Love thy neighbour? Not this Angel!

[smp20]

Love thy neighbour? Not this Angel

 

 Introduction

This career starts in Getafe, a city with around 160,000 inhabitants just a few kilometers south of Madrid. The city's only professional club, Getafe CF, is where my manager (to be introduced later) will be forging his career. Getafe are a relatively new club, having been formed in 1983 after a merger. They started in the depths of the lower leagues but 4 quick promotions saw them climb to the 3rd tier. Eventually, the club won promotion to La Liga in 03/04 and they stayed in the top flight for 12 consecutive seasons. Their best finish was 6th in 2010 and the clubs biggest successes were the back to back Copa del Rey finals in 2007 & 2008, however they were defeated in both. Unfortunately last season the club were relegated from La Liga and now find themselves in the Segunda.

The clubs biggest rivals are Leganes, based in a city in close proximity to Getafe, who leapfrogged Getafe to play in the top flight for the first time in their history. Also lower league side Parla are another fierce rival, although it is an unlikely fixture in the near future. You may wonder why Barcelona are listed as rivals. This rivalry stems from the 06/07 season where Getafe thrashed Barcelona 4-0 in the Copa del Rey semi-final. Ever since, games between the two sides have been heated, particularly when Getafe play at home. There is a 'friendly' rivalry with Atletico and Real Madrid, though the friendliness of this is something I really want to change. My aim is to become fierce rivals with our bigger neighbours. The biblical reference in the thread title mirrors the clubs use of biblical references in their 06/07 season ticket campaign, whereby Jesus, Moses and Abraham were depicted to sacrifice themselves for Getafe. A controversial move.

Getafe play at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, names after former Spanish international Alfonso Perez who never played for Getafe, but is the most famous player to have come from the city. it is a 17,700 all-seater stadium and like many other Spanish stadiums it is mostly open air. The club boasts good Training Facilities, whilst the Youth Facilities, Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment are distinctly average.

The Manager: Angel Vivar Dorado

Meet our Angel, the manager alias of choice. Why him? Well Dorado is a club icon who played for the club between 2002 and 2007, making 150 appearances and he was an influential figure in the 2006/07 cup run including scoring a goal in the 4-0 demolition of Barcelona. To top it off, he's a local lad.

The Philosophy

The whole career will be based around a tactic I created on FM13, replicated for the current version with some small differences. It emulates the philosophy of Arrigo Sacchi. Shamelessly plugged from my FM13 tactic upload introduction:

" So this tactic is based on the philosophy behind Arrigo Sacchi's 4-4-2 approach. Sacchi played with high intensity and a high defensive line. This enabled him to squeeze the play in the middle of park, and ensured that the distance between his defensive and forward lines was never more than 25 metres. Essentially, this constituted naturally occurring pressing—perhaps one of the first in football with such velocity. Sacchi reasoned that by squeezing the pitch, in order for his opponent to get through his side, they'd need to break down three lines of players in quick succession. Not many managed it. Attacking-wise, there was no one strict way to break down the opposition. Chances were created through build-up/passing play through the middle, crosses from wide and counter-attacks. Sacchi was a proponent of multi-purpose players. Not fond of the specialist, he looked for all of his players to be capable of every job on the field, which is why his interchanging 4-4-2 worked so well.The midfielders were well-rounded and functional in every area, his forwards chased and his defenders pushed up. Teamwork was what his side were predicated on, and it was teamwork that allowed them to become one of the greatest sides in footballing history.

The tactic resembles a 4-4-2, however with a slight change of two DMs as opposed to MCs. This enabled the tactic to be a lot more solid defensively, bringing the lines of the players a lot closer. The Sweeper Keeper does his job sweeping up behind the back line, two FBs on support allowing them the licence to get forward, but not at the expense of their defensive duties. The two DCs act as ball playing defenders, able to pick out those quick counter passes once the ball is won. The DMs act as box-to-box players, supporting the attack and defence. The wingers provide the outlets for the attack, pushing forward once the ball is won, but also have defensive duties in winning the ball back. A complete striker supports the advanced forward, although both are equally important in both assisting and scoring goals. With the emphasis on fluid play and well-rounded, high pressing players a general basis of teamwork, work rate and determination are needed for this tactic to work. Lazy and/or selfish players will ruin the cogs in the machine. There is no target man or playmaker as individual creativity and decisions are important in this tactic."

Key Players

Club captain Mehdi Lacen has already been at the club for 5 seasons and he will be influential in our midfield. He already fits the profile of a ''Sacchi-like'' player.

The second longest serving player at the club, behind Lacen, Vicente is a very capable goalkeeper and I fully expect him to be a big difference - his saves will win us points.

 

Diaz, a club icon, is now back at the club for a second stint, having played here between 2007 and 2012. He may be 37, but he is a huge character to have at the club.

Career Aims

1. Get back in to La Liga!
2. Cement a fierce rivalry with Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and (most importantly) Real Madrid by becoming a real La Liga competitor.
3. Win La Liga and the Champions League.
4. Adhere to a 'Sacchi Philosophy', bringing in players with high determination, teamwork and work rate and get rid of those who do not fit the mould.
5. Develop a world-class cantera that will compete with the likes of Barca's La Masia, underpinned by the whole club philosophy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[smp20]

 

August-September 2016 Report

Transfers

I thought I'd start with the staff ins and outs because there were plenty of them! My aim is to build a backroom of staff with excellent personalities and of course coaching ability. I struggled to get a top class assistance manager so Luciano Martin will do for now. I've made sure I've got two excellent fitness coaches because fitness is crucial for our philosophy. Most of the current staff at the club were useless, so I've got rid. I haven't really touched the B and U19 teams yet, that's on my to do list.

I've disabled first window budgets so we were limited with what we could bring in. Vorsah, Kone and Gomez are all freebies on low wages whereby I could get rid of the agent fees in order to get them in. They're not world beaters, but they all fit the player profile I'm looking for and will add valuable depth to the squad. Although talented, Scepovic and Kadir lack the work ethic to be successful at the club, so they've been shipped out on loan with a view to getting rid of them permanently in the near future.

Results

What a start! A 100% record and 6 clean sheets. We've come out the blocks in style, lets just hope we can maintain it. Guaita saved an injury time penalty against Reus to save us from embarrassment against bottom place Reus.

We're looking very comfortable  We are predicted to finish 3rd, so a title challenge has always been expected.

Players

Here you can see how ancient our team is...but they're doing the business. Jorge Molina has been our star player so far, scoring 6 and assisting 4 topping the average rating charts.

[Deisler26]

Love this idea. Keep going.

[smp20]

Thanks @Deisler26 - next update to follow this evening

[smp20]

October - December 2016 Update

Things were coming along so nicely, until we hit a blip. 0-1 Vallecano, 0-1 Mallorca, 0-0 Mirandes and 1-2 Vallodolid. We just couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo! Luckily our league form found its way back to it's original best, but the damage of the blip had been done. A horrible 3-0 thrashing in the home leg of the cup vs Real Sociedad left us hopeless, though I was happy with a 0-0 away with my 2nd string 11.

We've slipped down the 2nd behind semi-rivals Vallecano.  Interestingly, the top 3 are all commune de Madrid sides. January will be crucial. Some players will be leaving in order to free up some funds and wages for new signings. We will be getting in some grafters, with a particular interest in some young legs.

Speaking of young legs, our junior coaching and youth recruitment has been improved, so out intake should be half decent.

[BillHoudini24]

Fuster used to play (and captain) the team I support in Greece. A great man, amazing work rate, passion, important goals, he will always have a safe spot in my heart. His role in Olympiakos was Attacking Midfielder or Shadow Striker, but I see your system has 2 forwards. He would be great as a Defensive Forward because of his mentals, but Arrigo Sacchi didn't use that kind of forwards.

Enough with my love for David Fuster though!  Definately going to follow, very interesting project.

[smp20]

Hi @BillHoudini24 - yes I do rate Fuster it's just a shame he doesn't really suit the system position wise. He's got the key mental attributes needed, but at 35 he lacks the pace to play up front or on the wing and lacks the stamina to play as a box-to-box type DM. He's been a fill-in player, having played at DM, MR and ST, albeit mostly from the bench. If only we had him a few years ago!

Update to follow  

[smp20]

January - February 2017 Update

Transfers Out

2 big transfers out, starting with Cala. He was a top performing centre back, but the money we were offered was too much to turn down as I seem him as replaceable. We also brought back Scepovic from his loan and sold him on for a good £4m, while we sold Karim Yoda for £2.7m, it doesn't appear here because he was in the B team at the time. I think we got the cash for it, but I'm not sure.

Transfers In

Cavallini - a freebie on low wages with high work rate. He lacks quality as a main striker, but he's a decent back up and could prove profitable.

Quitongo - A Scottish youngster I've never heard of, but my scouts picked him up and I was adamant I wanted him. He fits the bill as a first teamer already and his versatility means he can play on either wing or up front. Work Rate, Determination and Pace....and he's just 19....and a bargain signing. Superb

Rodriguez - I wasn't planning on bringing in any older players in this window but David is exactly the kind of striker we're after. Hard working, pace and finishing ability - he's a born goalscorer and was the league top at the point of signing....his form means he's still there too.

Simao - a favourite of mine back on FM13, he's still a great asset to the side. A real fighter.

Mayada - again those same attributes being picked out; pace and work rate. Another bargain signing too!

Nabiullin - big money signing no. 1 and an act of re-rejuvenating the squad. He's going to be trained up fully as a left winger, as I like my wingers to be well rounded rather than just attacking specialists.

Williams - THE big signing. He's only 18, but he's already good enough for this level and his pace is phenomenal. In fact, I don't think there is a quicker centre back on the game. This is crucial, considering I've just set my back line from normal to push up on Attacking. He got MOTM in his first two games, I can see a star rising.

Results 

A bit slippery in January, winning 3 and losing 2, but we had a 100% record in February and we are looking very comfortable at the back and going forward, minus the odd moment where Diaz loses his man!

Table

We're sitting atop the table with 10 games to go. 12 points clear of third means that we'd have to really mess up to not get automatic promotion, but the title race is most certainly on with Vallodolid.

*Edit: We have 14 games left and we're battling for the title with Vallecano (brain dead I swear)!

 

[Haiku]

So the title will be decided between you and the 12th on the table? 

[smp20]

31 minutes ago, Haiku said:

So the title will be decided between you and the 12th on the table? 

Haha well spotted . I made another mistake, at that point there were 14 games left not 10, as it's a 22 team league! Mini March-April update to come.

[smp20]

 

March - April 2017 Update

Youth Intake

An excellent prospect has come through the ranks! Gallardo is everything we could ask for in a centre back. It won't be long until he is first team ready.

Results

An excellent couple of months, especially so when a couple of 0-0 away draws are the only thing to moan about. Molina forced himself back into first 11 contention despite rapidly declining physically. He's still got an eye for goal.

Table

5 games left to play and 9 points clear, it's our to lose that's for sure. We're not far off the league record of 91 points as well.

 

[smp20]

Overall a season to be very proud of. Back to La Liga first time of asking.

Results

A shaky start to May, but we finished in style.

Table

Player Stats

Above are the top appearance holders for the season, bar Daniel Diaz who has stepped into a new role (more to follow). Guaita was ever-present between the sticks while Van den Bergh, Lacen and Suarez were key to our solid defence throughout the season. All of our January signings had something to offer the side, but I would like to highlight the goals of David Rodriguez and the brilliant performances from Williams, who a master of interceptions.

New Sidekick

Daniel Diaz broke the all-time club appearance mark this season, ending up with 204 league appearances for the club. He's now swapped his captain's armband for the dugout to be my new right-hand man. I was disappointed at first when he said he was retiring, but oh how excited I was when I saw his coaching attributes. David Fuster also joins our backroom staff as an U19s Coach.

Next Season

We're back in the big league and, despite having a successful season and being happy with the players I have, we will need to heavily strengthen for next season. I will be doing a squad analysis in the build up to the new season.

 

[ManUtd1]

Congrats on the promotion!  Things must have gotten a little nervy after that 2nd loss to start the month of May!

[the--dud]

On 11/29/2016 at 00:00, smp20 said:

An excellent prospect has come through the ranks! Gallardo is everything we could ask for in a centre back. It won't be long until he is first team ready.

Wow this kid looks amazing! Determined personality, 18 Determination, 17 Teamwork, 16 Workrate, 15 Bravery, 14 Leadership and 13 Marking already at 16 years old! Though he's not fully 5* PA I think he could become one of the very best DC in the world because he has all his points in such vital attributes...

[smp20]

16 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

Congrats on the promotion!  Things must have gotten a little nervy after that 2nd loss to start the month of May!

Cheers @ManUtd1! Yes it was a little nervy, though it was at a stage where we had pretty much wrapped up promotion so it would have only affected us winning the title or not. If we came 2nd, it would have been annoying! We smashed the league points tally too  

[smp20]

6 hours ago, the--dud said:

Wow this kid looks amazing! Determined personality, 18 Determination, 17 Teamwork, 16 Workrate, 15 Bravery, 14 Leadership and 13 Marking already at 16 years old! Though he's not fully 5* PA I think he could become one of the very best DC in the world because he has all his points in such vital attributes...

Yeah his mental attributes are just outstanding for his age. I'm not going to rush him into the first team but I really think he is a future international that's for sure. I've already rejected bids from Real Madrid, Man Utd, Juventus and Inter.

[BillHoudini24]

Great CB prospect!! Congrats on promotion! Great read, I hope you rely on Youth Prospects, Getafe always had decent players throught their ranks. 

[smp20]

Thanks @BillHoudini24 - as one of my aims I want to build a youth academy that rivals Barcelona, so yes I will be. Though that's more of a long term goal, for now I want to get competitive in La Liga and investment in the right first team players will be point number 1. This will include bringing in 16-21 year olds to develop. I noticed that not too many players are HG at club - I think that IRL Getafe get a lot of 19/20/21 year olds that failed to make the grade at Real / Atletico and end up developing them and selling them on.

[smp20]

2017/18 Squad Preview

Transfers In

An incredible 11 players joined the club and for the most part they were freebies or bargain buys. I like to have my squad sorted early so the majority were pre-arranged deals from May/June when our new budget came out. The exception was the £20m paid out for Penaranda, I'd like to note that the majority of this was in installments over 48 months.

These were our cash transfers out. It was difficult to let Suarez go but given that we had signed Paterson it was hard to say no to that amount. Buendia was one of our hot prospects, but he didn't fit our DNA, so I was happy when the bids came in for him. Leicester came out on top of the bidding war. Local rivals Vallecano also splashed out some cash on a couple of our backup players. I haven't included all transfers out here because we ended up releasing all of our B team, except the 3/4 that fitted our club DNA. Our B team plays in the 4th tier and I am not willing to invest staff/money into it until a) they get promoted or b) we have some good 19-23 year old prospects. Mehdi Lacen is off to play in the UAE on £62k a week.

Goalkeepers

Guaita is still a class act in the top league and he will retain his position as first choice keeper.

Moya is actually very similar to Guaita in ability and is back for his second spell at the club. An excellent 2nd choice keeper.

Right Backs

I'd somehow missed SS him previously. I really like Paterson, he's a well rounded individual who can play anywhere down the right and in a crisis even at centre back or up top! I am going to be utilising his long throws as well.

Brought in as a very capable understudy to Paterson, Simon is a better choice than Molinaro bought in for the same price!

Left Backs 

Another bargain signing, Taylor is a superb defence minded full back with everything you'd want for a solid defence.

Van den Bergh was very good for us last season, however he will start as 2nd choice because he has a few undesirable attributes that could allow good wingers to take advantage - composure, decisions, anticipation and positioning.

Centre Backs

Williams is quickly becoming my favourite player on FM17. The youngster is already bossing the defence, making interception after interception.

Mr multi-nationality Tiago Ilori completes our British look back 4 that is looking RAPID.

A solid back-up option to have, though he might get caught out against tricky, agile forwards. His mental attributes are outstanding and he's also a master of the bullet-throw.

A solid all round defender who is equally capable at CB or LB. A jack of all trades, master of none though it seems.

Our final centre back, Vorsah, will only be used in a crisis but he has the core attributes.

Defensive Midfielders

Cubas is a steal at £2.5m, he's got potential to grow into a key La Liga player and is already a great player to have in our first 11.

Simao is the perfect defence-minded partner for any all-rounder to have next to them. Hard to get past!

He's already a good option at only just 19 and I think we've secured a star for the future here. Likely to come off the bench to start with.

Great defensive attributes, Castellano can battle it out with Simao for a first team slot.

Finally as 5th choice, Kone is someone you can rely on when he's needed.

Wingers

Mayada is player you know is going to stretch defences with his pace and he is solid defensively too.

The Russian youngster is a perfect all rounder and he has room to develop too. Equally able at left back or left wing.

Burgstaller is an absolute workhorse on the wing and with two good feet and natural ability on either side he is a real asset to the squad.

Strikers

He is the man, I am so happy to have brought him in despite his high price tag and become the club top earner at just 20 years old. He's got everything I'd want in a striker, Sacchi would adore him.

Jai may not have been a prolific goalscorer last season, but I can really see him growing into someone who will score lots of goals. in one friendly, albeit against a 4th tier side, we won 14 where Quitongo got 6 and Penaranda got 8! I hope this is a partnership that will blossom.

 

Last seasons top scorer is likely to become our super-sub this season. History tells us he's a great goalscorer for the 2nd tier but struggles in La Liga. Let's see how he fares.

Molina lacks the physical ability to be a mobile complete forward, but when we want a TM type player I will stick him on. His mental attributes underpin everything I'd want in a striker.

So that is our squad going into the 2017/18 season and I'm very happy with it. Apologies for the mix of dates for the screenshots, it seems that some did not load up properly on IMGUR and I had to redo them. Above you can see our squad mental attributes in comparison to the rest of the league. We score highly in some areas that I'm really proud of, though you can see where our weaknesses lie. This is something I hope to build over time, though to start with it was all about building a squad that will fit into our high-pressing 'machine'.

[smp20]

August - October 2017 Update

A brilliant start to our return to the top flight! We started off with a disappointing loss against Osasuna, but we redeemed ourselves with a 3-2 win against a superior Valencia side. Florin Andone bagged a hat-trick against us in our 3rd game to secure a thrashing - sometimes a player just seems to find the holes. The 7-1 win against Vigo, who finished 6th last season, was out of this world. I've never seen such a convincing performance!

Incredibly we find ourselves 3rd in the league, only behind our bigger brother from the capital. We are yet to face any of the big 3 yet however. Atletico are coming up soon while we have Real and Barca back to back in December.

Penaranda and Quitongo have indeed forged a good partnership up top, while even more impressively Williams and Ilori have been very, very good at centre back. Burgstaller has established himself as our first choice left winger, while Nabiullin has actually dropped back to left back after a couple of bad performances from Neil Taylor saw him lose his position in the first 11. Overall, performances are of a high quality. 

[ManUtd1]

Tremendous return to La Liga! Enjoying how you're setting up the side, tactically and with an eye toward the long-term. 

[smp20]

Cheers, it has been enjoyable building the squad so far. Looking forward to facing the big 3. My aim is to gradually add some highly technical players that still meet the DET, WR, TW for the system.

[smp20]

Got a very interesting Nov-Dec update to come, only thing is that I am on a city break and I think if I took the laptop my wife would kill me . I will post it up on Monday.

[the--dud]

20 hours ago, smp20 said:

1 hour ago, smp20 said:

Got a very interesting Nov-Dec update to come, only thing is that I am on a city break and I think if I took the laptop my wife would kill me . I will post it up on Monday.

So that is our squad going into the 2017/18 season and I'm very happy with it. Apologies for the mix of dates for the screenshots, it seems that some did not load up properly on IMGUR and I had to redo them. Above you can see our squad mental attributes in comparison to the rest of the league. We score highly in some areas that I'm really proud of, though you can see where our weaknesses lie. This is something I hope to build over time, though to start with it was all about building a squad that will fit into our high-pressing 'machine'.

 

 

Just wanted to let you know I'm really enjoying following this thread, keep it up. Tell your wife at least one random person in the world wants you to keep playing!  

 

Also can I ask, where in FM17 do you get the screen with all the nice graphs comparing your squad to the league? It's the same screen that you see for staff but I'm not sure where to find this one...

 

[smp20]

On 02/12/2016 at 08:55, the--dud said:

 

Just wanted to let you know I'm really enjoying following this thread, keep it up. Tell your wife at least one random person in the world wants you to keep playing!  

 

Also can I ask, where in FM17 do you get the screen with all the nice graphs comparing your squad to the league? It's the same screen that you see for staff but I'm not sure where to find this one...

 

Haha thank you very much! I didnt risk taking the laptop in the end. Im not on my game at the moment so i cant remember the exact pathway, but I will post it up later :). Update to come either tonight if I get time to play or tomorrow.

[smp20]

There's nothing worse than when you dont have much time to play fm! Found myself with a free hour last night where i was planning to update. Needless to say that I ended up playing the game instead...I will update today, I promise! 

[smp20]

November - December 2017 Update

Results

A truly magical couple of months for the club - the partnership between Penaranda and Quitongo has been incredible. December was the month where we faced the big 3 and to come away with 9 points is insane, particularly as we put 5 past Barca and thrashed Real 4-1 at the Bernebeu!

Key Games

League Table

Despite being predicted to finish in a lowly 14th, we go into the new year top of the table!!!!

Player Stats

Williams and Ilori continue to impress at the back despite the low number of clean sheets recently, while going forward we look unstoppable. I'm very proud of the team!

[smp20]

11 hours ago, smp20 said:

Haha thank you very much! I didnt risk taking the laptop in the end. Im not on my game at the moment so i cant remember the exact pathway, but I will post it up later :). Update to come either tonight if I get time to play or tomorrow.

@the--dud - to get the stats as I did above, go to team report (left side bar under tactics) and click on comparison

[Deisler26]

Is Jai Quitongo the son of Jose Quitongo, the ex-Hearts striker?

[smp20]

11 minutes ago, Deisler26 said:

Is Jai Quitongo the son of Jose Quitongo, the ex-Hearts striker?

Good knowledge, he certainly is

[smp20]

January - February 2018 Update

Transfers

January saw us bring in three new faces, while losing one. We lost Quitongo to Lazio due to a minimum release clause, who'd have known a player signed for £150k the year previously would be valued so highly now.

The first player in was the pre-arranged transfer of Zekhnini on a free transfers. He's young and gives us that flair option on the wing.

Our first deadline day signings was Yedlin on loan from Newcastle. His pace will make him a great option anywhere down the right hand side, adding depth to the squad. If he does well, I would consider buying him permanently.

Last man through the door on deadline day was our direct replacement for Quitongo. He's a snip at £2m and he's already reaping the development benefits from being a first team player again, despite no goals in 6 as of yet.

Results

A very busy couple of months but we're still flying high. We lost our first home game of the season against Bilbao, but we got our own back in the cup by thrashing them 6-0. On the other hand, Vigo got their revenge on us by grabbing all 3 points after our 7-1 drubbing of them earlier in the season. Other than these two defeats, it was a great time to be a Getafe fan. A double over Real Madrid put us into the Copa del Rey final where we will face Atletico Madrid.

We're still top, let the title race commence! Only 12 games left. Of course, 3 of our last 5 games are against the big 3.

 

[smp20]

March 2018 Update

Results

An unbeaten month and plenty of goals to show for it. All 3 of our main strikers have been among the goals, including Lapadula finally.

League Table

7 games left and 5 points clear? The dream is closely becoming something real!!

Youth Intake

3 potential first team players in one intake is something to get excited about, although it's the top two I really like.

Roman is extremly rapid and to top it off he's determined with a professional personality. With the right nurturing, he could become a key player for the club in years to come.

Munoz is a good DM prospect, certainly more of a 'Simao' than a 'Cubas'.

[ManUtd1]

Excellent work, but I see that the sharks are circling...good luck on the run-in.

[smp20]

April 2018 Update

Results

We were looking pretty unstoppable with the two big wins vs Sevilla and Alaves then wham! A bad patch of form, though you can't put it down to a lack of effort against Atletico and Barca away. The most disappointing result was the 1-1 at home with Alcorcon, where we needed injury time to grab the equaliser.

We're still top but so much rests on our final two games; Bilbao away then Real Madrid at home. This is getting very tense!! 

[smp20]

3 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said:

Excellent work, but I see that the sharks are circling...good luck on the run-in.

They certainly are circling, biting too!!  Cheers.

[ManUtd1]

1 minute ago, smp20 said:

They certainly are circling, biting too!!  Cheers.

They're right chompy bastards, indeed.  

2 minutes ago, smp20 said:

We're still top but so much rests on our final two games; Bilbao away then Real Madrid at home. This is getting very tense!! 

If you don't put on a full suit and tie, karma will make you pay... 

[smp20]

May 2018 - It's all or nothing

A disappointing result against Bilbao, where we were undone by 37-year-old Aduriz, means that we have fallen off the top of the table for the first time in 2018. We're one point behind Real Madrid and we play them next. At home. A win and we guarantee the league, a loss and we could end up 4th. Barcelona have been on form so they are likely to leapfrog us if we fail to win.

[ManUtd1]

I told you to put on a suit.  It's your own fault if you didn't...

[smp20]

            

An attacking Getafe side will start. Zekhnini has broken into the first 11 of late and with victory our goal we need some creativity down the flanks as well as the duo of the more creative Cubas and Pepelu (in comparison to Simao) start in the middle.  It's a very familiar Real Madrid side. They have a solid, experienced back-line, two stars in central midfield while their front 4 would terrify any defence - I hope ours are up for the challenge and won't be in need of new pairs of pants!

We bloody did it! A full deserved victory!!! I was worried when we conceded first but the team's response wad phenomenal. We kept Real to mainly shots from long and we were lethal on the counter, creating 5 clear cut chances in the process. The scoreline of 1-1 at HT was a fair one, but in the second half we were magnificent. A goal from each striker secured a safe 3-1 victory in the end, David Rodriguez was super-sub once more scoring a goal against his first club.

The final table so this means...

 

 

 

 

[smp20]

10 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said:

I told you to put on a suit.  It's your own fault if you didn't...

I'm sorry (not sorry) I didn't wear a suit! End product  = title win 

[ManUtd1]

I'll forgive your discretion this one time!

Congratulations on the title!!!

[oriole01]

Well done on the surprising title win! Two seasons was really all it took, eh? You're lucky that goal difference wasn't the first tiebreaker.

[smp20]

Cheers @ManUtd1 and @oriole01! the success has come a lot earlier than expected. Repeating this feat while playing in Europe is going to be the real challenge. 79 points is the lowest points tally to win the league since 06/07 - it's been known that teams have missed out on the title with 90+ points.

[noikeee]

Absolutely unbelievable success, I'm shocked this is even possible in FM17 to be honest, fantastic job! Doubly so with a 4-4-2 with wingers, from searching around I've seen this isn't very popular at the moment in the current ME and people are instead focusing on packing the centre of midfield. Only you know the secrets, but my guess is that this works thanks to the narrow width, the 2 DMs cover in front of a restrained back 4, very fluid to avoid the team breaking into 2 separate units with the restrained defenders and the very attacking 4 forwards; and the combo of very high line with very quick defenders. Clever!

[JWVG]

Despite Barca and Real beeing pretty poor, this is a big result. Aggressive tactics always worked better for me in the long run.

What's the goal and assist distribution like?

[the--dud]

Congratulations from me too, incredibly rapid success!

Could you maybe make a post showing your current tactics and players? Explain how it's setup and how it works in the ME if you could... Would be very interesting to hear your thoughts

[smp20]

58 minutes ago, noikeee said:

Absolutely unbelievable success, I'm shocked this is even possible in FM17 to be honest, fantastic job! Doubly so with a 4-4-2 with wingers, from searching around I've seen this isn't very popular at the moment in the current ME and people are instead focusing on packing the centre of midfield. Only you know the secrets, but my guess is that this works thanks to the narrow width, the 2 DMs cover in front of a restrained back 4, very fluid to avoid the team breaking into 2 separate units with the restrained defenders and the very attacking 4 forwards; and the combo of very high line with very quick defenders. Clever!

Cheers @noikeee - you've pretty much nailed it with your analysis, I will cover this in more detail in a post soon . 

47 minutes ago, JWVG said:

Despite Barca and Real beeing pretty poor, this is a big result. Aggressive tactics always worked better for me in the long run.

What's the goal and assist distribution like?

Thanks @JWVG - I do love an aggressive tactic indeed. I will be posting up the end of season review soon which will include the goal assist distribution - but it is mostly goals from the front 2 with some goals from the wing, while the assists are generally shared across the front 4.

35 minutes ago, the--dud said:

Congratulations from me too, incredibly rapid success!

Could you maybe make a post showing your current tactics and players? Explain how it's setup and how it works in the ME if you could... Would be very interesting to hear your thoughts

Thanks @the--dud, almost too quick! I can certainly go into more detail on the players and tactic - although its more of an overall club philosophy than just a tactic itself. Watch this space.

[smp20]

Copa Del Rey Final 2018

A truly incredible game where the attackers came out on top of the defenders. David Rodriguez will go down as a cult hero in Getafe after grabbing a hat-trick including a goal in extra time to put us 2 goals ahead. Atletico snatched a goal back, but it wasn't enough. A record scoring 5-4 victory!

To top off an incredible season, we won the cup to secure a double . An incredible feat. Let's hope the success doesn't go to the players heads.

[BillHoudini24]

It's too easy for you! 

Any chance of writing a post explaining your thoughts behind your tactic? From the original idea to squad building and overall concept.

Congrats to a wonderful season!

[smp20]

On 12/8/2016 at 03:07, BillHoudini24 said:

It's too easy for you! 

Any chance of writing a post explaining your thoughts behind your tactic? From the original idea to squad building and overall concept.

Congrats to a wonderful season!

Cheers @BillHoudini24 - I will put together a post on the tactics in action