dothestrand

Great progress @Ronaldo Beckham I thought I'd started a Brentford save in Fm21 but seemingly not! Replicating the Brentford model in the game seems the best way to do it - under the radar players from Denmark and France and the English third/fourth tier. Hopefully they'll make some more strong signings (after Ajer and Onyenka) this Summer to make Fm22 a fun game!

End of the 2027-28 season in my Lezama save and we brought the title back to Bilbao! It was a real tussle with Valencia all season. They were my main rivals in the league before they tailed off a little in the last few games, finishing third behind Barcelona. Valencia beat us in the Super Cup on penalties, whilst we beat them in the Spanish Cup. We crashed out of the CL to Juventus after losing a two goal aggregate list. But overall, an excellent season! In terms of the squad, no signings of course and we let Inaki Williams leave on a free in the January as he was declining massivel

It's not even a realistic real life objective. Who are the high profile Basque players? Oyarzabal? Merino? They wouldn't sign for Athletic Club in real life. You wouldn't call Berenguer high profile, for example.

Yeah that constantly happens with me too. I try to remove it in contract negotiations but they won't have any of it. Still, they never get too arsey about it.

I started one season in, so that first season was a write-off really. Finished 7th in the second season. Won the league in the third. Then three 2nd places in seasons four to six. Finished 4th in the seventh season. Just starting the eighth season. So, even without signing anyone, we're comfortably in the CL spots. Valencia are the other big side in the top four, they've got loads of money now (they've won two of the last three titles too).

Strictly Basque. But in my second Athletic Club save, I've gone Lezama only - that is, not signing a single player and relying purely on the academy.

First time this has happened to me, but if this guy turns out to be a world-beater, I'll be very annoyed! I'll check him out in April. Has anyone had a message saying they've poached a player from another academy (most likely Osasuna, judging by Serrano/Sancet IRL)?

@Werrett With loans, I'm never bothered about wages/fees as we generally don't need them, though I wouldn't turn them down. I just want my players to play a higher level of football than they currently do, to have regular football (so they need to be an important player at least), to play in a position I want them to develop in, and ideally for a club doing well/with good facilities. If those offers come in, great. If not, I will try to offer players out, particularly if they're not far off the first team. If my B side is in the second division, I would not loan them unless a La Liga club come

Season 2026-27 of my Lezama save was a disappointment. After three consecutive 2nd place finishes, we finished 4th, a whole 10pts off 3rd. We also scored 10pts fewer than the previous season as we drew far too many games that we would have needed to win. Valencia won their second title in three seasons. So whilst it was slightly underwhelming, there are obvious mitigations. We aren't making any signings, whilst the three main clubs spend money like it's going out of fashion. We also moved on De Jesus, Morcillo, Cordoba and Nolaskoian - all of whom were peripheral players. So younger players ha

I do all my contracts with all levels. I lock in off-putting release fees, add optional extensions, remove performance related salary increases and remove annual wage rises, even if it means the starting wage is higher than first asked for.

2025-26 of my Lezama only save is done and dusted and it was another successful season, with another second place finish. Unlike the choke from the previous season, we were never in a position to win it after a sticky spell in March where we got 4pts from 5 games. Barcelona finished top by 1pt (we gained ground at the back end but were never really going to catch them), we were 4pts ahead of Valencia in third. Real Madrid just about sneaked the fourth CL spot. Atletico Madrid are now pretty poor in my save, finishing 8th. We got to the CL QF, losing to Milan, and no real progress in the domest

Given my third keeper in any save barely ever makes an appearance, I wouldn't spend any serious money. There may not be many half decent out of contract players available mid season but I'd just find an ageing keeper happy to be an emergency backup for a couple of seasons who wouldn't cost much. Someone like Hart or Ben Foster?

With Hodgson leaving and a dozen or so out of contract players at the end of the 20-21 season IRL, Palace would be one heck of a rebuilding job. Has anyone tried?

2024-25 of my Lezama only save, which ended in the most devastating fashion. When the final whistle of the season blew, I was ready to call 999 because of a collective bout of choking. Two games to go, we were 5 pts clear of Valencia, who had the better head to head record. So in reality, 2 pts would take the title. We were away to Almeria and could only rescue a draw in the dying minutes. A bad time for my star performers to suddenly get stage fright. So that left us 3 pts clear - Valencia with an easy home game, and us away to Real Madrid. I set up as cautiously as possible, hoping to t

He certainly has the potential to be a very versatile player. Because I have Vencedor and a 19yo rotating the DM role, plus a 16yo on the way, there's no need to retrain him there. He certainly will be a first team option as a CM in a couple of seasons as I currently rotate Sancet/Lopez/Martin (my youth player) and he will take over Lopez. For a player with good defensive attributes, he actually has no natural ability in a defensive role. As a left-footer, I've no need to retrain him as a LB as I have loads of options there. Not sure retraining as a RB has any legs given he isn't a right-foote