FM21 - Athletic Club: Los Leones Roaring Back

[ernemann]

It’s not just happening in the game! 
 

🔴⚪️ 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗢𝗣𝗔 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭 𝗧𝗫𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗟𝗗𝗨𝗡𝗔𝗞!! 

[Necto FM]

Kévin Rodrigues is a good left back/left winger for me 

[dothestrand]

Replacing Garitano with Marcelino seems to have made a huge difference already!

[TOMetz]

Zoroniak txapeldunes!

After yesterday's amazing game it was time to start my annual Athletic Club save after having won almost everything with my beloved Racing Genk.

Great to see many familiar faces in this year's thread again!

[ernemann]

So before the 2028 season we said goodbye to some familar faces and replaced them with some fresh young talent, and after many years it was time to say goodbye to Inaki Williams who went to China and Aimar Oroz went to Wolves, Cordoba left to Marseille and Laporte didnt get a new contract.

From this new team we have big hopes for Jorge Bilbao very exciting midfielder and striker Gorka Castro, who allready have 3 goals in 6 matches, so might be a great season and a new topscorer. You can also see our balance and transferbudget - we dont really need any money

[MWE]

Season 3 done

[jakem016]

Has anyone had Nico Williams turn into a good squad member?  He's tearing up La Liga 2 in the 2nd season for me.

[ernemann]

14 minutes ago, jakem016 said:

Has anyone had Nico Williams turn into a good squad member?  He's tearing up La Liga 2 in the 2nd season for me.

 No gave him a few cup games, but no dont waste your time on him. There are better players through 😏

[dothestrand]

8 hours ago, jakem016 said:

Has anyone had Nico Williams turn into a good squad member?  He's tearing up La Liga 2 in the 2nd season for me.

He usually had good loan spells but didn't develop enough to be a first teamer. Always had better regens for squad depth. Sold him to Elche for around 5m after a couple of seasons. 

[dino]

14 hours ago, MWE said:

Any reason behind the collapse at the end?

[MWE]

1 hour ago, dino said:

Any reason behind the collapse at the end?

Not too sure really all were tight games except for the Espanyol one, Munians injury didn't help either.

[ernemann]

What a crazy end to the season we had. Barca have a crazy team and were in front all the time, but suddenly they got some defeats and we took our first title, where we got over 100 points It didnt go well in CL where we went out to Chelsea in the quarter, but our young team will be stronger next season.

But it will be without our main man Nico Serrano who finally got that big club he wanted, and what a player we had here. 368 matches and he scored 132 goals

Edited January 20, 2021 by ernemann

[dothestrand]

@ernemann Gosh, I wouldn't turn that money down, though you shouldn't need it! And crazy to need 102 pts to win the title!

I've got a youth player here I'm struggling to work out what to do with. He's a natural striker but doesn't have the technical ability to be a regular option there (plus I have strikers aplenty already). He can play wide right, but again I don't really need him there. I am weaker in CM but again, how long can I wait to improve those technical stats? As you can see, he is a wonderkid and has a high value, so whilst I can't work out what to do with him, I don't want to sell him and regret it later (though of course I'd have a buy back clause anyway!) He's 20 by the way.

Edited January 21, 2021 by dothestrand

[ernemann]

1 hour ago, dothestrand said:

@ernemann Gosh, I wouldn't turn that money down, though you shouldn't need it! And crazy to need 102 pts to win the title!

I've got a youth player here I'm struggling to work out what to do with. He's a natural striker but doesn't have the technical ability to be a regular option there (plus I have strikers aplenty already). He can play wide right, but again I don't really need him there. I am weaker in CM but again, how long can I wait to improve those technical stats? As you can see, he is a wonderkid and has a high value, so whilst I can't work out what to do with him, I don't want to sell him and regret it later (though of course I'd have a buy back clause anyway!) He's 20 by the way.

Yeah crazy Money but he wanted to leave for 3-4 seasons, but not until now I have players to replace him. Got a 17 year Old who my assistent Can be better than Serrano - it’s so crazy 😏😏 I would loan him out but make sure to loan out in highest league and that he plays as important player! 😉

[OlivierL]

still tempted to join this again . Anyone every did this (in this topic) with only youth intakes ?

I'm a big youth only fan but can't find the right club and save to continue after a few season. Thinking about Hotspurs (Malta 2th tier) but also tempted again for this great club.

 

[ernemann]

2 hours ago, OlivierL said:

still tempted to join this again . Anyone every did this (in this topic) with only youth intakes ?

I'm a big youth only fan but can't find the right club and save to continue after a few season. Thinking about Hotspurs (Malta 2th tier) but also tempted again for this great club.

 

Not from the start but now In 2030 it’s only my own Youth i use, cause I dont Think other teams Got better Youth intakes 😏

[bowieinspace]

3 hours ago, OlivierL said:

still tempted to join this again . Anyone every did this (in this topic) with only youth intakes ?

I'm a big youth only fan but can't find the right club and save to continue after a few season. Thinking about Hotspurs (Malta 2th tier) but also tempted again for this great club.

 

I’ve not personally but I think my idea for next year will be to do youth academy only, unless the player is over 21 or 22 for example. So Sociedad and Osasuna young players have to be developed by their academy before I can sign them. I find it a bit too easy to sign talented youth players from rivals to be honest so might try that for a bit of added difficulty. Or just to youth only. It would be fun with Athletic with a quality academy anyway

[dothestrand]

14 hours ago, bowieinspace said:

I’ve not personally but I think my idea for next year will be to do youth academy only, unless the player is over 21 or 22 for example. So Sociedad and Osasuna young players have to be developed by their academy before I can sign them. I find it a bit too easy to sign talented youth players from rivals to be honest so might try that for a bit of added difficulty. Or just to youth only. It would be fun with Athletic with a quality academy anyway

I think I'll do a second Athletic save at some point, where I will do Lezama only. You're right, every April, you just spend your time hoovering up the talent from other youth intakes. 

[OlivierL]

@dothestrand

@bowieinspace

I'm doubting at the moment between Malta (youth only with Pietà Hotspurs) or Bilbao (i did a great save a few FM's ago but had to stop after 4/5 seasons, right after some great prospects entered the first team). It feels like unfished business . I dislike transfers so i'm addicted to youth only saves since FM18/19 . I'l decide later this week what i'll do. If i start with Bilbao i'm not going to start my own topic but i can post my updates here ? I love to go detailed about youth intakes and their calculation in my excels, thats fine for you guys ?

 

[OlivierL]

Question for the Bilbao specialists  I can't remember but do u get some other nationalities or only Basque/Spanish ? I love to get a lot of nationalities to report about this.

 

[bowieinspace]

1 hour ago, OlivierL said:

@dothestrand

@bowieinspace

I'm doubting at the moment between Malta (youth only with Pietà Hotspurs) or Bilbao (i did a great save a few FM's ago but had to stop after 4/5 seasons, right after some great prospects entered the first team). It feels like unfished business . I dislike transfers so i'm addicted to youth only saves since FM18/19 . I'l decide later this week what i'll do. If i start with Bilbao i'm not going to start my own topic but i can post my updates here ? I love to go detailed about youth intakes and their calculation in my excels, thats fine for you guys ?

 

Yeah of course  

You only get basque Spanish really, the occasional French basque does pop up but it’s rare

[ernemann]

5 hours ago, OlivierL said:

Question for the Bilbao specialists  I can't remember but do u get some other nationalities or only Basque/Spanish ? I love to get a lot of nationalities to report about this.

 

Well i have a special Young guy. He is born In Spain in the basque area, but then moved to Uruguay, but he is back now in Bilbao, but he plays for the nationalteam in Uruguay 😂😂😂 

[dothestrand]

15 hours ago, ernemann said:

Well i have a special Young guy. He is born In Spain in the basque area, but then moved to Uruguay, but he is back now in Bilbao, but he plays for the nationalteam in Uruguay 😂😂😂 

I sometimes get Basque second nationality players who were not born in the Basque country but elsewhere in Spain. I've one in my u19 who was born in Madrid, started in Real's academy and I signed him at 18. So the game must factor in some form of 'raised in the Basque country' before he existed in the game!

[dothestrand]

2025-26 season over and we won the title by 4pts, ahead of Valencia in 2nd. Barcelona and Real were 3rd/4th respectively. Strange season really. Only four players averaging over 7.0 - when you look at the players by average rating, Atletico Madrid has SIX of the top twenty players and still finished 5th! I guess we show up for the crunch matches and otherwise play a lot of mediocre football to beat lesser teams!

No real signings - just Basque regens as always. Nolaskoian's moved on and Vencedor is about to - probably the last of the 'run of the mill' originals. Simon, Yeray, Nunez and Williams are still first teamers of course.

Again, we made little progress in the CL, losing heavily to Bayern in the QF. I'd expect us to continue competing for titles, but Europe tends to be a slog once you get to the knockouts.

Based on a discussion above, I'm trying to work out how well I'd be doing with a Lezama only team - or at least allowing the signing of 'real' Basque players - not hoovering up any talented Basque regen. I could just sell my non-Lezama regens now but I'd be selling some of my best players! And had I taken that approach, I wouldn't have been so casual with culling the youth intake. I think we're too far gone to try that, I'd be without a squad. So I'm toying with starting again, we'll see. 

[BlueMikeyP]

I agree that scooping up on the regens can make the game a little easy. To try to prevent hoarding the youngsters I play with a couple of unwritten rules.

One being that I can’t sign anyone that hasn’t agreed their first professional contract. That at least means that you aren’t getting the players for next to nothing.

Secondly I limit u18 signings to 1 per season. This means I still get my star pick of the bunch but also ensures that there are players out there for me to sign in the future. By the time they reach 18 the transfer fees required tend to be more realistic for their talent.

[bowieinspace]

I just found a 25 year old in my C team who I had just left there years ago and no one has taken him on a free transfer... he's still on a youth contract  Poor guy has been playing for us for 9 years on 90GBP per week haha.

[bowieinspace]

Haha, I've got double this in the bank Abramovich...go away.

 

[dothestrand]

4 hours ago, bowieinspace said:

Haha, I've got double this in the bank Abramovich...go away.

 

Gosh, how good is he? I've never had a huge bid for any of my players. After a few seasons I only sell players I want rid of. 

[ernemann]

After 3 years with not so good results in Europe and the league we are again back we can again battle for the league title, but Barcelona have got a crazy team and they are not easy to win against. In the league it was very tight, but at the end Barca won the league again!!

But in the Champions League we got our revenge against Barcelona and we won the big title again It was also last season with Unai Nunez and we have only Unai Simon, Oliet Sancet and Mikel Oyarzabal left from the start of the game.

 

We got a execiting young talent who I think can be really good for us. He is now at age 16 on loan at Mallorca in La Liga123

Edited January 29, 2021 by ernemann

[bowieinspace]

18 hours ago, dothestrand said:

Gosh, how good is he? I've never had a huge bid for any of my players. After a few seasons I only sell players I want rid of. 

[ernemann]

First round after New Years and I think Real Sociedad would have wanted to meet some other team  

[jakem016]

My HOYD said we might have a golden generation but my god...

[dothestrand]

7 hours ago, jakem016 said:

My HOYD said we might have a golden generation but my god...

That's amazing, my 'golden generations' usually only comprise 2-3 players of serious potential. How good are the guys with 2* ratings already?

[vvegg]

Any fresh non spanish/french basque players at the start of the game? 

I remember 2 uruguayan players in a previous game but their basque nationalities disappeared after updates.

When I had editor in the previous versions the first thing I would do was filtering non spanish/french basque players in order to find them.

I saw a Dutch keeper in this thread so far and I did not buy the editor for 21.

[jakem016]

17 hours ago, dothestrand said:

That's amazing, my 'golden generations' usually only comprise 2-3 players of serious potential. How good are the guys with 2* ratings already?

It's only my 2nd season so they're not ready for 1st team football yet but my b team is somehow 1st in La Liga 2 and my c team might get promoted to Segunda Liga Pro so they'll be able to play at a good level next year if the coaches actually play them.  Most of them have good personalities too.  I was really glad to get a cb because Inigo tore his achilles and I'm not sure how he's gonna come back.  

 
 

 

 

 

[jakem016]

Just now, jakem016 said:

It's only my 2nd season so they're not ready for 1st team football yet but my b team is somehow 1st in La Liga 2 and my c team might get promoted to Segunda Liga Pro so they'll be able to play at a good level next year if the coaches actually play them.  Most of them have good personalities too.  I was really glad to get a cb because Inigo tore his achilles and I'm not sure how he's gonna come back.  

 
 

 

 

 

I'm really excited about a couple of players from last year.  Miki looks like he's ready to break into the team next year too but I've really got a log jam at cm.

[TelcontarTargaryen]

Anyone had problems negotiating with coaches to hire them for Bilbao Athletic (B) squad? For C you must even go part time, I believe. I'm trying to hire some of the 'newgen' coaches for B, C and U19 squad as I feel the ones Bilbao has are mostly not adequate for creating the best youth setup and maximizing youth player improvement. 

[jakem016]

On 16/02/2021 at 11:59, TelcontarTargaryen said:

Anyone had problems negotiating with coaches to hire them for Bilbao Athletic (B) squad? For C you must even go part time, I believe. I'm trying to hire some of the 'newgen' coaches for B, C and U19 squad as I feel the ones Bilbao has are mostly not adequate for creating the best youth setup and maximizing youth player improvement. 

I wasn't able to resign any of the staff because they all want more money than the board will allow but most of them aren't any good anyway.  The maximum wage allowed by the board is usually too low for any decent Spanish or EU coach.  I tried to ask my Technical Director to hire/fire b/c team coaches but that didn't work either.  I'd recommend to search for staff by excluding realistic options for 1st team and targeting employed staff on low wages who preferably have a low reputation (you can include this in the search parameters but I didn't.  I'm in my 3rd season and I've massively improved the staff at all levels and most of my coaching staff at the b/c/youth team levels are either South American or Eastern European who were employed at a low wage.  

[ernemann]

Nico Williams (younger brother of Inaki) got a great boost in the winterupdate! He looks very good now so must make a team with the brothers  

Also right back Asier Grande looks decent and Unai Gomez (cant remember him) looks quite good 

[Branst23]

On 26/02/2021 at 11:45, ernemann said:

Nico Williams (younger brother of Inaki) got a great boost in the winterupdate! He looks very good now so must make a team with the brothers  

Also right back Asier Grande looks decent and Unai Gomez (cant remember him) looks quite good 

Has any one else had changes in the winter update? Either good or bad

[TelcontarTargaryen]

3 minutes ago, Branst23 said:

Has any one else had changes in the winter update? Either good or bad

Without giving away exact data...

 

Spoiler

Nico Williams got a boost, Alex Padilla and Unai Gomez, as well as Eneko Clemente, Aimar Dunabeitia, Benad Prados... Sancet and Vencedor were already potential wonderkids I think. Kepa Uriarte is still a possible beast.

I think Imanol and Juan Artola got downgreaded as well as Murcilo (not sure if I spelled his name correctly, young winger/forward), and Ingo Cordoba I think, but not sure about him.

 

[Branst23]

4 minutes ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

Without giving away exact data...

 

  Hide contents

Nico Williams got a boost, Alex Padilla and Unai Gomez, as well as Eneko Clemente, Aimar Dunabeitia, Benad Prados... Sancet and Vencedor were already potential wonderkids I think. Kepa Uriarte is still a possible beast.

I think Imanol and Juan Artola got downgreaded as well as Murcilo (not sure if I spelled his name correctly, young winger/forward), and Ingo Cordoba I think, but not sure about him.

Thanks! I suppose Marcelino coming in at the point he did helps massively with the upturn in form! Nico Williams has been scoring for fun too!

Out of interest what other saves do you regularly do away from Athletic Club?

[ernemann]

1 hour ago, Branst23 said:

Has any one else had changes in the winter update? Either good or bad

Not really i Think. Havent seen other 

[TheVerySpecialOne]

How do you guys develop youngsters? Do you prefer sending them away on loan or playing them for the B/C team or have them in the A team and giving them playing time any chance you get. My first season just ended, I finished 2nd, really a great year, I managed to beat Barca 5-0 away from home, I won Copa del rey, but I am unsure about how should I develop next generations. Here's the ss of Oihan Sancet. I chose to have him in my A team and give him the playing time really often, whether it was to replace a starting player who needed rest, whether it was a game where I decided I didn't need my best eleven to 11, I subbed him in really often, it says that he had 34 appearances in that season, but still, he hasn't progressed, he was at 2.5 stars at the start of the season, and here I am, to start the second season, and he's still there, maybe even a bit worse.

 

And here's Nico Serrano, I got him playing for Bilbao Athletic (B team) and he started every game I'd say, playing good, they were successful, got promoted, but still, there's isn't much progress on individual level.

 

 

Here's the table after first season, like I said, it was a very successful campaign, I am really happy about playing in the Champions league, but still, since I depend on my youngsters, I'd like to see what I am doing wrong and how to do the right thing.

 

[jakem016]

2 hours ago, TheVerySpecialOne said:

How do you guys develop youngsters? Do you prefer sending them away on loan or playing them for the B/C team or have them in the A team and giving them playing time any chance you get. My first season just ended, I finished 2nd, really a great year, I managed to beat Barca 5-0 away from home, I won Copa del rey, but I am unsure about how should I develop next generations. Here's the ss of Oihan Sancet. I chose to have him in my A team and give him the playing time really often, whether it was to replace a starting player who needed rest, whether it was a game where I decided I didn't need my best eleven to 11, I subbed him in really often, it says that he had 34 appearances in that season, but still, he hasn't progressed, he was at 2.5 stars at the start of the season, and here I am, to start the second season, and he's still there, maybe even a bit worse.

 

And here's Nico Serrano, I got him playing for Bilbao Athletic (B team) and he started every game I'd say, playing good, they were successful, got promoted, but still, there's isn't much progress on individual level.

 

 

Here's the table after first season, like I said, it was a very successful campaign, I am really happy about playing in the Champions league, but still, since I depend on my youngsters, I'd like to see what I am doing wrong and how to do the right thing.

 

My b team is in La Liga 2 and my c team is in the 3rd division so I've been keeping my youngsters at the club until they are ready for La Liga or if there is too much competition at whichever level they are at.  I just make sure to hire coaches and take control of their training.  There's not really any point to loan a player to a club in the same division as your b/c team if they are going to play for your b/c team.

[TelcontarTargaryen]

Has anyone else had an issue when you go to the staff tab on the left, you can no longer see the staff for B and C team, the same way you can for main team and U19 (the tab where it lists coaches left, scounts in the middle, medical to the right with coloured figures and numbers below) ? I used to be able to see it, and request the board to increase wages or number of coaches for B and C team.. but not anymore since 21.3 update? Also when I go to training and assigning coaches to B and C teams for overload it says 'none'? Might be because I am early in preseason but I used to be able to control training and coaches for both main and U19/B/C teams.

[rafaelbenitez]

On 12/03/2021 at 20:40, TelcontarTargaryen said:

Has anyone else had an issue when you go to the staff tab on the left, you can no longer see the staff for B and C team, the same way you can for main team and U19 (the tab where it lists coaches left, scounts in the middle, medical to the right with coloured figures and numbers below) ? I used to be able to see it, and request the board to increase wages or number of coaches for B and C team.. but not anymore since 21.3 update? Also when I go to training and assigning coaches to B and C teams for overload it says 'none'? Might be because I am early in preseason but I used to be able to control training and coaches for both main and U19/B/C teams.

Check your staff responsibility screen. Sounds like you might have delegated some tasks to your staff.

You can find your B and C Team staff in the Development Centre.

[TelcontarTargaryen]

4 hours ago, rafaelbenitez said:

Check your staff responsibility screen. Sounds like you might have delegated some tasks to your staff.

You can find your B and C Team staff in the Development Centre.

 I did all that, I am set as the person responsible for hiring and firing staff of all four Athletic teams. Can't figure it out.. the thing is I can actually hire staff, (although there is still problem of not being able to actually hire anyone for B and C teams cause board only allows low wages and no matter how low someone's reputation is, when I offer them contract for the Bilbao Athletic they demand at minimun €2.1k while the limit the board set is at €1.6k .. it is like it is hardcoded into the game for any coach to demand at least 2.1k .. even if he initially accepts 900€ for U19 coach position, when I try to change it B team, demands change to those that can not be met.
I digress, back to the topic, I can hire, or at least negotation with staff for B/C teams, but when I go to the staff tab on the left, only U19 and first team give me that view I mentioned with all the staff listed in 3 groups and will colour coded small silhouettes

[rafaelbenitez]

1 hour ago, TelcontarTargaryen said:

 I did all that, I am set as the person responsible for hiring and firing staff of all four Athletic teams. Can't figure it out.. the thing is I can actually hire staff, (although there is still problem of not being able to actually hire anyone for B and C teams cause board only allows low wages and no matter how low someone's reputation is, when I offer them contract for the Bilbao Athletic they demand at minimun €2.1k while the limit the board set is at €1.6k .. it is like it is hardcoded into the game for any coach to demand at least 2.1k .. even if he initially accepts 900€ for U19 coach position, when I try to change it B team, demands change to those that can not be met.
I digress, back to the topic, I can hire, or at least negotation with staff for B/C teams, but when I go to the staff tab on the left, only U19 and first team give me that view I mentioned with all the staff listed in 3 groups and will colour coded small silhouettes

Might be worth raising as a bug report. As for the first bit, super annoying that it hasn't been fixed for this edition.

Reported the low wage issue last year and it wasn't fixed and pretty much ruined any Spanish save for me as you'd eventually lose any existing coaches you had because of low wages too.

[MattyC78]

I thoroughly enjoy this thread.  I generally enjoy buying youngsters and developing them before selling them on for profit but Athletic saves make me think differently and I have to curb my inclination to trade players.  I am just getting into my new save my first with FM21 and I have just finished my second season.  It has been fun so far but I have an issue that I am not sure whether anyone else has faced.

I started with too few Spanish leagues set up and then added them in for the second year but I noticed that the B team (in the Spanish Second Division Pro A) have had no fixtures this has not been corrected in the third season.  Has anyone else had a similar issue?

I think it has impacted on the development of some of my youngsters in the first year.  Last year I loaned out all the players over 19 but not ready for the first team.  I usually ignore my C team are now in the Spanish Second Division B5 so I am trying to work out how to best develop the players (loans, B team friendlies, C team or a combination of the above).  Any thoughts from anyone else who has had similar problems would be appreciated.