[FM24] Lions Gibraltar - Build a Club and build a nation

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UEFA Champions League Round of 16:

We drew A. Madrid who play in the Spanish First Division. Spain is 2nd in the nation club rankings and A. Madrid are 14th in the club rankings. This should likely be a defeat for us, given their ranking and players.

First leg at home and I will take a draw for sure.

We took home a victory away from home and move on!!!  Both games were relatively close on the stats page too.

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UEFA Champions League Quarter Finals:

For the quarter finals we are up against Paris SG who play in the Ligue 1 Uber Eats. France is 5th in the nation club rankings and PSG are 2nd in the club rankings. We played them in the league phase and managed a draw, but realistically, we should not have much chance.

Well, that wasn't pretty as we were soundly beaten.

Back home for the second leg and managed a victory! Too little, too late, but a nice way to finish off the competition. We were still outplayed which shows there is more work to be done.

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End of Season 9 (31/32) Analysis:

The team average rating improved by 1.7, improving from 65.7 to 67.4 moving us closer to England Championship level(68.1 average).  The season over season growth rate for the squad has been very consistent at around 1.7 per season or so as you can see from the chart lower down. I think that is directly correlated with the growth in the club reputation driving the quality of player we can see and who is willing to join the club. Our scouting staff is now well developed so we are getting broad visibility.  We do have a few players now developing very nicely for the club which may help get a boost to the rating growth. Based on the growth rate, we will surpass the Championship target by the end of this coming season. That should make us competitive, with an outside shot to win the Champions League. This past season, we made it to the Quarterfinals and had a decent showing against the eventual winners PSG a result in line with the squad quality assessment.

Reminder that the rating for each of the leagues below is the average of the top 10 rating for each position across the entire league. The appropriate top 10 average for the positions in my tactic are then slotted into the chart and averaged across the 11 ratings. Only a few teams in each league would have a player in each position that ranks in the top 10, so by using this as a target, it provides a measure of when the raw attribute ratings of the team would position it near the top of the league being compared against. We all know that cohesion, morale, happiness etc. gives the human manager the edge, so when my team hits the rating for one of the leagues, I would expect it to be able to win, or at a minimum compete to win, the league. I have seen that team can successfully compete with most of the teams in a league above their rating. This means that once I can get the Lions to the ENG Champ level, we should be able to compete in the Champions League.

We now have four positions at / above the target: Left Fullback, right fullback, left central defender and attacking midfield. Blasco's rating declined slightly, so BWM dropped a bit under the rating. Rojas at GK should develop to, or past, the target this season.  We have high potential players at DLP and AF, so they could also develop to the target..

Looking at the graph of ratings growth and I find it interesting that it has settled into an almost straight line of growth.

 

The majority of the end of season squad is signed on for the upcoming season as well. The only exception is Merino at AP who is on loan.

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POSITIONAL REVIEW (I have highlighted homegrown players in blue in the charts) I have again been messing around with ways to show player progression by position to try and not miss any up and coming youngsters in the lower teams.

GK - Champ target = 62.9
Rojas Fedorushchenko is our clear starter. He played all the tough games and did quite well this season. Sidibe played a lot of the domestic games and continues to improve statistically. The worrisome save percentage from previous seasons was much better this season. Santos was a new signing with high potential to develop as contingency in case Rojas leaves.

Rojas grew very nicely last season and is close to the target rating, so a bit more growth and he will be there.

Fedorushchenko grew nicely with a one point jump in a few attributes. He should now make the target rating and we will see how much he can develop. I have him on GK Reactions training to see if we can boost his reflexes.

Sidibe is still growing very well with his scouting report saying he is close to full potential. Interestingly, that is what Rojas' report said last season and then he had a nice development year, so we will see what happens. He has become homegrown now, so will definitely be our backup for a long time as it frees up another spot on the European rosters for an import.

Plan - Start Rojas. Give Sidibe playing time to grow and if any playtime is left, give Santos a match or two.

 

CD - Champ Target = 69.2
The numbers from the central defence are getting better. Puljic in particular had a good season statistically. Puljic, David and Albiach were basically a 3 man rotation with Fredricson and Morata getting some filler time. Puljic had the best numbers with David and Albiach close to each other.

Puljic is at target with slight growth. David grew nicely and should hit target this coming season. Albiach had a bit of growth and is in a good spot to be the primary backup again. McNeil is ready for the 2 backup role to get some playtime and see if the growth can be encouraged.

Plan - Start Puljic and David with  Albiach ias primary backup. McNeil is ok as the 4th backup as well.

 

Left FB - Champ Target = 65.8

FB seems to be a position that generates good match ratings in our tactic. Konate was the starter with Leyland and Chiab as the primary backup this past season and all three of them having good stats with Konate having the best.

 

Leyland continued to develop and his scouting report says he could improve significantly, so will definitely keep him playing to see how far he will develop. He plays both right and left FB, and will be the primary backup this coming season.  Kept Chiab around as a contingency plan as Leyland is likely to end up as the right FB.

Konate is above the target rating, so don't need to upgrade this spot.

Loving the growth from Leyland he had 24 starts evenly spaced through the season, which helped him be rested enough to train as well.

Plan - start Konate with Chiab as backup and Roman as contingency. Make Leyland the primary backup at RFB.

 

Right FB - Champ Target = 65.8

FB seems to be a position that generates good match ratings in our tactic. Biten Valere was the starter with Leyland and Waidner backing him up. Biten Valere had a good statistical season, so no reason to change.

Biten Valere improved slightly and is above target. Waidner declined a bit and Leyland developed a lot. Not much happening with the youngsters.

Plan - start Biten Valere with Leyland as the primary backup.

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BWM - Champ Target = 71.0
The BWM stats aren't great with our tactic, so I lean towards the match ratings to give additional insights. Blasco started, Edwards was played in league matches to see if he would develop. I started to play Lambert more towards the end of the season when it was clear Edwards wasn't developing. Blasco played well enough as did Edwards and Lambert.

Blasco's rating is pretty much at target. Our new project will be Pizarro now that he has had a year of training and is showing good development, so he will get a chance this coming season to show if he can keep growing.

Plan - Blasco is the starter and at target. Pizarro to get 20'ish starts - we have El Azzouzi and Lambert/Edwards for depth.

 

DLP - Champ Target = 69.7
El Azzouzi was the starter with Chirivella as the main backup. Junyent got 8 games and Muller filled in on occasion as well, but mostly played ST, so didn't include his stats. Stats wise, they all played pretty well with Juyent's stats skewed from playing mostly at AM.

Junyent is the best DLP, but is our starter at AM. El Azzouzi was the primary starter to see if his growth would continue, but he didn't grow much. Too early to give up on him, but I expect there to be options to bring in at or above the target rating. Chirivella has started to decline due to age and won't be back unless he signs on as a fringe player.

Interesting to look at El Azzouzi's development. He still had a number of attributes increase by 1, but not the ones that affect the rating much. Further support to the argument to keep him around.

Plan - Find an upgrade and start El Azzouzi until then.

 

Winger - Champ Target = 69.6
I am analyzing LW and RW together as all the top players can play both. Vincent and Marek were the starters, Holcroft, Abid and Juninho got a lot of play time as well. All the wingers played very well in the support role, so no action required based on the statistics.

Vincent showed a nice development burst last season. Holcroft's growth continued at a bit of a slower rate, so we will give him playtime again to see if the growth returns.

Vincent had progression in a lot of attributes last season - maybe he is a late bloomer and will grow again

Holcroft's had attribute growth across the board, hope that continues.

Plan - start Vincent and Marek with Holcroft to get league time to further his development. Try to find a winger at target rating to replace Marek.

 

Advanced Playmaker - Champ Target = 68.4
Junyent and Merino played most of the matches. Merino had good stats, but Junyent's are outstanding. He is doing it all, scoring, assists.

Junyent declined slightly in rating but I think he may have played too much along with injury. Hopefully that trend changes next season. He is above the rating target. Merino is a loan, so won't be back.

Plan - Start Junyent and try to find a good backup option. Meireles is proficient here, so can backup ST and AM.

 

Advanced Forward - Champ Target = 68.2
Muller was the starter and scored 42 goals!!!!. Meireles scored 24 goals as well. Both of them have very good stats with Muller better in the air and Meireles better dribbling. 

Muller had nice growth and if he does it again, he will make it to target. Meireles recovered a bit, but that is just likely the ratings "wobble" from attributes being right at the rounding point.

Plan - Start Muller with Meireles as backup.

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Upcoming Season recruiting needs based on the Championship target:

GK         Gap: 0.6% - We are good
CD         Gap: 0%, 1.1% - We are good - opportunistically look for another backup
FB          Gap: 1.3%, 0.3% - We are good
BWM     Gap: 0.4% - We are good
DLP        Gap: 2.1% - Need an upgrade to pair with El Azzouri - Urgent
Winger  Gap: 1.5%, 2.1%  - Look for at least one upgrade - - Urgent
AP          Gap: 0.6% - We are good
ST           Gap: 2.1% - We are good - opportunistically look for a young backup.

Only a couple of urgent needs. Next season we will switch to the Premier league as a target.

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Fast forward to the end of June and Gibraltar slightly improved it's rankings in the Nation Club coefficient thanks to our strong run and the club improved a lot to 29 in the European club rankings.  Gibraltar has not made any significant improvement and the HC is still there. I will likely abandon the build a nation part of this if I can't get the HC gig. The league moved up 7 more spots which has been helpful in getting players. Our club ranking improved a little bit, and we stayed at 2 stars for reputation. No additional upgrade for the youth facilities has come available to request. We have a very healthy cash balance and the board gave me a generous transfer and wage budget that I will not be able to spend.

Scouting budget is re-upped at world, so don't need to adjust.

Signed a couple of players and signed Merino for 2.5M at the end of his loan. He is a model citizen and good enough to play, so will be key to help develop other players personalities over time..

Jimmy Deniau is our new DLP. He has a rating of 71.2 and a great personality. Signed him for 8M

Metzler is our new LW with a rating of 72.4. Signed him for 1.9M

The current situation looks like this.

Updated Current Season recruiting needs based on the Championship target:

GK         Gap: 0.6% - We are good
CD         Gap: 0%, 1.1% - We are good - opportunistically look for another backup
FB          Gap: 1.3%, 0.3% - We are good
BWM     Gap: 0.4% - We are good
DLP        Gap: 2.1% 1.5% - We are good
Winger  Gap: 1.5%, 2.1%  2.8% - Continue to look for an upgrade for RW - not urgent
AP          Gap: 0.6% 1.2% - We are good - Junyent moves here from DLP with the signing of Deniau
ST           Gap: 2.1% - Now the "worst" position, but Muller has a ton of potential, so am not going to replace him and we are good - opportunistically look for a young backup

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UEFA Champions League Champions Path Second Qualifying Round:

We entered the competition this season in the second round against Tobyl. Tobyl plays in the Kazakhstan Premier League. Kazakhstan is 32nd in the nation club rankings and Tobyl are 266th in the club rankings. We should be able to win this round fairly easily.

Nice victory in the first game, not by as much margin as I would have thought, but will take it.

Played a number of the second tier players and came away with another victory.

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Silly me for thinking the team was set for the season . We are at the end of July and it feels like the entire team has been under attack from the vultures. So far El Azzouzi, Junyent, Puljic and David have forced their way out. I was trying to hold onto David, but he started skipping practice, so I had to let him go. Interestingly, I got a good loan offer for him with no future clause and £300K in extra fees for us. He accepted to go there after I rejected all the transfers. Will be interesting to see what happens at the end of the season as he is still under contract for one more year.

El Azzouzi was going to be a backup this season, so was ok to let him go. Got £975K +30% for him after siging him for 325K 3 seasons ago

Junyent was signed last season as a free transfer and was sold for 800K +40%. He was going to be the starter at AM. Fortunately we signed a better player to replace him in El Mourabet.

Puljic and David were our two starting centre backs, so it hurts to lose them.  Puljic signed last season for 450K and sold for 750K + 40%. David was signed for 400K and we are getting 300K for the loan and will either have him as a player next season, or will get a transfer fee then. The replacement options were not good as our scouts were not able to find better players who were willing to join us. I ended up signing one and loaning in 3 for 4 total replacements (went a bit overboard).

The vultures are also after Blasco, Rojas and Biten Valere, but so far they have not shown much interest in leaving.

New Signings:

El Mourabet is rated 71.7 as an AP which is an improvement on Junyent's 69.6.

The 4 central defenders are: Gauld (67.7), Mepham (64.4), Ochoa (66.6) and Klein (66.1). All of them are rated lower than Puljic (69.2) and David (68.1). Will have to check again in January and see if I can find a really good one. In the meantime, I will rotate the new guys and see who plays the best.

 

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UEFA Champions League Champions Path Third Qualifying Round:

Next up is Derry who play in the Irish Premier League. Ireland is 25th in the nation club rankings and Derry are 118th in the club rankings. We should be able to win this round fairly easily.

First leg in Ireland and a draw. Fairly close match, hope for better on the return leg.

Second leg at home and a more positive result with the Lions in control of the match.

 

UEFA Champions League Champions Path Playoff Round:

Next up is AIK who play in the Swedish Premier League. Sweden is 20th in the nation club rankings and AIK are 86th in the club rankings. Getting tougher matches now, but we should be able to win this round. We played them a few years ago with the away team winning both matches.

First match away and a solid victory

Played a lot of backups in the home leg and came away with a draw. Won the round, so am happy.

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On to the League phase and we have drawn a decent lineup of opponents:

I would predict 4 wins, 2 loses and 2 games that could go either way.  We should be able to make it past the league phase.

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Signed two more players during the transfer window:

Joao Carlos as an 18 yr old to develop at CB and add to the homegrown contingent. Trying to find players with good personalities to build the core of the team around and he fits that for sure.

Castro is signed to be depth at DLP and AM as we are a little thin at DLP for sure.