dothestrand

Just to make a change from showing off regens, I wanted to highlight some of the original youth players and where they were at the start of the third season (24-25). Aimar Vicandi has gone from strength to strength. He made the first team squad in 23-24 and played 28 games, scoring 7 goals and averaging 6.95. More than decent. Chelsea are sniffing around but he's tied down for the next five years. Lander Arenal is my backup right-back and deputises for Odriozola when he needs a break. Never lets us down. Attributes aren't really developing that much and the star rating from the coaches isn't much to write home about, but I don't see much reason to spend a lot on say, Gorosabel, as a reserve. Peio Canales and Gaizka Alboniga-Menor are both in my B squad and making steady progress. As this is likely to be Herrera's last season, there's a place in the first team squad for one of them. Hopefully it motivates them both to develop across the year. I'd like some more improvement in their physicals. Canales is more silky, as you'd expect from someone equally suited to playing out wide, whilst Alboniga-Menor has a stronger all-round game. He's probably in pole position at the moment. Guys like Luis Bilbao and Ibon Sanchez have potential, but the two intakes have seen wide players join the club with greater room for development, so they probably won't make it here. I've been quite fortunate with the four guys mentioned. I'm sure they have variable levels of development, but they've really grown over the last two seasons.

No idea what Inaki was so undervalued in my game. I did well to get 9m to be honest based on his value but I'd have expected somewhere around 40m for him really. Not that he's flourished at PSG tbh.

Is Kjell Scherpen any good? Brighton signed him from Ajax last season. Would he want to return? He's a giant! There's a Dutch keeper at Anderlecht - Bart Verbruggen - who was excellent in FM 22.

@bowieinspace They're way out ahead in my game too. Speaking of which. Season 23-24: Consolidation. After last season's third place, there were grounds for optimism at San Mames. But being ahead of the club's ambitions can sometimes be a double-edged sword. Maybe by exceeding expectations, you set them too high for when things get difficult. And we certainly had a bit of a pre-Christmas wobble that set doubts in. We started the season with hammering Gijon 7-0 at home with Nico Williams scoring a perfect hat trick! Then Atletico Madrid brought us straight back down to earth with a bump! We were performing well in the league, beating most of the sides we would expect to (both home and away) and only dropping points against the top 7-8 sides. The Champions League was a different issue though. Whilst we had trouble dispensing of Braga home and away, we took only 1 point from 12 against Milan and Leipzig, so we only finished third in the group - and the board and some players were upset. Post-Christmas went pretty much as pre-Christmas in the league with a steady accumulation of wins and draws and defeats against rivals. We looked good against Anderlecht in the first knockout stage of the Europa League and were beating Porto 3-1 after the home tie in the next round. 0-1 down, we get a penalty, which Nico misses, and we end up getting hammered 1-5! Domestic cups were not so great. We lost to Real Madrid in the Super Cup SF, then playing a weakened team against Eibar in the Spanish Cup fourth round backfired. Overall though, third place will do nicely. The xG table, which I've never looked at before, had us 8th, which presumably means we overperformed! In terms of performances, only Simon, Javi Lopez, Muniain and Vencedor averaged over 7, with a lot of players in the 6.8-6.9s. A lot of tepid wins where few players really excelled were the story of the season. Dani Rodriguez was in a funk for a lot of the season because I was playing him out of position in the AMR role, but he has developed really well across the season and is sharing that role with Aimar Vicandi. Nico often makes an unwilling CF and I'm losing some of his potential perhaps but he's our only real option there. Now we're starting to see a lot of young players emerge after two good intakes and some purchases of regens from other teams (generally non-Basque - I pick those up from across Spain who have Basque nationality who seemingly turn up in random places!) Some are going to be fine players in a few years. Generally, very well stocked in AML/AMR positions, but some GK, CM, CF and the odd defender too. Transfers were really just filler for the B squad, plus Herrera (couldn't get the wages down much) and Illaramendi - who was surprisingly willing to join but his legs have gone already! The stars you see are my 'nicknaming' style for the guys with high potential so I can just see them straight off. I also sold Guerrero as he was never developing and was endlessly targeted by other clubs. I can't see him improving much, but if he becomes a better player at Old Trafford, I'll try to go back for him.

Player values are often all over the place, but Williams was definitely on the low side. Yeray and Sancet have pretty low values too in my save. Losing Williams has been a blow but Nico's played up top. Aimar Vicandi has come into play AMR and is developing very nicely in the first squad. Gets a 10.0 every week in training and performs well.

Ah, I've got a couple of their u19s on my shortlist but nobody I'm likely to purchase just yet.

Pamplona is just Osasuna, who are one of your biggest rivals! Serrano and Sancet started in their youth teams and it caused quite a stir when they moved!

Oh Lord, the Summer 2023 transfer window slams shut. Next day, PSG try to low-ball me for Inaki Williams, but I talk them up to 9m (his value was around 6m). His wages are killing us and he certainly isn't worth the best part of 200k per week, particularly when I think he's starting to decline. Now we're relying on a combo of Nico Williams, Oroz, Muniain, Serrano, Dani Rodriguez and Aimar Vicandi (who's developing nicely but coming into the first team squad a season sooner than expected) to cover the three attacking positions until January (but realistically there's no-one to sign anyway!)

Season 22-23: Exceeding Expectations Our first season (as it was for others) was a successful one, far ahead of the club's vision. We finished 3rd - 7 points behind Real Madrid and 2 points behind Barcelona (who overhauled us on the last day when they defeated us at the Nou Camp). After around 30 games, we were pretty much even, but we had an inconsistent run-in, which was fair enough given that the squad is lacking depth. We did pretty well in the cups, reaching the later stages, losing to Barcelona and Real Madrid. As previously mentioned, the squad had a huge overhaul, particularly in the January window. We moved on some of the older, higher-paid guys before their contracts expired, as well as some of the fringe players who were never likely to be first choices. Getting fees in and those salaries gone meant we could invest in younger talent to refresh the squad. Coming in were some of the usual suspects (Moncayola, Munoz) but one especially welcome addition was Dani Rodriguez from Barcelona. I had to offer him a lot of assurances, but he's settled into the first team squad already and played some of the run-in in the AMR position. We had a solid youth intake. A good GK, and some attacking midfielders and forwards who should be first teamers in a few seasons. I'm going to try to avoid signing regens from the other Basque clubs, but if there are Basques elsewhere, I've fewer qualms! Hopefully my affiliate clubs have some regens - there are often some gems there. In terms of youth players who started the game, Lander Arenal (RB) looks good and could be the backup for Odriozola next season if we move Capa on. Asier Santolaya, Peio Canales and Gaizka Alboniga-Menor look really handy in CM and got a few games in the run-in. Luis Bilbao, Ibon Sanchez and Aimar Vicandi look really promising in the AML and AMR positions. So, that's 6-7 guys who could feature in the future, as well as the annual intakes. In terms of real transfer business this Summer, Aimar Oroz is the main target as we could hopefully move Berenguer on if that happens. I'm hoping that Alvaro Fernandez becomes available but I've got an option on Iker Alvarez. Not that I'm desperate for a GK but as Simon might be a target, it's best to cover that position. Returning loan players will help - Nunez in particular at CB. I'll see whether to pull the trigger on Herrera but want him on far less money so let's see what PSG does. Another job is to really overhaul the backroom staff - usually I wait for contracts to expire before really getting to work on this. Next season, CL qualification would be awesome, but will still need some work.

Real Sociedad players often either a) have no interest in joining you at all so you can't even negotiate, b) have to be paid-off big time or (if they're a young player) be bribed with promises you probably won't deliver on re: game time, etc. You just hope they don't complain much! Or c) are out of favour/listed and are therefore much easier to sign. Players from other Basque clubs are generally more gettable because of reputation difference and money. Osasuna players may have a dislike of Athletic Bilbao, but Alaves and Eibar players are seldom an issue.

Another surprise is how your intakes always favour certain positions. Maybe that happens in other games, or maybe it's down to the preferences of the HOYD/Asst Mgr. But I always get a surplus of wingers, particularly AMLs. I try to retain anyone with moderately decent positioning as a LB. I get a decent number of AMCs come through too, despite never playing that formation, so they get retrained to MCs. The good thing about Athletic Club is that you need to encourage versatility amongst your young players as much as possible.

Best part of 6m to one of the Saudi clubs just before he reached the pre-contract period. Bustinza came in for 150k for six months (with a one-year optional extension) and he's a solid backup before Nunez comes back.

So far I've shifted on Balenziaga, Zarraga, Garcia, De Marcos, Lekue, Martinez, Garcia, Morcillo, Guruzta, Vesga and Yuri. Most got offers, I didn't try to purposely sell them. Moncayola, Munoz, Alvarez (on loan, 5m optional fee), Guerrero, Odriozola, Butinza and Dani Rodriguez in to replace them. Mostly squad players gone, or big earners leaving whilst we can still get fees. First XI is still strong but less depth.

a) Not a surprise but that each year becomes a harder challenge. You've got to do a lot of rebuilding really quickly! b) Lander Arenal (RB) is pretty decent in my save. He'll be my backup RB by the end of the first season. Luis Bilbao is a decent AML - potentially as good as Morcillo or Berenguer imo, so could cover for Muniain within a couple of seasons. Ibon Sanchez plays the same position and has as much promise. Hopefully one of more of the CM players in the current u19s comes good.

Wow, that first Winter transfer window is interesting. I'm rebuilding my squad earlier than expected!

Iker Alvarez definitely has Basque nationality. He's available for around 7m. Good personality and lots of potential. Reckon he's better than Agirrezabala personally.

After a few computing issues (had to get a new one, basically), I've finally got my hands on FM23! Looks like my first season will go the way everyone else's has - trying to deal with an ageing squad where lots of guys are out of contract at the end of the season. I'll wait and see what the transfer market does at this point. Chances are some of those guys will get offers this Summer and I'm not that bothered about offering them new contracts just yet. The usual players are on my shortlist. One name not mentioned is Iker Alvarez, a young Andorran/Basque keeper at Villareal, who's 20 and has a driven personality, and would be your second keeper, probably. Dani Rodriguez at Barcelona may be worth a punt as well, but one for the future there.

Mateja Stjepanović of Partizan was a promising CB/CM in FM22. I'm guessing he's equally good this time too.

How good is Enes Sali, 16yo Romanian midfielder at Farul Constanta? Made his international debut at 15! Other players to consider perhaps based on my Dinamo Zagreb save in 21-22: Aleksander Kahvic (Red Star Belgrade, may be on loan at Maccabi Haifa) - Bosnian striker. Strahinja Erakovic (Red Star Belgrade) - Serb centre-back. Dragan Stoisavljevic (Vozdovac) - Serb forward.

Beljo was decent in Fm22, I think - the Croatian leagues were a great league for a bargain.

Thanks for the updates @bowieinspace. Athletic Club remains one of the best saves in the game, and of course I'll be starting at San Mames first. Unfortunately my laptop's too old to run this version of FM, so I'll hopefully be starting closer to the full release date if I can pick up a more modern piece of tech! Every year brings more challenges. Players getting older, some on large salaries, who need to be phased out. And judging by your January update, there's a lot of movement you can make quickly so that your squad is younger but no weaker. It looks like a lot of your immediate targets are transfer listed quickly as well! Whilst I won't go for a full Lezama save, I'll try to be more realistic and avoid stockpiling players from the Real Sociedad/Alaves/Osasuna intakes. Signing guys from those clubs once they're in the first team/B squads or once they're transfer listed seems slightly more realistic. I have fewer issues signing young Basque players who make it through the academies of non-Basque clubs though. And of course, try to make more of the feeder clubs. Danok Bat are usually quite handy for the odd player! Looking forward to hearing everyone's progress.

I'd wish for some improvements to how contracts are dished out. When contract talks break down, I dislike how you have to wait ages before you can offer another deal. That can't be realistic. I could understand how an agent may play hardball but rejecting any discussions out of hand? I also would like the salaries paid to youth players to be more sensible. When you sign a youth player from the intake they usually ask for 5k or so a week - at 16yo! And then each contract becomes incrementally higher. I've usually got 19-20yo in the B team who've never played for the first team on 20k per week.

Anyone done an Atletico Madrid save? In the last few versions they stay competitive for a few seasons then drop down to midtable fodder. The AI must be hardcoded to mismanage them but surely from where they begin they should be title contenders regularly. Are they flat broke and does that come to bite them? Does anyone ever get João Felix playing well?

Maybe but if Utd go for Bellingham IRL then City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Real and possibly Bayern would all be in for him. I'm not aware of him being a Utd fan but they'd have to be last of those sides realistically.

The game should hardwire certain realities into the game. Man Utd would not be able to sign FDJ or Bellingham in real life. Or Kane for that matter. It just can't happen. The competition would be more appealing or the players just don't want to leave their current clubs. Managing Man Utd with ETH's philosophy in mind is more realistic. Signings from the Eredivisie or former Ajax players who fit into his way of playing. Gakpo, Teze or Sangare at PSV. Kokcu at Feyenoord. Timber or Rensch at Ajax, some of their other youngsters too. If Gravenberch doesn't get games at Bayern, he could be an option. Noa Lang at Brugge. Dest at Barcelona. Maybe Dolberg at Nice. Plus the usual signing of an injury prone thirtysomething for silly money that a rival are desperate to sell.