FM19: Bienvenido to The Spanish League Thread

[Constantine]

Forgive me if i missed it but i can't seem to find thread for Spanish leagues. There's an Italian one, one of the most active here. English Football League thread, of course. There's a Bundesliga one too. But no Spanish one.  

Are they aren't that much popular this year or...??

Why i'm opening this one? Well, after a bit of a burnout with English and Italian football, i started a new career, unemployed, no badges and previous experience and managed to get Valencia Mestalla job, Valencia's B team, currently competing in Segunda Division B Grupo III. And it reinvigorated my interest in FM. I'm really (and unexpectedly) enjoying it here. And with lack of thread for Spanish football, i was curious to see if there's anyone else currently playing through some Spanish adventure.

There's quite a few clubs i find rather interesting i would like to manage at some point in this career.

Valencia (sure, why not, if opportunity arise to step up)

Betis (few nice players and, admit it, them having Joaquin back is as romantic as it gets)

Bilbao (for obvious reasons)

Espanyol (if nothing, make them biggest team in Catalonia. Yes, i do heavily dislike UEFAlona.)

Deportivo (they were huge back in the day. Juan Carlos Valeron was so, so enjoyable to watch)

Zaragoza and Mallorca (both had fantastic strikers few years back. David Villa and Samuel Eto'o spearheaded their attack and they were unpredictable to play against)

Oviedo (their struggle is well known. They seem back at their feet though. Still, an interesting option)

Racing Santander (great academy, if i'm not mistaken. Still remember when they had perfect Big man - Little man combo in Nikola Zigic and Pedro Munitis)

Or any other club... There's abundance of clubs to choose from. They do get fantastic regens. Pretty much relaxed foreign players policy. And then there is trio fantastico to overthrown (Real, Barca, Atleti).

I'll post up some screenshots of the progress i've made. But i would like to see some of yours too...

[BadAss88]

I don't like the set-up with B teams in FM, that's why I almost never manage a team in Spain..

[scratchmonkey]

I'm currently playing as Sevilla in a YesMan save, where you have to take every interview and job that you're offered (so I may not be in Spain for long).

I'm near the end of my first season, which is in 21/22, Javi Gracia was sacked with Sevilla sitting in the bottom half of the table and out of the Copa del Rey, although they were still alive in the Europa. I'd also interviewed with Atletico; however, they somehow decided that hiring some guy named 'Pep' was the better move -- not something that I was very broken-up about considering that the expectations were "win the league" (not entirely unrealistic as they've won it the last two years).

I've been eliminated from the Europa League, with the caveat that the 2022 WC made the first two knockout rounds single-legs and we were drawn away against Leceister and then Sporting, the match against the latter finished at 1-1 and then we conceded in extra-time, so I don't feel too bad about going out. With 8 games to play, we're up to 6th in the table and are pretty much set for a Europa League spot as the Copa del Rey final is third place Barcelona vs. seventh place Villareal.

I'm trying to create a dynamic counter-attacking system after realizing that I don't quite have the players to play a high press; all my tactical work is going to be very temporary though as the team is loaded with 33/34 year-olds on the final year of their contracts as well as loan players, necessitating quite a rebuild over the summer.

[Constantine]

Great first year in charge of Valencia Mestalla. Won our Segunda B group and in play offs we've got well deserved promotion.

So reasonably, i've decided to sign up few players, to strengthen our side and stay clear of relegation battle. Brought in four of them.

Also, i've transfered Lee Kangin, brilliant little player from Valencia u19 to my squad. Marcelino gifted us Uros Racic. Kangin, Racic, Fran Villalba and Nacho Gil, that's midfield worth playing in Primera. And then, all those quirks of managing a B side in Spain came back to bite me in the ass. Deadline day. And Marcelino... Aargh, hate him so, so much for this. He took Lee Kangin for Valencia first team. Two games in, he's not even in the match day squad. But... But, why stop there?! Why not take two players i have signed for my first XI, two brilliant little players for our level and send one of them to third division club and the other one to our direct divisional rival. So Alejandro Sotillos, my starting defender is now playing at Ibiza, while Guille Donoso is earning his salary at Alcorcon. Without those three, we are at least 30% weaker. And i've decided to walk at the end of the season. Even if that mean going down a division. I want to be in full control of my squad. Had enough of this bs...

Also, i have to say, only upside of managing this type of club, B side, no dealing with primadonnas asking for a new contract, playing time or something else. I find it quite... Refreshing.

[scratchmonkey]

With so many players leaving at the end of the season and the club in fairly dire financial straits (currently just above payroll limit and with only 70% of transfer revenue retained) I've been perusing the free signings list.

Big get has been Frenkie De Jong, who apparently fell out with Klopp at Liverpool and wouldn't sign a new contract. I got him for just below 100K Euro per week and I think he'll be good enough to build my midfield around. The other players coming in? Well, there's a theme here: Dael Fry, Eddie Nketiah, Chalobah, and Mason Mount. They want playing time and I'll be happy to give it to them.

[Constantine]

Always good idea to go for couple of English players. They might ask a bit more for wages but they're usually decent players and if they perform, PL clubs will come after them with bags of cash...

[Corndog69]

I was literally just looking on here for a Spanish thread! I was going to start a La Liga save with Alavés! Seen them doing well in real life and fancied a go!

[LukasZ_VCF]

The prize money are just terrible in Spain. I play with Valencia and it's like not worth it to win the league and spanish cup, the money comes just from CL...sponsorships are also bad ;P

I checked even Germany and there for winning the league is much more money etc...

 

And if it comes to B team, I can't choose training, hire coaches that I need and even if they play in 2nd league players like don't develop there even if their current CA scouts raport says the player is good for playing in segunda...I am thinking about starting a new save with some team who will have reserve team when players can develop well but I am not sure what league will have it and how will they develop there

 

I have affiliated clubs like from 3rd league or lower so I can't really loan players there since they should play at segunda division at least...I loaned some players that will not be good enough for my 1st team to 3rd division teams but I think their CA is decreasing there I had all "arrows" pointing down is it possible that they will lose CA playing there from like 2 stars to 1,5 ? I wonder in that case is it better to keep some youngsters in 1st team without any matches or loaning them to 3rd division where they will be key players?

[Constantine]

About the money in Spain... I've read sometimes ago, might be couple of years to be honest but apparently Barcelona and Real strong-armed  other clubs into signing TV deal that's tailored by their needs. They get huge chunk of the earnings while others get peanuts. Smaller clubs, pressured with dire finances, accepted the deal, thinking that it's better to get at least something out of it. So i guess, if you want to earn any money from the league, you have to be equal with those two in success. But that's just what i think, perhaps someone with more knowledge of the situation can explain it better...

[scratchmonkey]

La Liga TV rights have been somewhat convoluted, I think what you might be thinking of is that before 2015, all the clubs negotiated TV rights individually, which was a complete mess and of course Barca and Real made far more money than the other clubs.

Now, the TV rights have to be negotiated collectively and IIRC, the breakdown goes something like: a small slice for lower-division clubs, then half of the remaining revenue is split equally between all clubs, then half of what's remaining after that is allocated based on aggregate league position over the past five years, then the final amount is allocated based on # of club members and attendance figures -- which means that a significant portion of the money is still going to Real and Barca because they are going to have better league finishes and are the two largest clubs in terms of club members and attendance; still, I believe the other clubs felt those were reasonable concessions considering they would be getting much more of the money than they were under the old individual rights situation.

[LukasZ_VCF]

Yes but If I am winning the league since 2nd season and I am at 2022/2023 now I think I should get more money and more sponsorships

 

That screenshot was made I think season ago :

First one is mine, and to this season I didn't had 20mln for Stadium... so I probably had 6mln+ only per season...

Second is from Barcelona I think... and 3rd one was from Bayern if I remember correctly...

 

So Barcelona is still getting more than a 110 mln + pounds more than me... !

for that kind of money just imagine what I could do ...

 

Tv money I think is still the same ;/ but I would have to check it somehow...

[TheJanitor]

I really want to start a save in Spain. I want to avoid the usual teams - Betis, Villarreal etc. Contemplating Levante, Girona, Getafe, Rayo, Numancia, and Sporting Gijon. Levante probably has the most interesting starting squad, but I'm really not a fan of the Barcelona-esque kit. Rayo got the best kit, but the squad is so imbalanced.

Anyone got recommendations?

[lblanc]

 

I decided to give Real Sociedad a go, they've got a few good players Willian Jose, Januzaj, Mikel Merino, Rulli for example and I fondly remember the year they almost added to their 2 La Liga titles but just slipped away near the end of the season a team with greats such as the young Xabi Alonso, Valery Karpin, Nihat and Darko Kovačević 

Squad Overview

Tactics

The below two will be my two main tactics,

 

 

Edited February 3, 2019 by lblanc

[Constantine]

12 hours ago, TheJanitor said:

I really want to start a save in Spain. I want to avoid the usual teams - Betis, Villarreal etc. Contemplating Levante, Girona, Getafe, Rayo, Numancia, and Sporting Gijon. Levante probably has the most interesting starting squad, but I'm really not a fan of the Barcelona-esque kit. Rayo got the best kit, but the squad is so imbalanced.

Anyone got recommendations?

Perhaps Alaves, Espanyol or Eibar?

Speaking of, after two years at Valencia Mestalla and unlikely Segunda wining season in the second one, i've moved on. Had interviews at Sevilla and Valencia but got overlooked both times. Along came Eibar, who got relegated in the first season, got into playoffs in the second and then failed to beat Osasuna, which meant another year here, in Segunda division.

Busy summer but we've managed to put together quite exciting team. Most of them are on loan but... Let's first get back to Primera Division. Couple months into season and we're on track.

Gijon kept pushing us but if we keep playing like this, there's no stopping us.

Ontiveros and Alessandro Rossi (hero in some of my previous saves) are brilliant.

[LukasZ_VCF]

I have a "problem" right now my reserve team that is playing in Segunda is losing all the games.

When I started they got promoted to Segunda and they finished like at 4th place or something they were at the top and now in 2022 they barely stayed there, so I signed the best coaches and manager I could find they are amazing and they keep loosing, tried to change tactic that they should use and I even bought some players like 11 or more that should be good enough for Segunda and they still are loosing...

 

I will try maybe to loan some players without fee and without paying wages to put they to reserve team so they could stay in Segunda, but they already have a team that should play there and be in the middle

[TheJanitor]

@Constantine yep between us I think we covered most of the Spanish teams 

Gravitating towards Levante but might try Betis eventually.

How Joan Jordan is doing for you? irl his numbers look great.

[BadAss88]

6 hours ago, TheJanitor said:

@Constantine yep between us I think we covered most of the Spanish teams 

Gravitating towards Levante but might try Betis eventually.

How Joan Jordan is doing for you? irl his numbers look great.

Maybe bring back Deportivo to former glory?

[scratchmonkey]

My first (incomplete) season with Sevilla finished with me in sixth, good enough for a Europa League spot. The summer was fairly busy as there were a lot of older players on their final year of their contract that I let walk. I got a decent offer for Sergio Rico and let him go as he was already 31 and I paid a million and a half more than I got for him to bring in Rodak from Newcastle. I also sold Luis Muriel and another experienced backup striker as I had an excellent U19 regen that I wanted to give more playing time as well as Eddie Nketiah and a regen from a former club in Utrecht coming in on frees. The latter I was especially excited about as he's got amazing physicals. My one loan in was Eric Garcia from City as Sergio Gomez was making eyes at other clubs all through my tenure, so I loaned him to Sociedad with a required transfer at the end of the season.

I wasn't planning to do anything on deadline day; however, at the last second, Thiago Alacantra's agent sent out a notice that he was still available after his contract had expired with Bayern over the summer. I'd approached him earlier; however, his demands had been too high. Now desperate to play this season, he was more than willing to accept my lowball offer.

This means that I now have three basic options in midfield tactically: the base configuration is a half-back (Trevor Chalobah, although I have Lucas Tousart coming in in January) operating behind an Advanced Playmaker (F. de Jong or Rafinha) and a Mezalla (either Mason Mount or a regen that I'm retraining from AMC), which I will use in reasonably balanced games OR swapping out the Mezalla for a DLP (Thiago), which is for games where I want a little extra solidity against a stronger opponent OR dropping the half-back and playing the DLP behind the two more attacking players, for games where I expect to dictate play against a weaker team.

So far, things have been working out decently, of the games against the "big" sides, there's been my only loss, a tight 1-0 defeat away to Barcelona and two ties, away to Guardiola's Atletico and home to Rafa's Athletic. There have been some disappointing draws against smaller sides at home; overall, things are good -- we currently sit fifth in the table with Real running away with the league and a tight bunch after consisting of Valencia, Bilbao, Villareal, Celta Vigo, Betis, and us. Both Atletico and Barca are struggling, with the former down in 10th and the Catalans all the way in 13th with a negative goal difference -- I'm wondering how long Emery can survive these results. 

In terms of other competitions, we've only played one leg of the 4th round, away to Girona, which we tied 2-2 when they had 3 shots on goal. In Europe, we were drawn in a group with Fener, Malmo, and Red Star and qualified for the knockouts after the fourth round of matches.

 

[Carlf788]

Nice thread,  I am just back from attemding Real Betis v Atletico Madrid on Sunday, great stadium and atmosphere so I have been inspired to start a Betis save off! 

[Constantine]

On 04/02/2019 at 13:41, TheJanitor said:

@Constantine yep between us I think we covered most of the Spanish teams 

Gravitating towards Levante but might try Betis eventually.

How Joan Jordan is doing for you? irl his numbers look great.

He's actually our top rated player. Levante and (surprisingly) Roma are after him.

[Vali184]

I'm playing a save with SD Huesca and I'm enjoying every bit of it as they are my local team.

I just got knocked out of CL quarters by Arsenal in 2021. We won 3-2 at home and in the second leg they scores in the 92nd minute to win it 1-0 and qualify for the semis. Still, a great run, we finished 1st in the group with Inter, Man. City and Shaktar. The club's balance skyrocketed from 4m euros to 50+.

I just hope the board will give me a proper transfer budget in the next transfer window. Until now they made available only 5-6m at most.

We will also move into a new stadium of 17k capacity by the start of the next season.

 

 

[Corndog69]

 

17 hours ago, Constantine said:

He's actually our top rated player. Levante and (surprisingly) Roma are after him.

I’m going to start as Eibar tonight, what system do you play? Which original players do you still have and how are they doing? Except Jordan of course

[n1mez]

Nobody in here who plays with Real Betis and have some nice things to say about it

[Luizinho]

I'm currently managing Barcelona and Guillermo Armor is both a Director and Head of Youth Development. I want to bring in a better suited HOYD, however I sack him... Anyone have any experience of navigating this with Barca?

[Morti666]

On 27/02/2019 at 17:20, n1mez said:

Nobody in here who plays with Real Betis and have some nice things to say about it

I've just got the game and started as Betis! 

I have fond memories of them in previous games so I'm hoping this will be as good! 

Still not sure what formation in going to play though! 

[RandomGuy.]

Started a Barcelona save, just an easy one I don't need to think much about. 

Restricted signings to Spaniards or players with Barcelona as a homegrown club. Trying to promote players from La Masia aswell.

Jordi Alba getting an injury has led me to the B side, and 18yo Juan Miranda is first choice left back for the moment. I've also promoter Jorge Cuenca as back up CB (Murillo wont remain, and Vermaelen will go one way or another).

Sergi Samper and Carles Alena will rotate in and out the team.

[lblanc]

Sociedad save corrupted after I had to reset my laptop :-(

Was doing quite well and all

[john1]

1 hour ago, lblanc said:

Sociedad save corrupted after I had to reset my laptop :-(

Was doing quite well and all

Gutted  Hopefully you can start new save with different team?

[lblanc]

8 hours ago, john1 said:

Gutted  Hopefully you can start new save with different team?

Just downloaded winter update who in Spanish league made some nice additions.

[Gungner]

I have yet to start a save in Spain (never really cared for it), but I thought I'd give it a go... 

I just can't pick between Villarreal and Valencia... 

[Speedylad123]

Started a save with Sevilla finished 5th and sold Muriel, Ben yedder and mercado. 

Havent signed anyone since and got around 40m to spend. Anyone got any suggestions for my summer transfer window?  

[Luizinho]

On 04/03/2019 at 20:54, RandomGuy. said:

Started a Barcelona save, just an easy one I don't need to think much about. 

Restricted signings to Spaniards or players with Barcelona as a homegrown club. Trying to promote players from La Masia aswell.

Jordi Alba getting an injury has led me to the B side, and 18yo Juan Miranda is first choice left back for the moment. I've also promoter Jorge Cuenca as back up CB (Murillo wont remain, and Vermaelen will go one way or another).

Sergi Samper and Carles Alena will rotate in and out the team.

Have you been able to change your Head of Youth Development, Guillermo Armor?

[RandomGuy.]

10 hours ago, Luizinho said:

Have you been able to change your Head of Youth Development, Guillermo Armor?

I didn't try, tbh. Is he the one that's listed as a Director aswell?

[Luizinho]

5 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:

I didn't try, tbh. Is he the one that's listed as a Director aswell?

Yeah that's him. He's not the greatest Head of Youth Development in terms of generating in regens (personality).

[LukasZ_VCF]

I wonder if on yours saves Barcelona is buying a lot of Central Defenders too ?

[Carlf788]

Looking at starting a Spanish project tonight or tomorrow and torn between Vigo and Real Sociedad. Sociedad not having there proper name puts me off a bit. They seem fairly well matched squad wise. 

What do people reckon is the best one to start off with or any other Spanish suggestions where I can realistically get into the champions league in 3/4 years and challenge for la liga after 5/6?

[n1mez]

7 minutes ago, Carlf788 said:

Looking at starting a Spanish project tonight or tomorrow and torn between Vigo and Real Sociedad. Sociedad not having there proper name puts me off a bit. They seem fairly well matched squad wise. 

What do people reckon is the best one to start off with or any other Spanish suggestions where I can realistically get into the champions league in 3/4 years and challenge for la liga after 5/6?

https://www.fmscout.com/a-fm19-real-names-license-fix.html

[Carlf788]

Thanks that's just what I needed but my laptop won't download it unfortunately. 

[Carlf788]

 

Gone for Real San Sebastián. They look to have a solid team, decent finances and some good young players and are solid mid table club to build up. 

 I'm also surprised there isn't more activity in the Spanish thread given La Liga is arguably the best league on the game and certainly in the top 2

Also I love the badge!

Edited March 20, 2019 by Carlf788

[RVP32]

Eh, I thought about Valencia, but I find other competitions (Bundesliga, Serie A) to be more interesting this year.

Also not too fond of the competitive rules for La Liga (The non-EU thing for example.)

[Carlf788]

41 minutes ago, RVP32 said:

Eh, I thought about Valencia, but I find other competitions (Bundesliga, Serie A) to be more interesting this year.

Also not too fond of the competitive rules for La Liga (The non-EU thing for example.)

Fair enough. I found the non eu registration rules in Italy quite strict though. Only one non eu signing from abroad per year 

[Gungner]

France, Holland and Germany has no rules regarding non-EU players, and doesn't require work permits...  I'm sure there's plenty of other countries too.

[Carlf788]

On 10/03/2019 at 20:07, Gungner said:

I have yet to start a save in Spain (never really cared for it), but I thought I'd give it a go... 

I just can't pick between Villarreal and Valencia... 

Did you start a la liga save in the end? Villarreal would be decent. They are one of a good handful of clubs with potential to break into the top 3 along with Betis, Real Sociedad, Bilbao, Valencia, Celta Vigo

[Gungner]

No I didn't... I really don't know why, but the league has never had my interest... I think I've managed there twice since FM'05. 

But if I were to, it'd most likely be Valencia or Villarreal. 

[dothestrand]

11 hours ago, Carlf788 said:

 

Gone for Real San Sebastián. They look to have a solid team, decent finances and some good young players and are solid mid table club to build up. 

 I'm also surprised there isn't more activity in the Spanish thread given La Liga is arguably the best league on the game and certainly in the top 2

Also I love the badge!

The Athletic Club thread is always busy - it's a popular challenge because of the cantera policy.

[Carlf788]

4 hours ago, dothestrand said:

The Athletic Club thread is always busy - it's a popular challenge because of the cantera policy.

Yeah that's a class challenge to do as well and there is still a decent number of good basque players out there available. However I like to work towards been able to sign some real star players after a few years as a reward for doing well and being Bilbao means I could never do that. I will try to keep the basque and Spanish theme going as much as I can with sociedad too though as they had the same policy as Bilbao up until 1989

[Carefree_Since_1905]

Started a game recently with Atletico. I wanted something fun that wasn't particularly challenging. I started prior to the January update patch so i have the original squads. Disabled first transfer window so no signings.

I played a flat 4-4-2 with a slightly adapted Gegen-press. Main team was:

SK-D: Oblak

FB-S - Juanfran

CD-D - Godin

BPD-Cover - Gimenez

WB-A - Luis

LW - Lemar

 DLP-D - Koke

Mezalla-S - Saul

RIW - Martins

PF-A - Costa

AF - Griezmann

 

Lucas/Arias/Savic/Rodrigo/Vitolo/Correa also got plenty of games. I signed Luis Fabiano on a free during December and he came in on wages of £500 a week. An odd signing but it was to keep Luis happy as he wanted a fellow compatriot around. He did get a few goals in the cup and is retiring now.

PSG came knocking for Partey in January and the met his release clause of £28.5m. I was unable to offer him a new contract earlier to raise the release clause as PSG were interested and he wouldn't let me start negotiations. He was replaced by Bentacur form Juventus who joined for £22m. Had to spread some of the payments in installments to get the transfer through but he was definitely needed.

I had a very productive season winning the league against Real Madrid at the Wanda with 3 games to go. My season stats were W:32, D:3, L:3. Not in front of the game now but i think I won my first 18 league games until a 0-0 draw at the Bernabeu.

I was slightly disappointing in the CLs as i lost on penalties to Man Utd in the quarters.

Atletico are in a pretty dire financial state and i ended the season with -£78m as my bank balance. I have been given a very sultry £300k transfer budget for the next season. I also only get 30% of my sales. I have just shifted Correa to Barcelona for £60m (£50m up front, £10m in 1 additional 12 month payment). That added £13m to my budget after San Lorenzo got their cut.

I will probably look to sell on Savic and Vitolo if I can get the right price and then I really need to invest in some depth. I have given extensions at a lower wage to Juanfran & Luis who are old but key members of the squad. It will be an interesting summer as I think I will need to do a lot of wheeling and dealing.

It has been a very enjoyable save though!

[Carlf788]

Atletico would be a fun save! How is lemar? He was rapid on fm18 charging all over! How come they are so skint!? Is your defence as good as atleticos in real life?

[Carefree_Since_1905]

Lemar is fantastic. 2nd best average rating behind Godin. 31(4) appearances, 7 goals, 18 assists. He toppped the assist chart for the league.

The defence is fantastic. Godin and Gimenez are just superb and if you do get through Oblak is different class. Conceded 23 which was the best in the league, missed out on the most clean sheets by 1 which went to Barcelona.

I think they are a bad financial state due to the move to the new stadium which should sort itself out eventually!

[Carlf788]

Solid start to my Sociedad save, I am very impressed with the amount of quality and potential they have for a mid table side. Only 3 wins in 15 games but only 3 losses and one was at Barcelona. Playing a solid possession based 4-1-4-1. Oyarazbal is incredible. I signed Kamara from Marseille for 9m to go alongside Diego Llorente at the back, Rulli is a top keeper. Such a solid midfield as well with Merino, Illarimendi and Zubeldia. Literally about 2 players and a couple of seasons away from developing into a top 4 team i reckon.

Edited March 21, 2019 by Carlf788