[FM22] Athletic Club: Cantera-attacking our way to glory

[nampuk]

Welcome back, champs

[MattyC78]

33 minutes ago, nampuk said:

At mine Badiola was transfer listed not by me and when I saw his stats I was hooooold on here, what made things worse was the fact that it was close to December when he was about to have his contract expired. Needless to say he wasn't interested in renewing because of being transfer listed. After I removed him from the transfer list and moved him to the first team he was a happy kitty and decided to sign a new contract. PSG was snooping around and he chose to stay. I find it interesting how Bilbao players tend to prefer Athletic to other clubs making it very easy to keep a stable first team. Idk if that is realistic, as I said I recently pointed my attention towards Athletic both in game and irl.

On a side note, here is Aimar Vicandi with me. At the point of transfer when Chelsea paid his release clause he was looking very good and I was kind of disappointed that they snapped him up. Now looking at him I am not so disappointed.

Speaking of developing youngsters, I really like how Imanol came out to be with me. He was the first youngster I promoted to first squad because I sold Yuri Berchiche fairly early on and Mikel Balenziaga was just too old. Truth is, Imanol is not my first choice on the left back as I brought Aihen Muñoz mainly because Imanol is having 'Doesn't enyoj big matches' as a down side.

 

Imanol has been steady for me.  He stepped up as back-up to Yuri and took over as first choice part way through last year.  It is going to be a big season for him coming up.  There are a queue of left-backs waiting for first team football throughout the club.  

[Bradz FM]

Here is mine. He hasn't impressed on his loan spells. He may come into the side next season seen as we have added a formation that includes full backs. Yuri was retrained as a centre back but Imanol hasn't the ability to play there.

[Bradz FM]

Has anybody else given Diarra a chance? I've promoted him and he has made a few appearances. His form for the B side deserved it.

[nampuk]

7 hours ago, Bradz FM said:

Has anybody else given Diarra a chance? I've promoted him and he has made a few appearances. His form for the B side deserved it.

Not me, those 2 stars always threw me off. On yours he looks alright, 2 stars sounds bit too harsh. 

Currently, where I predict I will be struggling is right-back and right-wing. Nothing good in the academy for the time being and nothing good on the market. Still don't want to jump to regens as I want to squeeze the most out of real-life players. Snapped Álvaro Odriozola earlier, which turned out to be a great transfer but other than that I'm lost. I will have to be thinking of some sort of asymetric tactic to accomodate the fact that I have a great midfield and attack, decent left-wing for now, Nico Williams is still 24 iirc, but the right-wing oh boy... 

Edited February 10, 2022 by nampuk

[bowieinspace]

9 hours ago, nampuk said:

Not me, those 2 stars always threw me off. On yours he looks alright, 2 stars sounds bit too harsh. 

Currently, where I predict I will be struggling is right-back and right-wing. Nothing good in the academy for the time being and nothing good on the market. Still don't want to jump to regens as I want to squeeze the most out of real-life players. Snapped Álvaro Odriozola earlier, which turned out to be a great transfer but other than that I'm lost. I will have to be thinking of some sort of asymetric tactic to accomodate the fact that I have a great midfield and attack, decent left-wing for now, Nico Williams is still 24 iirc, but the right-wing oh boy... 

Serrano on the left and Nico on the right? Maybe have a look at Aimar Oroz? He could play RW as an AP. Barrenetxea available? Juan Artola?

[nampuk]

12 hours ago, bowieinspace said:

Serrano on the left and Nico on the right? Maybe have a look at Aimar Oroz? He could play RW as an AP. Barrenetxea available? Juan Artola?

I'm using a right-footed person on the right and left-footed on the left so Nico is critical on the left-wing. Nico Serrano, on the other hand, I'm training as a forward to replace long term Asier Villalibre. Aimar Oroz is already in the club but his stats are not so great for the wing. His quickness is not so good and crossing only 11. I'm training him as winger with additional focus on crossing, as well as Juan Artola. Artola's quickness is nowhere comparable to Iñaki Williams' but I'm considering him if I stick to that formation, yes. Barrenetxea 's asking price is 71mil which I don't really plan on paying.

Edited February 11, 2022 by nampuk

[MattyC78]

39 minutes ago, nampuk said:

I'm using a right-footed person on the right and left-footed on the left so Nico is critical on the left-wing. Nico Serrano, on the other hand, I'm training as a forward to replace long term Asier Villalibre. Aimar Oroz is already in the club but his stats are not so great for the wing. His quickness is not so good and crossing only 11. I'm training him as winger with additional focus on crossing, as well as Juan Artola. Artola's quickness is nowhere comparable to Iñaki Williams' but I'm considering him if I stick to that formation, yes. Barrenetxea 's asking price is 71mil which I don't really plan on paying.

Part of the charm with Athletic is the limited player selection and the requirement to adapt a formation that gets the best out the available players.  In the absence of a strong right wing option I have gone with a lopsided formation and I'm now working on a narrow diamond formation.

[nampuk]

As we speak Iñaki Williams, who is 33, got injured for almost the remaining of the season which means that I will have to make do with whatever I have on the right wing. I guess this is going to be the christening of whatever is to follow with the lineup and the first team.

[Bradz FM]

Just finished my third season and we pushed surprise League winners Villareal until the end. We played them in the second last game of the season but they were just too strong. A win against them would have seen us win the title.

We managed to win the Super Copa and Copa Del Rey

Knocked out of the CL by Bayern in first knockout round

B side just about survived in La Liga Smartbank

Basconia perfomed well reaching the playoffs.

U19s won their group but were beaten in the final.

Muniain had a class season

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2022 by Bradz FM

[MattyC78]

We have just completed the 2024-25 season where we reigned completely domestically and again failed to make a major impact on Europe.  In the league we won our fourth league title in a row despite a predicted third placed finish.

 

We completed the domestic treble with both cups.  We reached the final of the Super Cup with an enjoyable 4-2 victory over Real Sociedad.  Jon Karrikaburu played one of his better games for Athletic scoring a brace.  In the final we moved to a more cautious mentality to counter the threat from Barcelona to beat them in the final.  After a relatively easy route in the Copa Del Rey we repeated the trick against Barcelona in the final.  

In the Champions League we sailed through the groups stages before being halted by PSG in the first knock out round.  We lost one nil in Paris and then despite a xG of 2.31 we failed to breach their defence an crashed out in disappointment.

Iker Muniain showed the first signs of dropping performance levels at the age of 32.  Inaki Williams had another great season with 34 goals in all competitions.  He finished only behind Kevin De Bruyne and Robert Lewandowski in Golden Boot, World Footballer of the Year and World Player of the Year.  He did however scoop the domestic awards of top goalscorer and best La Liga player.  Alvaro Odriozola had a fine first season and pushed Ander Capa from the first team.

We are starting to tweak tactics more frequently but we largely kept the same shape through the season in our lopsided 4-3-3.   We developed a second formation of three up front to counter three at the back formations.

[nampuk]

I don't know what is happening

I 

[dothestrand]

Just won our third title in a row (2025-26) with three games to go. This was nice as those last three games are against Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia (albeit two are at home). We had a great run of 16 wins in 17 games (the loss was to Sporting Gijon so very avoidable!) that sealed the title early.

Great performances across the squad - Simon, Yeray, Nunez, Vivian, Odriozola, Zubeldia, Moncayola, Sancet, R Lopez, Morcillo, Nico Williams, Karrikaburu and my wonderkid striker, Arteaga - all averaging over 7s. We won the Super Cup too, though as usual, I get cocky in the Spanish Cup against lesser opposition and lose when playing a much weaker starting XI. Still not much progress in the CL - Dortmund knocked us out in the first knockouts.

We're developing a nice set of young talents who'll move seamlessly into the first team once the players above start to decline/get bids we can't refuse. We had two of the top fifty wonderkids as well. We've established ourselves as the strongest team in Spain now. It's just European success that eludes us.

[tcoleman1]

Will try and post an update on my first season with Bilbao soon as it's going pretty well so far (in CL contention with good run of fixtures coming up and in good form).

Just a quick question though regarding Basconia. Most of the players in this team have contracts running out at the end of the season. Some I would renew and some I wouldn't but the ones I do want to renew it won't let me offer a wage below £2.5k? Has this happened to everyone else? I know in La Liga there is the rule that they have to have over a certain wage to be registered but Basconia aren't in it.

To be fair even if this team was empty they don't play any physical games in a league I can view and I could just fill it with other academy players when the next youth crop comes through/returning loanees but was wondering if there is a way around having to offer them that as a minimum contract? Obviously the ones who want over that isn't a problem but some are on £400 a week so won't want that much!

[ernemann]

So finally the Winter Update have arrived and it’s a shame, that Ander Capa Will leave on a free after the season! 
Its looks like that goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala have been giving a deserved boost, but havent seen others until now 😏 Cant wait to begin my very Long Athletic save very soon 

[guster73]

Seemingly living in a cursed timeline with my Athletic save as far as trying to win the league goes.

21/22 points and finish: 90, 2nd

Winning total (Real): 94

22/23 points and finish: 97, 2nd

Winning total (Barca): 106 (!!)

23/24 points and finish: 87, 3rd (we bottled it by losing some silly away games down the stretch so blame myself for this one)

Winning total (Real): 88

24/25 points and finish: 92, 3rd

Winning total (Real): 106, again. Barca came 2nd with 100

 

Real are now managed by Klopp after paying Liverpool £19m compensation following 22/23, and have Mbappe, who scored 42 league goals in the most recent season. Meanwhile, Barca have Marco Rose as manager after sacking Xavi following season one, basically the only thing that has changed with them but apparently enough for them to be almost unstoppable as well. Meanwhile, we've won two Copa Del Reys in 21/22 and 23/24, making the final in the other two seasons. We made the CL final against Real in 23/24, finding ourselves 2-0 up at half-time before letting them equalise in injury time and go on to win 3-2 in injury time.

Wondering if anyone has any suggestions for changing personalities of youth players who have potential but have personalities like casual and unambitious? Can only think of promoting them to the first team while making them available for under-19s and putting them in a mentoring group, not sure if that would work?

Edited February 25, 2022 by guster73

[ernemann]

So first season ended in fantastic way, as we finished in second place which is very good, as we were expected to finish at eight place this season. I think Nico Williams got a great boost in the update as he is very good now and my regular penalty taker. We won the Spanish Supercup against Barca and Copa del Rey against Real, so we have started very good.

We have also said goodbye to quite alot as I want to make the team much younger. Ander Capa left for Al-Sadd, Inigo Lekue left for Dynamo Kyiv, Mikel Vesga left for Arsenal (wanted a new challenge), Raul Garcia left for Shahktar, Mikel Balenziaga went to Club America, Asier Villalibre left for Copenhagen, Oier Zarraga went to Alaves, Unai Lopez went to Rayo, Oscar De Marcos left on a free as he didnt have the quality anymore, Alex Berenguer went to Olympiakos, Inigo Cordoba went to Montpellier and Inigo Vicente went to Anderlecht which gave us about 36 mio Euro

As always I wont buy any players, but we have some real good youngsters but this season will be testing with Champions League football and a squad not very good, but it will be fun

[Ferni55]

Hello Athletic Bilbao lovers,

I will share my super wise ideas that i am using for my saves of Athletic Bilbao.

 

Enable all Spanish League as Playable

Enable Brazil League A as view only

Down there choose earliest game start date of Brazil which starts 7.12.2021. So you have 8 months early game date to sign 8 months younger players of more U16 Players, before they reacy 17 years old on regular league start dates.

Use Large Database and select Basque Country and Spain.. Tick for both nations `players based in nation` and `players of nationality`

Also start game with Both First team and International Team settings

After choosing Athetic Bilbao

Choose Spain National team ( Main team or any U-Team) so that you can have option to ask any player to represent your national team if available. So you can now scout search U16 Players of Secondary Nationality - Partially - Spanish nationality and offer them to represent Spain, if they accept, you will have right to sign them.

At first it may not be much option, but after newgens generates, will be more as many players to sign from

 

Good luck.

 

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by Ferni55

[Pelz]

@guster73- Your save sounds incredibly similar to mine. 
 

Finished 2nd, 2nd, 3rd and 2nd. If I get 98 points then Real will just go get 105 or something stupid. They’re an unstoppable juggernaut in my save with Mbappe smashing in 30-40 goals a season without breaking a sweat… and even when he does they just bring on one of six world class forwards to replace him  

Starting to doubt I can ever realistically catch them!

[MattyC78]

In the build up to the start of the 2025-26 season I decided to sell Jon Karrikaburu.  I know for some people he has been successful but for me he has only ever disappointed.  We got him for a bargain price of £1.1 million but he has never got more than 6 goals in a season and he has not really developed in any notable manner. 

 

Unfortunately, nobody would take him so he went on loan to Alaves in the second division for the season. 

The only other departure from my first team squad was Yuri who departed to Galatasaray after a collapse in the level of performance and being usurped by Imanol.  To boost the squad, I finally brought in a 35 year old Ander Herrera from Shaktar.  Well past his best but should provide depth for a year or two.

I also brought in a couple of youngsters to reinforce the depths of those coming through the academy.  After the departure of Yuri, I felt we were a little light at left back so we decided to stump up the ridiculous sum of £25 million on Aihen Munoz.  He is not worth that sum of money to anyone other than Athletic where our young left backs are not ready and he will help bridge that gap and might help us seal a trophy or two until then.

[MattyC78]

On 26/02/2022 at 15:53, ernemann said:

So first season ended in fantastic way, as we finished in second place which is very good, as we were expected to finish at eight place this season. I think Nico Williams got a great boost in the update as he is very good now and my regular penalty taker. We won the Spanish Supercup against Barca and Copa del Rey against Real, so we have started very good.

We have also said goodbye to quite alot as I want to make the team much younger. Ander Capa left for Al-Sadd, Inigo Lekue left for Dynamo Kyiv, Mikel Vesga left for Arsenal (wanted a new challenge), Raul Garcia left for Shahktar, Mikel Balenziaga went to Club America, Asier Villalibre left for Copenhagen, Oier Zarraga went to Alaves, Unai Lopez went to Rayo, Oscar De Marcos left on a free as he didnt have the quality anymore, Alex Berenguer went to Olympiakos, Inigo Cordoba went to Montpellier and Inigo Vicente went to Anderlecht which gave us about 36 mio Euro

As always I wont buy any players, but we have some real good youngsters but this season will be testing with Champions League football and a squad not very good, but it will be fun

Congratulations on  your success in the first season.  If you are not purchasing players, what do you do with the money?  Do you reinvest in player wages to ensure that they stay at the club?  

[ernemann]

19 minutes ago, MattyC78 said:

Congratulations on  your success in the first season.  If you are not purchasing players, what do you do with the money?  Do you reinvest in player wages to ensure that they stay at the club?  

I make sure we have the best coaches, facilities and we bought the stadium. But ofcourse I give the players good contracts and make sure they cant be bought by the oil clubs 🤣🤣

[ernemann]

So into a few seasons here (2024-25) and we finally beat the so called big teams Barca and Real, but it was crazy tight and I havent seen a top 3 like this before This is our first real major titel after we have won the Supercopa and Copa del Rey the first few seasons. We still fight in the Champions League against Man City and oil club PSG, but I know we will get them sometime

We have said goodbye to Jon Morcillo who went to PSV and Inigo Martinez went to Besiktas as he didnt have the quality anymore, and didnt want to give him a new contract. We have got alot of great young talents, but now we need to win the league again

[MattyC78]

3 hours ago, ernemann said:

So into a few seasons here (2024-25) and we finally beat the so called big teams Barca and Real, but it was crazy tight and I havent seen a top 3 like this before This is our first real major titel after we have won the Supercopa and Copa del Rey the first few seasons. We still fight in the Champions League against Man City and oil club PSG, but I know we will get them sometime

We have said goodbye to Jon Morcillo who went to PSV and Inigo Martinez went to Besiktas as he didnt have the quality anymore, and didnt want to give him a new contract. We have got alot of great young talents, but now we need to win the league again

Goodness.  That is very tight at the top.  You must have done well against Real and Barca.  Congratulations

 

[ernemann]

We could not win the league again as Real Madrid were too good for us this time, but we keep getting better anyway with many of our young talents. Our main concern is that is seems, that Inaki Williams have seen better days and the same with Munain. Munains contract is running our next summer (2027) and I think its time to either stop or move on. Inaki got one more year, but he wont be getting a new contract.

While we can win the league we have bigger problems in the Champions League as we have big problems when we meet the likes of Man City and PSG, but we dont give up! I really dont like these clubs, so will do what we can to beat them

[dothestrand]

2026-27 season done and dusted, and it's four titles in a row! This was probably our best season so far. Look at that goal difference! We scored five goals in a game SIX times. In the cups, Man City knocked us out of the CL in the QF. We lost the Spanish Cup final and lost in the Super Cup in the SF.

Only real transfer business was selling Jon Morcillo for 12m and bringing in Robert Navarro for 30m to provide versatility across all midfield positions. We signed a  Basque regen from Vallecano to develop in the B team, but then midway through the season he became a first-teamer on the left wing and a wonderkid to boot!

We've a good production line of youth players. Some positions are much better set than others (too many wide players, not enough defenders). We've a number of players in their 30s now. Yeray and Munoz are now squad players, so we'll either let them see their contracts out or move them on. Nunez, Zubeldia and Odriozola will be good for another couple of seasons, but will need to be replaced. We've got options though.

Broadly, the spine of Simon, Vivian, Vencedor, Sancet, Serrano, N Williams and our regen striker Arteaga is top quality.

[MattyC78]

2025-26 brought our fifth league title in a row.  It wasn’t the finest year and Barcelona were our closest challengers but we pulled away over the final stretch to finish with an eight-point lead.  Real were a distant third a further 26 points behind. 

 

We again completed the domestic treble with victories over Real and Barca in the Super Cup and comfortable route in the Copa Del Rey with victories over Real Sociedad and Athletico Madrid in the final.

 

It was another strong year from Inaki Williams as he scored another 30 goals as an Advanced Forward.  He swept up all the honours in front of him including the Ballon D’Or, world player of the years and all the Spanish awards.  He is now 31 and I fear the point that he loses his explosive pace.  This is the first year that I have had true success with him at Athletic and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed his peak years.

Iker Muniain continued to pull the strings from centre midfield with a strong average performance and as captain he has lifted quite a sizeable trophy haul.  We dominate domestically but we still cannot master Europe.  We tumbled out this year to Bayern in the first knock-out round.  We consistently navigate the group stages but we have only once managed to past the first knock out round.  European success will be our target for the next couple of seasons.

Muniain and Williams were joined in the team of the season by Unai Simon, Alvaro Odriozola, Unai Nunez, Dani Vivian, Oihan Sancet and Nico Williams.

I think this is the first season that that I have a team of players that have achieved average ratings greater than 7.  We have started to transition from our lopsided 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 narrow diamond.  Inaki Williams and Nico Williams have done well up front, Nico Serrano can play across the front, it allows Iker Muniain to get further forwards and we have a couple of promising young strikers and do not have any young wingers coming through.  We made the change half way through the season to some success and we will consider a few tweaks in the summer to finalise the transition.

 

[ernemann]

A new season is finished and what a season! One for the books I can tell you After a long hard fight we won the league again after Real won last season, but imagine getting 96 points and still not winning the league   As you can see Nico had a quite good season and Alfredo too our new amazing striker just 19 years old

We also won the Spanish Supercup on penalties, but lost the Copa del Rey Final against Real our big rival. But luckely we came out as winners in the Champions League as we beat Man Utd after penalties to end an amazing season a historic one

We have said goodbye to clublegend Iker Munain who wanted to move on so we accepted an offer from mexican side Club America, and defender Nunez left for Zenit so our average age in the team is much younger now. Finally I made it to the Iconic list in the club so soon the legend sign will show up!

Last but not least i`ll show you "Team of the Season" - It looks good with all of them in red and white

[MattyC78]

After five years at Athletic, we have had a fairly static team but we are starting to bring through some youngsters into the first team.  Inevitably, as they come in some players have to make way and move on.  The finances are starting to stabilise but money was very tight for the first few seasons and a couple of players needed to be moved on for financial reasons.  I thought I would take a moment to celebrate their contributions. 

Dani Garcia left the club after two successful seasons where he was a key player the first season but we couldn’t justify his wage demands so he moved on to Shaktar on a free.

Alex Berenguer was a steady but unspectacular contributor for a couple of seasons before we decided to cash in, selling him to Borussia Munchengladbach for £24 million.  His departure cleared some space in the squad to allow a couple of the younger players to come through and get more playing time.

Whilst it always felt like we never got the best from Inigo Martinez, he gave us three years of service where he played 89 games and averaged over 7 in each season.  He was a key part in the first three title victories and started the transition from Europe hopefuls to champions.  When Dani Vivian came through, we could no longer justify the huge £150,000 per week wages and the £12.5 million fee from Real eased our financial concerns considerably.

I was not actively looking to move on Mikel Vesga.  After three good seasons for us, he became very greedy and we couldn’t (wouldn’t) offer him the contract that he wanted so we sold him on to Valencia for £16.5 milllion before he left on a free transfer at the end of the following season.  He was a steady workhorse in midfield.  His contributions were limited going forwards but he was always worth a place in the side.  His departure was softened when Jon Moncayola was brought in to replace him. 

Yuri has been a very handy player.  In the first two seasons he was a critical part of the side before dropping in performance and importance until he was finally replaced by Imanol.

Other notable mentions go to Asier Villalibre, Inigo Lekue and Mikel Balenziaga for their respective 13, 16 and 20 appearances in the first title winning season largely before the return to fitness of Yuri and Ander Capa.  Peru Nolaskoain managed 10 games in the first season before a further two in the second season evidencing that he was no longer required.

[dothestrand]

2027-28 season review

After four successive titles, the run ended in the cruellest fashion - goal difference. We were doing fantastically in the league until the mid-March, losing the odd away game to our peers, but otherwise beating lesser opposition. This led to a five point lead at this stage. Then, we drew away to Osasuna after battering them (our striker got cold feet at the back end of the season - I'd complain more about this draw but then Osasuna did beat Madrid!), and lost away games to Barcelona and Real Betis in succession, allowing Madrid to catch up with us. We had the Spanish Cup final against Atletico Madrid in between those games, which we naturally lost as we were in a complete collective choke at the time. Real Sociedad were moving into both our slipstreams, but I had a home game against them which I thought would derail them. Again, we were much the better team and took they lead - they equalised. That was so pivotal. And in our last game, we took the lead early away to Getafe, whilst Madrid were making heavy weather of Alaves away from home (bottom of the league). Then they nabbed two goals in the last fifteen minutes. So all square but they took the spoils.

So where do we go now? On a bit of a clearing of the decks. Yeray and Munoz left in the January window as I wasn't going to renew their contracts and they were backups anyway. Odriozola is 32 and in decline, so it's likely he will leave this close season. Nunez probably has one more year - I want to give our 18yo promising CB another year of development in the second team if I can. Moncayola is an increasing bit-part player but with a wage of 80k per week and a transfer value that I'd bite someone's arm off for, I may have to let him see the next two years of his deal out. I can't see anyone coming in for him. We have enough CM options to cover him if he leaves anyway.

In the attacking positions, Williams, Serrano and my regen winger, Imaz, are excellent. I may let Roberto Lopez move on as he's taking up a squad place that a younger guy could have.

Still looking nervously at the GK position. Simon has got incredibly whiny and complacent recently. He's only 30 and one of the best keepers in the world, but constantly asks for new contracts. He's on 250k per week and I'd love him to knuckle down for the next four years without a peep but that's not his style. I don't think our younger GKs are that decent.

Back to restoring our natural position, I hope.

Edited March 18, 2022 by dothestrand

[MattyC78]

We continued our domestic stronghold with victories in the Super Cup, the Copa Del Rey and La Liga.

 

We finally made some progress in Europe and supplemented our domestic treble with the Champions League after overcoming both Manchester clubs and PSG in the knock-out rounds before overcoming Liverpool in the final at Old Trafford thanks to as goal from Oihan Sancet.  After years of failing to get past the first knock-out round this was a significant improvement and one I’m keen to try to repeat.

We have a collection of players lining up requesting new contracts again.  Asking for crazy money (£200,000 to £400,000 per week).  There are also key players in the squad who are ageing a little and we have already started to transition in some of our regens into the first team squad and I expect this to pick up pace over the next couple of years.

[ernemann]

So time for a new update and we are now in 2030 and things are very good in Athletic! After 3 league titles in a row we are now the chasing part again but the team looks stronger than ever, and the talents are very good. Dani Vivian have left us as he didnt have the qality anymore and Unai Simon is not our starting goalie anymore.

Igor Imaz is our new number 1 after he spent last season on loan with Real Betis and now he is doing amazing for us.  I`ve posted our best season and I dont think we will ever have one season like this one again. Everything just went our way and Barca werent not very good.

We also won the Champions League again the second time in the clubs history against Inter after extra time and we also won the Copa del Rey after 6 years without that trophy. But in 2030 its not many players left from the start of the game. Unai Simon not best keeper, anymore, Dani Vivian leaving, Vencedor also less games now, so only Nico Serrano, Nico Williams and Oihan Sancet thats regulars for me now

[Jack Sarahs]

Just wanted to post and say what a great thread this is from everyone in here I'm just disappointed I've read it all and have nothing left to read.

[volt]

Haven't posted here in quite a while, did some more seasons, won some more silverware, but i'm not gonna update it.

Instead, I started a new save in the last patch to do a new run.. and oh god things are harder now.

Looking at first team players, Capa will go out for free at the end of the season. Yuri is nerfed, unai nunez is nerfed (and lowered * potential), inaki is nerfed, ezkieta is nerfed, balenziaga and lekue received a little boost. Vencedor and Sancet have more potential too, like Agirrezabala.

Lets see if I stick to this save and how things will turn out this time 

[ernemann]

Finished another season and what a season La Liga champion, Supercopa winner, Copa del Rey winner and Champions League That league title were so tuff to win as Barca just kept winning! About 6 or 7 games to go we played them at San Mamès when we were even on points and having lost at Nou Camp, but we won 1-0 and after that they started to throw alot points to smaller teams.

 

We ended as champions and in the Champions League we had a great run where we avoided the biggest teams on the way and in the final we defeated AC Milan on penalties. Its fair to say that we have an amazing team now and with Man City, Real Madrid and Paris not what it use to be, its quite fun save this After this season Unai Simon left us to Arsenal on a free as he wanted a new challenge and he were only backup at age 35. Nico Serrano age 29 left for Man City as I thought he have done well for us for many years and he really wanted to move on, so we let him go

[we88y]

Started a save with Athletic Club a few weeks ago in-between the main winter updates, I've been powering through with very mixed results and have now completed my third season. I've been following this thread after reading previous ones over the last few years but this is my first attempt at an Athletic Club save.

So I thought I'd update a with a few things that have happened

Season 1 (2022-23)

Transfers in:
Jon Karrikaburu - £21.5m (We needed a striker, this was the move I was always going to make and I hope he performs for us for the next 10-15 years)

Transfers Out:
Alex Petxarroman - Loan
Mikel Balenziaga - £375k (Sold in January after being unhappy at playing time and declining quickly)
Oscar De Marcos - £425k (Sold in January for the same reasons as Balenziaga)

Tactics
We played a 4-3-3 with Muniain as an Inverted Winger & Inaki Williams as an Inside Forward, Overall it was a tough season with many tactical tweaks throughout the season as I tried to get various players to perform.

Here is the best 11:

Final league position

As you can see a disappointing season saw us fall short of European football. A leaky defence was the biggest issue and I'm sure the tactical tweaks didn't really help. A few wins in a row at the end of the season helped us cement 8th in the league. Sadly missing out on European football meant that we were bound to struggle financially for the next couple of years.

Copa Del Rey
Knocked out by Villarreal in the 5th Round

Supercopa
Lost in the final against Real Madrid

Youth Intake
A golden generation here with some very good youngsters coming through, how good they become will depend heavily on how they develop over the next few years, none of them initially looked incredible but I expect a good 4-5 players to make the first team squad after a few years.

And that draws to the end Season 1, I'll post a similar update for Season 2 in a moment.

Edited March 31, 2022 by we88y

[we88y]

Season 2 (2022-23)

Transfers In:
Hugo Guillamon - £13m rising to £16.5m (Signed as we needed cover in midfield and centre back positions. I also had an idea of retraining him to Right Back if we couldn't find a player there)
Álvaro Odriozola - £12m rising to £14.5m (I was desperate for a Right Back the whole window and he just wasn't interested even on loan but later in the window managed to get the deal done)
Kevin Rodrigues - FREE (Needed cover at left back behind Yuri so and with poor finances on the horizon Rodrigues was an obvious pick up for free)
Dan Rodriguez - Loan (Tried to sign from Barca but he rejected so I brought him into the Bilbao Athletic on loan for two years with an option to buy for £950k - This was activated as soon as he would discuss contracts)
Unai Lopez - Loan (Signed on an 18 month loan in January as a good squad player with an option to buy for £3.1M which represents good value considering he was sold for £4.7m before the game started)

A host of other youth prospects came in on low or free transfers to hopefully develop in the youth or reserve teams

Transfers Out:
Unai Lopez  - £4.7m (Pre arranged at the start of the game but already back at the club as you'll have already read)
Raul Garcia - FREE (Raul Garcia left on a free to Velez, I tried to sign him to a new deal but his demands were just too large for a player at his age so I kept him for the season rather than in January)
Ander Capa - FREE (Was already set to leave at the end of the season from the start, he played the first season as first choice right back before moving on)
Ibai Sanz - £300k (Couldn't see a world in where he would progress so when Betis came in for him I took the small fee)
Inigo Martinez - £7m (Wanted to keep him but ultimately he wouldn't sign a lower contract and with 1 year left on his deal I let him go to use his wages elsewhere)
Inigo Lukue - £4.5m (Another one I wanted to keep but he was furious about a lack of football and didn't want to stick around even after Capa left so cashed in on him once I knew I could get Odriozola in)
Imanol - Loan (Was recalled in January 2022 but wasn't progressing and the arrival of Kevin Rodrigues meant he needed to leave but I wasn't prepared to sell him so he left on loan to Real Oviedo)
Inigo Cordoba - Loan (No place for him in the squad but wanted to keep him contracted to the club and left on loan to Girona)
Jon Morcillo - Loan (No place in the squad so he left on loan to Mexico)
Alex Petxarroman - Loan (Third choice as Alvaro Nunez was promoted to the first team so left on loan)
Inigo Vicente - Loan (Left on loan to Valladolid in January)
Nico Serrano - Loan (Left on loan to Ibiza in January)
Juan Artola - Loan (Left on loan to Leganes in January)

A few other players from the reserve team left on loan mostly to meet salary cap rules as Bilbao Athletic were promoted to the second division.

Tactics & Best Eleven

Made some small adjustments to roles and also changed to a flat midfield with two Mezzalas which produced some great results. 

 

Final League Position

Neck and neck with Real until around 12 games to go when our form tailed off and they just forgot how to concede. Our defence was a bit of an issue still but our goalscoring was a highlight.

Copa Del Rey
Knocked out by Zaragoza in the 5th Round - Really poor performance

Youth Intake
A golden generation but not as good as previous years, I still expect some good squad players to come out of it however.

That's the story of my second season although it all went a little downhill from there :)

[we88y]

Season 3 (2023-24)

Transfers In:
Ander Herrera - £1.1m (Signed on deadline day in January on an 18 month deal and is a good player to have around the team)

A couple of other youngsters joined on small fees or for free

Transfers Out:
Mikel Vesga - £2.5m (Unhappy about playing time I reluctantly let him leave in favour allowing Guillamon a bit more playing time who struggled in his first season)
Imanol - Loan (Returned to Real Oviedo on loan to develop away from the club or bring his value up if he doesn't kick on)
Inigo Vicente - Loan (Vicente left on loan again, this time to Mexican club Pumas as I don't want to sell in case I need him in the future)
Alex Petxarroman - £400k (After a few loan moves and no real development it was time to let our 3rd choice Right Back leave to Sochaux with a future buy back clause of £1m)
Juan Artola - Loan (No place in the squad despite breaking into the first team at the end of the first season and temporarily joins Malaga)
Nico Serrano - Loan (Not developing at all and moves to Mallorca on loan)
Inigo Cordoba - Loan (Wasn't getting football so left on loan to Salernitana in January)
Oier Zarraga - Loan (Joined Huesca in January as he wasn't getting minutes)

A few other Reserve team players left on loan

Tactics & Best Eleven

A terrible start to the season that left us sat around 10th-12th around Christmas meant that we moved away from the formation that allowed us to finish 2nd in season 2. In the end we settled on a more possession based style which saw the return of a DM.

Final League Position

After settling on our new tactic we were able to fly up the table in the last 10-12 games from 10th to sneak into 6th place however our cup exploits meant that this wasn't absolutely necessary but it was still nice to finish in a European spot on merit after a terrible first half of the season. If anything this time out we struggled to score goals in the same way we had done in the season before.

Copa Del Rey
WINNERS!!! Beating Celta Vigo on penalties in the final

Champions League
Incredibly we won our group which contained Benfica, Juventus and Leverkusen before a narrow loss to Inter Milan in the first knockout round 2-1 on aggregate.

Supercopa
Lost in the Semi Final against Real Madrid

Youth Intake
Another Golden Generation that so far appears to be better than season 2's but not as good as season 1's (some players from that youth intake may be in the first team squad for season 4)

Edited March 31, 2022 by we88y

[we88y]

And finally because we are all probably here thanks to our love of youth development and the progression of players that will hopefully lead the club to local, home grown glory here are some key players and the best youth prospects.

Key Players (Outside of Muniain & Inaki who will look very similar on your saves)

Oihan Sancet - What a player he has become - the best player on the team.

Unai Simon - Spains number 1 and hopefully ours for the next 5-10 years

Jon Karrikaburu - What a signing for £21.5m. Now 21 he is still improving and has already won the top goalscorer in season 2.

Unai Vencedor - An important member of the squad however he's never performed exceptionally.

Nico Williams - Rotates in and out of the squad on either wing and can play up front, has a little bit of development left in him but hopefully will be an important player for years to come.

Here are some Youth Prospects who look like they will break through in the next few years

Dani Rodriguez - Signed from Barca on a 2 year loan with a £950k option that was obviously activated. He will be in the first team next season

Javier Seguin - Straight out of the academy and may join the first team squad for season 4 despite still only being 17. Needs to continue to make improvements technically.

Iker Perez - Another academy prospect that soon will be in around the first team (has already come off the bench in the cup) and will hopefully challenge Karrikaburu in the future

Jon Pascual - Another from the first intake. A bit slow but I'd like him playing on the right hand side as an inside forward but we will see how his development goes as he certainly looks very good.

Miguel - Signed from Leganes after the first season with Basque nationality, believe it or not he actually hasn't really improved since signing him.

Isidro Beltran - Another Basque player from another academy (Zaragoza) who looks like a real prospect

Manuel Alkorta - Came through the academy but staff say he has lower potential than others but I have high hopes this guy, I think he can be very very good with the right development.

I could go on to be honest, there are so many players that I've been lucky enough to have come through / recruit from other Basque teams on the cheap and I'm sure we won't keep having Golden Generations (all of the players I've shown here were from the first however.

As you'll see - this is just part of my under 19s...

Loving this save to be honest!

If anyone else has a real interest in youth development and is getting a bit bored of 'normal' Football Manager saves then I implore you to give it a go! It's great fun.

Edited March 31, 2022 by we88y

[ernemann]

4 hours ago, we88y said:

And finally because we are all probably here thanks to our love of youth development and the progression of players that will hopefully lead the club to local, home grown glory here are some key players and the best youth prospects.

Key Players (Outside of Muniain & Inaki who will look very similar on your saves)

Oihan Sancet - What a player he has become - the best player on the team.

Unai Simon - Spains number 1 and hopefully ours for the next 5-10 years

Jon Karrikaburu - What a signing for £21.5m. Now 21 he is still improving and has already won the top goalscorer in season 2.

Unai Vencedor - An important member of the squad however he's never performed exceptionally.

Nico Williams - Rotates in and out of the squad on either wing and can play up front, has a little bit of development left in him but hopefully will be an important player for years to come.

Here are some Youth Prospects who look like they will break through in the next few years

Dani Rodriguez - Signed from Barca on a 2 year loan with a £950k option that was obviously activated. He will be in the first team next season

Javier Seguin - Straight out of the academy and may join the first team squad for season 4 despite still only being 17. Needs to continue to make improvements technically.

Iker Perez - Another academy prospect that soon will be in around the first team (has already come off the bench in the cup) and will hopefully challenge Karrikaburu in the future

Jon Pascual - Another from the first intake. A bit slow but I'd like him playing on the right hand side as an inside forward but we will see how his development goes as he certainly looks very good.

Miguel - Signed from Leganes after the first season with Basque nationality, believe it or not he actually hasn't really improved since signing him.

Isidro Beltran - Another Basque player from another academy (Zaragoza) who looks like a real prospect

Manuel Alkorta - Came through the academy but staff say he has lower potential than others but I have high hopes this guy, I think he can be very very good with the right development.

I could go on to be honest, there are so many players that I've been lucky enough to have come through / recruit from other Basque teams on the cheap and I'm sure we won't keep having Golden Generations (all of the players I've shown here were from the first however.

As you'll see - this is just part of my under 19s...

Loving this save to be honest!

If anyone else has a real interest in youth development and is getting a bit bored of 'normal' Football Manager saves then I implore you to give it a go! It's great fun.

Great save but it looks like your Williams junior is not as good as mine. In 2031 he Became our captain and is my most important player 👊😏

[nampuk]

After years of trying to win CL and failing miserably in the 1st K/O round this happened. I became obsessed with it.

Edited April 7, 2022 by nampuk

[ernemann]

So we reached one more season and what a year it have been! In the league Barca were too strong, but we won everything else this season including the Champions League against Tottenham and FIFA World Club against Manchester City.

 

After last season we sold Nico Serrano to Manchester City after many years in the club and we moved amazing talented winger Pedro Garrancho up to the first-team just 15 years old, but he made an instant impact! Think he got a very bright future at the club and will break many records !

We keep having soldout at our games so we are making the stadium a bit bigger, as we dont have anything else to spend all our money on

[nampuk]

I'm starting to observe a very interesting pattern with my wing-back regens. None of them seems to have good or impressive ability to cross or dribble. I'm trying to put a bit more focus in their training but can't seem to budge them above 10-11.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by nampuk

[Álvaro Rodrigues]

Quem aqui criou outro save depois da atualização de inverno? Houve mudanças?

Edited April 21, 2022 by Álvaro Rodrigues

[ernemann]

So we reached 2039 and I think Barca and Real have just given up Sixth league titel in a row and in the last few seasons we have seen Valencia and Atletico Madrid been relegated, but they are back again. We have also said goodbye to clublegend and captain Nico Williams who is now in the coaching staff at our U19

Our last season werent that good if we look away from the league as we didnt win the cup and in the Champions League we went out in the quarterfinals to Newcastle - Yes they won the Champions League and Premier League, but it was the first time for them - so I really want to beat them next season

As you can see our star Raul Leon won the Ballon D`or for the second time and our strong keeper Imaz won the Golden Glove once again. But one of the records I`ve been waiting for to beat is really close - as our striker Alfredo Lopez is only 14 goals away from beating the record from Telmo Zarra at 251 league goals!

[Ewan0404]

Has anyone got a screenshot of Muniain near the start?

I signed him for Liverpool a few versions ago and played him as a poacher.

[lingardinho_]

Am I the only one having trouble signing coaches for my b and c team?

[dothestrand]

15 hours ago, lingardinho_ said:

Am I the only one having trouble signing coaches for my b and c team?

On the staff search you can search for realistic appointments for the B, C and u19s. It's one of the filters on the search results, I think. 

[ernemann]

1 hour ago, dothestrand said:

On the staff search you can search for realistic appointments for the B, C and u19s. It's one of the filters on the search results, I think. 

It is the only Way but no unless you have very strong reputation it is hard in the beginning getting great staff to these teams 😏

[lingardinho_]

6 hours ago, dothestrand said:

On the staff search you can search for realistic appointments for the B, C and u19s. It's one of the filters on the search results, I think. 

I did that. but even the worst coaches wage demands are way more than I can offer.