FM17 - French Football Thread

[Baptista_8]

Would anyone be able to upload a screenshot of Grzegorz Krychowiak at the start of the game?

[inthisspace]

Interesting rule of the Coupe de la Ligue...

Also, for  Grzegorz Krychowiak

 

[Jogo Bonito]

I'm taking a break from the struggles at Niort. I've not found a way to get the best out of the team, and know I should be doing better. As such, I need some festive cheer and have started a new adventure at the club that just pipped Nice and Saint-Etienne in becoming my first Ligue 1 challenge of FM17...

 

I've never managed Toulouse before, but they have lots of ingredients that make them an attractive proposition to me...

• Mid-table expectations
• Never before winners of Ligue 1
• No European competition in the first season
• A 'normal' transfer budget
• A squad that has lots of young players
• Decent sized all-seater stadium and reasonable facilities
• A rather unique and colourful kit

So, TFC have a mainly young squad. On taking over, my aim is to remove the older players in the squad, trim down the non-French and African contingent, and add to it with a handful of young players that I probably like well enough to have mentioned in the club guide pages. Big transfer fees won't be likely, so sales and loan departures will be crucial in order to help me improve club finances whilst I work towards my goals. Having said that, I'm not a massive wheeler and dealer, and like to keep my squads fairly constant. The reserve and youth squads seem to have some decent young players, so I'll be happy to operate with a squad of around 20, including pivotal teenagers. Hopefully some more of the youngsters (that aren't featuring regularly now) will also make the breakthrough in the future.

[Hoarau]

Oooh Jogo, good choice. I do love the prospects in that squad, can't wait to see what you do.

I actually wouldn't mind starting another French save with Guingamp, but I'm too engrossed at the moment! 

On that note, coming into March and I'm 11 points clear at the top above PSG!! 

[Jogo Bonito]

Haha, did you read my profile on Guingamp?!? Very good going with Monaco though.

Things are going very well so far with Toulouse, much more fun than my struggles at Niort! I'm operating a first team squad of 21 players, with a 17 year old 'keeper, and a 17 year old partnering a 19 year old in central defence. Despite this, my formation, tactics and player selections have seen us enjoying a really tight defence so far (end of October).

The club reputation seems a bit odd to me, as Ndoye refused to even enter talks between July and October, before eventually signing a new deal with Angers. Even our young Gabonese winger from Casablanca, and a teenage winger at Metz expressed no interest in joining us! I've bought in just three players from my shopping list so far, plus one reserve 'keeper who is staying at his current Ligue 2 club on loan until next season. A transfer profit of £10m (£5m spent and £15m received) has really boosted the finances though, and I'm prepared to overlook those areas of the squad that I know are lacking in depth and quality for the moment. I've created an identity and we are performing nicely so far.

[Hoarau]

Ha! no I hadn't read it until you said that, too funny. They just stood out in my save as doing moderately well considering thier standing and have two favorites of mine from previous FM's that I'd love another go with In Sloan Privat & Jimmy Briand. 

Yeah that's very odd with you reputation, perhaps its just a new save thing and it'll level out come January. I didn't move for Mandrault until the winter window so may have to wait. Good world improving the finances aswell.

Have you got Odsonne Edouad on loan from PSG? I really like the look of him, I keep trying to unsettle him, would love to nab him.

[Jogo Bonito]

Yes, I have Odsonne on loan. I took him to Nice in FM16 and he has good potential.

Hmm, all that effort on my guide and even you didn't read it 

[Hoarau]

No no, I did read it but think I stopped the Ligue 1 at about Nice.. shame on me!

[Jogo Bonito]

Haha, only kidding. Reading isn't compulsory. Nice was a good place to stop anyway!

[Fosse]

Are you French Jogo? Or just a fan of french football?  

[Jogo Bonito]

@Fosse I'm not French, but do enjoy French football   

 

Season 1 Transfers (two for the first team, one for the bench, and one to boost the squad next season)

Early Results (I've been loving the defensive performances)

League performance, key contributions & an improving financial position

The tactics, formation and team instructions are basic - but it's working surprisingly well so far

Superb stuff from my new striker...

And my new centre-back...

But the third of my top targets said we weren't good enough, and signed a new deal at Angers

[inthisspace]

As mentioned, started a save on Stade Rennais. Turns out I am quite enjoying it! I have not played FM in a while, so it took me some time to get used to the layout and the new features available. As my testing game was in the lower tiers of the English league, I did not know many of the good prospective players. Good thing, as I am treating my academy as a gold mine now and not buying many players.

Here I am, 12 games in...

 

Board stated that I needed to play possession football... so reading some advice here, managed to create a tactic which seems to suit the style

@Jogo Bonito

Thanks for the guide! Regretted not getting Casimir Ninga. He is what I need in front, but I hesitated due to his poor decision making. Turns out, he tore my defence apart. I am gunning for Ndoye and M'Vila (old boy) on free transfers. Have not signalled my intentions on Ndoye yet after seeing the post above me. Haha.

I bought only one player, Hervin Ongenda, at the advice of @Hoarau. He has found form of late, and long may it continue! Loaned several others, including Lyanco (Brazilian CB) and Carlos Alena (Barcelona's youth AMC). Highly recommend them for any prospective players.

 

 

[Fosse]

Solid work Jogo, Alexis Blin becomes a fantastic defensive midfielder/deep lying playmaker 

 

 

I've started playing my Nantes save again, my CL draw group contains Man U, Juve and Olympiakos, the joys of being a fourth seed eh. Lost 4-0 at home to Juve, we won away at Olympiakos 2-1 and we were defeated 1-0 at La Beaujoire by Man U so I'm hoping for 3rd and dropping into the europa league. Meanwhile our domestic form is okay but we're a little bit boring at the minute with a record of 5-6-2

[Jogo Bonito]

@inthisspace That's a really good start with Rennes, and a very nice update. I'm amazed that two of their players could successfully find each other with a pass more than 6% of the time, let alone 60% 

I really can't recommend Ninga highly enough, so kind of happy to see him rip you apart! His value tripled within two months of joining me, his stats are improving dramatically, and he is playing like a dream. In FM16 he was one of those that couldn't perform like his real life form, due to his rather rapid emergence, but this year he is rated appropriately and is a bargain for any manager in France. I'm still shocked I couldn't get Ndoye, but he is well worth approaching before they offer him a new deal.

@Fosse I was in two minds about loaning Blin, but I still had five central midfielders left for two positions, and thought he would improve with regular first team football. The financial deal was too good to refuse, and I am safe in the knowledge he has a long-term contract with us anyway. The 5th of my midfielders is a 35 year old veteran whose contract expires in 2017. i only kept him around as cover for my cover, and because I want to move him in to a staff role next season as a reward for many years of loyal service. Blin will definitely be involved next season.

Good luck with Nantes, doing alright there by the looks of it. I tried to grab a couple of the youngsters on loan at Chamois Niortais, but it couldn't be done. Hoepfully a few of yours will be making the breakthrough. 

[Hoarau]

Would it be cheating if I swapped my entire summer budget(£90m) in turn to use the editor to make Yaya Toure 21 again!? Ha..

I never want him to retire, he's been the reason for us closing in on the title. Such a legend.

[Jogo Bonito]

@Hoarau I can understand your feelings on that. I've never managed him, and don't think Toulouse could pay him enough to tempt him until he was 40!

[Hoarau]

He'd still do one hell of a job!

And now you've said that, I'm gonna try and do the next best thing to making him younger which is keep him till he's 40! First time Ive ever managed him and he's just sooooo good, despite his age. The difference in my team from last year is unreal.

Oh and for anyone wanting to stick with home grown, Moussa Dembele(Celtic) and Jean Kevin Augustin(PSG), have become stars. Dembele has Roma and Man city already interested..

[Hoarau]

Also, how good is Diop? he keeps coming up on my scout reports and I'm tempted to make the move this summer? 

[Jogo Bonito]

Good luck with all those Yaya birthdays!

Diop has been very solid and improving well. He's playing under a good manager of course

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Hiya guys, going to start a new save with Marseille, any tips on set up, what leagues do I loads, what nations do I load up to get the best French and African players, also what players are worth signing, any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[wicksyFM]

On 12/14/2016 at 12:59, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Hiya guys, going to start a new save with Marseille, any tips on set up, what leagues do I loads, what nations do I load up to get the best French and African players, also what players are worth signing, any advice would be much appreciated.

 

I would also be interested in this. 

will be starting a save with strasbourg this weekend

[KF1990]

On 12/14/2016 at 12:59, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Hiya guys, going to start a new save with Marseille, any tips on set up, what leagues do I loads, what nations do I load up to get the best French and African players, also what players are worth signing, any advice would be much appreciated.

 

Haroldo Preciado would be my 1st signing. Costs less than a million and will get you a lot of goals in ligue 1. Bought him with toulous and he was on 10 goals in 8 games for me as a lone target man. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Yeah I signed Preciado, he started well scoring 10 in 15 but the last 10 games he hasn't scored.

[Segmann229]

Le Havre n'est pas plus considérer de ça en France. Le club existe ok très bien. Il n'existe plus ok très bien aussi. Sauf pour 2-3 clubs il n'y a pas de ferveur populaire comme chez vous.

Salut à plus.

[Hoarau]

Monaco Season 2 Review

Such a turn around from last year, we had added quality in depth and younger players had another season of experience under their belts plus last years signings had fully bedded in. Those factors coupled with PSG having an absolute 'mare of a season could have ended with me having one of my most successful all round seasons ever. With PSG imploding despite the money spent on players and bringing I'm Zidane we ended up having a clear run all the way from around October when we went top and proceeded to remain right till the end. We struggled for goals due to Falcao picking up an injury and Babacar not having a very consistent second season. It did however pick up after giving the fantastic Moussa Dembele a run, he rewarded us by finishing the season our top goalscorer. We also became really durable at the back, with new signings Costil, Kimpembe and Lemos all standing out. Costil in fact so much he won goalkeeper of the year for keeping 27 clean sheets in all competitions! Lemos and Kimpembe formed a mammoth defensive duo in the middle, hoping to keep the three around for the foreseeable. Add that to having Mendy and Fabinho on either side and the back line was fearsome.

While winning the league was the main goal I still wanted to do well in all the other competitions but in terms of the Champions League is was a step too far, especially when given a group that contained Barcelona, Juventus and Manchester United. We bombed against Juventus home and away, lost to United away at Old Trafford but got what turned out to be a very valuable point at home against them, despite Monaco old boy Anthony Martial's best efforts. However, so odd, the two games against Barcelona provided us with 6 points and got us through to the Europa League with Man United finishing bottom of the group! This is where things really took a turn, we entered the Europe League and proceeded to mow down our opposition all the way to the final in holland, where unfortunately we came up against the PSG of England in the ridiculously stacked Manchester City. We lost 1-0 on the night to a very fortunate Kevin De Bruyne goal and to rub salt into the wound it seems KDB is now about to join PSG! Yay! So proud to get all the way there after our failure to get out thr group stage yet again, would have been great to win it but we learn and move on. Things were easier in domestic cup where I felt we got handed the easier draw pretty much every round including the final where we played Troyes. We won that 4-1 and claimed a domestic double, after a trophyless season last time out to walk away with both home based lumps of silver is a great achievement for this young bunch.

On that young bunch, our summer business seemed extreme and excessive to many which I'll admit, but if you step back we only had a net spend of £29m which is a lot less than others(PSG) and a lot less than the boars set our budget at(£68m). I'm continuing that trend of trying to spend low or even make a profit but following the usual Monaco/Ajax mantra of buying low, selling high and developing our own players. We are in an extremely healthy financial state just now ahead of the new season, we have near £132m in the bank which the board set aside £96m of for this new seasons budget.. But it gets better/or worse depending how you feeling about club finances. Three of my sales in the summer have recouped me nearly £25m in clause payments due to the teams winning thier League/cup or I'm Bayern's case both the players I sold them won the Champions League so they had to pay me £6m for each player! All that went into our budget aswell! So over £110m to spend on players... And I don't want too. I don't want to become PSG, yes I want to compete with them and the rest of Europe's elite and for that I will have to spend but I want to limit becoming one of those Clubs who buys it's success. My signings have been and will be thoroughly thought out. So much so I've only agreed one first team signing but hes an unbelievable bargain who falls in Monaco and the Leagues ethos, oh and he's a bargain at £12.5m. My biggest worry is what I'll do once the inevitable happens and my big players get thier heads turned, it's already happening with Madrid's relentless pursuit of Bernardo Silva and Roma/Man City sniffing around £24m valued Moussa Dembele. What do it do? Demand they stay and risk upsetting the squad? Buy big to replace and in turn becoming something I don't want to? Promote or sign youngsters and possibly risk going back to being unable to complete with PSG's potential new front 3 of Icardi, KDB and Dybala? It's such a good Challenge but very stressful! Ha!

On to how our boys performed, a lot of great performances as I alluded to above but there were some players that took a while to get going or just didn't show up, here goes :

Player Performance :

Managers Player of the Season: Bernardo Silva

The star again, he makes us tick. Everything we do offensively goes through him and he does it with style. Didn't chip in with as many goals as last season bit really his overall influence was of a higher standard. I fear thought that this could have been the last we have seen of big Bernie at the Stade Louis II as both Real Madrid and Manchester City are already approaching me. Madrid seem to have the most intent and are preparing another significant bid after I rejected their last of £78m, I think if it goes near or over £100m I'll have to accept as he's unhappy already and that is an obscene about of money. His replacement is already in our ranks, should Silva move then it's time for Thomas Lemar to move in from the flanks and make the AMC spot his own which he had done in flashes so not a massive reinvestment needed.


Managers Signing of the season - Moussa Dembele

A bargain for a home grown goalscorer who has already lit this league up, pace power and a deadly snapshot. Moussa stepped in at a time were Falcao picked up an injury and Babacar wad going through a rather dry spell. His movement and pace really tore some of the slower, less mobile defenders apart at times. He finished with more goals that either Falcao or Babacar managed last season so I'm promoting him to first choice, he's already attracting massive interest, I put that down to form and his obvious potential. Both Porto and Roma offered around the £50m mark I'm the summer but I was able to resist and keep him from becoming unhappy.


Managers Young player of the year - Kylian Mbappe

Here's a player really coming into his own, lightning down the wings and terrifying defenders at every turn. Another season with added game time really has brought his development on a bit. I'd like to be able to bring someone in to tutor him and a few others but haven't found anyone suitable.

 

Managers Surprise Package of the Season - Benoit Costil

Couldn't believe it when I check Benoit's stats at the end of the season and saw he'd clocked up 27 clean sheets, yes he may not be world class but he's certainly good enough for this league and with the defense we have in front of him he's well protected. That aside he is very reliable and pulls off some stunning saves at times where we really need him. So glad I signed him after almost cancelling the deal.

Positives:
Yaya Toure - I hoped his addition would benefit us and I wasn't wrong, he brought that oh so valuable experience our squad probably lacked. It wasn't just that, I was pleasantly surprised how well he played and his quality really stood out in Ligue 1. He chipped in with a handful of goals and assists one of which won him the Ligue 1 goal of the season award. I'll be hoping to hang onto him for a while, his physicals are decreasing but his technical are still top level and I've actually seen some small increases in certain attributes, if I can limit the physicality of his role and play up his technical talent then he could be a fixture for a couple more seasons.

Thomas Lemar also stood out, finishing the season with the most assists in the league. His delivery from set pieces is also immense and so far in season, not sure if it was due to a fix in the last patch but hes scored some truly outstanding freekicks. He's really stepping up his performances, which it's easy to forget he's only 22 now so is still learning and developing. He's becoming our main man and won't be long till he's our talisman for sure.

Negatives:
Frank Kessie - This seems harsh after me talking about giving Lemar a break at times due to him only being 22 and here I am having a semi-go at Frank, who's the same age, and he hasn't even been that bad. The reason I'm listing him here is his behaviour, I'm all for players picking up yellow cards especially in the set up I play with a high sort of gengenpress style, but he had 5 red cards before January and then 2 more before the season ended. Not what I need, I'm hoping that was a learning curve the likes of which we won't see again as he's started season 3 really well, still picking up cards but he seems to be resisting that urge to go for the red ha!


Season 3 Preview:

The last two times I've posted on my season ahead I've said I don't intend to do any major revamping of the squad due to the vast numbers of quality youth prospects. But... Once Real Madrid came charging in the door with a bid of £99m for Bernardo Silva things just snowballed. I trimmed some other players who either wanted to leave for game time, Lundemo, N'Doye and a handful of other players I felt had run their course. I didn't got crazy though, although maybe I did for the more financially controlled of you, but in my own mind I done not too bad. I brought in two players I've been eyeing since game start, first comes from the Bundesliga in Naby Keita, then the one I've been waiting for, Eric Bailiy from Man United for £12.5m-ish due to his transfer listing. He adds to the African contingent and will become a legend for this club I reckon.

 

[Fosse]

Had Thomas Lemar at Newcastle on FM16 and he was magical

[Jogo Bonito]

@Hoarau Excellent results and congrats on the trophies! Good to see Yaya, Dembele and Costil impressing, along with your young original stars! Interesting with Kessie, although I'm light years away from being able to afford that type of player. Bailly sounds like a good deal for next season too, it's a really strong squad you have there!

[Hoarau]

Yeah cheers, I'm trying to keep it within the remits of Monaco, young players or experienced pros for tutoring.

The Bailly deal was too good to pass and he's already one of our top performers. 

Signings aside I'm proud of myself as ive integrated 3 of Monaco original young players this season. Saint-Maximim , Ait Bennasser and Bahlouli all played nearly 10 Games each come February. Good thing, bad thing is the ACON is on just now so I've lost a bunch of players to it but it's giving these guys and a fee other youngsters game time, it's actually been helpful.

On a sidenote, I'm actually managing at the ACON, I was offered the Ivory Coast job and was intrigued so took the chance. It's fun.

How's Toulouse? I'm thinking of making my main summer target Alban Lafont, Costil is the man but I feel I could ease the younger Lafont in without putting immediate pressure on him. 

Anyone had any experience of Bordeaux's Malcom? My domestic scout is falling in love with him?

[inthisspace]

Sorry, silly question coming up.

Why are Egyptian players counting towards my non-EU count? I thought that Egypt is part of Africa and all African nations are exempted. Or am I wrong on that regard?

Edit:

I failed to sign Ndoye on a free transfer - he chose to go to Fernebahce instead, probably the wage played some part.

[Segmann229]

For inthisspace

Pays qui ont signer:    "l'accord COTONOU"  sont considérer comme européen.

[Segmann229]

For inthisspace

Pays qui ont signer:    "l'accord COTONOU"  sont considérer comme européen.

[Jogo Bonito]

@Hoarau Lafont and Malcom would both be great signings! Glad to see you making use of three more youth players, that's a major attraction for managing Monaco so the cash shouldn't make you privileged managers forget the bread and butter

@inthisspace Shame about Ndoye. In reality I don't think he would turn down a move to you at Rennes or me at Toulouse, but Turkey is popular at this time of year

Unfortunately for you, Egypt is not part of the Cotonou Agreement. All 79 Cotonou ACP member countries get an exemption (this covers most of Africa, plus Caribbean and Pacific states) and then in addition all other African countries excluding Egypt & Libya also get 'treated as European'. This is why there are also a large numbers of players from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia in the North of the continent who won't show as 'foreign'. I'd suggest sticking to the  French speaking parts of Africa that can supply you with lots of talented footballers

http://www.acp.int/content/secretariat-acp

@Segmann229 Thanks for your comments and efforts to help. Unfortunately, most of the readers here probably don't speak much/any French, and also I think the forum rules ask that the language for comments is kept in English. Merci beaucoup

 

I'm looking forward to continuing my Toulouse adventure upon my return to Africa in the next few days

 

 

[inthisspace]

@Segmann229, @Jogo Bonito,

Thanks for the information. I learned something new!

Maintaining squad harmony is a challenge in this game. I won the Coupe de la Ligue and now one of my players is banging on the door for a new contract. I declined, he influenced other players. 

Scoring goals is a problem too. Seems like I only create one clear cut chance per game, but when I look at the extended highlights, some of the chances do seem to be good. Not sure what counts as a CCC here though.

[Jogo Bonito]

@inthisspace You're welcome. Who are your strikers and supporting attackers? Perhaps the quality isn't that great.

[jckstevens]

Anybody playing with Montpellier? Just heading into the first game of the season, signed Eysseric for the first team, Confäis, Zidane and Guitane for a bit of youth. Trying to play a 4-2-3-1 with Mounie as the big man and Eysseric-Sanson-Boudebouz behind him.

[Jogo Bonito]

@jckstevens Montpellier are a decent option, although I'm not that keen on most of their defensive options and protection in front of them. Mounie is doing fairly well so hopefully you can replicate that form with him. Perhaps there's a reason I'm not aware of, but I'm amazed you've not mentioned my favourite Casimir Ninga though

Boudebouz is a great little player, and you seem to have some trickery with that trio supporting the lone striker. In fact, it's a bit 'ASSE' in respect of player types and formation. The other player I really like in this side is Skhiri. I've been bidding for him at Toulouse, but we can't get close to a deal yet. Do you plan to use him regularly?

Hoping to hear your progress updates as you go, best of luck!

[jckstevens]

@Joga Bonito Yes I know what you mean about their defensive options! At first look they seem poor but I'll explain how I'm experiencing some success with them at this time!

Im trying to keep as consistent a first 11 as possible, partly due to the fact rotation isn't as necessary due to no European football and also because my bench options are pretty pants. My first 11, who I have complete faith in are...     Jourdren       Delaplagne-Remy-Congre-Rousillon             Skhiri-Lasne-Sanson                      Eysseric-Mounie-Boudebouz. Up the right side is Delaplagne, Sanson (RCM) and Boudebouz, and I'm trying to focus my play up there with a right sided bias. All 3 have just agreed to 5 year contracts which is brilliant news aswell! So far Delaplagne as a WB-A has been immense registering joint top league assists! 

As for my CB choices, Congré is the much more experienced CB but what he lacks is quickness and Remy makes up for this, I have Remy set to Cover and with acceleration of 15 he has the legs to be able to catch attackers and it allows me to not have to drop deep all the time  

I haven't really given Ninga a chance, I've subbed him on a few times for Eysseric as a IF but I feel he lacks the mentals to play there. As for that I don't see how he fits in my team but I'm willing to persevere with him he just looks like he could be incredible given some development! Skhiri is one of my automatic starters, he has bags of potential and is strong and very good on the ball, he sits at the base of the midfield recycling possession for my team. Unbelievably he is only valued at 325k, but not surprisingly that value is rising by 25k each game!

 

As you can hopefully see from the play below, 10 and 8 are Boudebouz and Sanson, and their 1-2 dragged the wide players in, which left acres of room for Delaplagne to run into, who then picked out a cross for Mounie to head in at the near post, exactly how I envisage my tactic working. No.7 (Lasne) and 9 (Eysseric) can be seem entering the box late to try and catch any second balls. If I was to have any criticism I would like either one of Sanson or Boudebouz to be more attack minded and provide another option for Delaplagne. Thanks to Mounie's goal and a Boudebouz penalty we won 2-0 and now sit 3rd with 9 points from 4 games  

 

  

 

It would be great to hear from any Montpellier managers to hear how you're getting on!

 

[inthisspace]

18 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@inthisspace You're welcome. Who are your strikers and supporting attackers? Perhaps the quality isn't that great.

I originally had Giovanni Sio to lead the line, but he was pants, no matter which role I played him in (DLF, CF support, False Nine). Then Hervin Ongenda and Kermit Eramus both rotated as False Nines or Trequartista. Ongenda did a much better job, but is out on a long term injury. Now, I have one of my youngsters, Wesley Said, to lead as a false nine and he is not too bad, probably because of his PPMs moves into channels.

Yoann Gourcuff was my original AMC, but loanee Carlos Alena has usurped him of late since the former had a stinker in the Coupe Da Ligue Final against RC Strasbourg. It was the same time I permanently binned Giovanni Sio to the bench or out of the squad totally. Another youngster, Nicolas Janvier, is also staking a place here.

Right wing is an interesting one. I had Kamil Grosicki as the undisputed number one. But I realised ever since I changed his role to an Advanced Playmaker (Attack/Support), he does not seem to be doing too well. He played a blinder in the cup final, but requested for a huge wage increase despite having 3+ more seasons to run on his current contract. So I have temporarily put him on the bench and tried Eramus there.

With these changes, I have won my last 2 games 4-1 and 3-1 respectively. So it looks good at present. I was told CCC was not a clear indicator of chances, so I am going to ignore it.

[metalface13]

I'm starting a save with OM, any recommendations on strengthening AMC and AML positions? Planning on using  4-2-3-1 formation.

[_Vladislove]

 

FC Girondins de Bordeaux - January 2017

 

 

So, after some inital struggles with FM17, I decided to try my luck again and to start a new save with Bordeaux, the club I support IRL. I choose to disable transfer for the first window to make it more realistic. This is the team I started the season with. I wanted everyone to have a chance to prove himself, thus nobody left us nor join us during the summer. The strengh of our team is our quick and very technical forwards, with players such as Ounas, Malcom, Rolan or Menez. However, we really lack physical impact in the midfield and attack, our defense is not quality (except Pallois) and we lack depth in the midfield, especially after the injury of Sertic during the preason for 8 months due to damaged cruciate ligaments.

 

Tactics

As I had no luck in previous save trying to apply some complex tactics, I decided to try a very simple one this time. So we started the season using a 4-2-3-1 with zero team instructions. I choose to go with this shape as it is the one that allow us to use the best players of the team, and because it plays well against 4-4-2, and there is many teams using it in L1. We normally play using a flexible shape as long as a control mentality. Our goal is to play relatively high on the pitch in order to apply a pressure on the other team and to play the ball quick to the goal using combinations between our forwards and midfielders. As you can see on the screenshot, I sticked to simple roles, and I use a deep lying forward upfront in orded to make the most of Rolan's abilities. I rarely use any instructions, and my changes in the tactics are usually made switching the mentality to a more defensive or attacking one, depending on the game or the situation. Our second tactic is a 4-3-3. I usually use it when we play the big ones (PSG, Lyon, Monaco, ...), as it provide a better defensive cover, or to counter some specific formations.

 

Results

The season started well with a victory against Saint-Etienne at home and one away against our local rivals, Toulouse. We managed to get a point from Lyon, beat multiples weaker teams in september and got smashed by Paris in october. After another loss against Rennes, we were back at our top and we won 6 games out of 8, with a 3-0 victory at home against Monaco in december. We then went throught a bad patch and notably got hammered 5-1 by Angers mid-january. However, we crushed Toulouse 4-1 at home the game after. Thanks to this good results, we currently sit in the third place, after 21 games (12V-3D-6L), far behind Paris and Lyon.

 

Players

In the goals, Carrasso is doing a decent first half of season, with 7 clean sheets in 21 games. In defense, Lewczuk is not playing that well. Pallois is doing great, like always, as Pablo, which is a big surprise. I expected him to be our 3rd choice as CD, but he is now our starter along with Pallois. Contento is playing okayish, and he might be replaced by Poundjé, who played less but made some better performance overall. On the right flank, it is a bit of the same thing. Sabaly, loaned by Paris, was our first choice, but Gajic overtook him and is now starting here. In the central midfield position, Toulalan is doing better after a poor start. He is our only option as defensive midfielder. Plasil, depsite being 35, peform very well. Vada, playing in AM, is quite inconsistent. I think he lacks competion, with the only player being capable of player there being Kaabouni, who despite good performances as sub, is not ready to start in Ligue 1. Arrambari is also playing well, and is often used as a CM. In the attacking positions, Ounas and Ménez are playing well now, after a bad start. Malcom is not playing that well, but I keep using him to give him some first team experience. Rolan is our only player performing as ST, with 8 goals and 8 assists in 15 starts. Laborde and Kiese-Thelin have made some really poor games.

 

Transfers

So there was no movements during the first part of the season. However, I decided to get rid of a couple of players in january. Kamano, Prior, Pellenard and Laborde leave us to get some play time. They barely played during the first half of the season, and I do not like to work with a 29 players team. Traoré made 2 appearance, and his contracts expired in june. So I let him leave for Bastia when he asked for it.

We also did get some reinforcement. As I said, Toulalan was our only defensive CM, and he is not that young, I wanted a backup for him. Thus, Samba Sow joined us for only 1,1M €. He will bring us a bit of physical in the midfield. He is a good defensive midfielder, and he also very capable with the ball. Our second recruit is the 33 years old deep lying forward Cyril Théréau, from Udinese. He joined us for 1M € and a two and a half years contract. He can play as a CAM too, so he will definitely grabs some game there and there. His physical also provide us an alternative to Rolan. He made a great start with us with an impressive performance against our rival Toulouse, scoring two goals, the first one being two minutes after the start of the game and from outside of the penalty area. All of that just three days after he landed in Bordeaux. Our third signing is a pre-contract with Costil, the France 3rd choice goalkeeper. He did not want to extend his contract with Rennes, and will join us in July. Carrasso is getting old, and I think Costil is the right replacement for him.

 

This conclude our first half of the 2016/2017 season review. We now progress to the most difficult part of the season, aiming for Europe. I will get back to you once the season is finished.

 

 

[Jogo Bonito]

Sorry for lack of updates, I'm having a bad experience with my African internet. However, being able to play offline has allowed me to complete a very enjoyable first season with Toulouse. I've taken lots of screen shots but can't upload them and write my update yet. However, I'm now almost at the end of pre-season in season 2, and have made some excellent signings on free transfers and a few more for modest fees. I've made the club a stack of cash in my first season and should recover my outlay for this summer too, so looking in quite good shape.

@inthisspaceRegarding Ninga as discussed above, his £1.5m outlay was the bargain of the century for me. His value after one season is now over £10m - how that happened will be explained when I can update!

@_Vladislove Welcome along, I'm very pleased to see a genuine French fan managing their own club in here. Bordeaux do have some good forward players, so it's clear where the improvements are needed! Best of luck!

[pinball_88]

@_Vladislove  what about your staff? who's come? who's left?

 

 

[Lambo95]

Has any one tried Auxerre? I'm thinking of starting with them due to their history of producing excellent youngsters 

[inthisspace]

On 05/01/2017 at 01:00, Jogo Bonito said:

 

@inthisspaceRegarding Ninga as discussed above, his £1.5m outlay was the bargain of the century for me. His value after one season is now over £10m - how that happened will be explained when I can update!

@_Vladislove

@Jogo Bonito, 

Yes,  I finally fell for the Ninga man-love on FM and bought him for £3.5M in the second season.  How do you play him?  He seems to be best suited as a defensive forward in my lone striker system. 

Let's see how he pans out.  Was well marshalled by Marquinhos and Thiago Silva in the French Super Cup.  Scored his first goal in the first league game against Caen. 

On 05/01/2017 at 22:31, Lambo95 said:

Has any one tried Auxerre? I'm thinking of starting with them due to their history of producing excellent youngsters 

Auxerre is good.  I was trying to poach a few youngsters from the team.  They look like they are all ready for first team football.  Do give it a try! 

[Lambo95]

My first half a season with Auxerre has been very surprising. I'm going into February top of Ligue 2. I was aiming for a top 6 finish, but the youngsters have exceeded my expectations, and the experienced core of the team have been extremely solid. 

 

 

The Jan window was pretty unforgiving, with the big clubs circling around some of the younger players. I foolishly cashed in on my first choice RB Aguilar since his contract was up at the end of the season and he wanted way too much money for his ability. Then Genk and Anderlecht both offered £1.4m for my 2nd choice RB Issa Samba, who would've gone onto become a key player for me. I did get a 40% sell on fee though, so it's not all bad. Then Anderlecht made a bid worth upwards of £3m for Fomba, which was accepted but he decided to stay. Given the vast amounts of almost identical young midfielders at the club, I would've preferred him to go as that's too good an offer to refuse at this level. To replace Aguilar and Samba, I promoted Digol to the first team since he's almost as good as Samba with a similar potential, and I also signed Tony Hibbert as a backup/tutor for him. I've also signed a pre contract with Baptiste Aloé who looks very good and will replace Sapragna who's only on loan from Marseille. 

 

Overall it's going quite well, with the league form, and decent runs in both cups. Hopefully I'll not bottle promotion, so I can keep hold of some of my better players like Boucher, Kilic and Boto. 

[Geordieboy52]

Right then, 3rd season in looking like I can sign this Malang Sarr for £20, he looks immense BUT has anyone tried retraining him as a B2B midfielder?  His stats are just about perfect for this.

[Fatkidscantjump]

I really recommend FC Nantes for everyone who wants to start a save in Ligue 1.

For every french football fan Nantes is a legendary side, they even have their own specific type of play called "jeu a la Nantaise" which was pretty much a really fast, one touch paced counter attacking football, based on youth intakes. Legendary players such as Desailly, Deschamps, Makelele, and more recently Payet all emerged from Nantes. They have one of the best title records in France, but they always did poorly in Europe and their last title was 15 years ago and since then the club is slowly becoming worse and worse, with a controversial new president Waldemar Kita. They even went to Ligue 2 for 3 years around 2010.

They still have incredible support from fans. Honestly, Nantes fans are one of the best in France. Just look at this giant hug when Aristeguieta scored a last minute goal. And this was recently, when the club was not doing so well.

 

They also have very good installations, good youth recruitment, decent staff. Squad is not brilliant but it should do fine to end up mid table. With a few improvements it can grab an European ticket on the first 2 seasons.

This club deserve more and it's a great challenge for a FM save.

[Fosse]

9 hours ago, Fatkidscantjump said:

I really recommend FC Nantes for everyone who wants to start a save in Ligue 1.

For every french football fan Nantes is a legendary side, they even have their own specific type of play called "jeu a la Nantaise" which was pretty much a really fast, one touch paced counter attacking football, based on youth intakes. Legendary players such as Desailly, Deschamps, Makelele, and more recently Payet all emerged from Nantes. They have one of the best title records in France, but they always did poorly in Europe and their last title was 15 years ago and since then the club is slowly becoming worse and worse, with a controversial new president Waldemar Kita. They even went to Ligue 2 for 3 years around 2010.

They still have incredible support from fans. Honestly, Nantes fans are one of the best in France. Just look at this giant hug when Aristeguieta scored a last minute goal. And this was recently, when the club was not doing so well.

 

They also have very good installations, good youth recruitment, decent staff. Squad is not brilliant but it should do fine to end up mid table. With a few improvements it can grab an European ticket on the first 2 seasons.

This club deserve more and it's a great challenge for a FM save.

This! I love Nantes on FM, it's a shame they aren't great in real life 

[Jogo Bonito]

On ‎07‎/‎01‎/‎2017 at 04:14, inthisspace said:

@Jogo Bonito, 

Yes,  I finally fell for the Ninga man-love on FM and bought him for £3.5M in the second season.  How do you play him?  He seems to be best suited as a defensive forward in my lone striker system. 

Let's see how he pans out.  Was well marshalled by Marquinhos and Thiago Silva in the French Super Cup.  Scored his first goal in the first league game against Caen. 

 

I'm happy to hear that! I used Ninga as an advanced forward in a 442 during the first season and he was awesome. I sometimes used him as a lone striker (advanced forward) in a 433 too, but not that often. In season two I have been chopping and changing a bit more and he had an injury, but he will play either advanced forward if central, or inside forward from the left as I have snapped up a couple of absolute bargains that kind of forces me in to playing two inside forwards and a central striker.

@Lambo95 Welcome and good luck with Auxerre. It's good that their youth reputation was the cause for you taking them on.

@Geordieboy52 I've never considered that kind of role for Sarr, far more natural and important for me at the back - but fair play for thinking out of the box! It's a shame you couldn't get him in season 1, you would have saved about £19m! I've had to ride out some grumbles when big clubs like Roma wanted him and I refused to sell, but he is now happy again and has extended his contract at Toulouse.

@Fatkidscantjump Good to hear your love for Nantes, it's nice to see some of the historic clubs also getting some attention in here.

@Fosse Are you managing in France at the moment too?

[Fosse]

3 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@Fosse Are you managing in France at the moment too?

Yeah still at Nantes, I've posted in this thread and spoken to you about it 

I told you Blin would be decent