[FM21/22] La Liga - the home of Spanish football

[skybluedave]

31 minutes ago, Michael Hughes said:

At the start yeah but when they leave the eu, they become foreign.  The rules in Spain are ok as most of Africa and Serbia (amazing country for regens) aren’t classed as foreign but yeah, all South American ones are, unless the player has dual nationality.  Tbf, it only takes a player just over 2 years to get Spanish citizenship, so all isn’t bad.

That's random and makes sense as the English players coming up on my search had African dual nationality. And I signed a Mali striker and couldn't work out why he was counting as EU. 

[oze07]

Anyone done a sevilla save save? any good? what are the financials like?

[Michael Hughes]

20 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Ok cool cheers buddy.

I might do a save with Almeria after I get bored of my Lorient save.

It’s defo worth a go, although there’s been rumours of a takeover from the start, nothing has come of it though 😬🤞

[Michael Hughes]

20 hours ago, skybluedave said:

That's random and makes sense as the English players coming up on my search had African dual nationality. And I signed a Mali striker and couldn't work out why he was counting as EU. 

Lol yeah, some countries just surprise you with who is classed as foreign! 

[josel15]

Been playing with Depor since december and I'm now on fourth season.

Been playing with a high pressing 4-4-2 (4-2-2-2 with two DM's) since the beggining tweaking here and there. In the first season in La Liga we didn't press as high and had space for counter attacking. We finished third and went to the Champions League, also winning Copa del Rey.

The table in first and second season:
First season

Spoiler

Second season

Spoiler

 

The obhective for this second season is to go to CL again, although will be very hard.

 

A few standout players for me:

Raphael Dwanema, the best value for money player I have:
 

Spoiler

Carlos Fernandez, who came on a free from Sevilla, and who left this january because that proposal is absolutely ridiculous.

Spoiler

Mario Gila, who came on a free for our La Liga 2 campaign but quickly became our rock on the back and captain. Actually Guangzhou paid his release clause but he didn't want to go to China.

Spoiler

Tjaland, the cousing of Haaland who's having an excellent season, making Dwanema a sub.

Spoiler

Nico, a loan from Barcelona, who is actually from Coruña, so I'm trying to buy him from Barça, but I don't think it will be possible.

Spoiler

Also I have Labrovic, an excellent keeper who came on the cheap, saved our team a few times.

Spoiler

The addition of a pacier centre back on the left has been very helpful to Nediljko as well.

 

A few other players I have/had that I like, as well a few regens I hope they'll do well.
 

Spoiler

Félix has been immense, but he was only second fiddle to Daniel James, who was out of this world.

 

Burak is a well known wonderkid, and when was approachable on a free, I didn't hesitate, he is really good.

 

This boy has been immense and wants to join, I have the money so it is a real possibility that he will come and be the right back for a few more years.

For the regens, these are a mixture of Depor graduates + other teams players that I bought.

This monster only costed 1.5M€, and he is going to become mini Benzema and will slot perfectally as my DLF.

Ferran has been playing a lot this season between u-19, B Team and the main one, the problem is that he is really slow. But he only cost 500k, so a profit will always be made.

Roberto promised a lot, but hasn't ddevelop in two season from the player he promised to be, with so many interest from teams like PSG, I will probably sell him on a profit.

Rafa has all the tools to become a great DM who will disrupt other teams attack, and is not half bad with the ball on his feet, Also he's been playing a lot throughout all our setup. How Barça pratically gave him to us I will never understand.

Amora, a team on the lowest playable lagues of Portugal kicked Nelson out of their team. When he was their best player, on attributes. I bought him with the intention to sell him as he is not quick, not the hardest worker and is a little egoist on the ball.

 

With all that Carlos Fernandez ball I adressed the right part of our team, since besides Félix, who is on loan, we don't actually have a proper winger. So we bought Safronov for 30M. A quick dribler, who has good enough passing skills and vision, will be the more direct player on the flanks, and if the first two games for the team are anything to take a conclusion, he will be very, very dangerous.

A slight overpay, but can play both the left and right CD in all of our tactics. I predict that he becomes the best CD in the world.

Our starting Left Back, came for 5M a few years ago, and is set to become a mainstay of the squad. Excellent going forward, albeit a little mediocre on the defensive side, Miguel has been really good this season with both the B team (where he played the first half of the season) and in the first games with the main squad. Would also make an excelent IWB.

Bought for free, Oliver has a lot of potencial, has improves a lot, although I think he and Rafa will compete for the DM position next to our main playmaker.

A very tall CD, Lara has the potencial to become an excellent CD in our team, despite some lack of pace.

Bought for peanuts, David is being groomed to take over the right flank or be an excellent backup to Safronov. Shame he is always injured.

 

Now for HG:

A homeboy,  since he appeared in our first intake, Marcos has been improving a lot and I predict that in two season he will have a place in the squad.

From our intake, a poacher in the making.

Another defensive player who has the potential to slot in two positions

A brazilian who I suspect who will do a lot of good for us, having two good feet can easily slot on the left aswell.

Our big tall boy, who I suspect won't ever play for use, but who I really like.

Our best player up to date, Israel.

I thought I would lose him cause I promied him a loan than didn't loan him. He was mad at me for a full season but now I loaned him and he wanted a new contract. Really happy. As you see I have the editor, and wanted to see his PA (only player I done that) and it is only 140, although I feel like he will still grow a lot.

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by josel15

[DominicForza]

On 11/04/2021 at 06:27, skybluedave said:

That's random and makes sense as the English players coming up on my search had African dual nationality. And I signed a Mali striker and couldn't work out why he was counting as EU. 

If you take a look at the Leauge Rules, scroll down to Nations Treated As Non-Foreign.  It's a long list in Spain!  Including most of Africa. 

[DominicForza]

On 01/02/2021 at 12:16, Firehouse said:

It's this one.

I've been using stevemc's skins and backgrouns for a few season.  my personal favorite (especially since I play in windowed mode).  minimalisitc, clean, simple.  i dont know if he uses a different font, or if i just THINK the font looks better on his skin.  either way, I love his skin and backgrounds.  plus, he's just a genuinely good dude here in the SI forums.   

[Werrett]

I see a lot of people posting on here, but I'm yet to see anyone managing Real Betis. Anyone else given them a go? Now coming to the end of my first season with them and I'm having a blast!

[oze07]

3 hours ago, Werrett said:

I see a lot of people posting on here, but I'm yet to see anyone managing Real Betis. Anyone else given them a go? Now coming to the end of my first season with them and I'm having a blast!

i was tempted. i was choosing between them,sevilla and sociedad. im not the best around so opted for your rivals!

[Mackem742]

On 11/04/2021 at 12:08, oze07 said:

Anyone done a sevilla save save? any good? what are the financials like?

I did a Sevilla save on last years game and it was fun. Sevilla have a good squad and you should be able to challenge for a top 4 spot. Outside of the big 3 you will be battling Valencia and Sociedad. I havent looked at them on this years game but it shouldnt be too different.

Also Sevilla looks a beautiful place and I always try to manage in places Id like to visit. 

[oze07]

7 hours ago, Mackem742 said:

I did a Sevilla save on last years game and it was fun. Sevilla have a good squad and you should be able to challenge for a top 4 spot. Outside of the big 3 you will be battling Valencia and Sociedad. I havent looked at them on this years game but it shouldnt be too different.

Also Sevilla looks a beautiful place and I always try to manage in places Id like to visit. 

I'm the same. It looks a lovely place. I had a good save with them a few years ago. I just hate being a team with not much money. But they do look good.

[Mackem742]

16 hours ago, oze07 said:

I'm the same. It looks a lovely place. I had a good save with them a few years ago. I just hate being a team with not much money. But they do look good.

I think the squad has plenty of players that you can sell on to generate your own money. Its very rare I do a save where the transfer budget is over £15 million in the first season. Ive done 3 saves so far, Sunderland (in league 1, next to no transfer budget), Valencia (I think they had £4 million) and Im currently managing Lyon (they had the highest starting budget with approx £15 million).

[TheJanitor]

My Real Sociedad team, halfway through the second season:

Won the league in the first season, albeit by luck (equal points with Real Madrid). Second season won the Supercopa, beating Barcelona in the semis and Atletico in the final. Got a tough CL group with Liverpool, Inter, and Brondby. This time we lost the competition despite having the same amount of points as 2nd place Inter.

Alex Isak is a beast, as I'm sure you all know. Scored 12 goals in his last 4 games. Teaching him the PPM "Likes To Round Keeper" made him deadly, so many of his a goals are from that situation.  Got an £80m release clause and some big teams are sniffing around, but I hope I can keep him a bit longer.

Oyarzabal is still around. Signed a long-term contract despite interest from Barca after a fantastic first season, but is having a worse second season and is rotating with Silva, who is still gold, leading our assists rank with 9.

Much like Oyarzabal, Mikel Merino and Alex Remiro prolonged their contracts.  My biggest signing is Theo Hernandez, who just joined for £37.5m, while I also brought Assuncao, Bryan Gil, and Sadick for much modest fees and Eric Garcia on a free, who is now an elite center back. This was possible thanks to the selling of Guevara, Zubeldia, Januzaj, Zubimendi, and Carlos Fernandez for over £100m. I already have Azpilicueta joining on a free next season and I got my eye on Odriozola and Olmo, who I think will transform us.

My dream signing is Vencedor, the best Basque midfield prospect, but he doesn't want to join due to our rivalry with his beloved Bilbao. They are second place this season so far (being Real Madrid), and are coached by Rafa Benitez. Basque football is having a renaissance.

[oze07]

18 hours ago, TheJanitor said:

My Real Sociedad team, halfway through the second season:

Won the league in the first season, albeit by luck (equal points with Real Madrid). Second season won the Supercopa, beating Barcelona in the semis and Atletico in the final. Got a tough CL group with Liverpool, Inter, and Brondby. This time we lost the competition despite having the same amount of points as 2nd place Inter.

Alex Isak is a beast, as I'm sure you all know. Scored 12 goals in his last 4 games. Teaching him the PPM "Likes To Round Keeper" made him deadly, so many of his a goals are from that situation.  Got an £80m release clause and some big teams are sniffing around, but I hope I can keep him a bit longer.

Oyarzabal is still around. Signed a long-term contract despite interest from Barca after a fantastic first season, but is having a worse second season and is rotating with Silva, who is still gold, leading our assists rank with 9.

Much like Oyarzabal, Mikel Merino and Alex Remiro prolonged their contracts.  My biggest signing is Theo Hernandez, who just joined for £37.5m, while I also brought Assuncao, Bryan Gil, and Sadick for much modest fees and Eric Garcia on a free, who is now an elite center back. This was possible thanks to the selling of Guevara, Zubeldia, Januzaj, Zubimendi, and Carlos Fernandez for over £100m. I already have Azpilicueta joining on a free next season and I got my eye on Odriozola and Olmo, who I think will transform us.

My dream signing is Vencedor, the best Basque midfield prospect, but he doesn't want to join due to our rivalry with his beloved Bilbao. They are second place this season so far (being Real Madrid), and are coached by Rafa Benitez. Basque football is having a renaissance.

was this your first season tactic? cant believe you sold zubimendi and zubeldia?

[TheJanitor]

16 hours ago, oze07 said:

was this your first season tactic? cant believe you sold zubimendi and zubeldia?

I used a 4231 at the start of the first season, but switched to 4411 after it stopped working. Tweaked the instructions a bit, but landed on this halfway through the second season and never looked back so far. Never got such a good result from an AF before.

Yeah I sold Zubimendi and Zubeldia. Got £90m for both combined, couldn't skip that. Merino was keeping them both out of the first team.

It is hard to find got Basque players, considering they are either playing for us or Bilbao. Picked a few decent ones from Osasuna, but none are going to be first team players. Which is why I offered Azpilicueta massive wages to join us on a free.

[lblanc]

Thinking about a Seville based save. 

Question is Sevilla or Betis? 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I am looking for a Spanish league to get my teeth into and I am looking at trying to copy how Brentford/Barnsley's transfer policies. I am looking for a team that doesn't have Developing Youth in their Club DNA.

I have gone through the teams and these are the teams I have come up with. I would like people's feedback on which team would be good to manage etc. 

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Here are the teams.

Girona 
Mallorca 
Almeria 
Cartagena 
Leganes 
Logrones 
R.Majadahonda 
Castellon 
Cacereno 
H.Alicante 
Murcia 

[3maldini3]

There's no prize money in La Liga?

[WilsonJuve]

Im starting a Bilbao save with the latest Sortitoutsi.net transfer update accurate upto 07/08/21 I will give a proper update once I get the save setup. And @turgi there has been no prize money for as long as I can remember. In real life the fee is minimal its like Italy where its more to do with TV rights and sponsorship's for the top clubs.

[quee]

11 hours ago, WilsonJuve said:

Im starting a Bilbao save with the latest Sortitoutsi.net transfer update accurate upto 07/08/21 I will give a proper update once I get the save setup. And @turgi there has been no prize money for as long as I can remember. In real life the fee is minimal its like Italy where its more to do with TV rights and sponsorship's for the top clubs.

You’re here as well 

[WilsonJuve]

On football manager I never usually manage in Spain but with this years game coming to an end and losing my Italian saves due to water damage now seemed the best time to jump in. As I said in my previous post this save is using Sortitoutsi.net data update which was accurate as of 07/07/21 which even includes Messi as a free agent. The team I have chosen for this challenge is Athletic Bilbao the main reason is I like to develop youth and with the transfer restrictions (sign only Basque players or Spanish players age 16 and under) at the club it would help make the challenge a little harder.

As far as history goes the team has won La Liga 8 times which puts them 4th in the all time rankings but there most recent was way back in 1984. They also have  won the Copa Del Rey an astonishing 24 times putting them behind only Barcelona in the all time list but again there last victory was in 1984. And finally one Supercopa De Espana won in 2015. This leaves a lot of room for more recent success in Spain as well as a first trophy in any European competition.

The first thing I did upon joining the club was clear out any staff who wouldn't make the grade under my management. The wages some of these people were on was outrageous and only one member of staff remained at the club, the current HOYD Diego Gil De Gomez who has very good stats and at only 33 has room to improve.



Then I assessed the squad and although there is certain areas we are lacking especially in decent depth im rather happy with what we have at our disposal. And the amount of young talent at the squad who can hopefully get some game time this season and step up into the first team in the coming years is unbelievable. 

As one of our teams Bilbao Athletic play in the Segunda Division a lot of the players will get decent game time there and hopefully help them get promoted to the La Liga Smartbank so they are getting better experience against better teams.

These are the top 3 players currently at the club.

Unai Simon a fantastic keeper and still only 23 years of age. The number 1 jersey is safe for the next few years he is leaps and bounds ahead of our next best keepers.

Raul Garcia is approaching the back end of his career at 34 years of age but will be integral for the first couple of seasons at the club. The experience he brings to the team and the youngsters through mentoring will be priceless. His stats are also spread pretty evenly he doesn't really have a weak part to his game and he is versatile in a lot of positions if needed.

And finally the star boy  Iker Muniain 27 years old he is in his prime! He joined the clubs youth ranks when he was 12 year old an now lives the dream of any supporter playing for and captaining his club. The aim is to have him until the end of his career if possible. At the start of the save Real Madrid were declaring interest and im sure many other clubs will during my time here. Another player who is versatile in a lot of positions gives me many options tactically. 

Some other star players at the club are Yeray, Andrea Capa, Inaki Williams and Ingo Martinez.

We also have £22million to spend on players if needed and around £90k spare in the wage budget. However the clubs bank balance currently sits at £18million so we will have to be shrewd with who we buy. The only ares of concern I can see at the minute is another CB and LB needed for cover but we are not desperate. And we can hopefully pick up some young players to develop for the future. 

The clubs vision for the season is Qualify for the Europa League so a top 7 finish is a must. I will update again at the end of the transfer window/start of the season.

[WilsonJuve]

Transfers 

*Just like real life Lionel Messi decided to join PSG on a free transfer.

Overall I am delighted with the players we managed to bring in and the prices we paid. Admittedly two of the players I know nothing about but they were rated highly by the scouts at the club in recommendation section so lets start with those. 




Alex Cardero 17 years of age cost £1.3m from Real Oviedo. Scouts say he has the potential to grow a lot in the future and with the small fee paid we can almost guarantee to make our money back or sell him on for a profit in the future if he doesn't make the grade. Will spend the season in the Spanish 3rd division playing for Bilbao Athletic and we will assess him once the season is over.




Next up we have Diego Moreno 19 years of age cost £750k again I don't know much about the player but development says he has the potential to be a La Liga player he has some decent stats across the board and again will play for our B team and if he doesn't make the grade making a profit seems like a solid option.



Carlos Alvarez age 17 cost £2m (release clause) this is one of the signings I was really happy to get over the line. Due to him not being Basque we had to finalise the deal before his 17th birthday which was the 1st of August this led to us having to pay slightly more than we would have liked in his Salary and Bonuses. But he is a player who can really develop going forward and make a name for himself at this football club. He also plays anywhere in the top third of the pitch so we have some decisions to make where he will be most needed going forward.



Alejandro Iturbe 17 years old cost £1.2m. What a steal this guy was has a massive future ahead of him dubbed the next Oblak in real life he could cement himself as the number one at this club for the next 20 years. Still unsure what to do with him development wise but a decision will be made in the next few days. Despite how amazing this deal is its still only my second favourite one of the window........



Cristhian Mosquera 16 years old £7.5m upfront £6.5m over three years total £14m. Yes the outlay is a lot but this deal was an absolute no brainer. If we didn't move for him straight away his value would have rocketed and a deal would have been impossible. His stats mean he can already slip into the first team setup and play games for the B team when needed. One of the areas I wanted to strengthen was depth in the CB position and now that is sorted for the foreseeable future.


Pre Season.


Well our Pre Season was a bit hit and miss we struggled to find tactical consistency and received way too many injuries for the season start. First off we played our B team Bilbao Athletic and managed a convincing 6-1 victory. A few days later we played Swiss league champions Young Boys where a 90+2 minute penalty from Raul Garcia gave us a 2-1 win and made me feel slightly confident about our tactics. That was until the next game where we lost 2-0 at home to Ausburg without creating any major chances a tight 3-2 victory over Zurich followed before we tasted defeat again losing 3-2 to Fiorentina in all fairness it should have been much more. 

This was the kick up the backside I needed to go back to the drawing board and create a new tactic and boy has it paid off Lokeren-Temse were dispatched 2-0 before a 3-2 victory over fellow La Liga side Las Palmas then the game of the whole pre season Juventus at home. What a performance we put in, yes this wasn't there first team but they started Perin, De Sciglio, Lucas Leiva, Rabiot, Mckennie and Bernadeschi. The full time result 6-0 Bilbao and we didn't let them manage a shot on target all game and finished with 61% possession. 

La Liga.

On paper we have a very favourable opening 6 games to the La Liga season 

Osasuna   H
  Cadiz   A
   Real Valladolid H
Elche  A
Valencia  A
 Eibar  H

The opener was against rivals Osasuna and we still had a slightly depleted squad from pre season an early goal from Berenguer calmed the nerves but we couldn't capitalise on it. Two disallowed goals from Inaki Williams meant we had to nervously wait for the full time whistle. The stats don't lie we dominated with 71% possession and 24 shots to there 1.
I can only put it down to opening game nerves. 



A nine day break in between meant Iker Munain could return to the first team after injury to play Cadiz and again a fantastic performance by the team. The possession was a lot closer 54% to there 46% but as fat as XG and shots go we absolutely destroyed them. Stats alone don't win games though so we needed goals to go with it Asier Villalibre continued his fantastic pre season form to give us the opener before we again struggled to double our lead until the 89th minute when Unai Lopez sealed the 3 points.




League Table

This is the current league table after the first two rounds the big three all having fantastic starts with us joining them as the only other team currently with 100% records. Villareal not having a good start is a bonus for us looking to qualify for the Europa League .



I haven't yet decided when the next update will be. It could be around game around game 13 which would be a third of the season or maybe the half way stage.

[3maldini3]

On 09/08/2021 at 08:26, WilsonJuve said:

Im starting a Bilbao save with the latest Sortitoutsi.net transfer update accurate upto 07/08/21 I will give a proper update once I get the save setup. And @turgi there has been no prize money for as long as I can remember. In real life the fee is minimal its like Italy where its more to do with TV rights and sponsorship's for the top clubs.

Can I get back to the prize money thing? Where's money come from in this league? only TV rights?

[WilsonJuve]

6 hours ago, turgi said:

Can I get back to the prize money thing? Where's money come from in this league? only TV rights?

I’m not 100% sure but yeah I believe it’s TV rights and Individual sponsorship income. Which can be seen from the league screen. Click overview drop down then sponsorship income. 

[quee]

I’m about to finish my first season with Valencia.

Is it just me or there are a lot of bugs in La Liga? (Never experienced in other leagues in previous versions)

For example, if I called up a player from a B team to senior team, he will disappeared until I hit continue. I then need to re-register his squad number again and I can’t choose his previously selected number.

2nd example, if I were to include a player from B team in matchday squad, my lineup for the match will be cleared and I had to redo it again.

That’s what I noticed so far, so weird for a big league to have this kind of bugs. Italian leagues are much more sophisticated than this and they always runs fine for me before.

[rafaelbenitez]

10 hours ago, quee said:

I’m about to finish my first season with Valencia.

Is it just me or there are a lot of bugs in La Liga? (Never experienced in other leagues in previous versions)

For example, if I called up a player from a B team to senior team, he will disappeared until I hit continue. I then need to re-register his squad number again and I can’t choose his previously selected number.

2nd example, if I were to include a player from B team in matchday squad, my lineup for the match will be cleared and I had to redo it again.

That’s what I noticed so far, so weird for a big league to have this kind of bugs. Italian leagues are much more sophisticated than this and they always runs fine for me before.

It's almost impossible to hire B Team staff too as they always demand wages you can't afford for some reason. Same issue was prevalent in FM 20. Disappointing.

[quee]

On 16/08/2021 at 13:07, rafaelbenitez said:

It's almost impossible to hire B Team staff too as they always demand wages you can't afford for some reason. Same issue was prevalent in FM 20. Disappointing.

Big disappointment, I’m having fun too and enjoying the challenge as Valencia don’t have money 🤣

[Oliver Roland]

A moment of silence for FM getting FMed

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1692777834528385425/EFE68F20DB79DB2077FB74EBDB9B8BE71AB79BCB/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

Edited August 20, 2021 by Oliver Roland

[warlock]

Having done the English leagues to death in FM21, I thought it was time for something different. For no reason other than a hugely enjoyable holiday there a couple of weeks ago, I decided on a Spanish club. I've dabbled with a couple of Spanish saves over the years but never a committed multi-season adventure. And for no reason other than the fact that my holiday began and ended at Malaga airport, Malaga is the side I chose.

Choice made, I did a little background reading on Los Boquerones (the Anchovies ) and it turned to be much more interesting than I realised. Basically, this is another club that has been sacrificed on the altar of a rich man's ambition. In 2010 the club was bought by Qatari sheikh Abdullah ben Nasser Al Thani, who promised the dawn of a new golden age funded by Middle East oil money. Over the next few years, Malaga would appoint Manuel Pellegrini as manager, sign the likes of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Jeremie Toulalan, Nacho Monreal, Isco and Santi Cazorla en route to a Champion's League quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund. After a controversial defeat in the tie, the sheikh appears to have suffered an ego meltdown, fuelled by a UEFA ban on European football and the Spanish TV rights deal that funnels most of the money to Barca and Real Madrid. 

Over the next few years not only did the oil money fail to materialise but the sheikh appears to have set out on a course of asset-stripping the club. The big name signings were sold on but the transfer fees mysteriously disappeared, culminating in a financial quagmire of failed property deals and the sheikh convicted of writing bouncing cheques to the tune of £170,000. In 2018, the decline reached its inevitable conclusion as Malaga were relegated to the second division and, last year, were forced to layoff non-playing and playing staff alike. At the start of the 2020-21 season, the first team is a grab-bag of cheap veterans and loan signings...

 

So, Malaga... birthplace of famous painter and decorator Pablo Picasso, gateway to the holiday paradise of the Costa del Sol, but somewhat short of footballing glory. Time to put that right!

Little-known Spanish manager Wily Coyote is the man chosen to blaze a new trail for the Boquerones and, given the recent financial troubles, he is a) not surprised to find there's no money in the kitty, but b) equally surprised to find that the club has managed to cobble together a reasonable squad, pretty much equally divided between veterans in the last days of their career, a handful of promising youngsters, and an extensive collection of loan signings:

Even at first glance, there's some quality from front to back. It's a top heavy squad with more talent in attacking midfield than defence. It's also one of those squads where the best players in each department are the best players in all departments so, for example, Chavarria is not only the best striker at the club; he's the best AMC and the best winger on both sides. Similarly, Jozabed is not only the best MC, but- with Chavarria - the joint best AMC and AML. Which makes setting up a tactic a bit of quandary. As will be seen below, I struggled to find the best way of combining these players into a coherent tactic, but I think we're getting there.

We're not blessed with great options up top. After trying Chavarria as a striker, AM and winger in the midfield line, it became clear that he wasn't great leading the line. That left me with Quintana and Martinez and pretty much decided for me that a lone-striker system was the way to go. The two real weaknesses in the squad were in defence. The only LB of quality was Matos, and we only had 3 natural CBs. I managed to transfer out a couple of redundant players and that freed up enough money that one transfer in was possible but with two gaps to fill. Eventually, I found Cristo Romero in the B squad and he looked capable of playing at LB, so I scouted for another CB and found Czech international (he has one u21 cap!) Lukas Hulka for £400k. And that was our final squad.

Early form

Ahead of the opening fixtures I was quite happy with the way the squad looked - we have a good first 11, and decent depth in most positions. The board expectation was a top-half finish, and the media prediction was 8th place. Both of those seemed achievable, but I have been surprised by how well the team has performed:

In the opening two months of the season, we are unbeaten (and have set a club record in the process!) But I have been undecided about tactics - we started with a 433dm, which looked great in the first game but was less certain in the following matches. I switched to the 4231 in the hope of finding more convincing performances, but the failure to score against Zaragoza and our defensive frailties against Oviedo worried me. So we're now playing a 4411 - essentially the 4231 with the wide AMs dropped back to the midfield line. The changes are hard to justify in terms of results - pretty much all of them have produced 3 wins and a draw - but I'm happy with the 4411 for now. The win away against Mallorca (one of the better teams in the division) was especially pleasing.

Early days, but things are looking good:

We have the best offensive record, the 3rd best defensive record, and the 4th highest attendance at our beautiful stadium, which will - hopefully - generate some much-needed funds. Long may it continue!

[Jogo Bonito]

Nice intro! Great stadium. As you have discovered, another club who thought they could be bigger than they probably should be.

Very impressive start, and I hope you have a fun and sunny time in Spain.

[warlock]

4 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Very impressive start, and I hope you have a fun and sunny time in Spain

Cheers mate!

Spain is certainly a different experience. I'm sure there's a point to having u19, B and C teams but it escapes me so far. And my staff keep recommending I give new contracts to no-hopers because they might "be of use to an affiliate club" 

I do like having 12 subs on the bench, though. Very civilized 

[Jogo Bonito]

3 hours ago, warlock said:

I'm sure there's a point to having u19, B and C teams but it escapes me so far. And my staff keep recommending I give new contracts to no-hopers because they might "be of use to an affiliate club" 

That's the case in many of the big European leagues, too many players and squads. The staff sound properly loco too.

[warlock]

1 minute ago, Jogo Bonito said:

too many players and squads

I suppose they have a justification for it but I can't see it myself. I sort of get the B team as a kind of reserve squad, but looking at the players in B and C there's almost no difference in ages, ability or potential. In fact, there's a couple of C-squad players who my coaches reckon have 5* potential, but are they really developing playing in that group?

If any passing veterans of FM saves in Europe see this, perhaps they could explain 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Nice to see @warlock taking on a Spanish team on here. 

I am debating where to manage next after I done 4 years with Crewe. 

I definitely want something away from England. I am thinking Spain so I can buy a few South Americans but I am trying to think who to manage.

Mallorca, Osasuna, Espanyol, Granada or Alaves. 

I wonder who you would manage in Spain out of them or who @Jogo Bonito would pick.

UPDATE - Ignore what I just said I have decided to go with Real Betis cos they have a very good squad and also they have an awesome kit.

 

 

Edited September 8, 2021 by Ronaldo Beckham

[warlock]

36 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Nice to see @warlock taking on a Spanish team on here

Yeah, it's taken me a while .

Betis does look like a good squad - not keen on that green though! Good luck 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Just now, warlock said:

Yeah, it's taken me a while .

Betis does look like a good squad - not keen on that green though! Good luck 

Yeah I don't usually like green but I do like the Betis shirt. 

Good luck in your save and I will be following.

I will post my progress with Betis in here but I am just waiting till tomorrow to start it as I am waiting for the Pro1 data update to come out tomorrow.

 

[warlock]

Malaga, January 2021

We've reached the halfway point of the season after a short month of December and things continue to go well on the Costa, despite the manager's propensity for tactical tinkering.

With our unbeaten run now extended to all 19 games of the league campaign, wiser heads will wonder why the need to change. The switch to the 4411 in mid-October had produced a run of 5 wins and 2 draws in 7 games, but from the beginning of November we were struggling in attack. Yes, we conceded just once in that run but a tendency to goalless draws or 1-0 wins was hard on the nerves. So I switched back to the 4231 in search of a more cutting edge in the final third, and it paid immediate dividends as we put 4 past Fuenlabrada. But old habits quickly reappeared and we produced three 1-1 draws in a row.

In retrospect, in those three games we faced tough opposition in Sporting Gijon, Almeria and Tenerife so the results were creditable. But we also rode our luck and could easily have lost all three. So it was back to the tactical drawing board while I considered our strengths and weaknesses, and the merits of 4411 vs 4231. With a lone striker who isn't very prolific, the 4411 can leave him short of support and supply, while being defensively sound. But the 4231, while offering much more threat going forward, always feels fragile at the back. Meanwhile, we have two good DMs, some good creative CMs, and decent wide AMs... sounds like a 433dm to me. Just as we started .

Our last game of 2020 was a cup tie against lower-league opponents Laguna, which seemed like the perfect time to try the rebuilt and restructured 433. Of course, it was a game we were always expected to win but I was looking for better performances throughout the team. Well, it worked:

The question now is whether it will work against L2 opposition.

In other news...

I mentioned in passing earlier that I'd found a couple of decent prospects down in the C team. A couple of weeks after moving them to Malaga B, I got a message from the coaching staff that one was ready for more first-team football:

He's a bit of a lightweight, physically, but I like those attributes for agility and balance, and he has plenty of room to develop.

Less welcome was the news that my best RB, 19-year-old Ismael Casas is attracting interest from Arsenal and Everton. We're already shorthanded in both FB positions, having to play natural wingers there for rotation/cover, so losing a good prospect like Casas would be a blow. But with the January window about to open, I'm hunting for replacements.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Real Betis Season 1 Preview

 

Key Players

Hector Bellerin - Loan From Arsenal

A definite upgrade to the Real Betis defence with him being very good at getting forward. 

I am looking at Bellerin to supply the assists for the attacking players. 

William Carvalho

My midfield enforcer will unsettle the opposition and nulify their attacks.

Nabil Fekir

My creative force at the club. Fekir is an amazing player and too good for Betis in my opinion but I am happy he is there as he is a player you just love to manage.  I think I might play him upfront as a Deep Lying Forward or just behind the striker as a Shadow Striker.

Willian Jose - Loan

The main man up front for this season at least is Willian Jose who is not known for his goalscoring touch but can be an important man for me. 

And finally a Club Legend who I can't believe is still at the club.

Joaquin

This is Mr Real Betis with over 400 appearances and over 50 goals coming from 2 spells at the club.

I will make the most of having him in the team and hopefully he can be a good mentor to the younger players. 

I am hoping to have him as a Coach at the club when he retires.

Club Expectations

Pretty straight forward really.  I will be looking to promote players from the academy.

Talking of prospects here are a few I like the look of.

Rodri

A great young Spanish playmaker who has excellent passing, vision and technique Rodri has a bright future at Betis.

Jose Lara

Jose Lara has some decent all around attributes and excellent Flair. He can play on the left wing for many years at Betis.

Rober

The new Joaquin is Rober who plays in the same position as him with him being good at dribbling and has good acceleration.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Oh yeah I forgot to say that I will be leaving my Director Of Football who is Antonio Cordon in charge of transfers and this is the reason why.

20 in everything. I have never seen that before.

 

[warlock]

@Ronaldo Beckham Welcome to Spain , and good luck. Handy looking squad you have there.

[warlock]

Malaga FC, February 2021

After a brief December calendar - so brief I had to setup a friendly to maintain player fitness - we went into the new year with optimism. Our latest tactical system appeared to be working well and between Christmas and New Year's Eve we hosted Barcelona B at La Rosaleda, a side that featured the likes of Sergino Dest, Moussa Wague and Hiroki Abe among about £40m-worth of talent. Our motley crew more than held their own, emerging with a creditable 3-2 victory:

But if December was a stroll on Easy Street, January turned out to be a tortuous grind as we played 9 games in 4 weeks, including two endurance trials in the Spanish Cup:

On the return to regular business, the new tactic continued to look impressive, particularly against cup opponents L1 Valladolid, with recently promoted youngster Larrubia bagging the winner. So when we suffered not one but two losses - our first of the campaign - it came as something of a shock. Hoping to nip any decline in the bud, I called a team meeting but facing Athletic of Bilbao in the cup immediately after looked likely to to deliver another blow to morale. However, the lads rallied magnificently and we secured a ticket to the 4th round via an extra-time goal from one of our old men, 31-year-old Escassi.

Off the back of that success we won our next two games with a solid display of goal-scoring form before we came up against our third L1 opponent in the cup. Although the 1-4 final score looks bleak, we proved a match for @Ronaldo Beckham's side until we finally collapsed in the final 12 minutes, conceding 3 in a flurry of late action. I was pleased, then, that we rallied again with a winning performance in our next game, albeit against lowly opposition.

January also had an serious impact in other ways, as the treatment room saw a steady flood of injured and sickening players:

None were serious problems, but the volume made life difficult. We played one game with only one fit FB from 4, and were never able to field a fully-fit team.

But despite those setbacks, and the two league losses, we have managed to maintain our hold on the title race, although several of our rivals have games in hand:

On-loan striker Quintana continues to lead the scoring charts with 14 from 27 appearances, and it's a minor concern that almost all our goals and assists are coming from loan signings. But we'll deal with that problem in the summer. For now, there's little cause for complaint. With regard to transfers, the much-feared offers for RB Ismael Casas never materialised, although we did lose one player - AMR Juan Cruz departed for Torino in a deal that should net us close to £1m. The previously-mentioned Larrubia looks more than capable of filling that spot and the money is very welcome.

Edited September 10, 2021 by warlock

[Ronaldo Beckham]

16 hours ago, warlock said:

@Ronaldo Beckham Welcome to Spain , and good luck. Handy looking squad you have there.

Cheers buddy. My plan was to just keep the squad I had already but that changed 

Real Betis Summer Transfer Window & Season So Far

Tramsfers Out

Borja Igiesias - LAFC - £15M

Juanmi - Toronto FC - £10m

Cristian Tello - Seattle - £10m

Diego Lainez - LA Galaxy - £24m - I didn't want to sell him but my Chairmain went over my head.

Tranfers In

Jean-Pierre Nsame - Young Boys - £10m

Denis Bouanga - St.Etienne - £6.5m

Enis Bardhi - Levante - £12.5m

David Luiz - Free Transfer

I bought a few other youngsters to fill out the reserves and youth teams but not worth mentioning in here just yet.

I am quite happy with my transfer business far but I could do with getting another decent centre back in the January window as I am short in defence currently.

I aint had the best of starts so far with us currently being 15th in the league with only 1 win, 1 draw and annoyingly 3 losses. 

I am hoping to hit form soon and get a few wins. 

 

[warlock]

Malaga FC, April 2021

One thing life, football and FM have in common... you never know what's around the corner. Just when it looked as though we'd put our mid-season slump behind us, things suddenly went downhill:

The home draw against Zaragoza was a disappointment, but the worst news came immediately after when key striker Quintana twisted an ankle in training, an injury that would keep him out for a month. Backup Mothiba - who came in on loan in January - did his best to lead the line but his best hasn't really been good enough. And Quintana's absence has coincided with a rapid decline of most of our older players. Chavarria (33) and Jozabed (30) - who had been major contributors to our early success - went from average ratings of around 7 to 6.5s or worse. 

I hoped we'd stopped the rot with the win against Logrones but that proved to be a false dawn and our only win in 6 games. Worst of all was the defeat to Vallecano who had been pressing us for weeks. That loss cost us top spot and we haven't look like reclaiming it since.

Quintana's return against Mallorca saw a sparkling attacking performance which, unfortunately, wasn't matched by our defensive effort as we surrendered the equaliser in the 91st minute. The win against Fuenlabrada is little comfort - they're rubbish!

We currently sit in 2nd, dead level with Vallecano on points and goal difference, but the leaders have a game in hand. If there's any good news, it's that we have a 7pt lead in the automatic promotion spot, but we need to improve if we're to hold on to that advantage. The tinkering devil on my shoulder says it's time for a tactical switch... he could be right.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

6 minutes ago, warlock said:

Malaga FC, April 2021

One thing life, football and FM have in common... you never know what's around the corner. Just when it looked as though we'd put our mid-season slump behind us, things suddenly went downhill:

The home draw against Zaragoza was a disappointment, but the worst news came immediately after when key striker Quintana twisted an ankle in training, an injury that would keep him out for a month. Backup Mothiba - who came in on loan in January - did his best to lead the line but his best hasn't really been good enough. And Quintana's absence has coincided with a rapid decline of most of our older players. Chavarria (33) and Jozabed (30) - who had been major contributors to our early success - went from average ratings of around 7 to 6.5s or worse. 

I hoped we'd stopped the rot with the win against Logrones but that proved to be a false dawn and our only win in 6 games. Worst of all was the defeat to Vallecano who had been pressing us for weeks. That loss cost us top spot and we haven't look like reclaiming it since.

Quintana's return against Mallorca saw a sparkling attacking performance which, unfortunately, wasn't matched by our defensive effort as we surrendered the equaliser in the 91st minute. The win against Fuenlabrada is little comfort - they're rubbish!

We currently sit in 2nd, dead level with Vallecano on points and goal difference, but the leaders have a game in hand. If there's any good news, it's that we have a 7pt lead in the automatic promotion spot, but we need to improve if we're to hold on to that advantage. The tinkering devil on my shoulder says it's time for a tactical switch... he could be right.

You got this mate. Malaga will be back in the big league in no time.

[warlock]

18 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Malaga will be back in the big league in no time

How right you were:

Still a couple of games to go as we duke it out with Vallecano for the title, but promotion was the main goal for the season 

[Jogo Bonito]

3 hours ago, warlock said:

How right you were:

Still a couple of games to go as we duke it out with Vallecano for the title, but promotion was the main goal for the season 

Well done, trophies are great and you may still get one - but promotion is really all that matters! A few wobbles but that just makes it more interesting.  

[warlock]

Malaga FC, May 2021

A nervy end to the season saw us recover some good form, stumble at the finish line, but ultimately achieve our major goal. Results in the last two months were better than we might have expected:

As indicated in my last update, I decided on a switch in tactic to try to reverse our recent poor form, opting for a slightly less aggressive version of the 4231 I'd employed earlier in the season. And it worked very-nearly-almost perfectly. The only real disappointment was the loss to Ponferrada, who were in the relegation zone at the time and would ultimately go down. We should have been better but simply didn't turn up. Otherwise, we secured some good wins against strong opposition, wins that put us back on top by mid-May.

We secured automatic promotion with the win against Lugo - which might ultimately have cost us the title. With that ambition achieved I feared the players would lose focus for the last two games, and so it proved. Tenerife were battling for a playoff spot and had built a two-goal lead by half-time. The players upped their game in the second half, but a single consolation goal wasn't enough. Once again, Vallecano moved into 1st place, level on points but ahead on both GD and head-to-head record. On the final day we had to win and hope that Valle dropped points... and they didn't.

With the 2nd-best attack and 2nd-best defence it was probably right that we finished 2nd. We relied heavily on Quintana's goals all season, and no-one else came close. CB Hulka was the signing of the season, a rock in defence and managing to chip in with a few set-piece goals at t'other end. Rodriguez was a creative force, either as AMC in the 4231 or as a Mez in the 433. My own award for PotY was young winger David Larrubia who I found languishing in the C team. After promoting him in January he made 9 starts and 10 sub appearances, racking up 6 goals and 3 assists in the process, and I hope he can be a star for us in L1.

Looking ahead, the board has given me a £6m transfer budget so there'll be few (if any) big name signings. Instead, I'll be looking for end-of-contract deals to reinforce the squad. I've also renewed the loan of Quintana since he's a known quantity, but I'll also be looking for another striker to push him or replace him as first-choice. Otherwise, the main requirement is to find replacements for the other 8 loan players, as well as some of the ageing squad players who offer little confidence of performing at a higher level.

It will be an interesting summer 

[warlock]

8 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

promotion is really all that matters!

Quite right . Silverware can wait 'til next year 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Real Betis Season 1 Review

My first season had high's and lows but overall it was a decent season with some silverware as well.

Best Signing

Jean-Pierre Nsame - 18 goals in 25 games

Nsame was a £11m signing from Young Boys. He was a bargain at £11m but unproved in the big leagues but he made the step up with 18 goals in 25 games. With Willan Jose going back to Real Socidad I think Nsame will get more game time.

Enis Bardhi - 7 goals in 37 games

 

My other key signing was Macedonian winger Enis Bardhi who got 7 goals in 37 games and was very good all season.

Another bargain with him only costing £12m.

I managed to win the Spanish cup by beating Real Socidad 3-0 in the final.

Here is a screenshot of the run up.

I only managed to finish 8th in the league and the board was not happy. It took me ages to find a tactic that worked and also hit some consitency. 

Despite my cup win I only just managed to keep my job. 

My aim for next season is to keep the board happy and get a higher position.

I managed to get some high scoring wins in the league with 3 wins standing out. 

5-1 win Vs Elche, 4-1 win Vs Athletico Bilbao & a 5-2 win Vs Athletico Madrid.

 

Here is my overall best starting 11 for the season.

[warlock]

2 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

the board was not happy

Boards, eh?  Looks like a pretty good season to me, and only a couple of wins away from a European spot.

Good luck next time!