FM24 | A Sporting Heritage | The Guajes of Gijón

Shrewnaldo · February 7

12 hours ago, Litmanen 10 said:

Brilliant stuff once again. You give me exactly the amount of info that I can read through during my coffee breaks at work. As a lazy reader this is ideal type of career update for me.

Cheers, always appreciated. I still like the longer posts as a way of organising my thoughts but the shorter ones are fine for the intermittent updates.

9 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

I love a wrong-footed AP out wide! Both of those lads look good and I’d rate Polo the highest - it’s just his Vision that’s holding him back maybe. He can carry the ball well and is agile and unpredictable!

Sames. I think the 4-3-3 with the AP on the right is going to align nicely with the rest of my thoughts. Helps me use a winger on the left and keep an AF or similar type of forward - both of which align with the styles of the best newgens we have coming through. We also have enough midfielders that I really think I need to use at least 3 in the middle. And lastly, there's a couple of centre backs who can play as an IFB on the left - this would balance nicely with the winger in front of him and get me back into the 3-1 / diamond build-up that I've been enjoying with the 5-2-2-1. Positives all round.

Shrewnaldo · February 7

The game has automatically cancelled our affiliations with the other two Orlegi clubs. This is truly, truly frustrating

EDIT - I'm thinking of using the in-game editor to add these back in. They're owned by the same company, I just think this is the game's fault for recording the relationship poorly.

Edited February 7 by Shrewnaldo

BML · February 8

I would; it's a large part of the save!

sammad50 · February 8

14 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

The game has automatically cancelled our affiliations with the other two Orlegi clubs. This is truly, truly frustrating

EDIT - I'm thinking of using the in-game editor to add these back in. They're owned by the same company, I just think this is the game's fault for recording the relationship poorly.

I'd do it.

This is a frustrating mechanic with affiliates, happens reasonably often because 'it's not being utilised' or whatever the text says. Espeically annoying when you get a club with a great youth set up and then gets removed but you never saw any benefit!

Shrewnaldo · February 8

3 hours ago, BML said:

I would; it's a large part of the save!

2 hours ago, sammad50 said:

I'd do it.

This is a frustrating mechanic with affiliates, happens reasonably often because 'it's not being utilised' or whatever the text says. Espeically annoying when you get a club with a great youth set up and then gets removed but you never saw any benefit!

I think you're both right. I'll use the editor to add them back in and see if I can properly set it so that they're permanent affiliations and linked by the same owners. And, of course, reinforce the newgen link from our previous successful renegotiation.

The other one I'm considering is the youth facilities. The game has never given me the option to ask for improved youth facilities and they're currently stuck at three and a half stars. After a bit of experimenting, it seems this is linked to club rep. In my opinion this is just stupid - I was ok to ask for improved training facilities, youth recruitment and junior coaching until they're 20/20 - so why are youth facilities different? I'm considering using the editor to bump the youth facilities and remove, let's say, £3m from the bank balance to 'pay for them'. Thoughts?

Socerer 01 · February 8

The Youth Facilities thing has been there since last year’s edition IIRC, remember seeing similar complaints in the Youth Academy challenge thread. I also believe it’s linked to the willingness of the chairman to favour youth development from what I read back then but I’m not sure.

Shrewnaldo · February 9

17 hours ago, Socerer 01 said:

The Youth Facilities thing has been there since last year’s edition IIRC, remember seeing similar complaints in the Youth Academy challenge thread. I also believe it’s linked to the willingness of the chairman to favour youth development from what I read back then but I’m not sure.

Is it an acknowledged bug? I hate using the editor, even to fix this stuff as it feels kinda cheaty. So I'm really hesitant but it's holding my save back and feels like it's just an error in the game.

Shrewnaldo · February 9

A gamble

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

Since the start of FM24, I've consistently complained that I had don't have any money to spend. Through FeralpiSalò and Hellas Verona, then three seasons at Sporting Gijón I've been relying on finding bargains with the minimal funds at my disposal. This season, the Sporting board has given me over £12m to spend and I've decided not to use it. Go figure.

Or rather, I'm not going to use it all. I've still brought in a couple of key cogs and overspent on at least one of them but much of the money will remain in our burgeoning coffers. Instead, I'm going to take the gamble of just throwing a few youngsters straight into first-team football.

The board have very reasonable expectations and will be content with us just avoiding relegation, only expecting that we'll be an "established LaLiga team" by 2029/30 (in 4 seasons' time). This gives me licence to experiment with no pressure for immediate success and, with long-term success my priority, I decided to take that opportunity.

Three youngsters who probably aren't quite ready are making the immediate step up - Lucas Ferreras, Enol Prendes and Francesc Polo will let me judge the impact of game time on three different profiles of player. Ferreras is about the right age and should make it as a good squad player; Prendes is probably past the point of optimum development but still has some growth; Polo has lots of potential but has slowed in the last year.

They'll come into a first-team squad that is going to split its time between the 5-2-2-1 I've played so far, and the 4-3-3 I think we'll transition into in the long-term. This has made squad planning a little awkward as we need to fit into two system - 5-2-2-1 on the top of each screenshot and 4-3-3 on the bottom.

All the green shows the number of players being promoted into the next team up, which is really pleasing to see. You can also see that we have, whether it's 5-2-2-1 or 4-3-3, 34 or 35 players in the funnel who are 'trained at club', i.e. Mareo graduates; 14-16 who are 'trained in nation'; and just 7 who are neither. This is even more pleasing when you see that at least 9 of the 'trained in nation' players are newgens who have come through the Mareo academy and will tick over into 'trained at club' within the next couple of years.

Some of these players look the business and should represent an exciting future for the club and although I expect this season to be a bit of a struggle, personally I'm excited to start using the 4-3-3. This is probably just my preferred way of playing overall and, as I'd said above, uses my number one favourite role in all of Football Manager - the AP(S) from out wide.

This is the basic starting system that I'm looking to use and I'm already really enjoying the shape. The ability to use an IFB has helped me reproduce what is becoming my favoured build up shape of a 3-1 / diamond. As opposed to the 3-2 or 2-3 build-up that I'd used before, this releases an extra player forward to play between the lines and link play to the front 5. The wingback also does this on the right, but I'm finding the box-to-box midfielder is fantastic at receiving the ball centrally in space.

A random example from a friendly we've just played - and a particularly helpful example as the B2B doesn't actually receive it here but it's a handy indication. You can see the deep diamond with our 6, Damian, on the ball and he ends up playing the pass to Molinas, the AP(S) at AMR who works a 2v1 with over-lapping right-back Garcia. But what I am particularly liking is the left winger (López), mezzala (Lemina) and 9 (Sremcevic) are all making runs in behind which forces the defence deep. Whilst these are difficult low percentage passes, the B2B (Nacho) has dropped into space behind the opposition midfield.

Another example which also shows why I am now preferring the 3-1 shape at the back.

Here, the left centre-back Diego has reacted to a clearance and has taken the ball down the line with the left-winger (López) making the run inside. The mezzala, 9 and AMR are also in the box so Nacho is free to play the edge of the box and support the marauding centre back. The other two centre-backs have shifted over and the 6 is holding his shape to protect against the counter and make the out-ball to the opposition striker virtually impossible.

So I'm pleased with how the 4-3-3 is working out so far, and the can see from the squad planning that it certainly suits the best newgens coming through - which is entirely the point. The first-team wasn't quite covered in every area and I've made two signings to cover areas that didn't have any promotable options.

Diego Sánchez is an odd one. A guaje who left us for Southampton two seasons ago, but with a loan-back option for two seasons... he was then transfer-listed by Southampton for £2.2m and I've brought him straight back. It's definitely more than he's worth as he wasn't even our first-choice wingback last term. However, he has the ability to play both an overlapping wingback in the 5-2-2-1 and the inverted fullback in the 4-3-3... and he's a guaje. So not a difficult choice.

Roberto López also covers multiple options - capable of playing as one of the 10s in the 5-2-2-1, or as the mezzala, AMR or AML in the 4-3-3. That's four positions of cover for £2.1m which I'm really pleased with. In the save's first season, he was on loan at Tenerife in LaLiga2 and had 30 goal contributions in 38 starts (17 goals / 13 assists). That phenomenal record earned him a move to Ligue 1 with Lille. Two mediocre seasons later, I'm hoping he can recreate his Iberian form.

There's still potential for one more signing. I'm conscious that our Mexican contingent has dwindled this season as I've let Alejandro Gómez return home on loan, as well as permanent departures for Sebastian Valenzuela, Luis Guerrero and Kevin Picón. Having used the in-game editor to restore the cancelled affiliations with Atlas and Santos Laguna, I really feel like I should pay more attention to this side of the save. So I'm working on one or two deals for Mexicans of genuine quality but we'll see.

Unlike last season, it's a tough start with Atlético first up. I'm anticipating a bit of a struggle this term but hopefully nothing too drastic and enough game time to encourage the development of our gems. Ferreras, Prendes and Polo may be the only three who have been added to the first team full-time, but there's a host of others that will come in for a game or two here and there.

¡Siempre Sporting!

Socerer 01 · February 10

23 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Is it an acknowledged bug? I hate using the editor, even to fix this stuff as it feels kinda cheaty. So I'm really hesitant but it's holding my save back and feels like it's just an error in the game.

I don't think they've acknowledged it as a bug so it is probably working as intended according to them.

Shrewnaldo · February 10

19 minutes ago, Socerer 01 said:

I don't think they've acknowledged it as a bug so it is probably working as intended according to them.

OK, thanks.

In that case, can I canvas opinions in here of whether this is OK, or a cheat?

Reminder - the game has never let me ask for improvements to the youth facilities. Ever.

They were downgraded to 3.5 stars when we were in LaLiga2. Conversely, I've been able to ask and have approved, improvements to Training Facilities, Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching such that they are all maxed out

The root cause appears to be reputation, which only applies to the Youth Training facilities for... reasons

I am considering using the in-game editor to bump the facilities by two points this season, and charge myself £2.5m.

If the problem persists, I'll then bump it again in 2 years at a cost of £4.5m

Thoughts? Legit or cheat?

Shrewnaldo · February 10

Ok, so I said I wasn't going to spend all that money but I decided to go a little crazy on deadline day.

Ahead of deadline day, I signed one of those quality Mexicans I was talking about as diminutive ball-winner Jonathan González joins from MLS. Lemina is now 33 and Nacho Martin isn't quite hitting LaLiga quality so this is a nice bit of cover with a Mexican angle to fit into the Orlegi strategy.

Similar Mexican influences can be seen in the loan signing of Juan Castro, who just provides some cover in the unders, and Abraham Meza - who I reckon is better than my coaches think. I plan to turn him into a right wingback - the only position where I don't have any Mareo newgen of quality. Meza already has good physicals and mentals, along with a positive personality and just needs a little Work Rate, Crossing and Dribbling to make a good wingback.

Francisco Moreno will be taking the exact same journey but in the first team. Again, good starting physicals and mentals with a positive personality and not a million miles off on the technicals. Guille Rosas is the clear first-choice at right-back but there isn't much after him and some of the players have been complaining about a lack of depth in this position. Whilst Moreno is not an Asturian, he was born in Santa María de Cayón - just over the regional border in Cantabria. He makes the 100 mile switch from Santander and straight into the first-team squad.

Where he will be joined by guaje Jorge Meré, who had been transfer listed at Olympiakos after returning to Europe from Mexican affiliate, but not Orlegi owned, Club América. His personality and Leadership aren't where I'd want them but he offers the experienced option we've lost with Pablo Insua leaving for regular game time in LaLiga2 with Burgos.

The last signing is one that I wasn't sure about - not because of his ability but because it doesn't quite chime with the theme of the save.

6'8" Peruvian Daniel Bernal joins from Club Allianza for his ridiculously low release clause of £375k. He's already had three caps for Perú, scoring against Morocco and DR Congo in friendlies. In any other save, I'd have been all over him as he's exactly my kind of striker. But I'm clearly going to be prioritising my own strikers such as Polo, Rodriguez and Aguirre... so is there room for Bernal? Given this match engine and the way I play, I reckon Bernal would outperform all of them at 9 but I'm just going to use him as a cash cow. He's gone out on loan to Mallorca and he'll likely bag a hatful in LaLiga2 then give me another option next summer.

In other news, the 4-3-3 has started pretty well.

sammad50 · February 10

It's great when you over achieve and the board keep expectations low, perfect chance to blood the youth. Bernal looks good as well, easy to get fickle to change in a positive personality.

Re: the youth facilities. I personally wouldn't change them. The club's rep will rise with success and it seems that's not an obvious bug. Equally though, it's your game and your rationale makes sense especially as they've actually gone backwards which is a bit nonsensical.

Do whatever you like 👍 I'm sure we'll still read

Shrewnaldo · February 10

18 minutes ago, sammad50 said:

It's great when you over achieve and the board keep expectations low, perfect chance to blood the youth. Bernal looks good as well, easy to get fickle to change in a positive personality.

Re: the youth facilities. I personally wouldn't change them. The club's rep will rise with success and it seems that's not an obvious bug. Equally though, it's your game and your rationale makes sense especially as they've actually gone backwards which is a bit nonsensical.

Do whatever you like 👍 I'm sure we'll still read

Thanks. The one thing that's holding me back from using the editor is that the reason for it is the low rep - something which I'm taking advantage of because it also results in the lower expectations of the board. So it feels a bit hypocritical

Shrewnaldo · February 12

The fourth intake

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

A combination of absolutely loving the save, only playing on Extended Highlights and an additional four hours playing whilst watching the Super Bowl has seen me absolutely fly through season four and already reach intake day. And it looks like being a beaut.

The preview was certainly promising but this isn't anyone's first time at the rodeo. What actually arrives could be very, very different.

Six elite talents. SIX?! Ok, so we might be on to something here. Let's take them in order of the intake starting with...

Elite Talents

Vicente Cuadrado - 10?

Ok, that's an underwhelming start but even so there's things to like. Some attributes which don't tend to shift much (Decisions, Determination, Flair, Teamwork) are really good. And he's got good Technique and passable technicals for his age. The strength will increase over time whilst he's two-footed. He's ok but have to say I was expecting more.

Carlos Cordero - right back

A successor to Rosas was the only position for which I had no guajes, so a right back is very, very welcome. And if it weren't for his personality and height, then I'd be very excited about Cordero. But Casual implies irretrievably low Professionalism and it'll make it hard for the youngster to develop whatsoever. Which is such a huge shame as, height side, he's great and would have turned into a star.

Álex - 9

Finally, we get a striker who is over 6 foot, although he still can't jump and would get knocked over by a fart. Good finishing, good pace and good touch for a big man, he's got some potential for sure. It's great that he's a different profile to the likes of Rodriguez and Aguirre, opening up all sorts of possibilities for how we can play. My initial reaction, however, is that he won't ever be as good as Golden Boy Elect Ander Aguirre.

Mario Martínez - 8

Ok, now *that's* a newgen. Two-footed like nearly all our intakes, he's got mezzala written all over him. The pace should jump up nicely by the time he's 19 whilst he has the inherent Technique, Flair and Off the Ball, with really solid Finishing, Passing and Vision. My only tiny, tiny inconsequential downside is that he's primarily left-footed. As I need to make room for a star left-winger in Javi, the mezzala is going to play on the right with an AP coming inside in front of him. Being predominantly left-footed might hamper that a little but boy am I being picky. Martínez should be great.

Iván Elvira - 6/8

Another really solid looking central midfielder, Elvira's personality and media-handling look like the only obvious downside as he looks well-suited to the box-to-box role alongside Martínez's mezzala.

Santiago Caballero

Pace, Determination and Technique. Plus 14 heading for someone who is 5'1". Interesting. Caballero could be decent but he's a million miles from the afore-mentioned Javi. His lack of ambition might be useful if it means that he's willing to stay as a bench-warmer / squad rotation option. With eleven attributes within 2 points of double-figures, he'll probably look a lot better in 12 months.

Top Talent

Gerard Monroy - destined to leave

Yikes. He'd be just fine if it wasn't for that personality but Determination so far <10 means he's unlikely to amount to much. I also don't play right-wingers due to the obvious talents on the left - I'll likely make a forlorn attempt to retrain him at MC to become a back-up mezzala option but I'm expecting little.

Good Talents

A back-up 'keeper, a left-back with Determination of 4, a centre back with Determination of 3... it's a real mixed bag but there's a couple who I think could be decent.

Víctor - centre-back

Another unambitious player but with decent Determination and Unflappable media-handling potentially implying decent Professionalism, there's enough in there to give him a shot. The one thing really holding him back is his Heading which is unlikely to climb much higher than 10 or 11 - probably not good enough for a LaLiga centre back. The rest is handy though.

José Carlos Ferrer - Right-back

A right-back called Ferrer. Where Cordero has the attributes but a poor personality, Ferrer has the personality but poor attributes. Solid enough physicals, to be fair, but key gaps in Teamwork and Work Rate, not to mention Dribbling. A long shot but definitely one who will stick around.

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Again no Mexicans, which is really disappointing. But the biggest disappointment for me is the lack of transference from the HoYD's personality. Professional with Determination of 14, there's very little sign of this throughout the intake. Indeed, about 50% of the newgens have explicitly poor personalities which is really, really disappointing.

Having said that, Álex, Cuadrado and Elvira look handy whilst Ferrer and Caballero look to have something. The undoubted star of the intake is Mario Martínez who not only looks like a proper player but also arrives in a position where I didn't have a standout newgen option available. Rojas, Chiripus and Escribano are all really good but are more physical central midfielders; whilst Quiñones leans more towards playmaker than mezzala for me. José Antonio Vaquiero, who could have become that mezzala, broke his lower leg and it remains to be seen how well he'll recover.

Overall, though, I'm really pleased with how the newgen stable is developing. We've had at least four players in every intake who look like they'll develop well enough to be first-team members (the links to the original posts will show the attributes at spawn):

Intake 1
- Seven elite talents, seven good talents, two decent
- Three years of development
- Roberto Vacas - stalling somewhat but goalkeepers develop later; Jaime Luis - ticking along and a fixture in the B-team but I think unlikely to make it; Welton - looking like he could turn into a very handy centre back and likely promoted to the first-team squad next term; Escribano - his Determination simply refuses to increase but the rest of his attributes have sky-rocketed as he has made his way into the B-team and a handful of first-team appearances; Luis Ochoa - his attributes were the first to flourish but he's been hampered by a series of minor injuries and looks like he's stagnating; Alejandro Soriano - Ben's favourite, he was ticking along really nicely until he broke his ankle on loan which is putting his development into doubt; Francesc Polo - undoubted star of the first intake, he's already in the first-team squad and smashing it this season with 9 goal involvement in 13 starts and 18 sub appearances.

Intake 2:
- Three elite talents, four top talents, six good talents, two decent
- Two years of development
- Manuel Navarro - excellent centre back who just needs to get those technicals going to be a real talent; Raimundo Montiel - centre-back, left-back or wing-back... no-one is quite sure but just like Navarro, he could just do with those technicals ticking up a few points; Carlos Rojas is going to be brilliant - mentoring has managed to massage him from Temperamental to Balanced so far and he needs to get rid of that trait but he's one of my absolute favourites; Tomás - another who broke his leg and now has work to do to catch up; Javier Bravo - all the talent but shocking attitude which is reflected in his really poor development to date, sadly one who will probably be cast aside; Hugo Quiñones - another who has seamlessly made the step up to the B-team and is developing really well including Pace _4 and Passing +3, big fan; Mario Rodríguez - ticking along fine but has failed to really catch fire at any level, he keeps getting benched in favour of the stronger prospects despite clearly having talent, perhaps best to loan out next season; Dani Moya - listed only as a 'decent talent' in the intake, my coaches still don't fancy him but he's developing really well and has been solid for the under-19 side - I'm a fan.

Intake 3:
- Three elite talents, four top talents, six good talents
- One year of development
- Carlos Gil - performing well for the under-19s even if there's little in the way of attribute development but then 'keepers develop late; Ander Aguirre - good lord he is going to be brilliant, 33 goal involvements (24G, 9A) for the under-19s saw him promoted to the B-team where he's already bagged twice from four sub appearances - PSG have already indicated interest but he is The One; Javi - has already joined his pal Aguirre in the B-team after 10 goals and 14 assists in 20 starts for the unders; José Manuel Ortega - I wasn't sure what Ortega was when he came through and he's one of the few whose potential has deteriorated, so probably not likely to make it; José Antonio Vaquero - broke his leg and still on his way back but 6 goals, 6 assists in 18 games implies there's still something there; Gabriel Vera - experimental loan to the Segunda looks to have done him some good but still too many gaps in his game for me; Seydou Diawara - the only good talent I highlighted during the intake, Diawara has gone on to prove me very, very right - his progress so far is exceptional with +4 in three attributes and +3 in nine, meaning he now looks like a real prospect.

And then intake four above - six elite talents, one top talent, seven good talents, two decent

And then there's the Peruvian guy I bought in.

I'll need to sell him in the summer.

¡Siempre Sporting!

_Ben_ · February 13

I'm sure you can see from my own thread and the changes I've made to my skin just how inspiring this work is Shrew. I love Mario Martinez from this intake, too! I'd be really interested in reading your approach to their development and whether you've learnt anything from the three seasons that you've been at it for.

Shrewnaldo · February 13

6 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

I'm sure you can see from my own thread and the changes I've made to my skin just how inspiring this work is Shrew. I love Mario Martinez from this intake, too! I'd be really interested in reading your approach to their development and whether you've learnt anything from the three seasons that you've been at it for.

Very flattered to hear that I'm inspiring anyone and how they play their game.

Martinez should be fantastic but has very quickly become an example of what I was saying in your thread about the speed of generic influence. He's started the game as Ambitious personality and, without being included in a mentoring group, has become Balanced within a month. In the under-19s, his Ambition has dropped by at least one inside a month. How can that happen so quickly without any senior players in the squad and when he's listed as a Team Leader within the under-19s... and yet the mentoring, which is specifically set up to influence such attributes, takes forever if it ever has any impact whatsoever. It's this sort of stuff which drives me absolutely insane with this game.

In terms of what I've learned so far... I think most of what I've done is just the well-known stuff that everyone does: individual training, mentoring when I can and prioritising game time. I still find it difficult to balance squad depth in the unders squads with making sure that the right players are getting game time. And match minutes are just so important.

The other thing is probably morale. In the second season, the B-team were smashing their way through the Segunda and development soared. In the third season, they had an up-and-down season before finishing mid-table and development stalled. Despite the increased competition reputation of playing in the Primera, my only explanation for the reduced attributional progression is that losing more games has impacted morale and that has in-turn reduced individual development. Unless anyone else has a theory, anyway.

SixPointer · February 14

Inspiring player development Shrew, as I always state something I really lack at. Naturally leads me to a few questions.

When is the right time to give them there first team shot? Right now I’ve got a 16 year old who has already made some waves in senior games, but is it to soon? Is there an element of throwing them in the deep end to early? Or is it a case of if your good enough your old enough?

Individual training, I’ve seen a few approaches. Some people use the most completed roles for positions and try to hit as many attributes, others train them in the exact role they plan for them (most realistic to me) then other train the weakest part of their game say a no nonsense defender for a defender who needs to work on the basics but is good technically for ball playing.

ATV · February 14

at what age do you think you'll sell some of these newgens? Spain is tough, especially with the minimum release fee in the contracts.

Shrewnaldo · February 14

Fourth Season

A Sporting Heritage - The Gaujes of Gijón

A successful season, no doubt, as we broke into the European places but frustrations remain due to the poor defensive performances and our tendency to lapse into losing streaks. Three times this season we've gone on winless runs of four games or more - including a six game streak at the back end of January that saw us lose three on the bounce and go out of the cup, and the last five games of the season where we lost four on the bounce and only snuck into Europa League qualification on the final day with a draw.

Scoring 14 more than last season is great, conceding 7 more is not. The implementation of 4-3-3 has not been entirely smooth and we've suffered for the lack of two top-quality centre backs and CJ Sánchez's loss of form. The Cuban goalkeeper conceded 0.27 more goals than expected per 90 this season which is really, really poor. It's possible that the 5-2-2-1, which we used just over 20% of the time this season, will get more pitch-time next campaign - although, interestingly, the statistics suggest it may not be the answer to defensive issues anyway.

Taking 14 minutes more to create a chance (22% worse) and conceding one 26 minutes faster (31%), it doesn't immediately stand out as being the tactical solution. Perhaps it's as simple as being that goalkeeping issue, something which this would support:

Conceding 11 (eleven) goals more than expected... that's just painful. Yet Sánchez is the only current guaje option for in nets. Carlos Gil is coming through the ranks but is 3, maybe 4, seasons away from realistically being a challenger. Can I accept four more seasons of conceding 25% goals than we should? No, no I cannot. So I think I'll just accept that goalkeeper is one of the positions which will need an external player.

Which may also be the case for centre-back where Lucas Ferreras, promoted from the B-team last season, has done ok but isn't showing any signs that the expanded top-tier game time will see him develop into a LaLiga player.

Now that is disappointing (last 12 months of attribute progression). Yet statistically Ferreras has exceeded the performances of Pelayo and Jorge Meré - the latter a particular let-down following his summer arrival from Olympiakos. Therefore, my intention is to keep Ferreras as back-up to the excellent Rafa Marín and pull José Gragera back from his midfield role to play as a centre-back, thereby freeing up one of the three midfield slots for the excellent prospects we have coming out of the B-team. Brazilian guaje Welton will also be promoted as centre-back cover but allowed to play for the B-team, meaning that I can sell one of Pelayo or Meré.

As the 4-3-3 uses an inverted full-back on the left to join the centre backs in a three when we're in possession, Ferreras' ability play both positions covers this naturally and will mean Mexican defender Alejandro Gómez, returning from a successful loan spell with affiliate Atlas, can slot back in to the squad nicely. On the right, Guille Rosas has been first-choice for all four seasons of the save but his performances have dipped slightly this season as he is pushing for a move away - with two years left on his contract, I'm in no rush but Premier League interest could see his £32.5m release clause activated. So that would add an attacking right-back to the goalkeeper on the shopping list.

Into midfield and we've a host of options.

With Gragera moving to centre-back, it's likely that our first-choice senior options for the three roles will be Jonathan Varane - DM(D), Jonathan González - BBM(S) - and Aarón Molinas - MEZ(AT). Of the three, González is the more likely to be replaced by incoming youngsters. Carlos Rojas and Domingo Escribano have started to pick up a bit of game time and will be fixtures in the squad next term. Both are more suited to the DM(D) role which would see the excellent Varane move into the B2B role and González miss out.

For the wider roles, I might have to do a little bit of shopping.

Prendes was promoted to the first-team squad last term but completely failed to impress when called upon and will be allowed to leave. Instead, I'd primarily rotated Gaspar, Francesc Polo, Dani Quiepo and the injury-prone Roberto López between the AP(S) on the right and the W(S) on the left. Youngster Polo has been a great success - 4 goals, 5 assists and a healthy 0.14xA/90. My only issue is that he is still only 18 and not the finished product - so do I want to be relying on him as the team's primary creator, completing more passes than his more developed team-mates? Maybe.

Quiepo is more of a goal threat than a creator and scored 7 in 18 from the left, plus 5 from 7 when stepping into the slot at 9. Gaspar is really the utility man here - capable of either creating or scoring - but performs best from the left. Roberto López, when fit, was absolutely superb as one of the 10s in the 5-2-2-1 but, for reasons I haven't yet fathomed, was much less effective in the 4-3-3.

The only options for youth promotion into the wide areas are 16 year-olds Javi and Ander Aguirre. The latter is ear-marked for the 9 slot and the latter, whilst clearly of future quality, really needs at least one more season in the unders. Which, given the volume of matches we're likely to face, possibly provides scope for another playmaker to come in. Here I would be looking for someone 29+ that can come in with the reputation and the personality to mentor the likes of Polo.

Up front, we're covered. In January, I sold Uroš Sremčević, the 2026 NxGn runner-up, to Antwerp for £14.5m and 20% of his next sale. That allowed me to immediately sign Diego López from Brentford for basically the same cost.

Sremčević may have been highly valued by the game but he was an infuriatingly inconsistent player who never got the goals his talent seemingly promised. López, on the other hand, is a former guaje who left for Real Madrid in 2017, then spent time at Barca and Valencia before, in my save, moving to the Premier League in 2025. He never quite cut it at the G-Tech and I was only too happy to 'bring him home'. 0.7 goals per 90 is an excellent return so far and he looks like being a great signing.

With López clear first choice and Dani Quiepo and able back-up, we also have Peruvian Daniel Bernal returning from loan. The 6'8" striker scored 10 at Mallorca and finished 23rd in this year's list of the world's wonderkids. Yet he isn't gathering the slightest transfer interest and I'm loathe to force the issue and miss out on the value that's clearly there. Signed for just £375k, he's guaranteed profit but I'm hoping for somewhere close to his release clause of £20m with a hefty sell-on clause.

If it weren't for the guaje options we have, I'd be more interested in keeping Bernal around but, leaving aside the likes of Rodriguez, Álex and Diawara, I'm just waitin

Still only 5'10", his Jumping attribute has already increased by 4 points since spawn and he scored on his debut against Real Betis, beating 6' Patric and 6'2" Álex Pérez to this header. After 24 goals and 9 assists in 20 games for the under-19s, he was promoted to the B-team and scored twice, assisting once in 7 sub appearances. He's going to be phenomenal if he continues to develop like this and the only question is how long do I wait before putting him in the first team?

Is 16 too young? I don't think there is a 'too young' in this game, so long as they are already good enough to hold their own and can perform well enough to maintain morale then why not throw them in? So I think Aguirre will bounce between the senior and B-teams this season.

All that leaves a shopping list of: first-choice goalkeeper, likely replacement right-back for Rosas and playmaker from the right-wing. I'll also be doing my usual trawl of the Mexican market. González has been solid in the first-team and Abraham Meza made a good contribution in the B-team. They were joined in January by 18 year-old Manuel Rey, signed for just £200k from Orlegi affiliate Santos Laguna.

Signed on his 18th birthday, if Rey hangs around until he turns 21 then he'll also qualify as a homegrown Sporting Gijón player. With his Professional personality, he's already looking like a good pick-up and I'm hoping will be the blueprint for Mexican signings going forward.

¡Siempre Sporting!

Shrewnaldo · February 14

16 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Inspiring player development Shrew, as I always state something I really lack at. Naturally leads me to a few questions.

When is the right time to give them there first team shot? Right now I’ve got a 16 year old who has already made some waves in senior games, but is it to soon? Is there an element of throwing them in the deep end to early? Or is it a case of if your good enough your old enough?

Individual training, I’ve seen a few approaches. Some people use the most completed roles for positions and try to hit as many attributes, others train them in the exact role they plan for them (most realistic to me) then other train the weakest part of their game say a no nonsense defender for a defender who needs to work on the basics but is good technically for ball playing.

The question of when to throw them in is a good one and I'm really not sure. I've just mentioned this in the post above but I don't think there's a 'too young' - basically as soon as they're good enough to get a decent rating and maintain morale then I'm tempted to put them in. Is this the 'right way'? I'm really not sure. I know that SI folk have said there is an optimum previously - which is essentially 'not before 18'. But Evidence Based FM didn't find any such correlation in his detailed experiments so I'm ignoring that.

In terms of individual training, I try to maximise the key attributes for the role I want them to perform and I use the role training for this. If there are relevant specific weaknesses - in the key attributes or otherwise - then I use the additional focus for this.

14 hours ago, ATV said:

at what age do you think you'll sell some of these newgens? Spain is tough, especially with the minimum release fee in the contracts.

I haven't really considered this, tbh. I'm guessing at some point I just won't have an option with individual players. The likes of Aguirre will get poached by a super-club eventually so I just have to make sure I've managed the contract well enough to keep the minimum fee clauses nice and high.

For those that I want to sell, it'll just be at the point that I know they won't be good enough to fill a role in the club *and* have a better prospect coming up behind them. That could really be at any age.

DavideToreroFM · February 14

I'm just getting started with this thread so I'll try and stay away from any spoilers. It's a great idea for a save and this type of multi-club ownership could be very successful. Fingers crossed you can leap over some early barriers to getting a few more Mexicans in your set up. Youth development has to be one of my favourite areas too so I'll be following closely.

Last point... how can I get those newgen faces into my game? I did have Newgan but didn't really get to grips with it before some update borked it. Could you point me in the direction of a workaround or something, please?

ZeroSens · February 14

As a mexican i been following your updates consistently, happy to see you have mexicans being developed by your club as thats what we lack in real life (altough most mexico hates Irraragori), and congrats on getting european football, waiting to see where you go from there.

Shrewnaldo · February 14

1 hour ago, DavideToreroFM said:

I'm just getting started with this thread so I'll try and stay away from any spoilers. It's a great idea for a save and this type of multi-club ownership could be very successful. Fingers crossed you can leap over some early barriers to getting a few more Mexicans in your set up. Youth development has to be one of my favourite areas too so I'll be following closely.

Last point... how can I get those newgen faces into my game? I did have Newgan but didn't really get to grips with it before some update borked it. Could you point me in the direction of a workaround or something, please?

I'm not doing anything unusual with the Newgan manager. I know the 24.2 update mucked all the graphics up because it changed the way the UIDs had to be referenced in the config, adding the requirement for "r-" before the ID number. But if you just download the latest Newgan manager then it has this in it automatically.

I've then just paired it with the SortItOutSI "UltraRealistic Newgan Face Cutouts" pack. Simple as that.

13 minutes ago, ZeroSens said:

As a mexican i been following your updates consistently, happy to see you have mexicans being developed by your club as thats what we lack in real life (altough most mexico hates Irraragori), and congrats on getting european football, waiting to see where you go from there.

Thanks, always happy to help develop a few mexicans. I wish I could get more into the system but the restriction on under-18s leaving LigaMX is stopping me. A shame most people hate Irraragori, although I can't say I'm surprised. I'll just pretend that his in-game persona is universally loved.

_Ben_ · February 15

22 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Still only 5'10", his Jumping attribute has already increased by 4 points since spawn and he scored on his debut against Real Betis, beating 6' Patric and 6'2" Álex Pérez to this header. After 24 goals and 9 assists in 20 games for the under-19s, he was promoted to the B-team and scored twice, assisting once in 7 sub appearances. He's going to be phenomenal if he continues to develop like this and the only question is how long do I wait before putting him in the first team?

Is 16 too young? I don't think there is a 'too young' in this game, so long as they are already good enough to hold their own and can perform well enough to maintain morale then why not throw them in? So I think Aguirre will bounce between the senior and B-teams this season.

You're building some really strong foundations Shrew! Congratulations on the European qualification. Any realistic aims for there next season or is it just an 'enjoy it' but make sure you qualify for it again? I love Aguirre but I too am an absolute sucker for just moving them into the team at such a young age. Currently, half of my squad are teenagers and that, despite a great academy focus, is just not realistic! On the other hand, my playing time is now so much slower that a year or two in the B team and then a couple of loans means I'd never play long enough for these kids to break through! I will watch how you handle him closely and probably learn a thing or two!

ZeroSens · February 16

En 14/2/2024 a las 17:50, Shrewnaldo dijo:

I'll just pretend that his in-game persona is universally loved

Yeah, let’s do that, and also let’s just pretend he isn’t being investigated by tax exasion and is being sued by Mickey Mouse.

BillHoudini24 · February 17

Very interesting save and Spain is the right place to do it with all those salary restrictions. Eager to see how your Mexican recruitment will pay off in the long term, it's one of the Latin America countries that I haven't focused on.

Shrewnaldo · February 17

On 15/02/2024 at 18:38, _Ben_ said:

You're building some really strong foundations Shrew! Congratulations on the European qualification. Any realistic aims for there next season or is it just an 'enjoy it' but make sure you qualify for it again? I love Aguirre but I too am an absolute sucker for just moving them into the team at such a young age. Currently, half of my squad are teenagers and that, despite a great academy focus, is just not realistic! On the other hand, my playing time is now so much slower that a year or two in the B team and then a couple of loans means I'd never play long enough for these kids to break through! I will watch how you handle him closely and probably learn a thing or two!

My expectations were to repeat the European qualification and keep increasing the youth minutes. However, as I'm about to post, I think I've screwed up and we're really struggling at the start of the new campaign.

Shrewnaldo · February 17

Mistakes were made

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

So I made a very sensible post about what my transfer priorities should be and then I went into the transfer window and did pretty much none of that. So I guess I only have myself to blame. It's been a struggle.

It all started great with that 4-1 thumping of Getafe, including a wonderful goal from guaje Domingo Escribano but it's been all down, down, downhill from there.

We won the xG battle against Grenada, Zaragoza and Girona - comfortably in all cases - but we just can't score. Diego López, last season's top scorer, is taking <2 shots per 90 and has scored 1 in 7. And at the other end, we've been way too easy to score against. Now, I don't know if you're very familiar with the sport of associated soccer but that isn't an ideal combination.

Our xG/shot is the third best in the league yet our conversion rate is the 6th worst. How do you account for that sort of loss of form?

Perhaps I should have brought in some competition for Diego López but I figured Quiepo and, if necessary, the Peruvian Bernal would be good enough cover. However, a series of minor injuries in wide areas has meant Quiepo isn't available to deputise and Bernal has been both injured and now transfer listed after a tantrum.

Perhaps I should have brought in another striker then, or perhaps more wide options, or perhaps just more players. In the end, I only made two first-team signings with Hakim Ziyech joining on a free and Mexican centre-back Jesús Orozco Chiquete one of two arrivals from Deportivo Guadalajara.

Ziyech was the one piece of business I identified in the last post which I actually followed through on - an experienced, high reputation wide playmaker with a good personality to tutor Polo et al. But I never signed a replacement goalkeeper or a right-back. The latter I didn't need after Rosas, our current first-choice, never attracted any bids and eventually signed a new contract. The former... well that was definitely a mistake.

I couldn't find any good options for prices and wages that I was willing to offer - either £15m+ or £70kpw+ is just not going to happen. And so I decided to stick with CJ Sanchez for now. In the 7 matches so far, he's averaging -0.31xGP/90. That's an underperformance of a goal every 3 games. Abysmal.

I also had the unexpected job of replacing the outstanding Rafa Marín. Having joined from Real for £1.2m in 2025, following a successful loan spell the season before, Marín headed to Saudi Arabia when Al Taawoun triggered his £16.5m release clause. To replace him, I decided to head to the Mexican market again.

Chiquete is decent and, to be honest, I'm pretty happy with him and our defensive performance so far - at least until the opposition take a shot at which point it all becomes a bit Massimo Taibi. We have the fifth lowest xGA.

And we also have the 6th best xG... so what to do about it? Do we just ride this out and trust that our front players will return to form sooner or later? Do I call up Ander Aguirre from the unders and just let him have his shot already? I am sorely, sorely tempted to do so - surely López will return to form at some point but it feels like he needs to be taken out of the spotlight for a while and we're very short of other options. I'd much rather give Aguirre a few matches than Bernal.

After throwing his toys out of the pram because I offered him around a bit, he's sitting on the transfer list and will likely leave for a fraction of his true value. Indeed, the same thing already happened with one of our brighter prospects.

I was really keen on Javier Bravo when he came through our second intake but his attitude has been horrible ever since. His training was always shocking and he reacted really poorly to criticism. Thanks to both the poor training and his attitude, his development was turgid at best so I tried him on loan at a Segunda club last season. Just 3 goals and 2 assists later, I'd had enough. Surprisingly a lot of big clubs came in for him and he ended up going to Napoli - for just £235k and 30% of his next sale. Another mistake? We'll have to wait and see.

I do not, though, have time to 'wait and see' what happens with our form. Our fixtures so far have been pretty soft and we're still shocking - with Atlético, La Real, the big Real and Sevilla coming up next we could be a bit of trouble. The board expect mid-table this season and I was anticipating another challenge for European places. At this rate, it's more likely to be a relegation battle.

¡Siempre Sporting!

ifinnem · February 17

Seems like the fairly common slump best corrected by sticking to what has been working before

Shrewnaldo · February 17

1 hour ago, ifinnem said:

Seems like the fairly common slump best corrected by sticking to what has been working before

Hopefully. Nothing is going right for us just now. I set up a friendly during the international break to get some confidence back and Gaspar, one of our best attacking players, broke his leg.

keeper#1 · February 18

1 hour ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Hopefully. Nothing is going right for us just now. I set up a friendly during the international break to get some confidence back and Gaspar, one of our best attacking players, broke his leg.

:seagull:

Litmanen 10 · February 18

Excellent stuff once again.

It is good to see these career updates where people actuallt struggle. I'm simply in love with my Betis save as there is a strong sense of struggling in that one too.

BillHoudini24 · February 18

I think you did well with Bravo, those cases never work in my experience, especially in clubs with pressure to perform. Let's see how he does at Napoli.

I also agree with what is said about sticking to tactics, I have a feeling that the issue is with individual players under-performing, and not with the tactic/philosophy.

_Ben_ · February 18

17 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

My expectations were to repeat the European qualification and keep increasing the youth minutes. However, as I'm about to post, I think I've screwed up and we're really struggling at the start of the new campaign.

With the smooth, inevitably, comes the rough! It’s when you find out the most about these youngsters, in my eyes. I’d love to see how someone like Aguirre reacts to the push and agree that moving Bravo on was right.

I have faith that you’ll find your way out of the slump though! What are the board targets? Can you afford mid table if the turnaround isn’t 100% successful?

Shrewnaldo · February 18

2 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

With the smooth, inevitably, comes the rough! It’s when you find out the most about these youngsters, in my eyes. I’d love to see how someone like Aguirre reacts to the push and agree that moving Bravo on was right.

I have faith that you’ll find your way out of the slump though! What are the board targets? Can you afford mid table if the turnaround isn’t 100% successful?

The board just want mid-table, so we shouldn't be in too much danger so long as I can avoid a relegation battle. Our form has continued to fluctuate but we're helped out by the league being a bit crazy.

We've just beat Betis 2-0 to rise from 15th to 7th. The bunching through the middle of the table is crazy.

I've also just decided to go all out on the development kick and have promoted newgens Welton, Javi and Aguirre from the b-team. I've also decided to experiment massively and pulled Carlos Gil into the first team for the last 7 games. Guess which 'keeper has performed better?

The now 17 year-old has 4 clean sheet in 7 games and an xGP/90 of 0.22. Sanchez has 4 clean sheets in 14 and an xGP/90 of negative 0.2. Who knows how that works.

To give you an idea of how much I've committed to the 'screw it' approach, we ended that 2-0 win over Betis with the following ages on the pitch: 17, 19, 30, 25, 21, 19, 27, 18, 19, 17 and 17. The two goals were scored by Aguirre (17) and Moreno (19), the latter assisted by Javi (17).

SixPointer · February 19

16 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

The now 17 year-old has 4 clean sheet in 7 games and an xGP/90 of 0.22. Sanchez has 4 clean sheets in 14 and an xGP/90 of negative 0.2. Who knows how that works.

Im having a little bit of an issue with my keeper as well. The Chilean number one, he can’t catch a cold even though his attributes make him a standout at the level. So like you I threw by prospect in and he got man of the match on his debut. With scatterings of decent attributes! MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!!

16 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

To give you an idea of how much I've committed to the 'screw it' approach, we ended that 2-0 win over Betis with the following ages on the pitch: 17, 19, 30, 25, 21, 19, 27, 18, 19, 17 and 17. The two goals were scored by Aguirre (17) and Moreno (19), the latter assisted by Javi (17).

Good enough they are old enough Shrew you said it yourself. Perhaps a few a head of schedule at 17 but the likes of Javi, Aguirre and Martinez were always going to make that step up!

Litmanen 10 · February 19

Goalkeepers definitely are an odd thing in this engine. I have had the same problem with both Rui Silva and Chelsea's Sánchez. Both can have one magnificent game and then in the next one they won't save a thing.

Against Las Palmas they had 5 shots and 3 on target scoring on all of them and against Sevilla the goalkeeper's weird positioning made it easy for the strikers to apply finishes.

Shrewnaldo · February 21

The Fifth Intake

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

Later, I'll post some detail on how this topsy-turvy season is going but for now it's the best part of the year - the newgen intake. This was the preview, so much as it means nothing whatsoever

And that turned into this on the day:

So here we go, reacting live. All very exciting.

Elite Talents

Jonathan Mouriño - Centre back

Ok, ok. There's an awful lot to like there. Already 6'1" at 15, his strength *should* increase very quickly in a few years and the rest of his physicals are starting from a great base. Of his mentals, only the Teamwork is lower than you'd like whilst his technicals aren't far off at all. I really like that's he both brave and aggressive with excellent starting Positioning - whilst his Technique and First Touch are already first-team ready as a ball-playing defender. Long story short, Mouriño is very definitely A Special One.

Alberto - Right wing

Back to the more normal standard of newgens now - promising but a lot of gaps. Physically Alberto passes muster and he has clear technical strengths in First Touch, Passing and Technique - with the Flair to exploit. Crossing, Dribblins, Off The Ball and Vision are just one away from double-digits and I think Alberto's 'eye test' will be so much more favourable when these tick over. But I doubt he'll make an elite winger, in the truest sense, from a starting point of 9 for Crossing and Dribbling. Clearly, the passing is a strength but Composure, Decisions and Vision are perhaps too low for an elite playmaker.

Top Talents

Carlos Camacho - Goalkeeper

Our 17 year old prospect in goal Carlos Gil (3rd intake) is already in the first-team and Spain's under-21 'keeper, so we're no longer desperate for a newgen goalie. Camacho is, I think, a good prospect but I can't see him usurping Gil as first choice. Starting points of 5 for Communication and 7 for Handling and Positioning are just way too low. Even increases by 5 for all three will only get him to mediocre LaLiga level. A good back-up? Perhaps.

Oscar Villanueva - Striker

Nice beard for 15. 6'4" and good feet for a big man with that Dribbling, First Touch and Technique. Plus the mentals look decent for a worker but there's quite a few gaps there for me. Physicals are a long way off really. As a finisher, he's really got a long way to go (7 for Finishing & Composure). As a link player his Passing and Vision are poor (6 & 7). As a hold-up player his Aggression (8), Bravery (6) and Strength (4) are way behind par. I'm not sure what to make of Villanueva.

Juan Salazar - Right winger

Another winger who can't cross. Good personality so he should develop nicely but into what? He can't cross, can barely dribble and can't finish. The game has him listed as a playmaker and I can see why but still with gaps and I don't particularly like using right-footed playmakers from wide on the right. Another one that stumps me.

I'm afraid the rest are dross - including two Gambians and an Equatoguinean for reasons that surpass understanding... and still no Mexicans.

So all-in-all, this has to be the worst intake of the five to date. Mouriño is definitely a winner whilst two or three of the others look to have some sort of promise, even if I'm not sure in what role.

Thankfully, we already have a raft of talent that's making it's way through the system so I can afford an off year here or there. Indeed, the talent has started to make its way into the first-team, where I've decided to use the mistake of understrengthening in the market as an opportunity to just commit with the youth.

More than 2000 minutes so far for Ferreras and Polo, over 1000 for Escribano, Moreno, Rojas, Gil and Aguirre. The last of these is clearly the pick of the bunch with 7 first-team goals but Carlos Rojas (intake 2) is the one who has seen the biggest improvement from the game time.

Still only 18, he should have another year or so of high-level progression before slowing down a little in his 20s. This has made me consider whether my policy of 2 years in the under-19s, 2 years in the B-team and only then progression into the first-team is the correct one. All these players have more than held their own at LaLiga level, indeed most of them have far exceeded the performances implied by their attributes and are effectively playing to their PA, rather than CA. See Carlos Gil for a prime example.

So whilst I still have the best part of £20m in the transfer budget, I decided to double-down on the mistake in January and didn't bring in reinforcements. What will be will be this season and I reckon we still have an outside chance of making it back into Europe, where we've been having a jolly old time this season - turning in a shocking performance in the league phase before disposing of Young Boys and Braga 5-3 a-piece to meet Bologna in the Europa League quarters.

I had considered bringing additional youth players into the first team to cater for the additional games but, thanks to yet another wonder B-team bug in FM24, you can't use unregistered youth players after the 31 Jan registration date - even though I could previously. But for next season, the successes of Aguirre, Rojas and Escribano will see likes of Chirpus, Manuel Rey, Quiñones, Welton and Javi brought into the top squad. Whilst it won't ever become a 'youth only' save, I should only be looking for signings down the spine of the team - always with positive personalities to add mentoring to the quality.

One other big lesson from this season - make sure I have recall clauses in loan deals. I've moved quite a few players into Primera and Segunda clubs on loan and whilst the majority of them have become first choice, Mario Rodriguez has been woefully under-used. Unfortunately I failed to notice that his loan club removed the recall clause and I have no option but to watch Tudelano consign a very promising player to another wasted season. Rodriguez is an outlier, however, and most of our youth is ticking along very nicely indeed.

¡Siempre Sporting!

_Ben_ · February 23

On 21/02/2024 at 22:20, Shrewnaldo said:

He looks to be quality! I think the fact that the game already describes him as BPD shows just how he has no real areas of weakness that won't be ironed out. Build your youth team around him!

Shrewnaldo · February 24

On 23/02/2024 at 17:12, _Ben_ said:

He looks to be quality! I think the fact that the game already describes him as BPD shows just how he has no real areas of weakness that won't be ironed out. Build your youth team around him!

Interestingly, after signing the good ones, we're now up to 4 Elite Talents and 2 Top Talents, including one that I didn't even include in the wrap up above. I don't see it.

But like you say, Mouriño is undoubtedly the star of the show. He's already signed his professional contract - the question is just how long until I introduce him to the first team. He really isn't that far off.

Blodyxe · February 24

I wouldn't hurry throwing Mouriño in the first team. He could dominate in the youth leagues to get good ratings, instead of being a shaky option in La Liga. Also, doesn't he look like a fullback at the moment? Anywho, great diary!

Shrewnaldo · February 24

What the heck happened here?

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

What an odd season. Our defensive performance improved by 10 goals in the league but our overall performance deteriorated from last season - only by two games really, turning two wins into an extra draw and an extra loss to record five fewer points. That, however, saw us drop to 9th and fail to qualify for Europe next season so it has to go down as a big disappointment. And it's not really hard to see why we failed to capitalise on the stronger defence.

Whilst Valencia's xG underperformance was nominally worse than ours, ours represents an 11.8% underperformance against our measly xG of 48.7. From the fourth best attack to the 8th worst, I really can't put my finger on any reason for the sudden dip in goalscoring ability across the entire squad. Clearly the worst culprit was primary 9 Diego López who still ended our season as top scorer but only thanks to Copa del Rey goals against minnows. He managed just 5 in the league this term and might well find himself jettisoned in the summer.

Yet overall, it has to go down as a pretty successful season overall. Faced with continental competition for the first time, we still managed a top half finish and were knocked out by Real Madrid in the domestic cup - but the Europa League rather summed up our season.

We were moderately dreadful in the league phase - then bizarrely smashed 6 past Qarabag and beat Spurs away to drag ourselves through to the knockouts. We then hammered Young Boys, Braga and Bologna in the home legs before rather less comfortable away fixtures which eventually saw us come unstuck in Italy. And how.

We were absolutely cruising on the hour, 5-1 up on aggregate and in complete control of the game. But Chiquete, our best centre back, had gone off injured and Bologna stuck on Chaka Traoré who proceeded to score a hat-trick and assist the other to take us first to extra-time and ultimately to penalties where we'd lose out. Bologna would go on to lose to Man Utd in the final.

That second leg came in a group of end-of-season fixtures which saw us conceded 17 goals in 5 games, with our previously rock-solid defence falling to pieces and costing us not only the Europa League quarter but also a chance to re-enter the tournament next season - taking just 7 points from the last 27 available. Dire.

I then spent a bit of my 'parental taxi' time this weekend having a think about the save and where we've gone wrong this season. My conclusion, so far, is that I have fallen into the same trap I always do when I revert to 4-3-3: I try to cover every base and the tactic ends up becoming a vanilla meh of nothingness. We're fine, defensively pretty solid for the most part and create mid-table level of chances. With mid-table levels of players, that gets you... well... mid-table. I need to get back out of the vanilla and get some sort of tactical thought together on how to utilise the best players at my disposal.

And this includes the best prospects at my disposal - several of which will be promoted to the senior team again this season. Despite the loss of European football and the 8-12 extra matches that goes with it, I want to continue that development route so Manuel Navarro, Hugo Quiñones and Javi will come into the first team squad. They may also be joined by Mario Martínez, Seydou Diawara and latest starlet Jonathan Mouriño. The latter three are more likely to be brought in for the odd game here and there, rather than permanent fixtures in the squad.

And what system will these players come into, as I try to digress from the 'vanilla'?

Why, an attacking 4-2-3-1 with a high press of course. What could be less vanilla than that?!

But, in all seriousness, this suits the players at my disposal and looks to exploit the excellent creativity we have at 10 with Aarón Molinas and Roberto López, and the number of players we have who suit the double pivot. It also keeps the attacking right wing-back given Rosas is one of our best players and allows me to retain the 3-1 build-up shape that I've been enjoying using the IFB to form the 3 and the BWM(D) holding the centre in front of them.

Our defensive personnel aren't world beaters so we've been tending to use possession as a defensive tactic and this will look to continue that, whilst I'm hoping the use of a natural 10 will bring us more success in getting the creative players into the right positions - as well as giving that 10 extra runners in front of him for those searching passes. I'm looking forward to working through it and stealing some of the analytical ideas from Ben.

Not content with stealing from one fellow FMer, I also really liked the squad planning spreadsheet which Doop posted and have plagiarised the sort of format to improve upon my earlier efforts. This will be fully populated for next season.

Finally, I realised that I had forgotten to post our game time statistics and a check back against the targets I'd set at the start of the save. So here are the tables, updated for the last two campaigns.

And that has to be the most pleasing bit of all. The entire premise of the save is to make Sporting a successful team but through the development of players from the Mareo academy. We've now met both the 60% target for the number of players in the first team who are 'homegrown', and smashed the 50% threshold for giving the guajes gametime. Ok, this season might have been a blip on the smooth path to world domination but, within the constraints I've set myself, I reckon it's something we can happily accept.

¡Siempre Sporting!

Shrewnaldo · February 24

25 minutes ago, Blodyxe said:

I wouldn't hurry throwing Mouriño in the first team. He could dominate in the youth leagues to get good ratings, instead of being a shaky option in La Liga. Also, doesn't he look like a fullback at the moment? Anywho, great diary!

Thanks!

I have considered him as a fullback, given the crossing particularly. But I *really* like the combination of Aggression, Bravery and Positioning that he's got going on. If his Strength can grow nicely into his 20s then I'm keen to put him in the middle. If not, then I could well return to the full-back idea.

And I know what you're saying and keeping his morale up for the development boost. It's something that bothers me about sending players on loan to weaker sides in relatively good leagues for their level. It's always a risk they just end up slumping in a rubbish team.

Shrewnaldo · February 27

Working it out tactically

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

I've paused my game halfway through a match at Real Sociedad and will use this post to record my thoughts tactically for the rest of this match. Above, I'd alluded to the tactical issues we'd been having and how they'd led to attacking impotence over and over again. Over the summer break, I'd experimented a bit with 4-2-3-1 but it never, ever works out for me and I always come back to the 4-3-3 shape. Defensively, I just much prefer the 4-1-4-1 shape that it provides and feel like I should be able to work out how to mesh the team into a coherent attacking unit from the 4-3-3 base. Surely?

This is the 4-3-3 base that I've been looking to use and is pretty much what brought us a lot of success before, offensively at least, falling to pieces last season. This season, I've decided that I simply want to be better going forward and so have decided to revamp the approach - starting with a switch to an Attacking mentality and a higher press. I want to be more on the front foot so logic dictates this is a sensible place to start. (note, the striker role is very much a W-i-P)

We lost the opening game of the season 2-1 away at Real Madrid, hardly an embarrassment and we went toe-to-toe with them for quite a while. We then beat Almería 3-1 at home - although aided by an early red card for the visitors. Regardless, signs of progress. I then decided to watch the next few games in full match and see if I can figure out where I'm going wrong. It's been quite enlightening really and has shown a number of things that I just didn't notice watching on highlights, even comprehensive.

So much so that I decided I needed to write them down to: a - remember them all; and b - work out in my head what to do about it.

So first up:

Here we've been playing out from the back and our left-back, playing as an IFB, has played the ball into the B2B midfielder. Gonzalez has turned and looked to play forward where he has only two options ahead of him. Versus 6 La Real defenders. I know we're playing out from the back but it immediately feels like we need to commit more bodies forward.

I like the positioning of Molinas [the CM(A)] and of Polo [the AP(S)] to occupy the left midfielder and the left-back. But I had really expected Rosas, playing as a CWB(A), to be taking up a more advanced position that he is. I really want him up where the yellow arrow is indicating - looking to overload the right-hand side and either pull the left-back out to cover him or be able to exploit the wide open space that's available. Immediately, this is a huge disappointment for me and something that I have noticed time and again with wingbacks from the defensive line. They are preset to stay within the defensive third when you are building from the back and I find it inordinately frustrating that I just can't tell him to play 20 yards further forward.

Perhaps if my DM were a half-back and splitting the centre-backs, then the wingbacks would push higher - but I want to use an IFB to create the back three in possession and keep the DM central in front of them at all times. Instead, the back four stay as a back four until we've played into the middle third. Just very frustrating.

Later in the same move, Rosas has eventually got the ball down the line, taken on the fullback and put a cross into the box... to one player - a striker who isn't particularly good in the air. We have very little presence in the box and the CM(A), B2B and left winger are all too slow to offer options in the box. It's a curious combination of the play developing far too slowly to exploit the space in the first picture and then, after 5 passes and eventually getting the ball to the same player, too quick for the supporting central runs.

Here the ball has been recycled back to our 'keeper and then played out to Gragera - nominally the right centre-back but here forming the right of the three in-possession. I really like that we're stretching the La Real defence with #21 at left-back and #2 at right-back pulled out to the extremes of the box-width. This leave a large area for the two centre-backs to cover and then large gaps in-between. I've paused the game here and would really like to see our #7 (López) make the run indicated, looking for the long-ball over the top from Gragera.

Alternatively, Gragera could carry the ball and wait until a defender commits himself and the look for to exploit a potential overload on our right-flank or switch the play to where we've isolated the right back against our left-winger on a 1v1.

Instead, he carries the ball right a little and then plays a short pass to our Complete Wingback on Attack Duty in an Attacking system who has retreated to the halfway line. 🤪

At this point, I'm coming to the sad conclusion that the AP(S) from out wide - a role I really love - just isn't working out. When watching on just highlights, I really like the way the AP(S) drops deep and allows the CM(A) and wingback to break beyond him. Watching on full match, I'm seeing how rarely that actually happens and how often he is simply cramping the space occupied by others. Also, the way the CWB(A) is operating as we play through the thirds is just awful and means that we lack any advanced width until we've established final third possession. This isn't the way that I want to play.

So at half-time, I've switched things up. Rosas (RB) is injured and is replaced by a more conservative player. So I'm going to switch to this for the second half.

It's a bit of an experiment really but I'm looking for the RB to step inside and play in front of the three defenders when we have the ball. That allows Varane to roam forward as a Regista with 'gets further forward' instruction. The CM(A) switches to the left and allows the right-winger to hopefully be isolated against the left-back - with a ball-winner protecting the flank. No idea if it'll work.

Incidentally it's 0-0 and whilst we've only had 4 shots for 0.48xG, Real Sociedad have had none. And they're the home team.

Before I see anything else, the immediate problem right from kick-off is the regista is so much more aggressive in the press and vacates the DM slot way too early for my liking. The BWM(S) is also a problem because he drops deep through the defensive to middle third transition and sits on top of the IWB(D). So I've switched that midfielder immediately back to a B2B.

Ok, posting as I've run out of image space. Will follow up with the next part

Shrewnaldo · February 27

Continued...

As expected, the IWB(D) sees the regista and always acts as if they form a double-pivot - thereby holding a much wider position than I want. I'm ok with the regista dropping deep for the ball here as he's that sort of playmaker but I really want the defensive cover to sit inside where I've indicated. I like the #7 holding the width better and I'm enjoying the use of the lone Trequartista up front - even if I feel he could do with a bit more support laterally.

Regarding the build-up shape, I guess I have a few options:

use two IFBs and a libero to re-create the 3-1 in possession. I don't like this idea as I want to have a 4-1-4-1 shape out of possession and I don't want the in-possession-6 to automatically think he has to retreat to his centre back spot in defensive transition. I like the use of one IFB and a DM
Stick with the one IFB and use the DM as a holding player again, i.e. back to the DM(D) which I really like or perhaps even a DLP to give him more licence for line-breaking passes. The question then becomes what to do with the right-back. I want him to be where the #7 is in the screenshot above when we're playing through the middle third but the presets won't allow that and so I'm just stumped. I can't use him as any sort of IWB because then the DM assumes it's a double-pivot and shifts over - again, I don't want that.
Switch the AMR to an inside forward on the basis that he'll hold the width as we play through the thirds, then come inside once the ball is moving into the final third as the wingback looks to move forward. This is fine but by god is it boring

So that leaves us with a much more orthodox shape in possession, I guess. The centrebacks and IFB are forming the three (ish) and the #8 is sitting in front as the DLP. The #9 as Treq has chosen to drop off here but we have three options threatening in behind. So it's fine. But what is the right back (#12) doing here? What's the point of him? He offers absolutely nothing where he is - he has no hope of getting on the ball, the #6 is offering the pass wide, he isn't covering against any counter threat, he isn't offering a pass through the lines, he isn't even occupying a defender. He's doing absolutely nothing. I really hate non-inverted fullbacks in FM.

We ended up winning this game 1-0, our phenomenal goal coming from right-footed left-winger Gaspar who picked the ball up on the intersection of the touchline and halfway line then dribbled past their defence before scoring a belter into the bottom corner. It was not a classic. 9 shots all game. La Real's first coming in the 76th minute as we completely shut them down.

So clearly there are some big positives from how we're playing. Defensively, we're great (or at least we were in this game against Real Sociedad's 4-2-3-1), and we've dominated possession in the way I want. Plus we were away to the team expected to finish 5th whilst we're predicted to finish 11th.

But just as clearly, there's still a lot of work to be done in terms of making us more of an attacking threat. I think I'll have to just revert to the boring, boring DLP at DM, CWB(A) and IF(A) combination on the right with the two midfield roles swapped. As much as I love the AP(S) from out wide, watching the full match has indicated that it isn't working.

The striker role continues to be a conundrum. I am not going to use an AF. It's the obvious answer and I always default to it but no. I'm adamant that I'll be able to use a different role. I certainly liked aspects of the trequartista but the lack of runners in behind is always an issue in FM unless you're using a high striker. So lots still to think about. Our next game is home to Getafe and another I'll work through in full detail.

Edited February 28 by Shrewnaldo

Lestri · February 27

That right back is a pickle and a half!

SixPointer · February 28

I know it’s not what you want to hear but I have the complete wing back roles flying in my latest system. Albeit I have been using them on both sides with a HB or anchor in the DM depending on the opponents shape.

I have dual inside forwards on support. So like you say vanilla but it’s seen my wing backs, (left especially 17 assists) become real assets going forward.

you could try moving them into the DM strata? Or add the overlap instruction for the right hand side and see if you can get him higher.

Shrewnaldo · February 28

26 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

I know it’s not what you want to hear but I have the complete wing back roles flying in my latest system. Albeit I have been using them on both sides with a HB or anchor in the DM depending on the opponents shape.

I have dual inside forwards on support. So like you say vanilla but it’s seen my wing backs, (left especially 17 assists) become real assets going forward.

I'm sure I'd still get assists out of him - he's usually one of my higher assist makers and gets advanced when we're in the final third. It's how he plays in the defensive and middle third that's the issue. Perhaps yours is more advanced thanks to that HB splitting the centre-backs and then effectively turning the DR wingback into a WBR wingback, pushing him higher. But I don't want to use a HB - it annoys me that it's just a case of selecting presets to get basic positioning, instead of just being able to tell the players where I want them to play through the thirds.

I can't see any way in which I can get that rightback to have a higher starting position when we're playing through the defensive and middle thirds. There just aren't instructions to allow me to do it.

Quote

you could try moving them into the DM strata?

I expect that would help with his starting position but I don't want to do that because the AI doesn't use a 4-3-3 with WB instead of FBs. I'd feel like I was exploiting the game by doing that so I always stick to the defensive shapes that are also available to the AI.

Quote

Or add the overlap instruction for the right hand side and see if you can get him higher.

I might try that but my expectation is that it won't work. A CWB(A) in an attacking system already has 'very attacking' mentality - despite how he actually behaves on the pitch. The overlap instruction is supposed to reduce the mentality of the AMR and increase that of the DR - but the DR's is already maxed out so... Worth a shot though, even if I don't want to be forced into also reducing the AMR's mentality (although I've just looked and the AMR's mentality always stays as 'very attacking').

I think in my next match, I'm going to remove all in-possession TIs and PIs, to revert to the vanilla and then build from there. I'm really happy with how we're playing defensively so those are fine but reckon a complete reset going forward will be the best way forward, pun intended.

Carambau · February 28

What detailed yet comprehensive posts Catching up, I like this!

Litmanen 10 · February 28

Really interesting posts once again. Those kind of 'boring' tactical victories against bigger sides are the ones I enjoy the most in FM.

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FM24 | A Sporting Heritage | The Guajes of Gijón

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