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Moneyballing My Way To A Champions League Title in Every European Nation Part X: The FM23 Experiment


shaunvamos
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March 2029

 

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We've come alive at the perfect moment, and 4th place is in our hands. We also breeze by Braga in a tie hat had me worried in Portugal.

 

 

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We get a really favourable draw in Sheffield United. Qualifying for the Conference League by winning the Carabao Cup, their domestic form has suffered and they sit 17th in the Premier League. It's the perfect time to play them.

 

 

 

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We have two guys ranked in the top 10 NxGn! One of which came through our own academy, and Marian who I snapped up at 15, so he may as well be a product of our academy.

 

 

 

National Team

 

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A positive start to the World Cup Qualifiers, but we let up against Luxembourg.

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1 minute ago, shaunvamos said:

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We get a really favourable draw in Sheffield United. Qualifying for the Conference League by winning the Carabao Cup, their domestic form has suffered and they sit 17th in the Premier League. It's the perfect time to play them.

I would say, apart from Valencia, and maybe B.M, you have a great chance to win this 

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7 minutes ago, Pompeyboyz said:

I would say, apart from Valencia, and maybe B.M, you have a great chance to win this 

Valencia are who we will probably be playing if we do go through. It's becoming a bit of a rivalry, they knocked us out in the Europa League last year and also topped our group that same competition.

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April 2029

 

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I was about to say that we just can't beat the big teams, and then we go and beat Inter. It looks like it'll be the Europa League for us again though next season. On more luckier terms, Maribor produced the performance of their life away to Valencia in the second leg of their quarter final, turning around a 2-0 deficit to win on penalties. It looked to take too much out of them though, as we blow them away in Grosseto and appear to have one foot in the final, where in the other semi Rangers hold a 2-1 advantage heading to Gladbach.

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We couldn't hold on to the lead in the Conference League final, but the consolation we can gain from that is that we're in the Champions League next season, as Fiorentina choked against Torino and then couldn't beat Milan, handing us the final place on the last match day. I'm not sure what to expect from the Champions League, but I want to finish at least 3rd in the group.

 

 

 

Best XI

 

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Albino Marian  -  Enzo Coria  -  Wisdom Amey

 

 

 

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Record Breakers

 

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Award Winners

 

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Progress

 

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2029 Preseason

 

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Yep, you saw that right. I have brought no one into the club for the first time in this entire save. No one who wanted to join us was better than anyone on our first team, except some bloke who joined Mainz instead of us. Mainz haven't finished in the top half of the Bundesliga since 2016, so it's a strange choice to be making. Oh well. We've also sold a couple of players who were warming our bench, making way for some of our exciting prospects to start getting some Serie A minutes. 

 

 

 

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I think this is the first time we've had a completely green preseason!

 

 

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Finally predicted in the top half of the Serie A, but I think I want to aim for top 3. Or at least a comfortable 4th.

 

 

 

National Team

 

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Still perfect in the WCQ group, but Georgia are looking like the toughest test for us at this point.

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September 2029

 

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Our perfect start to the Serie A continues, but next month we have Roma, Milan and Juventus in a real test of what we're capable of. In more dire news we lose our first Champions League game at home to Sociedad. Europa League it is then.

 

 

 

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We've finally moved into our new stadium too, more than twice the size of our old ground so we'll be getting some income from there.

 

 

 

National Team

 

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We dominated the tie against Georgia but just couldn't score. We're still on top though.

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October 2029

 

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I'm going to put the loss to PSG down to the fact that we had a grey keeper, all our others were unavailable. We smashed Kyiv in a good response. Domestically we've finally lost, as we still can't beat the big teams. Sigh.

 

 

 

National Team

 

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Not happy with the loss to Serbia, but as soon as I let the AM pick the squad we flog Malta. I guess role familiarity is more important in international games, as I can't make them learn the position I want them to play regardless of attribute suitability.

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November 2029

 

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Aaaaaand the league slump has begun. At least we have a shot at Champions League progression.

 

 

 

National Team

 

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Comfortable qualifying campaign in the end, and we're through to the 2030 World Cup.

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December 2029

 

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Back to our winning ways in the league, and we're 3 points ahead of 5th. Couldn't get the job done in Sociedad either, so we're off to the Europa League.

 

 

 

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There are a few strong teams here, especially our Conference League vanquishers Gladbach. I think we should get past Sporting, but they're always an unknown commodity.

 

 

 

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I'm super excited about this intake!

 

 

 

National Team

 

No fixtures, but here's the World Cup draw:

 

 

 

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We get a pretty straightforward group, but I really feel for Syria and Haiti. Cool to see nations like Guinea-Bissau, Uzbekistan and Congo qualify. 

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January 2030

 

Transfers (In)

 

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A rare venture into the transfer window in January, but this had to be done. I stumbled across D'Ambrosio when picking my Italian squad, he came out of nowhere and I realised I had to have him. This has got to be the first time an Italian NT player was still playing in Chile when called up. Not anymore though, it's off to the Serie A.

 

 

 

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Transfers (Out)

 

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A few loans to get some players game time.

 

 

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Dropped a few key games, but still within range of the top 4.

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February 2030

 

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A strong month, and we're up into 4th. The loss to Bologna was disappointing though, but what's really surprising the decline of Roma. They're probably getting relegated, and I can't pinpoint what went wrong for them this year. No money troubles, no big losses. It's all quite strange. I also don't know how we were able to destroy Sporting so easily, but I'm definitely not complaining.

 

 

 

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We probably get the easiest draw out of everyone, but there are some seriously good teams left.

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2030 Youth Intake

 

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Ariel Maciel 9A*  -  Antonio Duci 9B  -  Riccardo Manganelli 9C*

 

 

 

What an intake! 3, probably 4 promising players, and the top prospect comes from our Paraguayan affiliate Nacional. And what a prospect he is, with 16 finishing already. If he can grow into his other attributes, we could have a potential superstar on our hands.

 

 

 

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March 2030

 

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A very strong month, and that win over Atalanta has given us a 7+ point gap to them. We're also 8 points behind the top 3, so 4th is probably the best we can hope for.

 

 

 

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We dispatched St Gallen pretty easily, but Newcastle is a whole different beast. Currently 3rd in the EPL, they finished 2nd last year and are the current Europa League runners up. Despite their recent success they're 85 million pounds in debt as funding was scaled down by their super rich owners. 

 

 

 

National Team

 

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Just the one game, and we dominated Peru. 

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Comfortably best of the rest, and we have Champions League football again. Also, a Serie A without Roma is going to be real weird.

 

 

 

Best XI

 

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Hélio Serrano  -  Giorgio Scalvini  -  Jacques Godart

 

 

 

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Record Breakers

 

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Award Winners

 

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Progress

 

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2030 Preseason

 

Transfers (Out)

 

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A big player leaves us, as Godart leaves for German giants Dortmund. We sell him for double what we paid, but the same can't be said for Laurent, who we lost money on. The rest are loans that could help their development, but we'll see.

 

 

 

Transfers (In)

 

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Yet another quiet window, as Duhr joins as Godart's replacement. He's not as good, but at 19 I'm hoping there's space to grow.

 

 

 

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The trip to China goes off without an issue, and the win over Sassuolo is encouraging as well.

 

 

 

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Predicted 9th, but top 4 is again the aim.

 

 

 

National Team

 

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Very disappointing, but the direction of the Italian team is uncertain because the squad is aging, as one of the oldest in the tournament, and there aren't really any young players coming through. But I thought i wasn't going to be able to get away with this performance and sure enough...

 

 

 

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Not a great time with the NT to be honest, the expectations were far too great, but with reason.

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August 2030

 

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A solid start.

 

 

 

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It's a tough group, with no real easy games but I like our chances.

 

 

 

Transfers (Out)

 

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Our starting DM Afonso Correia was interested in joining Levante, so we let him go for a profit, and Rok was a bust so he's off to the Canary Islands. There was no suitable replacement for Afonso to bring in, so Alessio Eichner will be our new starting DM.

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November 2030

 

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We were a missed penalty away from FMing City, and that seemed to wake us up and remember how to score again. We didn't have it all our own way though, with the win over Sampdoria coming in stoppage time. We somehow have a chance to qualify for the Champions League knockouts too, even though I think we don't deserve to qualify.

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December 2030

 

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A perfect month, and we can jump into 4th with a win of our game in hand. We also made a miraculous qualification work, and we're through to the last 16 of the Champions League.

 

 

 

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It probably ends against Barcelona, but we're just happy to be here.

 

 

 

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Another great preview :D

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January & February 2031

 

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Got a bit carried away and simmed through February instead, but we've made significant progress in the league, beating Juventus and within range of 3rd place. We also head to Camp Nou with a slim advantage, an advantage that is likely to be overturned.

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2031 Youth Intake

 

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Luca Giordano 10A*  -  Dener Afonso 10B  -  Manuel Caccavale 10C

 

 

 

Another fantastic intake, with probably 6 players considered promising. Giordano is already good enough for a bench spot at this stage, so he could turn out to be incredible.

 

 

 

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March 2031

 

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Another good month, and we've jumped Juventus into outright 3rd. We're also through to the last 8 of the Champions League.

 

 

 

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United probably have too much quality for us, but it's cool to see 3 Italian teams in the quarters.

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April 2031

 

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What a month. We drop points in the league, but we aren't catching the top 2. But the big story is our performance in the Champions League. We smashed United at home, and then won at Old Trafford to set up a semi with Real Madrid. Another 3-0 home win and we have one foot in the Champions League final and potentially finishing the challenge in a third country. Crazy stuff.

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Part IV: Germany

 

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TSV Havelse, a club in the middle of Germany. They've never been above the 3. Bundesliga, so yet another team with a history waiting to be written. Our stadium is too small for the division, so we'll be going just down the road to Hannover's massive 49,000 seater stadium. It's going to feel really empty for the first few seasons that's for sure!

 

 

 

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A lineup that wasn't as strong as I got when I started in Italy, but we'll see how we go.

 

 

 

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Germany has plenty of neighbours, so there's going to be plenty of talent to choose from. Not to mention the talent actually produced in Germany of course!

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  • shaunvamos changed the title to Moneyballing My Way To A Champions League Title in Every European Nation - An Experiment in Squad Building Part IV: Germany

2021 Preseason

 

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Just the one friendly as the season comes up quickly here.

 

 

 

Transfers

 

No transfers at this stage, our wage bill is at it's limits and nobody wants the players I tried to offload.

 

 

 

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Not predicted last, but only on the basis that the teams below us are B teams and can't get promoted. So we're still last.

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33 minutes ago, Pompeyboyz said:

How come you have added England, Spain and Italy?  They are not neighbouring nations :confused:

They're part of the "Big Five" along with Germany and France. Keeps the strong leagues strong and also allows players to be transferred to smaller clubs there if they want my players. Also once the bigger teams come calling for my players it seems like realistic progression for them to move if they want.

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July 2021

 

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An average start, but it's to be expected at this stage.

 

 

 

Transfers (In)

 

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Managed to get some cheap loans in, but this will be all we can do.

 

 

 

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Hottmann looks amazing for this level, and looks set to bang in the goals.

 

 

 

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Lodz wanted absolutely nothing for this loan, so I'd be a fool not to take it. He'll play as right wing back.

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A strong end to the season, and all of a sudden we finish 11th. Do we deserve 11th? Absolutely not, but hopefully this finish leads the board to give me some more wage budget to spend.

 

 

 

Best XI

 

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Tobias Fölster  -  Niklas Tasky  -  Eric Hottmann

 

 

 

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Record Breakers

 

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Award Winners

 

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Progress

 

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