'd like to avoid the Czech or Swiss side at this point.

 

[shrugs shoulders]
[continues to dream of Group Stages]

 

[Jolanthustrel]

This has been a most amusing and all round entertaining read. Keep up the awesome work.

[Adonalsium]

That Swiss team's logo looks like something I'd expect to see on a beer bottle.

Surely after this glorious smackdown of flaming you can beat them.

[BoxToBox]

Funnily enough, there's an Irish beer called St. Gallen.

[AFH]

great career

[Ceching You Out]

On 12/12/2016 at 00:45, Jolanthustrel said:

This has been a most amusing and all round entertaining read. Keep up the awesome work.

On 12/12/2016 at 15:00, AFH said:

great career

Cheers! Glad to have both of y'all following along for the adventure.

 

On 12/12/2016 at 10:23, Adonalsium said:

That Swiss team's logo looks like something I'd expect to see on a beer bottle.

Surely after this glorious smackdown of flaming you can beat them.

Nothing intimidates the opposition like insulting their club logo!

 

On 12/12/2016 at 10:27, BoxToBox said:

Funnily enough, there's an Irish beer called St. Gallen.

That confirms it -- this canonized man must've been quite the lush. You could say he drinks booze...by the Gallen!

[nudges B2B in the ribs]
[holds hand up for high five]
[avoids looks of serious disappointment]

 

[Ceching You Out]

1-0 down wasn't where we wanted to be in the return leg, but we turned the tie around shortly after the break. Ladies, gentlemen, we're off to one of the Group Stages.

 

Legia, Cherno more, Osijek, Olympiacos, Celtic would be my order of preference.

 

Off to beautiful Croatia (or so I've been told).

[noikeee]

I don't think that's an impossible tie for you.

[Ceching You Out]

 

10 hours ago, noikeee said:

I don't think that's an impossible tie for you.

Sigh, it really wasn't. We fought back in the first leg to a respectable 2-3 scoreline before conceding a 4th goal in the 79th minute. Even worse? It was the type of boneheaded mistake that's not a rarity for us in continental fixtures. Sequence of events:
--GK comes for an overly long ball despite a DC having it covered
--GK, under little pressure mind you, boots the ball into my other DC 15 yards upfield
--Ball ricochets behind the GK to a striker for the tap in

I felt reasonably confident we could get a 1-0 at home, but that late goal changed the dynamic. Despite jumping out to an early 1-0 lead at home, we don't create many chances. The true 3-4-2-1 they played with no DMs or WBs limited us much more than I anticipated. We eventually lose the tie when Osijek score a few goals in the second half when we start tinkering tactically. for a way to attack their unusual formation.

That means...

 

Last team drawn is Leixões. Complete 180 from last year; we may be in the most difficult of all the groups.

[BoxToBox]

Nightmare of a group!

[Ceching You Out]

6 hours ago, BoxToBox said:

Nightmare of a group!

Indeed! It's been quite the battle. Going into the last day, here's what the group looks like:

 

We beat Leixões then expectedly lost to Arsenal. Not bad! Losing to Spartak Moscow put a damper on proceedings, compounded when we could only draw the return trip. Drawing Leixões left us needing a result on the final day. If we somehow beat a rampant Arsenal or the Russians draw the Portuguese, we're through. Neatly balanced in Group L.

[BoxToBox]

Wow, what a crazy set of results.

[noikeee]

I was gonna say Leixões should be entirely within your reach - add a surprising draw with Spartak Moscow and that's chances of qualification. Well done.

[Adonalsium]

Is it time to bust out the surprising Adonalsium Inc. 0-5-5 Explosive Overload stratagem? Will even that genial piece of formation be enough to score a result against the mighty Arsenal?

To tell the truth, I once managed to get a guy to use that formation. Let me tell you something: explosions did happen.

[Ceching You Out]

On 12/15/2016 at 23:11, BoxToBox said:

Wow, what a crazy set of results.

Not what I had expected! Three very balanced teams plus Arsenal.

 

On 12/16/2016 at 04:00, noikeee said:

I was gonna say Leixões should be entirely within your reach - add a surprising draw with Spartak Moscow and that's chances of qualification. Well done.

We've done surprisingly well, although it's only a morale victory to this point.

 

23 hours ago, Adonalsium said:

Is it time to bust out the surprising Adonalsium Inc. 0-5-5 Explosive Overload stratagem? Will even that genial piece of formation be enough to score a result against the mighty Arsenal?

To tell the truth, I once managed to get a guy to use that formation. Let me tell you something: explosions did happen.

Like underpants made of C4, that sounds like the recipe for a fairly nasty destruction.

[Ceching You Out]

So could we pull it off? For nigh on 70 minutes the answer was no. We were down 1-0 while Leixões was cruising 3-1 against Spartak. Then the answer turned to maybe with a hope-producing goal in both games.

Five minutes later Arsenal boot a corner into the box that's cleared out to Jeff Marques (38), our backup striker subbed on because of injury, at the halfway line. No Arsenal defender within 20 yards, he races towards the goal with a defender and auxiliary attacker trailing the play. He bears down on goal in acres of space and... clips it right to the keeper and the defender clears the rebound.

No joy in Mudville this evening as Arsenal put us away in the dying moments and Spartak's rally (from 3 down) falls short. The 1st and 4th seeds go through while we're left regretting our inability to beat the Portuguese at home. Next year I expect to make the CL Group Stages so it burns a little that our last experience in Europa for a while (hopefully) is a missed opportunity.

 

[Bedese]

Even though you didn't make it to the Knockouts, great job of getting so close. Not an easy task with Luxembourgians  

[Adonalsium]

Well done; at least Arsenal didn't humiliate you. Though your back-up striker definitely did! If I were you (or, let's face it, Wiggums), I'd be waiting for that striker at the locker room with a two weeks' fine, practically foaming at the mouth for that missed opportunity. But well, I'm not a great manager. At least of poor performers! Hahaha.

[BoxToBox]

Still, t'was a cracking fight you gave!

[theFOOTBALLlover]

Unlucky! I can't believe Leixoes are in Europe and made the next round. They've only qualified for European competitions on 4 occasions. 

[noikeee]

Luxembourg beats Russia. Comrade Putin displeased.

[Ceching You Out]

Cheers for all the kind words. We're on the cusp of expecting advancement in the EL regardless of whether FM considers us an underdog (and a massive one at that).

Unfortunately we're still missing that standout striker that gives us a puncher's chance even when we're outmatched. Tactically we can keep it tight against better teams but we're stuck hoping for a mistake or a moment of brilliance from a midfielder. Need a little more firepower if we want to slap Putin in the face or put an end to Portuguese upstarts' unfamiliar dreams.

[Ceching You Out]

Quite a career path for the former Jeunesse Esch manager -- from getting fired at his post at our biggest rivals to Tours to (an admittedly struggling) AC Milan.

 

What was originally a cute aside ("Look at our staff going on to manage real clubs!") has become annoying. Losing a couple coaches each season means investing the time to identify their replacements. I suppose the silver lining is that we're raising the profile of first-time coaches enough to land these type of gigs.

[Ceching You Out]

If you bet on my 'A' player being anything besides a DC, you haven't been paying attention . Hopefully one of the less heralded youth will develop into a contributor; the last few years give a reason for optimism there. That subject is probably worth a post of its own now that I think about it.

 

Decent physicals, decent mentals, blah blah blah. He'll have a lot of competition for playing time.

 

 

[The_Gato_In_Goal]

Nice DC, I think you still need a really good one to come through. Maybe get some for the next 4 seasons and you'll be set.

[BoxToBox]

".......and opposing them today is Avenir Beggen, with their innovative seven central defender system."

[noikeee]

On the bright side, you've signed Rui Costa.

[Ceching You Out]

On 12/19/2016 at 15:55, The_Gato_In_Goal said:

Nice DC, I think you still need a really good one to come through. Maybe get some for the next 4 seasons and you'll be set.

This was subtle enough that I missed it the first time I read your comment . Here's the serious response I'd typed out anyway!

Zimmer (46A) from a few years back is progressing nicely. Although he'll never be brave or a physically dominating defender, he's a borderline star DC at this point.

 

On 12/19/2016 at 16:18, BoxToBox said:

".......and opposing them today is Avenir Beggen, with their innovative seven central defender system."

"Right you are, Steve. Their unique Red Rover defense, composed entirely of burly centerbacks, has confounded opponents. Opposing coaches have begun looking to other children's games for tactical inspiration."

 

On 12/21/2016 at 06:01, noikeee said:

On the bright side, you've signed Rui Costa.

Second, maybe third generation? Rui Costa the third, or Trip -- you can see from his personality, he's a pretty casual guy.

[Ceching You Out]

Avenir Beggen - 2047/2048

 

League

 

Squad

 

Keep it quick.

League - won
Cup - won
Europe - Europa League group stage (5 points)

 

Anything else noteworthy?

Everything is trending up, with the big goal being qualification for the Champions League for only the second time. Or third. Memory starts to get fuzzy after 30+ years of game time. I'm expecting to clear that hurdle in the upcoming season, but failing that I'd like to see advancement from the Europa League groups.

I'd also like to see one of the other three Luxembourg sides start to do some damage in Europe. That extra boost could turn us into a 2.5 star league.

Quelle surprise! The notorious Frenchman gets the boot after only two years. I'd hate to see Chris Phillips leave for Jeunesse Esch since he'll only get chewed up there and I'm partial to him. Plus it may leave Differdange in the lurch.

 

Well, it's like that old saying -- assholes who pretend to know French just to be snarky have their coaches hired by their biggest rival. If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times.

 

Solidarity payments

$1M paid to FC Differdange; unfortunately it didn't turn them professional despite their club being valued at roughly $4.5M. For now the plan is continue pumping them with money until they join the rest of the top three sides.

 

Luxembourg Clubs in Europe:

Avenir Beggen - out in EL Group Stage. See previous posts for more info.

Jeunesse Esch - beat Kalju 4-0 aggregate, then out 0-1 aggregate to Cork City in EL 2nd Qualifying Round.

Dudelange - beat Liepaja 6-1 aggregate, then out 0-7 aggregate to Zadar in EL 2nd Qualifying Round.

Differdange - out 1-3 aggregate to Chikhura in EL 1st Qualifying Round.

 

Recordkeeping: