BoxToBox Posted February 10, 2017 Author Share Posted February 10, 2017 4 hours ago, kidthekid said: this psg team is crazy, except the right back if it's who i think it is. The ex-Barca lad? Looks excellent to me.... This is his second run at PSG, with a second run at Barca in between. They also have Firmino, Florenzi, Bernardeschi, Origi(who's fairly crap, done his cruciates and lost his pace), Rugani, Nelson Semedo and Saul. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 wow, he's actually good. I remember he had a rough spell on loan at Inter in real life so I figured he wasn't above average. He seems to be doing ok at Valencia Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 10, 2017 Author Share Posted February 10, 2017 23 minutes ago, kidthekid said: wow, he's actually good. I remember he had a rough spell on loan at Inter in real life so I figured he wasn't above average. He seems to be doing ok at Valencia Oh yeah, he's way better in FM than he is in real life. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Gato_In_Goal Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Mourinho certainly did make that PSG insanely good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 Finally an update! This was a horribly long summer window. Not in number of deals, as there have been less than usual, but quite a few of them were difficult, or needed thinking about, and there were quite a few misfires too. Even a few surprises. Now what we really needed were wingers, quite desperately, and centre backs. CB's are a massive issue, as there are only about four real quality Basque centrebacks, two at Athletic(Laporte, San Jose), one at Real Madrid(Inigo Martinez). and one at HSV(Aritz Elustondo), obviously, all four are unapproachable for a small club in France. Outgoing are mostly rubbish and some players that I wasn't bothered about, but managed to work out deals for way more than they're worth. I'd have liked to keep Aritz Arrese(4B), but he had lost his head over some transfer to some average English side. Delighted with that money for him, especially as I have a few French prospects I rate much higher. On to the incoming.... A player I've loved from the last few FM's(though he used to be available off a non-contract), this deal was arranged the moment I got my budgets. Important wing depth, he's started on fire. This guy was on my radar for ages, and unhappy at Sociedad, so I made him a Top Target and buttered him up, eventually landed him for far too cheap. Early negotiations were in the 15m region, so we massively lucked out. A physical beast! He needs to work on his defensive skills, but I really like him. If he was a bit better at heading, I'd try him at CB. One of the best CB's I could find, and handy at DM too. A two year loan with a 1.5m option. He's a good DM and tutor, who can pitch in at CB if needed. Better than most of the CB's we had, on a free and cheap enough wages, can't complain. Now this was a surprise, usually the gem of Athletic's academy, he was bounced about a bit and never developed as he would have if nurtured properly(usually ends up at the biggest clubs in Europe). I enquired and scouted early in the window and there was no chance of them selling, then got a message mid summer that they'd listed him for 1.1m and bit their hand off. He's good, still young enough that he can become a fine player, if maybe not his his peak potential. Well rounded skills. Watford were relegated, so I got stuck in and got this fellow to kick off and get listed by request. Watford had earlier done it with my players, so turnabout is fair play. Needs a little work, but he'll be great for us. I've already spoken about this monster. He's already proving his worth, too! A real quality looking prospect. I expect his 1m release clause to look like daylight robbery eventually. Never thought I'd have a chance to bring Ruffier home! I shouldn't have, probably, but despite loosing some physicality and speed he's still a cracking keeper and French too! Atangana will still get plenty of games too. Part of the idea was to use him as a tutor, he has good professionalism and great determination, then I realised all my keepers had great personalities anyway...... Oh well. Another two year loan for our backline, this time with a 2.5m purchase option. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 3 hours ago, The_Gato_In_Goal said: Mourinho certainly did make that PSG insanely good. In my saves, he and Simeone (in particular) are typically unstoppable. Pep much less so, consistently. Great loan pick-up! I love the optional future fees, as you can get a good deal for a player who might not want to move on a permanent basis...yet Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 6 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said: In my saves, he and Simeone (in particular) are typically unstoppable. Pep much less so, consistently. Great loan pick-up! I love the optional future fees, as you can get a good deal for a player who might not want to move on a permanent basis...yet Plus, if they don't develop you can just chuck them back in the sea... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 I forgot! This is the CL group we landed. Reasonable by CL standards, still probably quite tough for us. Ajax are surprisingly strong, looking at their squad, Andreas Pereira, Januzaj, Nkoulou, Elneny, Kryvstov, Rajkovic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 Has Athletic made you a feeder club yet? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 8 hours ago, kidthekid said: Has Athletic made you a feeder club yet? They tried for the odd prospect, but unsuccessfully, the ones that went to Inter, and such. They also chased Ujia after he was unsettled by us, so that's one to watch. Very surprised they didn't take a crack at Eizmendi. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley84 Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 That moment when you start recognizing Basque players you scouted in the French team Got a lot of catching up to do, Champions League football sounds great for your finances. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 2 minutes ago, Muttley84 said: That moment when you start recognizing Basque players you scouted in the French team Got a lot of catching up to do, Champions League football sounds great for your finances. 10m for playing in the group stages, a nice boost. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 Hmmm, I'm in kind of a weird situation. eight games played in the league and tops, two points clear of PSG. Almost every game has been an absolute scrape, usually 1-0 with me flicking about formations and shapes trying to find, well.... something. The system from the last two seasons isn't working, the football is dire and we're lucky to be where we're at. I tried a 3-4-1-2 that I quite enjoy(it's a shape I usually switch to when chasing games), but it's a fools errand switching to three at the back when I can't find two good CB's. Also tried 4-4-1-1 bit it's was pretty toothless. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 So after that 'ol moan, I switched again and built a 4-2-3-1, a pretty standard one that gets a tune out of most sides if you have decent players. Played the team in 17th, and we played freaking awful, but again win, 1-2 after a late winner from Gonzalez(who shoots an awful lot for someone with "looks for pass"). So, next game up was at home in the CL, we're underdogs against a very strong Benfica side. I decide, out of curiosity, to use the system that overachieved the past few seasons. Over in 10 minutes. Add to that, Sanz, with his hat trick and an assist, had been mostly crap before this game. I suppose we need teams to come at us to get the best out of what we're doing, the more and more attacking Benfica got, the more we dominated. When they went full overload and 3-4-3, they couldn't even get close. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 I think your Ruben Sanz is related to Ander Sanz in my save. Isn't yours from Sociedad as well? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 22 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said: I think your Ruben Sanz is related to Ander Sanz in my save. Isn't yours from Sociedad as well? He is indeed! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 Now, that's the biggest scalp we've taken! Brutally unfair to call that 2nd goal a De Gea OG, Eizmendi shot at a narrow angle from outside the box and nutmegged him! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 10 hours ago, BoxToBox said: He is indeed! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 Strong words from Rég here, but I'm not exactly sure he's what you'd call a football mastermind.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 He's the Brendan Rodgers to your...Pep The Bald? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 I don't think so, mainly because I can't see him at this level much longer.... We just beat them at their ground, only 0-1, but I played a bunch of 16-18 year olds and reserves. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Super Man Utd win. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 11 minutes ago, deltablue said: Super Man Utd win. Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 Speaking of 16 year olds, one of them played a few games already this season, and just won goal of the month for this effort. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 We done the double over Man Utd! I believe that's what's usually referred to as being "FM'd" when it goes the other way. @ManUtd1 You might like the game winning goal, I switched to a strikerless system on the hour to at least try and hold the draw. You can see how it confuses the CB's making them unsure when to push up and when to drop, and especially drags the right CB(Jeison Murillo) out of place for Sanz to attack. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bedese Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Seriously. Stop it. You're five seasons in (I think?) and doing the double over United with a team who started off in the fifth tier. THE FIFTH. Four promotions in a row, European football in your first season in the top flight and a double over one of the biggest teams in the world in the next. Oh, and with Basque's only, too. Stop it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Incredible progress, per usual...and that goal looks beautiful! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 Halfway point. We're keeping pace for another 2nd finish, and with more squad depth we're doing well in the cups too. Our leading striker has 6 goals, a lot or games we're scraping 1-0's. The only team I expected us to do well against was Ajax, in a twist of fate, they were the only team to take points off of us. I really like this kid! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Awesome progress. Maybe managing in Faroe Islands made you the manager you are Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttley84 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 You never cease to amaze me. Topping the CL group at first go? That's some impressive performance. Not saying I wanna back-down of our small bet, but things are looking so much in your favor right now Congrats! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davehibb Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Had a little break and I come back to this... Awesome mate! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 10 hours ago, kidthekid said: Awesome progress. Maybe managing in Faroe Islands made you the manager you are I'd recommend everyone do a save like that, or San Marino, etc... You learn so much about the game. 6 hours ago, Muttley84 said: You never cease to amaze me. Topping the CL group at first go? That's some impressive performance. Not saying I wanna back-down of our small bet, but things are looking so much in your favor right now Congrats! Cheers! 51 minutes ago, davehibb said: Had a little break and I come back to this... Awesome mate! I was wondering why you had disappeared. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeegieFM Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Don't know how you've done so well so quickly! All the same well in! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 3 minutes ago, WeegieFM said: Don't know how you've done so well so quickly! All the same well in! Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 Had a weirdly quiet winter window, chucked a couple out on loan, sold a pair that were not making it here then blew my entire budget, both transfer and wages, on a centre back. Elustondo is a good player, absolutely the best CB at the club now, and a good fullback too. The problem arises that I had to hit an 18m buyout to pry him from HSV, and far more wages than I'd like. Schalke and Juve had eyes on him too, so even at that I was lucky..... This deal, though, highlights a key problem going forward. High quality Basque CB's are few and far between. I had a careful look, even at uninterested players and they're a rare thing. Rare enough that it's likely I don't see a better CB joining us than Elustondo. I don't even see any regens that look like being real stars(maybe there are some outside of club knowledge, but I doubt it, we have Spain and Frances well scoured). Laporte is on a long term deal at 180kpw, and a 100m release, San Jose is on a lot of money, but a much shorter deal, and a 19m release. I may try for him in summer, if Athletic miss out on CL football, but I reckon he'll have signed a new deal by then. Etxeita despite his age is great, and looks like he'd ba affordable, but has no interest, Martinez isn't up to much in the air, but is brilliant enough to work around it, again, very unlikely unlikely unless he ends up unhappy at Madrid and we have good finances. So, for the next few years Elustondo is our man, plain and simple, but I guess I should be happy enough, we've been excellent defensively, despite not having any standout centrebacks. Yeray's his partner going forward, and had been growing well, despite already being in his late 20's. Aranburu is the brightest defensive prospect at the club, getting minutes, growing well. Don't expect a star, but would be delighted to see him become a solid option. In other news, Athletic just caught wind of what is going on up here, and tried to sign about four different players, Romo who we bought off them six months ago, Sanz, Eizmendi and one more I can't remember. Luckily I managed to navigate the window without losing any. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 Youth Intake Day! Our push earlier in the season to Well Established pays off instantly, and despite the manager being Irish/American and having a Portugese feeder, the club has yet to produce anything but French/Basque kids. I've tagged a bunch that I like the look of, F.Galdeano just because of his personality. I notice I took the screenshot before I changed my mind and tagged Eneko Zabala too, just on an off chance he might become useful(#desperate). I don't hold much hope for any of them beyond David Alonso, and maybe Asier Bilbao. Look at this lad though! He has issuse, Anticipation, Concentration, one-footed and he's inconsistent, but 19 Determination, Professional, rapid, fit. This is a guy you build your team around, and he doesn't even slightly fit my system. Some thinking ahead.... Ideally he'd be part of a strike partnership, or spearheading ahead of an amc, but currently the strikers in my system are pivots/link men with inside forwards either side. In other news, I got this message later that day. Lovely stuff! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeegieFM Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 33 minutes ago, BoxToBox said: Youth Intake Day! Our push earlier in the season to Well Established pays off instantly, and despite the manager being Irish/American and having a Portugese feeder, the club has yet to produce anything but French/Basque kids. Look at this lad though! He has issuse, Anticipation, Concentration, one-footed and he's inconsistent, but 19 Determination, Professional, rapid, fit. This is a guy you build your team around, and he doesn't even slightly fit my system. Some thinking ahead.... Ideally he'd be part of a strike partnership, or spearheading ahead of an amc, but currently the strikers in my system are pivots/link men with inside forwards either side. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 15 hours ago, BoxToBox said: In other news, Athletic just caught wind of what is going on up here, and tried to sign about four different players, Romo who we bought off them six months ago, Sanz, Eizmendi and one more I can't remember. Luckily I managed to navigate the window without losing any. It's happening. The battle of the Basques. That was I was looking forward to in this save. It would be more awesome if they were playing each other every year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 Scraped by Porto after extra time in the 2nd leg. We had chucked away an away lead after Cavani was subbed on and popped in a brace in the first leg, starting with a peno. We face Inter next, who just knocked out Real Madrid.... 1 hour ago, kidthekid said: It's happening. The battle of the Basques. That was I was looking forward to in this save. It would be more awesome if they were playing each other every year. Should heat up nicely this summer when they have more money to spend and we're going head to head in the market. We have some players they quite badly need. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 speaking about the cb problem. Do you ever convert tall (or at least above average stats for jumping/heading) fullbacks or dms to cbs? In theory, a player with similar attributes to Matic would make a good dm in FM for example. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 5 minutes ago, kidthekid said: speaking about the cb problem. Do you ever convert tall (or at least above average stats for jumping/heading) fullbacks or dms to cbs? In theory, a player with similar attributes to Matic would make a good dm in FM for example. I've done it in past saves, but not yet in this one. I'm pretty happy to retrain any player to any position, if I think they'll help out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 Should have won that. EDIT: Made up for it a week later. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 Literally in the door after an injury and the lad is banging on about a new contract, because of how "important" he is. He has played three games this season. Three! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 15, 2017 Author Share Posted February 15, 2017 Season Review. League 1 - League 2 - Cups - Europe So, A cracker of a season, we repeat the 2nd finish, hit all our targets across competitions, and pick up our first proper piece of silverware. The stadium is good news, but they could have gone bigger. We has 25k plus in Europe at Bordeaux's ground, 32 for the Inter game... Summer should be very interesting, Athletic want a few of my players, not that I want to sell any, and I have a few prospects I'm targeting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManUtd1 Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Great season, man. Truly impressive. You've got to love a new stadium, as well! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 They should have named the stadium after you. Deschamps didn't even play for them, now he has two stadiums named after him by a club that he left as a 15 year old. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoxToBox Posted February 15, 2017 Author Share Posted February 15, 2017 10 hours ago, ManUtd1 said: Great season, man. Truly impressive. You've got to love a new stadium, as well! Cheers! 8 hours ago, kidthekid said: They should have named the stadium after you. Deschamps didn't even play for them, now he has two stadiums named after him by a club that he left as a 15 year old. To be fair, he pops up before every single game to warn us about the opponent's key player. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 54 minutes ago, BoxToBox said: Cheers! To be fair, he pops up before every single game to warn us about the opponent's key player. lol, typical FM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneronaldo Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Hide yo kids, hide yo wifes, the Basque Thierry Henry is in the building Honestly if David Alonso doesn't make it, no one ever will. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 You just keep impressing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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