FM24 | A Sporting Heritage | The Guajes of Gijón

_Ben_ · March 23

10 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Lozano is still listed as 'Fairly Professional' which is another reason for my disappointment in his development so far. He's had nearly 1000 first-team minutes this season but seems to be in a similar position to your players - he isn't playing that well so his morale is relatively low and therefore he doesn't develop?

How long are you planning on sticking at Leverkusen? If the non-active promotions are based on reputation then you could get into 3.Liga within 3 seasons? Not sure how much the B-team would cost you but worth a shot?

But I'd definitely agree that Bundesliga2 games with Duisburg will be much better - the only downside there is that you can't control the system they'd be playing in, or influence the game time the same way you can with a B-team.

I'm absolutely with you on this intake. Underwhelming is definitely the word I'd choose. I do like Corominas a lot and I think Carlos is pretty decent but it's way behind all of our other intakes in terms of excitement factor. I ended up sacking our HoYD and bringing in Thomas Caers.

Yeah - I think that the link between performances and progress is quite tight this year. Really hard (and rightly so) to find the right level and the right ability. I will stay at Bayer for the remainder of my time, probably, but the problem with Duisberg is that they're currently bottom of the league and my hot prospect striker has two in fifteen with an awful rating. I'm just trying to find a 3.Liga club but, as you say, this could be a decent middle ground even if you've put me off ever having a competitive reserve club given the bugs everywhere!

I like your new HoYD but, given the success you've had this season, wonder if you're potentially looking just that bit too deep? I know it's a marginal gains business and you want to improve everywhere, but you've brought through a high number of quality youngsters and have reached a high that I don't think many would be able to - do you think you're already over achieving? Absoluetly not a criticism but I know, for me - as soon as I had a bad intake with Caers, I'd want to rip it all up and start again!

Shrewnaldo · March 23

4 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Yeah - I think that the link between performances and progress is quite tight this year. Really hard (and rightly so) to find the right level and the right ability. I will stay at Bayer for the remainder of my time, probably, but the problem with Duisberg is that they're currently bottom of the league and my hot prospect striker has two in fifteen with an awful rating. I'm just trying to find a 3.Liga club but, as you say, this could be a decent middle ground even if you've put me off ever having a competitive reserve club given the bugs everywhere!

I like your new HoYD but, given the success you've had this season, wonder if you're potentially looking just that bit too deep? I know it's a marginal gains business and you want to improve everywhere, but you've brought through a high number of quality youngsters and have reached a high that I don't think many would be able to - do you think you're already over achieving? Absoluetly not a criticism but I know, for me - as soon as I had a bad intake with Caers, I'd want to rip it all up and start again!

It's a fair point and I do think we're overachieving, given the constraints that I've put on team selection. We have £100m transfer budgets now and a spare £400kpw wage budget - so in an 'ordinary' save I could just go splash that to challenge the big three but it's just not my style.

I think my issue with the HoYD has been the lack of pull-through on the personality - but then Márquez had "only" a professional personality with Reserved media handling. So I'm wondering whether the Perfectionist is going to give a more-rounded pull-through - with high Determination, Professionalism and Ambition. Plus he's Level Headed which implies decent Loyalty. One bad intake out of six isn't a bad record for the old HoYD but it's the personality thing that's been bothering me for three or four of those.

I'm assuming your striker is not developing now? I'm finding the loan market a bit hit-and-miss, and pretty high risk. I've had quite a few players go out and just stagnate. I can't make up my mind whether or not it's any better than time in the B-team

Shrewnaldo · March 23

Dilemmas

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

So I left off the truncated last post by talking about difficult choices I'm about to face and I guess such choices are a key part of the game, indeed likely a key part of football management. Choices between tactical styles, trade offs between committing players forward or conservatively protecting your own goal, deciding recruitment priorities and which players to bring in. For me, it's about when to let senior players move on and bring the newgens through. Some examples:

Dilemma 1 - Goalkeeper

Gaizka Ayesa has been excellent for us, since replacing the error prone CJ Sánchez in 2028. A £5.5m signing from Bodø/Glimt, he's gone on to keep 28 clean sheets in 70 league games and broke the 7 mark for average rating this season. At 29, he's just hitting his peak years for a goalkeeper and signed a new 'star player' contract in January to keep him here for another 3 seasons. In truth, that was so that I could maintain his value and Saudi clubs came sniffing early in the window. I'm tempted to let him go but the £30-40m they've offered thus far is just too low.

Carlos Gil came through the third intake alongside wonderkids Aguirre and Javi. Until the arrival of Corominas this intake, he's been my best hope for a newgen 'keeper and has been progressing relatively well this far. A loan spell at Racing de Ferrol last term and the B-team spot this campaign has given him 75 LaLiga2 games (19 clean sheets, 93 conceded). In 2027/8, I have him 19 first-team games and he did pretty well - 7 clean sheets, 23 conceded.

Having turned 20, I feel Gil needs top flight football to see him kick-on. His attributes aren't great yet with Reflexes and Positioning of 10 the obvious weaknesses, so selling Ayesa and making Gil first-choice will cost us goals and points. Worth it for the long term? I can't see him getting a top-flight loan as first-choice in Spain - unless at a relegation candidate where his development might suffer for poor performances and morale... so the option might be a foreign loan for a mid-table club in Scandinavia or maybe Netherlands? We don't have any foreign affiliates with loan options and I've never noticed any interest generating naturally from such countries...

So what would you do?

Dilemma 2 - Playmaker

Aarón Molínas joined us from Boca Juniors in our final season in LaLiga2, initially on loan and then triggering his £5.25m future fee once we were promoted. He's been an absolute stalwart of our success - first as the linking 10 in the 5-2-2-1 and then as a mezzala or centre mid playmaker in the 4-3-3. 31 league assists in 4 LaLiga seasons is decent, but then last campaign he managed only one - primarily as other players started taking set pieces. I almost let him go last summer thanks to his discomfort during big matches but the few offers we received for him were derisory.

Mario Martínez came through the fourth intake and had one stellar season in the under-19s (scoring 14 and assisting 7 in 15 starts), before a successful loan spell with Segunda club Zamora. The following season he performed brilliantly for the under-19s, earning a promotion and was instrumental in the B-teams promotion from the Primera. Fast-tracked to the first-team, he played 2089 minutes this season and turned in some impressive numbers (0.43 assists per 90 [0.21xA], 1.59 OPKP/90, 5.04 progressive passes per 90). My favourite start of his is that whilst he was on the pitch the team conceded only 0.6 goals per 90 - perhaps an indication that he brings an element of control to the midfield.

To a much lesser extent than Gil, Martínez's attributes are not of LaLiga level - certainly physically and he still lacks a little technically. So again, I would have to accept some drop off in quality compared to Molínas.

So what would you do?

Dilemma 3 - Inside Forward

Diego López is my most expensive signing by quite some distance - costing me £16.5m to bring him back to Spain from Brentford. Unlike Ayesa or Molínas, López is a Mareo graduate but left for first Real and then Barca before finding game time at Valencia and a move to the Premier League. He was absolutely superb in his first season, playing as a 9, before having a really poor season in 27/28. For the next two seasons he's been moved to inside forward at AMR in the 4-3-3 and has scored 20 in 68 starts. He's a big game player with a good personality and, according to my coaches at least, consistent. My biggest problem with López has always been that he's a low volume shooter - in 3520 minutes this season, he took only 1.3 shots per 90 - 0.43 of which were outside the box, at 0.15xG per shot.

Ander Aguirre has been well-documented on these pages recently - a clear talent for whom I'm struggling to find a slot in the team. He's not suited the DLF role that I'm using at 9 and has struggled to perform as a left-winger. Inside forward from the right makes a lot of sense - his physicals suit it perfectly, he can dribble and has great movement. He's also much better in the air than López which will help get the best out of left-winger Javi.

This one I think is a done deal - Aguirre should be the starting inside forward next season. The question is whether or not to sell López. Listed as a regular starter, he may get irritated by a lack of game time. However, he's capable of covering the three forward positions and, at 28, is the only experienced player likely to get game time in the forward line. Feyenoord are interested and he should be bring in £30m, plus release his £42.5kpw wage.

We also have no shortage of options coming through that could pick up game time if López left. Álex has done really well this season when given his chance, scoring 7; whilst Seydou Diawara is attracting interest from Inter and Benfica. Then there's golden boy Sergio Lozano - but he might be better served with a loan deal this season, guaranteeing him regular game time to get those attributes moving in the right direction. And we've got Vicente Cuadrado, Carlos Cerro, Oscar Villenueva and - according to the game the top prospect at Sporting currently - Fernando in the second string waiting to come in.

How important is it to keep an experienced option around? At the risk that he throws his toys out of the pram?

What would you do?

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

I have these sorts of dilemmas all over the park. Should I move Jonathan Mouriño to right-back where he has deputised for the injury-prone Guille Rosas so well this season, or pull him back into the centre and buy in cover for Rosas at right-back? Is it better to loan out Iván Elvira, or sell Domingo Escribano and let Elvira take his game time?

Fun times and I'd love any opinions on any of these dilemmas. I think I've made up my mind on the three main ones above but opinions always welcome.

Litmanen 10 · March 23

Interesting update once again. As it late in the evening and I'm going to sleep soon, was only able to think about the first one.

What I would do with them is that I would keep both and split the game-time with them maybe 70-30 in favor of the more experienced. If you have easier games in the league and in Europe, I would go with the young backup. And if course in all cup games.

When playing with Betis, all the youngsters started developing very rapidly when I just kept them match fit and gave them game time whenever I could. For example Assane Diao and Dani Perez had training rating close to 10 for about four months in a row.

With the second one, I would probably let Molinas go. At the age of 29 it is probably the last moment to really cash out on him and I don't see that big difference in terms of quality between the two. I'm quite certain that Martínez would be up to the task.

And the last one: I would keep both but would try to make Aguirre lead the line as number nine. Even though it would cost me a bit in terms of results. I personally tend to keep the squad quite small so that it is fairly easy to keep all the players happy. And with Lopez being able to play in all the positions, it should be fairly easy to give the regular starter game time.

Edited March 23 by Litmanen 10

youthintake · March 23

- Dilemma 1:
Keep Ayesa. Loan Gil, it would be great for him to be loaned out to a team that might be in an European competition so he can get the extra game time.

- Dilemma 2:
Sell Molinas. Keep Mario Martinez, if you any another newgen Guaje that he can split his time with then it would be perfect for his development and you can kill two birds with one stone.

- Dilemma 3:
I think you've made the right decision to start Aguirre. I would sell Diego Lopez and give him minutes to the rest of the Gaujes.

Extra dilemmas:
- Move Mouriño to RB.
- Sell Escribano, he's great but he's 22 and Elvira is already better than him (attribute wise) at 19 y/o.

Shrewnaldo · March 23

1 hour ago, Litmanen 10 said:

Interesting update once again. As it late in the evening and I'm going to sleep soon, was only able to think about the first one.

What I would do with them is that I would keep both and split the game-time with them maybe 70-30 in favor of the more experienced. If you have easier games in the league and in Europe, I would go with the young backup. And if course in all cup games.

When playing with Betis, all the youngsters started developing very rapidly when I just kept them match fit and gave them game time whenever I could. For example Assane Diao and Dani Perez had training rating close to 10 for about four months in a row.

With the second one, I would probably let Molinas go. At the age of 29 it is probably the last moment to really cash out on him and I don't see that big difference in terms of quality between the two. I'm quite certain that Martínez would be up to the task.

And the last one: I would keep both but would try to make Aguirre lead the line as number nine. Even though it would cost me a bit in terms of results. I personally tend to keep the squad quite small so that it is fairly easy to keep all the players happy. And with Lopez being able to play in all the positions, it should be fairly easy to give the regular starter game time.

I was confused there - when I first read it you'd only given me the first answer! Haha

Anyway:

I like this idea - my only concern would be if Ayesa gets annoyed by the lack of game time, but it protects me in case Gil has a shocking run of form
I'm 100% aligned
I'm definitely shifting Aguirre to the right but I'm completely undecided on López still... I suspect you're right on game time though

31 minutes ago, youthintake said:

- Dilemma 1:
Keep Ayesa. Loan Gil, it would be great for him to be loaned out to a team that might be in an European competition so he can get the extra game time.

- Dilemma 2:
Sell Molinas. Keep Mario Martinez, if you any another newgen Guaje that he can split his time with then it would be perfect for his development and you can kill two birds with one stone.

- Dilemma 3:
I think you've made the right decision to start Aguirre. I would sell Diego Lopez and give him minutes to the rest of the Gaujes.

Extra dilemmas:
- Move Mouriño to RB.
- Sell Escribano, he's great but he's 22 and Elvira is already better than him (attribute wise) at 19 y/o.

If I could find the right loan for Gil then I think this would be a good idea, but he isn't attracting any loan interest. I've asked the board for a new loan affiliate so I'm hoping they find a suitable non-Spanish club
Same as Litmanen then and I agree with you both. I definitely have other guajes who can come in. Hugo Quiñones would be the first option
I just can't decide on this one
I feel you're right on Mouriño. Rosas is just too injury prone to rely upon. The problem is that I don't have many guaje centre backs to pull on so was keen to get Mouriño into the centre
I like Escribano as a squad option because he can cover a few roles and won't moan about game time because of his rep. I think keep him around but prioritise Elvira for game time is the option

youthintake · March 23

7 minutes ago, Shrewnaldo said:

I was confused there - when I first read it you'd only given me the first answer! Haha

Anyway:

I like this idea - my only concern would be if Ayesa gets annoyed by the lack of game time, but it protects me in case Gil has a shocking run of form

I'm 100% aligned

I'm definitely shifting Aguirre to the right but I'm completely undecided on López still... I suspect you're right on game time though

If I could find the right loan for Gil then I think this would be a good idea, but he isn't attracting any loan interest. I've asked the board for a new loan affiliate so I'm hoping they find a suitable non-Spanish club

Same as Litmanen then and I agree with you both. I definitely have other guajes who can come in. Hugo Quiñones would be the first option

I just can't decide on this one

I feel you're right on Mouriño. Rosas is just too injury prone to rely upon. The problem is that I don't have many guaje centre backs to pull on so was keen to get Mouriño into the centre

I like Escribano as a squad option because he can cover a few roles and won't moan about game time because of his rep. I think keep him around but prioritise Elvira for game time is the option

Perfect!

4. Whom else do you have at CB, you could also rotate Mouriño when Rojas is healthy if he's needed at CB.
5. Keep Escribano, he's well rounded and he's not moaning then there's no reason to sell. I like keeping players like him around.

Shrewnaldo · March 23

8 minutes ago, youthintake said:

Perfect!

4. Whom else do you have at CB, you could also rotate Mouriño when Rojas is healthy if he's needed at CB.
5. Keep Escribano, he's well rounded and he's not moaning then there's no reason to sell. I like keeping players like him around.

At the moment, my first team options at centre-back are 30 year-old IRL guaje José Gragera, 31 year-old Czech international Ladislav Krejčí and 22 year-old Mexican newgen Rafael González. I've just brought 19 year-old Mexican newgen Radamés Solano up from the B-team to provide extra cover too.

In terms of Mareo newgens, I've only got 16 year-old Carlos - who I've just put in the B-team , Raimundo Montiel - who I see as more of the left inverted full-back and have just demoted to the B-team, and 18 year-old Federico Navarro. I could look to bring Manuel Navarro back to the club but I think Spurs would want £10m and I doubt he's worth it.

Shrewnaldo · March 24

A sneak peak rather encapsulates the transfer policies... Mexicans in:

Non-Spaniards / Mexicans out:

Could probably have got more for the sales but we have £166m in the bank and a £116m transfer budget so, you know, YOLO.

_Ben_ · March 24

8 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Could probably have got more for the sales but we have £166m in the bank and a £116m transfer budget so, you know, YOLO.

I think this window and your previous dilemas, all of which I agree to, by the way, are perfect for the course you want to take this. You may be able to challenge for the title if you splash that £116m but I know you'll lose the heart and soul of this save and probably be a little bored in a week or so. I'm continuously finding myself immersed in your story-telling and take huge inspiration from your posts!

ifinnem · March 27

Late to the party but no way I would ever consider trying to build a future with a keeper who starts with single digit reflexes and only has 10 by age 21... just my 2 cents

Razor940 · March 28

In relation to the youth intakes lack of mexicans, do you have the partnerships as them sending young players to your youth facilities? In my game they, Gijon, don't have that option from the get go, you have to negotiate it.

Edited March 28 by Razor940

Shrewnaldo · March 30

On 24/03/2024 at 20:07, _Ben_ said:

I think this window and your previous dilemas, all of which I agree to, by the way, are perfect for the course you want to take this. You may be able to challenge for the title if you splash that £116m but I know you'll lose the heart and soul of this save and probably be a little bored in a week or so. I'm continuously finding myself immersed in your story-telling and take huge inspiration from your posts!

As we will shortly see in an update to come, I may have (again) gone too far. Been a struggle this season.

On 27/03/2024 at 15:52, ifinnem said:

Late to the party but no way I would ever consider trying to build a future with a keeper who starts with single digit reflexes and only has 10 by age 21... just my 2 cents

Appreciate the input but I don't have a great deal of choice. I'm not really sure how to develop goalkeepers, to be honest - at what point should they be loaned out, at what point should they get first team football. It feels like he really needs first-team top-tier game time to take the next step. His Reflexes have increased by only one since he was spawned - so I'm hoping that will increase by another 4, maybe 5, if he gets the right game time and 'keepers do indeed develop technically between 20 and 25.

I'm happy to give him a season to test him and, if he fails, then I move on and look at Corominas as the next one up.

On 28/03/2024 at 22:33, Razor940 said:

In relation to the youth intakes lack of mexicans, do you have the partnerships as them sending young players to your youth facilities? In my game they, Gijon, don't have that option from the get go, you have to negotiate it.

I do have those types of partnerships. I didn't at the start of the game but I managed to successfully negotiate it. The ties were then cut and I decided to use the editor to add them back in as permanent deals of that sort - just to reflect the Orlegi ownership structure IRL.

Razor940 · March 30

42 minutos atrás, Shrewnaldo disse:

As we will shortly see in an update to come, I may have (again) gone too far. Been a struggle this season.

Appreciate the input but I don't have a great deal of choice. I'm not really sure how to develop goalkeepers, to be honest - at what point should they be loaned out, at what point should they get first team football. It feels like he really needs first-team top-tier game time to take the next step. His Reflexes have increased by only one since he was spawned - so I'm hoping that will increase by another 4, maybe 5, if he gets the right game time and 'keepers do indeed develop technically between 20 and 25.

I'm happy to give him a season to test him and, if he fails, then I move on and look at Corominas as the next one up.

I do have those types of partnerships. I didn't at the start of the game but I managed to successfully negotiate it. The ties were then cut and I decided to use the editor to add them back in as permanent deals of that sort - just to reflect the Orlegi ownership structure IRL.

Noted. Curious I'm at AB from Denmark and have those with Spanish and Romania clubs and they been coming through the youth system.

Shrewnaldo · March 30

A struggle

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

It's been a really difficult start to the 2030/31 campaign. The start of the season was bumpy as we struggled in a couple of away games against Getafe and Betis, which put us in a weak position for a really tough run of fixtures where everything went against us. Defeats to Barca and Real can happen but we were really, really poor and it compounded an already sticky start to the season.

We recovered somewhat through October, November and December but I can't say we've been convincing in the majority of those games, with only the 3-0 win over Zaragoza being something of a cake walk. Even the 5-1 win over Sociedad was just one of those games where everything we hit went in.

The struggles culminated in an entirely predictable defeat to second-tier Granada - a team who aren't even flying in LaLiga 2.

In a reverse of the Sociedad game, Granada took their much weaker chances whilst we scraped to only match our xG - wasting an awful lot of shots off target. There's a fair shout to point at 20 year-old 'keeper Carlos Gil as the culprit. Yet such is the risk that I've been taking - accepting that results like this will happen in an effort to maximise the potential for the guajes.

And where Gil has continued to struggle, the first-team game time continues to work wonders for a handful of other players who continue to cement their places in the squad.

Aguirre has started attracting interest from Chelsea and Barca, so I've one eye on his replacement should the inevitable occur. The rest are attracting interest from what I would term second-tier big clubs such as PSV and I'd remain confident that we can keep them here. Whilst these players continue to impress, I have become increasingly concerned by the performances of first-choice DLF Francesc Polo.

Having come through the first intake, Polo was the pioneer newgen - breaking into the first team and performing well both at 9 and when I played a wide playmaker. He's always been a bit streaky and has just come off the back of an 8 game barren spell. He's underperformed his xG by just over 2 and has become a very low-volume striker - taking just 1.2 shots per 90, with 0.4 of those outside the box. Sadly, he's not making up for it with creativity either - making just 25 passes per 90 and averaging 0.14xA.

I'd have preferred to rotate Polo out of the team and perhaps experiment with a different sort of 9 - but injuries have restricted the choices available to me. Diego López, in particular, missed 3 months of the season after tearing his calf muscle. Similarly at the back, we've been without Mouriño, Gragera and Rafael González for lengthy period. None, though, can match the injury record of Guille 'sick note' Rosas.

Note the scroll bar on the right.

Rosas' absence is often key - he's both our captain and one of the few experienced players that we have, not to mention his quality. I've brought José Carlos Ferrer and Gabriel Vera into the first-team squad to provide cover but neither are of the quality to hold down the right-back spot long-term. Mouriño is the obvious option and has played 13 of his 20 games from right-back - but that means I lose the cover centrally and forces additional game time on Gragera and González. With some many games before christmas, both centre backs have shown signs of early fatigue and no doubt contributed to our poor defensive record.

The obvious solution is to recruit additional defensive cover in January. I don't have any Mareo graduates ready to step up, with Carlos and Pablo Castillo two or three years off first-team readiness.

So it looks like I'm going to need to spend some of my £114m transfer budget - potentially breaking the Spanish / Mexican duopoly that currently exists in the squad. The other developing gap, at 9, will be filled by guajes. We have a host of quality newgens coming through and I'd like to experiment a little with roles to decide what long-term profile is going to be needed. Is the DLF no longer the right option or is it just that Polo simply isn't good enough?

Meanwhile, it looks like I may have made another mistake - with the intake preview indicating that the new Head of Youth Development has had a shocker.

The first intake which hasn't been dubbed a 'golden generation', that could be a big problem for this game style. Just as well we have a stable full of talents already.

The B-team are currently winning LaLiga2 which feels absolutely ludicrous. You can see our 'arch rivals' Real Oviedo down there in 10th - 9 places behind our B-team in the second tier. Not much of a rivalry that one.

_Ben_ · March 30

Take the rough with the smooth!

Where does that leave you in the league? You're unhappy but clearly haven't been sacked and the youngsters are developing - seems like a bigger picture win if you ask me! Your B team are clearly really strong - do they use the same setup as you? If so, that's showing your structures are right and things will click: does the xG table show that?

What does Polo's career history look like? Is he ever given any inclination that he's the 20 goal man? As a DLF, I'd be equally interested in his link up play too - how many goals, for example, has Aguirre scored that Polo has had a part to play in?

Shrewnaldo · March 30

35 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Take the rough with the smooth!

Where does that leave you in the league? You're unhappy but clearly haven't been sacked and the youngsters are developing - seems like a bigger picture win if you ask me! Your B team are clearly really strong - do they use the same setup as you? If so, that's showing your structures are right and things will click: does the xG table show that?

What does Polo's career history look like? Is he ever given any inclination that he's the 20 goal man? As a DLF, I'd be equally interested in his link up play too - how many goals, for example, has Aguirre scored that Polo has had a part to play in?

All good questions.

In terms of the league, we're 9th but only a point off 6th. With the top 3 being so far clear of the rest, there's usually 1-3 teams that have a mini-league for 4th spot and then the rest in a bunch. This season we're in the bunch.

The xG table says we're one goal ahead of where we should be, conceded two more than we should and bang on the money in terms of both points and position. To me, it's clear that conceding a goal and a half a game just isn't what we're looking for and it's defensively where our biggest issues are. That said, we also get games like this one against Betis.

Having absolutely battered them, we've underperformed our xG by a goal and a half despite creating chances at 0.16xG/shot. These, though, are individual game issues and, taken as a whole, the problem to me looks more defensive.

Regarding Polo, the creativity just hadn't been there. As far as I recall, he's only laid on one assist for Aguirre - this is exactly the sort of thing that I would be wanting to see on a regular basis, but this goal against Vallecano is the only example I can think of.

Dropping off, pulling the defender with him and then playing Aguirre into the channel between centre back and full back. Perfect. But rare.

My B-team do play the same system and that's prompted me to look at the creativity of Fernando - the primary DLF for the second string.

Really not a great deal in it. But that brings me back to the defensive side of the game being the bigger problem within our current system. The B-team have scored 30 in 21 games (1.42/90) and conceded 14 (0.66/90). The first team has scored 27 in 18 (1.5/90) and conceded 27 (1.5/90). Ok, 9 of those have come against Barca and Real but taking those out, it's still 18 in 16 games (1.125/90).

So I'm thinking defensive stability is the primary personnel issue and the Polo-shaped conundrum (no "playing in the hole" jokes here) is perhaps more a system problem.

El Payaso · March 30

As you are so far already in your save, what is your experience on the mentoring groups? For me it has been a bit of hit and miss. Sometimes you see at least some kind of results quite soon but on the other you can have a player in a group where the influences are 'significant' but nothing noticeable happens in terms of personality.

Even though it is a bit of a mystery to me, I still like it more than the other system that was a bit too effective.

Shrewnaldo · March 30

2 hours ago, El Payaso said:

As you are so far already in your save, what is your experience on the mentoring groups? For me it has been a bit of hit and miss. Sometimes you see at least some kind of results quite soon but on the other you can have a player in a group where the influences are 'significant' but nothing noticeable happens in terms of personality.

Even though it is a bit of a mystery to me, I still like it more than the other system that was a bit too effective.

I agree that it seems entirely hit-and-miss, maybe even haphazard. I've had mixed success - with no predictability to when it works and when it doesn't.

To add to that, I feel like it isn't any more effective than the entirely uncontrollable 'mentoring' effects that randomly occur without any actual mentoring groups. Players outside of mentoring groups change personality and inherit traits from seemingly random selections of players, with absolutely no ability for the manager to control or predict, and often quicker than will occur within the directed mentoring groups.

Whilst I agree that the old system was too effective, this current system is awful in my opinion.

_Ben_ · March 30

2 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

n terms of the league, we're 9th but only a point off 6th. With the top 3 being so far clear of the rest, there's usually 1-3 teams that have a mini-league for 4th spot and then the rest in a bunch. This season we're in the bunch.

I still think you’re doing well! How does your wage structure/income streams etc compare to the rest? I know you’re being tight with transfers but surely you’re a ‘smaller club’ still and must be perfect to even be a part of this discussion?

2 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Regarding Polo, the creativity just hadn't been there. As far as I recall, he's only laid on one assist for Aguirre - this is exactly the sort of thing that I would be wanting to see on a regular basis, but this goal against Vallecano is the only example I can think of.

What role is the midfield runner? I’ve just started paring a DLF with a SS in a 4231 and he’s so involved, particularly against teams with nobody in the DM roles. Is he just ‘not creative’ or is he just limited on options?

2 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

So I'm thinking defensive stability is the primary personnel issue and the Polo-shaped conundrum (no "playing in the hole" jokes here) is perhaps more a system problem.

My ethos is always defence first so I’m probably going to be too biased here. Once I’m happy with a settled and solid back 4/5/6, I then like that fluidity up top. But, whilst that is coming, I’ll take a 1-0 grind every week! Looking at your fixtures, there’s a lot of x-1 results. What are those goals, typically, like? It’s not as if (big boys aside) the floodgates are open but you don’t do many clean sheets!

Shrewnaldo · March 30

1 hour ago, _Ben_ said:

I still think you’re doing well! How does your wage structure/income streams etc compare to the rest? I know you’re being tight with transfers but surely you’re a ‘smaller club’ still and must be perfect to even be a part of this discussion?

What role is the midfield runner? I’ve just started paring a DLF with a SS in a 4231 and he’s so involved, particularly against teams with nobody in the DM roles. Is he just ‘not creative’ or is he just limited on options?

My ethos is always defence first so I’m probably going to be too biased here. Once I’m happy with a settled and solid back 4/5/6, I then like that fluidity up top. But, whilst that is coming, I’ll take a 1-0 grind every week! Looking at your fixtures, there’s a lot of x-1 results. What are those goals, typically, like? It’s not as if (big boys aside) the floodgates are open but you don’t do many clean sheets!

Here's us: :-D

So yes, very much fighting against the odds. But isn't that how we like it?

At the moment I'm using a CM(A) and AP(S) in central midfield with a DM(D) behind but I'm scrutinising this at the moment and considering going with two runners - the thinking is that perhaps the playmaker in midfield is pulling the ball away from the DLF. HOWEVER, I like my playmaker to be facing the goal and, as much as I love a striker dropping off and flicking passes round the corner, I think I'd still rather have my most creative player facing goal with runners ahead of him.

Clearly Polo isn't of the level of quality that you have with Havertz but you've definitely got a point about how many options he has. If we play quickly then he's only really for the inside forward to hit early and the CM(A) on a slight delay. If we play slower then he's crowded out and can only really pass backwards.

I think my biggest problem is something that's probably come thru before - I really don't feel that the team has an identity. Compare it to my Feralpi and Verona sides - we knew what we were. Big, physical sides playing with a low block and looking to hit on the break and exploit counters. I'm still not really sure what my Sporting side is supposed to be excelling at, except developing youngsters.

_Ben_ · March 30

15 minutes ago, Shrewnaldo said:

I think my biggest problem is something that's probably come thru before - I really don't feel that the team has an identity. Compare it to my Feralpi and Verona sides - we knew what we were. Big, physical sides playing with a low block and looking to hit on the break and exploit counters. I'm still not really sure what my Sporting side is supposed to be excelling at, except developing youngsters.

And herein lies the ultimate challenge of FM. Because the game is not setup to allow us to build our own La Masia or similar - we're very hamstrung by what actually our youth sides are. It's not quite black and white but you either develop your own youth or have a really succinct playing style. If youth training had a huge impact or you had the ability to hugely influence it with your HoYD, you could only imagine the academies that would be built!

I think you're doing a wonderful job and it's making for a great read!

majorbriggs · March 30

1 hour ago, _Ben_ said:

And herein lies the ultimate challenge of FM. Because the game is not setup to allow us to build our own La Masia or similar - we're very hamstrung by what actually our youth sides are. It's not quite black and white but you either develop your own youth or have a really succinct playing style. If youth training had a huge impact or you had the ability to hugely influence it with your HoYD, you could only imagine the academies that would be built!

I think you're doing a wonderful job and it's making for a great read!

That would be a great feature if you could somehow set the ‘focus’ of your youth teams. Tilt them towards technical skills, physical, intelligence etc. you’re right at the moment it doesn’t seem like style of play influences intake at all.

Shrew I think you’re still doing well. Looking at your first team players attributes, they aren’t really at a top-half of La Liga level. It may take another season or two of development before you’re really competing for Champions League every year.

By the way, I have started a save in Spain, La Liga2, and I am struggling to understand the eligibility rules. I have a B team in a playable league, but I can’t seem to allow my first team backups to play there. Additionally, they are ineligible for the u19s too. Is there a way around this?

Shrewnaldo · March 31

1 hour ago, majorbriggs said:

That would be a great feature if you could somehow set the ‘focus’ of your youth teams. Tilt them towards technical skills, physical, intelligence etc. you’re right at the moment it doesn’t seem like style of play influences intake at all.

Shrew I think you’re still doing well. Looking at your first team players attributes, they aren’t really at a top-half of La Liga level. It may take another season or two of development before you’re really competing for Champions League every year.

By the way, I have started a save in Spain, La Liga2, and I am struggling to understand the eligibility rules. I have a B team in a playable league, but I can’t seem to allow my first team backups to play there. Additionally, they are ineligible for the u19s too. Is there a way around this?

First of all, thanks - much appreciated.

Re the B-team - anyone who is registered in your senior squad cannot play in the unders sides. You can't move them to the b-team etc once you've registered them - I don't know if you can 'make available for the under-19s' but pretty sure you can't for the b-team.

It's a bit of a pain - it always works slightly differently pre- and post- the January transfer window. Up to 31 Jan, I can add under-19 and B-team players to my match squad using the filters. Post-31 Jan, I can't do this any more as they are not registered. Very annoying.

You also have to watch out for wage caps for the B-team. These are pretty low in LaLiga2 and it's easy to bust them with player you're keeping on decent contracts before they're called up to the senior squad.

Shrewnaldo · March 31

I finally decided to spend some money. Feel a little bit unwell after splashing £9.75m on Cabeza from Internacional and a quite disgusting £29.5m on Adán from Liverpool.

This should fill the gap that we have within the Mareo graduates - Mouriño being the only centre back option available at first-team level just now (and likely more of a right back) and the two developing options being only 16.

El Payaso · March 31

Both look like good signings. Is Cabeza also a newgen?

As six years is a long time, it would be interesting to see some information of the rest of the La Liga teams' squads and the managers.

Kreeki · April 1

Amazing thread, got me inspired; especially the mexico link, how are you looking tactically at this point in your save?

I'm glad it's not just me throwing my tactical philosophy out of the window on a semi-regular basis

(This is me seeking inspiration for tactic number..i've lost count)

Edited April 1 by Kreeki

Shrewnaldo · April 1

On 31/03/2024 at 18:05, El Payaso said:

Both look like good signings. Is Cabeza also a newgen?

As six years is a long time, it would be interesting to see some information of the rest of the La Liga teams' squads and the managers.

Yes, both newgens. I use the newgan facegen thing from Susi and some of them are just great.

I'm very happy to give a 'state of my world' post. Coming up soon.

2 hours ago, Kreeki said:

Amazing thread, got me inspired; especially the mexico link, how are you looking tactically at this point in your save?

I'm glad it's not just me throwing my tactical philosophy out of the window on a semi-regular basis

(This is me seeking inspiration for tactic number..i've lost count)

Thanks! At the moment, I'm sticking to various forms of 4-3-3. My problem is always, ALWAYS that I just don't feel like I get the most out of my players offensively. Part of the problem is that I'm so loathe to use an AF because it's just kind of boring. But I think I'm going to have to accept it.

Every so often, I just need to write down my tactical thoughts and work things out. I might to do that again this summer.

Kreeki · April 1

50 minutes ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Yes, both newgens. I use the newgan facegen thing from Susi and some of them are just great.

I'm very happy to give a 'state of my world' post. Coming up soon.

Thanks! At the moment, I'm sticking to various forms of 4-3-3. My problem is always, ALWAYS that I just don't feel like I get the most out of my players offensively. Part of the problem is that I'm so loathe to use an AF because it's just kind of boring. But I think I'm going to have to accept it.

Every so often, I just need to write down my tactical thoughts and work things out. I might to do that again this summer.

I go away from a 433 but always end up coming back to it. I am very much still learning my way around tactics but thought i'd share what I have found fun this year.

Think the best football i've managed to get my 1860 team to play was with something similar to:

Spoiler

CF (S)

IW (S) IW (A)

Mez (A) RPM (S)

DM (S) (Hold Position/More Risk)

IFB BPD CD(Co) WB (A/S)

My 1860 team has a rather strong Spanish influence, and by influence I mean the dressing room has been on a lot of language courses

I took quite a fun approach in this save that for some reason i've not done before of converting some very tricky/flair focused AMC/CM(A) players to the outside positions, also very useful from a squad rotation perspective. Get some really intricate cut backs and runs back into the box from the goal line. A lot of them came with quite useful traits like tries to beat opposition repeatedly and the more I have played this year the more i'm appreciating just how powerful the traits are. Maybe that's an avenue to go down to unlock the offensive?

My IFB also has gets forward whenever possible as a trait from a time when I used him as a (FB-A) and it completely changes his game from time to time by rushing forward; pushing everyone out wide inside as options. For the RPM, he's got Tries to play way out of trouble and dictates tempo and he just runs the show. Realise this is a random rant about my team but maybe some ideas for your next tactical musings if you're fairly settled on players but want to add a bit extra to a "settled" tactic.

Edited April 1 by Kreeki

Shrewnaldo · April 1

Fit's 'Gan Doon

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

As requested by @El Payaso, I thought I'd just do a bit of an update on what's happening in the rest of the wider save world, starting with...

Spain

No great surprises as Real, Barca and Atlético have dominated - making up the top three in various orders across every save so far. Real have won three titles, with Barca winning three on the bounce in between and the latest title in 2030. Villarreal, first under Tite and then Vincent Kompany, have tended to be the strongest of the also-rans but the usual suspects have usually been there and thereabouts.

Whilst Xavi has remained in charge of Barca, the Madrid clubs have changed between managers. Mauricio Pochettino took over from Ancelotti in 2026 and has been in charge since - winning the 2029 Champions League alongside the La Liga titles. Atlético, clearly the least successful of the big three, appointed Nuno Espirito Santo when Simeone left for the Man Utd job. Simeone went on to win the Champions League with Man Utd before being sacked and taking over the Argentine national side, then Real Sociedad and now Ecuador... quite the career path.

Other interesting appointments are André Villas-Boas at Athletic and Ruben Amorim at Rayo Vallecano after stints with Granada, Portimonense and Strasbourg.

In terms of player moves, probably the most interesting was Bruno Fernandes turning up at Atlético. Now 36, I'll be glad to see the back of him when he retires in the summer. He's been absolutely phenomenal for Atléti and tore us apart when we played them.

Continentally, in addition to Real's win in 2029, Barca won the Champions League in 2027 - winning an El Classico final at the Camp Nou of all places. But none of the second string teams have been able to do anything in the Europa or Conference.

England

Whilst Man City secured a fourth title in 2024, they've only won two of the next six. However, not much interest as it's been the usual suspects in Chelsea (2), Liverpool (1) and Arsenal (1) who took the other titles. Indeed, only Newcastle has disrupted the traditional top 6 and no-one particularly interesting has been promoted - single seasons from Bristol City and Stoke being the most unusual.

In terms of managers, De Zerbi succeeded Arteta when the latter left for Bayern in 2028 and Chelsea have made their way through Luis Enrique and Zidane to now land on Marco Rose. Liverpool sacked Klopp in 2029 after 13.5 years and appointed Arne Slot - only to sack the Dutchman less than a year later and appoint Vincenzo Italiano. Pep is still in charge at City, Eddie Howe at Newcastle whilst Man Utd went from ten Haag to Simeone to Pioli to Inzaghi and now Diego Martinez... the former Olympiakos manager bringing the "three cups" but really just the Europa League.

France

PSG have won the league every season and brought back Thomas Tuchel. And that's enough about France.

Except maybe Filippo Inzaghi being Auxerre manager is quite cool.

Italy

Two Lazio scudetti and one Milan are sandwiched between four Inter titles. Juve are slowly coming back to the top and finished just a point behind the nerrazurri last term, whilst Roma are slipping down the league and this term are just two points above relegation.

Italy is also the most interesting league for managers with Klopp now at Inter, having replaced ten Haag who in turn replaced De Zerbi. Thomas Thomasberg, who is apparently a real person, is now in charge of Juve having started the game at Midtjylland whilst Danielle de Rossi has taken over at struggling Roma just 7 years after real life - hoping to improve on the fortunes of Mourinho, Laurent Blanc, Rafael Marquez and the definitely not pasta Mattia Croci-Torti.

And whilst Russell Martin has turned up at Torino, my favourite random appointment is the cultured David Moyes being entrusted with the Milan job. Delightful.

Germany

One Leipzig title in 2027 is all that's stopped Bayern from 18 consecutive titles - Marco Rose being sacked for his failure to win the title and being replaced by Arteta.

Germany hasn't really produced much in the way of interest.

Others

Bayer Neverkusen no more after they won the 2030 Europa League and even Everton and Spurs won trophies - taking the Conference League in 2028 and 29 respectively. Sparta Prague were unlikely runners up in 2027.

Sturm Graz finally broke the Red Bull monopoly in Austria and it looks like Hansi Flick's Salzburg may miss out two seasons on the bounce as Rapid lead this time round.

Gus Poyet is currently managing AE Kifisias in the Greek Super League. No, me neither but they had a South Korean tycoon take over in 2025.

Portugal also saw it's 6th-ever different title winner with Braga winning the league in 2025. It's in Portugal where we once again meet Mr ten Haag who, having been sacked by Man Utd in December 2023, lasted 7 months at Nottingham Forest before choosing to join PSV. Having taken the Eredivisie title back to Eindhoven, he departed for Benfica and won two titles before opting for Inter. He's now the Dutch national coach having decided two Serie A titles were enough.

And, as always, international management is where FM brings its greatest randomness. Brendan Rodgers being German manager, for example. Sean Dyche leading the Turkish national side. Ancellotti being sacked as England manager after losing to Portugal in Euro 2028 quarters. England won Euro 2024, by the way - beating Serbia in the final; France beat the Netherlands in 2028. The Dutch using the heartbreak as motivation to win the 2030 World Cup, usurping 2026 winners Ecuador.

Yes, Ecuador. This was before Simeone arrived. The guy who won the World Cup with Ecuador couldn't get a job and retired in 2028.

Only in FM.

Shrewnaldo · April 1

27 minutes ago, Kreeki said:

I go away from a 433 but always end up coming back to it. I am very much still learning my way around tactics but thought i'd share what I have found fun this year.

Think the best football i've managed to get my 1860 team to play was with something similar to:

CF (S)

IW (S) IW (A)

Mez (A) RPM (S)

DM (S) (Hold Position/More Risk)

IFB BPD CD(Co) WB (A/S)

My 1860 team has a rather strong Spanish influence, and by influence I mean the dressing room has been on a lot of language courses

I took quite a fun approach in this save that for some reason i've not done before of converting some very tricky/flair focused AMC/CM(A) players to the outside positions, also very useful from a squad rotation perspective.

Get some really intricate cut backs and runs back into the box from the goal line.

A lot of them came with quite useful traits like tries to beat opposition repeatedly and the more I have played this year the more i'm appreciating just how powerful the traits are. Maybe that's an avenue to go down to unlock the offensive?

My IFB also has gets forward whenever possible as a trait from a time when I used him as a (FB-A) and it completely changes his game from time to time by rushing forward; pushing everyone out wide inside as options.

For the RPM, he's got Tries to play way out of trouble and dictates tempo and he just runs the show.

Realise this is a random rant about my team but maybe some ideas for your next tactical musings if you're fairly settled on players but want to add a bit extra to a "settled" tactic.

I always enjoy people's random rants on FM so don't worry about that. Particularly tactically.

I'm with you on the traits - definitely very powerful and I had a post a while back where I looked at the traits that I'd like for each of the profiles in the 4-3-3.

Our systems are quite similar but I think I have an opportunity to refresh things this summer. I've been held into using an attacking right-back because of my captain. But he's ageing and very injury prone so I'm considering this as an opportunity to rethink things. Taking a leaf from Ben's book and starting back to front in terms of how I want to play out. I really, really hate non-inverted fullbacks positioning in the defensive and middle third during possession. Something I can probably get rid of now.

Shrewnaldo · April 1

Eighth Intake

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

Yuck.

I may have made a huge mistake in sacking the old HoYD and appointing Caers because... yuck.

We took this, which was bad enough....

And turned it into this...

So what are these no-hopers actually like? (by the way, no Mexicans. But a Welshman, a Romanian and Frenchman. Because reasons)

Top Talents

Luis Hernández - Yuck

Personality - Balanced

Oh my dear lord, what in the name of the wee man is that.

Let's move on.

David - Slightly less yuck

Personality - Light-hearted

I like the Determination, Technique and Work Rate obviously. His physicals for getting up and down the line are ok and he can dribble but the low Crossing isn't great, nor are the low values for Marking, Tackling and Positioning. I can't see him amounting to much but better than Hernandez.

Galder Alonso - moderately yuck

Personality - Perfectionist

OK, I like the personality and it's REALLY nice to see some pull through from the HoYD's personality. SI think he's better than David with significantly better, if still less than ideal, starting points for defensive attributes and better Crossing ability. His Dribbling could do with improving and he's no doubt got a long way to go but I can see a squad player in there.

Good Talents

Javier Espejo - not as yuck as I expected

Personality - Fairly Determined

Maybe this is the striker the preview talked about as our 'A' prospect. Physically he's just fine for 16 but he's certainly lacking on the technicals and mentals. Decent Determination, Technique and First Touch but his finishing lets him down for a striker and his Vision for a creative player. Possibly something there but he's a long way behind what we've got in-house.

Pablo - still pretty yuck

Personality - Fairly Professional

Ok, again a better personality. Physicals are poor but he's only 15. I like his starting point for the playmaker Technicals as First Touch should improve nicely and his mentals aren't that far off. Add 4 to each of them by the time he's 21 and he could be a handy back-up. I'd prefer him to be stronger on both feet but there's a bit of potential there.

Callum Wilkes - Welsh yuck

Personality - Fairly professional

Again, personality is a bonus and he's got a bit of pace about him but his technicals are abysmal. Defensively he's a non-starter with Marking 4 and Tackling 6; offensively Dribbling 4, First Touch 6 and Passing 8. Nope.

Hugo Andrés - Physical yuck

Personality - Light-hearted

Technically and Mentally there's an awful lot to like about Andrés. An awful lot. He's also a young 15, not turning 16 for another 9 months. So those physicals have additional potential to increase. I reckon Andrés has potential for sure, if he can improve his movement and those physicals then the only remaining concern is Anticipation of 4. But are those physicals just too low? I've seen players add 7 to individual attributes but even with 7 added to everything then Andrés is going to be just about good enough. That's a tough ask.

Manu - so yuck I'm not adding his screenshot.

Jordi Núñez - young yuck

Personality - Fairly Determined

Scraping the barrel again but Núñez is another young 15, despite already being 6'4". 9 months to improve the physicals is going to see him compete easily - so that really just leave a handful of mentals and his Heading that are worries. So I reckon he's a possibility.

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

I'm sorry but the rest are so yuck that I'm not going to sully these hallowed pages with their presence.

That is an awful, awful intake. Truly abysmal. Come back Feliu Marquez! What's nice to see is that Caers' personality has pulled through but the quality of the intake is absolutely shocking. Is this down to the HoYD? Or is it just luck? Has appointing a HoYD with no scouting knowledge of the area completely screwed me? His 'scouting knowledge' of Spain is still only 'average'. Genuinely I don't know. I'm going to give Caers another intake to prove his worth - the personality pull-through is encouraging and these things can happen with RNG so we'll see.

Meanwhile, our current stable of wonderkids continues to produce the goods:

Mouriño - third in the world this year - just got his first call-up to the senior Spain squad; making him the first Mareo newgen to get a senior call-up.

I also then got the 'hilarious' April Fools injury notification for Javi, one of my favourite newgens. People who know me will know that I don't like jokes and don't find anything funny. Certainly not this. And certainly not after that intake. Sadly, this doesn't appear to be part of the 'joke'.

Shrewnaldo · April 3

Vultures

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

After a shocking start to the season, I managed to right the good ship Sporting Heritage and steer her to a solid enough 6th placed finish and Europa League football next season. Still disappointing after two consecutive fourths and a deterioration this campaign of 7 points, scoring 6 fewer and conceding 7 more.

Real regained the title from Barcelona in spectacular fashion, hitting 104 points; city rivals Atlético unlucky to miss out after amassing 99 points that would have taken the title in any of the last four seasons. They could content themselves with a Copa del Rey victory (let's not talk about our exit at the first time of asking) whilst Barcelona have reached the Champions League final and may consider that justification for a poor domestic campaign.

For our part, I'm afraid that I've lost myself in a not-untypical tactical meandering - desperate to get the best out of our undoubted attacking talents. I'm switched from the standard 4-3-3 to a 5-3-2 to counter-act Arsenal's 4-2-4 and then 4-4-2 to counter-act Atlético's advanced 4-2-2-2 box. Both worked well for a total of zero points and later in the season I started going with varieties of 4-4-2, 4-4-1-1, 4-1-4-1 and 4-3-2-1.

Partly, I just can't help myself and partly I feel like I'm not maximising the ability of the talent at my disposal.

Javi necessitates the use of a winger, González has proven himself undroppable as a midfield runner at CM(A) and Aguirre, whilst handy at inside forward, really needs to be played at AF for us to get the most out of him. These are just three examples of what I, just like every manager, need to work around. For youth focused saves, though, that necessity is even more restrictive.

Whilst I feel I've been doing a good job with Javi (6G, 9A), González (14G, 7A) and Aguirre (15G, 5A) it's how the system around them works where I'm underperforming. Yes, some of that will be my insistence on prioritising PA over CA for long-term gain, but I also just have to accept that I've got it wrong. And inconsistency in approach is as much to blame, as I've not only switched system but haven't really committed to an ethos that underpins the system.

Quote

What will not change are the principles behind the style of play - short, quick passing with creativity and flair prioritised and defending on the front foot. Nothing spectacular but a framework to build around and attributes to prioritise.

These were the simple principles that I wanted to apply at the start of the save and I feel I need to both commit to this and then, inspired both by Ben's principles of play and Trequinho's video on his blueprint, expand upon it to get back to how I want to play the game.

The remaining question is going to be which good players are prioritised within this expanded framework because, sadly, the vultures are beginning to circle. Javi is attracting concrete interest from Real; where he may be joined by Aguirre - the latter also the subject of rumours linking him with Bayern and PSG. It's possible that their release clauses will prove prohibitive but Javi has already indicated he doesn't want to sign a new contract thanks to the interest shown in him.

I'll be really depressed if they both leave - not only are they two of my best players, they're also two of my favourites. With very little required in terms of recruitment, I think this summer will mostly be one of trepidation every time I open the Inbox.

_Ben_ · April 4

On 01/04/2024 at 22:39, Shrewnaldo said:

I may have made a huge mistake in sacking the old HoYD and appointing Caers because... yuck.

A couple of things to catch up on here!

Just an FYI and it may be something you already know, but players are at the club for 3/4 years before they join:

I know that the HoYD 'picks' them but he's not been involved in the development process - if you believe in that!

On 01/04/2024 at 22:39, Shrewnaldo said:

That is an awful, awful intake. Truly abysmal

But I agree with this!

On 03/04/2024 at 21:23, Shrewnaldo said:

Partly, I just can't help myself and partly I feel like I'm not maximising the ability of the talent at my disposal.

I still think you're doing really well! Those returns are really strong and you're building a good base. Are you planning a 'one formation many styles' or 'one style many formations' kind of approach? I've kind of settled for the former and I'm really enjoying ways to make new shapes from the 4231 base.

On 03/04/2024 at 21:23, Shrewnaldo said:

With very little required in terms of recruitment, I think this summer will mostly be one of trepidation every time I open the Inbox.

What is the market in Mexico like at the moment? Any need to spend that money on youngsters to ease the pain of the intake? I know they'll be 18 - at least - but there's still fun to be had developing them!

Shrewnaldo · April 5

21 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

A couple of things to catch up on here!

Just an FYI and it may be something you already know, but players are at the club for 3/4 years before they join:

I know that the HoYD 'picks' them but he's not been involved in the development process - if you believe in that!

I did know that but I thought that it was just a generated thing for homegrown status? i.e. the players aren't identified 3-4 seasons out

My understanding from the Evidence Based FM videos is that the 'draft' for the newgen allocation takes place at the preview event - and that the parameters which affect this 'draft' can change up to the day before that 'draft' and still affect the quality of your intake. i.e. I can upgrade the Youth Recruitment level up to the day before the preview. The CA/PA is only set at the actual youth intake day (or the day before it starts for the highest rep club I think) and the factors affecting that can be changed up to the day before that event. So I could change my HoYD the day before and he would impact the personality of the players that come through.

Although the EBFM indicate that the HoYD does not impact CA/PA, I don't recall him doing any experiments about the influence of the HoYD's scouting knowledge. And this is where I'm wondering if I've screwed up.

Quote

I still think you're doing really well! Those returns are really strong and you're building a good base. Are you planning a 'one formation many styles' or 'one style many formations' kind of approach? I've kind of settled for the former and I'm really enjoying ways to make new shapes from the 4231 base.

One formation, two styles at the moment. Basically a 4-2-3-1 shape but with the wingers pulled back to the midfield line so I can use the WM(S) role that I've been enjoying recently. Maybe more on this and the counter-version in the next post.

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What is the market in Mexico like at the moment? Any need to spend that money on youngsters to ease the pain of the intake? I know they'll be 18 - at least - but there's still fun to be had developing them!

There's a lot of good newgens kicking around for sure but I've got a few constraints - one of which is, like you say, the age limit and Mexicans being unable to move abroad until they're 18.

The other main problem is the wage cap for the B-team. As they're in LaLiga2, there's quite a tight cap - currently £75kpw for the squad. Mexico is definitely a hotbed of talent but it's also a high-paying league compared to a lot of the places I'd traditionally steal newgens from. Take this guy, for example - only 18 and on £33.5kpw. I could bring him into the first-team but I'd ideally like him to have a year at least in the B-team.

But there's no way I can do it when he'd bust half the budget.

Regardless, this is where I'm doing all my shopping. We're short of defensive prospects more than anything - although I am a little concerned about the lack of prospects currently in the under-19s. I'd say there's only two players who I expect to make it. The B-team definitely has some good options but there's a bit of a dearth coming up behind. Hopefully the intake this year gets us back on track, if not it'll be back to Mexico.

_Ben_ · April 6

13 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

I did know that but I thought that it was just a generated thing for homegrown status? i.e. the players aren't identified 3-4 seasons out

That would all make sense - that he has the end choice on those players who've been there and that can change up until he provides that preview. It's why none of them come through with previous staff as their favoured persons.

13 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

The other main problem is the wage cap for the B-team. As they're in LaLiga2, there's quite a tight cap - currently £75kpw for the squad. Mexico is definitely a hotbed of talent but it's also a high-paying league compared to a lot of the places I'd traditionally steal newgens from. Take this guy, for example - only 18 and on £33.5kpw. I could bring him into the first-team but I'd ideally like him to have a year at least in the B-team.

Yes - it's always been expensive on FM and I can't, honestly, say whether that feels like an accurate depiction. I'm in a similar boat to you with bringing in outside players - not financially but, given that I don't have a B-team, they have to already be good enough for the first team and I can't always justify that!

I look forward to your summer update and hope you've kept your youngsters...

Shrewnaldo · April 6

1 hour ago, _Ben_ said:

I'm in a similar boat to you with bringing in outside players - not financially but, given that I don't have a B-team, they have to already be good enough for the first team and I can't always justify that!

I look forward to your summer update and hope you've kept your youngsters...

The other issue I have with this bit is the 3 non-EU limit in Spain. So it's hard to take a player straight into the first team. Mexicans, like other Hispanic countries, only take two years to be given Spanish passports (think it's 5 years for others) so I try to have an overlap going.

One year in the B-team to prove themself then second year in the first team and then they've got a passport and the next one can come in. Someone like Saul obviously goes straight into the first team.

Spoiler - I've kept all the priority players. Totally not a spoiler - I'm still not happy tactically

Shrewnaldo · April 6

Pushing On

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

At some point we will have to turn potential into delivery. All of this development of the Mareo graduates has to have some sort of end goal. Sporting are famous for being 'nearly men' in Spain, never having a single senior trophy. We came close in 2029, losing to Real 3-0 in a final blighted by Chiquete's early red card. We've reached the semi the following year and a Europa League quarter-final in 2028. This season, I really want to push for silverware.

That absolutely will not come in the league - Real, Barca and Atléti are just far, far too strong to catch. Fourth is still a realistic goal for us but I'm absolutely going to prioritise the Copa del Rey and the Europa League - competitions at which I feel we should have a realistic chance of winning.

To get there, I'll be relying on what we've developed so far, with very little in the way of transfer activity this summer.

Christian Hernández becomes the latest arrival from Mexico - walking a fine line between ability to supplement the B-team and wages that won't bust the £75kpw salary cap for LaLiga2. In the opposite direction goes the first of the Mareo newgens for decent money - Francesc Polo being one of the first to break into the first-team and performing admirably as a wide playmaker or a deep-lying forward. He scored 26 goals across 2028-30 but was just too streaky to become the consistent 20+ goalscorer that we need - whilst he was never quite as creative as I'd hoped he'd become with those attributes and traits. £13.25m and 20% of any profit if he's sold back to Europe represents a healthy intake and covers two seasons' worth of the Youth Setup costs.

One of the factors in letting Polo leave was the desire to move to a new system that would see us get the best out of Ander Aguirre. My previous post highlighted the concern about the big boys circling to pick off my best players but we managed to get Aguirre, Javi and Carlos Rojas - the subject of the most elite club interest - all to sign new deals that should keep them here for at least one more season. All three are key components that I would like to build the team and the system around - something which I spent most of the close season thinking about.

So I started building some basic blocks around which to premise a tactic.

I will bow to the inevitable and prioritise the 9 as the goalscorer, using an AF that primarily looks to stay high and threaten in behind the defensive line
I really like double 10s on the ball. This doesn't mean that I need to have two AMCs on the tactics screen - only that two players should get into these positions with their in-possession movement
Javi necessitates the use of a winger and isn't suited to being a wingback. That means two wide players in the defensive shape
I rarely play with a two-man midfield in the defensive shape as I feel it leaves us too exposed. A three-man midfield and two players in the wide areas makes it clear it's a 4-man defence and 5-man midfield.
I don't like how slowly attacking wingbacks move up into advanced positions when playing through the thirds. This leads nicely into my general preference for minimising transition distances. When I first came up with my idea of using inverted wingbacks (before they were even in FM), this was the primary driver - pulling fullbacks into the middle means they are much closer to their natural positions to recover into a solid defensive shape. This is equally true for the players that I want to perform the high and wide roles. This is easy on the left with Javi being a natural winger but will be something I look to do on the right too.
Keeping the wide midfielders wide, means the fullbacks can come inside in possession to form the holding shape (I truly despite the term 'rest defence')
In the past I'd had a preference for a 2-3 build-up shape but I've really liked the way the wide players in the 3 play in a 3-1 or 3-2 shape. In the 4-3-3 we were playing for the last few seasons, I've been using a 3-1 in build-up but I've found that the 1 often has to recycle the ball backwards which gives the opposition time to shift across and fill gaps. Add another into the second line to make a 3-2 shape allows a quick shift of angle without retreating with possession and, in conjunction with the double 10s, allows for simpler 'progressive passes' through the lines to bypass a pressing midfield - something that would have been classed as 'packing' in German statistics, I guess

To get there, I started off with this idea.

Nothing complicated but two banks of four in defence and into the 3-2-5 shape on the ball. The AM moves to the right to allow for the segundo to come in as the second 10 on the ball. The wide midfielder on the right is asked to 'hold position' and play more risky passes - the intention being that he will draw the press from the opposition left-back and allow the AM or AF to exploit this space, something which I used very effectively at Hellas Verona.

This hasn't worked very well and so I've decided to switch the positions of the holding pair - moving the segundo to the right, allowing him to provide the mobility and run from deep to exploit the space created by the WM. The AM then moves to the left and provides a much better link to the winger, allowing for one-twos into space.

The fullbacks then also switch with the covering centre-back moving to the left.

So far it's been.... frustrating. We've probably deserved to win both these games but have failed to consistently create quality chances. Defensively, we've been great and only conceded in Seville from a combination of a defensive mistake and poor goalkeeping. From that base, I *should* be able to work out the attacking prowess and how to create better quality chances.

To do this, I'd like to create some key metrics for the output I would like to see from each of the players on the ball - minimum shots and xG/shot from the 9; minimum number of passes I'd like to see from the 10 and a percentage of those passes which create chances / shots.

For now, I'm relatively pleased that this should get us into the shape that I want on the ball and allow our best players to play in their best positions. Aguirre as an AF makes sense, Saúl and Rojas as a DM pairing is outstanding, Javi out wide. I've also set up a much more conservative system using the same shape which will keep the defensive 6 back and then allow the front four to be the counter-team - for use against Real etc. The only concern for me is at 10 and Mario Martínez.

Undoubted potential, he showed some flashes of genuine output two seasons ago when playing in centre-mid. I feel like he should be an excellent 10 but has struggled to make much of an impact in pre-season. A switch of role might help and I'm keen to just give him the game time in order to help him develop his clear potential. That, though, might run contrary to the desire for some silverware and a need for output now.

On wider club matters, I let my 72 year-old assistant Paco Ayesterán leave the club this summer - imagining that this was a good time for him to retire. To replace him, I went through the staff at our Orlegi affiliates and appointed former Man Utd midfielder Quinton Fortune. In a nice bit of game narrative, Fortune has 'graduated' through the system - first being Assistant at Atlas Guadalajara, then Santos Laguna and now Sporting. In a rather lovely touch, Santos have replaced him with the other option I considered - Atlas' Rubén Guerreo.

Conscious that I've written a lot I should probably just stop there!

Tl;dr - I've switched up tactic for the next 10 matches before I switch back to 4-3-3 and generally lose the will to live.

El Payaso · April 6

Interesting tactical thinking. 4-4-1-1 with CMs has always been my favorite tactic when managing in Spain. Don't really follow international football that much anymore but at least ten years ago the 4-2-3-1 variations were more of a Spanish style while 4-3-3 was considered Italian. Those are also still the "traditions" that I like to follow in my saves.

It is also nice to see that FM simulates the big three quite well nowadays. Like you said, in Spain it is actually really hard to break the big three. I noticed that with Betis too. In the older versions it was quite easy to win the league in season 2 with a team like Athletic Bilbao for example. Of course this is also a lot down to how you approach the game.

Your approach with this career update is fantastic and it has kept me really interested, even after the newgens started to appear. Obviously replacing the newgen faces also deserves some credit.

_Ben_ · April 6

3 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

£13.25m and 20% of any profit if he's sold back to Europe represents a healthy intake and covers two seasons' worth of the Youth Setup costs.

I like this way of looking at it! Shame he's gone but I'm trying to remove myself from the attachment to my own newgens, too! It just holds me back time and time again.

I like your tactical thoughts, too, as do I like the focus on cup competitions. Do you find that teams are weakened in the Copa del Rey or is it just crossing fingers to be in the good side of the draw?

Shrewnaldo · April 6

2 hours ago, El Payaso said:

Interesting tactical thinking. 4-4-1-1 with CMs has always been my favorite tactic when managing in Spain. Don't really follow international football that much anymore but at least ten years ago the 4-2-3-1 variations were more of a Spanish style while 4-3-3 was considered Italian. Those are also still the "traditions" that I like to follow in my saves.

It is also nice to see that FM simulates the big three quite well nowadays. Like you said, in Spain it is actually really hard to break the big three. I noticed that with Betis too. In the older versions it was quite easy to win the league in season 2 with a team like Athletic Bilbao for example. Of course this is also a lot down to how you approach the game.

Your approach with this career update is fantastic and it has kept me really interested, even after the newgens started to appear. Obviously replacing the newgen faces also deserves some credit.

Thanks, always appreciate the feedback.

It's not taken the 4-4-1-1 long to evolve into a 4-2-3-1. The way I was using the wide midfielder on the right just made us way too one dimensional playing through the middle third so I've jettisoned that idea for now. I'd certainly that, Barca aside, I'd associate 4-2-3-1 with Spanish sides.

The variable wage cap in the league really helps the big sides too (not that I'm using anything approaching our cap limit). Real's salary per annum is currently £318m, Barca's £282m and Atléti £186m. The next is Villarreal on £70m and we're on £35.5m. That's just a crazy disparity.

2 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

I like this way of looking at it! Shame he's gone but I'm trying to remove myself from the attachment to my own newgens, too! It just holds me back time and time again.

I like your tactical thoughts, too, as do I like the focus on cup competitions. Do you find that teams are weakened in the Copa del Rey or is it just crossing fingers to be in the good side of the draw?

Yeah I was sad to see Polo leave but I think I've got to that point where I have to look past the nostalgia. He was probably good enough as a squad player but I have so many Mareo options coming through that could use that game time and then end up far better than Polo that I just had to let him go.

When I played Real in the final they had a full strength side - David Raya, Buongiorno, Bellingham, Valverde, Vini Jnr, Rodrygo, Osimhen... it's tough. But there's definitely scope to get lucky and hit them at the right time. When Real got knocked out by Villarreal last season, they'd played Levante in the previous round just 3 days previously. That fixture congestion meant they played a (relatively) weakened team and, crucially, a B-team goalkeeper which ended up costing them.

Having said that, the big three tend to take the Copa del Rey seriously - evidenced by the three of them winning it in every season so far. Albeit with just one final, in 2025, where two of them played each other. Us, Betis, Villarreal, Girona and Getafe have all been losing finalists... surely one of us has to buck the trend soon.

majorbriggs · April 7

Having a weird experience in my save as Real Zaragoza. Season 1 La Liga 2, not signed anyone at all and using a pretty basic 4-2-1-3 tactic. Somehow I am in the final of the Copa del Rey where I’ll play either Real Sociedad or Mirandes. Knocked out Athletic Bilbao 3-0, and Atletico. Big 3 didn’t even make the semis.
Do you think you’ll ever catch Barca and Real with your house rules? By the sounds of it, it’s a lot harder these days.

Shrewnaldo · April 7

11 hours ago, majorbriggs said:

Having a weird experience in my save as Real Zaragoza. Season 1 La Liga 2, not signed anyone at all and using a pretty basic 4-2-1-3 tactic. Somehow I am in the final of the Copa del Rey where I’ll play either Real Sociedad or Mirandes. Knocked out Athletic Bilbao 3-0, and Atletico. Big 3 didn’t even make the semis.
Do you think you’ll ever catch Barca and Real with your house rules? By the sounds of it, it’s a lot harder these days.

Wow, that's some going - particularly Atlético. Did they play a weakened side against you?

I'm sure I'd catch them eventually but I'm not sure I'll do it within my patience for the save. It's already exceeded my usual span for a save. I guess the youth development side lends itself to that additional longevity. If my squad gets picked apart by the big teams this summer then it might be a different story.

Shrewnaldo · April 8

Home and Away

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

Another odd start to the season and for the second campaign in a row we're a bit off it in the league. Where results have stuttered, performances haven't and it feels like we've been really unlucky - with something of a trend developing.

Our priorities at the start of the season were clear and that's been reflected in the European results in particular. We've had a couple of soft games but a 2-0 win in a Sporting derby in Lisbon and 4-0 thumpings of AEK and Celtic have helped propel us to Europa League knockout qualification. Our remaining game is against Chelsea but it's unlikely to give us much of an idea of our true quality against the bigger sides as I plan to rotate in the second string.

We just don't have the squad depth to give it a good go and we have a big league game against Sevilla followed by the Zaragoza cup game up next. Lose the former and we're probably out of the running for continental qualification through the league, whilst the latter continues to offer us a real chance at silverware. Although, in truth, the Europa League might be the easier competition for us to win - only Chelsea and Napoli would really worry me from the teams left in the competition.

Domestically, the real concern has come down to one factor and one factor alone - our away form.

9-2-0 at home is phenomenal. 1-1-8 on the road is abysmal.

Obviously the 4-2-3-1 was great at El Molinón but I needed to adapt for away games. Right? Wrong. Excluding the completely understandable beatings at Atléti and Barca, are our away league matches:

Yikes.

Yes our xGA isn't great, averaging just over 1.1 per game, but we've been creating sufficient chance - and chances of quality - to win almost all of those away matches. Averaging 1.7xG per 90 is completely acceptable as far I'm concerned. Converting at 0.75 goals per 90... not so much.

So why the disparity from the home form where we're averaging just over 2 goals a game and have conceded only 5? How can we outperform our xG at home but perform away from home in everything except, you know, the important bits? I have no idea. I would have guessed it was an age thing and younger players perform poorer away from home - but it's the same players from last season and, this may come as something of a surprise, they're one year older than last season when they did just fine.

So I'm, once again, at a loss. All ideas welcome.

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In other news, we've had a takeover. I'm choosing to interpret this as a corporate rebranding rather than a takeoever as we maintain the affiliate links to Club América, Santos Laguna and Atlas Guadalejara. I will certainly be maintaining the Mexican recruitment focus. Indeed, we've continued that approach this January with back-up 'keeper José Juan Ruiz joining from Leones Negros for £250k. He was required due to my latest attempt to get a tune from the eminently frustrating Carlos Gil.

His potential remains, whilst his attributes creep us across the board - but without really hitting the numbers I'd have expected at 22. His performances still cost us goals - twice specifically when the ball went straight through him at the near post. Eventually I got so frustrated that I nearly sold him but figured I'd give him one last chance. But somewhere else. A loan deal to Midtjylland feels perfect. They're second in the Danish league and had two Champions League games left... and in the first of those, Gil shipped 4 to register a 5.3 rating on debut. Sub-optimal.

With luck, his performances will improve in the second half of the season - whilst Midtjylland have excellent training facilities that will help his continued growth. If not, a long-term goalkeeper will be on the shopping list for the summer.

The other likely recruitment priority will be centre back as José Gragera has advised us that he'll pursue other options when his contract expires in 18 months. The perennially injured Guille Rosas will be doing similarly this summer and so gaps are appearing at the back.

I brought José Carlos Ferrer back from a loan spell at fellow LaLiga side Elche, performing well enough to convince me that he's a decent squad option even if his lack of height will be exploited by back-post crosses. I also signed Josiah Musa - a player I like a lot more than the game does - on an accelerated Bosman from Villarreal; £250k representing a risk free bit of cover for this season at worst. Meanwhile, guaje Carlos continues to develop really well in the B-team - so much so that I've turned down bids from Liverpool and Inter so far.

And the January recruitment didn't end there with Pablo Aguilar joining for £5.5m - another accelerated Bosman deal. Whilst he's not a Mareo graduate, I did outline the following recruitment priorities right at the start of the save:

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Promote from within

Bring back former Guajes

Other Asturian players

Youth players from Asturian clubs

Players from Liga MX

Players from other Spanish communes

Non-Spanish signings

I thus have a saved search which looks for players born in every Asturian location contained within the database. Aguilar came through at Rennes but has been on my radar for years, having been born in Blimea 40-odd kilometres south of Gijón. He offers cover at all four attacking positions and has let me send Vicente Cuadrado out on loan to re-start his development.

It is possible that we'll see one more deal in each direction, with Mexican centre back spitting the dummy after I rejected a bid from Dortmund. Eventually, player power has forced my hand and I've agreed to offload him. Should that go through before the end of the window, he'll be replaced by the next Mexican on the line, Héctor Martínez of Orlegi affiliate Santos Laguna.

Lastly, I should also mention that Carlos Cordero (fourth intake), of undoubted potential but a personality that will guarantee it is left unfulfilled, left for Juventus for £6.5m. I know, I was as surprised as you. That nicely covers another year of the youth system with a player that was never going to break into the first-team.

And talking of that youth system, it looks like we're back on track.

With luck, this points at last year being a one-off. If Thomas Caers' personality can pull through like it did in last year's disappointing intake then I'm hopeful we'll get some real prospects back into the funnel. It's feeling a little light at the moment, with very few under the age of 18 that I'm really paying any attention to.

For now, it's the cups that remain our absolute priority. A cup double would be fantastic - so good that it might precipitate the end of the save. Certainly if it goes hand-in-hand with our squad being picked apart. Giants of the game are now showing concrete interest in Carlos Rojas, Iván Elvira, Hugo Quiñones, Javi and Ander Aguirre - all my favourite players in other words. Lose some or all of them and I think I'd genuinely lose quite a bit of interest in continuing.

But that's tomorrow Shrew's problem. For now, let's just try to win some silverware.

Edited April 8 by Shrewnaldo

majorbriggs · April 9

On 08/04/2024 at 07:53, Shrewnaldo said:

Wow, that's some going - particularly Atlético. Did they play a weakened side against you?

I'm sure I'd catch them eventually but I'm not sure I'll do it within my patience for the save. It's already exceeded my usual span for a save. I guess the youth development side lends itself to that additional longevity. If my squad gets picked apart by the big teams this summer then it might be a different story.

That's the weird thing, I haven't faced any weakened sides at all. Just won the whole thing too by beating Real Sociedad in the final. Don't understand what is happening at all! I have a solid squad but must have just got lucky with the tactic.

Shrewnaldo · April 9

The ninth intake

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

A few days after the disappointment of a Copa del Rey semi-final exit at the hands of Atlético, we have the best day of the year.

Taking this...

And seeing how it turns into this...

Early signs are promising but, as always, I'm posting this 'live'. My first thought is: no Mexicans again, but another Moroccan, an Argentine, an Ecuadorian and a Maltese... because why not?!

Elite Talents

Juan Sanchis - 9

Personality: Fairly Professional

A solid start. Helpful personality with some decent mentals - although his Bravery will stifle his aerial ability irrevocably. The physicals are fine and will develop naturally over time but he's another where there's just one or two gaps for every proposed output. Finishing of 8 isn't ideal for a goalscorer, Vision of 8 isn't ideal for a playmaker, Crossing of 7 isn't ideal for a winger...

My experience so far is that the most I can expect these to increase by is 6, possibly 7. So definitely potential of one of them getting to a reasonable first-team level, particularly with his Professionalism, but I'm not blown away.

Boubacar Diatré - Right wing

Personality: Fairly Loyal

The physicals are great but the rest of him gets a bit of a yikes. The defensive technicals immediately rule out any shift backwards, and his Strength rules out any more inside. Staying high and wide makes sense so I'd really like to see higher Flair and Off the Ball particularly. First Touch and Passing also have a long way to go. I'd say Diatré's a little off it.

Top Talents

Félix - not a cat

Personality: Balanced

Hmmm... that Determination clearly needs to be increased but other than that, his mentals as a defensive player are probably perfectly fine. The physicals have a decent enough starting point. The technicals are once again the weakest point with Heading the clear worry at centre back, combined with Passing for anything further forward. If I can mentor him into a better personality, I certainly think Félix has potential as a ball-winner though.

Marcos - Centre back

Personality - Unambitious

I really need centre backs but Determination of 1 and an unambitious personality? Is there even any point? And that's a real shame because he definitely has potential - albeit the Strength is a big red flag. For the moment, I'm not sure I'll even sign him.

Amine Amlal - Right wing

Personality: Light-hearted

Decent. His physicals are great for a winger and a lot of his mentals are great. But Anticipation 6, Composure 4 and Vision 6 - those are quite restrictive influences for any advanced player. Technically, I can't see him ever being a winger - his natural starting point is more as a finisher or creator (notwithstanding those mentals). Another with potential but big gaps.

Juan Carlos Brítez - left-back

Personality: Light-hearted

I don't mind the physicals starting point at all - the acceleration and strength should tick over into double figures quick enough and, at 6'2", he's going to do just fine aerially. I'm also happy with his starting mentals and technicals - the obvious ones that are a little short (Anticipation, Concentration, Positioning, Teamwork) will all increase naturally even without targeted training.

I think Brítez is the best of the intake so far and can definitely see him getting into the first team (if the save lasts that long)

Jesús Romero - the right flank, all of it

Personality: Balanced

Defensively he's a non-starter (see Marking, Tackling, Strength, being short). Going in the other direction the physicals are more than acceptable but his movement is lacking and his technicals don't inspire. Doesn't help him that Amlal plays the same position and is clearly better so every chance Romero falls by the wayside.

Good Talents

An unambitious centre back, an unambitious left-winger and these three.

Ramón has a couple of standout technical attributes which would already make him better than Carlos Gil, my current attempt at a guaje goalie. But there's also a couple of big gaps. Aguilar has that thing where double figures looks good until you realise they're all 10s and actually he's got a long way to go. Núñez, however, looks pretty good in my opinion - I'm thinking he'd make a decent midfield runner rather than the ball-winner he's listed as. But I wouldn't be confident.

And four decent talents that really aren't worth noting.

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

I can't say I'm overly enamoured with that intake. The personality pull-through from Caers looks sadly lacking, and there simply isn't a massive standout talent. Juan Sanchís will likely be considered the star graduate and I think that's probably fair. With the hindsight of having looked through the later dross, he does look quite handy and gaps in his attributes aren't that far off double-figures - a decent starting point.

Other than that, Brítez has the makings of a decent inverted leftback and Félix could do well if mentored correctly.

Better than last year, for sure, but not exactly awe inspiring.

EDIT:

Sergio Lozano (the golden boy of the 6th intake) wins the NxGn award as the world's best wonderkid. Jonathan Mouriño (5th intake) is 6th and Mexican centre back Ricardo Santana of Deportivo Guadalejara is 22nd... and will join us in the summer. A second Mexican centre back from teh same club, Diego Nava, is 33rd and I may have to bring him in too.

Edited April 9 by Shrewnaldo

Shrewnaldo · April 10

Something of an anti-climactic end to the season. Our league form really suffered for the prioritisation of the cups, but we were 7th since the start of December and ended 13 points from 6th, 15 points from 8th. That feels a little weird, have to be honest.

Atlético were just too good for us in the Copa del Rey semi, beating us 5-2 on aggregate and I can't really complain. Chelsea... well that was an opportunity missed. I should have played more conservatively in the away leg but an horrendous mistake from Carlos Rojas gave them a tap-in for the first and they secured a second with a high turnover before I learned to start by-passing the high press. We came into the game a little late on but were lucky to save a penalty in injury time. In the return leg we were by far the better team and took a deserved lead shortly after half-time. But Chelsea shut the game down expertly and we fluffed the two good chances we had late on to take it to extra time. Chelsea went on to comfortably beat AZ in the final.

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

Lestri · April 11

2 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Something of an anti-climactic end to the season. Our league form really suffered for the prioritisation of the cups, but we were 7th since the start of December and ended 13 points from 6th, 15 points from 8th. That feels a little weird, have to be honest.

Atlético were just too good for us in the Copa del Rey semi, beating us 5-2 on aggregate and I can't really complain. Chelsea... well that was an opportunity missed. I should have played more conservatively in the away leg but an horrendous mistake from Carlos Rojas gave them a tap-in for the first and they secured a second with a high turnover before I learned to start by-passing the high press. We came into the game a little late on but were lucky to save a penalty in injury time. In the return leg we were by far the better team and took a deserved lead shortly after half-time. But Chelsea shut the game down expertly and we fluffed the two good chances we had late on to take it to extra time. Chelsea went on to comfortably beat AZ in the final.

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

Other than fatigueness re Gijon, are there any teams that take your fancy?

El Payaso · April 11

Definitely another season. And if you end up changing clubs, I would rather see a new save game and maybe Italy... This is of course just my opinion.

Shrewnaldo · April 11

17 hours ago, Lestri said:

Other than fatigueness re Gijon, are there any teams that take your fancy?

Not really in this save. I don't think I'm really Gijón'd out, more just FM'd out. Not unusual for this time of year.

13 hours ago, El Payaso said:

Definitely another season. And if you end up changing clubs, I would rather see a new save game and maybe Italy... This is of course just my opinion.

My only real thought is that I'd quite like to pick up the Feralpi / Hellas journeyman again. But I can't say it's a huge burning desire yet.

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FM24 | A Sporting Heritage | The Guajes of Gijón

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