[FM23] German Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga, 3. Liga, (and Regionalliga)

[tyro]

Bundesliga

Whether you want to extend Bayern's run to 11 Bundesliga Titles in a row, or would like challenge Bayern with Dortmund, Leipzig, or perhaps replicate Union Berlin's success this year, the Bundesliga provides clubs with a lot of history, big stadiums, eager fans, great youth recruitment, and a variety of tactical systems.

 

2. Bundesliga

 

Perhaps you prefer to start one league lower in the 2. Bundesliga, where you have the opportunity to bring HSV back to the Bundesliga, which it was a part of for 55 years until 2018, or continue Kaiserslautern rise back from 3. Liga to the Bundesliga? There are plenty of other clubs to choose from with a rich history.

 

3. Liga

Or even try your luck even further down and give it a go with TSV München 1860 or Dynamo Dresden, or one of the other multiple clubs in 3. Liga.

The options are many, the choice is yours, give it a try in the German Football Leagues.

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by tyro

[Hoarau]

Love this idea, Hamburg loyal here. Planning a save with them once the full games launches next week. 

The German leagues, all 3 of them, have so many teams that can offer such varied challenges it's one of my favourite destinations.

Edited November 3, 2022 by Hoarau

[tyro]

I myself had started the Beta with Werder Bremen, which has a rich history as well and made it back to the Bundesliga but does not have the same budget as the other Bundesliga clubs. So you need to try to remain in the Bundesliga, which is possible, since the squad is quite good. Also, there is little pressure because you just have to draw most games and perhaps win a couple not to get relegated.

[Jimpanzee]

Nice opening thread Tyro - love the graphics detailing where each club are based.

 

I've been toying between starting unemployed in Spain, Germany or England but I'm going to go with Germany. I love the competition it offers throughout the 3 divisions. 

My save this year will with a head coach model. A DOF will be in charge of all contract renewals and incoming / outgoing transfers & staff signings. I will have a final say on the incomings, just to manage the balance of the squad. This will avoid the DoF signing 4 Left Backs for example. Otherwise, if I need a player in a position the DoF will be responsible for picking, choosing and sealing the deal.  

 

I will start my save on Tuesday with an unemployed fictional German manager. 

I've always been quite intrigued to manage Dortmund or Bayern's 2nd side and the Head Coach model would fit quite nicely with those sides. On the other hand, it is always good to get stuck into your own club and put your mark into the team. Either way, I will start off in the 3rd division and will have to see what jobs crop up.

Edited November 4, 2022 by Jimpanzee

[ChrisCo]

I always find Germany a great place to start lower and build a club. The distribution of prize money and general good financial health of clubs being the main reason! Tempted to start as Dynamo Dresden on full release and bring a Bundesliga to East Germany.

[tyro]

All the best and good luck in your saves. I am not sure about 2. BL and 3. Liga but in the Bundesliga they are allowing 9 subs on the bench and 5 substitutions but you can only substitute 3x per match (not including half time). So you can easily sub someone out, then another 3 to bring in fresher legs and keep 1 in reserve for the 80th+ minute or if you fear injury keep it till the end. Or you can sub 2, then another 2, etc. This allows for quite a change in momentum at times, depending how good the bench is. It also allows you to give young players some game time if the game is under wraps or if you are desperate and let the kids show the men how to do it.

 

[Welshace]

Darmstadt look like a great club to start with this season... 

 

Patric Pfeiffer, Phillip Tietz and some great youngsters look like a perfect spine to build the club on

 

[DominicForza]

10 hours ago, tyro said:

All the best and good luck in your saves. I am not sure about 2. BL and 3. Liga but in the Bundesliga they are allowing 9 subs on the bench and 5 substitutions but you can only substitute 3x per match (not including half time). So you can easily sub someone out, then another 3 to bring in fresher legs and keep 1 in reserve for the 80th+ minute or if you fear injury keep it till the end. Or you can sub 2, then another 2, etc. This allows for quite a change in momentum at times, depending how good the bench is. It also allows you to give young players some game time if the game is under wraps or if you are desperate and let the kids show the men how to do it.

 

2 Bundesliga is 5 from 9 (3 stoppages)

3 Bundesliga is 5 from 7 (3 stoppages)

[Marinho]

On 04/11/2022 at 15:22, tyro said:

All the best and good luck in your saves. I am not sure about 2. BL and 3. Liga but in the Bundesliga they are allowing 9 subs on the bench and 5 substitutions but you can only substitute 3x per match (not including half time). So you can easily sub someone out, then another 3 to bring in fresher legs and keep 1 in reserve for the 80th+ minute or if you fear injury keep it till the end. Or you can sub 2, then another 2, etc. This allows for quite a change in momentum at times, depending how good the bench is. It also allows you to give young players some game time if the game is under wraps or if you are desperate and let the kids show the men how to do it.

 

 

Makes Squad management a lot easier as well and gives more options to sub in prospects.

 

On 04/11/2022 at 13:53, ChrisCo said:

I always find Germany a great place to start lower and build a club. The distribution of prize money and general good financial health of clubs being the main reason! Tempted to start as Dynamo Dresden on full release and bring a Bundesliga to East Germany.

 

I still feel like SI is missing something as that doesn't really seem to be the reality financially (much less the fact that in FM most Bundesliga clubs will amass huge bank balances in short order).

 

Still will likely do a save or three in Germany and actually doing a Beta save with Frankfurt. Finished 5th in season 1 and with 3 games left in season 2 am currently 6th, 2 points behind a disapointing Dortmund in 5th and 4 behind Gladbach in 4th. We play both in the last 3 matches though, so the hope is alive. Wanting to switch to a narrow formation proved to be challenging but feel good about the current one(s) now.

Some issues at Frankfurt: You have hardly any home grown players, making for tough choices for UCL/UEL registration and you have very technical but somewhat 'soft' players with many of similar profiles making it a bit tough to sort out tactically. You are also on the hook for buying a so-so prospect from PSG for 7.5 mio and a couple usefull talents are out on load with clauses (didn't get activated but might just have been luck).

There are a couple promising youngsters around, though potential likely varies save to save. In the first team you have guys like Smolcic, Hauge, Lindstrom and Tuta. Further down there are Noah Fenyo is a 16 year old BWM who is now at 18 getting some gametime (2* Ability, 4* pot), 18 year old Antonio Foti is a good option as an offensive minded CM. 20 year old GK Diant Ramaj is worth a look as is midfielder Pascal Wenig. Striker Anas Alaoui is destroying youth competitions, has 5 star potential but lacks some key mentals and technicals. 

As for transfers: Made a big sale in Ndickia to Bayern for 35 mio + getting a solid RB in exchange in Stanisic (who is good but not 40 mio good),  also sold Borre, Lenz and Toure due to unhappiness/unrealistic demands/expectations. Went mostly bargain hunting in season 1 from recommendations in the Gem/Bargain thread on here, bringing in Fidalgo, Beljo and Bastoni.

In season 2 i bought a stellar looking attcking LB in Quentin Merlin (Nantes) for 15ish mio, got Marcos Alonso on deadline day as well as a solid pacey RB (Tymchyk from Kiew), loaned in Luca Waldschmidt as he was home grown at club and looked decent (was a huge letdown though). In the winter swooped in for Mario Pasalic for 15 mio and a greta young BWM in Sivert Mannsverk for only 4 when Sow wouldn't extend his contract and Jakic left to Atalanta.

 

[tyro]

Nice. I had a longer Frankfurt save in FM22. Great team. 

I haven't really gotten far enough to accumulate billions :). So far there's almost no transfer budget at Werder and i used it to increase some wages / bring in some potential players for the future instead. 

I can't wait for billions but even 15mn would let me improve the team a lot. 

Edited November 6, 2022 by tyro

[Marinho]

39 minutes ago, tyro said:

Nice. I had a longer Frankfurt save in FM22. Great team. 

I haven't really gotten far enough to accumulate billions :). So far there's almost no transfer budget at Werder and i used it to increase some wages / bring in some potential players for the future instead. 

I can't wait for billions but even 15mn would let me improve the team a lot. 

Season 1 still? Season 2 might be a nice surprise once you get that Bundesliga TV money for the first time. Though i guess Werder is definitely harder than average in that regard, still having some decent earners. EDIT: Actually had a quick look by adding a new manager and things look still very challenging at Werder end of season 2, 27 mio in the red and definitely sell-to-buy territory rather than a big transfer budget.

Werder is one i am looking at as well for a later long save starting in the Bundesliga or alternatively starting with Kaiserslautern or Karlsruhe in the 2nd tier. The latter has that youth pipeline, the former that big stadium and both that glorious history, being very good when i was growing up.

Edited November 6, 2022 by Marinho

[tyro]

Yes. I'm a bit slow. Watch matches at full until the tactics works and then i watch comprehensive. I manage maybe 2 matches every two days or so.

[tyro]

Almost at the end of the first half now. Interesting scheduling with packed games towards the end and a break mid November to mid December due to the World Cup. Now doing the friendlies and training during the off-season until it starts in January again. Let's see if the board gives any transfer money in January.

[tyro]

Winter Transfer window opened, and they gave me a whopping EUR 350,000. I put it towards the wage budget so I can extend those contracts that I need to extend. I have already several players in line to buy, depending how much they will give me . The defense looks great, so unless some teams poach someone, I can keep those in tact. The trouble is the scoring, although that has improved lately as well. I have, however, found players who will improve on both Duksch and Füllkrug with little transfer budget but will also require the same or less wage than those two.

Currently sitting 14th and the second half of the season is about to start. Stand out player so far, Romano Schmid.

[wicksyFM]

Im thinking of being a bit creative and moving Berliner Dynamo FC to 3.Liga and doing a save with them. They won the Regionaliga Nord Ost last season but lost the play off to Oldenburg, so Oldenburg took the 3.Liga place. For years i have wanted to do a save with Berliner Dynamo. Or i will just do a save with Dynamo Dresden (most likely do this).

[Jimpanzee]

I finally got round to starting my save this lunchtime. Starting as unemployed, Tobias Schroder was keen to get into management ASAP and was delighted when FC Saarbrucken offered him the chance to take his first step on the managerial ladder.

In all honesty, I know very little about the club, but a quick glance suggests they've been decent top half finishers in 3.Liga in recent seasons. 

One of the original members of the Bundesliga. they didn't last long though and were relegated in the inaugural season.

As the DoF will be responsible for all incoming transfers, it will be up to him to bring in a core squad of U23 players.

Both the supporters & boards expectations seem realistic

initial view of the squad - I will do an in-depth analysis this evening to work out the tactical direction of the squad for the immediate future.

Edited November 9, 2022 by Jimpanzee

[LucasBR]

Decided to go with Stuttgart, the first team squad is quite short and a lot of players are close to the end of their contracts.

Staff is pretty bad... 

Is going to be a fun challenge.

[tyro]

Good luck with the Saarbrücken save. I don't know much about them, so looking forward to updates.

Stuttgart is always a great choice. They also have a very good youth system. I think they can stay up with what they have. Bochum and Schalke are probably the most difficult, although Schalke has pretty decent players (not many young ones though, so an overhauls is necessary there as well).

I am about to start my first game of the 2nd half in January against Köln. Unfortunately, there was no transfer activity except for sending players on loan. Zetterer the backup GK wanted a new contract and more involvement. I told him I would talk about it end of the season. He insisted now. (--> right click, squad, Werder II + Offer to Clubs). I brought in a young GK to replace Pavlenka in 2 years or so, who is already almost as good as Zetterer. So, bye bye, good luck with the contract negotiations elsewhere.

I am itching to see my transfer budget end of the season as I have a list of players to bring in and improve the squad. You can see that there are constant trainer changes as there is different ideas with the different types of players. They had wingers but then little back up and play a more 532 style. Similarly with the Strikers, they have rather slow but tall/stronger types and then they have a small fast one and one who just has good physicals and nothing else. I already have replacements for the main strikers and back up strikers to improve this side.

[FCArsenal]

I think already hate this game. 5th season with Stuttgard. Still couldnt beat Bayern for the title, because they finish every season with like 1 draw and 1 loss na 30+ wins.
And look at that semi final for the German Cup.
5 seasons 0 silverware

[Jimpanzee]

@FCArsenal Oh man!! How frustrating! Just let down by poor finishing or did the keeper have a blinder? Some of my most rewarding careers on FM are ones where it has taken my years to win anything. When you finally break that streak and deliver some sliverware, you will be so chuffed!

Can you send a screenshot of your team? Where have you been finishing in the league?

 

@tyro - Sounds like you are having a good season - any standout players for you?

Edited November 11, 2022 by Jimpanzee

[LucasBR]

On 10/11/2022 at 07:37, tyro said:

Good luck with the Saarbrücken save. I don't know much about them, so looking forward to updates.

Stuttgart is always a great choice. They also have a very good youth system. I think they can stay up with what they have. Bochum and Schalke are probably the most difficult, although Schalke has pretty decent players (not many young ones though, so an overhauls is necessary there as well).

I am about to start my first game of the 2nd half in January against Köln. Unfortunately, there was no transfer activity except for sending players on loan. Zetterer the backup GK wanted a new contract and more involvement. I told him I would talk about it end of the season. He insisted now. (--> right click, squad, Werder II + Offer to Clubs). I brought in a young GK to replace Pavlenka in 2 years or so, who is already almost as good as Zetterer. So, bye bye, good luck with the contract negotiations elsewhere.

I am itching to see my transfer budget end of the season as I have a list of players to bring in and improve the squad. You can see that there are constant trainer changes as there is different ideas with the different types of players. They had wingers but then little back up and play a more 532 style. Similarly with the Strikers, they have rather slow but tall/stronger types and then they have a small fast one and one who just has good physicals and nothing else. I already have replacements for the main strikers and back up strikers to improve this side.

Stuttgart has a great youth core, I'm really relying on them do help me have a decent season, I don't want to and don't have enough money to spend.

Had to sell Coulibaly because he wanted to leave on a free transfer. Borna Sosa has a 7.5M bid from Leeds, I accepted, let's see if I can replace him properly.

[FCArsenal]

5 hours ago, Jimpanzee said:

@FCArsenal Oh man!! How frustrating! Just let down by poor finishing or did the keeper have a blinder? Some of my most rewarding careers on FM are ones where it has taken my years to win anything. When you finally break that streak and deliver some sliverware, you will be so chuffed!

Can you send a screenshot of your team? Where have you been finishing in the league?

 

 

I have pretty strong team already, but Bayern are just too good.

Bayern are knocking me out from the Champions League two years in a row too

 

Edited November 11, 2022 by FCArsenal

[WoodyFM]

I am in a save with Bayer 04 and the board asked if I wanted to create a 2nd team (Bayer 04 II), but the problem is, it isnt in any league and I cant load any leagues below 3. . Does anyone have a possible solution to getting Bayer 04 II into a league so I dont have to keep scheduling friendlies?

[tyro]

@Jimpanzee Romano Schmid has been outstanding so far. He is top in training for weeks now, his attributes are going up and he is constantly one of the best and most dangerous players on the pitch for me.

@WoodyFM I am not exactly sure but I did a quick search. It seems it depends on the reputation of the 2nd team and whether there are lower leagues. I think for Germany, you can add lower leagues but you would have to start the game with them or use the editor, otherwise it seems it would take a while for the team to "naturally" have the reputation to climb high enough (probably recruit good players for the team so they can succeed and rise).

@FCArsenal Yes, that is the challenge to stop Bayern Muenchen . You already played so many years, nice. I am still in my first season. 4th place the 1st year with Stuttgart is very, very good.

 

 

[wicksyFM]

2 hours ago, WoodyFM said:

I am in a save with Bayer 04 and the board asked if I wanted to create a 2nd team (Bayer 04 II), but the problem is, it isnt in any league and I cant load any leagues below 3. . Does anyone have a possible solution to getting Bayer 04 II into a league so I dont have to keep scheduling friendlies?

Teams are promoted into 3. liga from Regionalliga based on reputation. The only way it will be possible to get your Bayer 04 team into 3. Liga will be to download a third party editor like FMRTE and boost their reputation massively. Put it to something like 10000. Eventually they will get into 3. Liga. Its still a bit random and it might take one season it might take ten. But eventually they will get their. Without boosting rep its unlikely that you will ever see them in a playable league

[Gee_Simpson]

I can't decide between 2 teams, Hertha Berlin and Bayer Leverkusen. I'm leaning towards Leverkusen because they are my favourite German team but on the other hand I like the fact that Hertha are the capital city team like my favourite Scottish team, Hearts. I prefer Leverkusen's squad but then most people would, I think. There's also the fact they have never won the Bundesliga which is crazy. Hertha have a nice 70k+ stadium though and a sugar daddy 😅

Tough choice for me. Thoughts?

[FCArsenal]

Leverkusen if you want to develop your youngsters. They have pretty good young squad and few u18 very good talents.
Hertha if you just want to have a lot of money and buy yourself a super team

[Gee_Simpson]

Yeah it's a tough one. I would imagine Leverkusen still have good budgets in the game, but not on the level of Hertha. Hertha may get a bit easy after a while though. 

[LucasBR]

After 9 matches we're sitting at the 7th position, I wasn't expecting such good performance at this stage, but I'll take it lol!

Serhou Guirassy and Chris Führich have been quite good, Silas started flying but he's form declined a little.

Mavropanos just got injured... 4 months out 

Edited November 16, 2022 by LucasBR

[Jimpanzee]

Season 22/23 finished  - FC Saarbrucken - we finished 7th in the league.

We started well but lacked consistency during the final run of the season. This ended any chance of us finishing in the top 3.

I did sign a footballing legend as our DoF - Welcome to the German 3rd Division Marco  

Marco is in charge of all incomings & outgoings and his 1st signing was an excellent one in former U21 keeper Lino on a free. I'm intrigued to see the players Marco will bring in this summer

On loan Striker Marvin Cuni was our player of the year and top scorer with 15 goals..hopefully we can get him back in next season

Edited November 16, 2022 by Jimpanzee

[Mackem742]

I started my Bundesliga save last night with Wolfsburg. Expected to finish in the top 6 which should be achievable as they have a decent squad. No European football to distract us either. Had a bit of a slow start in the league, drawing 0-0 at home against Werder, before 2 expected defeats away at Bayern and Leipzig (2-0 and 3-2) before finally grabbing my 1st win in a 3-0 home win over Schalke. Progressed past the first round of the cup too with a 2-0 away win at a lower league team. Im not expecting too much in my first season, maybe a push for the Europa League spots.

[tyro]

@Jimpanzee Lino is an excellent prospect.

@Mackem742 Good luck with Wolfsburg. Great Squad. I have had many saves with them ever since Grafite and Dzeko being part of their squad.

@LucasBR I have had several injuries adding up one after another all of a sudden as well. But great position with Stuttgart.

@Gee_Simpson

[tyro]

@Gee_Simpson for some reason it did not let me continue in the previous post. Leverkusen is always a great save to try to finally, finally get the title.

[LucasBR]

14 minutes ago, tyro said:

@Jimpanzee Lino is an excellent prospect.

@Mackem742 Good luck with Wolfsburg. Great Squad. I have had many saves with them ever since Grafite and Dzeko being part of their squad.

@LucasBR I have had several injuries adding up one after another all of a sudden as well. But great position with Stuttgart.

@Gee_Simpson

Mavropanos recovered and got another one... Will be out for at least 3 weeks =/

[LucasBR]

42 minutes ago, LucasBR said:

Mavropanos recovered and got another one... Will be out for at least 3 weeks =/

Same with Endo... Now he'll be out for 3 to 4 months due to a broken foot... Got injured the very last minute of deadline day, I love this game 

[Gee_Simpson]

16 hours ago, tyro said:

@Gee_Simpson for some reason it did not let me continue in the previous post. Leverkusen is always a great save to try to finally, finally get the title.

Yeah I'm going with Leverkusen. As you said, it will be fun trying for that elusive title, and they have a great young squad. My bias swayed it towards them also.

Edited November 19, 2022 by Gee_Simpson

[Jimpanzee]

Season 23/24 complete - FC Saarbrucken - 3rd (lost 6-3 on agg in playoffs vs Heidenheim)

We had an excellent Summer transfer Window with MVB & our scouts uncovering some gems. 

The return of lasts season top scorer Marvin Cuni was a big surprise, especially considering we paid peanuts for him. This was the only transfer initiated by me - The rest were players either recommended by our scouts or approached by Marco VB. The recruitment team tended to stick with the U23 philosophy desired by the club which included Schwermann, Sarpei, Schubert, Koster, Antovski, Bonrnemann & Pohlmann.

I was really pleased with the signings made and it was definitely a stronger squad than what we finished with last season. Improvements were made all over the pitch and this transpired into our league form with the team collecting 7 wins in the first 8 games to leave us joint top.

 

Sebastian Jacob led the way up top with 18 goals from 19 games. At Christmas we were top of the league with Hansa Rostock 1 point behind us in 2nd and Inglostadt 3 points behind in 3rd. 

Unfortunately for us, disaster struck with the club losing 300k a month and over £3.5 million in the red, our wage budget was slashed by 20%. This resulted in us offloading 5 players in the Jan transfer window, just so we would be within our wage budget. This included our best cb Bjane Thoelke, who was sold for peanuts to league rivals Sandhausen. 

This left us with 18 senior squad players, which would end up costing us in the league, with fatigue, injuries & suspensions, hurting us badly in the 2nd half of the season.

Ingolstadt pipped us to promotion by 1 point with Hansa Rostock the runaway league leaders. I'm not even sure we would have kept pace with Hansa even with our original squad. They had an unbelievable run winning 9 of the last 10 games.

Heidenheim proving too strong for our tired squad and ran out comfortable 5-2 winners in the Playoff first leg, which killed the tie. So another season in 3.Liga for the boys in Black and Blue...but what about for Tobias Schroder? With his contract due to expire at the end of the season and the board announcing further budget cuts for next season, Schroder has decided to walk away and look for a new challenge. I still want to continue in Germany, so I will see what comes up next.

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by Jimpanzee

[Jimpanzee]

Season 24/25- Ingolstadt - 2.Bundesliga 

It took longer than expected to land a new role but at the end of December, I landed the Head Coach role at Ingolstadt. 

Reasonable transfer & wage budget. Provided we survive we should be able to put together a decent team in a very competitive league. 

What appealed to me was the desired playing style from the board - direct counter attacking football. Not something I have tried in a fair few FM's...

The supporters surprisingly wanting to go in a slightly different direction, preferring defensively solid direct football.

The team who pipped me to promotion last year find themselves in relegation trouble with exactly half of the season gone. Avoiding relegation is a must from both the board & fans.

At an initial glance the team looks to have a strong defensive spine, with good defenders & strong defensive minded Central Midfielders. We are lacking up top and don't appear to have any out and out wingers who can cross. My initial thoughts are to go with a narrow minded 4-3-3 / 4-1-4-1. Looking to keep things compact in the middle, whilst using Inverted wingers with overlapping full backs to break at pace. I am going to need a pacey strong striker up top to really take advantage of this style, so that will be my priority in the transfer window. 

Edited November 22, 2022 by Jimpanzee

[Jim99]

Thinking of starting a Dynamo Dresden save! Not really managed in Germany before and interested in the fairly relaxed player registration rules.

Any recommendations for ideal signings for a 3. Liga team? 

[Jimpanzee]

5 hours ago, Jim99 said:

Thinking of starting a Dynamo Dresden save! Not really managed in Germany before and interested in the fairly relaxed player registration rules.

Any recommendations for ideal signings for a 3. Liga team? 

Dresden seem to have a bit of money and a good rep, so always end up signing decent talent. Lino (German U21 Keeper) was excellent for me and can be signed on a free transfer. Fiete Arp had huge potential on previous FMs but is now plying his trade in the 2nd division. He dropped down to the 3rd division on mine after a couple of seasons and is doing really well. Marvin Cuni is available cheap after the first season. He's got lots of potential and can play on the left and up top. Good luck with the save and keep us posted, it is getting a bit lonely in here  

Edited November 24, 2022 by Jimpanzee

[Jim99]

On 24/11/2022 at 16:35, Jimpanzee said:

Dresden seem to have a bit of money and a good rep, so always end up signing decent talent. Lino (German U21 Keeper) was excellent for me and can be signed on a free transfer. Fiete Arp had huge potential on previous FMs but is now plying his trade in the 2nd division. He dropped down to the 3rd division on mine after a couple of seasons and is doing really well. Marvin Cuni is available cheap after the first season. He's got lots of potential and can play on the left and up top. Good luck with the save and keep us posted, it is getting a bit lonely in here  

Thanks! Managed to win the league fairly easily in the first season - signed Lino who has been really good!

Overall I was fairly impressed with the squad as it was so made fairly limited signings. I’ll keep an eye out on Cuni - I think they got relegated at the end of the season and Dresden’s strikers are pretty old! 

[Jimpanzee]

2 hours ago, Jim99 said:

Thanks! Managed to win the league fairly easily in the first season - signed Lino who has been really good!

Overall I was fairly impressed with the squad as it was so made fairly limited signings. I’ll keep an eye out on Cuni - I think they got relegated at the end of the season and Dresden’s strikers are pretty old! 

Great work Jim - Did anyone standout for you? I signed Oliver Batista Meier on a few older FMs and noticed he is now at Dresden. How is he doing for you?

[Jimpanzee]

Season 24/25- Ingolstadt - 2.Bundesliga  Final position 12th

My first key signing for Ingolstadt was that of new DoF Felix Kruger. Felix was instrumental in the signings of 3 new players who all helped pull us away from the relegation zone.

 

His 1st signing was that of Colombian Juan Perea who notched 5 goals in 15 games, winning some valuable points along the way. Juan has great pace, aggression & workrate. He is exactly the type of player I was hoping to bring into the club and was a snip at £375k

Denis Huseinbasic was Felix's 2nd signing. Denis is a young well-rounded player who gives us extra attacking impetus from central mid. Singed for a platry £94k from Koln, he notched 3 goals and 1 assist in 12 games. 

And last but not least, a familiar face returns in Marvin Cuni. Signed for £375K from my old club Saarbrucken, he took a while to get settled but also ended up with 3 goals and 1 assist from the left hand side of midfield. Marvin has the potential to be a top Bundesliga 2 player, so I'll be keen to see how he grows over the next 1-2 seasons.

3 wins from the first 4 games set the tone for survival. Our form was a bit patchy for the remaining games, but we did more than enough to warrant our stay in 2. Bundesliga for another season.

 

In the end we finished 12th after taking 28 points from the final 17 games played.

 

[baller94]

Thinking of doing something similiar and doing a German journeyman @Jimpanzee

Did you max our your coaching badges/past exp before starting? 

 

13 hours ago, Jimpanzee said:

Season 24/25- Ingolstadt - 2.Bundesliga  Final position 12th

My first key signing for Ingolstadt was that of new DoF Felix Kruger. Felix was instrumental in the signings of 3 new players who all helped pull us away from the relegation zone.

 

His 1st signing was that of Colombian Juan Perea who notched 5 goals in 15 games, winning some valuable points along the way. Juan has great pace, aggression & workrate. He is exactly the type of player I was hoping to bring into the club and was a snip at £375k

Denis Huseinbasic was Felix's 2nd signing. Denis is a young well-rounded player who gives us extra attacking impetus from central mid. Singed for a platry £94k from Koln, he notched 3 goals and 1 assist in 12 games. 

And last but not least, a familiar face returns in Marvin Cuni. Signed for £375K from my old club Saarbrucken, he took a while to get settled but also ended up with 3 goals and 1 assist from the left hand side of midfield. Marvin has the potential to be a top Bundesliga 2 player, so I'll be keen to see how he grows over the next 1-2 seasons.

3 wins from the first 4 games set the tone for survival. Our form was a bit patchy for the remaining games, but we did more than enough to warrant our stay in 2. Bundesliga for another season.

 

In the end we finished 12th after taking 28 points from the final 17 games played.

 

 

[Jimpanzee]

5 hours ago, baller94 said:

Thinking of doing something similiar and doing a German journeyman @Jimpanzee

Did you max our your coaching badges/past exp before starting? 

 

 

No - I choose the highest National level badge and local Professional footballe.. I wasn't able to land some of the high rep jobs in 3.Liga initially but that is exactly what I wanted. I'm 3.5 seasons in and I've just begun to study for the Continental Pro badge, having studied for the Continental A & B badges over the past couple of seasons. 

[Jean0987654321]

I'm playing a Schalke save currently. Trying to kick out the older players and bring in younger players. Not gonna be easy with their finances but already midtable

[Jimpanzee]

Season 25/26 finished - Ingolstadt - 2.Bundesliga  Final position 8th

Following a strong finish to the previous season, the board requested another safe mid table finish. I felt we could do slightly better and perhaps challenge the top 6/7 spots, provided we made a few signings.

Our DoF Felix Kruger had a busy summer with lots of ins/outs

The 3 standout signings - Tommy Doyle signed on a free from Man City. Doyle contributed 9 assists and 2 goals from a Roaming playmaker position in CM.

Noah Hay signed for £625K from Chelsea. Hay was a bit hit n miss, but he is young and showed plenty of promise as our first choice RB.

One signing I begged the DoF to do a deal for was Mainz striker Marlon Mustapha. Marlon was identified as a A+ signing by our scouts and I immediately told the DoF to make him ours.

Marlon's got bags of pace, aggression and works hard for the team. He's the perfect man for playing up top in my 4-1-4-1 formation. He was worth every penny of the £900k we paid for him, hitting 17 goals & 5 assists on the way to becoming our player of the season.

In terms of our tactical approach. I've opted for a fairly defensive 4-1-4-1 formation. The aim is to soak up pressure, before hitting a fairly swift counter attack. I found the mid-block worked better than a low block, as it generally meant our attacks started further up the pitch and we created more chances as a result. our Next season I'll be looking to play a bit more expansively and more on the front foot, to align with the wishes of the clubs board.

##

Final league standings 

A decent home record but we lacked a bit of consistency on the road. 

 

Next season - I'm hoping we can strengthen the squad, improve our attacking play & aim to get in and around the playoffs. The board seemed happy and offered me a new 2 year deal and the aim will be to get into the Bundesliga by the time the 2 years are up.

Edited December 9, 2022 by Jimpanzee

[n1mez]

Just got the game this week after i moved house - so of course i started with Hertha. I took over at the 26th of december 2022, and they were on the 17th spot. 

Nobody in here playing in Das Bundesliga?

[Daws88]

So after 7 seasons in Italy with Roma, I have just loaded up a Gladbach save...hoping I can get into this one! 

[MarvBAFC]

Gone back to my yearly Hamburg save. Currently sitting top at the World Cup break.

Jatta has been my star man so far, only problem is that RB Leipzig have now matched his release clause of 2.5m. This means he will be moving on. Unfortunately i had to put the clause in at the start of the season to get him signed to a new contract or would of upset the dynamics.

I'm pondering to replace him or use the funds for elsewhere. 

Managed to get some good free transfers in, William (ex Wolfsburg) has been gold so far, Lino has also come in as my new 2nd GK with a view to him being my 1st choice.