FM24 | A Sporting Heritage | The Guajes of Gijón

[SixPointer]

On 10/04/2024 at 23:02, Shrewnaldo said:

Two semis isn't bad but another trophyless season. And now I have some decisions to make, the first of which is - another season?

I’ve been away a long time shrew so much to catch up on. The fact you have players in the next Gen list, I feel like you deserve to see their full potential after hour hard work. But ultimately it will come down to if your still enjoying the save. 

[ATV]

don't stop - you'll regret it if you do, as the potential is unfulfilled. 

[majorbriggs]

I hope you keep going, so many of your stars are still young, be good to see them reach their potential and start winning trophies.

Sometimes a save feels stale though. But usually for me it’s when I start winning!

[Shrewnaldo]

On 13/04/2024 at 04:16, SixPointer said:

I’ve been away a long time shrew so much to catch up on. The fact you have players in the next Gen list, I feel like you deserve to see their full potential after hour hard work. But ultimately it will come down to if your still enjoying the save. 

 

On 13/04/2024 at 07:47, ATV said:

don't stop - you'll regret it if you do, as the potential is unfulfilled. 

 

On 15/04/2024 at 09:48, majorbriggs said:

I hope you keep going, so many of your stars are still young, be good to see them reach their potential and start winning trophies.

Sometimes a save feels stale though. But usually for me it’s when I start winning!

Update coming - at least one more season... 

[Shrewnaldo]

One more season... maybe more

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

Having managed to extend the contracts of Rojas, Javi and Aguirre I decided that keeping a hold of my favourite players entitled the club to at least one more season. One more chance to win that elusive silverware.

In addition to those three, I do genuinely feel that we have the makings of a really decent first XI. Just looking at the guaje newgens, then we have the likes of:

Mouriño is clearly outstanding at either right back or centre back - the only downside is that there's only one of him and the rest of the defence needs to be filled out with non-academy players. Rojas is now our captain and outstanding ball-winner in the middle, usually part of a double pivot with Mexican star Saúl González, if not Elvira steps in. The front four of Lozano on the right, Quiñones at 10, Javi on the left and Aguirre up top is, in my view, more than good enough for a top half La Liga side. Fernando is the latest off the production line and has been promoted to the first-team this season.

 I remain convinced that we should have enough goals in this team for some silverware. Goal involvements last season were solid with a very pleasing spread across the attacking players.

The only attacking worry is the lack of a lethal goalscorer. Aguirre's 1 in 2 is decent but I feel like an elite team needs either one striker who gets towards 2 in 3, or two positions running at 1 in 2. Our typical attacking 5 are Aguirre (1 in 2), Saúl (1 in 4), Quiñones (1 in 4), Javi (1 in 4) and Lozano (1 in 4). That's an average of 1.5 goals a game, supplemented by the occasional set-piece goal.

The drop off to the second string, however, is significant whilst we've struggled for consistent clean sheets. Just 15 in the league, we've had some horrendous defensive runs including a ridiculous 4-0 drubbing at lowly Rayo Vallecano - coming between the two Europa League quarter final games against Feyenoord when I rested the entire first team. Like I said, the drop off to the second string isn't ideal.

But I want to keep committing to the premise of the save and have let a number of players go this summer. Goalkeeper Gaizka Ayesa joined Ecuadorian centre-back Alex Cabeza in Nantes, leaving for £32m (rising to £43.5m) and £10.25m respectively. A sizeable profit of ~£38m. Three B-team players (Carlos Cerro, Miguel Heredia and Santiago Caballero) brought in £9.7m between then. Sadly that B-team managed to get itself relegated and will play next season in the third tier, perhaps stifling development for a season or two.

Regarding transfers in, I'm continuing to double-down on the premise of the save.  

Ricardo Santana finished 22nd in the NxGn awards last season and joins us for £4.7m from Deportivo Guadalajara - the latest in a long line of Mexican imports. He's joined by veteran goalkeeper Dani - a former Mareo graduate who will play second fiddle to Carlos Gil, whose title-winning stint on loan at Midtjylland appears to have done him the world of good. Finally, I brought in Robert Setvalls as an experiment in developing a more creative inverted wingback from the left = with the physicals and attributes to make a passable left-back, I just couldn't turn down those creative attributes.

So far we're doing... ok. One look at the Europa League table make me doubt our chances of a trophy there - the Manchester clubs primary on my list of unassailables - and so I've been giving a bit more priority to the league so far. That was working wonders until we stopped defending - conceding three to Getafe, two to Villarreal, Alavés, Granada and Girona - not to mention Malmo and Feyenoord. 

This defensive leakiness, rather than profligacy at the other end, is holding us back somewhat. Yet we remain there and thereabouts for the Champions League spots, even if we are miles off the quite ridiculous Barcelona, and should qualify for the Europa League knockout playoff. The Copa is clearly where the main focus is going to be though. Semi-final last season, we'll need the luck to avoid the big 3 as long as possible and then even more luck once we eventually face them.

With £116m in transfer kitty and £500k headroom in the wage budget, I could just buy my way into contention but I really want to keep within the parameters of the save and win some sort of trophy through the development of the Mareo youth. Ok there are clear gaps in the team but it's great to see the newgens developing well and we are, at times, playing some wonderful football.

I'd just love to turn that into (at least) one trophy before putting the save on the shelf.

 

[_Ben_]

22 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

With £116m in transfer kitty and £500k headroom in the wage budget, I could just buy my way into contention but I really want to keep within the parameters of the save and win some sort of trophy through the development of the Mareo youth. Ok there are clear gaps in the team but it's great to see the newgens developing well and we are, at times, playing some wonderful football

This little bit makes me really happy! I had really hoped you'd continue here and that, eventually, all of the hard work would pay off. I know that, with Barca and Real, Spain is one of - if not the - toughest league to crack, but you're doing so well at continually over performing what you have and you've really developed some wonderful prospects.

As always - a great read! No specific questions just a thank you for inspiring the home grown development!

[El Payaso]

Good to see you continuing. And once again a well-written post. 

How do you go with youth development? Are you in charge of the B-team and U-19 training and at what point do you start shifting the youth players to the senior teams? And are some of the youngsters so good that they can be directly taken to the first team instead of going to the B? 

[oche balboa]

Yes please keep this career going. It's really good to read and i hope you win a trophy 

[john1]

Glad to see you're carrying on with this Enjoy reading it!

[ATV]

what formation and tactics are you using now? 

 

[Shrewnaldo]

On 17/04/2024 at 21:00, _Ben_ said:

This little bit makes me really happy! I had really hoped you'd continue here and that, eventually, all of the hard work would pay off. I know that, with Barca and Real, Spain is one of - if not the - toughest league to crack, but you're doing so well at continually over performing what you have and you've really developed some wonderful prospects.

As always - a great read! No specific questions just a thank you for inspiring the home grown development!

On 18/04/2024 at 08:31, oche balboa said:

Yes please keep this career going. It's really good to read and i hope you win a trophy 

On 18/04/2024 at 11:24, john1 said:

Glad to see you're carrying on with this Enjoy reading it!

Thank you all. Always appreciate the feedback. As long as the game is fun then I'll continue playing it. The starting points of each season are always a bit of a slog.

 

On 18/04/2024 at 05:57, El Payaso said:

Good to see you continuing. And once again a well-written post. 

How do you go with youth development? Are you in charge of the B-team and U-19 training and at what point do you start shifting the youth players to the senior teams? And are some of the youngsters so good that they can be directly taken to the first team instead of going to the B? 

I'm finding that most of the benefit to youth development comes from two things: personality and game time.

Poor personalities are almost insurmountable, I'm finding. I had two right backs come through one intake, I think it was the fifth - Cordero who had great attributes and a shocking personality, and Ferrer who had the opposite. I sold Cordero to Juve 3 seasons later and his attributes had barely moved. Ferrer is now a valuable squad member with over 2000 minutes this season.

And then game time at the right level. It's a bit of a balancing act and knowing when to give people loan moves to decent leagues is a bit haphazard. The game time also has to be positive game time - preferably in a winning team. The morale boost seems to be important for development too. So I'll turn down any loan bids from teams that are predicted to finish in the bottom half of any second tier or lower. I think a title winning third tier campaign is going to boost a player more than a bottom half second tier season, regardless of training facilities. 

My basic model is under-19s until they're too old and then two years in the B-team to prove themselves before being promoted, but there's definitely scope for some accelerated promotion.

On 18/04/2024 at 17:58, ATV said:

what formation and tactics are you using now? 

 

Mostly I'm going with a 4-2-3-1 at the moment. This is driven by the personnel available - Javi is nothing but a left-winger, Quiñones is a classic 10, Aguirre needs to play as an AF and I have options to rotate on the right flank.

I started off looking to play short passing at a higher tempo but have figured out that I actually want to play the opposite - direct at a lower tempo. I'm looking to draw teams out and then exploit the pace that we have in the front four. It's really working a treat.

I have experimented with a switch to a 4-4-2 with double DMs. This is just due to the number of strikers I have coming through and the fact Quiñones can play at right mid as a playmaker to provide the balance. It looks like a viable option but I really don't want to experiment too much at the moment as we're having a rather successful time of it.

[Shrewnaldo]

The tenth intake... somehow

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

And so we take this:

Into this...

Initial signs are... mixed. It's dropped from 5* 'golden generation' standard in the preview, to 4.5* for the actual intake. But it's not our first time at the rodeo, we know these things are often massively misleading so let's see how it goes.

Elite Talent (singular)

Hugo - Boss: Playmaker-ish

Personality: Professional

An awful lot to like right off the bat - personality most of all. He also has some lovely traits, although I'm not sure about the last one. For 15, his starting physicals are just fine and I really like the combination of Technique and Flair, to go with the Aggression. Looks like he could become a very, very handy 10 or perhaps a segundo volante if the Work Rate increases naturally over time. The Dribbling might be a little low for that but I really like the look of Hugo. Two-footed with natural Flair and already a decent finisher. Definite potential.

Top Talents

Alfréd Váczi - Inverted wingback?

Personality - Spirited

A Hungarian but no Mexican, btw. Nice physicals and I really like that he has the more static Mentals like Aggressions and Bravery already. His Positioning, Marking and Tackling are a bit yikes for a left-back but the rest of his attributes lend themselves very much to an inverted wingback. Given those deficiencies, I'm thinking he's probably going to be a more traditional winger with solid starting attributes for the requisite Technicals.

José Antonio Cortés - Inverted wingback?

Personality - Realist

6' and really decent starting Physicals and excellent starting Mentals, there's a lot to like here. The Technicals are where he's obviously lacking with just two in double figures. I've found Technicals the hardest to reliably improve so we'll have to wait and see. The likes of Montial and Navarro came through looking very similar to Cortés and their technicals just never took off enough to become first-teamers. So I'm afraid I'm rather sceptical this one will make it.

Carlos Serra - DLF

Personality: Light-hearted

Fantastic mental attributes with only Work Rate looking a bit on the unhealthy side (Vision should increase naturally with time). His Technicals aren't great but 4-5 on Finishing and he'll do a decent job. The physicals are clearly lacking - particularly as he's an 'old 15', turning 16 in 4 days and so with less high-grade development time. Still, it's not a bad start but he'll be unlikely to hit the heights of Aguirre et al.

Good Talents

Alejandro Carvajal - Left-wing

Personality: Fairly Professional

Amongst some dross in the 'good talents', Carvajal looks like a rough gem. Strength aside, his Physicals are decent and Dribbling of 15 is a lovely start. It's a shame he can't cross and Anticipation of 6, Composure of 5 and Vision of 5 would look to be prohibitive for first-team development but we'll see.

----------------------------------

The rest of the 'good talents' are, erm, not good. But that's fine. We've progressed to the point where I'd expect only one or two per intake are going to be good enough to break into the first team. So as long as we're only losing one or two out the door, then we should be able to maintain numbers of Mareo graduates whilst steadily increasing the quality.

So far this season, we're doing rather well. The league campaign has been decent but one or two poor results have tripped us up recently as we're trying to fight on three fronts. That sees us in 6th but with games in hand that could see us jump to 5th and within a couple of points of even 3rd. Barca are miles clear at the top, then Real 9 points behind and then Atléti have fallen back into a chasing cluster with us, Sevilla and Villarreal.

In Europe, we've progressed via the playoffs into the knockouts and will face Lazio in the quarters. Should we get through that, it'll be the winner of Real Sociedad or Man Utd in the semi and then, I would expect, the impossible task of Man City in the final. I think that run is challenging, shall we say.

Perhaps we'll get the luck I said we needed in the Copa del Rey. We managed to avoid the big three until the semi-final when we drew the all-conquering Barcelona. Away in the first-leg, we went down 2-0 - Carlos Gil keeping us in the game but still conceding two unfortunate goals. In the return leg, it was absolute stalemate until we got the stroke of luck I'd been crying out for.

Puigdollers saw red after 39 minutes for a shocking challenge to bring down Hugo Quiñones mid-counter. Within 9 minutes, Ander Aguirre had scored a hat-trick to put us ahead and then he sealed it with a fourth late in the second half. Without that red, we were nowhere. But games, and seasons, can turn on such events and, with Barca having put Real out in the quarter, we'll face Valencia in the final - themselves having dispatched with Atléti in the fourth round.

This, then, is our big chance for silverware. We couldn't really hope for a better chance. Sadly, we'll head to the Bernabéu just three days after the second leg of the Europa quarter against Lazio - so I may have to sacrifice continental progression for the chance at a trophy....

Worth it.

Edited April 19 by Shrewnaldo

[Shrewnaldo]

Real Sporting de Gijón

Copa Del Rey Winners 2033

That'll do very nicely. The first silverware of the save and the first senior trophy that Sporting Gijón have ever won. In the end, the final itself was relatively straightforward and I never felt in any danger of losing.

We dominated possession and whilst we didn't create a huge amount of chances we were clinical with those we did create. Most pleasingly, the winning team shows the absolute commitment to youth development through the save.

The starting XI had 9 Mareo graduates in it with 2 real players (José Gragera and Diego López) complemented by 7 newgens (Carlos Gil, José Carlos Ferrer, Sergio Lozano, Carlos Rojas, Hugo Quiñones, Javi and Aguirre). The two odd ones out being centre back Zeben Adán (Spanish, from Tenerife signed from Liverpool) and Mexican midfielder Saúl González. 

Add to that 7 more guajes on the bench and another Mexican, plus Pablo Aguilar - an Asturian by birth but developed at Rennes.

It might have taken a long time for a trophy but it's incredibly satisfying having done it within the initial parameters of the save and with a clear focus on homegrown talent.

Sadly it came at the cost of the Europa League as I needed to play a second string in Rome, losing out to Lazio. Worth it though.

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Shrewnaldo said:

It might have taken a long time for a trophy but it's incredibly satisfying

Well played!

[keeper#1]

Well done, sir!

[_Ben_]

On 19/04/2024 at 23:10, Shrewnaldo said:

An awful lot to like right off the bat - personality most of all. He also has some lovely traits, although I'm not sure about the last one. For 15, his starting physicals are just fine and I really like the combination of Technique and Flair, to go with the Aggression. Looks like he could become a very, very handy 10 or perhaps a segundo volante if the Work Rate increases naturally over time. The Dribbling might be a little low for that but I really like the look of Hugo. Two-footed with natural Flair and already a decent finisher. Definite potential.

Good to see you working through this again, Shrew. This lad - in my never ending quest to find something outside of the box - really catches my attention. I'd genuinely be tempted to go for a really deep playmaker with him: an RPM or a DLP in the DM strata. He's weak and small, at the moment, but he's technically sound and, actually, the defensive positioning (which I find probably more important for a role like that than Marking/Tackling) is pretty good. He's clever, pretty press resistant already and, with some focused work could actually be an option for a decent finisher from outside the box or someone who could then lay off a nice pass to be finished. For me - it's the  fact that he could be a metronome - passing, technique, decisions, teamwork, agility - whilst getting up and down the pitch!

16 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Copa Del Rey Winners 2033

That'll do very nicely. The first silverware of the save and the first senior trophy that Sporting Gijón have ever won. In the end, the final itself was relatively straightforward and I never felt in any danger of losing.

Congratulations! A really massive win for you given the fact you're in with the big boys and then the fact that you've done it with such strict regulations, too. 

[El Payaso]

Hard work pays off! Even though in this kind of career trophies are probably secondary objects. 

But, what a career it has been! I've enjoyed reading every post that you have written. This is because your style of playing and writing are both really enjoyable. Your approach to the game is simply superb and at least to me this career is exactly what Football Manager should be all about. 

[majorbriggs]

Congratulations! Epic save. Took a long time but you stuck to your principles and achieved success! Thoroughly enjoyed following your journey.

[Shrewnaldo]

On 20/04/2024 at 19:37, warlock said:

Well played!

On 20/04/2024 at 23:48, keeper#1 said:

Well done, sir!

On 21/04/2024 at 13:41, majorbriggs said:

Congratulations! Epic save. Took a long time but you stuck to your principles and achieved success! Thoroughly enjoyed following your journey.

On 21/04/2024 at 13:18, El Payaso said:

Hard work pays off! Even though in this kind of career trophies are probably secondary objects. 

But, what a career it has been! I've enjoyed reading every post that you have written. This is because your style of playing and writing are both really enjoyable. Your approach to the game is simply superb and at least to me this career is exactly what Football Manager should be all about. 

Thank you all. Really much appreciated. The trophies might not be the overarching goal of the save but it sure is nice.

On 21/04/2024 at 10:52, _Ben_ said:

Good to see you working through this again, Shrew. This lad - in my never ending quest to find something outside of the box - really catches my attention. I'd genuinely be tempted to go for a really deep playmaker with him: an RPM or a DLP in the DM strata. He's weak and small, at the moment, but he's technically sound and, actually, the defensive positioning (which I find probably more important for a role like that than Marking/Tackling) is pretty good. He's clever, pretty press resistant already and, with some focused work could actually be an option for a decent finisher from outside the box or someone who could then lay off a nice pass to be finished. For me - it's the  fact that he could be a metronome - passing, technique, decisions, teamwork, agility - whilst getting up and down the pitch!

Congratulations! A really massive win for you given the fact you're in with the big boys and then the fact that you've done it with such strict regulations, too. 

Interesting point re Hugo. I had him immediately pegged as a 10, looking to get into the box and exploit his creative and finishing ability. The lack of strength had put me off any ideas of using him further back but I can see what you're saying. I'm currently using one of my DMs as a segundo volante which has been a little hit-and-miss. Saúl Gonzaléz has been playing there but is much less effective than he was as a CM(A) in the 4-3-3. However, this has been a necessary sacrifice for the overall system to work. Nevertheless, that's the one role that I'm thinking hasn't really been properly optimised. Something like an RPM or regista may well work there, so long as I can still get him forward enough. I wouldn't want to lose the additional presence in the box I can get from the SV.

[Vođi]

What a great story so far! I'm enjoying your progress, as well as your posts and thought processes are a really great food for thought!

Myself I'm in the 7th season with Sestao River Club, now slowly becoming a Liga2 mid table side and I wish I had discovered this forum earlier, as reading through your way makes me feel like writing one myself.

How do you cope with sometimes unevitable losing players to the release clauses?

[SixPointer]

Congratulations on the Copa del rey shrew. I feel like I’ve been away for ages, but am so happy your stuck to your guns and won a trophy. The hard work you put in to create such a wonderful academy topped of nicely. Superb stuff as always. 

[Shrewnaldo]

On 02/05/2024 at 14:10, Vođi said:

What a great story so far! I'm enjoying your progress, as well as your posts and thought processes are a really great food for thought!

Myself I'm in the 7th season with Sestao River Club, now slowly becoming a Liga2 mid table side and I wish I had discovered this forum earlier, as reading through your way makes me feel like writing one myself.

How do you cope with sometimes unevitable losing players to the release clauses?

 

On 03/05/2024 at 03:18, SixPointer said:

Congratulations on the Copa del rey shrew. I feel like I’ve been away for ages, but am so happy your stuck to your guns and won a trophy. The hard work you put in to create such a wonderful academy topped of nicely. Superb stuff as always. 

 

Thanks both. I'm afraid I'm a bit off the game at the moment so I'm just not playing at all. I had a few games back with my Hellas Verona save just to see if something different within FM would break the ennui. But no, just a bit over it just now. Will come back to this in a while but taking a break for now.

 

Re the release clause @Vođi - I've only been caught out once, where a player I was planning to promote from the B-team got pinched by Spurs for £8m. I'd intended to give him a new contract with a higher release clause but by that time he had his head turned and knew there was interest, so refused to sign a new deal. And those new deals are effectively how I'm managing it year-to-year. The likes of Aguirre, Javi, Quiñones, Rojas and Mouriño are getting new contracts annually just to keep their release clauses going and keep the wolves at bay. Aguirre is the one where teams have come closest to triggering the release clause with the likes of Atlético offering me up to £125m including clauses for him, but never offering up the £125m flat fee that would trigger the release.

[Shrewnaldo]

So I've been playing this a bit... sort of wish I hadn't. Frustrating.

Man City scored with all three of their shots on target across the two legs (two from three shots total in the second, including the 121st minute winner). Just really frustrating that we couldn't take our chances after facing such a tough route. Man City v Bayern in the final.

 

Edited May 10 by Shrewnaldo

[lfds89]

Pretty decent run in the league phase. The knockout phase is always tricky. The best players can always make a difference in every play.

[Shrewnaldo]

1 hour ago, lfds89 said:

Pretty decent run in the league phase. The knockout phase is always tricky. The best players can always make a difference in every play.

The biggest problem I had is that my main striker, Ander Aguirre, scored 9 in 12 in the Europa League last season but could only get 2 in 12 in the Champions League this term. That's completely screwed us. Like you say, you get to that stage in tournament and you really need elite level players to make the difference.

[lfds89]

Em 11/05/2024 em 12:47, Shrewnaldo disse:

The biggest problem I had is that my main striker, Ander Aguirre, scored 9 in 12 in the Europa League last season but could only get 2 in 12 in the Champions League this term. That's completely screwed us. Like you say, you get to that stage in tournament and you really need elite level players to make the difference.

It's always the problem with youth-only saves, either you are lucky or there's no real workaround. In the save I'm playing (journeyman type), I'm slowly trying to go that way, forcing myself to have and play more youngsters but it's very tricky.