Great Southern Land - Turning Australia into a Powerhouse

[wynter]

World Cup Qualifiers Stage 2

We progressed pretty easily, UAE were the only real threat and we handled them with pretty well with a draw and a win.

Final Stage

Interesting group, definitely feel we should be at least Top 2 as South Korea are a pretty tough opponent. Plenty of potential to come unstuck though with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Uzbekistan not being bad sides. 

Should be interesting.

[wynter]

Solid Debut for our new Striker

Technically a bit average, but he's got a bright future.

[wynter]

2019/20 Season Update - Heading into the Closing Stages

We're starting to stall towards the finishing stages with the results against Hannover and Hoffenheim less than ideal. The results against Koln (Our local rivals) and Dortmund both 2nd and 5th on the ladder were very nice, especially the Dortmund game as we came back from 3-1 down right at the death.

There's an outside shot at a Champions League place with 4 matches remaining, it is however very unlikely. Dortmund and RBL are in much closer striking distance and with an upcoming match against Leipzig we could elevate ourselves into qualifying straight for the Europa League groups.

Vlahovic is working wonders on our run in, Slutskiy had good eye and it's definitely been used to my advantage.

11 Goals from 10 games in the Bundesliga.

Ideally we'll get 3 wins from 4 out of our remaining games, Bayern clinching the league may mean they don't really care about our match and I can exploit that in our favor. We're targeting 6th place and assured European Football. Then we'll move into the transfer window.

[wynter]

End of Season and Transfers

Poor end to the season meant that on the last day we were in 8th on goal difference and needed a win against 2nd placed Leverkusen to beat Hertha to 7th, or collect a point and have them lose to Augsburg who were battling relegation. 

European Football JUST secured and with the end of the season it was time to begin clearing out a squad filled with high-earning, distinctly average players. It wasn't intentional by any means, but our budget ending the season was at 1.2mil p/w. We've since slashed that to 981k and in doing so brought in 10 players that are vast improvements over the squad we had previously.

Key Signings

We needed to strengthen the core of our side, particularly at Centre Back and I felt another quality body in Midfield was a massive move as we shifted one of our AMCs to DM, in order to improve the spine of our team.

Robles

13.75 million Release Clause nets him at a steal. We will be looking to play a Regista in our team this year and I'm looking at him to fill that role for us while Kramer does the dirty work at BWM. First saw him on International Duty as we played Mexico in a friendly, scored the first goal against us and had a barnstormer of a game. Wanted him in from the moment I saw him.

 Vega

Replacement for Elvedi who had his head turned and unfortunately wasn't all too interested in staying, Vestegaard also was struggling to get playing time as we've elevated Ates into the first team so Vega essentially replaces two players as we still hold onto 5 CBs, elevating Rodrigues to 4th choice and Hubner to 3rd. Very solid athlete and more than capable of helping us distribute the ball and aid our short-passing game.

Fruchtl

Had to let Bayern rip my arm off at 18 million and potential fees adding up to 26 but he's definitely worth it and the immediate successor to Manuel Neuer in the German lineup. Will share duties with Sommer over this season, but he'll likely play 65% of our games if not more.

Ins/Outs

In terms of the squad, we're probably going to look at improving the LB and RB positions, Morrison and Turner will play off the bench this year with the occasional start, while the extra slot in DM/CM will see Driscoll definitely get some gametime.

Australian Signings

Turner & Siskas 

Greenwood 

Burns

Greenwood and Burns are ones that definitely have the skill to make it in the Bundesliga, Turner will take a bit more time but can make the grade. Siskas was valued at 4* and I thought he would be a great signing but his PA deteriorated on arrival and whether we can coax something out of him is debatable. Keen to give it a go though.

With our current squad we're targeting a Champions League Spot and with the World Cup Qualifiers on this year, we'll be in for a lot of games. 

[wynter]

Last two transfers and two of my personal favorite backs in the game

Corchia

Stafylidis

Pre-Season Fixtures

The squad is definitely gelling and towards the end of the season we were running over sides. Given our first team, I honestly think a tilt at the title is more than possible and I'm really keen to see if I can do it, or if I'm being vastly optimistic.

[wynter]

So close to a massive result away from home. 

[wynter]

Not a bad start, definitely not an amazing one either. I'm in a tactical conundrum at the moment, as Spellbinder

Isn't quite working out as planned. It's probably the first time I've strayed wildly from the 4-3-3 formation I've favoured over the years apart from a dabble with a Strikerless System last year which was quite fun. At BMG I've got some brilliant strikers though so going strikerless seems to be a stupid move.

It's very much a tactic geared toward being able to accommodate my squad, rather than one I feel is 'brilliant'. That's partly because I want to give Burns, Pasquali and Kubicki as much game time as possible and a 2 CAM system allows that in place of permanently rotating three of them which helps no-one. Things to ponder as we look at moving onto the rest of the season...

As I said, solid start. Can definitely work up from there.

One of the BMG Academy players is now able to play for us and Andrija Manic looks to be an incredible prospect, already backing up to Vlahovic and his debut goal was one to remember, helping us squeeze past Leipzig.

 

 

Big match up against Stoke to come to help us gain control over our Group. Domestically, Leverkusen loom.

Props to Driscoll for some massive development this season.

[wynter]

We've started World Cup Qualification strongly, the draw against Saudi Arabia was disappointing but the rest of the games have matched expectations. Drawing at the last second to South Korea is the only thing that's stopped up from being top of the group. Currently behind by 1 goal as Kuwait and I have the same amount of points.

We have them in the next game. Ideally we can win that and take control of the group. I'd hazard a guess that 16 points should be enough for Auto-Qualification. I'm going to be shooting for an undefeated campaign though.

Domestically we've changed tactics to a basis 4-2-3-1 Narrow

Adopted it after the Stoke match which we drew 0-0, A good first result vs Frankfurt where we cruised to a 3-1 win has me optimistic for its future potential.

Oikonomidis has been a revelation since we called him up. 5 goals from 11 caps and he's causing havoc out right. Kruse and Halloran's careers under us are seemingly at this stage dead in the water.

[wynter]

Well... We can pass the ball around. 

[nick1408]

What tactics are you using with Australia?  Without good ball playing players I'm not sure what my best options are

[wynter]

13 minutes ago, nick1408 said:

What tactics are you using with Australia?  Without good ball playing players I'm not sure what my best options are

These have been the two I've been using this Qualification Campaign

Mentality: Control

Instructions: Higher Line, Close Down More, Shorter Passing

Mentality: Defensive

Instructions:

More Direct Passing, Push Higher Up, Close Down More, Stick to Positions

Option 2 is for competitive games that I really need a result from but the opponent is a bit better, I generally prefer Option 1 which generally caters towards the squad. I've got some great midfield regens but Rogic, Luongo and Irvine can play there easily.

Used this one vs South Korea and in the 2018 World Cup

 

[nick1408]

No inside forwards is interesting.  The rest makes sense.  Also, how is Irvine as a dlp?  Passing isn't that great. I'm only in first season so have giannou up too. Great work on the development. Hope to see some Aussies come to group go for you. 

[wynter]

27 minutes ago, nick1408 said:

No inside forwards is interesting.  The rest makes sense.  Also, how is Irvine as a dlp?  Passing isn't that great. I'm only in first season so have giannou up too. Great work on the development. Hope to see some Aussies come to group go for you. 

Generally play Luongo and Irvine due to their tackling stats in place of passing, together they add a little more bite to the midfield. My Main DLP is a regen but Irvine's not bad with his passing at 12, he's mainly there to fill a hole, pick up the ball and pass it off to the guys up front.

I used to have him at BWM but DLP is a personal preference same with Wingers. 

Main DLP is Wilson and Driscoll interchanges with him, the same midfield pairing I had back at the Roar actually, it's a nice little throwback

[nick1408]

I went back throuygh the thread as a reminder to see your players.  Wilson looks a treat and could hold down a role in Europe.  I'm a bit before you so am using Aaron Mooy as the DLP.  I thought it may be for the tackling so will be telling them to tackle harder and probably close down less so they keep the shape a bit more.

[wynter]

Yeah, the intakes since I left haven't been great though unfortunately. Might need to go back and take over a team soon, maybe at the end of this season.

[ManUtd1]

Catching up a bit in here. Love the move to Gladbach, which should allow you to poach any promising Aussie youngsters given how much cash you'll have, and the lax registration rules.

Didn't know you were a keeper, as well! Solidarity!

[Sheriff7]

Great work!Do you have Gianou in your call up?

[wynter]

12 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

Catching up a bit in here. Love the move to Gladbach, which should allow you to poach any promising Aussie youngsters given how much cash you'll have, and the lax registration rules.

Didn't know you were a keeper, as well! Solidarity!

The lax foreign rules are a dream, t'was what stopped me from looking at Italy, France or England. Yeah they have a ton of cash which is definitely handy but absolutely no decent Aussie Regens in the past few seasons so I can't really do anything with the facilities  

And Solidarity as well comrade, we must stick together in these trying "Get rid of Shootouts" Times 

10 hours ago, Sheriff7 said:

Great work!Do you have Gianou in your call up?

Yeah, he missed out on the last squad due to me wanting to cap a few youngsters but he was our main striker at the 2018 WC and he might feature at 2022 depending on how well a few prospects do/don't develop.

[wynter]

It's official

Byrne Capped by England 

[ManUtd1]

1 hour ago, wynter said:

And Solidarity as well comrade, we must stick together in these trying "Get rid of Shootouts" Times 

The FMCU Goalkeepers' Union!  Hah!

[BoxToBox]

2 hours ago, wynter said:

It's official

Byrne Capped by England 

That's a damn shame.

[Benjoe]

Great thread, @wynter!

Sad to see Byrne get capped by England, he'd been a treat for your NT.  

[nick1408]

Too bad on Byrne.  I would have thought England would have have had better options anyway

[wynter]

Mid-Season Update 2020/21 Season

We've had a great run of form since switching to 4-2-3-1 Narrow. Controlling the games has been a key aspect of that and we tend to keep at least 60% of the ball. The only downside is the lack of offensive penetration and to score goals we're having to ramp the mentality to attacking in order to make an actual dent in the opposition. The win against Bayern was unexpected and our most complete performance yet. Summed up with a great goal by Valenzuela and the complete lack on their end to craft any chances at all.

Immediately after that game he worked himself into our favoured personnel.

Bit harsh on Hubner since it took him 120 games to get the same accolade.

Table is tight, Leverkusen have surged away from the pack quite surprisingly and chasing them down will be an interesting challenge. I told the board II could get CL football > Europa League so I'm at least keeping that expectation on track and managing that fairly easily.

Our most impressive player this season has been Pasquali.

10 Games, 7 Goals, 8 Assists for a 7.73 Rating in the Bundesliga (Played a tad more since the screenshot)

Regarded as the 2nd best player in the league this year, phenomenal for him even if his development is starting to stagnate as we drops to 3.5 PA (Mind you that's still a Leading Bundesliga Level player).

For the rest of the season we're focusing on the Bundesliga title, we have Bayern in the 3rd Round of the German Cup so we'll likely get taken out but if not we're well on way in a bid for a double. Europa league is interesting as we're expected to make the Quarter Finals. If we fulfill minimum expectations there's little that could probably stop us from a tilt, given that the depth of the squad is huge and burnout is the least of our worries at this point in time.

[wynter]

New Signings

Kept this window small, bringing in Tirimacco to rotate with Vlahovic as we sold Werner due to his lack of development.

Ryan Neill was another signing, decent prospect that needs some massive tutoring. Just a matter of waiting for him to learn German.

Winter Break over and back into the league

Pasquali is only getting better, don't quite know why he suits this league so well but he's tearing it apart and it's awesome to watch.

[wynter]

Keeping the pressure on Leverkusen following the Winter Break. Pasquali has played a massive part of that with his performances lately, supplemented by Vlahovic and perhaps most importantly by Vega. Currently sitting with the 2nd least amount of goals conceded in the division with Vega appearing in 18/22 games.

He's dominating at the back and easily the justifying the outlay we put out for him at the beginning of the season. Mind you we only bid 4.2mil so it was going to be really easy for him to do so. Value has since soared to 24mil so he's doing something right. As is Gauld who we purchased for a free and now sits at 20mil. 

Biggest win for the save has definitely been the match vs Schalke.

The result itself was great, but more importantly they're currently third on the ladder and following the Draw between Dortmund and Bayern a week ago, in conjunction with their losses this week we've put an 8 point gap between ourselves and 3rd and a 14 point gap between ourselves and 5th with 12 weeks to go.

Europa League R32 - AS Saint-Etienne vs BMG

So AS Saint-Etienne were one of my funnest saves two years ago in FM15, as such I've got a lot of affection for them, even going to see them when I was over in Europe earlier this year. So drawing them was a tad sad yet lucky as to be honest, they're not a ridiculously hard opponent.

Leg One we swept them out of the tie with starring performances by Gauld and Vega.

Leg 2 didn't matter, although we were noticeably weaker with Pasquali out due to Injury. Surprising how reliant we are on someone who's probably not even in the best 10 players we have in terms of overall quality. Luckily he was only ruled out for 9 days with a twisted knee.

Our Biggest Match looms on the Horizon though...

Date: 6th of March

Location Borussia-Park

Winner has the chance to take control of the Title Race.

[BoxToBox]

A game that could define the season.

[wynter]

Forgot to throw in our next Europa League Opponents

 

3 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

A game that could define the season.

Definitely, hopefully we can come out on top. (Might also be resigning at the end of the season, so a title win would be nice.) 

[wynter]

No room for Sentiment. The best XI out on the pitch as Pasquali and Ates returns from injury. Burns relegated to the bench for the upcoming clash with the potential to provide some assistance in the second half.

5th Minute

Beautiful interplay between Pasquali, Deulofeu and Valenzuela opens the path for Vlahovic who receives a perfect through ball. Keeper stood no chance as has been typical of the big Serb as he hits his 25th goal of the season from 27 games.

35th Minute

Lull in play as Gladbach take the ascendency, chance appears out of nowhere off a well worked corner, Wendell headers straight in Fruchtl who catches the ball harmlessly.

Half time

BMG 1-0 Leverkusen

Tidy half, early goal taken and we've kept control of the ball stats sit at 58-42 possession and 8 shots to 4. Well in control.

52nd Minute

Caught out on the counter, Lukebakio burns past Corchia and we fail to get back in time. Calhanoglu pounces.

1-1

59th Minute

Madness.

Red Card and Leverkusen down to 10, BMG ramp up the pressure.

80th Minute

Valenzuela looking tired, Kubicki sitting on the bench. The call is made, fresh legs injected into the Front 4 and Kubicki on a mission to put the match in our hands. First touch results in a shot that flashes past the post. Things looks promising.

85th Minute

Corner.

There was only one man it could go to.

2-1 Vega sends the fans into a frenzy.

Bayern Lose, the gap widens even more. 10 games left, 17 points ahead of the Europa League places and a point in front. Could a 44 year drought finally end?

[ManUtd1]

Nicely done over Leverkusen! Tell Junter that Hakan says hello!

[wynter]

14 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

Nicely done over Leverkusen! Tell Junter that Hakan says hello!

#Tellewho?

[wynter]

I need air...

[nick1408]

How's Brandon Wilson going in your game?  Seems to be a real talent in my current AS Monaco game.

[wynter]

9 minutes ago, nick1408 said:

How's Brandon Wilson going in your game?  Seems to be a real talent in my current AS Monaco game.

Not in my game, so I suspect he's retired  

How does he look in yours out of curiosity?

[nick1408]

14 minutes ago, wynter said:

Not in my game, so I suspect he's retired  

How does he look in yours out of curiosity?

[wynter]

We emerge from hell (4th, 5th and 6th back to back), but not unscathed

We really should have beaten Wolfsburg.

Luckily, Leverkusen find themselves struggling.

All hail Lewandowski

[wynter]

36 minutes ago, nick1408 said:

Ooh, definitely could have been useful for my side. Shame he didn't succeed

[nick1408]

3 minutes ago, wynter said:

Ooh, definitely could have been useful for my side. Shame he didn't succeed

He's my starting DM(s) at the moment.  If he was a bit quicker I'd be playing him as the RB

[wynter]

Another One Bites the Dust

Takes his Greek cap, and unlike Byrne where we've had some superb mids cover that loss, Tsio definitely had the potential to be our talisman.

Full Update over the Europa League and the World Cup Qualifiers to come next 

[wynter]

End of Season Update

Our last two games were a disaster.

Quite simply, we couldn't score and I don't know why we struggled so much in getting the ball in the back of the net after over a season of doing it with ease.

Luckily, Leverkusen didn't do any better.

Really should not have been this close, I'll take it for the gift it is though and look at improving the squad for a Champions League tilt.

Least goals conceded is something I have not achieved once this year on FM (just got the trophy ten minutes ago) and definitely not in this save. Which makes it amusing as looking at our squad, if we want to challenge for the Champions League, I think it's our wing backs which need the most improvement. Next to a star playmaker in our Top 4. I don't quite know what's happened to Bayern as we ended their stranglehold, but it seems like it wasn't a difficult thing to do as they plummeted to 6th. They don't even have the excuse of Champions League football as they were taken out in the R16.

Europa League

We manhandled Valencia with a starring performance in the 2nd leg by Vlahovic. Lille were undone away from home with a brace off the back of Pasquali and it was largely a matter of their sides just not being up to our level. A problem that was remedied in the Semi-Final where we drew

Now I as a massive Torino fan enjoy any chance I get to beat Juve, so I was looking forward to the match and it was definitely a tricky tie for us to navigate.

Leg One

Right at the death we created a miracle. If Valuenzuela wasn't a fan favorite already, this goal would have burned him into their hearts forever.

 

I was happy leaving with a 1-0 defeat to be honest, it genuinely made me think a 2-0 result or something similar wasn't out of our grasp. So when we somehow emerged with victory I was ecstatic.

Leg Two

We held them off. It was another tight game. The penalty had me freaking out until the 60th minute or so until their attacks petered out and we gained control. Vlahovic added another goal to the tally and became the 2nd highest scorer in both the Bundesliga and the Europa League almost making me wish I'd played him a tad more.

So the Final arrived

And it passed

I have no idea how we lost. After we went a goal down I went attacking, and all that did was get us caught out on the counter and buried us completely. A game we dominated, yet a game where we were soundly beaten. Bitter lesson learned.

Player of the Season

Dusan Vlahovic

45 games, 36 Goals

7.39 Rating

Props to Vega and Pasquali, but Vlahovic was a machine yet again this season and game within 3 goals of beating Heynckes' record. With a better squad next year catered to bringing out the best of his abilities, i think he'll score even more.

... Or will it?

We've reached an interesting crossroads in this save with the 2022 World Cup in 12 months. The two options for me as it stands are to

a.) Develop the Players at BMG which I've done fairly well at particularly regarding Pasquali and Burns. I also think one more year at BMG and Greenwood, Wilson and Driscoll will definitely be made to my liking, and that right there is probably my midfield trio for the next decade (I also really want a tilt at the Champions League). 

or

b.) Move back to the A-League and help build for 2026 (The year our squad will fully be turned over to the regens I'm developing)

Both are tempting for different reasons, not sure what I'll swing with yet.

[wynter]

The Vlahovic Conundrum

Biggest issue we've faced over the summer, Man City turned his head for higher wages and then PSG bid the asking price I promised him I'd accept. Wolfsburg then went above and beyond and bid 60mil straight and I was genuinely stuck staring at the screen for a few minutes wondering if any player is worth keeping when that much is offered.

I decided he was.

Thankfully, this is one of the few times I've gone back on my word, but a player has decided to not revolt. We doubled his contract from 56k to 110 p/w which wasn't ideal, but we've kept him at the club and more importantly kept him happy to play under me for the coming season provided we make the latter stages of the Champions League.

Should be easy.

Out of curiosity, would anyone be interested in a complete squad overview? We do have 41 players currently on the books though, so it would make for some massive reading.

[wynter]

A win, a draw and a loss.

The Uzbekistan result was so irritating, we started incredibly and then fell off a cliff after half-time. I still have no idea how it happened. We did get a critical win over Saudi Arabia though, throwing some much needed distance between ourselves and 3rd and the draw with South Korea while frustrating kept them off our back.

We just need one more result. Qatar is our next opponent and hosting them in Australia, I'm 90% certain we'll kill the group off with that game. Provided our injured players can make it back in time (The lack of Oikonomidis was so notable). 

 

Made some great progress over the years to move from 60th at the start of the save to a reasonable 23rd. 

[ManUtd1]

I'd be interested in seeing how players look 

My thought is that for long term purposes, Gladbach is ideal given the money in the Bundesliga, league reputation, and very modest squad registration requirements. You could easily base the national team there, far more easily than you could in the A League.

You also have Junter, the best mascot ever...at least, the one with the most comedic potential. My time with him was far too short in my save. 

He's named after a club legend, and has his own column in the club magazine. He's right on the border of psychotic and brilliant. I miss him.

[DodgeeD]

The main advantage of heading to Australia would be making sure that decent youngsters got their chance but as @ManUtd1 says, the Bundesliga gives the chance to help some of the best Aussie talents reach their full potential. A couple of affiliate links and Aussie backroom staff would no doubt help as well

[wynter]

2021/22 Pre-Season

Squad Overview and Transfers

Big Window with some hard decisions made.

The two massive signings for this window were Hyago and Andrinho

Both are straight into the first team. Hyago will be playing alongside Pasquali and Burns as we elevate our attacking quality, while Andrinho replaces Stafylidis adding more speed and attacking flair at the cost of a better defender. Diaz and Maksimovic both come in to provide useful rotation options and strength off the bench. McDonald is the interesting one, one who's Attributes suggest a player much better than his PA signifies, hopefully some inspired tutoring will pay dividends.

The Formation and Players I'm most likely to use this season

Squad Overview

Goalkeepers

The heart of the team. Our first choice is the mercurial Fruchtl, best German Keeper in the save backed up by Chrifia. Sommer takes his leave from our side for this season and Chrifia was a cheap, capable back-up that isn't likely to see a significant amount of football, but more than capable of doing so should the worst happen.

Right Backs

Two very capable options in Stojanovic and Corchia, this season is make or break for Morrison and as such it's going to be his biggest challenge. Great mentals, but the technical side refuses to come through. Corchia will be used for the most important matches, but Morrison will get his chance. Stojanovic I'm looking to offload, but little to no interest surprisingly after a massive link to AC Milan a couple of months ago.

Centre Backs

Vega and Ates lead the way with Maksimovic a reliable backup. Offloading Benali and Rodrigues on loan opens up a door for McDonald to operate as 4th choice and a rotation option throughout the season. He will see a fair few games, especially against the lower teams in the division. Kienast will be alongside him competing for first team opportunites.

Left Backs

Only Turner and Andrinho, curious as to whether we should have a third option but Ryan Guald (In Midfielders) will be more than capable of stepping in, in the event of a crisis.

Central Midfield

Our Strongest Position, and also the one which provides the biggest headaches, trying to balance out 6 players who are all more than capable of playing to the standard required. Robles is the star, Wilson and Driscoll challenge each other for the coveted DLP role while Kramer and Greenwood vie to be Robles understudy. Gauld sits a distant 6th, and definitely not because he's bad. He represents a valuable rotation option able to play anywhere out wide or in the middle of the park.

I've always preferred Driscoll over Wilson since day one when they were in the Roar. Probably due to his high passing and ability to control the game, Wilson does have his upsides though, being a slightly more well rounded player. They'll probably split game time 50/50, although Driscoll is arguably in need of greater attention..

Attacking Midfielders

As you see our primary tactic doesn't involve wingers, as such we've moved on Deulofeu and other options out and decided to shore up the middle of our park. So much so, that the only wingers we have this year are Home Grown prospects that wiill spend the majority of their time in the 2nd team.

Hyago is the star, Pasquali after a breakout season last year retains his position and Burns has plenty of room to grow and potential that I want to unleash for both domestic and international purposes. Kubicki the local prospect and Diaz will rotate with the three, while Valenzuela rotates between both striking and attacking positions.

Strikers

Far more simple with much less rotation. Vlahovic plays. When he can't, Manic steps in.

[Adelaidean]

Very cool that Dustin Burns is listed as a wonderkid now.  

Hopefully he can become a key player for club and country!