Jogo Bonito

Well done on winning the title, the strongest two clubs pushing each other hard. Maybe you should treat yourself to a quiche to celebrate success?

A storming finish in the league, very impressive and I think you can be very happy with that. Especially as it was them you beat to win the DFB-Pokal again. A good season in my opinion!

VfB Stuttgart - Season 2022/23 - Performance part 2 Due to the World Cup break from mid-November, there were no results to report on until January 2023 After a friendly win, our return saw a disappointing home defeat to FSV Mainz but we followed it up with two good away draws and a narrow DFB -Pokal victory Not much to report on results here, but we are still in a reasonable league position and in good financial health After a gap of six weeks, it was unlucky to see top forward Serhou Guirassy injured in training just before we got back on the pitch We hope he returns soon, and look forward to the remaining 16 Bundesliga fixtures (the DFB-Pokal is just a bit of fun on the side) Anything else? Following sound advice from a Stuttgart member, we signed up promising young forward Maximilian Wagner to a long-term deal on 23rd November 2022 On 1st December 2022, we also saw talented young goalkeeper Dennis Seimen turn professional on his 17th birthday with a deal running to 30th June 2027 On the same day, we received an unexpected boost when Alexander Wehrle provided an unsolicited early Christmas present On 8th January 2023 we learned that want-away winger Tanguy Coulibaly had signed a pre-contract deal with FSV Mainz, so we decided to trigger the sell-now option The rest of the transfer window was allowed to pass peacefully although we took an opportunity to raid FSV Mainz for two young left-backs for the future We did look in to the possibility of signing a striker due to the injury to Guirassy and the fact he is only at the club on loan However, a major incentive of this project is to allow young players a pathway in to the first team, and we have several raw but promising strikers on the books already And on 31st January 2023 we also received an interesting news article explaining how our wage bill was comparing against our Bundesliga rivals Some may see this as a negative, but we are viewing this as a proud statement of intent to maintain a sensible economic strategy

Thanks, welcome to yet another story from Germany

Belated congratulations young man, hope you had a great celebration. Back with a bang too, excellent results there and really looking strong! Any targets for the full back positions? I hope you keep Henry in the squad at least.

Just looked at my Stuttgart 11 side and he is there until June 2023 with no future transfer lined up. Having checked him out on certain websites, I see he has 11 goals in 15 games this term and as you said he is going to Bayern in July. Time to offer a new Stuttgart contract then! Sven can deal with it perhaps!

Thanks very much mate. I'm guessing you managed Stuttgart and Wagner was your manager? Yes, delighted to keep Sosa on a better deal, but fully expect his release clause to be triggered (just had no choice). Mislintat is gone you say? Fear not my friend...

Nice recruitment, or it seems that way. I have Papela and Sambo on my monitoring list, but like the look of Adewoye, Rasmussen, Janitzek and Miladinovic too. Good luck for the new season

Looks like some very nice squad re-structuring. Big money spent, but on few players, that makes logical sense to me. As long as they are the right picks of course!

Thanks, I hope with the better laptop it can be enjoyable again. When I was reading the save of @Carambau there were many times I was surprised about the goals against. It seems we will both suffer the same way. Not sure if it's a bug, maybe so. Or just unlucky. Yes they do indeed have a fairly rich history of decent ex-players. Good to be back and adding to the growing numbers in Germany. Thanks for the kind words and glad you approve of the manager chosen! Sosa seems well suited to that role yes. His new deal was my own work, but Silas had that contract to 2026 already. His wage is low though, so am expecting a visit to my office soon. I'm giving minutes to Ulrich and Egloff already and want any of the home grown at club players to stay in the squad if they're good enough. I did notice that Ulrich (and Seiman) seemed to be your only survivors from the original cast. Results are not bad now, but like you it seems the goals against is always going to be an issue. Good to know and he is getting appearances. I hope he will be around for a good few years, assuming he performs well. Thanks for the kind words. Ideally I'll keep the core as players from Germany, but exceptions will be made. There is lots of freedom to steal young players from Africa and South America, but Europe will also be considered. This time I didn't make any signings in the summer and made no sales (just terminated one loan and that was that).. Over time it will be a case of refreshing the squad when players get older (30+) and ideally players acquired will be upgrades rather than just filling places in the squad. Maybe the odd youngster will be added to the Stuttgart 11 or youth sides too, time will tell. The wage cap is actually both difficult and to my liking. Not being able to pay more than €29,000 per week fits my approach well, but players seem to be wanting absolutely massive upgrades immediately.

VfB Stuttgart - Season 2022/23 - Performance part 1 Pre-season fixtures were entertaining, but early ideas on the formation did not seem to be delivering much solidity defensively And the league campaign got off to a slow start, with no wins in the first three fixtures However, the form began to improve and despite some heavy defeats on the road, the home performances were good By the time of the World Cup break in mid-November, the team was sitting in a useful 8th spot in the table The attacking numbers speak for themselves, but there is much room for improvement in the defensive region it seems Anything else? Despite being 'rich' the board have a maximum weekly wage of €29,000 Three players chasing new deals already went away unhappy as we could not meet their demands, but one notable contract was eventually agreed Many aspects of this contract are not ideal, particularly the minimum release clause the agent insisted on due to our wage cap Talking of contracts, whilst player actions were limited, there have been some positive steps taken on staff recruitment And finally, the performances on the pitch have probably benefitted from an early switch from 433 to 532 as shown below This is a work very much in progress though, and there is still a long way to go with this club

Stuttgart Squad 2022/23 The inherited first team squad of 25 players was well-balanced, and no incoming transfers were made during the summer by Gómez The group captured below was reduced by one, with the loan of striker Tiago Tomas terminated as he went back to Portugal The new manager is not at all keen on loan players, but Serhou Guirassy was pinpointed as the main striker and will get to see out one year Of the rest, Borna Sosa and Silas are considered by the manager to be the club's main assets The latter recently signed a new deal to 2026, and Gómez is keen to tie down his star left-back as soon as possible On the negative side, winger Tanguy Coulibaly has made it clear he wants to explore other options at the end of his contract in June 2023

Returning to the club that he served so impressively, former German international striker Mario Gómez has been given his first managerial post Chairperson Alexander Wehrle led the introductory meeting Gómez was keen to have a look at the facilities, starting with the dressing room And he immediately noticed the new kit designs, with a twist on the traditional styling Mercedes-Benz Bank was replaced as main shirt sponsors by the 'EQ' branding used by the manufacturing giant's electronic vehicle arm The symbolic black and gold of Stuttgart was taken from the badge to the shirt on the third kit With a media prediction of 15th, Gómez is well aware of the task that lies ahead in the first test of his management credentials

So what made Stuttgart the winner in this selection process? There were three main contenders when looking for a club in Germany. I'd dabbled with Hamburger SV only to be thwarted by a lack of time and a laptop that made FM a chore rather than a pleasure due to slow processing speeds. With limited time, it became clear that a club outside the top flight was going to be too much to sustain. VfL Wolsburg have glorious bright kits, the legend of Grafite firing them to the title in my mind, and a good squad full of players I could enjoy managing. 1. FSV Mainz are an admirable club, punching well above their weight, with a strong core of German nationals and a strong youth system to keep them rolling along. VfB Stuttgart have a well-balanced squad, good support from a strong fan base, good facilities, and a culture and history to match. Their striker legacy inspires, as did the excellent and long-running story of @Carambau who has done wonderful work with Stuttgart in this forum. So, Stuttgart won the race and the next step was to design some fresh kits and decide on the manager story.

Welcome to a new chapter in the life and times of Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (commonly known as VfB Stuttgart). Thank goodness for the shortened version of their name, right? The city of Stuttgart is in the centre of Swabia, where the Swabian dialect is spoken by its native inhabitants. Black and gold are the colors of both Stuttgart and the state of Baden-Württemberg. The relevance of black and gold, in addition to being present on the club badge, will be revealed later. These antlers on the crest were, as surely we all know, used as a symbol by the royal House of Württemberg as far back as the 13th century. The ruins of their eponymous castle are on a hill about three miles from VfB's stadium (the Mercedes-Benz Arena). Thanks Wikipedia. The club has a substantial support and a rich history. But they haven't won the Bundesliga title since 2006/07 season. The passionate fans are ready for more success, but competing with the mighty Bayern Munich looks well beyond the modern day version of the club. Maybe they will need more players like those below in order to challenge. In addition to those pictured, you can add Bernd Leno, Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, Benjamin Pavard and Filip Kostic to the list that have served Stuttgart in recent times. It's fair to say that Stuttgart have been particularly blessed with star strikers over the years, and finding a new goal-getting hero is going to be one of the biggest missions of the task ahead. Prior to Mario Gomez and Timo Werner, they also had prolific marksmen in the Brazilian pair Giovane Elber and Cacau, plus the great Jurgen Klinsmann. So with such heritage, it seems logical to try and bring an attractive and attacking brand of football to the Mercedes-Benz Arena.

Thanks, yes. I'm doing the groundwork on the thread creation Nice to see your update. A decent run in Europe, I guess the Liverpool result was a bit disappointing, but still you picked up some good results on the way. And to be feeling that 4th is unacceptable in the league shows just how high you have set the bar. Yes you have done better before, but it's still keeping you well amongst the top clubs in Germany. I can sense there will be some big decisions and moves in the transfer window, that will be interesting to see. And by the way, I don't blame you for ditching the Stuttgart 11 side as a playable league. It hasn't really been that successful but you gave them every chance.

Looking forward to your update whenever it is. I've convinced myself this is a good idea, so should get a post ready soon. You're right, Sosa was talented, but now he is a much more developed player.

Yes, I echo your thoughts on the European format. Seems a big shame to do that to it. I won't mind if you have done heavy moves in the market, you have been very restrained until now. It will be interesting to see what you have done and how you have taken extra steps to improve your group. Thanks for the endorsement and inspiration with Stuttgart. I'll see if I can make a good go of it, having designed some new 3D kits and starting as a test last week just to see how it felt. If I get a few months in, I'll maybe post my own career on the forum here too. I'm sure it will be different, if not as good as your story I remember plucking Borna Sosa from the Zagreb youth side and moving him to my BSC Young Boys team along with Haaland and Davies (of Bayern) somewhere around FM18 time, so it will be nice to be re-acquainted and try to keep him for a few years. Him and Silas are the ones I'd like to be retaining for a while, plus Seimen of course. Muller, ironically, was one of those who wanted about six times his current wage just a few months in. I couldn't have done so even if I wanted to, but of course rejecting every player who approaches for a new deal will lead to a somewhat disharmonious dressing room. Thanks again, I look forward to your next update!

Still following this one when I can, and enjoying your progress, Keep up the good work, and enjoy your break first!

Welcome back! Germany does seem to be very popular at the moment, there and Belgium. Actually they're also the two places I have been looking to take on. Well done on the promotion and good luck with the challenge ahead!

A respectable league placing, taking on the giants is always going to be an annual struggle. How do you feel about the new European format? I'm not sure I would find much inspiration from battling away in such a heavy structure. I like the slow evolution of your squad, not regular overhauls but adjusting it when necessary. I've been mulling over which side to try a new journey with. As you know, I was keen on Belgium and Germany. Wolfsburg and Stuttgart were interesting me in Germany, but I was put off on the former by what you said about them and on the latter a little because I didn't know whether a copycat of your career there would be nice. The squad of FSV Mainz also came on the radar being a smaller club doing well - and I saw they had some good youth development potential to bring through. That's where I probably should be heading, but for some reason Stuttgart seem to have the strongest pull at the moment. Did you find it difficult keeping your best Stuttgart players in the first few years? The maximum wage allowance is €‎29,000 per week and although most of them are on much lower (and very sensible amounts) it seems they want significant early upgrades that go way over the board limit.

Tiredness may have seen you a drop a few places, but still holding an excellent position near the top of the table. And the European adventure could be going much worse too!

Oops, my bad. I thought I had read that you had won the first Cup - sorry for talking nonsense But yes you are right, two finals and a European spot was amazing for a club like Brentford. The HG players is a problem indeed. I guess you can register fewer players in your European squad, but that will leave you weak. You can transfer 'player search' for any players who were HGC at any time in the past, both age 0-21 and 15-21 searches. But there won't be many of those, if any at all. And you can sign 17 year old players, avoid registering them if necessary, and hope you still have them in 3-4 years. None of these are helpful, but I can't even read about your Cup finals correctly, so best wait for somebody else to help you there

I've read quite a lot of this and really like the difference of the MLS career. You're doing a fine job there. I've only ever tried Stateside once, a long time ago with NYRB. I really liked how different it was, but don't think I have the time or bravery to reacquaint myself with all their rules! Keep up the good work.

Fantastic that after a few years of strong challenges, you managed to hold off the Bayern juggernaut and claim the Bundesliga title. Very well deserved and so much sweeter to work hard over time before such a step could be achieved. The DFB Pokal should just be locked up in Stuttgart, your grip is very strong on that. I'm a big fan of Belgian football and hope to make a return to the forum either there or in Germany. Maybe I should do both! If Germany wins over Belgium, would it be terrible to have a crack with Stuttgart (new winter database) or should I stick to plan A and go with Wolfsburg to give you a unique audience? You have kind of inspired me with VfB. Good luck for the summer and beyond if you continue.