The Unofficial Spanish La Liga Thread

[Ronaldo Beckham]

After getting a bit bored and frustrated with my Lyon save I have decided to start a new save in a new country and I am going to manage Villarreal.

I thought I would just start this thread in case others want to talk about their Spanish league saves.

I know the opening post is a bit rubbish so I apologies for that.

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Ronaldo Beckham

[skybluedave]

I'm doing a Valencia game. And liking it so far. Hitting January first season and 5th. 

They have a really exciting young squad, with tons of great prospects. I sold Gaya for 43mill 1st summer and used that money to bulk out the squad a bit. Low expectations too. Top half finish is all the want. I think they a side with good foundations to build on

[dothestrand]

I'm playing with Athletic Club as always. Girona night be a good save. They're doing really well so far this season and are part of the Man City stable of clubs. 

[skybluedave]

19 minutes ago, skybluedave said:

I'm doing a Valencia game. And liking it so far. Hitting January first season and 5th. 

They have a really exciting young squad, with tons of great prospects. I sold Gaya for 43mill 1st summer and used that money to bulk out the squad a bit. Low expectations too. Top half finish is all the want. I think they a side with good foundations to build on

Here's my squad, tactic and  transfers so far

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Villarreal CF

Villarreal CF Brief History

Villarreal CF or if you got by their nickname the Yellow Submarines were founded in 1923 so they are in the 100th year of the club.

After many years in the lower leagues of Spain they managed to get promoted to the La Liga in 1998 and other then a brief relegation in 2012 they have been a top league team for many years now.

In 2021 they won the Europa League beating Manchester United.

They play their matches in the lovely looking Estadio de la Ceramica which has a 23,000 capacity.

Villareal on FM24

Excellent training, youth facilities and youth recruitment will help us bring through some very talented youngsters.

£12m in the bank is a decent budget for us to get a few hidden gems.

Best Eleven

Board Expectations

Basically the board don't want me to sign anyone over 23 years old which suits me as I usually like to sign younger players.

They also want me to sign players to sell on profit which suits me as I like to always buy players to sell on for profit.

Seems like the best team for me to manage in Spain.

Tactics

I am trying out this tactic I found. It looks a bit weird looking but I will give it a try and see how I get on with it.

Best Players

Yeramy Pino

I don't know much about Pino but I have seen him sell for £100-£120m on FM23 so I have offered him a new contract with a minimun fee release clause of £100m. 

Gerard Moreno

Moreno a proven goalscorer over the years for Villarreal and before that Espanyol. 

He is 31 years old now but he has a few more years left and will be good enough for us for the next season or two.

I will update you after I have finished the transfer window.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

38 minutes ago, skybluedave said:

I'm doing a Valencia game. And liking it so far. Hitting January first season and 5th. 

They have a really exciting young squad, with tons of great prospects. I sold Gaya for 43mill 1st summer and used that money to bulk out the squad a bit. Low expectations too. Top half finish is all the want. I think they a side with good foundations to build on

Yeah I was torn between Valencia and Villarreal but I chose Villarreal in the end cos I know their finances are better then Valancia and I also have never managed Villarreal before.

Good luck with Valencia and please keep us updated with your progress.

29 minutes ago, dothestrand said:

I'm playing with Athletic Club as always. Girona night be a good save. They're doing really well so far this season and are part of the Man City stable of clubs. 

Yeah I will probably do a save with Athletic Club on FM24. I do enjoy the challenge of only being able to sign Basque players.

Girona is a team I nearly managed due to their links with Man City and I thought I could take advantage of signing their youth players on loan. I might manage Girona sometime soon.

 

[Parmie]

I shall sneak into this with something I experimented a little with during FM23. FC Andorra.

I'd like to see if we can facilitate a long term rise of the Andorran national team by building up the club and hopefully producing quality youngsters, much like Ter's old San Marino challenge.

Club Overview

A professional club based in Andorra la Vella, Andorra, that currently competes in Segunda Division. The club was founded in 1942 and currently plays it's home fixtures at Estadi Nacional, with a 3,306 capacity. In August 2022, the club announced plans for a new 6,000 capacity stadium.

Bought by Gerard Pique's Kosmos Holding Group in 2018, the club achieved promotion to Tercera Division in the 2019/2020 season, however, due to CF Reus Deportiu failing to pay it's players, FC Andorra was able to pay a fee to replace them in Segunda Division B, with Reus replacing them them in the Tercera Division. In May 2021, team was promoted to Segunda Division for the first time in their history.

In the 2022/2023 season FC Andorra finished 7th in Segunda Division, and it's at this point I take over management of the club with a board expectation to avoid relegation.

Season One (2023/2024):

I like to keep things simple in the first season, and with a team that looks very capable of exceeding expectations, transfer business is not an urgent need. Diego Pampin however, becomes unhappy in his last year of contract, states his intention to leave for nothing so is a deadline day exit. It's not until the January window that I bring in my first signings, Hacen, also being an Arabic speaker, is my attempt to help Abdelkader settle after being unable to find a suitable fellow Egyptian (this does not satisfy the promise I had no option on when signing Abdelkader).

 

I set the team up in a Gegenpress 4-3-3 with some minor adjustments to roles and mentalities. We're an all or nothing side, not many draws through the season but enough wins over losses to finish 5th in the play-offs, sadly missing out in the first round against Elche.

 

There are some real stars at this level in the team, courtesy of Barcelona's youth system. Jose Marsa at centre back looks like he can play in La Liga, as does Jandro Orellana. We seem overloaded with 3 first team level goalkeepers with another out on loan but going into the next season, our best two striker options were both loanees, so we need some solutions and also a bit more depth to see if we can push on.

 

[Raymubdo21]

Enjoying reading the posts so far, I am messing around with a couple of saves before I start with Malaga CF when the game is released fully. Can't wait to build them back up hopefully!

[gggfunk]

Barcelona and Athletic are my must have saves this year, plus I'd like to try Girona if I find some time.

[Jamie Cortez]

I plan to start my annual Real Betis save again this year at some point! 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far and please keep us posted with your Spanish league saves.

 

[DaveMUFC]

I've started a Real Betis save this year. They are sort of my Spanish team (partner from seville and have been to their stadium a couple of times!), but felt they were a bit uninspired with an older squad the last couple of seasons.

This season looks like a fun one, with Fekir and Isco together, and old guard Bellerin and Bartra back. Also a new wonderkid who's excelling in real life in Assane Diao. 

I'm also possibly planning a malaga rebuild save at some point. Checked their squad briefly and from the player valuations, it looks like they'll be quite strong for the third division and seem to have a lot of promising youth!

[seanydude]

On 29/10/2023 at 09:39, skybluedave said:

Here's my squad, tactic and  transfers so far

Same as me although I'm in to Season 3 now. Scraped 4th in season 2 and have absolute rinsed the Saudis. Gaya funded my first season rebuild too.

 

Will share my transfers when I get home

[Mackem742]

Im sure I will be dipping my toe into a Spanish league save at some point. Im going on a cruise around the Med next year, starting in Majorca and ending in Palamos so Im thinking of a save with RCD Mallorca or Palamos CF.

I dont even think Palamos CF are in the game as they play in the Tercera Division Group 5 so I think it may be RCD Mallorca I start with

[Jamie Cortez]

Started my Betis save using real world so no "cheating".

Finances as expected - Not great, i have brought in De Gea on Free Transfer, seems like a no brainer alot younger than Claudio Bravo, also managed to just about sign Martin Vitik a CB with alot of potential and future profit for 1M upfront 5M in addons.

On paper the best XI is proper average to poor, this will be a tough save i think, squad needs a major quality injection on a budget. i am attempting to ship Guido Rodriguez out as he is in his final 12 months and won't renew - Brighton offering 40M so taking it for a rebuild, if Fekir wasn't long term injury he would be gone also as his wages are obscene for this club.

[Mackem742]

Real Club Deportivo Mallorca

Royal Sporting Club Mallorca, commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca, is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Mallorca in the Balearic Islands. Founded on 5 March 1916, they currently compete in La Liga, holding home games at the Estadi Mallorca Son Moix with a 23,142-seat capacity.

The club had its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, reaching a best-ever 3rd place in La Liga in 1999 and 2001 and winning the Copa Del Rey in 2003 following final defeats in 1991 and 1998. Mallorca also won the 1998 Supercopa De Espana and reached the 1999 UEFA Cup Winners Cup Final.

Club overview

Best XI

Club info

Season preview

Current squad

No signings have been made yet, only got a £850k transfer budget and already over wage budget so Ive put most of my budget into the wages and goal for this season is just to survive which I should be able to manage and see where I go from there.

Ill do an update when the transfer window has closed. Wish me luck!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 30, 2023 by Mackem742

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 hour ago, Jamie Cortez said:

Started my Betis save using real world so no "cheating".

Finances as expected - Not great, i have brought in De Gea on Free Transfer, seems like a no brainer alot younger than Claudio Bravo, also managed to just about sign Martin Vitik a CB with alot of potential and future profit for 1M upfront 5M in addons.

On paper the best XI is proper average to poor, this will be a tough save i think, squad needs a major quality injection on a budget. i am attempting to ship Guido Rodriguez out as he is in his final 12 months and won't renew - Brighton offering 40M so taking it for a rebuild, if Fekir wasn't long term injury he would be gone also as his wages are obscene for this club.

Vitik looks good mate. I hope he does well for you. 

I remember having a decent save with Real Betis. They are the type of club I like managing as you got to be really good with recruitment and sell your best players every season for profit and re-invest in young hidden gems.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 hour ago, Mackem742 said:

Real Club Deportivo Mallorca

Royal Sporting Club Mallorca, commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca, is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Mallorca in the Balearic Islands. Founded on 5 March 1916, they currently compete in La Liga, holding home games at the Estadi Mallorca Son Moix with a 23,142-seat capacity.

The club had its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, reaching a best-ever 3rd place in La Liga in 1999 and 2001 and winning the Copa Del Rey in 2003 following final defeats in 1991 and 1998. Mallorca also won the 1998 Supercopa De Espana and reached the 1999 UEFA Cup Winners Cup Final.

Club overview

Best XI

Club info

Season preview

Current squad

No signings have been made yet, only got a £850k transfer budget and already over wage budget so Ive put most of my budget into the wages and goal for this season is just to survive which I should be able to manage and see where I go from there.

Ill do an update when the transfer window has closed. Wish me luck!

 

 

 

 

 

Good luck in your save. Keep us posted how you get on please.

Mallorca have lovely kits as well. I hope it goes well for you.

 

[Jamie Cortez]

31 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Vitik looks good mate. I hope he does well for you. 

I remember having a decent save with Real Betis. They are the type of club I like managing as you got to be really good with recruitment and sell your best players every season for profit and re-invest in young hidden gems.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

 

For sure apart from the big 3 the money just isn’t there in Spain, will most certainly selling the current good players to fund the young potentials that will go on to form the base of future bank balance. 
there’s just no other option.

 

the Brighton move fell through tho, Rodriguez has to go in January otherwise could lose him on a free which would be a huge blow. 

[Parmie]

FC Andorra Season Two (2024/2025):

Building on the play-off loss is an interesting challenge with the lack of funds. The financial performance was decent last season, making a small profit, but with crowds averaging 1,000, merchandise sales minimal, we're completely reliant on trickle down TV money.

With the limited appeal of the club, I decide I can't voluntarily sell the superstars as there's little chance of being able to significantly improve the overall team. While being aware of the cap of 2 non-EU players, I rely on the loan market to give us what we need. 

Pre-season, I trim the squad of some of the lower ability players, Hacen, not even being able to be registered and not helping Abdelkader settle, leaves without making a single appearance.

The April 2024 youth academy is entirely Andorran, several potentially good enough as future prospects for a Segunda Division side but realistically, aren't going to be La Liga level for a long term future. We'll try to keep them around to help the national side for as long as possible though, the B team system may help there.

The real life move to the new 6,000 capacity stadium is hard coded in, the board making the announcement and taking out an £8m loan to pay for it but with a light £80k/month repayment plan. 

We have a great season, our only losing streak is 2 games in October, and otherwise string long chains of wins and draws together, battling with Valladolid all the way with the title and improve on last season with a 2nd place automatic promotion to La Liga, 10 points clear of the 3rd place team.

Abdelkader, still unsettled due to the broken promise, won't be extending his contract so has to be sold in January. Mallo, a Uruguayan available on a free transfer, is a good centre back at this level and helps us maintain our position. 

To end this season, work is completed on the new stadium, so we head into the first ever La Liga season with a new home and a mix of hope and trepidation on our chances of staying up. The transfer strategy already decided to try to get some cheap deals done, and once again rely on loans, but leaving it as late as deadline day to get the fees and wage amounts as low as possible.

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Parmie

[DrIgz]

I'm looking forward to an Atletico Madrid save I have planned for the full release 🙌

[Ronaldo Beckham]

3 hours ago, Parmie said:

FC Andorra Season Two (2024/2025):

Building on the play-off loss is an interesting challenge with the lack of funds. The financial performance was decent last season, making a small profit, but with crowds averaging 1,000, merchandise sales minimal, we're completely reliant on trickle down TV money.

With the limited appeal of the club, I decide I can't voluntarily sell the superstars as there's little chance of being able to significantly improve the overall team. While being aware of the cap of 2 non-EU players, I rely on the loan market to give us what we need. 

Pre-season, I trim the squad of some of the lower ability players, Hacen, not even being able to be registered and not helping Abdelkader settle, leaves without making a single appearance.

The April 2024 youth academy is entirely Andorran, several potentially good enough as future prospects for a Segunda Division side but realistically, aren't going to be La Liga level for a long term future. We'll try to keep them around to help the national side for as long as possible though, the B team system may help there.

The real life move to the new 6,000 capacity stadium is hard coded in, the board making the announcement and taking out an £8m loan to pay for it but with a light £80k/month repayment plan. 

We have a great season, our only losing streak is 2 games in October, and otherwise string long chains of wins and draws together, battling with Valladolid all the way with the title and improve on last season with a 2nd place automatic promotion to La Liga, 10 points clear of the 3rd place team.

Abdelkader, still unsettled due to the broken promise, won't be extending his contract so has to be sold in January. Mallo, a Uruguayan available on a free transfer, is a good centre back at this level and helps us maintain our position. 

To end this season, work is completed on the new stadium, so we head into the first ever La Liga season with a new home and a mix of hope and trepidation on our chances of staying up. The transfer strategy already decided to try to get some cheap deals done, and once again rely on loans, but leaving it as late as deadline day to get the fees and wage amounts as low as possible.

 

Well done on your promotion. Hopefully in time you will produce some good Andorrian players.

28 minutes ago, DrIgz said:

I'm looking forward to an Atletico Madrid save I have planned for the full release 🙌

I never seem interested in managing Athletico Madrid. They never seem to have many players I like to manage.

Good luck with Athletico Madrid. Let us know how you get on please.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Villarreal CF Season 1 Review

Competitions

A nice top 4 finish with us just getting the 4th place by 1 point. We started slow but gradually hit form and stayed relatively consistant.

We also reached the quarters of the UEFA Europa League losing to Napoli and knocked out of the Copa del Ray cup 4th round by Real Socidad.

Best Players

Yeremy Pino

Yeremy Pino banged in 15 goals and got 10 assists for the season and always performed well in most matches. He is our highest valued player and I am lucky to have him tied up to a long term contract with a £110m release clause.

Baena was our top goalscorer with 21 goals for the season and got 7 assists. At 22 years old he has a bright future here. He also has an £83m minimun release clause luckily so hopefully I can keep him here for a long time.

Ben Bereton Diaz

Bereton Diaz had a great season and had the highest average rating at the club with a 7.20 average rating. He also got 7 goals and 8 assists.

Jorge Cuenca

Cuenca was very classy in the centre of defense and he knows how to score a few goals with 9 goals for the season which is really good considering he is a central defender.

Other notable mentions go to our goalie Filip Jorgensen and Alfonso Pedraza who performed very well all season.

Best Eleven

Player Awards

Alex Baena got the Player and Young Player of the season award. Rightly so after having such a great season for us.

I think Luciano Rodriguez has a great future with us with 6 goals and 3 assists for his first season with us. Only 20 years old he will turn into a great player for us.

[Rowingkid]

I'm playing as Barcelona as although they are obviously still really good, it's quite restrictive in year 1 with basically no budget and you can only keep 25% of transfer income so it makes it pointless even selling a Ferran or Raphina right now as you'll not see the benefit. There's lot of expensive loans coming back after season 1 so will review my transfer activity then. All the squad is on huge wages too so might look at selling off older players Gundo/Lewa/Inigo

I did sell Roberto & Alonso and bought Barco and got a few mid level players on loan to pack out the squad for rotation- Lemar / Munier / Moreno

My main focus is trying to play the possession game they are known for but also be solid defensively, especially when it comes to high level CL games or playing Real as i found in previous saves the top teams could be 3-0 after 20 minutes just playing a standard 433 Gegenpress or Tiki Taka - also found Gegenpress was too intense to maintain over the season or i had to keep manually giving the players 2/3 days rest after a game which just seems unrealistic and stupid tbh. I do rotate but you can't afford to rest too many key players as more than a few defeats will leave the league out of reach so a solid tactic that can keep players fresh is a must. I also found Real become even better in season 2 (101PTS after several signings in one save so basically as soon as you draw or lose , season is over haha) 

Tactics wise i've stayed away from trying to copy someones super tactic from here and have worked on my own which is below. it's custom with a focus on keeping the ball to not concede loads of chances so essentially still the Barca way. Possession so far is 60% plus against all teams (havent played Real yet but played Inter,Atelti,Newcastle), we don't concede many chances and Xg is around 2+ per game although in some games we seem a bit toothless so i'm trying to improve that aspect whilst keeping possession.

Mats

Araujo Kounde Christensen

Cancelo Frenkie Balde

Gavi

Pedri Gundo/Felix

Lewa

Balde and Cancelo cook in this tactic. Pedri also really good. Lewa scores in any formation i've tried. Defence is pretty solid in terms of not giving up chances but we are conceding 1 per game usually which is a worry if we have one of our toothless games. Rest of the players i'm not getting the most out of but tactics are a work in progress and i'm enjoying knowing i've created my own.

Aside from that i am focusing on the youth players as there are some unreal prospects - to aid with their development i've been selling dross B team players and didn't register any of the players they had on loan so that the best U19 prospects get game time. also added them into first team training and will play a few in the cup or dead games.

 

Will add screens once i get a but further into the season

 

[ATV]

Villarreal for me, starting it now.

[Jamie Cortez]

I decided Real Betis deserved their own thread ( not sure they have ever had one!) i will still come back to update here but will post larger updates in the Team thread.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

17 minutes ago, ATV said:

Villarreal for me, starting it now.

You will enjoy managing them. Pino, Baena. Jorgenson, Cuenca are young and you can build a great team around them.

My advice would be to tie up your best players to new contracts asap and try get their minimun fee release clauses to £80m each player.

Let us know how you get on if you want as it would be good to see how you manage them.

8 minutes ago, Jamie Cortez said:

I decided Real Betis deserved their own thread ( not sure they have ever had one!) i will still come back to update here but will post larger updates in the Team thread.

 

Good luck with Real Betis. I will keep an eye on your career thread.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I just beat Real Madrid away in the Champions League group stage. 

What a great performance.

I got a new star striker as well in Karim Konate who I know well from FM23. 

Cost me £16.75m plus add ons but totally worth it.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Just managed to get Pino to sign a new 5 year contract with a whopping £156m release clause.

[Parmie]

FC Andorra Season Three (2025/2026):

It's our first season in La Liga so the real churn of the squad needs to happen with who in the current squad will never be up to standard. The transfers of my 2nd season update included some early deals, with Obrador coming in at left back, Lucas Camilo for a new DM role and Ayman Kari from PSG on loan.

Camilo is very demanding on contract negotiation, wanting someone to help settle, so for somewhat of a bargain, Jadsom is unhappy at Sporting and fulfils that promise. I'm still relying on the loan market, Omorodion did so well and developed into a La Liga player, I wait until Atletico are willing to let him sign on deadline day, along with 4 more deadline day loanees. Saul appeared on scout reports late season on a free and only demanded £8.75k/week wages, with his experience and ability, I couldn't say no.

Tactical Change:

Retaining the same formation (4-3-3 DM) as we're largely built for it, I add a fluid counter-attack formation as the primary tactic. Trying to gegen-press with a positive slant with an inferior team isn't going to work I feel. I also try to maintain transfer discipline for these tactics, so the focus is on higher work rate and stamina players, including up front.

Season Performance:

I was expecting a tough start to the season given the deadline day strengthening strategy leave us under powered in August. but once everyone is in place, we go on a 6 game winning streak in September, picking up those 'famous victories' against Atletico Madrid 1-0, and Barcelona 3-1 at home. Surprisingly relegation is never a concern and we threaten European qualification until the new year, when form becomes much worse but we have pretty much already secured safety and finish a respectable 12th.

I'm poking away at the facilities with a rating of good across the training and youth infrastructure. The board in their wisdom, decided that our brand new stadium of 6,000 capacity wasn't big enough and have commissioned another new stadium. 15,000 capacity that we're due to move into in 2028, this loads some debt onto the club with a £14.75m mortgage and another £20m bank loan. 

Although we've yet to see any significant player sales, my staff are desired and I don't try to prevent them leaving to help bring in compensation of about £1m over the season.

Andorra National Side

I have no intention of managing the national side still, but as an update on the Andorra team, 13 of our U18 squad were called up to the senior team, they're in the European League Division D up against Malta and San Marino this season. Our youngsters helping to win the first two games in the group.

We might have our first genuine Andorran prospect through this season's intake.

[skybluedave]

On 29/10/2023 at 09:39, skybluedave said:

Here's my squad, tactic and  transfers so far

Finish 3rd 1st season. Was hoping to be given a bit of cash for 2nd season with CL qualification amd all but... nope. They topped my existing budget up to around £13mill at the end of the season but I wrongly assumed they'd top me up a bit more at start of 2nd season.

I used all my budget to pick up Almeria centre back Kaiky after they got relegated and I triggered his release clause. And to tie up contracts for key players.

I then cleared out some deadwood, mostly guys that returned from loan and managed to raise enough to pick up Fidalgo from Club America in Mexico, who seems a popular pick up this year. 

And that's all my bussiness as I conclude pre season so think step up to CL football with all the extra games is gonna make this 2nd season tough

[Rowingkid]

18 hours ago, Rowingkid said:

I'm playing as Barcelona as although they are obviously still really good, it's quite restrictive in year 1 with basically no budget and you can only keep 25% of transfer income so it makes it pointless even selling a Ferran or Raphina right now as you'll not see the benefit. There's lot of expensive loans coming back after season 1 so will review my transfer activity then. All the squad is on huge wages too so might look at selling off older players Gundo/Lewa/Inigo

I did sell Roberto & Alonso and bought Barco and got a few mid level players on loan to pack out the squad for rotation- Lemar / Munier / Moreno

My main focus is trying to play the possession game they are known for but also be solid defensively, especially when it comes to high level CL games or playing Real as i found in previous saves the top teams could be 3-0 after 20 minutes just playing a standard 433 Gegenpress or Tiki Taka - also found Gegenpress was too intense to maintain over the season or i had to keep manually giving the players 2/3 days rest after a game which just seems unrealistic and stupid tbh. I do rotate but you can't afford to rest too many key players as more than a few defeats will leave the league out of reach so a solid tactic that can keep players fresh is a must. I also found Real become even better in season 2 (101PTS after several signings in one save so basically as soon as you draw or lose , season is over haha) 

Tactics wise i've stayed away from trying to copy someones super tactic from here and have worked on my own which is below. it's custom with a focus on keeping the ball to not concede loads of chances so essentially still the Barca way. Possession so far is 60% plus against all teams (havent played Real yet but played Inter,Atelti,Newcastle), we don't concede many chances and Xg is around 2+ per game although in some games we seem a bit toothless so i'm trying to improve that aspect whilst keeping possession.

Mats

Araujo Kounde Christensen

Cancelo Frenkie Balde

Gavi

Pedri Gundo/Felix

Lewa

Balde and Cancelo cook in this tactic. Pedri also really good. Lewa scores in any formation i've tried. Defence is pretty solid in terms of not giving up chances but we are conceding 1 per game usually which is a worry if we have one of our toothless games. Rest of the players i'm not getting the most out of but tactics are a work in progress and i'm enjoying knowing i've created my own.

Aside from that i am focusing on the youth players as there are some unreal prospects - to aid with their development i've been selling dross B team players and didn't register any of the players they had on loan so that the best U19 prospects get game time. also added them into first team training and will play a few in the cup or dead games.

 

Will add screens once i get a but further into the season

 

Update - I'm at work bored so some of the info is a bit vague haha

 

Results - I'm currently 2nd with about 6 games left. 3 points behind Real and i have them at home last game of the season. They haven't set the word alight which has kept me in it. Although i haven't lost many games  i've had a fair few toothless draws which has cost me (and frustrated me). I lost in the CL R16 to City 4-2 over the two legs which i felt was OK given my tactic and formation is home made. In previous saves i've lost worse playing the 433 presets

Tactics/Formation - I've stayed true to the formation &  tactics i mentioned with some tinkering but still don't have it nailed down fully which is frustrating. Some games we win 3/4 nil 70% possession hardly give the opponent a sniff which is great as it's showing me this can work and others we create hardly anything and concede the only chance or chances we give up. Given we are already better than every team except Real (debatably) then i'm not sure where to take the tactic going forward. 

Recruitment - Raphina booted off in Jan but nobody would pay what i wanted to he's currently the sub RWB - he's actually came on and done well but as he's on 200K and worth 25/30 mil he will be sold in the summer. I signed Badashile on loan as more cover and that was it as had no money.  I have some big money loans coming back at the end of the season so will be selling most of them except Ansu who will probably replace Felix. I'll be looking to add more depth as i think this will hep tactically as there is a drop off from De Jong to Romeu - Pedri to Fermin etc (although hopefully Fermin is better on the release as he looks really good IRL and i don't like him not being good enough to play) I'll probably sell Inigo & Romeu and maybe Gundo &Ferran so will probably have a bit of money for some players. Also got Vitor Roque coming in 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jamie Cortez]

I have posted an update on my Betis save for January -  In short an exceptional first half of the season currently sitting in 2nd for Laliga and after a rough start qualified top of my Europa League group. Lets hope the youth i have signed can keep this going.

 

[skybluedave]

So this is my squad going into 2nd season with Valencia and CL football.

Only additions were the 3 highlighted players, and this will probably be my strongest side.

Feel like my scouts kinda got it wrong with Kaiky now he's in the squad. Pretty much 3/4ths of my transfer budget went on him. Hopefully he develops and comes good and I can ignore the stars! Noel Lopez on loan to cover up front from Real Madrid. I quite like him and he scored 7 goals for Madrid in 13 games so should have something about him. 

 

This is my best youth team candidate. Not sure what to do with him. His dribbling is really annoying

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I hope this takeover by a tycoon happens. It will help me as the financed at Villarreal aren't very good. Also it will take pressure off me to sell my key players.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

GET IN

They lied to me about the transfer budget though 

The future of the club looks good financially though.

[Raymubdo21]

Result! I would imagine once your league position is confirmed you will get a good bounty

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 hour ago, Raymubdo21 said:

Result! I would imagine once your league position is confirmed you will get a good bounty

Yeah hopefully 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Villarreal Season 2 Review

Competitions

A lovely 3rd place finish which is slightly better then the 4th place finish we had last season. Hopefully we do one better next season and get 2nd place finish and start challenging for the title.

We did manage to win the Spanish Copa Del Ray though so we did get a trophy this season.

We managed to get through the group stages of the Champions League but we lost to RB Leipzig on penalties in the Knockout Round.

Top Players For The Season

Karim Konate

A nice first season for Konate who we signed for £16.75m and he returned our faith with 25 goals for the season and 8 assists. He also got the highest average rating for the club with a 7.23 average rating which is really good.

At only 21 years old he has a great future ahead of him.

Yeremy Pino

Pino had another great season and with his versatility he can player anywhere in the attacking positions.

13 goals and 9 assists is a good return for the season.

Martin Baturina

Another reason why we did so well this season was Martin Baturina who we signed for £36m and he has already started the pay back the money we paid for him with 12 goals and 9 assists for the season. 

He is valued at £74m-£94m and at only 22 years old he will get better and better.

Other players worth mentioning are Filip Jorgensen who played literally game of the season in all competitions.

He also had the best pass completion rate which he had a 96% rate.

Valentin Barco who initially took a while to settle and was unhappy about not being played in the right role has settled down and become a key player for us now. 

I was only given a £13m tranfer budget for next season but I will probably get more money to spend and I also don't feel like I need to improve my team much anyway so I am fine with that.

 

[Parmie]

FC Andorra Season 4 (2026/2027)

Following on from our 12th position in our first La Liga season, it's time to consolidate on the consolidation.

On the previous season transfer history is right back Dembo Sylla for £1.1m from F.C. Lorient and an Ecuardorian newgen for £650k. It's then a record breaking deal for Fallou Diouf who looks very promising. We're then back to deadline loan deals as usual to bolster squad numbers and I'm steadily picking away at recruiting promising newgens who I hope can develop into first teamers/turn a profit eventually.

Saul was doing well, but I decided to cash in on him as he attributes started crashing. Mallo, didn't have La Liga ability and started asking for a new contract, so I moved him on.

Season Performance

I do more switching between our original gegenpress tactic and the counter attacking one from last season, but it's an inverted set of results from last season, while it's not bad, our first half season form is as many losses as wins and draws, but safely in mid-table. Come the new year, we turn around things dramatically, going 12 unbeaten and rocketing up into European competition qualification places. Although we're way off the Champions League, I'm very happy with a 5th place finish.

I recruit Marbella as an affiliate, they have better training facilities than we do, so I think they should make a good option to turbo charge EU status for our growing U21 foreign legion of recruits.

Finances are a little concerning, £4,2m loss going into June but we still have £14m in the bank. European football should help improve financials, but I'd quite like a big player sale at this stage to help reinvestment into the team. Theres some interest in the usual suspects who I would be less willing to sell, the additional profile from the good season has spread to more of the squad like Jadsom and Obrador.

National Team

Andorra comfortably qualified for the next Euro qualification stage winning all 4 games vs San Marino and Malta, but are unsurprisingly bottom of the group with 2 losses from 2 games. Some concern is the penchant for Andorran youngsters to obtain Spanish nationality and I'm not clear what triggers some Spanish players to go the other way either, keeper Dani Martin took Andorran nationality and seems a better option than the current national first choice but he's never been called up. Neither does anyone from abroad get an eligibility timer countdown for Andorran nationality, so I appear to be stuck on 3 non-EUs which is why Marbella may turn out to be crucial for long term squad building.

Another good prospect this year, but his work rate is too low for our pressing forward tactics.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I miss him but this offer is way too good to turn down for Yeremy Pino.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I canceled the Pino transfer. I like managing him. He is a great player. I might regret doing this but he has 3 years left on his contract so I can still sell him in 18 months if he wont sign a new contract.

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by Ronaldo Beckham

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Villarreal Season 3 Review

Competitions

I managed to get a 2nd place finish and we progressed but I was annoyed as for a lot of the time we were top of the league and at one point we were 5 points clear of Barceola and Real Madrid but our form dipped at the wrong time and Barcelona ended up finishing as Champions with 6 points ahead of us. 

Little margains we need to sort out for next season.

I do think we have a Championship winning team at the club.

We managed to get past the Champions League group stages but got knocked out by Shakhtar in the Knockout stages.

We got knocked out of the Copa Del Rey and we managed to get to the final of the Supercopa De Espana but no trophies this season.

Best Players

Karim Konate continues to get better with 22 goals for the season and 5 assists. He also got a 7.14 average rating which was the best at the club for the season. 

Alex Baena continues to become a home town hero with 14 goals and 12 assists for the season. He is getting better and better and not even hit his peak yet.

Filip Jorgensen continues to be a great goalie for us with 20 clean sheets and has the best pass completion rate of 96%

Yeremy Pino is our crown jewell who I am trying my best to keep at the club and you can see why with him getting 20 goals and 6 assist for the season and als got 8 Man Of The Match's. 

Pino has a £156m minimun release fee clause and I wont be selling him for less then that. 

I am hoping the interest in him disappears and I can get him to sign a new contract.

Transfers In & Out

I managed to get decent money for back up players Ilias Akhomach who I signed on a free transfer in my first season with Villarreal on a free transfer from Barcelona and I sold him to Bayern Munich for £48.5m.

I also managed to sign Alfonso Pedrazza to FC Porto for £24m, Robin Koch for £17.25m and Brandon Williams for £8m.

I bought in Kobbie Mainoo for £22.5m from Man Utd, Ryan Gravenberch for £20.5m from Liverpool, Abakar Syllia for £17.5m from Strasborg & Jorrel Hato for £16m from Ajax.

Best Overal Eleven

Player Accolades

Baena cleaned up with Player Of The Season, Young Player Of The Season and also got Goal Of The Season.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I managed to get Pino to sign a new contract with a £180m release clause. I think it is safe to save we have him tied up for the best years of his career now. Excellent news.

Edited November 5, 2023 by Ronaldo Beckham

[Raymubdo21]

Started my Malaga save and the board are not generous! But makes sense considering the position they've been in the past few years, the start has been good though with 9 wins from 9 games, had to sell one of my best players though

[vegson]

Hey guys, I also wanted to do save in Spain this FM, but unfortunately I found an issue. When going into the league overview and checking the sponsorship income for the league, several teams are listed at having 0 income. Taking over any of the clubs, going into their finances and into the sponsorship tab, nothing is shown. So for me in Spain around 80-90% of teams in the playable leagues have no sponsorship income. Is there anyone else who have this issue, or have any suggestions on what a possible fix could be? I have tried deleting the sports interactive folder and reinstalling the game to a different drive, but the issue remains. Grateful for any tips!

 

[warlock]

52 minutes ago, vegson said:

Grateful for any tips!

Just a thought... have you tried starting a save with a club? It may be that for clubs with no preset sponsorships some deals might be generated in the first days/week of a save?

If that makes no difference you'll probably have to raise it in the bug tracker and see what SI say. But as we discussed in my Malaga thread, it isn't a universal issue.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I finished 2nd in my 4th and final season with Villarreal. I ended up 6 points behind Barcelona.

I have decided to leave the save and start a new save elsewhere. 

Cheers for anyone who checked my updates and please feel free to contribute to this thread.

I will manage in Spain again and will post in here.

 

[Raymubdo21]

Got promoted first season easily but after a £2mil transfer bounty, free transfers and loans. Tough start so far, had to change tactics to keep up, 4th after 16 games. Long way to go...

[Raymubdo21]

Managed to get promoted 2nd season after a shakey mid season, started my 3rd season and with the daunting task to keep the finances in the black and be competitive, looking forward to it