[FM23] Resurrecting Los Che

[duff33]

Long before Marvel, or Michelle Yeo, Football Manager was doing the multiverse thing. In recent years I’ve been transported to Rome, Naples, and Leipzig, as well as the more familiar locals of Newcastle, and Peterborough. On more than one occasion I’ve found myself in sunny Spain, overseeing the fortunes of Valencia Club de Fútbol, that early 00s Prince turned pauper. 

With real-life turmoil engulfing the club again recently, I have been transported back across the Footy-verse - like a pudgy, hairy Dr Samuel Beckett - and unceremoniously dumped on the floor of the Mestalla. Can I follow in the footsteps of Rafa and Ranieri and bring glory back to Los Che (again)? Only time will tell.

———

DAY ONE TO TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY

“Good morning”, a voice greets me. I open one eye to see club owner Peter Lim standing over me. It is a measure of the madness of Valencia under Lim’s ownership that he does not find it strange to discover an Englishman laying on his office floor, nor does he ask me how I got there. It must be a Monday.

“So you’re the new guy,” Lim continues. I clamber to my feet, and take a seat beside his desk, somewhat groggy. I notice one arm is missing from the chair as Lim hands me a slightly battered looking ring binder, which contains information on the past and present of Valencia Club de Fútbol. 

Six La Liga titles, eight Copa del Rey victories, three UEFA Cups, and two Champions League Final appearances. Valencia is a club rich in history, but noticeably limping these days. A 2019 Cup win (and 2022 Cup Final appearance) cannot hide the fact that the club has been in slow decline for over a decade, with financial worries at the heart of things. A ceiling tile falls as I am reading.

“When I came here before, we had Ferran Torres.” I say.

“Sold.” Lim replies .

“Parejo? Kondogbia? Maxi Gomez? Rodrigo even?!” I exclaim.

“All sold.”

“José Gayà, Carlos Soler, and Gonçalo Guedes are still here though, right?”

“Oh, José is, yes; the other two? Sold.”

If that isn’t Valencia’s short term history in a nutshell, I don’t know what is. This isn’t the first time Football Manager has brought me to the Mestalla, but each time I’ve arrived, the squad has been weaker, and the lack of Champions League football in the past two seasons has compounded financial woes.

“We’ve got a new stadium being built though,” Lime chimes in. “Set to open in July 2025; and you do have a transfer budget…”

I perk up a bit.

“...but you’re also way over the wage budget already.”

I slump back into my chair. “This deal is getting worse all the time.” I mutter.

“Pray I do not alter it further.”

“What?” 

“What?”

———

 

I head to my office. After rifling through the largely empty draws in my imitation IKEA desk, I open the ring binder and assess the state of my new squad. Gayà’s presence is a huge plus at left back, while Edinson Cavani’s arrival on a free transfer gives me a decent centre forward. In fact, the starting XI is mostly competent, and should be good enough to achieve our goal of a top half finish this year with a couple of tweaks; but depth is a serious problem.

Over the long term, the club’s legendary "Acadèmia" youth system should help me fill out the squad, but a limited transfer budget hinders my short term options, and a negative starting balance in the wage budget complicates matters further - an early attempt to sign Roberto Gagliardini from Inter hits the buffers when we fall someway short of meeting his salary expectations.

I sell Toni Lato, who is in the last year of his contract, and Marcos André for a combined £6.5 million, but only get to see about £3 million of that due to the financial constraints the Board has placed on me. At least it frees up some salary, and allows me to bring Eliaquim Mangala back to the club on a free transfer, while youngster Sinaly Dimonandé joins from Lyon - the pair should provide solid support to my first choice centre back pairing of Gabriel Paulista and Mouctar Diakhaby.

Despite the additions - which also free up Eray Cömert to be retrained as my backup ball winning midfielder - this is going to be a tough one, I can feel it in my bones. Initially I start with a good old fashioned 4-2-3-1 primary tactic, but quickly opt to shift to a nice solid 4-3-3 DM; truthfully, I’m not sure what to do with my third tactic at this stage, given the makeup of the squad, and difficulty rebuilding it.

———

While the transfer budget might have caused me some headaches, rebooting the club staff is not so problematic - Valencia’s reputation is still high enough that a lot of people are willing to come and join me at the Mestalla.

I bring in Brian Kidd as my Assistant, and Michael Edwards as Director of Football. With former Manchester United scout David Williams on board as Chief Scout, and ex-Southampton Head of Youth Development Edd Vahid hired, there’s a distinctly British feel to the hierarchy now; and by the time I’m done, our coaching, and scouting teams are considered to be the best in the league, whilst the medical team is among the best too.

Opting for a low bonus scheme this season also frees up an additional £2 million in the transfer budget - it’s not much, but if it lets me add a little more depth to the side then I’m all for it!

The Pre-season is solid, if unspectacular; we draw with Atlanta, Inter Miami, and Orlando City, and beat Tampa Bay, FC København, and, hearteningly, AC Milan! We seem to be heading in the right direction and comfortably beat Almería, and Elche to start the new La Liga campaign; unfortunately we slip up away at Cadiz, but bounce back against Getafe.

Having won three of our opening four games, I roll the dice and structure a deal to bring Andreas Schjelderup to the club on deadline day for an initial £5.5 million, possibly rising to £8 million depending on various clauses - thank god for instalments is all I can say. 

Next up, it’s Real Madrid at the Mestalla!

[anfield707]

Looking forward to seeing your updates. I’ve recently started a save with Valencia on FM23 Touch.  
 

Currently trying to balance the books during my first transfer window. I’ll post some updates when the window is closed. Unfortunately sales are necessary in order to breathe some new life into this squad. 

[duff33]

2 hours ago, anfield707 said:

Looking forward to seeing your updates. I’ve recently started a save with Valencia on FM23 Touch.  
 

Currently trying to balance the books during my first transfer window. I’ll post some updates when the window is closed. Unfortunately sales are necessary in order to breathe some new life into this squad. 

Starting XI is mostly competent, but the lack of depth is a killer.

World Cup break hurt us too - we carried some good momentum into November, but then the break seems to have hurt us. Albeit of the three games we've lost since return to action, two were against Barcelona (one in Supercopa, one in La Liga), and the other game we lost (away at Celta) we had a man sent off after 3 minutes, and they got a penalty via VAR...

Frustrating is the word I'd use right now, although we are 4th in the table after 19 games.

[anfield707]

I’m going strong a quarter of the way into the season. Goals are flowing but conceded plenty. Using a 4-2-3-1 formation with emphasis on pressing and possession.

Highlight’s include a 4-4 draw with Betis and a 5-2 win against Cadiz. 

Squad is thin though and I’ve been lucky enough with injuries, I feel that any bad one particularly in the CB area and I’ll struggle. Copied a shot of my transfer activity. Carvalho been injured which is disappointing but Aouar and Mvuka have been excellent. 
 

 

 

[mark wilson27]

Hi anfield707 like with the opening post of this story please read the House Rules regarding the use of pictures and screenshots

Cheers Mark