[FM24] Part two: Die Werkself

[KlaaZ]

Squad progress: Attack

Finally, the place that generally interests people the most: attackers! We have two excellent strikers in Rotini, who we picked up from second division team Beveren for 500k and who can also play on the right, and Jesus Hernandez. 

On the left, Maziz has been our starter ever since we started this career. So far, I haven't been able to find a decent young replacement yet. I rotate him fairly often with Thorsteinsson, who has been at the club for four years now and can also cover on the right wing.

On the right, Deaconu has an excellent first season but regressed a lot last year. Ndri, who joined in the summer of 2023 together with Maziz, is now probably our main man but this is once again a position where I would like to grab some young talent.

Edited February 25 by KlaaZ

[KlaaZ]

The transfer window is closed, time for a roundup! 

The most important players leaving were Enggard, Siebert and Leysen for respectively 14.5M (release clause), 31.5M and 11.5M. This gave us quite a big war chest so on to the transfer market we went, looking for a backup goalkeeper, backup left back, two central defenders and maybe an opportunity left and right.

We found not two, but three central defenders. The first one is young Belgian prospect Christophe Pip, who came through the youth ranks of Cercle Brugge and was on my radar for over a year already. He's not cheap at 10M, but as homegrown players are important both domestically and in Europe, I think it's a good investment. 

Apart from his, we also brought in an 18-year old Italian kid from Salento who will probably win the battle with Hugonet for a first team spot. Cerrone joins us from Salento in an 8.25M deal, which feels like an absolute steal in my opinion. 

Finally, we also loan a left footed defender from Barcelona, with an optional future fee of 7M. Andres Cuenca looks excellent already and might be the natural replacement of Schmidt if he decides to move to a bigger club.

We also picked up our backup left back in Spain, signing 23 year old Jesus Vazquez from Valencia for 4.4M. 

Between the stakes, we sign another German goalkeeper (there are a lot of good potential ones out there!): Max Weiss comes over from Karlsruhe in a deal that can run up to 4.1M.

And last but not least, we pick up a young midfielder at Eupen who will join the U23 in the second division for now, for 300k.

[john1]

Wow, crazy progress over the season Brilliant signings you have bought in above! Who is your HOYD?

[KlaaZ]

1 hour ago, john1 said:

Wow, crazy progress over the season Brilliant signings you have bought in above! Who is your HOYD?

Cheers! Think I have him listed in one of my updates, but can take a look ingame once I get off work. All I remember is him having the right preferred formation and a model citizen personality I believe. Same goes for my U18 manager, where I brought in Kolo Touré.

 

Edit: Found him! Claudio Vivas 

Edited February 21 by KlaaZ

[KlaaZ]

Just went into the playoffs, so I'll probably finish the season somewhere next week. I've also made the decision to find another club at the end of the season as I need a new challenge. Ideally, I'd go to either France or Germany next, to a club with a decent transfer kitty so I can take my brightest prospects (Mavinga and Lafaye) with me. Would also like to bring Pla and Rotini along but I don't think I'll be able to afford them unless I join the likes of Real, Barca or City. 

[KlaaZ]

Season recap

January transfer window

Nothing special on the outgoing side. We manage to sell Deaconu for 450k to a Polish team, and bring in one direct reinforcement, a young Italian winger from Roma for 500k.

Jupiler Pro League

No unbeaten season but clear and deserved champions after an unbeaten run in the Championship Group. 

Croky Cup

A difficult run this time, but another cup win in the bag, although the final was a very tight affair against Anderlecht.

Champions League

An excellent run in the league phase, only barely missing out on going straight to the round of sixteen. A point against Real at home, draw in Leverkusen and Stuttgart (where we were ahead twice), and a very nifty 2-0 home win over Juve. 

The knockout phase pitted us against Atlético. We played well in Madrid but lost on details 3-1. Then we overcame the impossible and drove over the Spaniards 5-1 at home in Leuven. Our ending station was the next round against PSG. We could just as well have won our home game, but had to surrender in Paris to the better team.

Youth intake

A nice selection with the highlight being a young goalkeeper from Cordoba, a Spanish team that we set up and affiliate link with only recently. Happy to see that pay off straight away!

[KlaaZ]

In other news, I've applied for a job in Germany with Leverkusen, who finished 7th in a photo finish with Frankfurt and Köln.

[KlaaZ]

New chapter!

[KlaaZ]

Bayer Leverkusen: The current situation

With the ink on my contract still wet, I start assessing my new club. Leverkusen is obviously quite a step up from Oud-Heverlee Leuven, even if we won the double four times in a row and presented ourselves quite well in Europe. The Bundesliga is one of the most competitive leagues in the world, with Bayern as the giant to beat but others fighting just below, the likes of Dortmund, Leipzig (who I was actually hoping would have an opening but alas), Stuttgart, Union Berlin, Frankfurt, Monchengladbach,...

A first look at the squad tells me that we lost a bit of quality over the past four seasons. Wirtz made a big money move to Liverpool three years ago, Boniface is at Southampton, and Gjengaar plays in Italy for Atalanta. The good news is that there's also a lot of quality left. We picked up young goalkeeper Dennis Seimen two years ago from Stuttgart, who could be our main man for years to come. At the back, Frimpong is still here (for now, as he wants to join a bigger club), as are Grimaldo, Tapsoba and Hincapie. That's my back line all set for now, unless one of them leaves. Either way, that would be for big money and allow me to reinvest in the squad.

Central midfield is probably our biggest problem. We have a young talent for the DM position, Theophilus Awuah, who will get his chance to prove himself in preseason. Apart from that, I have quite a few options but non of them are very convincing. Xhaka is our best midfielder, but he's 34 already. Next to him, Joe Willock is probably our best midfielder. I'll be looking to bring Mavinga over from OHL to have another fine midfield prospect at the ready in any case.

Up front, we have Fatawu on the left (who joined from Napoli), Hlozek on the right and an ageing Patrick Schick up front. I'm looking to see if I can seduce Lafaye to join us for the future.

[KlaaZ]

Mavinga doesn't wan to join yet, probably because he's only 17. We'll try again in January. Meanwhile, we have a few other midfield youngsters on our radar, one already having signed and the other considering our contract offer. I'll provide more details tomorrow when I'm back at my laptop, but especially the latter looks very, very promising!

[KlaaZ]

Three new arrivals on July 1st. Number one is a very good midfielder with a lot of extra potential, who was still playing in Mexico at Monterrey. At 9.25M, he seems like a ridiculous bargain deal. 

Secondly, Paul Okon comes over for a free from Benfica, he will be a useful rotation option.

And finally, we sign Cuenca,, who played for Leuven on loan last season, for 2.5M to have another option at the back.

[KlaaZ]

Finally, we bring in a young Italian that has been on my radar for a bit. This boy will be our main midfield man for years to come, either in the center or on the right. Price tag: 26M, of which 15 will be spread over the next three years.

[KlaaZ]

Some more transfer news brewing: We're set to lose Piero Hincapie to Everton as they activated his 72M release clause. He's now waiting for his work permit, and I'm considering bringing in a new defender to replace him. On the other hand, we still have Pascal Struijk, who is  close to his level, and the new guy Andres Cuenca (who is not, at least not yet). Hlozek will also leave probably as he's in the same situation: Leeds met his 59M release fee. If he goes, I'll probably hit the transfer market for a replacement.

Paul Okon has moved on loan to Getafe because we signed another defensive midfielder who I think has more to offer currently. Dinis Telehovschi was transfer listed at Benfica and available for only 3.4M, a steal from the looks of him with potential to get better. 

We also brought in a very highly rated Slovakian defender for the future, from Bratislava for 1.8M.

Apart from this, I'm still trying to eliminate some dead wood but it's hard as most of them are very opposed to leaving.

[KlaaZ]

The good news is that puniball made its debut in the Bundesliga in style. After a nervous first half, we completely drove over Stuttgart in our opening game, winning 4-0.

[KlaaZ]

More transfer news! With the deals for Hincapie and Hlozek finalized, we had a lot of money to play around with. We also cleared some wage budget by shipping Xhaka to England, with West Ham being the taker for 3.1M. Finally, Joe Willock goes on loan to Union with an optional future fee, and Jorne Spileers goes to Wolfsburg for 13.25M. We also loan out young Vesely to a VTSC.

We invest some of the money in five new players. I'm pretty excited about the French defender and the Colombian kid.

[KlaaZ]

On the pitch, things are not going as well as I had hoped. We kicked off with that 4-0 win but afterwards, it's been average at best. We threw away a 2-0 lead in Hoffenheim, somehow beat Leipzig but then drew in Monchengladbach and lost in Frankfurt. We're not playing well, we're not creating proper chances AND we're underperforming xG. We're supposed to qualify for the Champions League but this squad is not up to the standard to do that.

[KlaaZ]

Did not see that coming.. Bayern were on a perfect track, only conceding once in seven games.

[KlaaZ]

Can't really explain this anymore, second time this season where we have a comfortable lead and then just shut off completely. 

[KlaaZ]

21 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

On the pitch, things are not going as well as I had hoped. We kicked off with that 4-0 win but afterwards, it's been average at best. We threw away a 2-0 lead in Hoffenheim, somehow beat Leipzig but then drew in Monchengladbach and lost in Frankfurt. We're not playing well, we're not creating proper chances AND we're underperforming xG. We're supposed to qualify for the Champions League but this squad is not up to the standard to do that.

May have spoken too soon, as we're on an excellent run now! I had some problems in the dressing room with a lot of unhappy players because of Conference League registration (not enough homegrown) and trying to sell Willock. And maybe the players just needed time to get accustomed to puniball.

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

The January window is open and we've already done most of our homework. 

Our first official signing is a loanie, but with a hefty 35M option to buy. Cardo Mavinga joins us from my old club Leuven and will play a pivotal role in midfield straight away. Hopefully, he will be open to a more permanent stay near the end of the season because I feel he's destined for great things. 

Our second addition will be one for the (far) future, a 16-year old Spaniard from Damm. At 200k, the investment poses little risk.

Thirdly, our scouts found a potential excellent midfielder in Peru. He'll finish the season at his old club Allianz and will probably be loaned out next season as well. 

And finally, as it's become more and more clear that we lack punch up front, we managed to convince Rotini to make the move to Germany, beating some stiff English opposition from Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. A hefty price tag at 42.5M, but I'm sure he'll be worth every penny. I still remember picking him up with Leuven in the second division for 500k.

[KlaaZ]

Six minutes was all he needed.

[john1]

Great move to Leverkusen! Also epic signings you have made! Some good wins so far

[KlaaZ]

One more transfer before the window shut, a young Japanese striker for 875k. I don't have high hopes for him but I thought he might bolster shirt sales.

[KlaaZ]

Season review

Bundesliga

A very good season sees us end one spot above our fourth place prediction, which means direct qualification for the league phase of the Champions League. There were a few moments where it looked like we might push for second place or even the title but we were too irregular in the final third of the season, losing four out of our last nine league games. Then again, even if we turned all of those into wins (including our loss in Bayern) we would still only have finished level with the giants from Münich.

 

DFB Pokal

We went out in the quarter final against Wolfsburg on penalties in a game where we had by far the upper hand. It was a bit the story of our second half of the season, where we sometimes found it very, very hard to hit the back of the net. Fun fact, we also could have gone out in the second round against Bundesliga 2 team HSV but turned it around in the added time with two goals from supersub Schick.

 

Conference League

We had it easy in the group stage, only dropping points once when we threw away a 3-0 lead in Israel. Vorskla and Charleroi didn't pose a threat in the next rounds and we came up against Monaco in the semis. We beat the Monegask at home with a late winner from Sinisterra and went to France with a small bonus in our back pocket. After an even first half we went into the break 2-0 down and virtually eliminated. In the second half, Fatawu pulled one back but despite having chance upon chance upon chance we just couldn't find the other goal and ended up in a penalty shootout. Luckily, we avoided our cup scenario against Wolfsburg and kept our cool, with Okafor being the hero this time and netting the decisive spot kick to send us into the final.

In that final, we faced Atalanta. After a horrendous opening twenty minutes, we were trailing 2-0 and everything looked lost. They played a 4-4-2 narrow diamond, a formation which has been bugging me the entire season. But the players stood back up and clawed back, with Baturina and Mavinga with a belter from distance closing the gap before half time. Neither team could find a breakthrough before the end of the ninety minutes but in the extra time, we completely kicked into gear. Meneghetti put us ahead, and Okafor and Tapsoba (on penalty) finalized our first European trophy.

 

 

[KlaaZ]

Squad progression

In the year since I took over, we made quite a big overhaul to the team. Eleven players left the club on a (soon to be) permanent basis, including experienced once like Xhaka, Hlozek and Hincapie. This was intentional, as some of these players were on very high wages with not enough to show for it. My strategy would be twofold:

• Bring in young but established players who can go into the first team straight away. For this, I looked first at either my shortlist from my previous scouting team at OHL and my former team itself, which was loaded with young (domestic) talent. 
• Look to sign promising youngsters at the age of 18 or younger in order to improve the amount of homegrown players flowing to the first team. This was/is a huge problem, as we currently only have one player that fits the homegrown at club rule for European football, Theophilus Awuah. 

The first part was probably the easiest, thanks to the funds generated through the sale of Hincapie (72M), Hlozek (59M), Karpukas (28.5M) and Spileers (13.25M). We also cleared a lot of wage budget this way and through the departure of Xhaka to England. 

With that money, our first order of business was the improvement of midfield. We brought in Cesar Lomeli from Mexico, Meneghetti from Atalanta and during the winter break Cardo Mavinga from my old team OHL on loan with an optional future fee which we now decided to pay. These three guys will be the core of my central midfield, hopefully for years to come. Meneghetti and Mavinga especially look like they could become some of the best midfielders of their generation.

At the back, Rachid Chentouf, who we picked up from Caen for 13M, has established himself as a first team regular next to the more experienced Tapsoba. Next year, 18-year old Miroslav Vesely will get more playing time next to him after an excellent loan spell in Portugal. And finally, we've also been playing young Colombian wonderkid Buitrago at the back, although he can also play in front of the defense.

Up front, my former favourite Roberto Rotini has hit the ground running in his first six months in Germany, scoring seven and assisting three in the league. 

In regards to the second part of my strategy, we've improved the junior coaching at the club and brought in a few players that will hopefully turn into home grown regulars in the future. Icelandic left back Borgporsson was sent on loan to Düsseldorf to make sure he stayed in Germany and 16-year old Isidre will spend some additional times in the youth squad honing his skills before he's introduced to the first team.

And last but not least, Theophilus Awuah. The only kid from the academy who looked half ready to join the first team, and what a progression he has made. 

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

We continue the squad overhaul by letting quite a few 'older' players leave the club. Nmecha barely played last year and goes to Mönchengladbach on a free. We also released Schick who subsequently signed for Hertha. Paul Okon, brought in on a free last year, is sold to Sevilla in a deal running up to 12M, easy profit. Jordan Bos was surplus to requirements and moved to the desert for a few million. We finally get rid of Joe Willock for 15M, as he joins Bos in the Middle East. Frimpong wanted to leave to a bigger club and was entering his last year of contract. He refused an offer from Napoli but ended up signing for Inter in a deal worth 71M. Madi Monamay joins my old club Leuven for about 30M, bonuses included. And finally, Luis Sinisterra also moves to Saudi Arabia where he joins Al-Ahli. if all goes well, we'll get 58M for him.

With all of that money, we hit the transfer market and brought in a few replacements. First order of business was making Cardo Mavinga's stay permanent, we activated our option for 34.5M. He's still only eightteen but looks so very, very good. 

Secondly, we found a new left back at Bayern. Adam Aznou's contract ran out so we picked him up on a free. He'll be our main man until one of our young kids come of age.

Thirdly, we pick up a potentially very, very good striker in Argentina, for 15M from Rivas.

One for the future, sixteen year old Swedish left back for 1.9M from Örebro.

A very good right back, again from Leuven. I signed this lad myself but he arrived after I left. 35.5M well spent!

And finally, we shopped again at Bayern and brought in a left winger, Bünyamin Simsek, for 18M.

[john1]

Some cracking players you have signed!

[KlaaZ]

5 hours ago, john1 said:

Some cracking players you have signed!

Cheers!

Six games to go, and it's ridiculously tight.. We were seven points clear at one point but then lost 3-0 in Münich in a fairly even game. Our other loss was away at Mainz, who are surprisingly in third. We've only lost one and drew one in the last fourteen games, and still Bayern, being unbeaten in fifteen games and only dropping points once, a draw in Dortmund.. We still have Dortmund away and Mainz at home, with them playing Mainz at home as well at some point.

[KlaaZ]

First big hurdle taken, but by god we had to fight for it.

[KlaaZ]

One game away from a historical final! Got lucky with Ajax although the 0-3 away win was very even on the pitch. Then deservedly lost in Manchester but put in a really, really good performance in the return, the 4-1 was no more than deserved. The Benfica home game could have been 5-1 but it also could have been 2-3. Going to be a very nervous affair in Lisbon.

[KlaaZ]

This is one of the most nerve wrecking end of season marathons I've ever done I think, third league game in a row where we edge it near the end.

[KlaaZ]

IT HAPPENED! THEY DROPPED POINTS! Remind me to send a bouquet of flowers to De Ligt. 

We still have a home game against Hertha and then finish the season away in Dortmund. So to be safe, we have to win our next one, or Bayern just needs to drop points again. Fun fact, in any of the previous seasons I'd have been champions already, sometimes by a big margin. Two years ago, Bayern grabbed the title with 68 points..

[KlaaZ]

Here we go! Simsek is out on injury, everyone else is fit. I rotated the squad against Stuttgart (I'm a gambling man, I know), so we're as ready as we can be.

[KlaaZ]

33 seconds in..

[KlaaZ]

Six minutes in and it's over.. I have no idea what's happening.

[KlaaZ]

It was 4-0 at the break, but Tapsoba pulled one back and now we get this.. Please don't miss.

[KlaaZ]

It's in, one more to go!

[KlaaZ]

It's over. A horrendous first ten minutes which we nearly recovered from. Should always have won this game really, no excuses.

[KlaaZ]

One hand on the league title!

[KlaaZ]

The Bayern hegemony is broken. A very strong 2-0 win over Hertha was enough, with the Münich giants failing to break down Mainz. Champions with a game to spare!

[KlaaZ]

Season recap

Winter transfers

Grimaldo is unhappy with his playing time, which makes sense because he's been replaced by Aznou. We send him off on loan to Almeria. Gustavo Puerta is loaned out to Nijmegen for the same reason.

On the incoming side, two transfers of note. First order of business is bringing in a striker for the future, Micky Steele, from Bayern in a 20M deal. I have no idea why they let these talented youngsters go so easily but I'm not going to complain as my youth intakes are clearly not of the same quality and we need them young to make them homegrown. Secondly, we make a move for a young winger from Kobenhavn, Alexander Kobbernagel, who seems like a potential bargain at only 9.25M.

Bundesliga

The secret's out already, Leverkusen won its first Bundesliga title in their history. We were top of the table from match day three onwards so it's definitely deserved, although Bayern really pushed us to the wire in the second half of the season. We went behind in both Mönchengladbach and at home against Mainz, turned both games around near the end, against mainz even with a stoppage time winner from Awuah. In the end, we beat the Münich giant because they drew a few more games than us, with our only losses being in Bayern and Mainz (who surprisingly finished third).

DFB Pokal

We were abruptly eliminated in the quarter final by Düsseldorf in an even game where they were the more clinical side.

Champions League

In what can only be labeled as a dream run, we barely missed out on history by not turning up in the first ten minutes of the return against Benfica. The Portuguese bagged their first four shots, and although we came close in the second half we just couldn't find a way to take us into extra time. Gutting, as I feel this was there for the taking..

Player performances

I'm not going to talk about our striker this time, but instead give an honourable mention to four players. Chentouf has been very impressive at the back this season and is on the verge of becoming a world class center back. And in midfield, we have an amazing triangle with academy graduate Awuah, Leuven boy Mavinga and absolute Italian beast Meneghetti. 

 

[john1]

Wow what an epic season!   Sad to see you selfdestruct against Benfica

[KlaaZ]

1 hour ago, john1 said:

Wow what an epic season!   Sad to see you selfdestruct against Benfica

Never seen any of my teams implode like that in years really, still not over it. 🙃 But all in all, I can only be happy with how the season went. I'm hoping I can hang on to Meneghetti as Liverpool and Real are sniffing. We've put a 200m target on his head, I hope it's enough to deter them. If he stays, I'm fairly sure we can challenge for the CL and domestic hegemony in a few years, got an excellent batch of young players now. 

[KlaaZ]

Transfer news

We continue our tradition of bringing in players from Leuven. I kept young striker Logan Lafaye, who made his debut at Leuven under my reign and scored five goals while I was leading the club, on my radar ever since I left. He established himself in the first team last year, starting eleven and coming off the bench nineteen times, and scoring thirteen goals for 5.72 xG. Clinical lad. With this, he helped OHL to another league title, I'm happy to see the club of my heart doing well after I left. We'll pay close attention to improving his technical ability in the next few years, but I have high hopes of him becoming better than Rotini. It would also allow me to play the latter on the right more often as that's a position where we lack a bit of quality.

Edited March 5 by KlaaZ

[KlaaZ]

It's time... For revenge! Real took us all the way to the 121st minute in the semi final though, when Chentouf scored the winner seconds before penalties would have decided our fate. Either way, this means we'll have some tired legs, hopefully we'll turn up this time.

[KlaaZ]

Blood, sweat and a lot of profanity later.

[john1]

Beautiful revenge

[KlaaZ]

Well, I don't know what to do with this.. He wants to leave but he's without a doubt the best player we have, and probably one of the best regens in the game. He's also got a lot of influence in the dressing room. 

[KlaaZ]

Bit the bullet, savescummed once to see what would happen when I rejected but it would divide the dressing room with a considerable amount of players supporting him. We had our eye on a replacement already, a Spanish prospect from Girona but he wanted over 300k per week in salary so that's off the table. Worst case scenario, we promote from within, with Lomeli being his direct replacement and Milton Bravo, who had an excellent loan spell at Lille last season, as his rotation option.

[warlock]

5 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

Well, I don't know what to do with this..

I think you have to accept that! If you have anyone even close to his level, that's a huge financial boost for the club. At first sight, Lomeli doesn't look far off.

But I have to say, I'm in 2027 but if that's how transfer fees are going, I'm not looking forward to the next couple of years