The FM21 Youth Academy Challenge

[DazRTaylor]

5 hours ago, JLAB said:

So a quick question for those of us who plan on doing this challenge once FM 22 comes out.

What countries do you think you will try and do the challenge in? Do you want to try and complete it in Europe, or do you want to try and do it in a foreign country?

I see myself doing it mostly in Europe, but I'm very much open to doing it abroad too if I need to.

Beta in Iceland I think.  Definitely an FC United save in England.  I loved my lower league Dutch save so will go back there once database is out.  Germany too.  I will also try Scotland I think.

[Padders]

Rumors flying around BETA to land at 8pm

[vikeologist]

Just now, Padders said:

Rumors flying around BETA to land at 8pm

More than rumours. 

[XaW]

Miles has confirmed it will be about in about 30 minutes. @darren1983 get on that new thread!

[darren1983]

Just now, XaW said:

Miles has confirmed it will be about in about 30 minutes. @darren1983 get on that new thread!

Ah no one is that fussed, maybe I'll try and get it up sometime over the weekend....  

[Padders]

Ah nice one didn't see that

Gutted to leave my Hyde FM21 save incomplete

[vikeologist]

Just now, Padders said:

Ah nice one didn't see that

Gutted to leave my Hyde FM21 save incomplete

Did you not read what he said. Half an hour. 2 seasons from you minimum before the beta.

[Padders]

1 minute ago, vikeologist said:

Did you not read what he said. Half an hour. 2 seasons from you minimum before the beta.

[darren1983]

3 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

Did you not read what he said. Half an hour. 2 seasons from you minimum before the beta.

2? He's not playing full matches here mate  

[thomas_e]

I also stopped playing with Rimini a couple of weeks ago. Even though we were a mid table Serie A team I dont have time to play as much as I want, so I knew I wouldn't finish before the FM22 beta. But looking forward to another year of the Youth Academy Challenge. Starting a new thread, @darren1983? 

Edited October 21, 2021 by thomas_e

[XaW]

25 minutes ago, darren1983 said:

Ah no one is that fussed, maybe I'll try and get it up sometime over the weekend....  

You got 7 minutes before people will be furious!

[darren1983]

6 minutes ago, thomas_e said:

I also stopped playing with Rimini a couple of weeks ago. Even though we were a mid table Serie A team I dont have time to play as much as I want, so I knew I wouldn't finish before the FM22 beta. But looking forward to another year of the Youth Academy Challenge. Starting a new thread, @darren1983? 

Yeah I'll open up the new one once the beta is out

5 minutes ago, XaW said:

You got 7 minutes before people will be furious!

[XaW]

6 minutes ago, darren1983 said:

Yeah I'll open up the new one once the beta is out

[darren1983]

Here you go

 

[Padders]

Here we go

[OlivierL]

On 10/10/2021 at 23:37, OlivierL said:

Intro | S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5 | S6 | S7 | S8

Rot-Weiss Essen -  Season 9 Review - 2029-2030- Bundesliga - great season !

Squad | Transfers | Finances | Fixtures 1 | Fixtures 2 |

After the narrow but deserved title last year, I wanted to finish in the top four again this year and reach the champions league. We won the league again and this time it was even a bit easier and with quite a bit of squad rotation.

So we renewed our title and i was ready to challenge again in the Champions League. But first we had to finish this season's Champions League and you never know..

We won the DFL-Supercup and this was our very first victory against Bayern.

in the DFB-Pokal we reached the semi final after the losing last season against Bayern and had to beat Bayern again but .. we couldn't ! 

In the champions league we won a lot of games in the group stage after only winning one game in last seasons CL.

First we had a great home win against FC Porto to advance to the quarter finals against Man City . They have a great squad and we had some luck but we won after away goals.

Semi final against PSG:

Dold 25 did it with a late goal ! We reach the finals against Juventus . They have two forwards with a value +- 160M. I was ready for big game but planning for next season.

But we did it !!

Our legend striker Pronichev and the only real player (for us) on the pitch did it ! we didn't steal it, very proud ! Both of the Juventus forwards finished in top three of the golden boot award. our Dold 25 finished 2th.

This are our CL winners :

Our second team didn't play in any  league system and our U19 finished second in the A-Junioren-Bundesliga West league but won the Youth Championship again.

Key Players

  
Gabrielli 25 was again our best defender and close to becoming a wonderkid. Cetinkaya 23 is our new number one since last season and had 26 clean sheats in all competitions. Baur 23 had a great season as our main WBR.

Academy graduate with most Appearances (This season)

Cetinkaya 23 played almost every game .

Youth Intake 2030

One of the poorest intakes since i'm in the Bundesliga. only signed a few.

One of the best options from 2030 .

Academy graduates promoted to the first team (Next Season)

Not decided yet.

Miscellaneous

Expansion completed but i requested a new stadium. i'll get one in three years .

We had our first senior internationals call ups and apps in Gamberini 25 for Germany and Fofana 23 for Guinea. And they both received a world cup call-up.

Season Facts

I would have liked to continue for a few more seasons and since I haven't won the cup (and world cup for teams) yet, I will probably continue this save (and post a small update after the season, until FM22 comes out.)

This challenge is very addictive and I will definitely participate again next year. I'm glad I made it ( @darren1983 ) but I know I made a 'safe' choice with Germany and RW Essen( big fan base, some senior players that could continue till the Bundesliga and further..). but since I only started this save (after a long Gibraltar save) at the beginning of August I had little choice. Germany provides a lot of money once you're in the bundesliga but of course you still have to beat Dortmund, Bayern, Leipzig etc...  I could never have dreamed that it would go so fast in the Champions League, we were last in the odds and I did not expect to survive more than the groups.  In the future I would like to win the challenge in a small country like Iceland or in the most popular but also tough league England. Thanks @Winski to convince me to start so late and choose Germany.

 

In season 10 i won the German Super cup again (after penalties against bayern) and i won the European Super cup for the first time with a 0 3 win against Villareal. The only thing left is winning the DFB-Pokal and play a game in my new stadium but after the release of the Beta.. this will be for sure my last season in FM21 .. Preparing FM22 for a new YT challenge attempt in another country

Can't go away...

[bg0123]

Is it still ok to post in here? I will keep doing this challenge in FM21 and probably will switch to 22 in a couple months when everything is nice and stable (hopefully).

My second season at Antequera in Spain went better than I expected after losing one of my stars. Stayed mid table the whole season and finished 9th. We have a good group of youth coming up so that's exciting. I'm really hoping we can challenge for a playoff spot next season.

[darren1983]

Yeah posting here is fine, can post in the new one if you like as well just let people know you're on 21 and not 22. 

[Zdnap_]

Hello everyone !
I'm finishing here since it is my last post of FM21 (I actually finished quite a while ago but didn't find the time to organize the screenshots and post, so it might be a bit of a mess)
So here it is :

 

 

Season 2029/2030

Champions ! I believe we were simply the most consistent team this year. Not the best, but Bayern and Dortmund destroyed themselves. Especially Bayern who somehow lost a lot in the early season despite Haaland joining them (poor guy probably lost the Ballon D'Or like that). We couldn't beat the big guys (PSG and Barcelona) in Champions League group, but we got relegated to Europa League, where we went all the way! The final was an epic win against Real Madrid. Another epic final in DFB Pokal where we lost on shoot-outs on 15th shooter...

Spoiler

 

We only lost three times in the Bundesliga (Dortmund, Schalke, Bayern), plus 4 slightly underwhelming draws (Frankfurt, Augsburg, Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg). We just kept going and going, even scoring big wins against Bayern and Borussia at home. Schäfer once again our main contributor in goals, with Topal just being amazing. AA good help from Altintas and Kuta too, and some from our DCs with Eraliev becoming the main corner taker. Garms also played a massive role as a more classic 10 when I had to rest Kuta. Traub is still progressing, Weingarten got a little left behind but still very reliable. The team grew, got confident and consistent, and we were simply unstoppable and finished far above the second, Borussia Dortmund.
The DFB Pokal was another heartbreak with one more defeat in final against Bayern, but we got so close this time...
The Champions League campaign was stopped short, but we were decent agains Paris and Barcelona and dominated Kiev so we went in the Europa League with some confidence. And then we stormed to the final, exploding Legia Warszawa (23-1 on aggregate, I think they had a registration bug or something). Schäfer kind of magically scored early, Topal right before the end of the first half. Odegaard scored one early in second half, but Schäfer again answered immediatly. And then Real started to dominate us badly. Like really badly. They scored once again, and then pushed and pushed and pushed, but just couldn't score. They even got Lamptey expelled (Tackling hard special instruction on angry people works), but still pushed and pushed. If they shot on target we would have definitely lost, but they didn't, and we are Eurpa League champions !
Our youths also did a reapeat and (barely) won UEFA Youth League again.

Spoiler

 

Statistically we got better overall. Only our goalkeeper and central defender remained from the legacy players (and Mitchell who I think is a regen that I mostly keep for his good mentality), while the other players were raised at the club, with our mentality and tactics ingrained in their playstyle, so it just ticks. And corner goals are coming more and more often, which is really beneficial, especially in big matches.

Spoiler

 

Our intake was very disappointing, with only Diakité-Touré looking good, but joining our already stacked forward roster. As a more wingery type of forward that's not really good. The only other guy that looks like he could have some use is the goalkeeper Dammeier who has a really good Unflappable Professional personality.

Spoiler

Still no massive change at the club, apart from the noticeable rise in reputation. And the fact that we're starting to stack foreign affiliates : FC Wacker Innsbruck (Austria), Mafra (Portugal), Royal Football Club Liege (Belgium), OFI Crete (Greece), Shamrock Rovers (Ireland). We had quite the battle with Leipzig and Bayern to make MBayo remain at club. Our salary budget looks like it will explode, but we have the money so everything is OK.

Spoiler

 

This season was clearly an award season. Garinyan, Topal, and Kuta are in Bundesliga Team Of The Year (with 7 Dortmund players, I still wonder how they could have missed this win). Eraliev was named best player in Europa League, with Schäfer and Kuta following, and Schäfer also being the best goalscorer (but somehow only Schäfer and Weingarten in the team of the season). Miranda won German U17 with MBayo second, and Topal U19 with Garinyan and Traub second and third. Topal also added NxGn and European Golden Boy. Kuta earned German Players' Player of the Year, and me Head Coach of the Year.

Spoiler

 

Season 2030/2031

Champions again ! We are one of the big clubs now, and we acted like it (except in Champions League semifinals unfortunately). And we finally finally finally beat Bayern in DFB Pokal final ! Unfortunately last year silverware has destroyed some of our key players (Kuta, Haas, MBayo, Miranda, Alves, ...) mentality, which resulted in uneven progression of the team and some disappointing matches. Top contributors were definitely my forwards Topal (33(12) 7,22r 9pom 30g 10a) and Lehnhoff (23(5) 6pom 23g 9a), but also Schäfer (35(5) 2pom 6.95r 17g 8a) despite being played everywhere and Kuta (35(8) 5pom 7.19r 12g 16a) despite his personality crash. DC pairing Traub (44(1) 7.06r 3pom 6g 6a) and Weingarten (38(1) 6.94r 1pom 3g 2a) held the line and helped for set pieces, while stats can't tell how much good Garinyan (still 4 pom as defensive winger) and Hansen did on the wings.

Spoiler

 

The Bundesliga was a real contest with Dortmund until the very last day. 92 to 91 points. That point secured on the last day in a scary 4-4 draw against Schalke. On the other hand, behind us, Bayern had only 74 points, and Hertha a mere 57 points. Both Dortmund and us had a draw against Hoffenheim (who only finished 12th), and we both had a suprising loss, me against Kaiserslautern (17th and relegated, I was too confident with my turnover and the player mentality made them complacent), and Dortmund against Stuttgart. The difference came from the fact that, other than that, I only lost to Bayern, while Dortmund lost twice against me in our direct confrontations.
The DFB Pokal was a steady run that culminated in a beautiful extra-time goal win against Bayern in the final. I wish I knew how to make it into a gif...
The Champions League group stage went really well. We dominated Kiev for the third year in a row. We also easily beat Lille. One home draw and one away loss against Manchester left us in first position in our group. Then a lucky draw put us against Brugge and then Ajax, in matches that I wish we had win in a more convincing manner. But then we were paired with Klopp's Real Madrid. And I guess they were angry about last year Europa League final loss. And we lost away 5-0, a total humiliation. We somehow salvaged a 2-2 home draw, but our european campaign ended there.
Threepeat for the youth team with an other UEFA Youth League win. With a ridiculous goal that allowed us to equalize in the final against City. Definnitely wish I knew how to do those goal gifs.

Spoiler

 

Statistically we're staying on the same track, except with more and more tackling and less and less fouling, and even less yellow cards. We were even best tacklers in the Champion's League... right before Kiev ! Set pieces are now our strong point, except defensive indirect free kicks, that I can't seem to be able to manage. There is simply always a free player that they can just pass to and that has time for a strong shoot or an easy pass... And Lehnhoff is so lethal (42% conversion rate) that he broke XG.

Spoiler

 

Our intake has 2 decents prospects. Drube, a Fairly Professional DM with decent mental and technical stats, and Ducksch, a giant DC with decent mental and physical stats (but a Low determination personality that worries me a little).

Spoiler

 

Philipp Arentz replaced Gerhard Amen as chairman during the season, but not much changed, I was absolutely safe (except they are devastated I am not spending their money). We added an other foreign  affiliate : Dempo Sports Club (India). It seems like we reached the max number of foreign affiliates, so we went for a german club for loans, and somehow got ourselves FC St Pauli ! We also had to reupgrade our training facilities. Due to the bad intake last year I also decided to replace Carriço by Mertesacker as HoYD as he is comparable mentality-wise, but better in my tactical system and he is german. I had to refuse an offer from French national team.
Peitzmeier and Menke left the club, so only Mitchell remaining (mostly for tutoring very young regens). Lehnhoff had a meteoric rise, and Schäfer got relegated as a second choice as a forward. But also as a Defensive Winger or even Central Midfield, where he still magically performed. Topal and Garinyan are becoming absolute monsters (for my team). Hansen and Traub are also progressing very well. Eraliev and Weingarten don't seem like they will progress anymore, but they are still getting better in terms of personality and consistency.
Many players were sold because of their personality and lack of progression, including last year top prospect Diakité-Touré... Altintas worsening personality and physical fitness puts me in an akward position where I would like to sell him, but can't because the fans and the team likes him very much. Overall squad personality went from Highly Professional at the end of last year (before the silverware) to Determined, to Professional again.

Spoiler

 

We were overall better than last year, but we had less awards. Topal was only 3rd in Best Player in Europe, 2nd in German Footballer of the Year, and Opoku only third in German U17. Topal still claimed European Golden Boy and FIFA Best U21, as well as a substitute place in FIFA Team of the Year, on top of his Bundesliga top goalscorer award (where Lehnhoff was 3rd). Haas, Traub, Weingarten, Kuta and Topal were all included in Bundesliga Team of the Year (with "only" 6 Dortmund players).

Spoiler

 

 

Season 2031/2032

CHALLENGE COMPLETED! We won the Champions League ! And Bundesliga and DFB Pokal again. No epics this year though, but cold realism, the quintessence of counter-attacking football. Mert Topal an infallible guide to victory.

Spoiler

 

We started the season with a draw against Hoffenheim, as our team was not physically ready yet (some friendlies organisation trouble). We then suffered a quick loss against Bayern, and later an unfortunate loss against Bochum, that hadn't beaten us since the 2022-2023 season. Those two would be our only losses in all competitions for the season. The rest of the Budesliga was all wins until the end of april, apart from draws against Dortmund, Bayern, and then later in the season another draw against Bochum, making them the only team we couldn't beat this year. Since we were quite a few points above Borussia Dortmund and still running in Champions League, we had a massive turnover in the last 4 Bundesliga game that resulted in 4 1-1 draws.
And that did pay in our undefeated Champions League campaign. The group stage was incredibly easy, against Barcelona, Lille again, and AEK. We kind of missed Kiev, but we ended with 5 wins and one away draw against Barcelona. In one of the matches against Lille, Weingarten got sent off. Even after that we scored 4 goals against them. After that we easily dispatched Lyon in a 2-0 away, 3-0 at home. Then we took revenge on Real Madrid with a 3-1 win away, after a dominating 0-0 at home (unfortunately we couldn't finish there, we are too used to counter attacking football). In the semifinals we annihilated Chelsea with a 5-1 at home and 2-1 away, including 4 corner goals. And finally we met Bayern in a final once again. We quickly scored 2 at 29' and 33', a long range header from Lahnhoff and a back goal from Topal. They somehow pulled one back with a superb Adeyemi goal from a tight angle, but then Lehnhoff scored a first post header from a corner, and despite a last-minute goal they couldn't catch up to us.
In the DFB Pokal we simply won and won until the semifinals. There we met Bochum that held us to a draw during regular time. We finally scored at 119' with the unexpected substitute Hofmann scoring (at that point he was our 6th choice striker). The final against Dortmund was a Champions League final rehearsal, and we destroyed them 5-0, with Topal scoring 3 (and missing a penalty).
Our youths couldn't repeat their past successes and were eliminated by Dortmund in UEFA Youth League as soon as the 1/8th Final.

Spoiler

 

Statistically we crossed more, maybe because of the training that put a particular emphasis on those wide plays. And even more corner goals, even more in big matches. We also rose again in the fouling and yellow card rankings. We had to play a lot of lower ability players at LM LB and RB, which are our most tackiling/fouling position which might explain the lower quality of tacles in the Bundesliga this year. And Lehnhoff is absolutely out of conversion rate rankings, because he is now my main corner target, which means he has just too many shots above the bar.

Spoiler

 

Our intake was rather interesting, especially a small-ish spirited DC/DM good at both passing and heading, and a much expected right Defensive Winger with decent physical stats but balanced personality (he had a good progression so far though so he must be one of the better balanced ones). Overall personalities were all over the place, even some casual and slack that i rarely see. But I will probably never use them since the challenge is complete.

Spoiler

 

Once again no massive change at the club. For the first time the board sells without my approval, but it was "only" Pirard so I'm ok with it (but I preferred the last president, Amen). Team Wellington (New Zealand) and Pacifc FC (Canada) are out new affiliates, I don't know if it's because the limit on foreign affiliates went up or if there is no limit at all and I was just unlucky last time. Our salaries are quickly catching up to the rest of the league. Will have to reupgrade Youth Facilities that were downgraded at the end of the season. Despite the constant upgrades to our medical team, the injury crises are becoming worse. Mostly because they seem to target one position at a time, LB, RB, and LM...

Spoiler

 

 

Awards are mostly for Mert Topal to win this year. Ballon d'Or, Europan Golden Boy, Best Player in Europe, German Footballer of the Year, FIFA FIFPro Team of the Year, FIFA FIFPro Footballer of the Year, FIFA Best U21, European Champions Cup Golden Boot (with Lehnhoff second), European Champions Cup Dream Team (with Opoku, MBayo, Weingarten, Traub, Miranda, Garinyan and Lehnhoff). For the others, MBayo won European Champions Cup Defender of the Season, Opoku European Champions Cup Goalkeeper of the Season, Lehnhoff German U19 (with MBayo 3rd) and 3rd at NxGn.

Spoiler

 

 

And to conclude, here are some of my most important players this year : 
Goalkeeper : Jerry Opoku took the spot from a stagnating Haas, and definitely did not disappoint.
Central Defenders : Robin Traub is my best DC by far, with ridiculously high physical stats. Nils Weingarten and Yacouba Diallo are competing for the second spot, but the latter also has to substitute as inverted wingback when necessary (or in a back 3 at the end of some games). Mateusz Rzepka is the next option, mostly for easy game as he is more of a small Ball Playing Defender.
Inverted Wingbacks : Maximilian Bubner and Danilo Lasogga came into the team quite early, and are still sharing the heavy workload at this position. As they are quite limited, my real starters are Herlander Miranda and Prince MBayo, both solid physical allrounders with good positioning. And quite tall too, which is a real asset on set pieces.
Deep Lying Playmaker : Mirbek Eraliev is the cornerstone of this team. The first of my really good players, I have no idea how some kirghiz wonderkid decided to walk in mly youth setup, but he has been insanely good for me, even if the stats are not showing it (he has mostly defensive tasks, but also launching the counterattacks). Claudio Alves is his backup, but he is a little unreliable, physically and in personality (but the sliding tackles this season have been exceptional).
Defensive Wingers : Yann-Benjamin Garinyan is probably my second best players. Insane physical stats. He is very offensive, likes to dribble, but he also tracks back defensively and just dives into insane tackles. He's a total beast and can make the team win on his own, even against the really strong opponents. Joel Hansen somehow became the team captain, as a luxemburger mercenary. He's not amazing, but he is very reliable, both on and off the pitch. And very tall which helps for set pieces. Designated backups are Mustafa Ciçek and Hüseyin Serçek, so they also play a lot despite their physical and technical limitations, because this position is destroying stamina. I basically substitute them every match (where I can afford to). Augusto Matavele also played a bit this season, and way above expectations (he was not even on our coaches radar in the youth intake). So did Timon Schäfer.
Attacking midfielders : Patrick Kuta is the one starting the big games. I thought that he would become one of our stars in his early seasons, and that he might even become the club captain or at least a role model for kids. Unfortunately after our first title his personality turned bad and he started stagnating. He is still a good attacking midfielder and Advanced Forward at times, and I'm thankful for his defensive work which is amazing for his position, but he could have been greater. In the same "3rd Forward" style I have Eckart, who is rising from the youths with good physical abilities and excellent First Touch and Off The Ball, and in a more classical 10 style Garms who is an excellent passer. In my tactic they have to track back a lot, so they are often the third substituted position in a match, and they share the playing time.
Advanced Forward : Mert Topal. Simply Mert Topal. He is the perfect Advanced forward prototype : 19 Acceleration 18 Agility 20 Balance 18 Pace, 17 Stamina, 19 Composure, 17 Decision. Add 16 Natural Fitness, 14 Strength and he's available anytime, against anyone. 16 Anticipation, 15 Off The Ball, 15 Work Rate make his movement excellent off the ball, even in defence. Maybe his technical skills are a bit lacking yet ( 15 Dribbling, 14 Finishing, 14 First Touch, but 18 Technique), but he might still progress ! Ballon d'Or already at 20, 17 caps / 9goals, 17 goals in Champion's League. This guy just made the challenge easy. Maurice Lehnhoff is also excellent. Despite his 194 cm he's really fast. Honestly his finishing skills should still get higher, but he's a guy that had a 42% conversion year in a full season so it doesn't seem to bother him. He's also scoring on corners now. He's also leading my side with 17 assists this season, his complementarity with Topal is simply perfect. And Timon Schäfer. I don't know if I can still consider him an Advanced Forward, but he's still the record scorer for Lotte. He makes the difference everywhere, even as defensive winger substitute he ends up assisting, scoring, or doing that desperate sliding tackles that saves the match. He did way more that his stats allowed, and is the first name on the sheet for big games, even if it's on the bench.

Spoiler

 

 

CHALLENGE COMPLETE !

Thanks for reading and see you next year

 

[OlivierL]

4 hours ago, Zdnap_ said:

Hello everyone !
I'm finishing here since it is my last post of FM21 (I actually finished quite a while ago but didn't find the time to organize the screenshots and post, so it might be a bit of a mess)
So here it is :

 

 

Season 2029/2030

Champions ! I believe we were simply the most consistent team this year. Not the best, but Bayern and Dortmund destroyed themselves. Especially Bayern who somehow lost a lot in the early season despite Haaland joining them (poor guy probably lost the Ballon D'Or like that). We couldn't beat the big guys (PSG and Barcelona) in Champions League group, but we got relegated to Europa League, where we went all the way! The final was an epic win against Real Madrid. Another epic final in DFB Pokal where we lost on shoot-outs on 15th shooter...

  Reveal hidden contents

 

We only lost three times in the Bundesliga (Dortmund, Schalke, Bayern), plus 4 slightly underwhelming draws (Frankfurt, Augsburg, Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg). We just kept going and going, even scoring big wins against Bayern and Borussia at home. Schäfer once again our main contributor in goals, with Topal just being amazing. AA good help from Altintas and Kuta too, and some from our DCs with Eraliev becoming the main corner taker. Garms also played a massive role as a more classic 10 when I had to rest Kuta. Traub is still progressing, Weingarten got a little left behind but still very reliable. The team grew, got confident and consistent, and we were simply unstoppable and finished far above the second, Borussia Dortmund.
The DFB Pokal was another heartbreak with one more defeat in final against Bayern, but we got so close this time...
The Champions League campaign was stopped short, but we were decent agains Paris and Barcelona and dominated Kiev so we went in the Europa League with some confidence. And then we stormed to the final, exploding Legia Warszawa (23-1 on aggregate, I think they had a registration bug or something). Schäfer kind of magically scored early, Topal right before the end of the first half. Odegaard scored one early in second half, but Schäfer again answered immediatly. And then Real started to dominate us badly. Like really badly. They scored once again, and then pushed and pushed and pushed, but just couldn't score. They even got Lamptey expelled (Tackling hard special instruction on angry people works), but still pushed and pushed. If they shot on target we would have definitely lost, but they didn't, and we are Eurpa League champions !
Our youths also did a reapeat and (barely) won UEFA Youth League again.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Statistically we got better overall. Only our goalkeeper and central defender remained from the legacy players (and Mitchell who I think is a regen that I mostly keep for his good mentality), while the other players were raised at the club, with our mentality and tactics ingrained in their playstyle, so it just ticks. And corner goals are coming more and more often, which is really beneficial, especially in big matches.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Our intake was very disappointing, with only Diakité-Touré looking good, but joining our already stacked forward roster. As a more wingery type of forward that's not really good. The only other guy that looks like he could have some use is the goalkeeper Dammeier who has a really good Unflappable Professional personality.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Still no massive change at the club, apart from the noticeable rise in reputation. And the fact that we're starting to stack foreign affiliates : FC Wacker Innsbruck (Austria), Mafra (Portugal), Royal Football Club Liege (Belgium), OFI Crete (Greece), Shamrock Rovers (Ireland). We had quite the battle with Leipzig and Bayern to make MBayo remain at club. Our salary budget looks like it will explode, but we have the money so everything is OK.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

This season was clearly an award season. Garinyan, Topal, and Kuta are in Bundesliga Team Of The Year (with 7 Dortmund players, I still wonder how they could have missed this win). Eraliev was named best player in Europa League, with Schäfer and Kuta following, and Schäfer also being the best goalscorer (but somehow only Schäfer and Weingarten in the team of the season). Miranda won German U17 with MBayo second, and Topal U19 with Garinyan and Traub second and third. Topal also added NxGn and European Golden Boy. Kuta earned German Players' Player of the Year, and me Head Coach of the Year.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Season 2030/2031

Champions again ! We are one of the big clubs now, and we acted like it (except in Champions League semifinals unfortunately). And we finally finally finally beat Bayern in DFB Pokal final ! Unfortunately last year silverware has destroyed some of our key players (Kuta, Haas, MBayo, Miranda, Alves, ...) mentality, which resulted in uneven progression of the team and some disappointing matches. Top contributors were definitely my forwards Topal (33(12) 7,22r 9pom 30g 10a) and Lehnhoff (23(5) 6pom 23g 9a), but also Schäfer (35(5) 2pom 6.95r 17g 8a) despite being played everywhere and Kuta (35(8) 5pom 7.19r 12g 16a) despite his personality crash. DC pairing Traub (44(1) 7.06r 3pom 6g 6a) and Weingarten (38(1) 6.94r 1pom 3g 2a) held the line and helped for set pieces, while stats can't tell how much good Garinyan (still 4 pom as defensive winger) and Hansen did on the wings.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

The Bundesliga was a real contest with Dortmund until the very last day. 92 to 91 points. That point secured on the last day in a scary 4-4 draw against Schalke. On the other hand, behind us, Bayern had only 74 points, and Hertha a mere 57 points. Both Dortmund and us had a draw against Hoffenheim (who only finished 12th), and we both had a suprising loss, me against Kaiserslautern (17th and relegated, I was too confident with my turnover and the player mentality made them complacent), and Dortmund against Stuttgart. The difference came from the fact that, other than that, I only lost to Bayern, while Dortmund lost twice against me in our direct confrontations.
The DFB Pokal was a steady run that culminated in a beautiful extra-time goal win against Bayern in the final. I wish I knew how to make it into a gif...
The Champions League group stage went really well. We dominated Kiev for the third year in a row. We also easily beat Lille. One home draw and one away loss against Manchester left us in first position in our group. Then a lucky draw put us against Brugge and then Ajax, in matches that I wish we had win in a more convincing manner. But then we were paired with Klopp's Real Madrid. And I guess they were angry about last year Europa League final loss. And we lost away 5-0, a total humiliation. We somehow salvaged a 2-2 home draw, but our european campaign ended there.
Threepeat for the youth team with an other UEFA Youth League win. With a ridiculous goal that allowed us to equalize in the final against City. Definnitely wish I knew how to do those goal gifs.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Statistically we're staying on the same track, except with more and more tackling and less and less fouling, and even less yellow cards. We were even best tacklers in the Champion's League... right before Kiev ! Set pieces are now our strong point, except defensive indirect free kicks, that I can't seem to be able to manage. There is simply always a free player that they can just pass to and that has time for a strong shoot or an easy pass... And Lehnhoff is so lethal (42% conversion rate) that he broke XG.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Our intake has 2 decents prospects. Drube, a Fairly Professional DM with decent mental and technical stats, and Ducksch, a giant DC with decent mental and physical stats (but a Low determination personality that worries me a little).

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Philipp Arentz replaced Gerhard Amen as chairman during the season, but not much changed, I was absolutely safe (except they are devastated I am not spending their money). We added an other foreign  affiliate : Dempo Sports Club (India). It seems like we reached the max number of foreign affiliates, so we went for a german club for loans, and somehow got ourselves FC St Pauli ! We also had to reupgrade our training facilities. Due to the bad intake last year I also decided to replace Carriço by Mertesacker as HoYD as he is comparable mentality-wise, but better in my tactical system and he is german. I had to refuse an offer from French national team.
Peitzmeier and Menke left the club, so only Mitchell remaining (mostly for tutoring very young regens). Lehnhoff had a meteoric rise, and Schäfer got relegated as a second choice as a forward. But also as a Defensive Winger or even Central Midfield, where he still magically performed. Topal and Garinyan are becoming absolute monsters (for my team). Hansen and Traub are also progressing very well. Eraliev and Weingarten don't seem like they will progress anymore, but they are still getting better in terms of personality and consistency.
Many players were sold because of their personality and lack of progression, including last year top prospect Diakité-Touré... Altintas worsening personality and physical fitness puts me in an akward position where I would like to sell him, but can't because the fans and the team likes him very much. Overall squad personality went from Highly Professional at the end of last year (before the silverware) to Determined, to Professional again.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

We were overall better than last year, but we had less awards. Topal was only 3rd in Best Player in Europe, 2nd in German Footballer of the Year, and Opoku only third in German U17. Topal still claimed European Golden Boy and FIFA Best U21, as well as a substitute place in FIFA Team of the Year, on top of his Bundesliga top goalscorer award (where Lehnhoff was 3rd). Haas, Traub, Weingarten, Kuta and Topal were all included in Bundesliga Team of the Year (with "only" 6 Dortmund players).

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Season 2031/2032

CHALLENGE COMPLETED! We won the Champions League ! And Bundesliga and DFB Pokal again. No epics this year though, but cold realism, the quintessence of counter-attacking football. Mert Topal an infallible guide to victory.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

We started the season with a draw against Hoffenheim, as our team was not physically ready yet (some friendlies organisation trouble). We then suffered a quick loss against Bayern, and later an unfortunate loss against Bochum, that hadn't beaten us since the 2022-2023 season. Those two would be our only losses in all competitions for the season. The rest of the Budesliga was all wins until the end of april, apart from draws against Dortmund, Bayern, and then later in the season another draw against Bochum, making them the only team we couldn't beat this year. Since we were quite a few points above Borussia Dortmund and still running in Champions League, we had a massive turnover in the last 4 Bundesliga game that resulted in 4 1-1 draws.
And that did pay in our undefeated Champions League campaign. The group stage was incredibly easy, against Barcelona, Lille again, and AEK. We kind of missed Kiev, but we ended with 5 wins and one away draw against Barcelona. In one of the matches against Lille, Weingarten got sent off. Even after that we scored 4 goals against them. After that we easily dispatched Lyon in a 2-0 away, 3-0 at home. Then we took revenge on Real Madrid with a 3-1 win away, after a dominating 0-0 at home (unfortunately we couldn't finish there, we are too used to counter attacking football). In the semifinals we annihilated Chelsea with a 5-1 at home and 2-1 away, including 4 corner goals. And finally we met Bayern in a final once again. We quickly scored 2 at 29' and 33', a long range header from Lahnhoff and a back goal from Topal. They somehow pulled one back with a superb Adeyemi goal from a tight angle, but then Lehnhoff scored a first post header from a corner, and despite a last-minute goal they couldn't catch up to us.
In the DFB Pokal we simply won and won until the semifinals. There we met Bochum that held us to a draw during regular time. We finally scored at 119' with the unexpected substitute Hofmann scoring (at that point he was our 6th choice striker). The final against Dortmund was a Champions League final rehearsal, and we destroyed them 5-0, with Topal scoring 3 (and missing a penalty).
Our youths couldn't repeat their past successes and were eliminated by Dortmund in UEFA Youth League as soon as the 1/8th Final.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Statistically we crossed more, maybe because of the training that put a particular emphasis on those wide plays. And even more corner goals, even more in big matches. We also rose again in the fouling and yellow card rankings. We had to play a lot of lower ability players at LM LB and RB, which are our most tackiling/fouling position which might explain the lower quality of tacles in the Bundesliga this year. And Lehnhoff is absolutely out of conversion rate rankings, because he is now my main corner target, which means he has just too many shots above the bar.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Our intake was rather interesting, especially a small-ish spirited DC/DM good at both passing and heading, and a much expected right Defensive Winger with decent physical stats but balanced personality (he had a good progression so far though so he must be one of the better balanced ones). Overall personalities were all over the place, even some casual and slack that i rarely see. But I will probably never use them since the challenge is complete.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Once again no massive change at the club. For the first time the board sells without my approval, but it was "only" Pirard so I'm ok with it (but I preferred the last president, Amen). Team Wellington (New Zealand) and Pacifc FC (Canada) are out new affiliates, I don't know if it's because the limit on foreign affiliates went up or if there is no limit at all and I was just unlucky last time. Our salaries are quickly catching up to the rest of the league. Will have to reupgrade Youth Facilities that were downgraded at the end of the season. Despite the constant upgrades to our medical team, the injury crises are becoming worse. Mostly because they seem to target one position at a time, LB, RB, and LM...

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Awards are mostly for Mert Topal to win this year. Ballon d'Or, Europan Golden Boy, Best Player in Europe, German Footballer of the Year, FIFA FIFPro Team of the Year, FIFA FIFPro Footballer of the Year, FIFA Best U21, European Champions Cup Golden Boot (with Lehnhoff second), European Champions Cup Dream Team (with Opoku, MBayo, Weingarten, Traub, Miranda, Garinyan and Lehnhoff). For the others, MBayo won European Champions Cup Defender of the Season, Opoku European Champions Cup Goalkeeper of the Season, Lehnhoff German U19 (with MBayo 3rd) and 3rd at NxGn.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

And to conclude, here are some of my most important players this year : 
Goalkeeper : Jerry Opoku took the spot from a stagnating Haas, and definitely did not disappoint.
Central Defenders : Robin Traub is my best DC by far, with ridiculously high physical stats. Nils Weingarten and Yacouba Diallo are competing for the second spot, but the latter also has to substitute as inverted wingback when necessary (or in a back 3 at the end of some games). Mateusz Rzepka is the next option, mostly for easy game as he is more of a small Ball Playing Defender.
Inverted Wingbacks : Maximilian Bubner and Danilo Lasogga came into the team quite early, and are still sharing the heavy workload at this position. As they are quite limited, my real starters are Herlander Miranda and Prince MBayo, both solid physical allrounders with good positioning. And quite tall too, which is a real asset on set pieces.
Deep Lying Playmaker : Mirbek Eraliev is the cornerstone of this team. The first of my really good players, I have no idea how some kirghiz wonderkid decided to walk in mly youth setup, but he has been insanely good for me, even if the stats are not showing it (he has mostly defensive tasks, but also launching the counterattacks). Claudio Alves is his backup, but he is a little unreliable, physically and in personality (but the sliding tackles this season have been exceptional).
Defensive Wingers : Yann-Benjamin Garinyan is probably my second best players. Insane physical stats. He is very offensive, likes to dribble, but he also tracks back defensively and just dives into insane tackles. He's a total beast and can make the team win on his own, even against the really strong opponents. Joel Hansen somehow became the team captain, as a luxemburger mercenary. He's not amazing, but he is very reliable, both on and off the pitch. And very tall which helps for set pieces. Designated backups are Mustafa Ciçek and Hüseyin Serçek, so they also play a lot despite their physical and technical limitations, because this position is destroying stamina. I basically substitute them every match (where I can afford to). Augusto Matavele also played a bit this season, and way above expectations (he was not even on our coaches radar in the youth intake). So did Timon Schäfer.
Attacking midfielders : Patrick Kuta is the one starting the big games. I thought that he would become one of our stars in his early seasons, and that he might even become the club captain or at least a role model for kids. Unfortunately after our first title his personality turned bad and he started stagnating. He is still a good attacking midfielder and Advanced Forward at times, and I'm thankful for his defensive work which is amazing for his position, but he could have been greater. In the same "3rd Forward" style I have Eckart, who is rising from the youths with good physical abilities and excellent First Touch and Off The Ball, and in a more classical 10 style Garms who is an excellent passer. In my tactic they have to track back a lot, so they are often the third substituted position in a match, and they share the playing time.
Advanced Forward : Mert Topal. Simply Mert Topal. He is the perfect Advanced forward prototype : 19 Acceleration 18 Agility 20 Balance 18 Pace, 17 Stamina, 19 Composure, 17 Decision. Add 16 Natural Fitness, 14 Strength and he's available anytime, against anyone. 16 Anticipation, 15 Off The Ball, 15 Work Rate make his movement excellent off the ball, even in defence. Maybe his technical skills are a bit lacking yet ( 15 Dribbling, 14 Finishing, 14 First Touch, but 18 Technique), but he might still progress ! Ballon d'Or already at 20, 17 caps / 9goals, 17 goals in Champion's League. This guy just made the challenge easy. Maurice Lehnhoff is also excellent. Despite his 194 cm he's really fast. Honestly his finishing skills should still get higher, but he's a guy that had a 42% conversion year in a full season so it doesn't seem to bother him. He's also scoring on corners now. He's also leading my side with 17 assists this season, his complementarity with Topal is simply perfect. And Timon Schäfer. I don't know if I can still consider him an Advanced Forward, but he's still the record scorer for Lotte. He makes the difference everywhere, even as defensive winger substitute he ends up assisting, scoring, or doing that desperate sliding tackles that saves the match. He did way more that his stats allowed, and is the first name on the sheet for big games, even if it's on the bench.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

CHALLENGE COMPLETE !

Thanks for reading and see you next year

 

Good job, finishing in Germany seems to be easy but we know it wasn't  

[darren1983]

6 hours ago, Zdnap_ said:

Hello everyone !
I'm finishing here since it is my last post of FM21 (I actually finished quite a while ago but didn't find the time to organize the screenshots and post, so it might be a bit of a mess)
So here it is :

 

 

Season 2029/2030

Champions ! I believe we were simply the most consistent team this year. Not the best, but Bayern and Dortmund destroyed themselves. Especially Bayern who somehow lost a lot in the early season despite Haaland joining them (poor guy probably lost the Ballon D'Or like that). We couldn't beat the big guys (PSG and Barcelona) in Champions League group, but we got relegated to Europa League, where we went all the way! The final was an epic win against Real Madrid. Another epic final in DFB Pokal where we lost on shoot-outs on 15th shooter...

  Reveal hidden contents

 

We only lost three times in the Bundesliga (Dortmund, Schalke, Bayern), plus 4 slightly underwhelming draws (Frankfurt, Augsburg, Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg). We just kept going and going, even scoring big wins against Bayern and Borussia at home. Schäfer once again our main contributor in goals, with Topal just being amazing. AA good help from Altintas and Kuta too, and some from our DCs with Eraliev becoming the main corner taker. Garms also played a massive role as a more classic 10 when I had to rest Kuta. Traub is still progressing, Weingarten got a little left behind but still very reliable. The team grew, got confident and consistent, and we were simply unstoppable and finished far above the second, Borussia Dortmund.
The DFB Pokal was another heartbreak with one more defeat in final against Bayern, but we got so close this time...
The Champions League campaign was stopped short, but we were decent agains Paris and Barcelona and dominated Kiev so we went in the Europa League with some confidence. And then we stormed to the final, exploding Legia Warszawa (23-1 on aggregate, I think they had a registration bug or something). Schäfer kind of magically scored early, Topal right before the end of the first half. Odegaard scored one early in second half, but Schäfer again answered immediatly. And then Real started to dominate us badly. Like really badly. They scored once again, and then pushed and pushed and pushed, but just couldn't score. They even got Lamptey expelled (Tackling hard special instruction on angry people works), but still pushed and pushed. If they shot on target we would have definitely lost, but they didn't, and we are Eurpa League champions !
Our youths also did a reapeat and (barely) won UEFA Youth League again.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Statistically we got better overall. Only our goalkeeper and central defender remained from the legacy players (and Mitchell who I think is a regen that I mostly keep for his good mentality), while the other players were raised at the club, with our mentality and tactics ingrained in their playstyle, so it just ticks. And corner goals are coming more and more often, which is really beneficial, especially in big matches.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Our intake was very disappointing, with only Diakité-Touré looking good, but joining our already stacked forward roster. As a more wingery type of forward that's not really good. The only other guy that looks like he could have some use is the goalkeeper Dammeier who has a really good Unflappable Professional personality.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Still no massive change at the club, apart from the noticeable rise in reputation. And the fact that we're starting to stack foreign affiliates : FC Wacker Innsbruck (Austria), Mafra (Portugal), Royal Football Club Liege (Belgium), OFI Crete (Greece), Shamrock Rovers (Ireland). We had quite the battle with Leipzig and Bayern to make MBayo remain at club. Our salary budget looks like it will explode, but we have the money so everything is OK.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

This season was clearly an award season. Garinyan, Topal, and Kuta are in Bundesliga Team Of The Year (with 7 Dortmund players, I still wonder how they could have missed this win). Eraliev was named best player in Europa League, with Schäfer and Kuta following, and Schäfer also being the best goalscorer (but somehow only Schäfer and Weingarten in the team of the season). Miranda won German U17 with MBayo second, and Topal U19 with Garinyan and Traub second and third. Topal also added NxGn and European Golden Boy. Kuta earned German Players' Player of the Year, and me Head Coach of the Year.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Season 2030/2031

Champions again ! We are one of the big clubs now, and we acted like it (except in Champions League semifinals unfortunately). And we finally finally finally beat Bayern in DFB Pokal final ! Unfortunately last year silverware has destroyed some of our key players (Kuta, Haas, MBayo, Miranda, Alves, ...) mentality, which resulted in uneven progression of the team and some disappointing matches. Top contributors were definitely my forwards Topal (33(12) 7,22r 9pom 30g 10a) and Lehnhoff (23(5) 6pom 23g 9a), but also Schäfer (35(5) 2pom 6.95r 17g 8a) despite being played everywhere and Kuta (35(8) 5pom 7.19r 12g 16a) despite his personality crash. DC pairing Traub (44(1) 7.06r 3pom 6g 6a) and Weingarten (38(1) 6.94r 1pom 3g 2a) held the line and helped for set pieces, while stats can't tell how much good Garinyan (still 4 pom as defensive winger) and Hansen did on the wings.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

The Bundesliga was a real contest with Dortmund until the very last day. 92 to 91 points. That point secured on the last day in a scary 4-4 draw against Schalke. On the other hand, behind us, Bayern had only 74 points, and Hertha a mere 57 points. Both Dortmund and us had a draw against Hoffenheim (who only finished 12th), and we both had a suprising loss, me against Kaiserslautern (17th and relegated, I was too confident with my turnover and the player mentality made them complacent), and Dortmund against Stuttgart. The difference came from the fact that, other than that, I only lost to Bayern, while Dortmund lost twice against me in our direct confrontations.
The DFB Pokal was a steady run that culminated in a beautiful extra-time goal win against Bayern in the final. I wish I knew how to make it into a gif...
The Champions League group stage went really well. We dominated Kiev for the third year in a row. We also easily beat Lille. One home draw and one away loss against Manchester left us in first position in our group. Then a lucky draw put us against Brugge and then Ajax, in matches that I wish we had win in a more convincing manner. But then we were paired with Klopp's Real Madrid. And I guess they were angry about last year Europa League final loss. And we lost away 5-0, a total humiliation. We somehow salvaged a 2-2 home draw, but our european campaign ended there.
Threepeat for the youth team with an other UEFA Youth League win. With a ridiculous goal that allowed us to equalize in the final against City. Definnitely wish I knew how to do those goal gifs.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Statistically we're staying on the same track, except with more and more tackling and less and less fouling, and even less yellow cards. We were even best tacklers in the Champion's League... right before Kiev ! Set pieces are now our strong point, except defensive indirect free kicks, that I can't seem to be able to manage. There is simply always a free player that they can just pass to and that has time for a strong shoot or an easy pass... And Lehnhoff is so lethal (42% conversion rate) that he broke XG.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Our intake has 2 decents prospects. Drube, a Fairly Professional DM with decent mental and technical stats, and Ducksch, a giant DC with decent mental and physical stats (but a Low determination personality that worries me a little).

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Philipp Arentz replaced Gerhard Amen as chairman during the season, but not much changed, I was absolutely safe (except they are devastated I am not spending their money). We added an other foreign  affiliate : Dempo Sports Club (India). It seems like we reached the max number of foreign affiliates, so we went for a german club for loans, and somehow got ourselves FC St Pauli ! We also had to reupgrade our training facilities. Due to the bad intake last year I also decided to replace Carriço by Mertesacker as HoYD as he is comparable mentality-wise, but better in my tactical system and he is german. I had to refuse an offer from French national team.
Peitzmeier and Menke left the club, so only Mitchell remaining (mostly for tutoring very young regens). Lehnhoff had a meteoric rise, and Schäfer got relegated as a second choice as a forward. But also as a Defensive Winger or even Central Midfield, where he still magically performed. Topal and Garinyan are becoming absolute monsters (for my team). Hansen and Traub are also progressing very well. Eraliev and Weingarten don't seem like they will progress anymore, but they are still getting better in terms of personality and consistency.
Many players were sold because of their personality and lack of progression, including last year top prospect Diakité-Touré... Altintas worsening personality and physical fitness puts me in an akward position where I would like to sell him, but can't because the fans and the team likes him very much. Overall squad personality went from Highly Professional at the end of last year (before the silverware) to Determined, to Professional again.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

We were overall better than last year, but we had less awards. Topal was only 3rd in Best Player in Europe, 2nd in German Footballer of the Year, and Opoku only third in German U17. Topal still claimed European Golden Boy and FIFA Best U21, as well as a substitute place in FIFA Team of the Year, on top of his Bundesliga top goalscorer award (where Lehnhoff was 3rd). Haas, Traub, Weingarten, Kuta and Topal were all included in Bundesliga Team of the Year (with "only" 6 Dortmund players).

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Season 2031/2032

CHALLENGE COMPLETED! We won the Champions League ! And Bundesliga and DFB Pokal again. No epics this year though, but cold realism, the quintessence of counter-attacking football. Mert Topal an infallible guide to victory.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

We started the season with a draw against Hoffenheim, as our team was not physically ready yet (some friendlies organisation trouble). We then suffered a quick loss against Bayern, and later an unfortunate loss against Bochum, that hadn't beaten us since the 2022-2023 season. Those two would be our only losses in all competitions for the season. The rest of the Budesliga was all wins until the end of april, apart from draws against Dortmund, Bayern, and then later in the season another draw against Bochum, making them the only team we couldn't beat this year. Since we were quite a few points above Borussia Dortmund and still running in Champions League, we had a massive turnover in the last 4 Bundesliga game that resulted in 4 1-1 draws.
And that did pay in our undefeated Champions League campaign. The group stage was incredibly easy, against Barcelona, Lille again, and AEK. We kind of missed Kiev, but we ended with 5 wins and one away draw against Barcelona. In one of the matches against Lille, Weingarten got sent off. Even after that we scored 4 goals against them. After that we easily dispatched Lyon in a 2-0 away, 3-0 at home. Then we took revenge on Real Madrid with a 3-1 win away, after a dominating 0-0 at home (unfortunately we couldn't finish there, we are too used to counter attacking football). In the semifinals we annihilated Chelsea with a 5-1 at home and 2-1 away, including 4 corner goals. And finally we met Bayern in a final once again. We quickly scored 2 at 29' and 33', a long range header from Lahnhoff and a back goal from Topal. They somehow pulled one back with a superb Adeyemi goal from a tight angle, but then Lehnhoff scored a first post header from a corner, and despite a last-minute goal they couldn't catch up to us.
In the DFB Pokal we simply won and won until the semifinals. There we met Bochum that held us to a draw during regular time. We finally scored at 119' with the unexpected substitute Hofmann scoring (at that point he was our 6th choice striker). The final against Dortmund was a Champions League final rehearsal, and we destroyed them 5-0, with Topal scoring 3 (and missing a penalty).
Our youths couldn't repeat their past successes and were eliminated by Dortmund in UEFA Youth League as soon as the 1/8th Final.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Statistically we crossed more, maybe because of the training that put a particular emphasis on those wide plays. And even more corner goals, even more in big matches. We also rose again in the fouling and yellow card rankings. We had to play a lot of lower ability players at LM LB and RB, which are our most tackiling/fouling position which might explain the lower quality of tacles in the Bundesliga this year. And Lehnhoff is absolutely out of conversion rate rankings, because he is now my main corner target, which means he has just too many shots above the bar.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Our intake was rather interesting, especially a small-ish spirited DC/DM good at both passing and heading, and a much expected right Defensive Winger with decent physical stats but balanced personality (he had a good progression so far though so he must be one of the better balanced ones). Overall personalities were all over the place, even some casual and slack that i rarely see. But I will probably never use them since the challenge is complete.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Once again no massive change at the club. For the first time the board sells without my approval, but it was "only" Pirard so I'm ok with it (but I preferred the last president, Amen). Team Wellington (New Zealand) and Pacifc FC (Canada) are out new affiliates, I don't know if it's because the limit on foreign affiliates went up or if there is no limit at all and I was just unlucky last time. Our salaries are quickly catching up to the rest of the league. Will have to reupgrade Youth Facilities that were downgraded at the end of the season. Despite the constant upgrades to our medical team, the injury crises are becoming worse. Mostly because they seem to target one position at a time, LB, RB, and LM...

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Awards are mostly for Mert Topal to win this year. Ballon d'Or, Europan Golden Boy, Best Player in Europe, German Footballer of the Year, FIFA FIFPro Team of the Year, FIFA FIFPro Footballer of the Year, FIFA Best U21, European Champions Cup Golden Boot (with Lehnhoff second), European Champions Cup Dream Team (with Opoku, MBayo, Weingarten, Traub, Miranda, Garinyan and Lehnhoff). For the others, MBayo won European Champions Cup Defender of the Season, Opoku European Champions Cup Goalkeeper of the Season, Lehnhoff German U19 (with MBayo 3rd) and 3rd at NxGn.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

And to conclude, here are some of my most important players this year : 
Goalkeeper : Jerry Opoku took the spot from a stagnating Haas, and definitely did not disappoint.
Central Defenders : Robin Traub is my best DC by far, with ridiculously high physical stats. Nils Weingarten and Yacouba Diallo are competing for the second spot, but the latter also has to substitute as inverted wingback when necessary (or in a back 3 at the end of some games). Mateusz Rzepka is the next option, mostly for easy game as he is more of a small Ball Playing Defender.
Inverted Wingbacks : Maximilian Bubner and Danilo Lasogga came into the team quite early, and are still sharing the heavy workload at this position. As they are quite limited, my real starters are Herlander Miranda and Prince MBayo, both solid physical allrounders with good positioning. And quite tall too, which is a real asset on set pieces.
Deep Lying Playmaker : Mirbek Eraliev is the cornerstone of this team. The first of my really good players, I have no idea how some kirghiz wonderkid decided to walk in mly youth setup, but he has been insanely good for me, even if the stats are not showing it (he has mostly defensive tasks, but also launching the counterattacks). Claudio Alves is his backup, but he is a little unreliable, physically and in personality (but the sliding tackles this season have been exceptional).
Defensive Wingers : Yann-Benjamin Garinyan is probably my second best players. Insane physical stats. He is very offensive, likes to dribble, but he also tracks back defensively and just dives into insane tackles. He's a total beast and can make the team win on his own, even against the really strong opponents. Joel Hansen somehow became the team captain, as a luxemburger mercenary. He's not amazing, but he is very reliable, both on and off the pitch. And very tall which helps for set pieces. Designated backups are Mustafa Ciçek and Hüseyin Serçek, so they also play a lot despite their physical and technical limitations, because this position is destroying stamina. I basically substitute them every match (where I can afford to). Augusto Matavele also played a bit this season, and way above expectations (he was not even on our coaches radar in the youth intake). So did Timon Schäfer.
Attacking midfielders : Patrick Kuta is the one starting the big games. I thought that he would become one of our stars in his early seasons, and that he might even become the club captain or at least a role model for kids. Unfortunately after our first title his personality turned bad and he started stagnating. He is still a good attacking midfielder and Advanced Forward at times, and I'm thankful for his defensive work which is amazing for his position, but he could have been greater. In the same "3rd Forward" style I have Eckart, who is rising from the youths with good physical abilities and excellent First Touch and Off The Ball, and in a more classical 10 style Garms who is an excellent passer. In my tactic they have to track back a lot, so they are often the third substituted position in a match, and they share the playing time.
Advanced Forward : Mert Topal. Simply Mert Topal. He is the perfect Advanced forward prototype : 19 Acceleration 18 Agility 20 Balance 18 Pace, 17 Stamina, 19 Composure, 17 Decision. Add 16 Natural Fitness, 14 Strength and he's available anytime, against anyone. 16 Anticipation, 15 Off The Ball, 15 Work Rate make his movement excellent off the ball, even in defence. Maybe his technical skills are a bit lacking yet ( 15 Dribbling, 14 Finishing, 14 First Touch, but 18 Technique), but he might still progress ! Ballon d'Or already at 20, 17 caps / 9goals, 17 goals in Champion's League. This guy just made the challenge easy. Maurice Lehnhoff is also excellent. Despite his 194 cm he's really fast. Honestly his finishing skills should still get higher, but he's a guy that had a 42% conversion year in a full season so it doesn't seem to bother him. He's also scoring on corners now. He's also leading my side with 17 assists this season, his complementarity with Topal is simply perfect. And Timon Schäfer. I don't know if I can still consider him an Advanced Forward, but he's still the record scorer for Lotte. He makes the difference everywhere, even as defensive winger substitute he ends up assisting, scoring, or doing that desperate sliding tackles that saves the match. He did way more that his stats allowed, and is the first name on the sheet for big games, even if it's on the bench.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

CHALLENGE COMPLETE !

Thanks for reading and see you next year

 

Congrats, have added you to the HoF 

[rimok]

can I start my challenge now ? just wanted to try it in fm21 as I skipped buying fm22

[JAwtunes]

41 minutes ago, rimok said:

can I start my challenge now ? just wanted to try it in fm21 as I skipped buying fm22

Best to use the FM22 thread.  You just need to say its an FM21 save.

This new thread will also play host to people that are starting on older versions if they want, just easier to keep people active even if not on latest version. Please let me know if you’re playing on an older version though.